UK coronavirus death toll rises to 31,587
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UK coronavirus death toll rises to 31,587
The death toll from coronavirus in Britain has risen to 31,587, an increase of 346 in a 24-hour period.
Transport Minister Grant Shapps made the statement at the government’s daily news briefing reports Reuters
More than 1,000 queue for food in rich Geneva amid virus shutdown
More than 1,000 people queued up on Saturday to get free food parcels in Geneva, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the working poor and undocumented immigrants even in wealthy Switzerland.
The line of people stretched for more than 1 km (half a mile) outside an ice rink where volunteers were handing out around 1,500 parcels to people who started queuing as early as 5 am reports Reuters.
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Slovakia records no new coronavirus cases for first time since March 10
Slovakia on Friday recorded no new cases of coronavirus for the first time since March 10, government figures showed.
The central European country of 5.5 million has had fewer cases and deaths than neighbouring countries. Cases total 1,455 while 26 people have died and 919 have already recovered reports Reuters.
The government on Wednesday reopened all shops outside shopping malls, hotels, museums, galleries and outdoor tourist attractions and allowed religious services and weddings with a limited number of guests.
Schools remain closed, however, and international passenger travel is still not possible. People returning from abroad must go to state-run quarantine centres for 14 days.
China regulator issues rules on online bank lending to curb risk
China's banking and insurance regulator on Saturday issued draft rules on commercial banks' online lending business, in a move to rein in financial risks.
Spain's coronavirus daily death tolls falls to 179 on Saturday
Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 179 on Saturday, down from 229 on the previous day, the health ministry reported.
Overall deaths rose to 26,478 from 26,299 and the number of diagnosed cases rose to 223,578 from 222,857 the day before, the ministry said.
Indonesia reports 533 new COVID-19 cases, biggest in a day
Indonesia reported on Saturday 533 new coronavirus infections, the biggest daily increase, taking the total number to 13,645, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.
Yurianto reported 16 more have died from the disease, taking the total number of death to 959, while 2,607 have recovered reports Reuters.
Nearly 108,700 people have been tested as of Saturday, he added, while urging Indonesians to continue obeying the stay-at-home order to prevent further spread of the virus.
Malaysia reports 54 new coronavirus cases and one new death
Malaysia health authorities on Saturday reported 54 new coronavirus cases for a total of 6,589.
The health ministry also reported one new death, bringing total fatalities to 108 reports Reuters
Nearly 90 coronavirus cases reported at Polyus unit in Siberia
Nearly 90 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded among employees of Polyus Krasnoyarsk, a unit of Russia’s largest gold producer Polyus, the regional branch of Russia’s consumer health watchdog said on Saturday.
Of the 89 infected employees at Polyus Krasnoyarsk, which is based in eastern Siberia, 82 tested positive for the virus in the last day, the regional branch of the Rospotrebnadzor consumer health watchdog said.
It said the employees infected with the virus were in self-isolation and that more were being tested reports Reuters.
Polyus said in a statement that most of the employees who had tested positive for the virus were not experiencing any symptoms. It said it had split its staff into small groups and was putting them in self-isolation as soon as a coronavirus test came back positive.
Death toll due to Covid-19 rises to 1,981 in India; cases climb to 59,662
The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 1,981 and the number of cases climbed to 59,662 in India on Saturday, registering an increase of 95 deaths and 3,320 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry.
The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 39,834, while 17,846 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
“Thus, around 29.91 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said.
Singapore reports 753 new coronavirus cases, taking total to 22,460
Singapore registered 753 new coronavirus infections, its health ministry said on Saturday, taking the city-state’s total to 22,460 cases.
The vast majority of the newly infected people are migrant workers living in dormitories, the health ministry said in a statement. Nine are permanent residents.
China to reform disease prevention system
China will reform its disease prevention and control system to address weaknesses exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, a senior health official said on Saturday.
China has been criticised domestically and abroad as being initially slow to react to the epidemic, which first broke out on a large scale in Wuhan. The virus has since spread across the world, infecting almost 4 million people and killing almost a quarter-million from the Covid-19 disease it causes, Reuters reported.
Australia's biggest states hold off on easing Covid-19 restrictions for businesses
Most populous states in Australia held back from relaxing coronavirus restrictions on Saturday although other states began allowing small gatherings and were preparing to open restaurants and shops.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined a three-stage plan a day earlier to remove most curbs by July and get nearly 1 million people back to work, given that new confirmed coronavirus infections have fallen to less than 20 a day due to strict lockdowns, reported Al Jazeera.
Thailand reports four new coronavirus cases, one new death
Thailand reported four new coronavirus cases and one more death on Saturday, bringing the total to 3,004 cases and 56 deaths since the outbreak started in January, according to Reuters news agency.
Of the new cases, two are from the southern province of Yala, where the authorities are aggressively testing people due to high infection rates. One was linked with previous cases and one had a risk history from public places, he said.
Brazil has one-day record of 751 coronavirus deaths
Brazil, the country in Latin America that has been hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, said Friday it had reached a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities with 751 deaths.
The announcement by the health ministry puts Brazil’s total death count at nearly 10,000, AFP reported.
More than 145,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported so far, with 10,222 added in the last 24 hours.
Experts say under-testing means the real figures are likely much higher.
Sao Paulo — which has a population of 45.9 million, or about the same size as Spain — has registered more than 41,000 of Brazil’s cases, and 3,416 deaths.
The state is Brazil’s top industrial hub. It closed schools and non-essential businesses on March 24, and has extended its stay-at-home order through the end of May.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized such measures, saying business closures are unnecessarily damaging the country’s economy.
China reports one new coronavirus case, 15 asymptomatic cases
China reported one new coronavirus case for Friday, unchanged from the day before, data from the national health authority showed on Saturday.
One new imported case was recorded on May 8, the National Health Commission said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The commission also reported 15 new asymptomatic cases.
China’s total number of coronavirus cases now stands at 82,887, while the death toll from COVID-19, the disease it causes, remained unchanged at 4,633, the national health authority said.
US adds 1,635 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours
The United States recorded 1,635 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 77,178, according to the latest real-time tally Friday reported by Johns Hopkins University.
The country — hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of the number of fatalities — has now confirmed a total of 1,283,829 cases, AFP reported.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 1,251 to 168,551
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,251 to 168,551, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.
The reported death toll rose by 147 to 7,369, the tally showed, Reuters reported.
France records 243 new virus deaths
France reported another 243 coronavirus deaths on Friday, raising its total toll to 26,230, while the number of patients in intensive care continued to fall.
While the country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, it has seen the daily death rate steadily drop and is due to start emerging from a strict lockdown on Monday, AFP reported.
In Friday’s daily update, France reported 93 fewer patients suffering from the coronavirus in intensive care, dropping the total to 2,868. The figure rose above 7,000 at the peak of the country’s epidemic in April.
Over the previous 24 hours, 111 coronavirus-linked deaths were recorded in hospitals and 132 in nursing homes.
Nationwide, there were 22,274 patients in hospital with Covid-19.
The lockdown in place since mid-March will start to ease on Monday.
UK's Covid-19 death toll rises 626 to 31,241
Britain’s Covid-19 death toll has risen by 626 to 31,241, according to figures announced on Friday by Environment Secretary George Eustice.
The figures, collated by government agency Public Health England and equivalents in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, comprise deaths in all settings following positive coronavirus tests and cover the period up to 1600 GMT on Thursday, Reuters reported.