Britain and France tighten mask requirements

The two European countries had both hesitated to require face coverings because of the coronavirus pandemic. But British Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday announced that customers in shops and supermarkets must begin wearing masks on July 24. And French President Emmanuel Macron said his country will require masks in all indoor public spaces starting on Aug. 1 in anticipation of a possible resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

How is the rest of the world doing? Authorities in Queensland, Australia, threatened those who break quarantine rules with up to six months in jail. The state recently reopened its borders to residents of all states except Victoria. Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, reported 270 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the number of active infections in Australia’s worst-hit state to 4,000. Disney is closing its theme park in Hong Kong until further notice after the city announced a new ban on public gatherings of more than four people. And India is quickly climbing toward 1 million infections after recording more than 100,000 new cases over four days.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report in Globe Trot about the global record rise in COVID-19 cases on Sunday.