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Two patients were reinfected with the coronavirus in Europe, according to local broadcasters who confirmed the incidents with virologists. The patients, one from Belgium and the other from the Netherlands, were confirmed to have been reinfected with COVID-19, Reuters reported. (Vella, 8/25)

Guatemala’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that eight minors out of 60 on a deportation flight from the United States tested positive for COVID-19 after their arrival. The ministry said Tuesday the teenagers were placed with child welfare authorities for treatment or observation. The flight was carrying minors aged 11 to 17 and landed in Guatemala City Friday after taking off from Alexandria, Louisiana. (8/26)

The European Union is offering only partial protection to vaccine makers against legal risks from side-effects of their potential COVID-19 shots, European officials said, in a move that is hampering deals and contrasts with U.S. policy. With vaccines being developed at record speed during the pandemic, there is potentially a greater risk they may have unexpected consequences or may not be effective. The financial coverage of these liabilities is a key feature of drugmakers’ talks with governments keen to secure vaccine shots in advance. (Guarascio, 8/26)

First came the notices that Chinese officials had declared a “wartime” state. Then the authorities started going door to door, sealing off apartments and warning residents to stay inside. The Chinese government in recent weeks has imposed a sweeping lockdown across the Xinjiang region in western China, penning in millions of people as part of what officials describe as an effort to fight a resurgence of the coronavirus. (Hernandez, 8/25)

Health officials in South Korea ordered thousands of striking doctors to return to work as the country counted its 13th straight day of triple-digit jumps in coronavirus cases. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said those who refuse could have their licenses suspended or revoked, or even face a prison term of less than three years. (8/26)

The coronavirus is exposing an uncomfortable inequality in the billion-dollar system that delivers life-saving aid for countries in crisis: Most money that flows from the U.S. and other donors goes to international aid groups instead of local ones. Now local aid workers are exposed on the pandemic’s front lines with painfully few means to help the vulnerable communities they know so well. Often lacking protective equipment, the groups are carrying a bigger burden than ever as COVID-19 adds to the already vast challenges of conflict, drought and hunger in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. (Anna, 8/26)

pain is fighting back a second wave of coronavirus — with no consensus on the way forward. The spread of the virus has accelerated in Spain this summer, with 2,415 new cases diagnosed just on Tuesday. The country now has Europe’s highest incidence of COVID-19, with 173 positives per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks. Regions such as Catalonia have reported more than 1,000 cases per day for four days in a row, while the number of positives is surging in Madrid and the Basque Country.  (Gallardo and Martuscelli, 8/26)

It will be mandatory for pupils to wear face masks in communal areas of secondary schools in England in places with local lockdowns, Britain’s education minister Gavin Williamson said on Wednesday after a government U-turn on enforcing their use. Ministers had ruled out the need for pupils to wear masks in corridors despite updated advice from the World Health Organization (WHO), but the government has now said face coverings should be worn in schools in places facing restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. (8/26)

Jamaica’s Minister of Health says legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.Minister Christopher Tufton said Bolt was aware of the results and his recent contacts were being traced. “It is now public knowledge that Mr. Bolt has tested positive. He has been formally notified, I’m told by the authorities,″ Tufton told reporters Monday evening. “’It triggers an approach to questioning, interrogation if you will, which we follow through with contact tracing.” (8/25)

Polio has been declared eradicated from Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. "Today we come together to rejoice over a historic public health success, the certification of wild poliovirus eradication in the African region," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a livestreamed event. (Thomas and Salaudeen, 8/25)

Senegal has reported its first yellow fever case since early 2018, which involves a 5-year-old girl from an area with low vaccine coverage, the WHO's African regional office said in its weekly outbreaks and health emergencies report today. The girl's symptoms began on Jun 24, and she was initially seen and treated by a traditional healer. She is from the Darou Marnane Ndia area of Touba, Senegal's second-largest city, which is located in the central part of the country. (8/25)