Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, several nations plan to relax stringent restrictions and lift lockdowns, hoping the decision won't result in a new outbreak of the disease. At the same time, travel bans and social distancing measures are to remain in place in most countries.
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The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by four to 10,765 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Thursday.
All of the new cases are imported ones, according to the KCDC.
The death toll has risen from 246 to 247 people within the same period of time. The number of recovered people has reached 9,059.
"The National Health Commission received information about 82,862 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus from 31 provinces [regions and municipalities], including 619 currently ill people. 41 people are in critical condition, 4,633 have died, 77,610 people have been discharged from hospitals", the commission said in a statement.
The ministry's director of epidemiology, Jose Luis Alomia, said that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased from 16,752 to 17,799 within 24 hours. The number of deaths has risen by 163 to 1,732 within the same period of time.
"I issued an executive order requiring universal testing of all residents and staff at all Maryland nursing homes, regardless of whether they asymptomatic or not", Governor Larry Hogan said during press briefing on Monday.
The global number of cases stands at 3,018,952, and the death toll is 207,973, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
There have now been a total of 1,190 #COVID19 related deaths in Ireland.
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) April 29, 2020
As of 11am Wednesday 29th April, the HPSC has been notified of 376 new confirmed cases of #COVID19. There is now a total of 20,253 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Ireland.
"In the past 24 hours, there were 1,325 new cases of coronavirus infection detected in the kingdom [of Saudi Arabia], the total number of cases registered since the beginning of the pandemic has increased to 21,402. Five more people have died over the past day, bringing the number of deaths to 157. Currently, 2,953 people have recovered", the ministry wrote on Twitter.
The first stage begins next Monday, which includes the reopening of travel agencies and most retail stores.
The second stage will entirely depend on the epidemiological indicators and the health authorities' recommendations.
The president reiterated that all activities would be strictly regulated by the country's Health Ministry and if the epidemiological situation worsens, the Cypriot authorities would reintroduce the restrictions.
The United States has registered 60,207 deaths with more than 1,030,000 cases in total, according to the data. The US is the world leader in both categories.
A total of 52 new coronavirus infections have been registered, while 304 people have recovered in Israel. The death toll now stands at 215, while 8,223 have recovered in total.
According to the ministry's evening update, 115 patients are in critical condition, with 90 of those infected being on ventilators.
"Checks on the internal borders with Germany, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have been extended by another 10 days, from 4-13 May", the Ministry of Interior and Administration said.
The restrictions were imposed in mid-March after Poland declared a state of emergency to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. They were to expire on 4 May.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US state of New Jersey has reported 329 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-related deaths in the past 24 hours, Governor Phil Murphy said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
"Today we are reporting the loss of an additional 329 blesses souls, friends, family members, neighbours", Murphy said.
The governor noted that a total of 6,770 people died from COVID-19-related complications.
"To put that in perspective... the number of 6,770 is more than New Jerseans lost in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, both Gulf Wars, Afghanistan and Iraq, Superstorm Sandy, and 9-11 combined", Murphy said.
The governor revealed 1,811 COVID-19 patients have been placed in intensive care units and 1,327 on ventilators.
Murphy also noted that there have been 426 new hospitalizations, adding that the trend line goes in the "right direction" and 474 patients have been discharged.
MADRID (Sputnik) - The office of Spain's chief prosecutor said Wednesday it had opened 110 criminal cases at the request of relatives whose elderly died from coronavirus in nursing homes.
Care homes emerged as the epicentre of the infection in Spain, with a reported 16,500 patients dying there since March, according to the TVE news channel. There is no official figure. The country's total deaths have reached 24,275.
The prosecutor general's office said 42 probes had been launched into nursery home deaths in Madrid and 24 in the northeastern region of Catalonia. Several lawsuits were filed by political parties.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced this week a plan to ease the lockdown after the infection peak passed. Spain remains the world's second worst-affected country in terms of confirmed cases and virus-related deaths.
BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The death toll from coronavirus in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown to 65 with 1,677 cases of the infection in total, the country’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Wednesday.
"Since the start of the pandemic by 29 April, Bosnia and Herzegovina registered 1,677 cases of COVID-19, 710 recoveries and 65 fatalities", the statement said.
According to the data, 33 fatalities and 893 COVID-19 cases were recorded in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the rest is attributed to Republika Srpska and Brcko Special District, the smallest state-forming administrative entity in the country.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases in the Russian armed forces rose to 1,044 on Wednesday from 960 the day before, the Defenсe Ministry said.
"Blanket testing in the Russian armed forces between March and April 29 returned 1,044 positive results", the ministry said in a statement.
Of them, 332 service members were admitted to military hospitals, 253 isolated at the places of service, eight taken to civilian health care institutions and 451 were being treated at home. A further 82 have recovered from the infection.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - New York state has registered 330 new COVId-19 related deaths over the past day, while the hospitalisation rate is going down, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.
"Death rate, terrible news, 330", Cuomo said. "Hospitalisation rate... net change down, that’s good news", Cuomo said.
He pointed out that they are watching now how fast the decline goes.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Thirty prison inmates in Peru have died from COVID-19, the country's Justice Minister Fernando Castaneda said on Wednesday.
The country has about 97,000 prisoners and 11,300 prison personnel.
"Five hundred seventy-nine inmates are in prisons, 36 have been hospitalised, and 30 have died from COVID-19", Castaneda said, adding that the prisoners had likely contracted the disease from prison staff.
The minister added that 224 prison workers have tested positive for the coronavirus. Seven of them died, 16 have been hospitalized and the others are staying at home.
ATHENS (Sputnik) - Greece has registered 10 new cases of the coronavirus disease over the past 24 hours that brought the total number of cases to 2,576, Sotiris Tsiodras, a spokesman for the Greek Health Ministry, said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Tsiodras said that one person died from the disease over the last day taking the overall death toll to 139 people.
According to the spokesman, 41 people diagnosed with COVID-19 are currently in intensive care units, while 71 patients were transferred from intensive care to regular wards as their condition improved.
CHISINAU (Sputnik) - Moldova registered 133 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours that brought the country's total toll to 3,771 cases, Health Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu said on Wednesday.
The previous situation report indicated that there were 3,638 COVID-19 cases in the country and 109 fatalities.
"To date, 133 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, and we have a total of 3,771 cases", the minister stated.
According to the Moldovan Health Ministry. two people died from the disease over the past day that means that the total death toll now amounts to 111 people.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has stated that the country’s testing capacity is over 73,000 a day.
The United Kingdom started to use a new reporting system for coronavirus-related fatalities, which now includes deaths in care homes and private homes, and thus the COVID-19 death toll additionally increased by 3,811, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Wednesday.
"As the Health Secretary [Matt Hancock] announced yesterday, from today we are moving to an improved daily reporting system for deaths so the deaths in all settings included, wherever the individual has tested positive for COVID-19, rather than just those in hospitals, and those figures show that, up to yesterday, on a new measure, we have recorded an additional 3,811 deaths in total", Raab said during a briefing.
According to the new data, the overall coronavirus-related death toll in the UK reached 26,097, meaning that the country registered more deaths from COVID-19 complications than any other country in Europe except Italy.
Over the past 24 hours, the UK detected 765 fatalities and 4,076 coronavirus cases, and the total number of cases climbed to 165,221.
ANKARA (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases in Turkey has increased by 2,936 over the past day and surpassed 117,000, while the number of deaths has grown by 89 to 3,081, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.
"Today, 2,936 new cases have been identified, with a total of 117,589 infected. We lost 89 patients today, and the overall number of deaths is 3,081. [A total of] 5,231 patients recovered today, while overall number of recoveries is 44,022", Koca wrote on Twitter.
The health minister also stated that Turkey had passed a peak of the outbreak, noting that the country's fatality rate was currently the lowest in comparison with European countries.
CAIRO (Sputnik) - Tunisia plans to gradually restart crucial sectors of the economy starting next week, the minister in charge of major projects was cited as saying by state media on Wednesday.
Lobna Jeribi said the economy will be relaunched in three phases from 4 May until 14 July, according to the TAP news agency.
Smaller businesses will be allowed to reopen in the first phase from 4-24 May. Retail stores selling clothes and shoes, and larger businesses will reopen starting 11 May.
Cultural, sports and tourist venues, cafes, restaurants and markets will partially reopen from 24 May to 4 June and reach their full capacity from 5 June to 14 July.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the US armed forces, including family members, civilian staff and contractors, has increased by 106 over the past day, the Department of Defence said on Thursday.
According to the Defence Department’s updated COVID-19 fact sheet, the total number of cases now 6,754 as compared to 6,648 on Tuesday.
The number of people hospitalized stands at 283, while 2,176 have recovered.
TORONTO (Sputnik) - The number of Canadians who have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) ticked up 50,373, updated figures from Canada’s Public Health Agency revealed Wednesday.
The COVID-19-related death toll rose to 2,904, the data showed.
The province of Quebec remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Canada, accounting for more than half of all confirmed cases - 25,757 - and 1,682 deaths. Nevertheless, the province announced on Tuesday that it intends to begin reopening the economy on May 4.
GENEVA (Sputnik) - Switzerland has prohibited all large-scale events of more than 1,000 people until the end of August amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Council said Wednesday.
"Large-scale events involving more than 1,000 people will remain banned until the end of August. By doing so, [the council] aims to create certainty for those planning such events", it said.
The federal government will assess the situation before the summer holiday and decide on 27 May whether smaller events with fewer than 1,000 participants will be allowed.
HELSINKI (Sputnik) - Finland registered 166 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, and the total number of people infected with COVID-19 climbed to 4,906 in the Scandinavian country, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said on Wednesday.
"As of 29 April, Finland has 4,906 laboratory-confirmed cases of the new coronavirus", THL said.
The health authorities also confirmed seven coronavirus-related fatalities over the given period, and the overall death toll reached 206.
On Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 carriers in Finland was 4,740.
STOCKHOLM (Sputnik) - The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Sweden has reached 20,302, Chief Public Health Official Anders Tegnell said at a briefing on Wednesday.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths has increased by 107 over the past day and reached 2,462, Tegnel said.
He warned that the true number of fatalities could turn to be much higher than that.
According to the official, the statistical data on the count of cases and fatalities in the country shows that the Swedish health authorities "still keep the situation under control".
India’s federal Home Ministry issues guidelines for movement of stranded people, including migrant labourers in the country. The guidelines issued on Wednesday stipulates all persons are to be medically screened at the source and destination and kept in home or institutional quarantine on arrival as per guidelines issued by the federal Health Ministry.
According to the health service, 445 people succumbed to the disease in English hospitals over the past 24 hours.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The COVID-19 death toll on the African continent has surpassed 1,500 after the regional office of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday announced 52 new deaths over the preceding 24 hours.
According to the organisation, a total of 34,610 cases of the disease have been confirmed since the start of the outbreak, resulting in 1,517 deaths. On Tuesday, the case total stood at 33,085 with 1,465 deaths.
Egypt and South Africa have been the two epicentres of COVID-19 on the continent, with 5,042 and 4,996 cases, respectively. A total of 4,246 cases of the disease have been confirmed in Morocco, and 3,649 cases in Algeria.
The African countries with the highest COVID-19 death toll are Algeria with 437 deaths and Egypt with 359 deaths so far.
MOSCOW, April 29 (Sputnik) - Doctors at Stanford Children's Hospital in the United States have treated a child with a rare inflammatory syndrome that has been linked to COVID-19, CNN reported on Wednesday.
According to the broadcaster, Stanford doctors initially admitted a six-month-old girl with a viral infection and she was later diagnosed with COVID-19. A chest x-ray showed the symptoms of Kawasaki disease, and after treatment, the child was discharged two weeks later.
"Kawasaki disease itself is often preceded by a respiratory or gastrointestinal illness", Brad Segal, a doctor in the child neurology department at Stanford Children's Hospital, told the broadcaster, adding that it was too early to tell if the COVID-19 outbreak will lead to a spike in Kawasaki disease infections.
Other media reports suggest that three cases of the inflammatory syndrome have also been discovered among children in the state of New York, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.
Cases of the inflammatory syndrome have reportedly been identified in Italy and Spain, the two European countries that have been most severely impacted by the coronavirus disease outbreak.
"Over the past day, 1,073 new COVID-19 cases have been detected. The total number of those infected has reached 93,657. As many as 73,791 people have recovered", Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said, as aired by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Moscow city authorities have decided to begin preparations to set up temporary hospitals comprising a total of 10,000 beds in which COVID-19 patients will be placed for aftercare, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday.
"We also decided that we would place patients for aftercare in temporary hospitals that are under construction at [the city's] main clinical institutions. In addition, we have decided on preparatory work for the deployment of temporary hospitals with 10,000 beds", Sobyanin wrote on the VK social network.
The mayor added that the list of facilities is yet to be finalised and their use would depend on the dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Spain's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 325 (301 yesterday) to 24,275 over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the country grew by 2,144 (1,308 yesterday) to 212,917 over the same period.
The number of recoveries is now nearing 109,000 after growing by 6,399 (1,673 yesterday) over the past 24 hours.
As many as 39,230 doctors have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Spain since the beginning of the outbreak.
India asks it's millions of government employees including senior officers and casual workers to download #AarogyaSetuApp to expedite #ContactTracing #Covid19India pic.twitter.com/b91twtNjtc
— Rishikesh Kumar (@rishhikesh) April 29, 2020
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Over 730,000 tests for the new coronavirus have been run in the Russian capital as of Wednesday, according to the official portal of the Moscow Mayor and Moscow Government.
"To date, more than 730,000 tests for the coronavirus have been carried out in Moscow. In total, almost 5,700 tests for the coronavirus infection are run per 100,000 people. According to this indicator, Moscow has become an absolute leader among metropolitan cities in the world", the portal said in a statement.
According to the statement, every day more than 25,000 people are being tested for COVID-19 in federal, municipal, and private laboratories. People with symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections as well as patients with pneumonia and those who live with a confirmed COVID-19 carrier, are tested.
So far, Moscow has registered 48,426 cases of the disease, including 4,130 recoveries and 479 fatalities. Among the confirmed cases, 43,817 are active.
