The Latest: New Zealand has 1st virus death in 3 months - Minneapolis Star Tribune

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported its first death from the coronavirus in more than three months on Friday.

Health authorities said a man in his 50s died at an Auckland hospital where he was being treated for the virus following a small outbreak in the city that began last month. New Zealand has reported more than 1,700 cases and 23 deaths.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand would keep its current coronavirus restrictions until at least mid-September.

A lockdown in Auckland has been eased, but crowd sizes are limited across the country and masks mandated on public transport.

"As with last time, a cautious approach is the best long-term strategy to get our economy open and freedoms back faster in the long term," Ardern said.

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HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

— August jobs report likely to point to a still-slow recovery for US employment

— Mexican officials downplaying infections and deaths among medical personnel, thought to be highest rate in the world

— The death of an Alabama town's mayor has brought a reckoning in the place where he spent his entire life

— Chickens replace students in Kenyan school as struggling educators make what money they can after studies postponed

— Follow AP's pandemic coverage at https://ift.tt/2xPjH8c and https://ift.tt/2wrCaXK

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

NEW DELHI — The number of people infected with the coronavirus in India rose by another 83,000 and is near Brazil's total, the second-highest in the world.

The 83,341 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India's total past 3.9 million, according to the Health Ministry. Brazil has confirmed more than 4 million infections while the U.S. has more 6.1 million people infected, according to Johns Hopkins University.

India's Health Ministry on Friday also reported 1,096 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 68,472.

India's case fatality rate of 1.75% is well below the global average of 3.3%, the ministry said. Experts have questioned whether some Indian states have undercounted deaths.

India added nearly 2 million coronavirus cases in August alone.

In a country of 1.4 billion people, only those places most affected by the virus remain under lockdown. People are crowding markets and other public spaces with potential safety measures like masks and social distancing largely unenforced.

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SYDNEY — Australian authorities have added 53 deaths at nursing homes from earlier this year to the country's total of coronavirus deaths.

Those deaths plus six that officials reported Friday for the previous 24 hours raises Australia's toll from the pandemic to 737.

Victoria state officials say the 53 earlier deaths were determined from reconciling numbers from July and August. An outbreak in the city of Melbourne has raced through dozens of aged-care homes, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

The outbreak in the state appears to be slowly waning, with Victoria officials reporting 81 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday.

Victoria state chief health officer Brett Sutton says that "this is the stubborn tail of the epidemic curve."

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