160,000 Catalans back into lockdown; Florida records new daily death toll high; India Covid-19 cases top 900,000 * Italy’s call for urgent help ignored as virus swept through Europe * Fauci stands ground as Trump works to undermine him * Coronavirus vaccine tracker: how close are we to a vaccine? * UK coronavirus updates – live * US coronavirus updates – live 4.24pm BST Day one of direct flights from the UK to Greece has got off to what some are calling an inauspicious start. No sooner had the first air links commenced with flights to the likes of Cephalonia and Corfu when the government announced that concern over rising coronavirus cases was such that prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis would be holding an emergency meeting with senior cabinet members to discuss possible enforcement of new restrictions. The wearing of masks and local lockdowns are reportedly on the agenda with some epidemiologists suggesting that fines may now be in order for those who fail to don face coverings. The result of the mass testing … will determine if Greek borders remain open or not to Britain. If the number and percentage of those found to be positive is low, and is limited to less than 30 to 40 cases, then with constant inspections and epidemiological oversight, the British tourist market will remain open. 3.48pm BST SOUTH AFRICA’S cases of Covid-19 were set to reach 300,000 on Wednesday, the most in Africa and in the top 10 in the world, despite a swiftly imposed lockdown aimed at preventing infections spiralling as they did in the West. Africa’s most industrialised nation has 298,292 cases at the last count, and with positive tests now increasing at a rate of more than 10,000 a day, it is all but certain to vault over the 300,000 mark when the ministry releases nightly figures. Continue reading...