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In a world plagued by pandemic, Vietnam seemed like a miracle. As months went by without a single recorded coronavirus death, or even a confirmed case of local transmission, residents began leaving their face masks at home. Noodle shops resounded with the clack of chopsticks and sipped broth. Schools opened. ... But over the weekend, Vietnam, which had gone about 100 days without a single confirmed case of local transmission, announced that the virus was lurking in the country after all — and it was spreading. (Beech and Doan, 7/29)

Spikes in novel coronavirus infections in Asia have dispelled any notion the region may be over the worst, with Australia and India reporting record daily infections on Thursday, Vietnam preparing to test thousands and North Korea urging vigilance. Asian countries had largely prided themselves on rapidly containing initial outbreaks after the virus emerged in central China late last year, but flare-ups this month have shown the danger of complacency. “We’ve got to be careful not to slip into some idea that there’s some golden immunity that Australia has in relation to this virus,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. (Packham and Pal, 7/30)

Seven babies were stillborn at Harare Central Hospital in Zimbabwe on Monday night after urgent treatment was delayed because of staffing issues, two doctors have confirmed to the BBC. Nurses are on strike nationwide because of a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other concerns, and the maternity wards were overwhelmed.One doctor said Monday's deaths were "the tip of the iceberg." (Harding, 7/29)

Masked pilgrims arrived Thursday at Mount Arafat, a desert hill near Islam’s holiest site, to pray and repent on the most important day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The global coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over every aspect of this year’s pilgrimage, which last year drew 2.5 million Muslims from across the world to Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon nearly 1,400 years ago. (Patrawy, 7/30)

Australia’s coronavirus hot spot, Victoria state, will make wearing masks compulsory after reporting a record 723 new cases on Thursday, mostly among the vulnerable residents of aged care homes.Masks have been compulsory for the past week in the state capital, Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city with 5 million people, and a neighboring semi-rural district. (McGuirk, 7/30)

As the sun went down, their partying got into full flow, with an unwanted guest: the coronavirus. An outbreak among 18- to 25-year-olds at a seaside resort on the Brittany coast is crystallizing fears that the virus is flaring again in France, on the back of vacationers throwing COVID-19 caution to the summer winds.With 72 infections by Wednesday — mostly among that age group — uncovered in a week of furious contact tracing, the cluster on the Quiberon peninsula was thought to have originated with a supermarket summer worker who partied with others at a nightspot. (Leicester and Pedram, 7/30)

A Japanese court on Wednesday for the first time recognized people exposed to radioactive “black rain” that fell after the 1945 U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima as atomic bomb survivors, ordering the city and the prefecture to provide the same government medical benefits as given to other survivors. The Hiroshima District Court said all 84 plaintiffs who were outside of a zone previously set by the government as where radioactive rain fell also developed radiation-induced illnesses and should be certified as atomic bomb victims. All of the plaintiffs are older than their late 70s, with some in their 90s. (Yamaguchi, 7/29)