Countries tighten measures as global virus death toll nears 700,000

PARIS, France, August 5 ------ The global coronavirus death toll approached 700,000 Tuesday, as France and the Netherlands began tightening restrictions, and the Philippines placed millions of people back under lockdown. The hunt for an effective treatment continued meanwhile, with the United States launching trials of an antibody treatment for COVID-19.

In France, the scientific committee advising the government over the coronavirus crisis, warned that the country could lose control of its spread "at any time". Noting its increased circulation and that fewer people were respecting basic safety precautions, it warned: "The balance is fragile and we can change course at any time to a less controlled scenario like in Spain, for example." Paris, Toulouse and other cities announced that the wearing of masks would be compulsory in particularly busy streets and squares. People are already obliged to wear them inside most private businesses and all public buildings.

In the Netherlands, the same measure will be applied in Rotterdam and the famous red-light district of Amsterdam from Wednesday. And Ireland postponed the reopening of pubs and other nightspots on the advice of scientists, concerned about rising infections. French hotel chain Accor meanwhile announced a cost-cutting plan that included 1,000 job losses Tuesday, a day after it blamed the pandemic for net losses of 1.5 billion euros for the first half of the year. And the online travel agency Booking.com announced Tuesday it would cut up to a quarter of its 17,500 staff worldwide, its Amsterdam headquarters among the sites affected.

Source: philstar.com