The Latest: New Mexico closes state parks, suspends sports

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico authorities will halt indoor restaurant service, close state parks to nonresidents and suspend autumn contact sports at schools in response to surging coronavirus infections in the state and in neighboring Texas and Arizona. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled the sweeping...

COVID-19 pandemic in Africa is now reaching 'full speed'

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic in Africa is reaching “full speed,” the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief said Thursday, while a South African official said a single province is preparing 1.5 million graves. Just a day after confirmed coronavirus cases across...

The Latest: China easing into reopening as local cases wane

BEIJING — China says it has nine new confirmed coronavirus cases, all of them brought from outside the country, and no new deaths. Thursday’s report buttresses growing signs the virus has been essentially contained inside the nation in which it first appeared late last year. The near elimination...

Africa's confirmed COVID-19 cases surge above a half-million

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Africa now has more than a half-million confirmed coronavirus cases, while South Africa's health minister declared Wednesday that “we have now reached the surge.” The continent-wide total is over 509,000, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,...

Africa's confirmed coronavirus cases now above a half-million as South Africa becomes a global hot spot

The Latest: New Zealand to charge patient who went shopping

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand authorities say they will press charges against a coronavirus patient who escaped quarantine in Auckland and went shopping at a supermarket. Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the head of managed isolation and quarantine, said the 32-year-old man escaped through a fence at...

Hospitals approaching capacity as Miami closes restaurants

MIAMI (AP) — Hospitals rapidly approached capacity across the Sunbelt, and the Miami area closed indoor dining at restaurants and gyms again because of the surging coronavirus Monday, as the U.S. emerged from a Fourth of July weekend of picnics, pool parties and beach outings that health officials fear...

Zimbabwe nurses protest; South Africa reopens some classes

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — At least 12 nurses were arrested in Zimbabwe on Monday when they were demonstrating against their working conditions, complaining that they do not have adequate protective gear to safely treat COVID-19 patients. Thousands of nurses working in public hospitals stopped reporting for...

Africa starts opening airspace even as COVID-19 cases climb

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — As COVID-19 cases surged in many parts of the world, the island nation of the Seychelles was looking good: 70-plus straight days without a single infection. Then the planes arrived. Two chartered Air Seychelles flights carrying more than 200 passengers also brought the coronavirus. A...

The Latest: Australia’s most populous state to close border

SYDNEY, Australia — The leader of Australia’s most populous state says her government’s decision to close its border with hard-hit Victoria state marks a new phase in the country’s coronavirus pandemic. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has long been a critic of states that...