Hello and welcome to our global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I am Helen Sullivan, with you for the next few hours.
You can contact me at Twitter @helenrsullivan with comments, questions and news about where you live.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a television interview that there is “huge evidence” coronavirus originating from a Chinese laboratory, but he did not provide any of these alleged tests.
But, writes The Guardian’s Julian Borger, “when he was reminded that US intelligence had issued a formal statement to the contrary, that the scientific consensus was that the virus was neither artificial nor genetically modified,” Pompeo replied: “That is correct. I agree with that. ‘”
Meanwhile, in Brazil, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has been encouraging his supporters to protest, even when the country’s cases exceed 100,000.
Here are the main developments of the last hours:
- Bolsonaro fuels protests in defiance of health councils. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has spent another weekend sparking street protests in defiance of calls from his own health ministry for citizens to stay home due to the coronavirus.
- Brazil passes 100,000 confirmed cases. There have been 4,588 new cases of coronavirus in Brazil and 275 deaths in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to more than 100,000.
- United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there is “huge evidence” coronavirus originating from a Chinese laboratory – but did not provide any of the alleged evidence.
- Italy reports the lowest toll since the first day of closure. Italy has reported 174 new coronavirus deaths, its lowest number since 168 deaths were recorded when the country’s closure began on March 10. The 1,389 new infections were also the lowest since the first week of March.
- UK will test a new tracking program. The UK will test a new coronavirus screening program next week on the Isle of Wight, near the south coast of England, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove announced as the government seeks to minimize the risk of a second wave of infection.
- France’s tracking app is expected to enter testing week on Monday. The contact tracking application “StopCOVID”, supported by the state of France, is due to enter its testing phase a week on Monday when the country begins to unwind its closure, a government minister said.
- Portugal lowers the state of emergency. Portugal has lowered its state of emergency to a “calamity” category as the rate of new coronavirus infections reached its lowest level since the start of the outbreak, six weeks after the state of emergency was declared.
- Singapore registers 657 new infections, the vast majority of them foreign workers living in dormitories, bringing the total city-state to 18,205.
- The Pope has called for any successful Covid-19 vaccines to be shared worldwide. He said that international scientific cooperation would be important in discovering a vaccine, and emphasized that it is “important to unite scientific capabilities, in a transparent and impartial manner.”
- NHS England has announced another 327 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19. The total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals in England is now 21,180.
- A coalition of artists, celebrities, scientists and intellectuals warned that the indigenous peoples of Brazil are at serious risk of a “genocide” of Covid-19. Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, David Hockney and Paul McCartney are among those who signed an open letter to the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro.
- Vietnam has confirmed its first Coronavirus case in nine days, which means its total now stands at 271. The country’s closure was eased in late April and a Covid-19 death has yet to be recorded.
- Serie A footballers, the most important division in Italy, will be able to start individual training sessions starting Monday. It is the last step in a series of cautious moves to restart high-level sport in Europe, which has also seen players in England and Germany allow different degrees of training on the ground.
- A third of the 500 randomized tests for coronavirus in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul have tested positive. Fear has grown that one of the world’s most fragile states may harbor undetected widespread infections.
