Following the earlier reports of partial and voluntary lockdown in Barcelona, Guardian journalist Stephen Burgen reports on the response in the city. Meritxell Budó, the Catalan government spokeswoman, urged people not to travel to their second homes for the weekend. The measures mirror those recently introduced in L’Hospitalet, a a large satellite town on the southern edge of Barcelona, as well as in Lleida and the surrounding rural area in north-west Catalonia. Budó said “the pandemic is advancing without cease” and said people “have to follow all the measures taken by the regional government”. She called for “personal and collective commitment”. Strictly speaking the lockdown can only be advisory in the absence of a state of emergency, which can only be imposed by central government. The state of emergency was lifted on June 21. Furthermore, the recommendations are confusing and apparently contradictory. People are being asked to stay at home but bars and restaurants remain open, albeit with a limited capacity. Children’s summer schools are also allowed to stay open. The only absolute prohibition imposed is on meetings of more than 10 people in the street, but even this will have to be ratified by a judge. The measures have been introduced after the regional health department said that 1,293 new cases had been recorded in Catalonia in the past 24 hours, a figure similar to that recorded in March at the height of the pandemic. In the course of a week the number of cases in Barcelona has tripled. India has become the third country to record more than 1m coronavirus infections, following the US and Brazil, as it reported 34,956 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national total to 1,003,832, Peter Beaumont reports. Amid evidence that the disease was taking hold in poorer, rural areas less well-served by public healthcare, the latest tally prompted renewed concerns about the country’s ability to cope with rising infections. The figures have been released after a week in which authorities in India were forced to impose new lockdowns, including fresh restrictions on 128 million people in the state of Bihar, which came into force on Thursday. Covid-19 cases in the France’s Brittany region, which is popular with tourists, have risen sharply in less than a week, according to government data. This is the latest indication that the virus is again gaining momentum in France. According to data released on today, the disease’s reproduction rate, known as the R0, in Brittany had risen from 0.92 to 2.62 between July 10 and July 14, Reuters reports. The number is one of several indicators authorities are watching when deciding on whether to reimpose tougher restrictions after ending the country’s lockdown in May. A reproduction rate of 2.62 means that each Covid-19 infected person is, on average, passing the disease on to between two and three other people. A rate of less than one is needed to gradually contain the disease. The government on Thursday accelerated plans to make it compulsory to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces amid concerns about renewed spikes of Covid-19, especially in areas in western and southern France that had been relatively spared during the height of the outbreak between March and May. Barcelona residents told to stay home amid rise in coronavirus cases Barcelona residents were urged to stay at home and to not gather in groups of more than 10 as regional authorities aim to curb a rise in coronavirus cases, without imposing a mandatory lockdown. Catalonia’s health chief Alba Verges said: We recommend that people don’t move around if it’s not absolutely necessary.” It is very important to respect these measures now, it’s the best way to avoid a lockdown.” Residents were urged to shop online and cultural and sports events will also be limited, Reuters reports. Barcelona, which is Spain’s second largest city with a population of 1.6 million people, has seen its number of coronavirus cases increase from last week. Spain reported the steepest daily jump in coronavirus infections in over two months on Thursday, with 580 new cases registered. Spain has been one of Europe’s hardest hit countries with more than 28,000 deaths in the pandemic. It emerged from a strict national lockdown on 21 June but since then more than 170 clusters have appeared, prompting regional authorities to impose a patchwork of local restrictions. Authorities in the Czech Republic have tightened restrictions in the north-east of the country after a spike in cases. Compulsory face coverings, limited restaurant opening hours and ordering checks on cross-border commuters have been reinstated. There have been 335 Covid-19 related deaths in the country but it has seen a new spike in infections in the past three weeks, mostly concentrated in the industrial Moravia-Silesia region bordering Poland and Slovakia. The area, which includes the city of Ostrava, is home to about 11% of the country’s 10.7 million population. The Czech Republic has reported more than 100 new cases in seven out of the past 10 days, with a large number from the north-east following an outbreak in the state-owned OKD coalmines, Reuters reports. The national tally of new positive cases hit 305 on 28 June when the mine outbreak peaked. The mine suspended most operations earlier this month after criticism that it had acted too slowly. Health minister Adam Vojtěch tweeted that from today the local hygienic station will extend the currently valid measures in the Karviná region to the entire region. In the region, the obligation to wear veils indoors and on public transport is being introduced. Urumqi, the capital of China’s far western region of Xinjiang, reported five new coronavirus cases on Friday, after the report of an earlier case, its first in months. The new cases has led to hundreds of flights being cancelled. The city also reported eight new asymptomatic cases, the regional health commission said, taking Xinjiang’s tally to six infections and 11 asymptomatic patients. Reuters reports epidemic control measures led to the cancellation of more than 600 scheduled flights at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport, or more than 80% of the day’s total, figures from aviation data firm Variflight showed. Subway services have also been suspended in Urumqi on Thursday. On Thursday, health authorities in Urumqi said a 24-year-old woman with symptoms such as a sore throat, fever and headaches, tested positive for the virus. Three people with whom she had close contact tested positive but did not show symptoms. Also on Thursday, the eastern province of Zhejiang reported an asymptomatic case involving a traveller from Xinjiang. The tally of mainland China’s confirmed infections was 83,622 by the end of Thursday, with the number of deaths remaining at 4,634. Another 104 asymptomatic patients were under observation. Beijing reported no new cases for an 11th consecutive day. Belgium may be at the start of a second wave of coronavirus infections after reporting a 32% increase in weekly cases, Reuters reports. However the resurgence appears more localised than the initial outbreak. Belgium reported zero new Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours on 14 July for the first time since 10 March. But the national public health institute Sciensano said today that new infections have been increasing. From 7-13 July, the country recorded an average of 114.7 confirmed new COVID-19 cases per day, a 32% increase from the previous week. This was still significantly below the 1,600 daily new cases the country logged at the peak of the pandemic. Virologist Marc Van Ranst told Belgium’s Radio 1: With the latest numbers and the recent increases of confirmed cases, you can clearly see that we are at the start of a second wave” However, Yves van Laethem, a spokesman for the Belgian health ministry, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF that the prospect of a second wave appeared to be localised to particular provinces for now. Speaking to Le Soir newspaper, virologist Marius Gilbert echoed this, adding that transmission rates remain relatively low. Health Minister Maggie de Block today called on Belgians to respect social distancing rules. Boris Johnson has unveiled the next steps in England’s coronavirus response, Simon Murphy reports. At a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister highlighted that local authorities will have new powers in their areas to enable the closure of specific premises, shut outdoor spaces and cancel events. In addition, new regulations will allow the government to intervene in local areas. He said: “Action for local councils will not always be sufficient, so next week we will publish draft regulations which clearly set out how central government can intervene more effectively at a local level. “Where justified by the evidence, ministers will be able to close whole sectors, or types of premises in an area or introduce local stay-at-home orders, prevent people entering or leaving defined areas, reduce the maximum size of gatherings beyond national rules or restrict transport systems serving local areas.” Johnson also said during the press conference he hopes for a “return to normality, possibly in time for Christmas”. Barcelona to ban gatherings of more than 10 people Reuters is reporting Catalonia’s regional authorities announced today they will restrict some activities in Barcelona, including asking people not to gather in groups of more than 10, to fight an increase in coronavirus cases. They have stopped short of imposing a lockdown and said the measures were meant to avoid having to do so. Good morning. I’m Gregory Robinson, taking over from Amelia Hill. If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter to share insight or tips, I’m on @Gregoryjourno or you can send me an email at gregory.robinson@guardian.co.uk And that’s Goodbye from me, Amelia Hill – and Hello to him, Gregory Robinson. I wish you a very fine rest-of-day and an even finer weekend. One final story before I sign off: Reuters is reporting the positive news that the euro zone economy may contract less this year than the European Central Bank had forecast and its recovery could also be quicker. According to the bank’s Survey of Professional Forecasters, the quarterly survey sees the economy shrinking by 8.3% this year, a downgrade from its May projection for a 5.5% drop but a more benign outcome than the ECB staff’s own estimate for an 8.7% drop. For next year, growth is seen at 5.7%, above the ECB’s staff’s 5.2% estimate in June. Although the eurozone suffered its biggest recession in generations, recent data suggest the economy bottomed out in April or May and a recovery is under way, even if it is bound to be choppy, uneven and prone to setbacks. The survey was also more optimistic about inflation as it sees 2020 price growth at 0.4% against the ECB’s 0.3% projection while inflation in 2021 is seen at 1% as against the ECB’s 0.8% prediction. The meeting between EU leaders continues. It’s their first face-to-face summit since the coronavirus crisis but there are low expectations of a deal as the leaders acknowledged that they are about as far apart from reaching a deal on an unprecedented €1.85tn ($2.1tn) EU budget and virus recovery fund as the seating distance imposed upon them for health reasons at their summit centre. “The differences are still very, very big and so I can’t predict whether we will achieve a result this time”, German chancellor Angela Merkel told Reuters, as she arrived at the Europa summit site. “I expect very, very difficult negotiations.” The challenges facing the 27 EU leaders some of whom arrived masked, some unmasked are formidable, Reuters reports. Their bloc is suffering through the worst recession in its history and member states are fighting over who should pay the most to help other countries and which nations should get the most to turn around their battered economies. The BBC is reporting that French president Emmanuel Macron said it was a “moment of truth” for Europe and the next hours would be decisive. The main issue is how much of the recovery fund will be handed out in grants and how much in loans. They also need to agree on a seven-year budget worth another €1.07tn. European council president Charles Michel acknowledged that the talks would be “very difficult”, but Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said nobody should lose sight of the big picture: “We’re faced with the biggest economic depression since the second world war.” Despite the allegations that Russian hackers tried to steal UK coronavirus vaccine research, Russia says it expects a deal for it to make a Covid-19 vaccine that is being developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University to go ahead. Reuters is reporting that Russia sees western allegations that it tried to steal others’ vaccine data as an attempt to “unfairly undermine credibility” of its own vaccine. The Trump administration is considering banning travel to the US by all members of the Chinese Communist party and their families, Reuters is reporting. Quoting “a person familiar with the matter”, the move would almost certainly prompt retaliation against Americans seeking to enter or remain in China and exacerbate . Senior officials discussing the matter have begun circulating a draft of a possible presidential order but deliberations are at an early stage and the issue has not yet been brought to President Donald Trump, the anonymous source is reported as having said. First reported by the New York Times, discussions centre on whether to deny visas to tens of millions of Chinese in what would be one of Washington’s toughest actions yet in a widening feud with Beijing that some have likened to a new Cold War. Such a ban, if implemented, could hit the ruling Communist party from the highest levels down to its rank-and-file and would be certain to draw retaliation against Americans who travel to China. This could include not only diplomats but also business executives, potentially harming US interests in China. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said earlier such action by the US, if true, would be “pathetic”. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo stopped short of confirming it was under consideration but said: “We’re working our way through, under the president’s guidance, about how to think about pushing back against the Chinese Communist party.” The New York Times reports that the presidential proclamation, still in draft form, could also authorise the US government to revoke the visas of party members and their families who are already in the country, leading to their expulsion. Some proposed language is also aimed at limiting travel to the US by members of the People’s Liberation Army and executives at state-owned enterprises, though many of them are likely to also be party members. Still on the race to develop a vaccine, the South China Morning Post is reporting that researchers in Australia have devised a test that can determine novel coronavirus infection in about 20 minutes. Using blood samples in what they say is a world-first breakthrough, the researchers at Monash University said their test can determine both if someone is currently infected and if they have been infected in the past. “Short-term applications include rapid case identification and contact tracing to limit viral spread, while population screening to determine the extent of viral infection across communities is a longer-term need,” the researchers said in a paper published in the journal ACS Sensors on Friday. Hundreds of samples can be tested every hour, the researchers said, and they hope it can also be used to detect antibodies raised in response to vaccination to aid clinical trials. A patent for the innovation has been filed and the researchers are seeking commercial and government support to scale up production. In (potentially) positive news, Reuters is reporting that India’s Zydus Cadila plans to complete late-stage trials for its potential coronavirus vaccine in March 2021 and could produce up to 100 million doses a year if trials are successful. Cadila’s vaccine candidate, dubbed ZyCov-D, is one of dozens being developed around the world to fight the coronavirus. The Times of India reported on Covaxin, another Indian vaccine, which has been approved for clinical testing. Produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, Covaxin is also underway to start testing. Participants across regions have been identified and more updates regarding the same are awaited. The paper reports that the work on Zydus Cadila’s novel vaccine was accelerated after authorities found promising results in pre-clinical trials, which were conducted on animals like mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats who developed necessary antibodies to fight the infection. It was also found that the vaccine candidate was by far safe and “well-tolerated” in early studies. Interestingly, the paper notes, Zydus Cadila is also involved in the production of experimental anti-viral medication to treat COVID-19, the much-debated Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). The South China Morning Post is reporting that African leaders are ‘turning on’ their citizens as efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus fall short and already fragile health care systems struggle to cope with an influx of patients. The message from governments in several nations that initially praised their citizens for supporting efforts to contain the pandemic has shifted, with some officials now chastising them for not doing enough. The paper reports that the change in tone marks an attempt by the continent’s leaders to absolve themselves of some of the responsibility for the escalating number of infections, and head off potential social unrest, quoting Amaka Anku, head of the Eurasia Group’s Africa practice. Infections took off relatively slowly in the world’s poorest continent after many nations imposed stringent lockdowns, but confirmed cases soared as economies reopened, breaching the 600,000 mark this week. Maintaining physical distancing has proved difficult in many crowded slums, and appeals to wear masks have often gone unheeded, with some questioning the seriousness of the disease. In South Africa, which has almost half the continent’s confirmed virus cases, the government has faced criticism for imposing some seemingly arbitrary lockdown rules that caused undue economic hardship. While the authorities initially conceded they had made mistakes and pledged to rectify them, President Cyril Ramaphosa went on the offensive this week and railed against those who went on drinking sprees, organised parties and failed to wear masks in public.