Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
England Keeps Travel Quarantine In Place For U.S. Visitors; Infections Surge In Australia
Politico: UK To Allow Quarantine-Free Travel With Nearly 60 Countries — But Not The U.S.
English holidaymakers can travel to Paris, Berlin and a host of other destinations from July 10 without restrictions, but the U.S. and China are not included. The British government on Friday unveiled a list of safe destinations from where travelers will not be required to self-isolate for 14 days when they enter England. The list covers 59 countries and 14 British Overseas Territories including Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Poland and Spain. (Gallardo, 7/3)
AP: Australia To Shut State Border As Melbourne Infections Surge
Australian authorities were preparing to close the border between the country’s two largest states, as the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in infections on Monday. The border between the states of New South Wales — home to Sydney — and Victoria — home to Melbourne — is due to be shut late Tuesday. (Brownbill and McGuirk, 7/6)
AP: Egypt Arrests Doctors, Silences Critics Over Virus Outbreak
A doctor arrested after writing an article about Egypt’s fragile health system. A pharmacist picked up from work after posting online about a shortage of protective gear. An editor taken from his home after questioning official coronavirus figures. A pregnant doctor arrested after a colleague used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case. As Egyptian authorities fight the swelling coronavirus outbreak, security agencies have tried to stifle criticism about the handling of the health crisis by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. (7/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Developing World Loses Billions In Money From Migrant Workers
Migrant workers—from Polish farmhands working the fields of southern France to Filipino cruise-ship workers in the Caribbean—who lost their jobs because of the pandemic’s economic impact are running out of cash to send home, dealing a blow to the fragile economic health of the developing world. Tens of millions of Indians, Filipinos, Mexicans and others from developing countries working overseas sent a record $554 billion back to their home countries last year. That’s an amount greater than all foreign direct investment in low- and middle-income countries and more than three times the development aid from foreign governments, according to the World Bank. (Emont, 7/5)
The Washington Post: Mexican Border States Raise New Concern About Americans Bringing Coronavirus South
For years, officials in northern Mexico watched as a border wall rose just north of the Rio Grande, and as the White House threatened repeatedly to freeze cross-border traffic. Now, with coronavirus cases soaring in the southwestern United States, it’s Mexican leaders who are asking for tighter border enforcement to keep their communities safe. (Sieff, 7/3)
AP: Pakistan Minister Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Health Zafar Mirza tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest high profile government minister to contract the virus.Foreign Minister Moahmood Qureshi announced Friday that he too tested positive for the virus. (7/6)
Reuters: Bolivia's Health Minister Tests Positive For COVID-19
Bolivia’s Health Minister María Eidy Roca has tested positive for COVID-19 though is in stable condition, the ministry said on Sunday, as a sharp rise in cases of the novel coronavirus strain hospitals and cemeteries in the South American country. (Ramos, 7/5)
The Washington Post: India Coronavirus: The 17-Member Family That Lived Together, Ate Together And Got Covid-19 Together
When Mukul Garg learned that one member of his family had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, he immediately knew it was only the beginning. His extended family had stayed inside for weeks during a nationwide lockdown, eating together and playing together in the home they share in India’s capital. They were 17 people in all, ranging in age from 3 months to 90 years. (Slater, 7/5)
Reuters: India Puts Back Taj Mahal Reopening Citing COVID-19 Risks
India has withdrawn a planned reopening of the Taj Mahal, citing the risk of new coronavirus infections spreading in the northern city of Agra from visitors flocking to see the 17th century monument to love. (7/5)
The New York Times: Bubonic Plague Is Diagnosed In China
A herdsman in Inner Mongolia was confirmed to be infected with bubonic plague, Chinese health officials said, a reminder of how even as the world battles a pandemic caused by a novel virus, old threats remain. The Bayannur city health commission said the plague was diagnosed in the herdsman on Sunday, and he was in stable condition undergoing treatment at a hospital. (Ramzy, 7/6)
CNN: The Bubonic Plague Is Back Again In China's Inner Mongolia
Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia are on high alert after a suspected case of bubonic plague, the disease that caused the Black Death pandemic, was reported Sunday. The case was discovered in the city of Bayannur, located northwest of Beijing, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. A hospital alerted municipal authorities of the patient's case on Saturday. By Sunday, local authorities had issued a citywide Level 3 warning for plague prevention, the second lowest in a four-level system. (Yeung, 7/6)
