Coronavirus updates, June 14: Latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from Pakistan and around the world
Nationwide confirmed cases jump past 142,000, death toll surpasses 2,600; global death toll tops 430,000
Updated Sunday Jun 14 2020
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 142,263 on Sunday after new infections were confirmed in the country.
The province-wise break up of the total number of cases as of 10:23pm, June 14, is as follows:
Total confirmed cases: 142,263
• Sindh: 53,805
• Punjab: 52,601
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 18,013
• Balochistan: 8,177
• Islamabad Capital Territory: 7,934
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 1,129
• AJK: 604
Deaths: 2,663
• Punjab: 969
• Sindh: 831
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 675
• Balochistan: 85
• Islamabad Capital Territory: 75
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 16
• AJK: 12
More than 7.79 million people have been reported infected with the novel coronavirus globally and over 430,000 have died, according to an AFP tally.
Read on for the latest updates from Pakistan and around the world.
Disclaimer: There may be some discrepancy in the number of confirmed cases reported at the country level due to differences in figures quoted by federal and provincial authorities.
Geo News is constantly gathering fresh information from concerned authorities and striving to keep our readers up to date with the most accurate information available.
Orange: General updates coming in from Pakistan
Red: Reports on new cases in Pakistan
Maroon: Reports on new deaths in Pakistan
Green: Reports on recovered patients in Pakistan
END OF LIVE UPDATES FOR JUNE 14
Live updates for June 15 to continue here.
11:31pm — Beijing, China — Mass virus testing after new cases surface triggering lockdowns
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10:23pm — Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan — Region reports 34 new cases, 25 recoveries
10:11pm — Peshawar, Pakistan — KP reports 14 more deaths, 563 new cases
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has reported 14 more deaths in the province, taking the grim total to 675.
A rise in cases by 563 was also reported, taking the total to 18,013.
09:30pm — Quetta, Pakistan — Balochistan reports 2 deaths, 149 cases
08:59pm — Karachi, Pakistan — Sindh's cases at a glance
08:28pm — New Delhi, India — Delhi to use 500 railway coaches as hospital facilities to fight coronavirus
India’s federal government has said it will provide New Delhi’s city authorities with 500 railway coaches that will be equipped to care for coronavirus patients, after a surge in the number of cases led to a shortage of hospital beds.
The coaches will increase Delhi’s capacity by 8,000 beds, home minister Amit Shah said on Twitter after a meeting with the capital’s chief minister.
The government will also ramp up testing in the city, especially in containment zones, conduct a door-to-door health survey of residents and provide sufficient supplies of oxygen cylinders and ventilators, he said.
India is the fourth-worst affected country in the world, with cases steadily increasing. It reported a record single-day jump in cases on Sunday, adding nearly 12,000 confirmed infections and taking the total to more than 320,000, according to health ministry data.
08:07pm — Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka stages mock election as trial for August parliamentary vote amid COVID-19 challenges
07:42pm — London, UK — Racism contributed to disproportionate UK BAME coronavirus deaths: inquiry
An official British government inquiry has found racism to be a contributor to the high number of deaths in the black, Asian and minority communities, according to Guardian.
It says that: “Stakeholders pointed to racism and discrimination experienced by communities and more specifically BAME key workers as a root cause to exposure risk and disease progression.”
It continues: “Racism and discrimination experienced by BAME key workers [is] a root cause affecting health and exposure risk. For BAME communities, lack of trust of NHS services resulted in reluctance to seek care.”
Read more here.
07:10pm — Moscow, Russia — Putin says Russia's handling of coronavirus is superior to US
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia was emerging from the novel coronavirus epidemic with minimal losses, having handled it better than the United States where he said party political interests got in the way.
With 528,964 confirmed cases, Russia has the third-highest number of infections after Brazil and the United States.
Its official death toll stands at 6,948, much lower than in many other countries, including the United States which has had over 115,000 deaths. The veracity of Russian statistics has sometimes been the focus of fierce debate however.
“...We are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and, with minimal losses... But in the (United) States that is not happening,” Putin told state TV.
Russia’s political system had handled the crisis better than its US counterpart, said Putin, because authorities at federal and regional level had worked as one team without disagreements unlike those in the United States.
People flouting safety rules may have psychopathic personality traits: study
In a study soon to be published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science, 502 people were asked to answer questions online about how closely they are following guidelines to safeguard against the virus.
"The researchers also asked personality-related questions to determine where survey participants fell on scales for conscientiousness, cooperativeness, neuroticism, tendency to take risks, meanness, and lack of restraint," reported Business Insider.
The findings reveal that people who lacked low on neuroticism, tendency to take risks, meanness, and lack of restraint, were more likely to follow safety protocols. Meanwhile, people rating high on these traits were less likely to follow protocols.
The author of the study, Pavel Blagov, said these traits are also common psychopathic traits.
Find out more here.
6:10pm - Beijing, China — Beijing confirms eight new COVID-19 cases in first seven hours of June 14
Beijing city confirmed eight new coronavirus cases in the first seven hours of June 14, a city official said on Sunday.
Beijing health official Pang Xinghuo said at a second press conference on Sunday that these eight cases are all linked to Xinfadi market, a major food wholesale market in the city’s southwestern Fengtai district.
All 43 cases in Beijing reported in the previous three days were also linked to the market.
5:55pm - Madrid, Spain — Spain brings forward border opening for Schengen countries to June 21
Spain will open its borders to countries in the European Union’s Schengen area on June 21, ten days before previously announced, except for Portugal where the border will open on July 1, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday.
One of the world’s most visited destinations, Spain is still closed to tourists and those allowed to travel from abroad have to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
The Spanish government had previously said it would allow foreign tourists to enter Spain on July 1 without self-quarantining, apart from the Balearic Islands which could start receiving German tourists on Monday as part of a test programme.
5:45pm - Tashkent, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan to reopen borders for some air travellers
Uzbekistan will reopen its borders to some air travellers from June 15 with quarantine procedures depending on their country of origin, the Central Asian nation’s government said on Sunday.
The borders, closed since March, will reopen for diplomats, their family members, investors and medical tourists, as well as Uzbeks leaving the country for study or medical treatment, the cabinet said in a statement.
Depending on where they are coming from, visitors will be either quarantined, placed under observation at home, or just let in; the latter will apply to those arriving from China, Japan, South Korea and Israel.
The former Soviet republic has confirmed 4,966 COVID-19 cases with 19 deaths.
5:15pm — Karachi, Pakistan — Civil hospital to resume testing from tomorrow onwards, confirms MS
Coronavirus testing will resume at Karachi’s Civil Hospital from Monday onwards, confirmed medical superintendent Khadimm Hussain.
According to Hussain, the laboratory had stopped its testing service on Friday due to the additional pressure that it got.
4:45pm - Karachi, Pakistan — Pakistan's positive cases cross 141,000
Nationwide positive cases of coronavirus rose to 141,517 after new cases were reported in Sindh.
According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, 2,287 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours.
The new cases takes the provincial tally of positive cases to 53,805.
4:45pm - Karachi, Pakistan — Countrywide death toll rises to 2,647
Nationwide death toll from the coroanvirus rose to 2,647 after new deaths were reported in Sindh.
According to Sindh CM, 15 new deaths were recorded in province taking the provincial tally to 831.
4:15pm - London, UK — UK might be able to change quarantine rules for travellers: Finance minister
Britain’s government is looking at options for its two-week quarantine for people entering the country and might be able to make changes to the rules, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday.
“We all want to see travel open again, of course we do, and like everything else we want to make sure we have the right measures at the right time informed by the science and everything else that we have to consider,” Sunak told BBC television.
“We are looking at all options to ensure that that is possible and people have got suggestions about how we might be able to open up some travel corridors over time and so the transport secretary is actively looking at all of those options.”
The government has come under heavy pressure from the travel industry and other sectors over the quarantine policy which it introduced last week. Airlines said it will hammer jobs and tourism.
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3:45pm - Tehran, Iran — Iran daily virus deaths exceed 100 for first time in 2 months: ministry
Iran on Sunday reported over 100 new deaths in a single day from the novel coronavirus for the first time in two months.
In televised remarks, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari announced 107 Covid-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall toll to 8,837.
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2:15pm - Madrid, Spain — Spain to open borders to EU Schengen countries on June 21: reports
Spain will open its borders to countries in the European Union’s Schengen area on June 21, except for Portugal where the border will open on July 1 as previously announced, Spanish media including El Pais newspaper and Ser radio station reported.
The Spanish government had previously said it would allow foreign tourists to enter Spain on July 1 without self-quarantining, apart from the Balearic Islands which could start receiving tourists on Monday as part of a test program.
1:55pm - London, UK — UK will look at two-meter distancing rule urgently: finance minister
Britain’s government will review its two-meter social distancing rule as a matter of urgency as it tries to help the country’s economy recover from a 25% collapse after the onset of the coronavirus crisis, finance minister Rishi Sunak said.
Sunak said progress in tackling the spread of COVID-19 meant the country was able to take a “fresh look” at the two-metre rule which many employers have said will make it harder for them to get back up to speed after the coronavirus lockdown.
1:25pm - Peshawar, Pakistan — PTI MPA Dr Sumaira Shams tests positive for virus
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr Sumaira Shams has tested positive for the coronavirus said the lawmaker Sunday.
The MPA states that she had gotten her test done after showing symptoms of the virus. She added that she has isolated herself at her home following the test results.
1:05pm - Islamabad, Pakistan — President Alvi inquires health of Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid
President Arif Alvi on Sunday telephoned Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid to inquire about his health after he was taken to the hospital last night due to ill health.
The minister told the president that the doctors were taking good care of him and assured him that he’s fighting the coronavirus.
12:45pm - Sydney, Australia — Australia's largest states further ease coronavirus curbs
Australia’s two largest states will further ease public coronavirus restrictions at libraries, community centres and nightclubs, officials said on Sunday, despite recording increases in new infections.
New South Wales (NSW), the most populous state, said that from July 1, a 50 person limit on indoor venues such as restaurants and churches would be scrapped, so long as the venues observed a one person per four square metre rule.
Nightclubs and music festivals would also be allowed to operate from August if new cases remain low, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. The state on Saturday reported the first locally transmitted COVID-19 case in weeks, and state officials on Sunday said there had been nine new infections since late Friday.
In neighboring Victoria, where pubs and other venues are currently limited to 20 people, indoor businesses will be allowed to have up to 50 seated patrons from June 22, said state premier Daniel Andrews.
All sports for children would resume, he said. Indoor sports centres and physical recreation spaces like gyms will be allowed to host 20 people, with caps of up to 10 adults per group, he added.
Strict lockdown restrictions and the closure of state and national borders have allowed Australia to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with many parts of the country claiming to have eliminated the disease.
With only 102 deaths, much lower than most other developed nations, the federal government has stepped up pressure on state and territory leaders to reopen internal borders, a step viewed as key to reviving the country’s economy.
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12:05pm — Beijing, China — China Southern Airlines flight from Dhaka to Guangzhou suspended over COVID-19 cases
A China Southern Airlines flight from Dhaka to Guangzhou will be suspended for four weeks from June 22 due to concerns about COVID-19 infections, China's aviation regulator said on Sunday.
Seventeen passengers on a June 11 flight from the Bangladeshi capital to the southern Chinese city tested positive for the coronavirus, meeting the conditions for a "circuit breaker" suspension of the service, the Civil Aviation Administration of China in a statement.
China reported 19 new confirmed cases involving travellers from overseas for June 13, with 17 of them arriving in Guangdong province.
11:45am — Berlin, Germany's — Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise to 186,269
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 247 to 186,269, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.
11:20am — Multan, Pakistan — PTI’s Wasim Khan tests positive for virus
PTI’s Punjab Assembly member Wasim Khan has tested positive for the virus, the MPA said on Sunday.
“I have isolated myself after my coronavirus test came back positive yesterday,” Khan said.
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10:55am — Rawalpindi, Pakistan — Sheikh Rashid says ‘feeling better’ after being admitted to hospital
Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said he was feeling much better after he was shifted to a hospital after he was tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Public needs to take coronavirus seriously and take precaution,” Rashid said.
He added he was feeling much better than last night. “My treatment is continuing under the best doctors and nursing staff,” he added.
Rashid had been shifted to the Military Hospital Rawalpindi on Sunday night after said he was feeling unwell. The minister earlier this week had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Global coronavirus cases cross 7.78 million, death toll at 428,995
More than 7.78 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 428,995 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
10:05am — Karachi, Pakistan — 79 employees at police training centre test positive for virus
At least 79 employees at the Saeedabad police training centre in Karachi have tested positive for the coronavirus, Principle Shaukat Khatyal said on Sunday.
According to Khatyal, the infected include two DSPs, an SP, inspectors and sub-inspectors.
He added, more than 400 officers and officials are enrolled at the training station at the moment.
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9:40am — Islamabad, Pakistan — Confirmed cases rise to 139,000, death toll jumps to 2,632
Confirmed cases in the country climbed to 139,320 after new cases were recorded in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday.
According to the national dashboard, 771 new cases were recorded in Islamabad, 51 in GB and 30 new cases in AJK in the past 24 hours.
The country’s death toll also climbed to 2,632 after new deaths were reported in Islamabad and AJK.
9:10am — Beijing, China — China reports 57 new virus cases, highest daily count since April
8:45am — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Brazil registers 850,514 confirmed cases and 42,720 deaths
Brazil has registered 850,514 confirmed cases of new coronavirus and the total death toll reached 42,720, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.
Brazil registered 21,704 new cases over the last 24 hours and 892 deaths.
8:30am — Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico reports 3,494 new coronavirus cases
Mexico's health ministry reported 3,494 new confirmed coronavirus infections along with 424 additional fatalities on Saturday, bringing the total in the country to 142,690 cases and 16,872 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the official count.
AstraZeneca agrees to supply Europe with 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
AstraZeneca Plc has signed a contract with European governments to supply the region with its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British drugmaker’s latest deal to pledge its drug to help combat the pandemic.
The contract is for up to 400 million doses of the vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, the company said on Saturday, adding that it was looking to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, which it said it would provide for no profit during the pandemic.
Deliveries will start by the end of 2020.
10:32pm/June 13 — Quetta, Balochistan —PCR testing kicks off at Khuzdar teaching hospital laboratory
The Balochistan government has announced that PCR testing will now be conducted in the laboratory developed at the Khuzdar teaching hospital.
Khuzdar and other nearby districts will be able to utilise the facility for testing.
The facility marks a significant increase in testing capacity for the province.
07:22pm/June 13 — Lahore, Pakistan — Actemra drug approved for trial
Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said that the Actemra drug has been approved for trial by the government.
An initial trial of 1,000 doses will be carried out.
According to a notice by the specialised healthcare department, the trial will be conducted "under strict criteria" in public hospitals and under the supervision of a coronavirus experts advisory group.
Dr Rashid said that so far, in whichever patient had been given the drug and who had recovered, it could not be ascertained if the drug alone led to the recovery.
07:06pm/June 13 — Quetta, Pakistan — Balochistan govt scraps decision to allow reopening of restaurants
Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani has said that after receiving complaints over safety measures not being adequately taken, the government has scrapped the decision of allowing restaurants to reopen.
He said that hotels and restaurants are allowed to entertain take away orders.
