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Some countries are beginning to ease shutdown conditions amid signs that the coronavirus outbreak is stabilizing.
Nearly 240,000 people have died of coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Worldwide, more than 3.3 million people have been infected.
Here are the latest updates from around the world:
China
China, where the pandemic started in December, reported a new infection and no deaths within 24 hours until midnight on Friday.
The country has reported a total of 82,875 confirmed cases and 4,633 deaths.
The National Health Commission reported that 43 people were released from hospitals on Friday after being declared recovered, bringing the total to 77,685. There were a total of 557 people still in the hospital on the mainland.
The tightening of restrictions continues in China, with the country’s most populous cities experiencing a surge in commuters, tourists and hikers outbound on May 1, the first day of a long holiday weekend.
The number of people traveling outside their home cities increased 40 percent at the start of the weekend, compared to the first day of the previous holiday weekend on April 4, according to data from Chinese internet giant Baidu.
Spain
Runners, cyclists and surfers from all over Spain left their homes on Saturday and were allowed to exercise outdoors for the first time in seven weeks when the government began to ease strict restrictions on the coronavirus.
In Madrid, cyclists and skaters walked the wide boulevards of the city. The Barcelona beach was full of runners, while surfers and paddle surfers paddled enjoying the waves.
Crowds could be a cause for concern for authorities, who have emphasized that reducing restrictions should be cautious and for exercise, not for socializing.
Struck by one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the world, Spain imposed a strict closure in March, confining the majority of the population to their homes for all but essential trips. Sports and recreational rides were prohibited.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that countries should gradually lift the blockades, while they are ready to re-establish restrictions if the virus recedes.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a four-phase plan this week to return to the country what he called “the new normal” by the end of June.
On Saturday, Sánchez said his government would approve a € 16 billion reconstruction fund to help regional authorities deal with the social and economic damage from the coronavirus.
Speaking at a press conference, Sánchez also announced that wearing masks on public transportation would be mandatory starting Monday.
Spain has registered a death toll from coronavirus of 25,100, according to data from the Ministry of Health on Saturday, and more than 216,582 cases.
The blockade has affected the economy, and the government expects gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 9.2 percent in 2020.
United Kingdom
Britain’s coronavirus death toll rose from 621 to 28,131, Housing Minister Robert Jenrick said on Saturday, making it the highest death toll in any European country, apart from Italy.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week that Britain had passed the peak of coronavirus infections and his government next week will describe the next stage of its strategy, although the blockade is expected to continue.
Travelers in Britain could be asked to check their temperature at home before traveling based on plans to ease the blockade.
France
The number of people who died of coronavirus infections in France increased from 166 to 24,760 on Saturday, while hospitalizations for the disease and people in intensive care units continued to decline, according to the French health ministry.
Saturday’s daily count was noticeably lower than the 218 recorded on Friday.
The number of people in the hospital with Covid-19 fell to 25,827 from 25,887 on Friday, and the number of people in intensive care with the virus fell to 3,827 from 3,878. Both numbers have been on a downward trend for more than two weeks.
Travelers to France, including French citizens returning home, will face a mandatory two-week quarantine and possible isolation when they arrive in the country to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the health minister said Saturday.
U.S
Gilead Science Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir on Friday received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the coronavirus, clearing the way for broader use of the drug in more U.S. hospitals. United.
The United States has the majority of cases and deaths with more than 1 million and at least 63,200 respectively, with much of the country locked up to contain the spread of the virus.
Americans in about half of the US states. The US, led by Texas and Georgia, began to emerge from home confinement on Friday, while California and New York held firm in the face of business closings and other restrictions.
Texas began a gradual reopening of businesses closed more than a month ago on Friday, with restaurants, retail stores and shopping malls authorized to open to 25 percent of capacity. A second phase is planned for May 18 if infection rates continue to decline.
Malaysia
Malaysian authorities are detaining undocumented immigrants as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, authorities said, after hundreds of migrants and refugees were detained in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Authorities said 586 undocumented immigrants were arrested during a raid Friday in a downtown area where many foreigners live, a move the United Nations said could push vulnerable groups underground and prevent them from seeking treatment.
The detainees included young children and ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, human rights groups said.
Police said the operation aimed to prevent undocumented immigrants from traveling to other areas amid movement restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the outbreak, state news agency Bernama reported.
The United Nations urged Malaysia to avoid detaining migrants and releasing all children and their caregivers, warning that overcrowded detention centers carry a high risk of increasing the spread of the virus, also known as Covid-19.
Authorities on Saturday defended plans to ease the coronavirus blockade measures next week, even as the number of new infections rose to a maximum of two weeks.
The number of new infections with the new coronavirus increased by 105 on Saturday, the largest daily increase since April 16. The number of known infections totaled 6,176, while deaths were 103.
Russia
Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, its biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, with a total of 124,054, mainly in the capital Moscow, where the mayor threatened to cut the number of travel permits.
The death toll across the country rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the past 24 hours, Russia’s coronavirus crisis response center said, after reviewing the count the day before.
Russia has been in a partial shutdown since the end of March. In Moscow, people who have not obtained a special permit for free movement can only leave their homes to buy, walk their dogs and throw out the garbage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the restrictive measures, called non-working days, to continue until May 11 inclusive, when the country finishes celebrating the Labor Day and Victory Day holidays.
Singapore
Selected companies will be allowed to reopen starting May 12 in a cautious pushback from Singapore’s two-month partial shutdown to stem the spread of the virus.
The city-state has seen a sharp increase in infections, with 932 new cases on Saturday to bring its total to 17,101. About 85 percent of his infections are related to foreign workers living in crowded dormitories.
Despite this, the health ministry said cases in the local community have decreased. He said the average daily infection rate in the community has more than halved to 12 in the past week, while cases with unknown sources have also dropped to an average of six per day.
Pakistan
Pakistan recorded its largest single-day increase in new Covid-19 infections with 1,297 cases reported, bringing the country’s total from 220 million people to 18,114.
The increase also coincides with an increasing number of daily tests being carried out. In the past 24 hours, Pakistan conducted more than 9,000 tests, also its largest test in a single day as it struggles to scale up to the daily tests of 20,000 promised nearly two weeks ago by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
As the number of new cases increases, images in local newspapers showed that large numbers of worshipers attended some of Pakistan’s mosques with only sporadic signs of the government’s social distancing rules when it refused to close mosques during Ramadan, the fasting month of Islam.
The Khan government has also suggested that it could ease the closing rules governing retail stores ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, later this month.
South Korea
South Korea has reported six new cases of coronavirus, continuing a streak of less than 100 months.
Infections continue to decline in the worst-hit city of Daegu, where no new cases were detected.
Figures released by the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday raised the national figures to 10,780 cases and 250 virus-related deaths.
At least 1,081 cases have been linked to international arrivals, but these cases have also decreased in recent weeks as the government strengthened border controls, such as the application of 14-day quarantines to all passengers coming from abroad. – AP / Reuters / PA
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