Coronavirus live news: Saudi Arabia closes borders to hajj attendees as global Covid-19 cases pass 9m

In leafier, greener, altogether more oxygenated news, Barcelona’s El Liceu opera house reopened on Monday with a concert to an audience of 2,292 potted plants. The event took place a day after Spain’s three-month state of emergency came to an end:

The idea was the work of Spanish conceptual artist Eugenio Ampudia, who said the inspiration came from a connection he built with nature during the pandemic: ‘I watched what was going on with nature during all this time. I heard many more birds singing. And the plants in my garden and outside growing faster. And, without a doubt, I thought that maybe I could now relate in a much more intimate way with people and nature’.

The known number of cases of coronavirus has passed 9 million. According to Johns Hopkins University, which keeps a tally of official statistics, 9,036,002 cases have been reported.

The United States is the world’s worst affected country by case numbers, with more than 2.3 million cases alone.

Overall and deaths are likely to be higher due to time lags, differing testing rates and definitions, and suspected underreporting in some countries.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will bar arrivals from abroad to attend the hajj this year due to the coronavirus, allowing only a limited number of Saudi citizens and residents to make the pilgrimage with social distancing measures enforced.

“This decision is taken to ensure Hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective while observing all preventative measures and the necessary social distancing protocols to protect human beings from the risks associated with this pandemic and in accordance with the teachings of Islam in preserving the lives of human beings,” the ministry that oversees pilgrimages said in a statement.

The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 160,000, with 1,307 deaths, following a rise in new infections over the past two weeks.

Some 2.5 million pilgrims typically visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long hajj. Official data show Saudi Arabia earns around $12bn a year from the hajj and the lesser, year-round pilgrimage known as umrah.

The kingdom halted international passenger flights in March and asked Muslims in March to put hajj plans on hold until further notice. International arrivals for umrah pilgrimages have also been suspended until further notice.

Earlier this month, Malaysia and Indonesia both barred their citizens from travelling to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage, citing fears of the coronavirus.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest news from around the world for the next few hours.

I’d love to hear from you – get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan and via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.

As global coronavirus cases passed the 9 million mark, Saudi Arabia said on Monday it will bar arrivals from abroad to attend the hajj this year due to the coronavirus, allowing only a limited number of Saudi citizens and residents to make the pilgrimage with social distancing measures enforced.

The announcement means this will be the first year in modern times that Muslims from around the world have not been allowed to make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Muslims aim to perform at least once in a lifetime.

• The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has passed 9 million. According to Johns Hopkins University, which keeps a tally of official statistics, 9,036,002 cases have been reported. The United States is the world’s worst affected country by case numbers, with more than 2.3 million cases alone.
• The US Covid-19 death toll passed 120,000. Tthe coronavirus death toll in the US has reached 120,340, according to the latest figures from John Hopkins University. This latest grim milestone comes as health officials are raising alarms about “surging” cases in the southern and western US. Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Florida have passed 100,000, while Covid-19 admissions at a chain of eight hospitals in Houston have tripled over the past month to 1400. An alarming 20% of Covid-19 tests in Arizona are coming back positive. The number of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US has reached 26,000, up from 21,000 per day two weeks ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.
• Two further Trump staffers tested positive for coronavirus. Two more staff members of US president Donald Trump’s campaign who were in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his rally on Saturday have tested positive for the coronavirus, after the campaign announced on Saturday hours before the rally that six members of the campaign’s advance staff had tested positive.
• The US suspended certain work visas and green cards until end of year. The government of the United States will suspend certain categories of non-immigrant work visas through the end of the year and extend an existing ban on certain green cards, as part of a move to protect US workers amid the economic devastation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
• South Africa now has over 100,000 infections, the highest on the continent, while the number of deaths inched towards 2,000. Despite the grim death toll, data shows that the mortality rate in South Africa is at 2%, while 52.6% of virus patients have recovered. The worst-hit area is Western Cape, the coastal province accounting for 1,458 of the country’s deaths and more than half of its infections.
• Black Americans four times as likely as whites to be hospitalised with Covid-19. US government data released on Monday showed Black Americans were around four times as likely as whites to be hospitalised for Covid-19, highlighting significant racial disparities in health outcomes during the pandemic.
• Museums, galleries and cinemas will reopen in England from 4 July. Museums, galleries and cinemas in England will be allowed to reopen from 4 July, alongside pubs, restaurants and hairdressers, the British prime minister Boris Johnson will announce on Tuesday in a decisive but potentially risky easing of lockdown measures in England.
  
• Some coronavirus restrictions will be reimposed in Lisbon, Portugal to help control outbreaks. Costa said measures to be introduced from Tuesday included a restriction on gatherings of more than 10 people and orders for cafes and shops to close at 8pm in the capital.
• India reported a record number of new coronavirus cases and a death toll of more than 400 people in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports. The 15,000 new cases brought India’s total to more than 425,000, behind only the United States, Brazil and Russia, according to data from the federal health ministry.