Coronavirus: UK death toll rises to 32,692, an increase of 627
Read the latest on the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world here
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Canada coronavirus death toll passes 5,000, Trudeau wants seniors' care reform
The Canadian coronavirus death toll passed the 5,000 mark on Tuesday and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said major reforms were needed to seniors’ residences, where more than 80 percent of the victims lived.
The public health agency said the number of deaths edged up by 2.9 percent to 5,049 from 4,906 on Monday, one of the smallest daily gains so far. Canada is the 11th nation to record more than 5,000 deaths from the outbreak.
Long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec - the two most populous of the 10 provinces - have been particularly hard hit. Officials have detailed poor conditions in some residences, where employees earn just the minimum wage.
Yemen reports coronavirus cases in three more southern provinces
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government reported the first outbreak of the new coronavirus in three more southern provinces, taking the total number of cases in areas under its control to 65, including 10 deaths.
The Aden-based government’s coronavirus committee said nine new Covid-19 cases had been confirmed, including for the first time in the provinces of Abyan, Al Mahra and Shabwa. In the last case, the person infected had died.
Four more infections were also reported in Aden, the government’s interim seat, taking the total there to 39.
UK's Covid-19 death toll tops 40,000, worst in Europe
The United Kingdom's Covid-19 death toll now exceeds 40,000, by far the worst yet reported in Europe, raising more questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales brought the United Kingdom's official death toll to 38,289 as of May 3, according to a Reuters tally of death registrations that also includes Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Since then, at least 2,251 people have died from Covid-19 in English hospitals, according to the latest daily data, bringing the true death toll as of Tuesday to just over 40,000.
Hyatt to lay off 1,300 employees as pandemic cripples travel
Hyatt Hotels Corp said late Monday it would lay off 1,300 people globally as it tries to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has virtually halted global travel by keeping people indoors.
Hyatt said it had also cut pay for senior management, board members and all employees as part of a restructuring, adding that the staff who were being laid off would be eligible for receive severance pay.
"Due to the historic drop in travel demand and the expected slow pace of recovery, Hyatt has made the extremely difficult decision to implement layoffs and restructure roles across its global corporate functions, beginning June 1, 2020," Hyatt said in a statement.
Fauci warns US Senate that coronavirus vaccine will take time to develop
Leading US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned Congress that while the federal government is working to help manufacture a vaccine against the new coronavirus, its development "might take some time" to come to market.
As a result, Fauci told a Senate health committee in prepared testimony, the nation's efforts to battle the deadly virus and the Covid-19 disease it triggers should be "focused on the proven public health practices of containment and mitigation."
In remarks to the New York Times before the hearing, Fauci warned that moving too quickly to ease restrictions on business and social life will put lives at risk from the coronavirus pandemic and hamper the economic recovery.
‘Go vocal for local’: Modi announces Rs 20 lakh crore package to tide over Covid-19 crisis
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Tuesday.
Modi's address to the nation began at 8 pm where he announced a financial package for various sectors dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Hindustan Times.
"This package is worth Rs 20 lakh crore, or 10 per cent of India' Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It will empower various different sectors of the society. Rs 20 lakh crore package in 2020 will speed up India's journey to become self-reliant," PM Modi said in his address to the nation.
He sai that the Finance Ministry will give details about the package in coming days.
UK coronavirus death toll rises to 32,692, an increase of 627
A total of 32,692 people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the United Kingdom, a rise of 627 in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
The figures are as of 5 pm (1600 GMT) on May 11.
Trump wants California to let automaker Tesla reopen assembly plant
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged California to allow Tesla Inc to reopen its electric vehicle assembly plan.
"California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!" Trump wrote on Twitter. On Monday, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said production was resuming at the automaker's sole US vehicle factory, defying an order to stay closed and saying if anyone had to be arrested it should be him.
Tesla did not immediately comment on Trump's tweet.
Coronavirus could hit banks hard, EU warns
Euro zone lenders could take a sizeable hit from the coronavirus outbreak as an economic slowdown puts strain on borrowers, European officials have told the bloc's governments in a recent report.
The memos and analysis give one of the first comprehensive, pan-European assessments of lenders in the region, as countries including Germany and Italy consider what could be done to help banks in difficulty.
European banks, at the centre of the economic crash a decade ago, have since struggled to rebound and now face an economic dip that could hobble them as well as, in turn, government efforts to kick-start lending.
Fauci to warn US Senate that easing virus restrictions will risk lives
Leading US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci will warn Congress on Tuesday that moving too quickly to ease restrictions on business and social life will put lives at risk from the coronavirus pandemic and hamper the economic recovery, the New York Times reported.
Fauci’s hearing before a US Senate committee was due to begin at 10 am ET (1400 GMT). The paper said he planned to warn US states not to forge ahead without first meeting administration guidelines for 14 days of declining cases.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci wrote in an email to a Times reporter: “If we skip over the checkpoints ... we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”
Others testifying include US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn. Each will testify remotely.
Spain orders two-week quarantine for incoming travellers from Friday
Spain ordered a two-week quarantine on all travellers arriving from abroad from this Friday in a bid to prevent visitors from sparking a second wave of the coronavirus, a move that will further harm a tourism sector already reeling from the epidemic.
One of the world’s worst-hit countries, Spain has largely brought the outbreak under control within its borders and has begun to relax its tight lockdown regime.
The main risk now lies in importing new cases from abroad, Health Emergency Coordinator Fernando Simon told a news briefing.
“We have to do prevention efforts until other countries reach the level of control that we have achieved,” he said.
In France's race for virus masks, old people lost out
In late February, as the Covid-19 pandemic was about to hit, French President Emmanuel Macron faced a critical decision. Like most countries, France did not have enough protective face masks.
His response was to intervene. By decree, his government put the state in control of all stocks of masks on French territory. Officials were to distribute them to frontline healthcare workers. Macron’s far-reaching step was unique among major European states. The decree eventually helped channel protective equipment to those most at risk, such as the elderly and people with underlying chronic health conditions, people in the sector told Reuters.
But for some, including hundreds of France’s retirement homes, it meant that mask deliveries from private suppliers failed to arrive as expected. As a result, homes with low stocks operated for around 10 days without supplies, a Reuters examination found.
India's March manufacturing output contracts 20.6%
India's manufacturing output contracted 20.6 percent in March from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, indicating the impact of national lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Industrial output, which includes manufacturing and mining, contracted 16.7 percent in March from a year earlier, compared to analysts' forecast of 8.7 percent fall in a Reuters poll.
The industrial output for the fiscal year 2019/20 ending March contracted 0.7 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year, the data showed.
Coronavirus may push more asylum seekers towards EU: agency
The coronavirus lockdown has cut the number of asylum seekers able to reach Europe, but the pandemic could trigger more arrivals in future if it worsens turmoil to the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union asylum agency said.
With global travel all but grounded, the EASO agency said that in March the bloc logged only about half as many asylum claims as in February. The bloc’s border agency has also said illegal crossings into Europe halved from February to March.
But EASO said coronavirus outbreaks in the Middle East and North Africa could potentially cause food shortages, destabilise security and strengthen the hand of militant groups such as Islamic State. That could lead to “increases in asylum-related migration in the medium term”, EASO said in a report.
US consumer prices post biggest decrease since 2008
US consumer prices dropped by the most since the Great Recession in April, weighed down by a plunge in demand for gasoline and services including airline travel as people stayed home during the coronavirus crisis.
The Labor Department said on Tuesday its consumer price index tumbled 0.8 percent last month after falling 0.4 percent in March. That was the largest decline since December 2008 when the economy was in the throes of a recession, and marked the second straight monthly decrease in the CPI.
In the 12 months through April, the CPI gained 0.3 percent after increasing 1.5 percent in March.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman tests positive for coronavirus
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was receiving treatment at hospital, Russian news agencies reported.
"Yes, I am sick. I am receiving treatment," Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Peskov said he had last met Putin in person over a month ago, the TASS news agency reported. The Kremlin says Putin's health is rigorously protected and that he gets the best medical treatment Russia has to offer.
Putin, who has been working remotely from his residence outside Moscow and holding many meetings via video conference, held a face-to-face meeting earlier on Tuesday with Igor Sechin, the head of oil giant Rosneft.
French Health Minister says 'no' to Paris Mayor demand to re-open parks
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that parks and gardens would remain closed in Paris and the greater Paris region to limit the risk of a second wave of coronavirus infections as France gradually eases a nationwide lockdown.
Veran was reacting after Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo asked on Twitter for the re-opening of the French capital’s parks, closed since March 17, provided people wear face masks.
The minister was speaking after crowds of Parisians gathered on the banks of the trendy Saint-Martin canal and the Seine river on Monday to celebrate the easing of the lockdown. Police had to disperse the crowds and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner later asked the Paris prefecture to ban drinking on the Canal Saint-Martin and the Seine river banks.
Lebanon to go into four-day closure to prevent virus spread
Lebanon’s government agreed on a “full closure” of the country for four days, the presidency said as the cabinet met on Tuesday to try to ward off a second wave of coronavirus infections.
The closure starts on Wednesday night.
Authorities have warned of a resurgence in recent days as the number of cases jumped to its highest point in more than a month after the government eased some lockdown restrictions.
Northern Ireland sets lockdown exit plan resembling Ireland's, but no timetable
Northern Ireland laid out a five-stage roadmap for the easing of its coronavirus lockdown similar to Ireland’s, but its omission of any dates for action raised the chances of different parts of the island reopening at different times.
After Prime Minister Boris Johnson published a plan on Monday for how the United Kingdom could return to normal life, the constituent parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverging from the approach in England.
Like leaders in Scotland and Wales, Northern Ireland’s regional government said now is not the time to lift stay-home restrictions, contrary to Johnson encouraging some people to return to work this week.
Factories in Russia resume work despite second highest coronavirus tally in world
Russian factory and construction workers returned to work on Tuesday despite a new surge in coronavirus cases which gave Russia the second highest number of infections in the world after the United States.
In a surprise announcement on Monday, Putin said it was time after six weeks to gradually lift nationwide restrictions that had forced many people to work from home and businesses to temporarily close.
Although Putin gave wide leeway to Russia’s regions to ease or tighten restrictions as they saw fit, he said it made sense for certain sectors of the bruised economy such as construction and heavy industry to be allowed to restart work from Tuesday.
His statement, made on the same day that Russia overtook Italy in coronavirus numbers, drew criticism from some anti-Kremlin politicians. On Tuesday, the number of Russian coronavirus cases surpassed the official tallies of Britain and Spain.
Lebanese designers fight coronavirus with fashion face masks
Beirut-based designer Bokja specializes in making upholstered furniture with vintage fabric but the studio’s workers now dedicate their time to sewing colourful silk face masks to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
Profits from the masks, costing about $35, go to nurses on the frontline of Lebanon’s fight against the disease, which has compounded woes in a country wrestling with economic meltdown.
“I saw a nurse from the Rafik Hariri Hospital crying on TV...so we decided that part of the proceeds will go to them,” said co-founder Huda Baroudi.
Baroudi’s business is one of several that have converted production of items like furniture and clothing to masks. She said nurses have even ordered some.
UK furlough scheme extended by four months
The UK scheme to pay wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus will be extended to October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.
He said the government backed workers and companies going into the lockdown, and would support them coming out, reports the BBC.
Sunak confirmed that employees will continue to receive 80 percent of their monthly wages up to £2,500.
Top US health officials to testify in Senate on coronavirus, economic reopening
Top US health authorities will testify on Tuesday to a Senate committee looking into plans for reopening the nation's businesses, schools and other sectors of the economy closed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, as experts recommend doing so cautiously.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci plans to warn against the risks of reopening the economy too soon, saying states that forge ahead without meeting administration guidelines for declining cases first will risk lives and economic recovery, the New York Times reported.
"If we skip over the checkpoints ... we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country," Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told the news outlet. "This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal."
Indonesia's Covid-19 deaths top 1,000 as those under 45 urged to resume work
Indonesia’s death toll from the novel coronavirus passed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday, even as authorities signalled they were poised to ease some social restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus in the Southeast Asian country.
Indonesia confirmed its first two cases of the virus on March 2, well behind most neighbours, but its fatality rate has since overtaken those of all its East Asian peers apart from China.
There were 16 new fatalities and 484 new infections, taking the country’s total to 1,007 deaths and 14,749 cases, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Tuesday. Despite social restrictions scheduled to run until the end of May, the head of Indonesia’s coronavirus response taskforce Doni Monardo said on Tuesday that people under 45 would be permitted to return to work in designated sectors.
Singapore plans coronavirus tests for all in migrant dormitories
Singapore plans to test all 323,000 migrant workers living in cramped dormitories that have become a hotbed for coronavirus in the tiny city-state, it said on Tuesday, eyeing an easing of curbs next month to restart its economy.
The island's tally of 24,671 infections is one of Asia's highest, with the vast majority among migrant workers squeezed into often unsanitary dormitories on the nation's fringes.
"The taskforce has drawn up a plan to allow migrant workers residing in the dormitories...to be progressively cleared so they can be safely returned to work when the time comes," said health minister Gan Kim Yong.
Dubai turns world's tallest building into coronavirus charity box
The world's tallest building, Dubai's 828-metre Burj Khalifa, has become a glowing charity donation box, raising money for food for United Arab Emirates residents suffering the economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.
Each of the tower's 1.2 million external lights was 'sold' for 10 dirhams ($2.70), enough to buy one meal. As donations came in, the tower 'filled up', and people could also bid to claim the light at the very top.
As the region's tourism and business hub with the world's busiest international airport, Dubai's economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
WHO sees 'potentially positive data' on Covid-19 treatments
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of the Covid-19 respiratory disease and said the body is focusing on learning more about four or five of the most promising ones.
"We do have some treatments that seem to be in very early studies limiting the severity or the length of the illness but we do not have anything that can kill or stop the virus," spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a virtual briefing, referring to the body's so-called Solidarity Trial of drugs against the disease.
"We do have potentially positive data coming out but we need to see more data to be 100 percent confident that we can say this treatment over that one," she added.
EU signs contract with Philips on ventilators
Dutch electronics giant Philips signed a contract with the European Commission to supply medical ventilators to EU hospitals, the company and EU officials said, in a deal that comes as most EU countries reached the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Other companies have signed similar contracts with the European Union as part of a joint procurement scheme the Commission launched in March on behalf of 25 EU states.
But no ventilator has yet been delivered under the scheme.
Virus pushed German economic output down by up to 25% for several weeks
German economic output probably declined by around 20-25 percent for several weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, the KfW state development bank said on Tuesday, adding that activity likely reached its trough in April if a second wave is avoided.
With the easing of many restrictions, the economy should at least partially normalise by the summer, KfW said, adding that would result in very strong growth in the third quarter.
KfW said it expected the economy to shrink by 6 percent this year before expanding by 5 percent next year. Those are very similar to predictions made by the German government at the end of April for a contraction of 6.3 percent this year and an expansion of 5.2 percent next year.
UK to set out details on making workplaces safer as lockdown unwind begins
The British government will on Tuesday set out details on how to make workplaces safer as some businesses start to return to work after Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a cautious plan to exit the coronavirus lockdown.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the business ministry would set out details of how employers could make workplaces safer.
"This stuff isn't straight forward but we'll be coming forward with a huge amount of more detail on how to make work places safe today," Hancock said.
Summer holiday abroad is unlikely, Britain's health minister says
British people are unlikely to be able to go on international holidays this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday.
Asked on ITV’s This Morning show if people should accept that the normal summer holiday season for travelling abroad is cancelled, he replied: “I think that’s likely to be the case,” he said.
Spain's adds lowest daily number of coronavirus new cases in two months
The number of newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus in Spain in one day fell on Tuesday to its lowest in more than two months, the health ministry reported.
Health authorities identified 594 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 228,030. The number of fatalities related to the disease rose 176 on Tuesday to 26,920.
China calls for coronavirus vigilance, warns against complacency
Chinese health authorities called on Tuesday called for vigilance to be maintained against the novel coronavirus as new clusters emerge, even though the peak of the epidemic has passed in the country where it first appeared.
In the past two weeks, new cases have been reported in seven provinces, including Hubei, the original epicentre of the outbreak late last year.
On Monday, Wuhan, capital of Hubei, reported its first cluster of infections since a lockdown on the city was lifted a month ago.
The reappearance of clusters suggested that counter-epidemic measures could not be relaxed, Mi Feng, spokesman at the National Health Commission, told a media briefing.
France extends state of emergency through July 10
A day after lockdowns began lifting across the country, a law extending France's state of emergency went into effect on Tuesday.
The state of emergency law gives the government the power to enforce measures to avoid a second Covid-19 peak, reports the CNN.
France has been in a state of emergency since March 17 and the new law extends this through July 10.
US auto industry workers return to jobs amid concerns of second virus wave
Factory workers began returning to assembly lines in Michigan on Monday, paving the way to reopen the US auto sector but stoking fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections as strict lockdowns are eased across the country.
With millions of Americans out of work and much of the economy at a virtual standstill, a growing number of states are relaxing tough restrictions on commerce and social life put in place to slow the outbreak.
Some auto suppliers in Michigan, a Midwest industrial powerhouse hard hit by the pandemic and its economic fallout, reopened plants on Monday with skeleton crews to get ready for a resumption of vehicle production next week.
India's packed trains ready to roll again despite rising coronavirus cases
Tens of thousands of people have booked out seats on Indian trains that are due to restart on Tuesday after a near seven-week lockdown, raising concerns of spreading the coronavirus in the absence of social distancing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is starting to pull back from one of the world’s tightest lockdowns of 1.3 billion people that has left millions out of work and stranded in cities far from home while infections keep rising.
State-run railways restarted services from New Delhi to 12 cities including Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru, and within an hour of opening, all seats were booked out online, a spokesman said.
UK Covid-19 death toll topped 38,000 as of early May: official data
The United Kingdom's Covid-19 death toll topped 38,000 as of early May, including suspected cases, by far the worst official toll yet in Europe, according to official data published on Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics said it recorded 34,978 Covid-19 related deaths as of May 1 in England and Wales.
Adding previously released data from Scotland and Northern Ireland, the toll stood at 38,289 as of May 3, according to Reuters calculations.
Indonesian coronavirus death toll tops 1,000
Deaths from the coronavirus in Indonesia passed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday as the Southeast Asian nation reported 16 new fatalities and 484 new infections, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.
Indonesia has now reported 1,007 deaths and 14,749 cases, Reuters reported.
Across the country, Yurianto said there were also more than 32,000 suspected cases of the virus, while 119,728 people have been tested and 3,063 recovered.
Philippines reports 25 coronavirus deaths, 264 more infections
The Philippines’ Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 25 more coronavirus deaths and 264 additional infections.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths had reached 751 while confirmed cases have risen to 11,350. But 107 more patients have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,106, Reuters reported.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday announced an extension of lockdown measures in the capital to June, making it among the world’s longest community quarantines to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Bangladesh reports 11 more deaths from coronavirus, 969 new cases
Bangladesh today confirmed 11 more deaths from the novel coronavirus and 969 new cases of infection testing 6,773 samples in 38 labs in the last 24 hours across the country.
With this, the death toll from the deadly virus rose to 250 and the number of total infections stood at 16,660, The Business Standard reported.
Russia reports 10,899 new coronavirus cases, surpasses UK tally
Russia on Tuesday reported 10,899 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total past that of Britain to 232,243, the third highest total worldwide.
The country’s coronavirus response centre said the death toll from the virus rose by 107 people to 2,116, Reuters reported.
Russia puts the continued daily rise in cases down to widespread testing. It has carried out more than 5.8 million tests.
Worldwide coronavirus cases pass 4.19 million, death toll over 285,100
More than 4.19 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 285,120 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019, Reuters reported.
Asia's pandemic stimulus may slow the demise of coal
Coal power plant construction will push ahead in Asia despite falling electricity demand and environmental concerns as policymakers prioritise boosting economies crippled by the coronavirus pandemic, analysts say.
Fossil fuel demand will plummet this year as lockdowns sap electricity use, the International Energy Agency said in a report last month, Reuters reported.
South Korea scrambles to contain nightclub coronavirus outbreak
South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the capital Seoul.
South Korea has been lauded for its quick, effective action on its epidemic, significantly reducing the rate of new infections in recent weeks, but the resurgence of cases has raised worries about a second wave of infections, Reuters reported.
Zinc-hydroxychloroquine found effective in some Covid-19 patients
The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has shown mixed results against the coronavirus in early studies, but a new paper out of New York suggests combining it with the dietary supplement zinc sulfate could create a more effective treatment.
The research by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine was posted on a medical preprint site on Monday, meaning it hasn't yet been peer reviewed, AFP reported.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 933 to 170,508
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 933 to 170,508, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.
The reported death toll rose by 116 to 7,533, the tally showed, Reuters reported.
China's Wuhan plans city-wide testing for coronavirus over period of 10 days
The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus outbreak, plans to conduct city-wide nucleic acid testing over a period of 10 days, according to an internal document seen by Reuters and two sources familiar with the situation.
Every district in the city has been told to submit a detailed testing plan by Tuesday for their respective area, the document showed, Reuters reported.
The Wuhan health authority could not be immediately reached for comment outside of business hours.
The city of 11 million people reported its first cluster of new infections over the weekend, after a months-long lockdown was lifted on April 8.
US coronavirus death toll passes 80,000
The United States recorded 830 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 80,352, according to the real-time tally by Johns Hopkins University at 8:30 pm Monday (0030 GMT Tuesday).
The figure followed Sunday’s toll of 776, the lowest daily tally since March, though major concerns remain over the number of deaths continuing to climb as some US states relax their lockdowns, AFP reported.
The country — hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of the number of fatalities — has now confirmed a total of 1,346,723 cases, the Baltimore-based school reported.
Japan to approve its first antigen coronavirus test kits on Weds
The Japanese Health Ministry is set to approve antigen coronavirus testing kits on Wednesday, a ministry official said on Tuesday, in a move to boost the number of diagnostic tests available to battle the pandemic.
Fujirebio, a subsidiary of Japanese diagnostics and laboratory testing service provider Miraca Holdings, last month applied for government approval for Japan's first antigen coronavirus testing kits, Reuters reported.
China reports no new domestic cases after weekend spike
China reported no new domestic coronavirus infections on Tuesday, after two consecutive days of double-digit increases fuelled fears of a second wave of infections.
China has largely brought the virus under control, but it remains on edge, fearful that a second wave could undermine its efforts to get the economy back up and running, AFP reported.
A new cluster reappeared over the weekend in the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged, while the northeastern city of Shulan was placed under lockdown Sunday after another outbreak emerged.
On Monday, China’s National Health Commission reported 17 new cases, five of them in Wuhan. Seven of the new cases were imported.
A day earlier, China announced the first double-digit increase in nationwide cases in nearly 10 days, saying 14 new infections had been confirmed. Wuhan also saw its first new case in over a month.
For the 27th consecutive day, there were deaths reported. One imported case was recorded.
The country’s official death toll remains at 4,633, while the total number of infections in the mainland is 82,919.
France reports increase in daily virus toll as lockdown eased
France on Monday reported 263 more deaths from the coronavirus, a sharp increase on previous days as the country marked the first easing of an almost two-month lockdown.
The new deaths brought the total toll in hospitals and nursing homes from the pandemic in France to 26,643, the health ministry said, AFP reported
The ministry had on Sunday reported 70 more deaths, the lowest daily toll announced since March 17, the day the lockdown in France began.
However weekend tolls are frequently lower than during the week, possibly due to reporting lags, particularly in nursing homes.
