South Korea posts coronavirus export slump: Live updates

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

• The US has again recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, with Florida, Texas, Georgia and California are among about 40 states recording more cases.

• Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization’s emergencies programme, says worrying trends of coronavirus cases are emerging in southern Europe and the Balkans, urging “sustained vigilance.”

• More than 15 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and more than 620,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico and Italy have suffered the most deaths.

Here are the updates:

Thursday, July 23

02:30 GMT – California overtakes New York in coronavirus cases

California has overtaken New York to record the highest number of coronavirus cases of any US state.

Health officials say the state’s total caseload now stands at 413,576 – about 4,700 cases more than in New York.

California’s death toll remains much lower, however.

It has recorded 7,870 deaths since the start of the pandemic, compared with 25,068 in New York. 

01:30 GMT – More records tumble in South America

Brazil and Argentina have both registered new daily records for confirmed coronavirus cases.

Brazil confirmed 67,860 cases on Wednesday, while Argentina recorded 5,782 cases. Both countries also reported more deaths from the disease, while Peru added 3,688 previously uncounted people to its death toll lifting the total to 17,455.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has still not shaken the virus, which he once referred to as nothing more than a “little flu”.

A test on Wednesday – his third – showed he still had COVID-19.

00:15 GMT – South Korea’s economy in recession as exports slump

South Korea has entered recession after exports recorded their steepest decline since 1963.

The economy shrank by 3.3 percent in the three months ended June, compared with the previous quarter.

Exports account for 40 percent of South Korea’s economy, and plunged 16.6 percent.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck an optimistic note, however. He says government spending, cash handouts and a slowing pandemic could help growth recover.

“It’s possible for us to see a China-style rebound in the third quarter as the pandemic slows and activity in overseas production, schools and hospitals resume,” Hong said.

00:00 GMT – Final bow? UK warns of theatre closures after lockdown

A United Kingdom parliamentary committee on arts and culture says the coronavirus lockdown has pushed British theatre to the brink of collapse.

The committee estimates that more than 15,000 theatrical performances were cancelled in the first 12 weeks of the lockdown that began on March 23, and put total losses at 603 million pounds.

“We are witnessing the biggest threat to our cultural landscape in a generation,” the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.

Britain has about 1,100 theatres from London’s West End to smaller towns and cities around the country.

Read all the updates from yesterday (July 22) here.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies