The Latest: China to test city of 9 million amid new cases

Speaking on BFM TV, he said that the rate of positive tests reached 17% in the region.France is one of Europe’s hardest-hit countries, with at least 32,730 virus-related deaths.———HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:— Supreme Court nominee Barrett faces Senate despite virus— Trump insists he’s free of virus, ready for campaign trail— COVID-19 coverage safety net has plenty of holes in U.S.— DC charters lead the way on in-school teaching experiment———— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak———HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:———COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan officials say they have suspended bringing back expatriates stranded overseas due to the coronavirus because the country’s quarantine facilities are full.Army Commander Shavendra Silva, who heads the task force to control the pandemic, says Sri Lanka’s quarantine facilities have filled up amid a steep rise in COVID-19 patients in the past week.Sri Lanka had earlier announced that it successfully contained the spread of the virus, and no local clusters were reported for two months.However, a cluster that originated from a garment factory earlier this month has led to 1,307 new cases in just one week.In all, the Indian Ocean island nation has recorded 4,791 cases, including 13 deaths.———BUDAPEST, Hungary — Health authorities in Hungary say the number of coronavirus patients needing hospital treatment jumped by 166 overnight to 1,418, the highest number since the outbreak of the pandemic.The country of 10 million has so far recorded 38,837 cases of coronavirus infections, including 968 deaths.Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned last week that the pandemic is set to gain momentum over the coming months and that a vaccine would not be available until the summer of 2021 at the earliest.Apart from making the wearing of masks compulsory on public transportation and in shops, the government has so far refrained from reintroducing restrictive measures similar to those implemented in the spring.———BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakia is imposing a new restrictive measure that limits the number of people who can meet in response to a record surge of coronavirus infections.The government says only up to six people are allowed to gather, starting on Tuesday. Cinemas, gyms and tourism sites can reopen at a maximum 25% of capacity.———SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has confirmed 97 new cases of the coronavirus, a modest uptick from the daily levels reported last week, just as officials ease social distancing restrictions after concluding that transmissions have slowed following a resurgence in mid-August.The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Monday brought the national caseload to 24,703, including 433 deaths.Sixty-three of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, home to half of the country’s 51 million people, where health workers have struggled to track infections tied to various places and groups, including churches, hospitals, schools, workers and troops.Twenty-nine of the new cases were linked to international arrivals, including 13 passengers from Nepal, most of whom who came to South Korea for a Korean language program.South Korea relaxed its social distancing guidelines beginning Monday, allowing high-risk businesses like nightclubs and karaoke bars to open as long as they employ preventive measures, such as requiring masks and keeping lists of visitors.Spectators will also be re-allowed in professional sports, although teams will be initially allowed to only sell 30% of their seats in stadiums.———JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. He says that his family and the state police trooper who accompanied his family all wore facial coverings.———MIAMI — Florida officials have reported the state’s biggest one-day total of confirmed coronavirus cases since late August, a day after not releasing any pandemic data because of a problem with a private testing laboratory.The Florida Department of Health said Sunday there were 3,700 new cases in the previous 24 hours and 1,790 for the day before that.