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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials just days ago hopefully declared the country’s COVID-19 epidemic was coming under control. But health authorities reported 63 new cases following a dual rise in local transmissions and imported infections. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday said at least 36 of the new cases came from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country’s 51 million people live. The KCDC didn’t immediately confirm whether the numbers included a new cluster of infections discovered at a front-line army unit where at least 13 troops have reportedly tested positive.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s “getting used to” wearing a face mask. He showed one off from the White House briefing room podium on Tuesday and urged Americans to follow his lead. The comments mark an about-face for a president who spent months resisting wearing a mask in public and once suggested they might be a political statement against him. But Trump now says he has “no problem" with the masks. He added: ”I view it this way: Anything that potentially can help, and that certainly can potentially help, is a good thing." Critics have blamed the president for fueling a partisan divide on the issue.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Some of the world’s largest government donors of humanitarian aid are buckling under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their funding commitments, for the virus and otherwise, have dropped by a third from the same period last year. The analysis obtained in advance by The Associated Press is a rare real-time look at the notoriously difficult to track world of aid. At a time when billions of people are struggling with the virus and ensuing economic collapse on top of long-running crises, more aid is needed, not less. But donor governments are struggling, too. The lack of aid has been called “devastating.”
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian authorities say a special police unit collected 420 bodies over five days in two cities, and 80% to 90% of the deceased are thought to have succumbed to COVID-19. The director of the special crime-fighting force said Tuesday that his officers recovered the bodies from streets, vehicles and homes in the capital, La Paz, and in Bolivia’s biggest city, Santa Cruz. As of Tuesday, officials said Bolivia has recorded 60,991 confirmed coronavirus infections and 2,218 deaths from COVID-19.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Army officials say the body of a Fort Hood solider was found near the Texas army base, marking the third time in a month that a Fort Hood soldier’s body has been discovered. Fort Hood officials said Tuesday that 26-year-old Pvt. Mejhor Morta was found unresponsive July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, a reservoir located in Bell County and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Fort Worth District. Bell County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident and didn't immediately respond to a request from the Associated Press seeking comment. Officials have not said whether the death is considered suspicious.
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