Muslims observe Eid al-Adha in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Twitter suspended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday for violating its policy against posting ’misleading information’ related to the coronavirus pandemic. Greene’s personal account was in ’read-only mode’ for 12 hours. Twitter also attached notices to two of the congresswoman’s tweets about COVID-19 vaccines. Greene has been an outspoken critic of mask and vaccine mandates.

Victoria in Australia reported a slight easing in locally acquired cases of COVID-19, and the nearly 7 million residents of the state are currently waiting to see how long a hard lockdown to contain the latest outbreak will last. A 5-day snap lockdown was imposed in Victoria last week, restricting people to their homes after a growing number of new infections were traced back to large gatherings.

The US State Department has issued a warning to citizens against traveling to the United Kingdom, as the country grapples with a rise in cases of the coronavirus. The department raised its travel advisory level for the UK to ’Level 4: Do not travel’ due to Covid-19. While most of the UK’s adult population is now fully vaccinated, new cases are approaching 50,000 a day.

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidance for the upcoming school year, as it recommended that anyone above the age of 2 wear masks inside schools to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, ’regardless of vaccination status.’ The new guidance regarding wearing masks in schools applies to students, teachers and staff.

President Biden walked back some of his criticism of Facebook, saying Monday he meant to accuse a dozen users, but not the social media platform itself, of spreading deadly lies about Covid vaccines. ’Facebook isn’t killing people,’ Biden said, adding that he hopes the platform will do more to fight ’the outrageous misinformation.’

U.S. airline stocks tumbled Monday as an uptick in Covid-19 cases raised concerns about the economic recovery. Delta Air Lines lost 3.7%, Southwest Airlines ended the day down 2.8%, United Airlines fell 5.5% while American Airlines dropped 4.1%. Shares of aircraft manufacturer Boeing dropped nearly 5% to $206.99, a more than five-month low.

Britain’s Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance has corrected his claim from a press conference earlier Monday that 60% of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 have had two doses of vaccine. ’About 60% of hospitalizations from COVID are not from double-vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalizations from COVID are currently from unvaccinated people,’ Vallance said.

18-year-old Kara Eaker, a fully vaccinated alternate on the US women’s gymnastics team has tested positive for COVID-19 while training for the Olympics in Japan. She is understood to have tested positive on Sunday, having traveled to Tokyo with three other alternates and the six main athletes who are expected to compete in the Games, including defending champion Simone Biles.

Tens of thousands of vaccinated Muslim pilgrims circled Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, while also maintaining physical distancing as the coronavirus takes its toll on the hajj for a second year running. The pared-down hajj of this year and last due to the COVID-19 outbreak impacts the ability of people outside Saudi Arabia to fulfil their Islamic obligation.

Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Great Britain said that he will be self-isolating for 10 days after he came into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. The British PM reversed an earlier announcement that he would not have to quarantine after facing an uproar. Johnson and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak had met recently with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who tested positive for COVID-19.

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics reported 3 cases of COVID-19 infection among athletes. More and more athletes are filling into the village as the Olympics draw nearer. Organizers reported 10 new cases connected to the Olympics including media, contractors and other personnel. An International Olympic Committee member from South Korea tested positive for the coronavirus on landing in Tokyo.

Three Democratic members of the Texas House of Representative who traveled to Washington, D.C., this week have tested positive for COVID-19. The trio, which were not identified, were fully vaccinated. They were among the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas for the nation’s capital on July 12 to break quorum in an effort to block a Republican-backed voting bill.

Over 100,000 people protested across France on Saturday against the government’s latest measures to push people to get vaccinated and curb rising infections by the delta variant of the coronavirus. Many answered calls to take to the streets by Florian Philippot, a fringe far-right politician and former right hand of Marine Le Pen. French health care workers have until Sept. 15 to get vaccinated.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary of England has tested positive for the coronavirus, and is experiencing mild symptoms. Javid got the positive result from a lateral flow test he took after feeling ’a bit groggy’ on Friday night. He said he was self-isolating at home with his family. Javid was made health secretary last month following the resignation of his predecessor, Matt Hancock.

Dr. Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County’s public health officer said Thursday that a rapid and sustained increase in COVID-19 cases in the nation’s largest county requires restoring an indoor mask mandate even when people are vaccinated. Davis however, said that people could still go out to eat and take off their masks only while eating and drinking.

Social media companies are ’killing people’ by failing to police misinformation on their platforms about COVID-19 vaccines, President Joe Biden said on Friday. Biden’s comments came a day after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared misinformation about the vaccines a threat to public health. ’The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated,’ Biden said.

White House officials warned that a ’pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is on the rise as new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are spiking across the US again. The most recent seven-day average of new infections jumped 70 percent from the previous average to about 26,300. Hospital admissions rose 36 percent to about 2,790 per day while deaths saw a 26 percent spike to 211 per day.

The Delta variant of COVID-19, which was first identified in India, is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people. US cases of COVID-19 are up 70 per cent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 per cent, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates.

A Ugandan Olympics athlete has been reported missing for their hotel in Japan after missing a coronavirus test. City officials and local police are now trying to locate the unnamed athlete. The athlete was last seen just after midnight on Friday morning local time and hotel staff raised the alarm at lunchtime after the athlete missed a COVID test.

Travelers returning to England from France will still be forced to quarantine next week even if they are double-vaccinated. All Britons who have had two Covid jabs heading back from amber list countries were told they would not need to complete up to 10 days’ isolation at home; however, this will remain the case for all those countries apart from France.

The Eiffel Tower reopened on Friday after an eight-month shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the iconic monument’s longest since World War II. As a countdown clock at the foot of the tower turned to zero, there were cheers and applause from visitors queuing to get in. Visitors will need a French government ’health pass’ from July 21 in order to visit the monument.

Leaders of the Pacific Rim, including United States President Joe Biden, his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin are gathering virtually as they aim to discuss strategies to help economies rebound from a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic. The special leaders’ meeting will be chaired by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said it was premature to rule out a potential link between the Covid-19 pandemic and a lab leak. Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of Covid-19. He urged China ’to be transparent.’

Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, pressed the White House to support efforts to preserve internet service to antigovernment protesters in Cuba. Cuban authorities blocked social media sites to stop the flow of information into, out of and within the country after thousands of Cubans began taking to the streets last weekend to protest limited access to COVID-19 vaccines and basic goods.