Coronavirus live news: Trump says Covid-19 will 'go away' because of 'herd mentality'

The Czech Republic reported 1,677 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday – its highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic.

As of Tuesday evening, health ministry data showed the overall number of cases in the country – which has a population of 10.7 million – stood at 38,896.

In Ukraine, a record 76 coronavirus-related deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Wednesday.

The country’s previous record – 72 – was registered last week. The council said 162,660 cases were recorded in the country as of 16 September, with 3,340 deaths and 72,324 people recovered.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• India’s coronavirus cases have passed 5 million, testing the country’s feeble health care system in tens of thousands of impoverished towns and villages.The Health Ministry reported 90,123 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the nation’s confirmed total to 5,020,359, about 0.35% of its nearly 1.4 billion population. It said 1,290 more people died in the past 24 hours, for a total of 82,066. India’s total coronavirus caseload is closing in on the United States’ highest tally of more than 6.6 million cases and expected to surpass it within weeks.
• In the US, at least seven people have died in connection to an outbreak in Maine following a wedding reception held over the summer that violated state virus guidelines, public health authorities said.
• US President Donald Trump said that Covid-19 would go away without a vaccine. This would happen because of “herd mentality,” he said in an ABC town hall. It is unclear whether he meant heard immunity, as he repeated the phrase several times.“It would go away without the vaccine George,” he said speaking to ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos. “With time it goes away. And you’ll develop like a herd mentality. It’s going to be herd developed, and that’s going to happen. That will all happen.”
• New Zealand reported a second consecutive day of no new community cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday.
• Half the world’s schoolchildren are still unable to attend classrooms due to the pandemic. Around 872 million – more than half of whom have not been able to study remotely – are not allowed to attend school in person, Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore said.
• Dáil reconvenes after Irish minister tests negative for Covid-19. Ireland’s minister for health Stephen Donnelly has told RTE that his Covid-19 test has come back negative.Earlier today, Irish cabinet ministers were told to restrict their movements as a precaution after Donnelly contacted his GP to request a test after feeling unwell.However, ministers no longer need to do this following the negative test result and were back in the chamber by 8pm.
• Nearly a fifth of South Africans may have contracted coronavirus, the country’s health minister has said. South Africa has recorded 650,749 cases, but the actual number of infections could be “about 12 million”, Zweli Mkhize said.
• Sweden has recorded its fewest daily Covid-19 cases since March. The country’s rolling seven-day average of new cases stood at 108 on Tuesday, its lowest level since 13 March.
• The Netherlands has hit a daily record of new coronavirus cases. A total of 1,379 new infections – the majority reported in Amsterdam and The Hague – were recorded in the country on Tuesday.

The government of the state of Victoria in Australia is facing three class-action lawsuits over the lockdowns imposed during Melbourne’s second wave of coronavirus, with potentially thousands of plaintiffs seeking damages.

Victoria reported 42 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and eight people died of Covid in the preceding 24 hours.

This week a Melbourne legal firm, Carbone Lawyers, filed a claim on behalf of workers who had lost income or suffered psychological damage due to strict social distancing laws. The managing partner, Tony Carbone, told Guardian Australia more than 100 plaintiffs had signed on prior to Wednesday:

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,901 to 263,663, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.

The reported death toll rose by six to 9,368, the tally showed.

Mexico reported 4,771 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 629 additional fatalities on Tuesday, bringing its totals to 676,487 infections and 71,678 deaths, according to updated Health Ministry data.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely to be significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus could be three or four weeks away, underscoring predictions made by US public health officials and Pfizer Inc earlier this month, Reuters reports.

Trump, speaking at a town hall hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, defended his handling of the coronavirus crisis, and said a vaccine could be ready for distribution soon.

“We’re very close to having a vaccine,” he said. “If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals. And we’re within weeks of getting it you know could be three weeks, four weeks.”

India’s coronavirus cases have passed 5 million, testing the country’s feeble health care system in tens of thousands of impoverished towns and villages.

The Health Ministry reported 90,123 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the nation’s confirmed total to 5,020,359, about 0.35% of its nearly 1.4 billion population.

It said 1,290 more people died in the past 24 hours, for a total of 82,066.

India’s total coronavirus caseload is closing in on the United States’ highest tally of more than 6.6 million cases and expected to surpass it within weeks.