PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for coronavirus, party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed on Thursday.
Shehbaz, 69, a cancer survivor, is isolating at home, Aurangzeb said, adding that the PML-N leader was following his doctors’ advice on how to fight the infection.
PML-N representative Ata Tarar revealed that Shehbaz had himself tested for COVID-19 after showing mild symptoms of the infection. He said that the result of the test came back positive on June 10, at 4pm.
“He was summoned on June 9 by NAB. We kept saying he is a cancer survivor, and even if you do want to conduct the investigation then do so via video link. However, this is blind political vendetta,” he said.
In response to a question about the former Punjab chief minister traveling with hundreds of PML-N workers and not paying heed to social distancing protocols, Tarar said that he had appealed to the party’s supporters to remain indoors and not gather at public places.Â
“It wasn’t an official call from the party [for them to come out],” he said. “We wanted to avoid this situation. I want to say on record that if God forbid, anything were to happen to him, NAB and Imran Niazi will be held responsible.”
Tarar said that the party had submitted in writing that the PML-N president was a cancer survivor hence his life was at risk from the infection.Â
Reiterating that there was no need for Shehbaz to appear in person for the investigations, Tarar said that the party had requested that the PML-N leader be allowed to answer questions via video link to ensure he remained safe from the virus.Â
Shehbaz had appeared on June 9 at NAB Lahore after he was summoned by the anti-graft body to answer questions related to the assets beyond means and money laundering case.Â
The opposition leader’s appearance at the NAB Lahore office lasted for a little over an hour. A large number of PML-N supporters had gathered outside the office to chant slogans in support of the party leader.
A day earlier, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal tested positive for coronavirus.
“I request my friends and well-wishers to pray for my quick recovery,” Iqbal had written on Twitter.
“May God keep everyone safe from this pandemic,” he added.
 Earlier, Aurangzeb has tested positive for the coronavirus along with her mother.
So far, many prominent politicians have been contracted coronavirus.Â
Watch day two of the Charles Schwab Challenge live on Sky Sports. Featured Group coverage starts at 12:45pm on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 12/06/20 1:29am
1:08
Rory McIlroy reflects on an opening-round 68 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and explains the impact the lack of spectators had on the event.
Rory McIlroy reflects on an opening-round 68 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and explains the impact the lack of spectators had on the event.
Rory McIlroy was clearly not overly-enthused with his first competitive round since The Players as he marked his debut at Colonial Country Club with an “uneventful” 68.
The start to McIlroy’s round was full of promise as he pounded his opening drive over 330 yards down the fairway, knocked a mid-iron to 20 feet and two-putted for birdie, but he added only two more while dropping a shot at the sixth and ended the first day five shots adrift of Justin Rose and Harold Varner III.
McIlroy mixed three birdies with one bogey in his 68
McIlroy missed a good chance on the second and did well to hole from 15 feet to scramble a par at the fifth, but he then left a 30-foot birdie putt four feet short on the next green and missed the par attempt before atoning with a towering iron to 15 feet at the par-three eighth and finding the target for birdie.
The world No 1 holed from similar distance at the ninth to give himself plenty of momentum heading into the back nine, but he struggled to give himself many legitimate chances to climb the leaderboard and settled for nine relatively stress-free pars.
“Uneventful,” was McIlroy’s abrupt summary of his performance. “I made three birdies and one bogey. The one bogey on the sixth hole I three-putted from 30 feet, but it was one of those days.
McIlroy parred every hole on the back nine to stay at two under
“I put myself in position to shoot a low score, I just didn’t capitalise on how I hit it off the tee. My distance control on my wedges was a little off, and then the putting right there got a little difficult at the end of the day.
“The greens were sort of slow, and they got pretty bumpy at the end. Hopefully we’ll have some better greens in the morning and hopefully I’ll shoot a lower score.”
Regardless of his disjointed display, McIlroy echoed the feelings of the vast majority of the field when asked how it felt to be back in a full-field PGA Tour event, despite the lack of atmosphere with spectators barred for the time being.
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“It was good, it felt good to be back,” he added. “I thought it was going to feel more different than it was. It’s a little strange not having anyone around.
“But, at the same time, we are so concentrated on what we’re doing and trying to shoot good scores and play good golf, so once I got into it, I didn’t feel like it was much different at all.”
McIlroy played alongside the top players directly below him in the world rankings, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, with the American also firing a 68 while Rahm bogeyed the last to hand in a 69.
Brooks Koepka also fired a 68 on day one
“It was a ‘getting-along’ round; nothing to get too excited about, nothing to get disappointed about,” said Koepka. “I felt like it could have very easily been a lot better. But it is what it is, and I’ll go play tomorrow.
“It was kind of eerie the first couple holes, and the first hole all three of us make birdie and there’s no applause, so it’s kind of funny. But at the same time it’s our job. We’re supposed to go out and go play golf, so it doesn’t matter if there’s fans there or not. We’ve got to go out and go do what we’re supposed to do.
“It’ll be nice to get some fresh greens. These greens get chewed up pretty good in the afternoon, and some fresh greens, be able to make a few more putts, and you’ve just got to put the ball in the fairway.”
A European human rights court ruled today against a conviction by a French court of supporters of the boycott Israel movement.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that members of a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) group in France did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights’ article against discrimination.
The court said in a press release that the conviction “lacked any relevant or sufficient grounds.â€Â
The BDS movement calls for various forms of boycotts against Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. The movement hopes to pressure Israel into withdrawing from the Palestinian territories and into accepting Palestinian refugees from abroad, among other objectives. The movement supports boycotts of Israeli companies to this end, as well as boycotts of Israeli academic institutions and concerts in Israel.
The European Court of Human Rights is a venue in Strasbourg, France, where European citizens can bring cases in which they feel a European state violated their rights. It was set up by the European Convention on Human Rights. Parties to the court are members of the Council of Europe, which is separate from the European Union (EU). Most European countries are members, including Russia and Turkey.
The people in question were 11 French, Moroccan and Afghan BDS supporters who were convicted under a French freedom of the press law prohibiting incitement to discrimination against a group of people. The French court found they had committed this crime when they called on customers of a French supermarket in 2009 and 2010 to not buy products from Israel, according to a case summary from the European Court of Human Rights. The protests at the market began after eruptions of violence between the Israeli military and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The court ruled that the convention’s Article 7, which prohibits discrimination, did not pertain to economic discrimination in this case. The court also decided that the convicted people’s rights were violated under the convention’s Article 10, which allows for freedom of expression. The convention guarantees the right to economic protest, according to the court.
“A boycott is primarily a means of expressing a protest. Therefore, a call for a boycott, which is aimed at communicating protest opinions while calling for specific protest actions, is in principle covered by the protection set out in Article 10 of the Convention,†the court said in the summary.
 The court ordered France to pay the activists for damages and their legal fees.
Opinions on BDS are divided around the world. Some praise BDS as a nonviolent form of opposition to Israeli policies, while others feel it unfairly singles out Israel and espouses anti-Semitism against Jews as a whole.
Iraq’s new government has made an arrest in connection with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted across the country in 2019.Â
Defense Ministry Spokesman Yehia Rasool confirmed to Al-Monitor that the suspect, identified only as Al Jurithi, is suspected of killing a protester in Baghdad and threatening others. He also confessed to rioting, burning property and striking security forces, and he was arrested under the direction of new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Sweeping anti-government demonstrations broke out in October 2019, aimed at dismantling the political establishment and bringing attention to government corruption, poor public services and high unemployment. Rights groups accused security forces of using violent tactics to suppress the unrest, including firing live ammunition at peaceful protesters.  Â
In documenting the deaths of 490 protesters, the United Nations wrote in a report last month that the “absence of accountability for these acts continues to contribute to the pervasive environment of impunity.†The UN also reported 33 activists were assassinated and at least 99 people had been abducted.Â
The widespread protests prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi in late November 2019. Some five months later, Kadhimi was sworn in as his successor, bringing an end to the political deadlock.Â
Kadhimi, the country’s former intelligence chief, has vowed to provide accountability and to compensate the families of the protesters killed or wounded by security forces. He also ordered the release of all detained demonstrators who weren’t being held for causing injury or death.Â
In May, demonstrators returned to the streets of Iraq’s major cities for the first time since coronavirus movement restrictions were put in place two months prior. With the arrival of summer, protesters in the southern provinces are demanding accountability for a lack of electricity and clean water.Â
Last month, security forces acting on Kadhimi’s order raided the headquarters of the Iran-aligned militia Thaar Allah in Basra and arrested at least five men accused of firing at protesters the day before.
“I promised that those who have spilled Iraqi blood will not be allowed to rest, and we are honoring that promise,†Kadhimi said of the arrests.
Congress is using a key defense bill to push back against Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s reported plans to withdraw US peacekeeping forces from Egypt’s Sinai.
The Senate’s annual defense authorization bill would require Esper “to notify Congress 30 days before reducing the total number of members of the armed forces deployed to the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt to fewer than 430 members,†according to a summary of the legislation released today.
Why it matters: The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Esper seeks to draw down troops from the Sinai peacekeeping mission despite opposition from the State Department. The report immediately prompted pushback from Israel, with Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz declaring, “The international force in the Sinai is important, and [the] American participation in it is important.†The US-led peacekeeping mission has been deployed in the Sinai since Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Egypt is also battling an insurgency in Sinai led by militias affiliated with the Islamic State. Cairo’s stance on scaling back the peacekeeping mission remains unclear.
What’s next: The House is expected to release its version of the defense bill later this month.
Know more: Al-Monitor examines whether the Islamic State is poised to make a comeback in Sinai.
Written by Avinash Nair
| Ahmedabad |
Published: June 12, 2020 5:13:05 am
Farmers sow crops in a field near Ahmedabad. Pre-monsoon rain in the first week of June has encouraged farmers to sow Kharif crops earlier than usual. (Photo by Javed Raja)
Pre-monsoon showers in the first week of June has encouraged farmers to sow Kharif crops earlier than usual. Kharif crops have been sown on more than 2.18 lakh hectares of agriculture area, which is almost four times the acreage during the last season.
Compared to a normal rainfall of 17 mm, Gujarat has received 258 mm of rains in month of June so far, most of which were in Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions of the state, according to figures from the Indian Meteorological Department. The Kharif sowing too is concentrated largely in these areas.
According to the figures published by Gujarat Department for Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare, a total of 2,18,683 hectares have been sown with Kharif crops by June 8, 2020. During this time last year, Kharif crops were sown only on 56,000 hectares. Of the total area sown so far in Gujarat, 79 per cent or 1.72 lakh hectares is in Saurashtra region.
Like every year, farmers sowing groundnut (1,11,961 hectares) and cotton (78,496 hectares) have taken a lead. The sowing of these two cash crops is significantly higher this year.
Last year during the Kharif season, only 5,216 hectares of groundnut and 40,100 hectares of cotton were sown by the first week of June. “This year, we expect the acreage of groundnut to rise. More farmers will be sowing groundnut because last year they got good value for their produce. The government too bought it at Minimum Support Price. Moreover, it is a crop which can be harvested before Diwali, and farmers can go for a second crop during Rabi season,†said Sagar Rabari, head of Khedut Ekta Manch.
“However, we expect fewer farmers to sow cotton this season. Many farmers have told us that the menace of pink bollworms is on the rise which is increasing their input cost. Secondly, it is a crop which takes about 10 month to harvest and the remuneration that cotton farmers received last year was not impressive,†he added.
Of the total groundnut sown in this Kharif season, 1,09,600 hectares are in Saurashtra region, while the same region accounts for 50,200 hectares of the cotton sown. At the district level, maximum groundnut has been sown in Junagadh (40,100 hectares), while maximum cotton has been sown in neighbouring Amreli (23,000 hectares). Both Junagadh and Amreli are among the districts that have received good pre-monsoon showers so far. While Junagadh received 379 mm rainfall this month, Amreli was got 416 mm. The normal rainfall for both these districts at this time of the year is between 21-27 mm.
Despite receiving good rains, sowing is yet to pick up in South Gujarat. Farmers have so far sown the crops in just 1,600 hectares. This is even lower than that in North and Central Gujarat where crops have been sown on 18,800 hectares and 12,500 hectares, respectively.
This Kharif season, farmers have also sown more vegetables (8,900 hectares) and soyabean (2,300 hectares). In the beginning of last year’s Kharif season, the area for vegetables was 3,400 hectares and only 136 hectares for soyabean.
Media captionWATCH: PlayStation 5 console and games revealed
Sony has given gamers a first look at the design of its next console as well as some of the titles it will play.
The PlayStation 5 has a black core surrounded by curved white edging, and a blue glow.
Two sequels to bestselling PS4 releases were among the standout games announcements – Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Horizon: Forbidden West.
Sony’s machine will launch alongside Microsoft’s rival Xbox Series X before the end of the year.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Miles Morales takes over the lead role from Peter Parker in the latest spin-off for Marvel’s crime-fighter
“While there’s still a lot of unanswered questions about the PS5, namely price and release date, I think Sony did exactly what they needed to with this reveal event,” commented Laura Kate Dale, a freelance games critic.
“It showed off an hour of games, mixing sequels to popular titles, and new franchises from its biggest first-party studios, for a solid hour.
“People on Twitter are very split on whether they like or hate the look of the box, but overall Sony spent an hour getting people excited.”
So many people remarked that the console looked like a “wi-fi router”, that the term trended on Twitter shortly after the event.
More than two dozen new games were shown off in total.
Other highlights included a first look at Sony’s racing game Grand Turismo 7 and a brief look at Capcom’s zombie horror game Resident Evil 8.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Resident Evil 8’s reveal was full of dim lighting – and reflections
It was not always clear during the event which titles were PS5 exclusives and which were not.
Pre-recorded show
The PlayStation 5 is set to go on sale later this year, seven years after the PS4.
In addition to being able to deliver improved visuals, the new machine also has a customised hard drive that will make it possible to radically reduce load times.
Sony is building a library of launch titles that will only be available on its next-generation machine. This contrasts with Microsoft’s approach, which is to initially release new first-party games on both its current and next-gen consoles.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Gran Turismo 7 brings Sony’s driving video game back to the race track
Sony opted to stream a pre-recorded video rather than a host a live event because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The video was broadcast at 1080p resolution, much lower than the PS5 is capable of.
The PS4 outsold the Xbox One globally by more than a 2:1 margin, although the gap was much closer in the US.
In advance of Thursday night’s event, one industry insider said there were two things he was most excited about.
“The first is the new controller – the adaptive triggers offer deeper and more meaningful feedback for gameplay,” explained Robert Karp, development director at UK developer Codemasters.
“The other is the super-fast loading. On PS5, waiting to get into the action is a thing of the past.”
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Horizon: Forbidden West sees Aloy travel westwards across a far-future version of the United States
Returning heroes
The new Spider-Man game acts as a follow-up to 2018’s action-adventure game based on the Marvel superhero.
But this time round the protagonist is the Afro-Latino teenager Miles Morales rather than Peter Parker. The brief trailer showed him fighting and web-slinging through New York, showing off snow and electricity particle effects that would not have been possible in such detail on the PS4.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
The Spider-Man: Miles Morales teaser showed off a range of lighting and particle effects
Several of the other reveals reintroduced familiar characters.
Aloy is back in the follow-up to Horizon: Zero Dawn.
In Forbidden West, the heroine was shown swimming underwater as what appeared to be a robot crocodile passed overhead, and battling against robot dinosaurs.
Assassin Agent 47 returned in Hitman III, IO Interactive’s stealth series. It is not due to go on sale until January 2021, however, so will miss out on launching alongside the PS5.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart marked a return to Insomniac Games’ cartoon-like third-person action franchise.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Ratchet and Clank return for the first time since their 2016 PS4 reboot
Oddworld: Soulstorm was a surprise, bringing back the former slave turned hero Abe, in a series that dates back to the original PlayStation.
And Sackboy also returned for more platforming in A Big Adventure, a follow-up to the earlier Little Big Planet Games.
There was also a first look at some new intellectual property, including:
Project Athia, which features a female protagonist on an alien planet who has to survive in a world populated by strange creatures
Deathloop, which centres on two competing assassins battling within a “time loop”, which is being developed by Arkane Lyon, the makers of the Dishonored series
Pragmata, a sci-fi adventure whose trailer showed a robot girl and a man in a flying suit tackling a space ship that had reversed gravity, which ends up transporting them from planet Earth to the Moon. It is not due for release until 2022
Returnal, a moody space horror game in which a female astronaut crash lands on a world containing shadowy angel-like creatures and a floating orb
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
Pragmata showed a post-apocalyptic world filled with advanced technology
“What I found particularly great was the push on new IP,” gaming presenter Shay Thompson told the BBC.
“Many of the protagonists featured were women or girls, which is a huge deal. That would’ve been a pipe dream, even 10 years ago.”
There was no mention of any virtual reality games, however. Nor was was there any mention of a PlayStation 5 version of The Last of Us 2.
Coronavirus challenge
Sony also highlighted new features of the PS5’s hardware including 3D Audio and a 4K Blu-ray player. It also said the the new console would be released in a version that lacked a disc drive.
While Sony and Microsoft’s next-generation consoles will battle for sales, they both face the challenge of launching at a time when the coronavirus pandemic may not be over.
Image copyright Sony
Image caption
A new version of the 2009 classic Demons’ Souls was also shown
Although both firms have said that production is on track for winter 2020 releases, it is unclear what level of demand there will be.
“Console gaming has proven to be resilient to economic downturns because it continues to offer good per-hour entertainment value,” Piers Harding-Rolls wrote in a research note for Ampere Analysis.
“Even so, the recession and growing unemployment in key sales territories will undermine adoption – less so at launch [but] more significantly after mid-2021.”
Analysis: By Marc Cieslak, BBC Click
Image copyright Annapurna Interactive
Image caption
One of the more unusual games was Stray, a third-person cat adventure set in a neon-lit cyber-city
A confident introduction to the PlayStation 5 from Sony, letting the games do the talking, with a varied mix of big-name fan favourites and a lot of new titles from smaller studios.
The event lacked the fevered energy that a live showcase generates, but it managed to settle into a comfortable groove as games like the new Ratchet and Clank allowed us to see what the PS5’s solid state drive (SSD) can do to reduce or almost eliminate load times.
Rather than a quantum leap, this next generation looks like it might be built around lots of smaller improvements in areas like audio, with 3D sound and improved haptic feedback in the controller.
Beyond better visuals and faster loading times, what does the next generation actually mean when it comes to games though?
On this evidence more of the same: shooters, racers, third-person adventure titles and sports games. Things we already have, but graphically improved.
PlayStation and Xbox have both struggled to communicate what the next-gen really has to offer.
But at least fans have now had a glimpse of some games and finally clapped eyes on the PS5’s curvy physical case.
It’s enough, perhaps, to whet gamers appetites for what’s to come.
Visitors wear face masks while riding a roller coaster Thursday at the SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando, Fla. SeaWorld is reopening this week after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida and more than 20 other states continue to see a rise in new daily cases.
Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Visitors wear face masks while riding a roller coaster Thursday at the SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando, Fla. SeaWorld is reopening this week after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida and more than 20 other states continue to see a rise in new daily cases.
Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A record high in South Carolina. A two-month high in Florida. Record hospitalizations in Texas. Several states that were among the first to reopen their economies are now reporting spikes in new coronavirus cases, driving an alarming trend that has propelled the U.S. to 2 million cases.
Florida reported nearly 1,700 new cases Thursday morning — “the biggest jump since March,” as NPR member station WLRN reported. Hours after the state published that data, Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his plan to reopen schools in August, urging local governments to aim for “full capacity” when they resume classes.
“As you’re testing more, you’re going to find more cases,” DeSantis said when asked about the high number. “We’re doing 30,000-plus tests a day.”
But some public health experts said the current rise in cases in many U.S. states is the result of community transmission, not a boost in testing. As he discussed Florida’s numbers, DeSantis added, “We also do have … outbreaks in agricultural communities,” saying the coronavirus has spread rapidly in some rural areas.
Similar scenarios are playing out in at least 25 U.S. states and territories, with new cases and/or hospitalization rates spurring fears that many parts of the country are still yet to reach their peak.
Arizona reported 1,412 new coronavirus cases Thursday — far above its recent average of 1,071, which was already a 200% change from two weeks ago. Nearly 80% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are in use. On April 11, the state’s ICU bed occupancy rate was at 66%.
Texas has seen more people in the hospital due to COVID-19 this week than it has at any time during the pandemic. The figure fell to 2,008 on Thursday after soaring past the 2,000 mark for the first time earlier this week.
South Carolina announced nearly 700 new cases on Thursday, far outpacing its previous record high of 540 set earlier this week. The state’s positive test rate is just over 14%, its health department said.
South Carolina allowed beaches and some businesses to reopen in late April. Restaurants were able to serve patrons in their dining rooms (at limited capacities) as of May 11.
“We began to see the first increasing trends several days after the Memorial Day weekend,” said Dr. Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist, adding that incubation times and delays in testing would account for why those cases are turning up now.
“It’s not unexpected,” Bell added. “We saw lots of activity with large gatherings, no social distancing, very rare use of masks. So these findings are not unexpected.”
About 73% of South Carolina’s hospital beds were occupied as of Thursday morning, the state said — but it added that of the roughly 7,600 beds in total, 494 are “occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.”
Concerns about the negative trends in the fight against the coronavirus contributed to a devastating day for stock prices, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing “one of the worst one-day drops in history,” as NPR’s Jim Zarroli reported.
Visitors wear face masks while riding a roller coaster at the SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. SeaWorld is reopening its parks this week, after being closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida and more than 20 other states continue to see a rise in new daily cases.
Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Visitors wear face masks while riding a roller coaster at the SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. SeaWorld is reopening its parks this week, after being closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida and more than 20 other states continue to see a rise in new daily cases.
Zack Wittman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A record high in South Carolina. A two-month high in Florida. Record hospitalizations in Texas. Several states that were among the first to reopen their economies are now reporting spikes in new coronavirus cases, driving an alarming trend that has propelled the U.S. to 2 million cases.
Florida reported nearly 1,700 new cases Thursday morning — “the biggest jump since March,” as member station WLRN reports. Hours after the state published that data, Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his plan to reopen schools in August, urging local governments to aim for “full capacity” when they resume classes.
“As you’re testing more, you’re going to find more cases,” DeSantis said when asked about the high number. “We’re doing 30,000-plus tests a day.”
But many public health experts say the current rise in cases in many U.S. states is the result of community transmission, not a boost in testing. As he discussed Florida’s numbers, DeSantis himself added, “We also do have … outbreaks in agricultural communities,” saying the coronavirus has spread rapidly in some rural areas.
Similar scenarios are playing out in at least 25 U.S. states and territories, with new cases and/or hospitalization rates spurring fears that many parts of the country are still yet to reach their peak in COVID-19 cases.
Arizona reported 1,412 new coronavirus cases on Thursday – far above its recent average of 1,071, which was already a 200% change from two weeks ago. Nearly 80% of the state’s intensive care unit beds are currently in use. On April 11, the state’s ICU bed occupancy rate was at 66%.
Texas has seen more people in the hospital due to COVID-19 this week than it has at any time during the pandemic. The figure fell to 2,008 on Thursday, after soaring past the 2,000 mark for the first time earlier this week.
South Carolina announced nearly 700 new cases on Thursday, far outpacing its previous record high of 540 which was set earlier this week. The state’s positive test rate is just over 14%, its health department says.
South Carolina allowed beaches and some businesses to reopen in late April. Restaurants were able to serve patrons in their dining rooms (at limited capacities) as of May 11.
“We began to see the first increasing trends several days after the Memorial Day weekend,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said, adding that incubation times and delays in testing would account for why those cases are turning up now.
“It’s not unexpected,” Bell added. “We saw lots of activity with large gatherings, no social distancing, very rare use of masks. So these findings are not unexpected.”
About 73% of South Carolina’s hospital beds were occupied as of Thursday morning, the state says – but it adds that of the roughly 7,600 beds in total, 494 are “occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.”
Concerns about the negative trends in the fight against the coronavirus contributed to a devastating day for stock prices, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing “one of the worst one-day drops in history,” as NPR’s Jim Zarroli reports.
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Farmers sow crops in a field near Ahmedabad. Pre-monsoon rain in the first week of June has encouraged farmers to sow Kharif crops earlier than usual. (Photo by Javed Raja)
