The number of patients diagnosed with coronavirus continues to rise in Europe, where Spain, Italy, and the UK are among the countries hardest hit.
The quarantine measures imposed to curb the pandemic and the resultant economic decline have also caused a collapse on the oil market, jeopardising businesses across the globe.
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The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea has risen by nine to 10,774 over the past day, the Health Ministry's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Friday. 8 out of 9 new cases were imported, according to the KCDC.
The death toll has risen from 247 to 248 people within the same period of time. The number of recovered people has reached 9,072.
The country has conducted more than 603,000 coronavirus tests, with the results of 8,685 tests being processed now.
"Today, 143 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of [COVID-19] positive tests in the country to 4,428Эб the ministry said in a daily bulletin on late Thursday.
The death toll has increased by three to 218 people within the same period of time.
"The National Health Commission received information about 82,874 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus from 31 provinces [regions and municipalities], including 599 currently ill people. 34 people are in critical condition, 4,633 have died, 77,642 people have been discharged from hospitals", the commission said in a statement.
No new cases of the coronavirus have been registered in the province of Hubei, where the virus was first registered last December.
The death toll has risen by 17 to 900 people within the past 24 hours.
A day earlier, the Latin American nation reported about 417 new cases and 12 fatalities.
The death toll has risen by 435 to 5,901 people within the past 24 hours.
More than 35,000 patients have already recovered from the disease, the ministry added.
"We have managed to drastically slow down the coronavirus infection rate. In the last week, we basically saw the number of new cases plateauing", head of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency Veronika Skvortsova told Channel One.
She added that a plateau allowed some up-and-down movement in the infection trend.
The total number of coronavirus cases has risen to 118,652, the death toll has reached 7,228, according to Governor Phil Murphy.
Murphy said the number of ventilators used to treat COVID-19 patients has dropped to 1,271 - the lowest number since 4 April.
Intensive care unit admissions have also continued the overall downward trend over the past week, as well as state hospitalizations that have decreased by 15 percent, with a total of 6,137 people admitted to health care facilities, the governor said.
Murphy pointed out that New Jersey has been making progress on achieving the second step in its six-step on reopening the state - expanding the testing capacity.
The number of COVID-19 infection worldwide has grown by 71,839, while the global death toll has increased by 9,797 over the past 24 hours, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
According to the WHO, the overall number of COVID-19 patients in the world now amounts to 3,090,445, while 217,769 people died from the disease.
The Organisation added that Europe is still the worst-hit world's region with a total of 1,434,649 confirmed infections.
"The president of the republic and the council of ministers have approved a plan to transit from a state of emergency to a state of calamity,", Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa said at a press conference.
Portugal has managed to rein in the spread of the coronavirus since it reported the first case almost two months ago. It has more than 25,000 confirmed cases and 989 deaths.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has increased by 714 to 16,473 over the past 24 hours, while the total death toll in the country now amounts to 361. At the same time, a total of 4,105 people have fully recovered from the disease.
Among the most affected provinces are Punjab with 6,340 infections and Sindh with 6,053 cases, the government said.
The city's coronavirus death toll is lower than 67 and 65 fatalities registered in the previous two days.
PARIS (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus-related deaths in France topped 24,000 on Thursday after a further 289 patients died of COVID-19, the public health chief said.
"The total number of people who have died since March 1 is 24,376", Jerome Salomon said at a daily press briefing.
Of them, 15,244 patients died in hospitals and 9,132 in care homes.
The number of confirmed cases rose to 129,580 from 128,442 reported the day before. More than 26,200 have been hospitalised. The number of patients in intensive care is 4,019, which is 188 fewer than on Wednesday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases in the Russian armed forces rose by 24 to 1,068 on Thursday from 1,044 the day before, the Defence Ministry said.
"Blanket testing in the Russian armed forces between March and April 30 returned 1,068 positive results", the ministry said in a statement.
Of them, 342 service members were admitted to military hospitals, 250 isolated at the places of service, 10 taken to civilian health care institutions and 466 were being treated at home. A total of 109 have recovered from the infection.
Two service members are in intensive care, including one on mechanical ventilation. The condition of the further 11 personnel is moderate. The rest are asymptomatic.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Afghanistan has risen past 2,000 after 232 new positive tests were reported over the preceding 24 hours, national media reported on Thursday citing public health officials.
Wahid Majrooh, the deputy health minister, told reporters at a press conference that 232 new cases of the disease had been confirmed in 23 provinces, the Tolo News broadcaster reported.
The latest figures represent a significant jump in daily new cases, as only 111 new positive tests were reported by the Health Ministry on Wednesday.
A further three people have died due to complications related to COVID-19, the deputy minister said, raising the overall death toll to 64.
According to the broadcaster, Majrooh told reporters that significant work to renovate the Afghan-Japan hospital in Kabul to cope with an increased number of COVID-19 patients had been completed, and testing capacity will be increased.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - New York State has reported more than 900 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 306 COVID-19-related deaths in the past 24 hours, and a reduced number of hospitalisations, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.
"Hospitalisations are down, good news", Cuomo said. "New COVID cases- slightly down - 933, but still unacceptable, but down from where it was. The number of lives lost still terrible - 306".
The United States has confirmed 1,043,595 COVID-19 cases, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.
GENOA (Sputnik) - Italy has registered a 3,106 decrease in the number of people positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours and the largest number of recoveries since the start of epidemics, the Civil Protection Department said in a statement on Thursday.
"As of 30 April, the total number of cases has been 205,463, with a rise of 1,872 since yesterday. The total number of persons currently positive for the virus is 101,551, with a decrease of 3,106 since yesterday", the statement read.
According to the new statistics, the number of patients in intensive care units is 1,694 which is 101 patients fewer than on Wednesday.
"The total number of discharged and recovered persons has reached 75,945, with an increase of 4,693 since yesterday", the statement read, adding that it was the highest number since the beginning of the emergency state.
The country has recorded 285 deaths in the last 24 hours, which brings the national total to 27,967, the officials said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The first case of the coronavirus disease was registered on the Comoro Islands, media reported on Thursday, citing President Azali Assoumani.
According to the Habariza Comores news portal, the patient is a 50-year-old resident of Comoros. He was admitted to a hospital with a cough, fever and breathing difficulties on 23 April. The results of the coronavirus test became available earlier on Thursday and came back positive.
The country's authorities are now working to identify all of the patient's recent contacts, the media said.
Comoros is the 53rd out of 55 countries in the African Union to register at least one COVID-19 case. In two African countries, Lesotho and Western Sahara, no cases of coronavirus have been detected so far.
"I can confirm today that for the first time we are past the peak of this disease. We're past the peak and we're on the downward slope, and we have so many reasons to be hopeful for the long term", British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
The prime minister added that he would set out a comprehensive plan next week on how to start re-opening the economy from the COVID-19 lockdown.
"And sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 26,711 have now died, that’s an increase of 674 fatalities since yesterday across all settings", Johnson said, stressing that the death toll did not just account for those who have died in hospitals.
The latest figures are a slight decrease from the 765 new deaths announced by the Department of Health and Social Care on Wednesday.
Additionally, 6,032 new cases of the disease were confirmed by public health authorities in the UK, taking the overall case total to 171,253. The number of people currently in hospital undergoing treatment for the disease has decreased by 316, Johnson said.
The prime minister was making his first appearance at the country’s daily coronavirus disease press briefing since his positive test for the disease in March.
ANKARA (Sputnik) - The number of coronavirus cases in Turkey rose by 2,615 in the past day to 120,204, according to figures shared by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
A further 93 patients have died from virus-related complications, bringing the toll to 3,174. More than 4,800 patients have recovered and their total number is now 48,886.
Slightly more than 42,000 tests were carried out in Turkey in the past 24 hours, taking the number of tests conducted since the start of the outbreak past 1 million, the minister tweeted.
TORONTO (Sputnik) - The number of Canadians who have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) grew by almost 1,700 in 24 hours to 52,056, updated figures from Canada’s Public Health Agency revealed Thursday.
The COVID-19-related death toll rose to 3,082, the data showed.
The province of Quebec remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Canada, accounting for more than half of all confirmed cases - 26,594 - and 1,761 deaths. Nevertheless, the province announced on Tuesday that it intends to begin reopening the economy on May 4.
Ontario trails with 16,187 confirmed infections and the death toll rising by 86 to 1,082 disease-related fatalities, with the rest of the provinces being spared the worst of the pandemic.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of Defence confirmed in a press release on Thursday an additional 206 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases among service members, their families, civilian staff and contractors, bringing the total number to 6,962.
The Defence Department revealed no new deaths and the death count stands at 27.
The number of those hospitalized is 284 while 2,263 have recovered, the release said.
The total number of service members who have contracted the virus is 4,541.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Saudi Arabia has registered 1,351 more coronavirus cases, taking the total of those infected to 22,753, the country’s Health Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the death toll has risen to 162 people after five more fatalities have been confirmed.
The total number of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia has increased by 210 to 3,163, according to the ministry.
The ministry’s Wednesday report stated that the COVID-19 tally in Saudi Arabia amounted to 21,402 cases, with 157 coronavirus-related deaths.
Meanwhile, the Qatari Health Ministry has recorded 845 more coronavirus cases over the past day, bringing the total to 13,409. The death toll stands at 10 people.
According to the ministry, the total number of recoveries has reached 1,372, with 129 new recoveries registered over the past 24 hours.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of people who have contracted the coronavirus disease in the Netherlands has increased by 514 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total tally to 39,316 cases, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said on Thursday.
According to the RIVM, the number of COVID-19 fatalities grew by 84 in the past day to 4,795.
The previous reports indicated that the Netherlands had 38,802 COVID-19 cases and 4,711 fatalities. Over 10,700 coronavirus patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals.
As of Thursday, more than 3.2 million cases and over 228,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University real-time COVID-19 statistics website.
MADRID (Sputnik) - More than 40 Spanish medical professionals have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the epidemic, the State Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM) said on Thursday.
While the Spanish Health Ministry does provide information on the infected medical personnel, there is no official data on the deceased employees of medical facilities. As of Thursday, 39,987 medics have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
"To date, more than 40 people have died", CESM spokeswoman Laura Diez said.
"With regard to the issue of responsibility, we have repeatedly said that the virus is the common enemy of all humankind. China is also an affected party, not an 'accomplice' of the virus. Individuals in the US must know that their enemy is the virus, not China", spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang said.
BERLIN (Sputnik) - The scientific community is inclined to think there might be a second and even a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lothar Wieler, the president of Robert Koch Institute (RKI) which compiles official data on the coronavirus for the German government, said on Thursday.
"The majority of scientists assume that there will be a second wave and maybe even a third. There are also many scholars who believe that the fall will be the time when this happens. Obviously, this virus will be present in our country for months. We will have to live for months in this 'new normality'", Wieler said at a briefing in Berlin.
As early as March, Wieler warned that the pandemic "will be developing in waves", and epidemiologists in many countries have concurred since then.
At the moment, the so-called basic reproduction level of the virus in Germany is 0.76, meaning that one carrier transmits the virus to less than one other person, Wieler said.
"This is a good development, of course, and we must strive to maintain it", he said, adding that social distancing behaviours should be retained.
According to RKI, it is the basic level of reproduction that governments should be guided by when working out response measures to curb the spread of the virus.
An indicator falling below 1 is the threshold of when restrictive measures can be abated. At the same time, the institute has urged not to overestimate the value of this indicator since it differs from region to region and is usually approximated based on average.
Spain has so far confirmed a total of 213,435 cases with the death toll standing at 24,543 people.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US federal government has ordered an additional 100,000 body bags for potential victims of the COVID-19 outbreak, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a spokeswoman from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
According to the newspaper, FEMA placed the order with a California-based producer of body bags on 21 April, with delivery expected by 4 May.
“In order to meet the worst-case demand models, FEMA initiated a broad range of acquisition contracts to augment available stocks and produce more human-remains pouches for future requirements should they be needed", the FEMA spokeswoman said, as quoted by the WSJ.
FEMA had initially asked the Department of Defence for 100,000 body bags at the start of April, according to media reports.
CAIRO (Sputnik) – The Houthi movement holds the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the spread of the coronavirus disease after five COVID-19 cases were recorded in the interim capital of Aden, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the movement's Supreme Political Council, said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the country's Health Ministry confirmed five COVID-19 cases in Aden. Following the increase in cases, the United Nations expressed concern over an outbreak that could potentially overwhelm the country's already fragile healthcare system.
"We consider the countries of the American-Saudi [coalition] and its allies accountable [for the spread of COVID-19], as they have ignored the quarantine regime or any [other] precautions", al-Houthi said.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Nasser Baoum said that two coronavirus-related deaths had been registered among the five confirmed cases in Aden.
According to NHK, citing data from local administrations, there are 14,928 infected in Japan - including 712 people, who were onboard the ship Diamond Princess, and the crew members of the Costa Atlantica vessel.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India has increased by 1,718 over the past 24 hours and now stands at 33,050, the country's Health and Family Welfare Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the health authorities, 8,324 patients have been cured since the outbreak began, with 628 recoveries being recorded over the past 24 hours.
The death toll, meanwhile, has reached 1,074, with 67 fatalities being confirmed over the past day.
As of now, a total of 23,651 patients are receiving treatment.
The majority of cases have been registered in the central state of Maharashtra — 9,915. It is followed by the westernmost state of Gujarat (4,082) and the greater New Delhi area (3,439).
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has registered 7,099 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours (5,841 yesterday) causing the total count to surge from 99,399 to 106,498 after this record daily rise, the national coronavirus response centre said on Thursday.
"Russia's cumulative total of coronavirus infection cases has reached 106,498 (+7.1 percent) in 85 regions", the centre said in a statement.
As many as 2,829 new patients (39.9 percent) showed no clinical symptoms, the centre added.
Of the new cases, 3,093 were registered in Moscow, 793 in the Moscow Region, and 336 in St. Petersburg (compared to yesterday's 2,220, 686, and 290, respectively).
The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 101 (108 yesterday) to 1,073.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Over 3.4 million tests to detect COVID-19 have been conducted in Russia, and 208,000 people across the country are under medical observation due to suspicions that they may be infected, the national public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Thursday.
"Over 3.4 million tests for coronavirus have been conducted in the Russian Federation, and 208,000 people remain under medical observation", Rospotrebnadzor said.
As many as 194,000 tests have been conducted over the past 24 hours, the watchdog specified.
The total count of COVID-19 cases in Russia is nearing 100,000, with over 10,000 recoveries and almost 1,000 deaths.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Germany has surged by 1,478 to 159,119, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, while the death toll reached 6,288.
