Coronavirus summary: deaths, cases and news - 20 May
Coronavirus live global updates: cases, deaths and news - 20 May
Global totals and country news
Confirmed worldwide cases: 4.9 million +
Confirmed worldwide deaths: 327,000 +
(Source: Johns Hopkins University)
Worst single day yet in pandemic
The World Health Organisation warned yesterday that there is a long way to go yet in the coronavirus pandemic with the most new cases registered in a single day so far: 106,000.
“We still have a long way to go in this pandemic. We are very concerned about rising cases in low- and middle-income countries," said WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Automatic notifications of potential exposure
22 countries and several US states already planning on using the tech...
Seoul fined by K League over 'sex doll' fans
Korean football club does... what?
The side-effects of the coronavirus pandemic are beyond bizarre at times...
Apple and Google release API for contact tracing
Now to see which countries use it and, more importantly, how many users sign up.
Protests turn violent in Madrid
Violence broke out on Wednesday evening in Madrid during a protest against the government's coronavirus lockdown measures. One anti-government protester was injured during a scuffle between the protesters and a group of counter-protesters who support the government's measures to save lives during the Covid-19 crisis.
California looks to speed up reopening
53 of California's 58 counties have been give the green light to go further with the second of the four reopening stages.Dine-in restaurants, shopping centres and pet groomers are on the green-light list.
Trump administration want sexual health references removed
The US has called on the UN to remove any references to sexual health from its coronavirus humanitarian response plan, urging it to focus on 'life-saving interventions" and not include services such as abortion as essential services.
Françoise Girard, president of the International Women’s Health Coalition, said the letter was “very worrisome”.
“Threatening to cut funding would be a terrible blow to the WHO and the global health response to Covid-19. It’s the only global agency tasked with [dealing with] pandemic health emergencies."
Michelle Nunn, the CEO of Care International, said she was dismayed by the letter.
“Sexual and reproductive health is and has always has been a critical part of any humanitarian response. Lives depend upon it.”
Pandemic may reverse human development for first time in 30 years, UN says
(Reuters) The novel coronavirus outbreak has starkly exposed inequalities worldwide and could set back human development for the first time since 1990, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
It said the crisis had, though, revealed the strength of collective action in the face of a common threat and urged the world to show the same force on climate change.
"The Covid-19 pandemic is unleashing a human development crisis," the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report.
Other shocks - such as the financial crisis of 2007-2009 or the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 - have dealt a blow but did not prevent year-on-year development gains overall, said UNDP head Achim Steiner.
"Covid-19 – with its triple hit to health, education, and income – may change this trend,” he added.
Face masks to be compulsory in Spain
A new government decree has made the wearing of face masks in Spain obligatory on public transport and in confined spaces such as shops.
Trump accuses China of "mass worldwide killing"
Donald Trump has once again hit out at China over the coronavirus, accusing the Asian nation of "incompetence" and perpetrating a "mass worldwide killing".
Referring to an unnamed "wacko" who he said was "blaming everybody else other than China" for the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States president tweeted: "Please explain to this dope that it was the 'incompetence of China', and nothing else, that did this mass worldwide killing!"
On Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that Trump's attacks on the country, where the coronavirus originated, were part of a "smear" campaign to deflect attention away from his handling of the crisis.
It is unclear whether or not this is the statement that Trump was alluding to.
"Europe should brace itself for a second wave"
Andrea Ammon, the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, says Europe should prepare for a second wave of the coronavirus, telling the Guardian: "The question is when and how big, that is the question in my view."
Workers ride their bicycles home in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Bicycle sales have skyrocketed in the country, with some shops selling 300-400 units over the past two days since the Philippine government began easing quarantine measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
While some workers are now allowed to go back to work, public transportation is still banned, forcing them to resort to bicycles. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
Is China suffering a second wave of coronavirus?
Jilin and Liaoning locked down after new Covid-19 cases in China
China reported five new cases of Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, and six on Monday. The government has enforced strict measures to curb a new outbreak.
Read more:
"Overawed" Captain Tom Moore reacts to knighthood
Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War Two veteran who raised 33 million pounds for the UK's National Health Service by completing 100 laps of his garden with the aid of a walking frame, has said he is "delighted and overawed" by the news that he is to be knighted in recognition of his efforts.
"I am certainly delighted and overawed by the fact this has happened to me," Moore told the BBC. "I thought this can't be true, I've always said this won't happen and it appears it actually has. I certainly never anticipated that this letter would arrive for me."
Coronavirus in northeast China behaving differently, says expert
The coronavirus is behaving differently in patients who have contracted it recently in northeast China compared with early cases, indicating it is changing as it spreads, a prominent doctor has said.
China, which has largely brought the virus under control, has found new clusters of infections in the northeastern border provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang in recent weeks, raising concern about a second wave.
Qiu Haibo, an expert in critical care medicine who is part of a National Health Commission expert group, said the incubation period of the virus in patients in the northeast was longer than that of patients in Wuhan, where the virus emerged late last year.
"This causes a problem, as they don't have any symptoms. So when they gather with their families they don't care about this issue and we see family cluster infections," Qiu told state broadcaster CCTV in a programme aired late on Tuesday.
Patients in the northeastern clusters were also carrying the virus for longer than earlier cases in Wuhan, and were taking longer to recover, while they also rarely exhibited fever and tended to suffer damage to the lungs rather than across multiple organs, he said.
(Reuters)
Russia case count surpasses 300,000 mark
Russia’s coronavirus case count has moved past the 300,000 mark after the country reported 8,764 new infections on Wendesday. In total, there have so far been 308,705 confirmed cases in Russia - more than any other nation except the United States - leading to 2,972 fatalities.
Face masks to be compulsory in Spain
From Thursday, wearing a face mask will be obligatory in Spain where it is not possible to maintain social distancing, the country's government has said.
Spanish parliament to vote on two-week state of emergency extension
Spain’s parliament is to vote today on a proposed two-week extension of the country’s state of emergency - lasting until 7 June - after Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez opted against his initial plan of requesting that the measure be extended by a month. Spain, which has registered 232,000 cases and nearly 28,000 deaths, has been under lockdown since 14 March.
Brazil registers record case count and death toll
Brazil’s health ministry has revealed that the country suffered its highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in a single day, with 17,408 new infections and 1,179 new fatalities in the last 24-hour cycle.
In total, the South American country has now registered just under 272,000 Covid-19 cases - a figure lower than only the US and Russia - and nearly 18,000 deaths.
Hydroxychloroquine study a "Trump enemy statement", US case count a "badge of honour"
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Donald Trump dismissed a recent Veterans Department study on hydroxychloroquine, which indicated that the drug was ineffective in treating the coronavirus and could lead to dangerous side effects, as a "Trump enemy statement".
It was revealed earlier this week that the United States president has been taking a daily dose of the anti-malarial drug.
Trump also claimed that the US' coronavirus case count, which is higher than anywhere else in the world, is a "badge of honour" because it reflects the large amount of testing that the country is carrying out.
Coronavirus: the complete guide to the Covid-19 pandemic
Coronavirus: the complete guide to the Covid-19 pandemic
All the information you need to understand the coronavirus and ways to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic:
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