How The Globe Is Faring: Germany Stages Concert To Study Mass-Event Spread

AP: How Does Coronavirus Spread At A Concert? Germans Do A Test
Germany held a pop concert Saturday to see how those attending could spread coronavirus if they had it. German researchers studying COVID-19 packed part of a Leipzig arena with volunteers, collecting data in a “real life” simulation of a pop concert but one with strict health and safety controls. (8/22)

AP: New Austrian Coronavirus Measures Snarl Traffic At Border
Traffic was backed up for as much as 12 hours on Austria’s southern border after new coronavirus safety measures were imposed on all travelers entering the country, authorities said Sunday. Police told the Austria Press Agency that cars were backed up for up to 12 hours at the Karawanks Tunnel and seven hours at the Loibl Pass into Austria as vacationers returning from Croatia and Slovenia tried to enter the country. (8/23)

AP: UK Leader Urges Parents To Let Kids To Return To School
Britain’s prime minister is asking parents to set aside their fears and send their children back to school next month when schools in Britain fully reopen for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut then down more than five months ago. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was the government’s “moral duty” to reopen the schools as he stressed that authorities now know more about COVID-19 than they did when the country went into lockdown on March 23. (Kirka, 8/23)

AP: Iran Says 164 Health Care Professionals Among Pandemic Dead
Iran’s health minister said Saturday that at least 164 health care professionals have died while battling the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported.The official IRNA news agency quoted Saeed Namaki as saying new cases have been reported that will be added to that number. (8/22)

Reuters: France To Reciprocate Britain's Quarantine Rule In Coming Days: Minister 
French authorities will in coming days reciprocate Britain’s decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on all arrivals from France, the junior minister for European affairs said on Monday. Britain said on Friday travellers from the United Kingdom to France are required to self-certify that they are not suffering coronavirus symptoms or have been in contact with a confirmed case within 14 days preceding travel. (8/24)

COVID cases are spiking across the globe —

Reuters: Brazil Coronavirus Cases Pass 3.6 Million, Death Toll At 114,744
Brazil reported 23,421 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 494 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday. Brazil has registered 3,605,783 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 114,744, according to ministry data, in the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak outside the United States. (8/23)

AP: How India's Fast-Growing Cases Topped 3 Million
India’s coronavirus caseload topped 3 million on Sunday, with the country leading the world in new infections as the disease marched through impoverished rural areas in the north and the wealthier but older populations of the south. [Here's] how the virus is spreading in the world’s second most-populous country. (Schmall, 8/23)

The Washington Post: In Battered Lebanon, A Spike In Coronavirus Cases Adds To The Misery 
An alarming spike in novel coronavirus cases since the devastating explosion at Beirut's port is compounding Lebanon's misery at a time when the country was already laid low by overlapping financial, economic and political crises. Since around 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate were ignited Aug. 4 by a still-unexplained blaze in a warehouse at the port, the total number of coronavirus infections has more than doubled — to 12,191 as of Saturday — prompting the government to order a partial lockdown that went into effect Friday. (Sly, 8/22)

AP: Returning Vacationers Drive Italy's Surge In COVID Cases
With thousands of travelers being tested at Italy’s airports and some ports, the nation where Europe’s COVID-19 outbreak began registered a seventh straight day of increasing new infections Sunday, mostly driven by returning vacationers. Sicily’s governor, meanwhile, ordered all migrant residences on the Italian island to be shut down by Monday, part of a push-back by Italian regions alarmed by a steady climb in COVID-19 cases a few weeks before schools are to reopen. (D'Emilio, 8/23)

CNN: New Zealand Imposes 12-Day Lockdown In Its Biggest City As It Battles Fresh Outbreak
New Zealand has extended a lockdown in its most populous city as the country battles a fresh community coronavirus outbreak that comes after months without any locally transmitted cases. (Hollingsworth, 8/24)

Reuters: South Korean Capital Orders Masks On In Coronavirus Battle
South Korea’s capital on Monday ordered masks to be worn in both indoor and outdoor public places for the first time, as it battles a surge in coronavirus cases centred in the densely populated metropolitan area. In May, the city government ordered that masks be worn on public transport and in taxis, but a recent spike in cases has health officials worried that the country may need to impose its highest level of social distancing, known as phase 3. (Smith and Cha, 8/23)

In other global news —

The Hill: New Ebola Outbreak In Congo Raises Alarm 
A new outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has infected 100 people in a western province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a rapid spread that has health officials concerned about the chances of an uncontrolled epidemic. The outbreak in Equateur Province began in early June, when a cluster of cases were discovered in the provincial capital Mbandaka. The number of cases has doubled in just the last five weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) said 43 people have died. (Wilson, 8/21)

USA Today: Soft Drink Or 'Bottled Poison'? Mexico Finds COVID-19 Villain In Soda
While touring southern Chiapas state last month, Mexico’s coronavirus czar took aim at a vice he considers culpable for the country’s pandemic problems: rampant soda consumption. Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell tried to connect soda consumption with COVID-19 deaths, blaming sugar for causing comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension – maladies common in Mexico, where almost three-quarters of the population is overweight, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Agren, 8/23)

The Washington Post: Japan's Shinzo Abe Visits The Hospital Again As Health Concerns Intensify 
Shinzo Abe became Japan's longest serving prime minister on Monday, but there was no celebration of his record 2,799-day tenure. Instead, Abe spent the morning at the hospital, as concerns mount that his health may be faltering. Abe’s motorcade was filmed bringing him to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, partly to get the results of a seven-hour checkup last week. “Today, I listened to the results of the exams in detail, and took some additional exams,” Abe told reporters. “I will pay utmost attention to my health and will do my best going forward.” (Denyer, 8/24)