In the United States, the city of Jacksonville, where US President Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination, enacted a mandatory mask requirement for public and indoor locations, and "in other situations where individuals cannot socially distance."
This is a reversal from city leaders. On June 23, Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry said he didn't plan to issue a mask mandate.
The Republican event is scheduled to be held in Jacksonville in late August.
The head of the World Health Organisation says the coronavirus pandemic is "not even close to being over" and that the outbreak is accelerating globally.
At a news briefing today, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that tomorrow marks six months since the UN health agency was first informed of a cluster of unusual pneumonia cases in China - the first indications of the coronavirus' emergence.
"Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world and our lives would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus," he said, noting the WHO has since recorded more than 10 million cases and 500,00 deaths globally.
Tedros warned that because "most people remain susceptible" to the virus, the world is still only in the early stages of the outbreak. "The worst is yet to come. With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst."
Swiss authorities say 20 people who were patrons of a bar outside Zurich have tested positive for the coronavirus, and it is suspected that the virus spread there from an outbreak at club in the city.
Aargau canton (state) authorities said that patrons of the bar in Spreitenbach who were infected had been linked to the "superspreader event" at the Flamingo Club in Zurich.
They said that they were in contact with the infected people and other others and "where necessary, quarantine has been ordered."
Italy added six new victims and 126 new coronavirus infections to its official Covid-19 toll, one of its lowest daily tallies since the outbreak began four months ago in the onetime European epicentre.
Three of those new infections are in the northern Veneto region, which is now ordering tests for foreign home care workers after a cluster developed among returning Moldovans.
Spanish health authorities are closely watching how coronavirus clusters involving agricultural workers in northern Spain and that have infected some 300 people over the past two weeks are evolving.
Spain has recorded 84 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours, including among people who showed no clear symptoms of the Covid-19 disease. There have been three new recorded deaths.
In Brazil, Sao Paulo state, the epicentre of the country's crisis, will start fining people who are unmasked in public areas.
Governor João Doria said the penalty will be equivalent to US$92 and will be enforced by sanitary agents. Doria said a fine 10 times higher will be given to stores for each unmasked client who is allowed in.
More than 14,000 of Brazil's 57,000 confirmed fatalities from Covid-19 are in Sao Paulo state. Doria issued a decree in the beginning of May saying masks should be worn in public spaces, but it did not stipulate any penalty for people who didn't. The use of masks has been mandatory in Sao Paulo city's public transport since May.
Authorities have extended by a week a partial lockdown in a western German district hit by a big coronavirus outbreak at a slaughterhouse.
The measures were imposed on Guetersloh county, home to some 360,000 people, for an initial one-week period nearly a week ago.
Cinemas, gyms and bars were closed, but stores remained open and restaurants have been able to serve customers from the same household. People from the district have faced restrictions on travel elsewhere in Germany.
Japan's capital city of Tokyo reported 58 new cases of coronavirus, as the number remained at recent highs since last week and a top government official said the trend doesn't look good.
The number of cases in Tokyo rose to 60 yesterday, the highest since early May and nearly doubling from 31 five days ago.
About half of recent daily confirmed cases have been detected among staff or customers of Tokyo's nightlife districts.
Movie theatres, casinos and children's summer camps reopened in Greece today, while concerts, conferences, commercial fairs and artistic events can once again be held, in the latest phase of the country's easing of lockdown measures.
Outdoor summer movie theatres have already been open for several weeks, but this is the first time indoor theatres will be able to operate since the lockdown was imposed in March.
Yesterday, Greece reported no new deaths and 10 new cases, for a total of 191 deaths and 3376 confirmed cases. The country has gradually been easing restrictions.
On Thursday, international flights will be allowed at regional airports across the country once more. Currently tourists can fly into only Athens or the northern city of Thessaloniki.
- AP
