MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world reached 295,000, over 4.32 million cases of infection were detected, and more than 1.52 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.
As of 21.00 GMT Friday, the number of people infected globally is 4,327,288, of them 295,540 died.
The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 1,385,639, including 83,648 fatalities.
Lesotho has confirmed its first coronavirus infection in a person who arrived from the middle Eastern region, becoming the last African nation to do so.
Lifting coronavirus restrictions while the case count is still high could lead to the renewed massive transmission of the virus and another lockdown, Executive Director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme Michael J. Ryan said.
The European Commission published guidelines for lifting controls at the bloc's internal borders and reviving tourism as member states gradually reemerge from the coronavirus-induced restrictions.
European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday called on the EU member states to reopen internal borders as soon as possible to help the bloc's economy, which was hit hard due to the coronavirus-related restrictions.
The announced decision to lift border controls and travel restrictions by several member states of the European Union is the right step and is not premature, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said.
The aim is for Europe's free-travel Schengen area to lift all border controls between member states starting June 15, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Germany will switch to selective checks on the border with Austria, Switzerland, and France on Saturday, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.
Austria is unlikely to soon open borders with Italy where the coronavirus case count is still high, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.
The Swedish authorities have extended recommendations to refrain from traveling abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic until July 15, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said.
Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes confirmed that the country would proceed to the second stage of lifting the coronavirus restrictions next week amid the improving epidemiological situation.
Garden centers across the United Kingdom have been allowed to reopen from Wednesday as the government begins to relax the lockdown measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Department for Environment, food and Rural Affairs said.
Poland has extended the closure of its borders in light of the coronavirus pandemic until June 12, the country's interior ministry said.
The Japanese authorities are planning to lift the state of emergency introduced in the country to curb the coronavirus pandemic in 39 least hit prefectures, media reported.
The Chilean government will put the capital region into a week-long lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Health Minister Jaime Manalich announced.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a further 30-day extension to the state of emergency over the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global economy is forecast to shrink by 3.2 percent this year and only gradually recover in 2021 after the pandemic has caused the recession at levels of the Great Depression, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) said in a new report.
World trade may decrease by 30 percent as a result of the coronavirus pandemic under a pessimistic scenario, and this could lead to the deterioration of the living conditions across the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
The risk of an uneven recovery of the European countries from the coronavirus crisis represents an "existential threat" to the bloc and must be addressed with a strong rescue plan, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell advised on Wednesday against disregarding defense expenditures in member states as economic investments become central due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that COVID-19 is likely to bring about new security threats in the future.
The US economy may take several months longer to recover from the devastation from the coronavirus outbreak than was initially expected and a deeper recession could leave lasting damage on the nation's productive capacity, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said.
The United States predicts an 11 percent drop in emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil and renewable fuels this year, a record percentage decline and the largest absolute yearly decline in surveys dating back more than seven decades, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report.
US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison due to concerns over the coronavirus pandmenic and will continue to serve his more than 7-year sentence on charges related to the Russia investigation from home, ABC news reported.
The UK economy is facing a significant recession due to the lockdown restrictions introduced in a bid to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak told the Sky News broadcaster.
Airlines serving both domestic and international travels face a recovery period of up to five years if and when the COVID-19 crisis ends, with 2020 passenger loads 24-to-34 percent below last year's levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
Passenger traffic in Spanish airports was down by 99.4 percent year-on-year in April, the state-run Aena flight operator said.
Uber has limited the number of passengers allowed from four to three as part of health security measures imposed in light of the novel coronavirus disease, the company said in a statement.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ignored warnings it was given in January to prepare for the novel coronavirus pandemic, fired Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) chief Rick Bright will tell Congress on Thursday, according to his published testimony.
The Trudeau government will provide $682 million in economic support for communities beleaguered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic through regional development agencies, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said in a statement.
Governments across the world must take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations by reducing overcrowding and ensuring that inmates have access to medical facilities, the leaders of four United Nations organizations, including WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a joint statement.
Even though there are no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease among Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi camps, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) continues to monitor the situation and remains extremely concerned about a potential outbreak among the refugee population, Louise Donovan, UNHCR spokesperson in the city of Cox's Bazar, told Sputnik.
The European Union has distributed low-quality medical masks to 16 countries, Polish Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said.
It is hard to predict when the humankind will win over the coronavirus, it may become a virus like HIV, the WHO's Ryan said.
Russia will start clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccines in June, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said.
First results of clinical trials of antiviral drug Favipiravir, which can be effective in the treatment of COVID-19, showed that most patients test negative for the virus on the fifth day of therapy, with tests scheduled to be completed by late May, the head of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, told reporters.
The UK government on Wednesday announced in a statement the launch of a large-scale human genome sequencing study, which is set to establish whether a person's genetics can influence susceptibility to the coronavirus.
Approximately five percent of the Spanish population has antibodies for COVID-19, according to the preliminary findings of a large-scale study conducted by the country's health ministry.
Finding reasons for the coronavirus outbreak should be carried out for the sake of ensuring people's protection in the future, but the approach should not be politicized, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Lavrov also slammed Washington's accusations against Russia and China as baseless, stressing that unilateral sanctions could only hinder humanitarian assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Moscow has prepared letters to chief editors of The Financial Times and The New York Times newspapers, demanding a refutation of the published misinformation about the coronavirus statistics in Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday in response to Sputnik's question.
The United States is investigating the targeting by China of US organizations that conduct coronavirus-related research, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a release.
