Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
How The World Is Faring
AP: Japan's Leader Visits Hospital, Raising Health Concerns
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went to a hospital on Monday for what Japanese media said was a regular health checkup, although the visit generated renewed concerns about his health. Videos of Abe being driven in a car to Keio University Hospital in Tokyo on Monday morning were widely shown on Japanese TV news reports. Public broadcaster NHK TV later showed him leaving the hospital at about 6 p.m. (Kageyama, 8/17)
Reuters: Japan's Travel Ban To Contain Virus Unfair, Western Businesses Say
Four Western business lobbies joined in protesting Japan’s travel ban to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, saying the policy is out of step with measures in other major economies and will harm investment. The joint letter was signed by business lobbies from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe. The U.S. and European groups had issued previous complaints about the policy. (Swift, 8/18)
Reuters: Australian COVID-19 Infections Hit One-Month Low
Australia on Tuesday recorded its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 infections in a month, buoying hopes that a stringent lockdown in the country’s second-most populous state has prevented a fresh wave of cases nationally. Led by cases in Victoria state - the epicentre of Australia’s latest COVID-19 outbreak - Australia said it has detected 226 new infections in the past 24 hours, the lowest since July 18 when 212 cases were recorded. (Jose and Packham, 8/17)
AP: Panama Lets Some Businesses Reopen After 5-Month Lockdown
Panama allowed hair salons, retail shops and car lots to open Monday after five months of lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government also allowed public and private construction projects to resume and nongovernmental organizations to reopen in a bid to restart the teetering economy. (8/17)
Reuters: South Korea Traces Church Members, Confines Troops To Base As Virus Spreads
South Korea reported a three-digit increase in novel coronavirus cases for a fifth day on Tuesday as authorities scrambled to trace hundreds of members of a church congregation, and the military locked down bases to stop the spread of the virus. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 246 new cases as of midnight on Monday, two days after the reimposition of stricter social-distancing curbs in the Seoul metropolitan area. (Cha, 8/18)
The New York Times: Beaten Back, The Coronavirus Regains Strength In France
Faced with a recent resurgence of coronavirus cases, officials have made mask wearing mandatory in widening areas of Paris and other cities across the country, pleading with the French not to let down their guard and jeopardize the hard-won gains made against the virus during a two-month lockdown this spring. (Onishi and Meheut, 8/17)
NPR: 'We Can't Live Like Zombies': Protesters In Spain Decry COVID-19 Mask Mandate
Crowds gathered in the Spanish capital over the weekend to protest an expanded requirement for them to wear protective masks in public as the government tries to combat a sudden resurgence of coronavirus infections. Defying the law by going without masks, people gathered Sunday in Madrid's Plaza de Colón. Police said they would normally fine the maskless protesters, but were overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, according to El País. (Neuman, 8/17)
Also —
The Washington Post: Thanks To Coronavirus, South Africa Basically Skipped Flu Season
The pandemic has made a lot of bad things worse, but South Africa’s near-total lack of a flu season this year stands out as a rare positive effect. The country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has three laboratories that would normally record more than 1,000 cases of flu between April and August, winter in the southern hemisphere. As the 2020 season ends, they have recorded just one. (Wroughton and Bearak, 8/18)
