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More than 1,000 people have been tested for Covid-19 following an outbreak being linked to a bingo night in Staffordshire, England.

There are 16 known cases linked to the event at Silverdale Working Men’s Club on 16 August, according to Staffordshire County Council.

It said anyone who tests positive is being told to self-isolate, while the contacts of those who test positive are being traced.

As part of the council’s test and trace efforts, it is urging anyone who visited certain venues in Silverdale or Newcastle on specific dates to get tested as soon as possible.

The venues are:
– Silverdale Working Men’s Club between 16 and 21 August
– The Bush pub between 20 and 22 August
– The Vine pub between 20 and 23 August
– The George and Dragon pub between 20 and 22 August
– Newcastle (King Street) Working Men’s Club on 22 August
– The Kiln on 22 August
– The Crown on 22 August
– Yates in Newcastle on 22 August
– The Roebuck pub on 23 August
– The Bilash restaurant on 24 August
– The Arnold Machin between 26 and 27
– The Westbury Tavern in Clayton between 26 and 27 August

Staffordshire County Council said testing continues over the bank holiday, with appointments available online or by turning up at a mobile testing unit in Knutton or walk-through centre in Newcastle.

All of the venues listed have carried out risk assessments and, with measures in place, can continue to open and welcome customers, the council added, PA reports.

Dr Richard Harling, director of health and care, said: “What we are seeing from test and trace activity is a widening network from the original bingo event as people met with friends and family and went out socialising.

“More than 1,000 people have already been tested, but we need everyone who was at any of the venues on the given dates to get tested.

“This is vital in our work to identify people who may have the virus and help contain the spread of infection even further.”

The UK recorded 1,715 daily confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to government data on Sunday, the highest level since 4 June.

One person had died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, it said.

The government said 41,499 people in total had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,200 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, PA reports.

Overall, 334,467 cases have been confirmed.

New York state governor Andrew Cuomo harshly criticised US president Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic on Sunday, and accused his administration of being “still in denial mode”.

Writing on Twitter, Cuomo decried the absence of a national strategy for testing and mask rules, which has put the onus of coming up with solutions on governments of individual states.

After New York was initially the worst-hit area in the country, new infections and deaths have dropped sharply after mass-scale testing was introduced.

Of the 100,022 tests reported yesterday, 698 were positive (0.69% of total), making Saturday the 23rd consecutive day with an infection rate of below 1%.

Total hospitalisations fell to 429 and 8 further people in the state died with Covid-19.

An unidentified US Open player thought to be France’s Benoit Paire has tested positive for coronavirus and will have to pull out of the US Open starting on Monday, French sports daily L’Equipe reported on Sunday.

Paire, seeded 17th at the Grand Slam event, was scheduled to play Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.

A USTA spokesman said he could “only confirm that a player has tested positive and has been withdrawn”.

The 31-year-old Paire arrived in New York to play the Western & Southern Open last week, a tune-up for the US Open, but he did not complete his first-round match against Croatia’s Borna Coric.

Paire appeared to be unwell during the match, asking for a doctor in the opening set before retiring in the second while trailing 6-0 1-0.

L’Equipe said fellow Frenchmen Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino, Gregoire Barrere and Edouard Roger Vasselin were also asked to self-isolate in their hotel rooms after Paire’s positive test.

The US Open is being played without fans and in a biosecure bubble due to the pandemic, but several high-ranking players skipped the tournament due to coronavirus concerns.

The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.

To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.

Titled “and suddenly it all blossoms”, this year’s edition of the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art has also been shortened from five months to three weeks that run from 20 August through 13 September.

“Andrejsala is a unique place inside the city, where former port buildings and constructions live together with wildlife but almost no people, which prompted us to think how nature would respond if there were no more people around,” Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, the chief curator, told AFP.

“We prepared the concept, and then, two months before the opening date, an actual pandemic catastrophe hit the world, making us rethink everything,” she added, explaining how the spacing of the exhibition was adjusted to the pandemic.

Due to travel restrictions, only a few of the featured artists made it to Riga.

Other works have come from across Europe and as far as China, but for the most part only Baltic artists have been able to present their installations in person.

Lamarche-Vadel said organisers are making a film to document the biennial and share it with those unable to attend owing to coronavirus restrictions.

All passengers who were on a flight from Zante in Greece to Cardiff in Wales have been asked to self-isolate after some on board tested positive for Covid-19.

Public Health Wales (PHW) said seven people on Tui flight 6215 on Tuesday have now tested positive for the virus.

On Monday, it was reported that 11 young people in Plymouth had tested positive after returning from a holiday to the Greek island.

Dr Giri Shankar at PHW said in a statement:

Cardiff and Vale Test Trace Protect and Public Health Wales have identified at least seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 from three different parties who were infectious on TUI Flight 6215 from Zante to Cardiff on 25 August. As a result, we are advising that all passengers on this flight are considered close contacts and must self-isolate.

“These passengers will be contacted shortly, but meanwhile, they must self-isolate at home as they may become infectious, even without developing symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should book a test without delay.

Coronavirus infections in the US are approaching 6 million as many Midwest states reported increasing cases on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally.

Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalised Covid-19 patients.

Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalisations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining but there are emerging hotspots in the Midwest.

Many of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which are holding some in-person classes.

Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.

Infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from 7 to 16 August.

The South Dakota health department said 88 cases have been traced to the rally.

A further three people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died at hospitals in England. The total number of confirmed hospital deaths in England now stands at 29,550.

No new coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Scotland or Wales.

In Scotland, a total of 123 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours – the highest figure in more than a week.

The number of people in hospital after contracting the virus fell by seven to 251.

In Wales, 56 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health Wales.

Police have said up to 3,000 people are thought to have travelled from across the UK to attend an illegal rave in Banwen, in Neath Port Talbot.

South Wales Chief Supt Simon Belcher said: “This type of illegal gathering is totally unacceptable and we are aware of the concerns it is causing for the local community.

“I would like to again remind people of their obligations under the current coronavirus legislation and the overarching goal for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh Government regulations to keep Wales safe.”

He added that police helicopter and traffic policing officers were helping with their efforts after around 3,000 people arrived at the gathering.

“We are looking at all pieces of legislation as to what action can be undertaken safely,” said Belcher.

“Unlawfully parked cars will be dealt with and people who continue, despite our advice, to try and attend this illegal event are being turned away.”

Olaf Scholz, a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, has condemned protesters who stormed the steps of the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin, some of them holding far-right flags.

The protesters gathered on Saturday to demonstrate against coronavirus curbs. Scholz said:

It is unacceptable that some now appear in front of the Bundestag building, the Reichstag building, the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament, with symbols from a bad dark past, flags that have nothing to do with our modern democracy.”

Schools will reopen in Nigeria’s coronavirus centre Lagos next month as part of plans to revive the economy as Covid-19 cases decline, the state governor said on Saturday.

Lagos plans to reopen colleges on 14 September, and primary and secondary school schools on 21 September, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said.

“The gradual easing doesn’t mean the pandemic is over,” he said in a tweet. “It is not an invitation to carelessness or nonchalance.”

The Lagos governor said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centers would also be allowed to reopen as long as they followed safety rules.

Nigeria has reported 53,727 infections in total – including 18,104 in Lagos – and 1,011 deaths.

Secondary schools reopened across Nigeria this month for pupils due to take graduation exams.