Coronavirus updates: Millions go back into lockdown around the world - BBC News
Cities and states on several continents reimpose coronavirus restrictions as cases rise again.
President Rajoelina takes a swig of the Covid-Organics tonic, the efficacy of which is unproven Image caption: President Rajoelina takes a swig of the Covid-Organics tonic, the efficacy of which is unproven

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, who made headlines in May touting a plant-based tonic cure for Covid-19, has announced the deaths of several high-profile figures from coronavirus, including two MPs, a Unicef representative and a WHO doctor. Soldiers have been deployed in the capital, Antananarivo, to enforce a 15-day lockdown, following a spike in cases.

Kenya’s largest maternity hospital tested 290 members of staff for coronavirus and found 41 of them had Covid-19. The authorities at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in the capital, Nairobi, have sought to calm fears and say those infected are isolating and receiving treatment at home. Meanwhile, churches and mosques in the deeply religious country will also be able to reopen from today, four months after their closure - though some are opting not to do so.

The reinstatement of a ban on alcohol in South Africa prompted some thieves to target an off-licence in Cape Town. But they reportedly left the wine untouched - opting only for hard stuff. “They basically emptied the whiskies out,” Mark Kallend, shop owner of Liquor Bothasig, told the News24 site. It is hoped the ban will take pressure off the health system, which deals with many trauma cases caused by alcohol-fueled violence.

A girls’ high school in Ghana’s capital, Accra, has been hit by an outbreak, with 55 confirmed cases. The girls have been transferred to treatment and isolation centres. The West African country allowed final-year students back into classrooms last month to allow them to sit exams. Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo is still in quarantine as a precaution after a member of his close circle tested positive for the virus last week.