Coronavirus shuts 13 percent of Spanish bars, hotels and restaurants: More than 60,000 new virus cases every day in US

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday, recorded more than 60,000 new cases of coronavirus infection for the seventh consecutive day, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.

With another 488 deaths and 61,288 cases registered in 24 hours, the country has a total of 140,922 deaths and 3.82 million cases, the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Tuesday).

President Donald Trump finally spoke out in favor of mask-wearing -- a marked change of tune as polls show him headed for election disaster in November as the US has emerged as the world’s worst-hit country in the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance," Trump wrote. "There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!"

Meanwhile, devastated by the loss of customers during the virus crisis, around 40,000 bars, hotels and restaurants in Spain have permanently closed, the hotel and catering industry said on Tuesday.

The figure amounts to 13 percent of such establishments in Spain, a country in which tourism plays a major role in the economy, and where the population tends to eat out very often, Spain’s hostelry federation said.

By the end of the year, that figure is expected to rise to 65,000 -- or 20 percent of the total. "It confirms our worst-case scenario," said José Luis Izuel, head of Hosteleria de Espana, at a press conference.

At the height of summer and a month after European borders were reopened, "in popular tourism areas, there are no tourists, that’s the harsh truth," he said. In areas like the Balearic Islands, he said, less than half the bars and restaurants had reopened.

Business was also terrible for restaurants in business districts of Spain’s biggest cities, which have remained largely deserted due to people working from home. "Working from home is affecting breakfasts, the (late-morning brunch run for) Spanish omelette and churros, and the lunch menu, particularly in Madrid," he said of a culture in which people often eat out from early in the day. The sector’s turnover could be slashed by as much as 50 percent, said the federation, which fears that between 900,000 and 1.1 million jobs, both direct and indirect, could be lost.

Speaking just hours after EU leaders approved a landmark 750-billion-euro ($860-billion) virus recovery deal, industry leaders said they wanted "significant resources" for a sector that represents six percent of gross domestic product and about nine percent of employment.

The world’s second-most popular destination after France, Spain was badly hit by the virus that has claimed more than 28,400 lives and dealt a major blow to its tourism industry, which accounts for 12 percent of GDP.

At the end of June, the government presented a 4.2 billion euro aid package for the tourism industry, mostly in the form of loan guarantees. But the sector has called for bigger gestures such as transferring funds, tax breaks or even "holiday voucher" schemes for Spaniards to subsidise holiday costs and boost national tourism, as seen in Italy.