UK still 'critical' as lockdown eases: Live coronavirus updates

  • Latin America's death toll has topped 50,000 and cases have neared one million, with countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru struggling to stem the tide, according to a Reuters tally.
  • Brazil has registered a record 33,274 new cases of the coronavirus, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world's worst outbreaks. The country's death toll has increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry added. 
  • Italy has added 111 new victims to the country's official death toll from the new coronavirus and 416 new infections as it prepares to relax travel restrictions next week. The increases bring the official death toll to 33,340.
  • A third member of a scientific advisory body to the British government has warned that it is too soon to lift the COVID-19 lockdown because the test and trace system is not yet fully operational.
  • More than 6.06 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 369,000 people have died, including more than 103,000 in the United States, while at least 2.56 million have recovered globally.
Here are the latest updates:

Sunday, May 31

20:01 GMT - US sends 2 million doses of unproven virus drug to Brazil

The United States has delivered two million doses of the antimalarial medicine hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Brazil to fight COVID-19, the White House said, though the drug has not been proven effective against the coronavirus.
"HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil's nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus. It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected," a statement said.
It said the US would soon also send 1,000 ventilators to Brazil, the epicenter of South America's outbreak with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases.
"We are also announcing a joint United States-Brazilian research effort that will include randomized controlled clinical trials," it added.
President Donald Trump is an outspoken fan of HCQ, which has been used to treat malaria for decades as well as the autoimmune disorders lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

19:03 GMT - Official warns UK still critical as lockdown eases

The UK government defended its decision to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions further in England, but advised people that the situation remained "critical" and they should continue to have "as few interactions as possible" with other people in all settings.
Speaking at a daily news briefing, Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government was confident the easing was "manageable" but added the current infection rate meant "the room for manoeuvre is quite limited".
The UK reported a further 1,936 cases and 113 deaths related to COVID-19 on Sunday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jenny Harries stressed the nation was at a "critical time" and urged the public to be "sensible" with the amount of interactions they have under the new restrictions.

19:00 GMT - Egypt reports its highest number of virus deaths

Egypt's Health Ministry reported its highest-ever number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
The ministry said there were 46 deaths in the last 24 hours, jumping from 34 the previous day. There were also 1,536 confirmed cases.
Egypt, a country of 100 million people, has seen a surge in infections in the past week. It has the highest announced deaths from COVID-19 in the Arab World, and the third in the Middle East behind Iran and Turkey, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

18:32 GMT - Indian states rush to identify high-risk zones

Indian states began identifying high-risk zones where coronavirus lockdowns should continue while the rest of country gears up to reopen in June despite a record rise in COVID-19 cases, officials said.
India Slowly Recovers From Coronavirus Outbreak
India gears up to reopen in June [Yawar Nazir/Getty]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has extended lockdown until June 30 in so-called containment zones that should remain under lockdown because they continue to report a high number of infections.
But restaurants, malls and religious buildings are permitted to reopen elsewhere from June 8 as India loosens the world's longest lockdown to curb the spread of the spread of the pandemic.
India has reported 182,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 5,164 deaths.

Post a Comment

0 Comments