The Latest: Belgium to make indoor mask wearing mandatory

The Latest: Belgium to make indoor mask wearing mandatory

NEW DELHI — India’s is reporting another record one-day spike in coronavirus cases, prompting some states to reimpose lockdowns in high-risk areas.

The 26,506 cases reported Friday bring India's total to 793,802 infections. The Health Ministry also reported another 475 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 21,604.

The ministry said the recovery rate was continuing to improve at more than 60%

The eastern state of Bihar reimposed a full lockdown in the state capital Patna and four other districts for a week beginning Friday to curb a surge in cases.

India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh, with nearly 230 million people, announced a weekend lockdown beginning Friday night. All private shops and businesses across the state will remain closed except pharmacies and shops selling groceries, milk and produce.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Australia’s Victoria state reports new daily record of 288 cases.

— The World Health Organization is acknowledging the possibility that COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions.

— Texas hits new record for virus deaths as hospitals scramble.

— United Nations says Latin America and Caribbean are COVID-19 `hot spot.’

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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A second man in New Zealand this week is facing charges for escaping from a hotel where he was being held in quarantine, this time allegedly to buy alcohol.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, head of managed isolation and quarantine, said the man cut through fence ties at the Distinction Hotel in Hamilton on Thursday and was gone for about 30 minutes, visiting a nearby liquor store before returning.

The man made his first court appearance Friday and wasn’t required to enter a plea.

Earlier this week, another man, who’d recently returned from India, escaped from his Auckland hotel and allegedly went shopping at a supermarket. He later tested positive for the virus.

New Zealand has eliminated community transmission of the virus and is trying to contain cases at the border by placing new arrivals into a 14-day quarantine at various hotels.

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ISLAMABAD — Even as Pakistan crosses the 5,000 mark for the number of deaths due to COVID-19, it’s daily infection rate continues to drop with 2,751 new cases during the last 24 hours.

The numbers reported Friday are down from a high just a few weeks earlier of nearly 9,000 a day.

Pakistan’s testing rate has also dropped, with 23,255 tests carried out in the last 24 hours from a previous high last month of more than 32,000 daily tests.

Prime Minister Imran Khan warned Pakistanis on Thursday that infection numbers could soar if people ignore precautions like mask wearing and social distancing during the Eid-al Adha holy days beginning at the end of July.

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s coronavirus hotspot Victoria state has become the first to recommend its residents wear masks in some circumstances after posting a new record daily tally of 288 new cases.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the tally reported Friday reflected a new record of more than 37,500 tests in a day. The previous case record was 191 set on Tuesday.

Andrews recommended Victoria residents wear masks if they can’t maintain 1.5 meters (5 feet) social distancing such as when they’re on public transport or in supermarkets.

Australia will more than halve the rate at which its citizens and permanent residents can return home on international flights to reduce numbers in hotel quarantine.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday the number allowed to return to Australia each week would be reduced by more than 4,000 from next week.

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SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico authorities will halt indoor restaurant service, close state parks to nonresidents and suspend autumn contact sports at schools in response to surging coronavirus infections in the state and in neighboring Texas and Arizona.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled the sweeping orders Thursday. She says they take effect Monday, saying that “we are at war with COVID-19.”

Cancelled autumn sports include football and soccer and affect not only public schools but recreational leagues for all ages. People exercising outdoors will be expected for the first time to wear a mask.

The governor says nonresidents who enter New Mexico with out-of-state plates should be prepared to answer questions about their compliance with the 14-day self-quarantine mandate.

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PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is ordering restaurants to work at half of their capacity, but he has declined to shut them down entirely as authorities seek to control a strong coronavirus outbreak that has doubled the daily case count in two weeks.

The governor also said Thursday the state will increase testing with a focus on low-income areas of Phoenix as many people report it hard or impossible to find tests.

Arizona continues to report record highs for hospitalizations and use of ventilators. After a drop in the number of new cases in the early part of the week, they shot back above 4,000 on Thursday.

Officials reported 75 additional deaths, increasing the state’s total to 2,038. The additional 4,057 confirmed cases reported Thursday brought the total to 112,671.

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SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea has reported 45 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus as health authorities scramble to stem infections in major cities across the country.

The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought the national caseload to 13,338, including 288 deaths.

Twenty-three of the new cases were in the populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of a virus resurgence since late May. Infections were also reported in other major cities such as Gwangju and Daejeon.

Health authorities say they are stuck in a difficult game of “whack-a-mole,” with new clusters popping up from various places — including churches, restaurants, nightspots and office buildings — as people increasingly venture out in the public.

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BEIJING — China has reported four new confirmed coronavirus cases, and officials say all of them were brought from outside the country.

No new deaths were reported Friday and 342 people remain in treatment. An additional 121 people are in isolation and being monitored as being suspected cases or for testing positive for the virus without showing any symptoms.

China has reported 4,634 deaths from COVID-19 among 83,585 confirmed cases since the virus was first detected late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

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JACKSON, Miss. — Officials in Mississippi say the state’s five largest hospitals had no intensive care unit beds available for patients by midweek because of a surge in coronavirus cases. Four more hospitals had 5% or less of ICU beds open.

Mississippi has one of the fastest-growing rates of new coronavirus cases in the U.S.

Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that starting early next week, he will require people to wear masks in public places in the 13 counties showing the greatest recent increases in cases. Business owners in those counties will be asked to screen employees for infections.

Reeves says he also will limit gatherings to 10 people indoors and 20 outdoors in the 13 counties. The current statewide limit is 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.

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