Coronavirus live news: US cases near 2 million as Mexico confirms record daily infections

Brazil deaths near 40,000; Pence claims protests have not increased cases; Belgian Prince fined for going to party; Follow the latest updates US cases near 2 millionMexico confirms 4,883 coronavirus cases in new one-day recordGlobal report: EU nations continue steady exits from lockdownAustralia coronavirus updates – liveSee all our coronavirus coverage 2.53am BST The Australian federal government’s $200m purchase of Covid-19 testing kits from Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation caught the Australian diagnostics industry by surprise, lacked transparency and came after a detailed audit showed there was “more than enough technology already in the field”, the sector’s peak body has claimed.The mining magnate and philanthropist announced in April that he had secured 10m Covid-19 PCR tests for Australia from the Chinese manufacturer Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) at a cost of $200m, which would be refunded by the federal government. Related: ‘More than enough’ capacity before government spent $200m on Andrew Forrest Covid-19 tests 2.37am BST Latin America’s coronavirus crisis reached a grim new milestone on Wednesday with total deaths exceeding 70,000, according to a Reuters count, as Mexico hit a daily record for confirmed infections.Brazil, with the largest economy in the region, remains Latin America’s most affected country as total fatalities are just shy of 40,000, the world’s third highest death toll after the United States and Britain. Continue reading…
Via: Coronavirus live news: US cases near 2 million as Mexico confirms record daily infections