How The World Is Faring: Indonesia Also Battles Flood Of Medical Waste

Reuters: In Indonesia, Coronavirus Floods Cisadane River With Extra Hazard: Medical Waste 
For the residents along Indonesia’s Cisadane River, the coronavirus has brought not just deadly disease, but also a deluge of medical waste: a constant stream of syringes, face masks and hazmat suits floating by. The double threat for those who depend on the 138-kilometre-long river to bathe and wash their clothes comes as Indonesia has struggled to contain COVID-19, now with the highest death toll in Southeast Asia, and in the past week almost 3,000 new infections a day. (Cahya Budiman and Ardiansyah, 8/31)

AP: Hong Kong Begins Mass-Testing For Virus Amid Public Doubts
Hong Kong tested thousands of people for coronavirus Tuesday at the start of a mass-testing effort that’s become another political flash point in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Volunteers stood in lines at some of the more than 100 testing centers, though many residents are distrustful over the resources and staff being provided by China’s central government and some have expressed fear DNA could be collected. (Soo, 9/1)

Reuters: Text Books And Face Masks, Europe's Children Return To School 
Tens of millions of pupils returned to school in France, Poland and Russia on Tuesday, their rucksacks loaded with exercise books, geometry sets and, for many, face masks to protect them from a resurgent coronavirus pandemic. Hand cleansing stations, social distancing and staggered play time will become the new normal as countries across Europe seek ways to get children back into the classroom safely and their economies functioning once again. (Lough, 9/1)

AP: Portugal Communist Party Gets OK For 16,500 People At Event
Health authorities in Portugal are allowing the country’s Communist Party to let 16,500 people into its annual open-air festival next weekend -- an unusually high number for a gathering in Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic. The permit has caused an outcry because officials have for months slashed the number of people allowed into other public events, forcing many of them to cancel. (8/31)

And updates on the number of COVID-19 cases across the globe —

AP: Russia's Virus Cases Exceed 1 Million, Globally 4th Highest
Russia’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Tuesday as authorities reported 4,729 new cases. With a total of 1,000,048 reported cases, Russia has the fourth largest caseload in the world after the U.S., Brazil and India. Over 815,000 people have so far recovered, authorities said, and more than 17,000 have died. (9/1)

Reuters: India's Coronavirus Surge Eases Slightly As Millions Take Exams, Pubs Reopen 
India’s tally of coronavirus infections surged to nearly 3.7 million on Tuesday, as millions of masked students sat for college admission exams after the government refused to defer them. India, the world’s third most affected country by the pandemic after the United States and Brazil, reported 69,921 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the lowest in six days. (Ravikumar, 9/1)

AP: Asia Today: Australia Records Its Deadliest Day Of Pandemic
Australia recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic Monday as the government urged hot spot Victoria state to announce plans to lift a lockdown on the country’s second-largest city. Victoria’s health department reported 41 deaths from COVID-19 and 73 new infections in the latest 24-hour period. While the deaths were a state and national high, the tally of new infections was Victoria’s lowest since 67 new cases were recorded on June 30 in the early weeks of the second wave of the pandemic, which has primarily been concentrated in the state capital, Melbourne. (8/31)

The New York Times: A Coronavirus Second Wave Grips Spain 
At midday on Sunday, there were 31 patients inside the main coronavirus treatment center in Málaga, the city with the fastest-rising infection rate in southern Spain. At 12:15 p.m., the 32nd arrived in an ambulance. Half an hour later came number 33.The garbage can by the door overflowed with masks and blue surgical gloves. Relatives hovered in silence outside — one of them in tears, another feeling a pang of déjà-vu. (Kingsley and Bautista, 8/31)

Also, NPR looks at Canada's health care system —

PBS NewsHour: How Canada Got Universal Health Care And What The U.S. Could Learn
Naresh Tinani loves his job as a perfusionist at a hospital in Saskatchewan’s capital. ... But Tinani has also been on the other side of the system, like when his now-15-year-old twin daughters were born 10 weeks early and battled infection on life support, or as his 78-year-old mother waits months for new knees amid the coronavirus pandemic. While stressful, those moments helped make him “very proud” of his nation’s health care system, a cornerstone of Canadian national identity. (Santhanam, 8/31)