In the US, the total number of confirmed cases has surpassed at 988,190, with over 56,240 fatalities, the data provided by the university shows.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global death toll from COVID-19 has increased over the past 24 hours by nearly 5,000 to top 198,000. 85,530 new cases of infection have been registered globally over the past day, it said.
The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March.
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According to the latest WHO data, 85,530 new cases of infection have been registered globally over the past day, with 4,982 deaths.
Thus, as of 08:00 am GMT, 27 April, the overall number of COVID-19 cases worldwide increased to 2,878,196, and the death count reached 198,668.
A total of 4,613 new cases have been registered over the past 24 hours, the number of those infected has reached 66,501.
Almost half of the cases (33,022) have been registered in the country's southeast.
The death count has increased over the past day by 338 to 4,543.
"That's the number of positives - over 1,300 more in the last 24 hours", Governor Gavin Newsom said during a press conference on Friday.
Newsom also said the number of hospitalisations in California has marked a modest increase of 1.4 percent.
"Again, we are seeing some stabilisation - decrease, modest increase, decrease in the number of... hospitalised people", he said.
TORONTO, April 27 (Sputnik) - Canada’s regional air carrier Porter Airlines said in a statement on Monday that it has extended its temporary shutdown by four weeks and now plans to resume flights on June 29.
Porter Airlines initially suspended transport operations on March 21 due to the growing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated restrictions on travel.
"We are extending our temporary suspension of all flights due to COVID-19 until June 29," the statement said. "Our initial restart date of June 1, was something we believed was reasonable at the time."
The airline industry has been hard-hit by the ongoing pandemic that has grounded domestic and international travel to a halt. In response, the Canadian government has offered the airlines a lifeline by granting them access to the Emergency Wage Subsidy.
Porter utilized the lifeline and hired back many of the 1500 team members who were initially laid off.
MADRID, April 27 (Sputnik) - Nine EU countries in the Mediterranean region on Monday called for bloc-wide coordination in a bid to resuscitate the tourism industry after the pandemic brought it to a standstill.
The tourism ministers of France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria issued a joint declaration at Spain's initiative, its ministry said.
"To help tourism successfully recover, there needs to be cooperation and coordination among member states. Together we can make the sector key to post-coronavirus economic recovery," Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto was quoted as saying.
She suggested harmonizing travel protocols among all EU nations, identifying the worst-affected regions and using the EU's 100 billion euro ($108 billion) short-time work scheme to protect jobs.
The Spanish ministry said that tourism accounts for 10 percent of the EU's gross domestic product and 12 percent of all jobs. Some 40 percent of the world's tourist arrivals are in the EU, with 562 million arrivals recorded in 2019.
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump will present on Monday evening additional guidance on testing for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and reopening the United States from the COVID-19-induced lockdown, the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
"The White House has additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again," McEnany said via Twitter. "President Donald Trump will brief the nation during a press conference this evening."
Earlier in April, the White House published federal guidelines inviting governors of the 50 US states to start reopening their economies and restore daily routines as soon as they notice 14 days of decline in the number of novel coronavirus cases.
Trump’s press conference scheduled for 5:00 p.m. comes instead of a daily briefing by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, usually attended by Trump but canceled earlier on Monday.
Earlier in the day, White House Director of Strategic Communication Alyssa Farah said via Twitter that the Trump administration has led a historic effort to rapidly scale-up testing across the United States and has surpassed any other nation by conducting more than five million tests.
Farah said Trump will provide more information on COVID-19 testing during the upcoming press conference on Monday evening.
PARIS, April 27 (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus-related deaths in France has surpassed 23,000 with 437 fatalities being registered over the past 24 hours, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.
"From March 1, we mourn the 23,293 deaths associated with COVID-19," the ministry said in a statement.
In particular, 14,497 people died in hospitals and 8,796 in social and medical institutions.
According to the health authorities, the total number of those infected has reached 128,339 with over 3,700 cases being recorded in the past day.
LONDON, April 27 (Sputnik) - A total of 360 people have died as a result of COVID-19 in UK hospitals over the preceding 24 hours, the lowest daily increase in the death toll since March 30, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday.
"Sadly, of those hospitalized with the virus, 21,092 have now died, that’s an increase of 360 fatalities," Hancock said at the daily press briefing.
In Sunday’s statistical bulletin, the COVID-19 death toll in UK hospitals rose by 413.
The dead include 82 National Health Service workers and 16 social care professionals, Hancock said. At this time, the government is establishing a scheme to pay the families of medical professionals who die from COVID-19 a sum of 60,000 pounds ($74,400), the minister stated.
The daily increase in new cases also declined compared to Sunday, as Hancock announced that 4,310 new positive tests were reported, down from 4,463.
The total number of cases reported since the start of the outbreak in the United Kingdom now stands at 157,149, the health secretary said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his first public appearance at Downing Street since his positive test for COVID-19 said that the UK is "beginning to turn the tide" in the struggle to contain the coronavirus disease.
NEW YORK, April 27 (Sputnik) - The US state of New Jersey reported 106 new deaths from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the death toll to 6,044, Governor Phil Murphy said in a press briefing on Monday.
"With the heaviest of hearts, we report an additional 106 of lives lost, meaning that we have now lost a total of 6,044 blessed brothers and sisters of the New Jersey family to COVID-19 related complications."
Murphy also said that with new 2,146 COVID-19 cases confirmed on Sunday, the total number of residents who have so far tested positive for the virus has climbed to 111,188.
With the number of new confirmed cases, the curve of new infections remains flat, Murphy said. However, New Jersey needs to bend it down and keep it down before getting on the road to recovery.
MOSCOW, April 27 (Sputnik) - The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes that WHO's so-called Solidarity Trial of drugs against the COVID-19 will quickly help find the safest and most effective therapeutics for treating patients, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
The Solidarity Trial is an initiative launched by WHO and its partners in a bid to coordinate efforts to find an effective treatment for COVID-19. It is set to compare four standard treatment options and assess their relative effectiveness against the coronavirus. By involving more patients from across countries in the trial, it is to rapidly establish whether any of the drugs slow down the disease's progression or improve the survival rate. To date, over 100 countries are cooperating on the trial.
"We are hopeful that the solidarity trial will shortly help us to understand, which therapeutics are the most safe and effective for treating [COVID-19] patients. But, ultimately, we will need a vaccine to control this virus," Tedros said at a press conference.
The official added that the success in developing effective drugs and vaccines against Ebola was reminiscent of the enormous value of these tools, as well as of the immense power of international cooperation in the process, noting that WHO played a key role in developing them and is doing the same to combat COVID-19.
Tedros also stated that the development of a COVID-19 vaccine had been accelerated by the work previously conducted by WHO and its partners on vaccines for other coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS.
ATHENS, April 27 (Sputnik) - Greece has confirmed 17 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, which brings the overall tally to 2,534, Sotiris Tsiodras, a spokesman of the Greek Health Ministry, said on Monday during a briefing.
Greece also registered two coronavirus-related fatalities over the given period. So far, the death toll has reached 136.
As of now, 43 patients are being treated in intensive care units, according to the health authorities.
Earlier in the day, a source told Sputnik that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis planned to address the nation on Tuesday and announced that the country would gradually begin to lift its anti-coronavirus measures starting on May 4.
According to the Turkish Health Ministry, 95 new coronavirus-related deaths have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, while the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 2,131, bringing the total to 112,261.
The US Roosevelt aircraft carrier has officially finished testing its crew for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and reports that there are currently 955 positive cases, the US Navy said in a press release on Monday.
"As of today, 100% of initial COVID-19 testing for Sailors of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and embarked commands is complete. There are currently 955 active cases and 14 recovered cases," the release said.
One sailor is hospitalized in US Naval Hospital Guam, the release added.
On Thursday, the Navy announced all testing on the Roosevelt had been completed but some results were still pending. The final number is an increase from 840 cases reported in the update last week. One sailor assigned to the ship died earlier this month from the novel coronavirus.
The outbreak was first made public when an email written by the ship's captain Brett Crozier was leaked to the media. The email warned of an outbreak among the crew and said there was an urgent need to quarantine affected sailors.
On April 9, former Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced that he removed Crozier from his post, saying the captain improperly sent the email about his concerns, using channels that were not secure to convey confidential information.
Modly soon thereafter resigned when he came under fire for removing the captain and calling him "stupid" for sounding the alarm about the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier.
The COVID-19 outbreak is far from being over as case numbers rapidly rise in several global regions, such as Africa and Latin America, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
“As lockdowns in Europe ease with declining numbers of new cases, we continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test, and treat all cases and trace every contact to ensure these declining trends continue. But the pandemic is far from over ... WHO continues to be concerned about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and some Asian countries,” the director-general said at the WHO’s daily press briefing.
Tedros stated that over the past week, the WHO had delivered medical supplies to 40 African countries in order to assist efforts to combat the spread of the disease. A total of 819 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Sunday in the African region by the WHO, raising the overall total to 20,316.
He added that in the affected regions, case numbers were being underreported due to limited testing capacity.
“As in all regions, cases and deaths are underreported in many countries in these regions because of low testing capacity,” Tedros remarked.
As of 08:00 GMT on Sunday, the WHO has confirmed more than 2.8 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak, with 84,900 cases being confirmed worldwide over the preceding 24 hours.
Another data aggregator, the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus resource center, has reported almost 3 million cases of the disease globally since the start of the outbreak.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that a three-day curfew would be introduced in 31 provinces starting May 1 over coronavirus.
A curfew was briefly introduced in several Turkish provinces in April.
"We intend to continue introducing curfew on the weekend until the end of Ramadan [May 23]. Because of this, we declare a curfew from 00:00 on May 1 to 24:00 May 3. I hope that our citizens will understand that these measures are necessary," Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation.
Turkey has recorded 110, 130 COVID-19 cases so far.
The US state of New York registered 337 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, compared to 367 fatalities confirmed on the previous day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing.
"The number of deaths – 337 - is still tragically high," Cuomo said on Monday.
Bangladesh will not reopen educational institutions across the country until September if the situation over the coronavirus does not improve, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Monday.
"We are not going to open schools, colleges, and other educational institutions right now, they will remain closed till September if the Covid-19 situation remains unchanged," the prime minister said, as quoted by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper, adding that the institutions will resume operations only after the epidemiological situation in the country is taken under control.
Bangladesh has confirmed so far a total of 5,913 cases of the disease, with 497 of them being detected over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, 131 patients have recovered, and 152 others have died.
In a bid to curb the pandemic, the government of Bangladesh extended its self-isolation regime until May 5.
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the US national capital area comprising of Washington, DC and parts of the states of Virginia and Maryland, has approached 37,000 and the number of death exceed 1,500, local authorities said on Monday.
Mike Maryland, spokesperson for the Maryland governor, said his state remains most affected with 19,847 COVID-19 cases.
"We have added 906 cases [in the past 24 hours]. Number of deaths: 858. Number of probable deaths: 87," Ricci said via Twitter.
Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement that the District has confirmed seven COVID-19-related deaths since Sunday, including of 17-year-old male.
"Tragically, 185 District residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19," Bowser said, adding that that total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 3,892.
Virginia reported 13,535 COVID-19 cases and 458 deaths related to the virus, the sate’s Department of Health said.
Most cases in Maryland and Virginia are in areas close to Washington, DC and in Baltimore.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday he will extend in many parts of the state the PAUSE order beyond May 15, directing residents to stay at home and shut down all so-called “non-essential” businesses amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"May 15 is when the PAUSE regulations expire statewide. I will extend them in many parts of the state," Cuomo said. "But in some parts of the state, some regions, you could make the case when we can un-PAUSE on May 15."
The European External Action Service (EEAS) denied on Monday that it had been forced by China to water down its recent report on COVID-19 disinformation, saying that the bloc is "not bowing to any pressure."
"I refute very strongly and decisively any notion that we bowed down to any kind of external pressure because the publication of the EEAS is undergoing only through internal processes and their final version or the way how they look when they are published is determined by internal factors, not by external actors. And again we are not bowing to any pressure," Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said at a briefing.
According to Stano, "there was no change, and there were no several versions of this document which was made public."
He at the same time noted that the EU, like any organization, has two types of documents — those that are made public and those for internal use, which do differ. The EU, even in public, does "not hesitate to name the trends and to name the actors" involved in disinformation, he added.
On Friday, the EEAS published its special report on COVID-19 disinformation. On Saturday, Reuters reported, citing sources and diplomatic correspondence, that before the publication, Beijing had pressed the European Union into watering it down. As a result, some criticism toward Beijing was either rearranged in or removed from the final version, according to the news agency.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has issued an alert to the country’s physicians warning of a spike in cases of a mysterious new inflammatory syndrome among children than may potentially be related to COVID-19.
According to the memo, which was seen by the Health Service Journal, a spike in cases has been reported over the past three weeks, with children across the country requiring intensive care treatment.
"There is a growing concern that a [COVID-19] related inflammatory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infectious pathogen associated with these cases," the memo read, as quoted by the journal.
The alert was reportedly first issued to physicians in north London before a separate alert was issued on Sunday evening by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society, the journal reported.
Symptoms of the disease, which is similar to Kawasaki disease, include toxic shock syndrome, abdominal pain, and cardiac inflammation, the journal stated.
ROME, April 27 (Sputnik) - Italy's financial police, at the request of the prosecutor’s office of the city of Bari, sequestered 17 Telegram channels on Monday for distributing newspapers, magazines and books in violation of copyright law and warned about the messenger’s full blockage unless it suspended the pirate channels.
The financial police’s Col. Pierluca Cassano said that Italian communication watchdog AGCOM would request Telegram earlier on Monday to block the pirate channels.
"If Telegram fails to stop the distribution of this information, AGCOM can order Italian providers to block access to it [Telegram]," he added.
He stressed that "the problem is not with the messenger itself," but with the pirate resources. They must be removed, otherwise Italy would block Telegram
According to the financial police, the move came after Italy’s federation of newspaper and magazine publishers (FIEG) asked to urgently block Telegram, complaining that Italian newspapers lose 670,000 euros ($727,000) daily due to its pirated channels. In total, they say, their annual losses may amount to 250 million euros.
MOSCOW, April 27 (Sputnik) - Tourism ministers of the European Union’s member states are calling on the bloc to devise a set of measures to prop up the industry which has been severely impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to an EU statement published in the aftermath of a video conference on Monday.
According to the statement, the video conference was organized by the Croatian presidency of the European Council and was chaired by Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli. During the meeting, EU tourism ministers called for additional measures and enhanced coordination to prop up the industry during the health crisis, which is also having a direct impact on other economic sectors.
“The tourism sector has experienced an immense and unexpected decline in demand due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Our mission is to be, as members of the European Union and as part of the most successful tourist region in the world, a leader in the recovery of tourism, which as a horizontal activity directly affects the recovery of the entire economy,” Cappelli said in the statement.
According to the Croatian minister, tourism accounts for 10 percent of the EU’s GDP and employs 12 percent of the bloc’s workforce.
European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton was also in attendance and reiterated the EU leadership’s calls for a "new Marshall Plan” to mitigate the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus disease pandemic.
On Wednesday, Italy’s Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese stated that the country was hoping to welcome tourists in July and August, so long as hygiene measures are observed.
BERLIN, April 27 (Sputnik) - German citizens should understand that coronavirus-related travel restrictions are likely to be extended, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christopher Burger said on Monday during a briefing.
"The warning about the danger of travel is in force until May 3, and the issue of its extension will be decided before this date. Obviously, the decision will not be unexpected," Burger said.
The spokesman also recalled a recent statement by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas when he said that travel warnings for Germans would not be relaxed in near future. Maas has also warned citizens that the government would not be able to fly them home from abroad if Germans would ignore restrictions and keep travelling during summer.
"We aim to open borders as quickly as possible within the European Union … but there is no formal decision yet. But you understand from my words that you should not count on the immediate cancellation of travel warnings," Burger said.
Germany has so far confirmed 157,946 COVID-19 cases and 5,984 coronavirus-related deaths.
HELSINKI, April 27 (Sputnik) - The number of cases of the coronavirus in Finland increased by 119 over the past 24 hours bringing the total toll of those infected to over 4,695, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said on Monday.
"As of April 27, Finland has 4,695 laboratory-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus," the THL said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the number of fatalities has reached 193. In addition, 187 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized with 56 of them being in intensive care units, the health authorities added.
The average age of those deceased is 84 years. Over 3,200 of the infected were registered in Finland’s capital of Helsinki.
The Scandinavian nation declared a state of emergency on March 16, closing borders, shutting schools, and asking people to avoid public spaces, in an effort to stop the epidemic from spreading.
MOSCOW, April 27 (Sputnik) - Removing coronavirus-related restrictions in Iraqi Kurdistan during Ramadan will be premature given the absence of a sustained decline in the spread of the infection, Nezar Ismet Taib, the chief health official of the Duhok province, said in an interview with Sputnik.
Ramadan, the holy month in Islam when people of faith fast during daytime and gather for group meals and prayers after sunset, began on April 24 to last until May 24.
According to the health official, no new cases have been found in Iraqi Kurdistan over the past two weeks.
"Now, after almost fifteen days, we have another [new] case which means that the virus is still circulating and we have to do a good screening. So from our perspective as health [authorities], we do not encourage decreasing these restriction [measures] and [we recommend] to continue them during Ramadan and all May," Taib said.
He said some local authorities and medical facilities appear to be advocating for the removal of coronavirus-related restrictions. "I think that it is not a good idea," he said.
A few incubation periods should pass before these restrictions can be safely lifted, he argued.
"We are encouraging to continue with this lockdown and to continue with these [restriction] measures," Taib said.
The Iraqi government imposed COVID-19-related nationwide curfew, in place until May 22. Schools, recreational venues, malls and other non-essential businesses were closed. Public gatherings were temporarily banned and people were requested to have masks on at any time while outside home, violation subject to punishment under the law. All international travel and domestic travel between Iraqi provinces has been banned.
As of Monday, the COVID-19 toll in Iraq has been 1,763 cumulative cases, including 86 fatalities, according to the latest situation update from the World Health Organization.
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Sputnik) - The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic cut the income of a third of Americans either through permanent or temporary job loses or a reduction of hours of work, a new Gallup poll revealed on Monday.
"Looking at these events separately, 10 percent of Americans report they have been temporarily laid off from work as a result of the coronavirus, and an additional 2 percent say that the situation has caused them to permanently lose their job. More common than loss of employment are reductions in hours (15 percent) and loss of income (26 percent)," a press release explaining the poll said.
The poll also finds that these impacts have been more pronounced among those in lower income brackets. Of the respondents whose annual household income before the pandemic was less than $36,000 annually, 14 percent report being temporarily laid off, 4 percent have been permanently let go, and 32 percent have seen a loss of income, according to poll results.
With relief packages worth nearly $3 trillion approved by Congress thus far and 26 million Americans having filed for unemployment payments in the previous five weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has already sickened nearly 1 million people in the United States resulting in nearly 55,000 deaths, according to the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University.
MADRID, April 27 (Sputnik) - Spain has conducted more than 1.3 million coronavirus tests since the onset of the epidemic, Health Minister Salvador Illa said Monday.
"The OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] put Spain in eighth place among the countries that have been testing for COVID-19. The autonomous communities have informed the Health Ministry of 1,345,560 tests," he tweeted.
This includes over 310,000 antibody tests and a million polymerase chain reaction tests. The Health Ministry estimates that 28 people per 1,000 are being tested on average in Spain.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose on Monday to 209,465 from 207,634 recorded the day before. The number of fatalities was up by 331 to 23,521.
MOSCOW, April 27 (Sputnik) - The toll of coronavirus infection cases in Portugal has grown to 24,027, with 163 new cases confirmed over the past 24 hours, the Portuguese Health Ministry said on Monday.
The situation report from Portugal on Saturday stated 23,392 cases, including 880 fatalities.
According to the ministry's update, the death toll has grown by 25 over the past day to a current total of 928 people. Recoveries count 1,357 patients, an increase by 28.
The epidemiological situation is most dire in Portugal's northern part, which accounts for 14,496 cases and 536 fatalities, the ministry said.
A state of emergency is in effect in Portugal over COVID-19 until May 2.
VIENNA, April 27 (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Austria has increased by seven to 549 over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.
So far, the total number of people who have tested positive for the disease reached 15,274, with 49 of them being registered over the past day. A total of 12,362 patients, including 80 over the past 24 hours, have fully recovered from the disease.
At the same time, 579 patients are currently hospitalized, with 140 of them in intensive care units.
Austria has begun to gradually cancel the restrictive measures that have been in place due to the coronavirus pandemic since April 14. Small shops have been allowed to reopen if they ensure that customers keep a safe distance and wear masks. All other stores, as well as the service sector, will resume operations on May 1.
MOSCOW, April 27 (Sputnik) - Saudi Arabia confirmed on Monday 1,289 new cases of the coronavirus — the highest daily increase — bringing the total toll of those infected to 18,811, according to the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the kingdom has reached 144 with the five fatalities being recorded over the past 24 hours.
The ministry also confirmed 174 new recoveries, which brings the total number of patients who were cured to 2,531.
A spike in Saudi Arabia's COVID-19 cases has been seen since the health ministry began running tests in suspected infection cluster areas nearly two weeks ago. According to the authorities, around 1 million people have been screened so far across the kingdom.
BERLIN, April 27 (Sputnik) - The world's largest cargo aircraft flew 10.3 million medical masks to Germany from China and was received by the defense minister at a televised ceremony on Monday.
Mask shipments are overseen by the German military, which chartered the Antonov An-225. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said another 15 million masks were due later.
"It is a special day for me. The world's largest cargo plane has landed here with a shipment of more than 10 million masks from China," she told reporters at the Leipzig airport.
Germany began easing the coronavirus lockdown last week. Citizens are required to wear masks on public transports and in stores in most states. The government promised to supply them to pharmacies.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis plans to address the nation on Tuesday and announce that the country will gradually begin to lift its anti-coronavirus measures, a government source told Sputnik on Monday.
"Mitsotakis' speech is planned to be aired at 19:30 [16:30 GMT] on Greek television," the source said.
According to the source, the restrictions on movement in mainland Greece will be lifted starting on May 4. Moreover, the authorities will allow retail shops, barbershops and beauty salons to open as well, but customers will be required to wear face masks and gloves.
The second phase of lifting the restrictions will start on 24 May — outdoor cafes and restaurants will be allowed to open, the source said, adding that the issues of reopening schools and the tourism sector are yet to be solved. Moreover, churches across Greece will open their doors beginning on 24 May, the source added.
Greece has so far confirmed 2,517 coronavirus cases and 134 deaths from complications related to COVID-19.
Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health on Monday has confirmed 957 new cases of the coronavirus disease over the past 24 hours, raising the overall case total to 11,244 in the highest daily increase in positive tests since the start of the outbreak.
According to the latest figures, 10,168 people are still undergoing treatment for the disease and 1,066 people have recovered. There was no increase in the COVID-19 death toll, which still stands at 10, the ministry confirmed.
On Sunday, the ministry confirmed 929 new cases of the disease, which previously stood as the largest daily increase in positive tests.
Qatari health officials have tested 85,709 people for COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak. In total, 3,420 tests were conducted in the 24-hour period before Monday’s statistical update.
On Wednesday, Russian Ambassador in Doha Nurmakhmad Kholov told Sputnik that Russian and Qatari specialists are cooperating to develop a vaccine against COVID-19.
South Korea has set up a government task force to handle the growing number of requests from other countries to share its experience in combating the coronavirus pandemic, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, citing the Foreign Ministry.
Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho chaired the first interagency meeting on the matter, which also brought together officials from state-affiliated health institutions.
According to the news agency, after South Korea achieved a slowdown in the infections, many foreign countries have asked Seoul to share it experience and guidelines for treatment and self-isolation. About 40 nations have also expressed wish to receive its testing kits.
Participants of Monday’s meeting agreed to hold regular online conferences to share information with interested countries.
Earlier in the day, the country updated its COVID-19 case count by 10 to 10,738. The death toll has risen by one to 243.
The Japanese government will shortly approve the use of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 following the conclusion of clinical trials, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
“The pharmaceutical approval (of remdesivir) will be possible shortly,” Abe said during a parliamentary session, as quoted by the Kyodo News agency.
Remdesivir is developed by the US biotech firm Gilead Sciences and has previously tested in humans to treat Ebola.
“We are currently conducting clinical tests and are focused on confirming the drug's efficacy and safety,” a spokesperson for the Japanese branch of Gilead Sciences said, as quoted by the agency.
Clinical trials of the anti-viral drug in Japan got underway on April 14 and are due to conclude in May. At that time, the NHK broadcaster stated that roughly 90 patients were expected to take part in the trial.
On April 11, data from a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that 68 percent of patients critically ill with COVID-19 responded well to Remdesivir.
However, a draft report published accidentally by the World Health Organization on Thursday, before being removed, indicated that Remdesivir's effectiveness was proved inconclusive by a trial in China.
Researchers in Russia and the United States are currently conducting their own clinical trials on the effectiveness and safety of the anti-viral drug.
Germany will allocate 300 million euros ($325 million) in coronavirus emergency aid funding to international organizations helping crisis-hit communities, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday.
The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have requested, respectively, $2 billion and $822 million in aid to support vulnerable people that are already affected by humanitarian emergencies.
"We have answered the unprecedented call for help from the United Nations and will provide 300 million euros to fund humanitarian efforts during the corona crisis," Maas said.
Romania has registered 303 new cases of infection with the coronavirus, bringing the total to 11,339, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"Since the latest information was submitted by the strategic communication group, another 303 new cases of people falling ill [with COVID-19] have been recorded," it said on Facebook.
The southeastern European country previously reported 11,036 cases of infection and 608 virus-related deaths. The death toll now stands at 631. More than 3,000 patients have been discharged from hospitals.
The number of coronavirus infections in neighboring Moldova rose to 3,408 on Monday, with 101 deaths. The total number of people who recovered from the virus has increased to 925.
New COVID-19 cases were also reported in Europe's northern Baltic region. Latvia has confirmed six more infections and one fatality, taking the tallies to, respectively, 818 and 13. Estonia's infection tally rose by four to 1,647 cases, with a total of 50 dying from COVID-19.
India’s government is planning to extend social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s most affected regions, the Indian Express newspaper said on Monday, citing government sources.
The latest developments follow a video conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the heads of government of India’s states and union territories. A source told the newspaper that the country's "red zones," which have more cases of the coronavirus disease, will experience tougher lockdown measures after May 3 than areas designated as "green zones" which have fewer cases.
Modi told the regional leaders that the Indian government has the capacity to protect the country’s citizens, but he warned that the COVID-19 outbreak will continue to cause disruption, sources told the newspaper.
“However, he forewarned that the danger of the virus is far from over and constant vigilance is of paramount importance,” an unnamed government source told the newspaper.
India’s lockdown measures are set to expire on 3 May, although sources told the newspaper that the social distancing regulations are likely to be extended. The governments of at least three Indian states have reportedly asked to extend the measures until 3 June.
In mid-April, the government labeled 170 Indian districts as red zones. More than 400 districts were designated as green zones.
On Monday, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported 1,396 new cases of COVID-19 over the preceding 24 hours and 48 new deaths due to complications from the disease. The latest figures are a significant drop from the 1,990 new cases reported on Sunday. On the same day, the COVID-19 death toll increased by 49.
Since the start of the outbreak, a total of 27,892 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, resulting in the deaths of 872 people.
Iran has registered less than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours for the first time since 21 March with the total count nearing 91,500 after growing by 991 (1,153 yesterday), the Health Ministry's spokesman, Kianush Jahanpur, said on Monday.
"Today, on 27 April after 36 days, we can say that the number of new coronavirus cases is three-digit, 991. Taking this into account, the total number of cases [since 19 February] has reached 91,472," Jahanpur said, as aired by IRINN broadcaster.
The death toll has grown by 96 over the past 24 hours (60 yesterday), reaching 5,806, the spokesman added.
The number of recoveries has reached 70,933.
Brazil may soon face a severe economic recession due to the coronavirus lockdown, ineffective stimulus measures and falling oil prices, Gleisi Hoffmann, leader of Brazil’s main opposition force, the Workers’ Party (PT), has said.
Earlier in April, Brazil’s Economy Ministry said that the country’s deficit may amount to seven percent of the GDP in 2020. In comparison, Brazil’s deficit last year was below one percent.
“With so many deaths, we will enter the stage of depression in the economy. The Brazilian economy and revenues in Brazil are suffering a lot. The International Monetary Fund said that Brazilian GDP would fall by five percentage points. This is a tragedy, people believe that the situation will get even worse because the measures that the government is taking now to safeguard jobs, income and the business activities are very timid,” Hoffmann, who serves as a member of the lower house of parliament, told Sputnik.
Brazil is the worst-affected country in Latin America, with over 61,800 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 4,200 related deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has been a consistent opponent of the restrictions on people’s movement introduced by the country's regional authorities. Bolsonaro has warned that the lockdown measures could lead to severe consequences for households and the economy as a whole.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has extended the ban on international passenger aircraft arrivals until 31 May in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The order on the third extension of the ban, introduced on April 4, was published on Monday on the CAAT website.
"The ban on international passenger flights to Thailand will be extended from 30 April 2020 to 11:59 p.m. [16:59 GMT] on 31 May 2020. All flight permits issued for this period will be canceled," the order read.
Over the given period, Thai airports will allow landings to government and military aircraft, as well as passenger flights that land for emergency and technical reasons without disembarking passengers. At the same time, cargo planes, flights with humanitarian or medical evacuation missions and passenger aircraft evacuating foreign citizens from Thailand to their home countries will be allowed to land in the kingdom.
Any passengers, including diplomats and officials who will be allowed entry to Thailand, will be required to undergo a two-week mandatory quarantine.
On Monday, Thailand recorded only nine new cases of coronavirus that is the smallest daily number of infections tin April. According to the latest official data, the total COVID-19 cases tally in Thailand stands at 2,931, 2,609 patients have recovered and 52 have died of the disease.
The national coronavirus response center on Monday recommended the government to extend restrictive measures that are in place in the country until 30 April.
The coronavirus epidemic in Russia will be 97 percent over in May and completely extinguished in mid-July, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) said in a fresh report.
SUTD Data-Driven Innovation Lab used data analysis combining actual figures reported by countries and the estimated COVID-19 evolution cycle in different countries. These cycles are not "completely random," as stated in the report, but rather follow patterns based on the adaptive and countering behaviors of agents including individuals, such as avoiding physical contact, and governments, such as locking down cities, as well as the natural limitations of a given ecosystem.
Based on this methodology, researches have compiled statistical graphs showing three estimated dates of the infection's recess — by 97 percent, 99 percent and 100 percent.
For Russia, these dates are expected to be May 20, May 28 and July 20, respectively, with the peak turning date having occurred on April 24.
The majority of countries are forecast to overcome the outbreak by 97 percent during May, whereas it is claimed that China has completely extinguished COVID-19 on 20 April.
In the United States, where currently the highest number of cases have been confirmed per a single country, the infection is expected to end on 27 August.
In the most severely affected European countries, the expected cut off dates are 25 August for Italy, 7 August for Spain, 5 August for France and 1 August for Germany.
On a global scale, the pandemic is expected to pertain until December.
The coronavirus pandemic is believed to have started last December, according to first reports from its assumed initial epicenter in the Chinese city of Wuhan. To date, more than 2.8 people have been infected globally and the death toll has surpassed 193,000, as stated in the latest situation report by the World Health Organization.
Spain's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 331 (288 yesterday) to 23,251 over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
The country's number of COVID-19 cases has grown by 1,831 (1,729 yesterday) to 209,465 over the same period of time.
The number of recoveries has surpassed 100,000 after growing by 2,144 (3,024 yesterday) over the past 24 hours.
Over 85,000 cases remain active.
South Korea will allocate over $400 million to emerging nations for projects aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic, media reported on Monday, citing Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki.
According to Yonhap news agency, the remarks were made at a meeting with economy-related ministers. The funds will be allocated through the country's Economic Development Cooperation Fund.
The finance minister told the meeting that South Korea would also postpone debt payments worth $110 million for 26 nations in the wake of the economic problems caused by the pandemic.
Earlier in April, the South Korean government announced the creation of a stabilization fund worth 40 trillion won ($32.4 billion) to additionally support the country's key industries affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the government plans to allocate 10 trillion won to implement an emergency employment stabilization policy in order to actively address possible shocks in the labor market.
The total number of coronavirus cases in South Korea now stands at 10,738 while the death toll is 243, according to the health authorities.
"Given the evolution of the situation linked to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the French Grand Prix takes note of the decisions announced by the French state, making it impossible to maintain our event," the race's managing director Eric Boullier said.
Russia has registered 6,198 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours (6,361 yesterday), bringing the total to 87,147, the national coronavirus response response center said on Monday.
"Over the past 24 hours, 6,198 COVID-19 cases have been registered in 84 regions. Of these, 2,693 (or 43.4 percent) have been detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the center said in a statement, adding that Russia has so far confirmed 87,147 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, which is a 7.7 percent increase from 80,949 the day before.
Of all the new cases, 2,871 have been registered in Moscow, 638 in Moscow region and 207 in Nizhny Novgorod region (compared to yesterday's 2,971, 576 and 153 respectively).
The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 50 (66 yesterday) to 794.
As many as 579 patients have recovered over the given period (517 yesterday), bringing the total number of cured people to 7,346.
Over 3 million tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted in Russia, and 183,000 people across the country remain under medical monitoring due to suspicions of being infected, the national public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Monday.
"Over 3 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in the Russian Federation. A total of 183,000 people remain under medical monitoring," Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement.
As many as 139,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted over the past 24 hours, the watchdog specified.
Russian and Italian military experts have disinfected residential establishments for the elderly in three more cities of the northern Italian region of Lombardy as part of joint effort to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the Defense Ministry of Russia said in a press release on Monday.
"Russian military experts, together with servicemen of the Italian army's units for nuclear, biological and chemical protection, have disinfected the interior and adjoining streets of three more medical institutions in the province of Brescia, Lombardy," the ministry said.
In particular, disinfection works have been conducted in the Brescia cities of Pontoglio, Palazzolo sull'Oglio and Cologne, the press release read.
To date, 88 buildings in over 80 Lombard localities have been disinfected, according to the ministry.
Russian experts are in Italy as part of assistance provided by Moscow to help the European country fight the coronavirus pandemic upon the request of the Italian authorities.
Aside from providing 24/7 stationary medical assistance in field hospitals in Lombardy, Italy's most affected area, the Russian military conduct regular outings to residential establishments for people with limited abilities and the elderly for disinfection purposes.
"He will be back in the driving seat as we speak, getting on with the job," said Edward Argar, a junior health minister.
"He is raring to be back and he is full of energy as you would expect and I think he will be meeting this morning with senior ministers, senior advisers and being brought fully up to speed on everything that has happened and that will happen in the coming days," he said.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared on Monday his decision to extend the state of emergency, declared in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, to 11 May.
Kazakhstan has confirmed over 2,700 COVID-19 cases, including 25 fatalities. The state of emergency has been previously extended through 1 May, as well as quarantine in Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent.
"Taking into consideration the situation evolving in our country and the offer by the state commission and experts, I have decided to sign a decree to extend the state of emergency to 11 May of this year," Tokayev said in his address to the nation.
The state of emergency will be abandoned on 11 May, "if no new large outbreak of the epidemic occurs," the president added.
Japan will extend entry ban additionally to 14 countries beginning 29 April pursuing to impede the spread of the coronavirus infection, Japanese media reported on Monday, citing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The new ban will bring the number of countries and regions subject to Japan's COVID-19 travel restrictions to 87, including the United States, China, South Korea and the majority of European countries.
Abe said that the restrictions would remain in place throughout May, as cited by the Jiji Press agency.
According to the media outlet, people with a travel history in Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and 11 other countries from the new list two weeks prior to intended arrival will be banned from entering Japan.
Additionally, the Japanese government reportedly raised its travel alert to Level 3, the second-highest, and warned citizens against visiting the restricted countries.
Japanese citizens are still allowed to return home from abroad, subject to agreeing to undergo coronavirus testing and self-isolate for two weeks.
Among other COVID-19 travel restrictions undertaken by Tokyo earlier was temporarily suspending issuance of entry visas to foreign nationals.
As of Monday morning, there have been 13,182 confirmed coronavirus infection cases in Japan, including 348 fatalities, as per the latest situation update by the World Health Organization.
"There is no widespread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared. "We have won that battle."
"I will not risk the gains we've made in the health of New Zealanders. So if we need to remain at Level Three, we will," he added.
Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has ordered a batch of wormwood-based therapeutic syrup made in Madagascar in the hopes that it can help against COVID-19. He intends not only to import it to his own country, but to transport the remedy to the neighboring countries of Western Africa by plane as well, Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina said on Monday.
Rajoelina has recently presented the herbal drink, branded Covid-Organics and developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research. The drink contains artemisia, believed to be an efficient cure against tropical malaria. Rajoelina believes that effect from Covid-Organics can be seen within seven days. The drink is already being distributed to local school children. However, Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, has said that the organization does not know if wormwood can cure COVID-19.
"Thanks to Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo for the offer to supply his country and neighbors in Western Africa with TAMBAVY CVO/Covid-Organics. He has ordered a plane to transport it from Madagascar," Rajoelina wrote on Twitter.
Rajoelina also said that Senegalese President Macky Sall had ordered the herbal cure on Friday.
According to the Malagasy Health Ministry, the country has recorded 124 COVID-19 cases, including 71 recoveries. Guinea-Bissau has confirmed 53 cases, including three recoveries and one death. Senegal has confirmed as many as 671 COVID-19 cases, including 283 recoveries and nine deaths.
Kyrgyzstan's number of COVID-19 cases has grown to 695, the country's coronavirus response center told Sputnik on Monday.
"As of April 27, 2020, 13 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in the republic," a spokesperson for the response center said, specifying that three people among the new COVID-19 patients are doctors.
This means that Kyrgyzstan's COVID-19 total has reached 695, with 183 medical staffers among the infected people. The death toll stands at eight, and 395 patients have recovered.
Germany has confirmed 1,018 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, with the total count now reaching 155,193, the Robert Koch Institute said on Monday.
The death toll has increased by 110 to 5,750 over the same period of time, according to the institute.
The number of cured COVID-19 patients has exceeded 114,000.
Meanwhile, the country reported 1,737 new COVID-19 cases and 140 deaths on Sunday.
The southern state of Bavaria remains the worst-hit one with 41,0070, cases, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia with 31,879 cases and Baden-Wurttemberg with 31,043 cases. Berlin has registered 5,638 cases.
