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Coronavirus global summary: deaths, cases, news - 26 May

Update:
SINGAPORE - MAY 26:  A general view of an unusually quiet tourist attraction at Haji Lane on May 26, 2020 in Singapore. Singapore is set to ease the partial lockdown measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after 1 June in three phases to resu

Coronavirus live global: latest Covid-19 news - 26 May

Global totals and country news

Confirmed worldwide cases: 5.5 million +

Confirmed worldwide deaths: 349,000 +

(Source: Johns Hopkins University)

This global Covid-19 live feed is now closed but you can stay up to date with the latest developments relating to the pandemic with our Wednesday 27 May blog here.

Brazil death toll continues to rise

Brazil’s daily coronavirus deaths were higher than fatalities in the United States over the last two days, reports CNN

The Brazilian health ministry said Tuesday that the country reported at least 1,039 deaths over the last 24 hours. At least 683 people died in the US during the same time period, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.

Social-distancing rules extended in Germany

Twitter adds fact-check to Trump voting-fraud tweets

Twitter has taken the unusual step of adding a fact-checking option to posts by Donald Trump, in the wake of the US president's claims that mail-in voting would increase electoral fraud.

Trump has clashed with Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, over the latter's attempts to implement postal voting to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Cummings affair has encouraged lockdown flouting, says scientific adviser

Professor John Drury, who is a member of the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, says the fall-out from Dominic Cummings' trip to Durham during lockdown has increased the likelihood of people ignoring rules telling them to stay at home.

“We know that there is understandable public anger over the Dominic Cummings incident and Boris Johnson’s defence of it," he said in quotes published by the Guardian, "and that this anger is the basis of some people now rejecting the guidance on staying at home.”

Biden says Trump "an absolute fool" for mocking face mask

Joe Biden, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, has told CNN's Dana Bash that the US president, Donald Trump, is "an absolute fool" for retweeting a tweet that made fun of his face mask.

"Every leading doc in the world is saying we should wear a mask when you're in a crowd," Biden said. "This macho stuff, for a guy - I shouldn't get going, but it just, it costs people's lives. It's costing people's lives."

The former US vice-president added: "Presidents are supposed to lead, not engage in folly and be falsely masculine."

US death toll could have been "25 times" worse without me - Trump

Speaking at a White House event on treating diabetes, US president Donald Trump has claimed that his administration's management of the coronavirus crisis averted a scenario in which there could have been "25 times" more deaths in the States.

"There would have been anything from 10, to 20, to 25 times more deaths if we didn't act the way we did," Trump said, adding that Dr Anthony Fauci, the US' top infectious disease expert, told him that his government "saved thousands and thousands of lives" by closing the American border to China.

Americas now coronavirus epicentre, says WHO

Carissa Etienne, the World Health Organization's regional director for the Americas, says there is "no doubt" that the area has now become the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. "Now is a time for action," she said.

Recent days have seen Brazil become the nation with the second most coronavirus cases worldwide, behind only the United States. There have now been just under 375,000 confirmed infections in South America's most populous country, leading to nearly 23,500 deaths.

Coronavirus: the complete guide to the Covid-19 pandemic

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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:

"It's a bit peculiar he doesn't wear a mask in his basement"

Speaking at a news conference today, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany left reporters slightly puzzled with this response to a question about Donald Trump's retweeting of a post mocking the face mask worn by Joe Biden yesterday.

Fox News political analyst Brit Hume had tweeted a photo of Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in a face mask and aviator sunglasses at a Memorial Day event, with the caption: "This might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public. Biden today."

Turkey

Covid-19 lockdown curbs Eid al-Fitr celebrations

The courtyard of the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, is seen empty on Tuesday, the last day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, during a four-day lockdown to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Under normal circumstances, families visit relatives and loved ones during the Eid festivities, but due to the pandemic lockdowns all Eid celebrations were cancelled this year, despite dropping infection rates. According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been 157,814 confirmed coronavirus cases in Turkey, leading to 4,369 deaths. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

WHO, FIFA and EU Commission create #SafeHome campaign

Amid reported surges in domestic violence as a result of stay-at-home measures introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it has joined forces with FIFA and the EU Commission to establish the #SafeHome campaign, an initiative aimed at supporting those at risk of abuse at home.

Just as physical, sexual or psychological violence has no place in football, it has no place in the home,” said the WHO's director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“We are so pleased that our partners today are joining us to draw attention to this critical issue. As people are isolated at home because of Covid-19, the risks of domestic violence have tragically been exacerbated.”

10 days of mourning in Spain

Starting on Wednesday, the Spanish government has declared 10 days of mourning, in honour of those who have died in the country as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.  Covid-19 has so far caused just over 27,000 fatalities in Spain, where there have been approximately 236,000 confirmed cases.

US

Drive-thru testing in hot spot

People in Arlington in the United States get free Covid-19 tests without needing to show ID, doctor's note or symptoms, at a drive-thru and walk up coronavirus testing centre located at Barcroft Community Center, in the Arlington zipcode with the highest concentration of coronavirus cases. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)

Brazil police raid Rio governor's residences amid COVID-19 probe

Brazilian federal police on Tuesday raided the residences of Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel as part of a COVID-19 corruption probe, targeting one of President Jair Bolsonaro's political foes as the pandemic sweeps the nation.

Two sources and a statement from the federal police said the search warrants were part of an investigation into alleged corruption involving the use of public money destined to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro state. No arrest warrants were issued, a source said.

In a statement, Witzel said he was innocent, and accused Bolsonaro of "interference" in the probe. He said he was "surprised and outraged" to see social media posts that suggested the president's allies in Congress had prior knowledge of the operation, suggesting leaks and the "construction" of a false narrative against him.

Vladimir Putin facing criticism over handling of coronavirus response.

Flying high with Qatar

Qatar Airways said on Twitter on Tuesday that it planned to fly a summer schedule to over 80 destinations worldwide.

Unspent, unclaimed, lost

Have you been unable to use store cards or credit? Maybe you've chosen to limit the amount of deliveries in circulation. This is not just a pandemic situation as this report explains.

Insurance win provides food for thought

AXA said on Tuesday it would meet the bulk of business interruption claims from some restaurant owners in France after it lost a court case that was seen as a potential precedent for coronavirus-related disputes across the world.

A Paris court ruled last week that AXA should pay a restaurant owner two months' worth of revenue losses caused by the virus pandemic. AXA had argued its policy did not cover business disruption caused by the health crisis.

Stephane Manigold, the owner of four Paris restaurants who brought the case against the French insurer, told Reuters that since the court decision his team had received calls from Britain, South Africa, Spain and the United States asking for details of his contract and the court's ruling.

Herd immunity explained

UK remdesivir injection

Britain will provide anti-viral drug remdesivir to certain Covid-19 patients that it is most likely to benefit as part of a collaboration with manufacturer Gilead Sciences.

The department of health said that early data from clinical trials around the world, including the UK, showed that the drug could shorten the recovery time of Covid-19 patients by 4 days.

It did not say how many patients would be treated under the arrangement. 

LaLiga: when it returns, fixture schedule, dates of games

LALIGA

LaLiga: when it returns, fixture schedule, dates of games

LaLiga return imminent

Talking of football, the Spanish top flight action is not far away...

Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich Preview

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Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich Preview

Der Klassiker

If you've been missing your high-class footballing fix, check out what's in store for you later today.

Cummings story not going away soon

Sporting chance

The NYT looks at the story behind one of the top clubs in Portugal and their president's efforts to fight coronavirus. ($)

Singapore stimulus sling

Singapore unveiled its fourth multi-billion dollar economic stimulus package in as many months on Tuesday to cushion the blow from the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses and households.

The latest package, focused on retaining jobs, is worth S$33 billion ($23.22 billion) and was unveiled by finance minister Heng Swee Keat as the country downgraded its 2020 GDP forecast and faces the deepest recession in its short history.

'We are dedicating close to S$100 billion to support our people in this battle, which is almost 20% of our GDP. This is a landmark package and the necessary response to an unprecedented crisis,' Heng said, via Reuters.

Macron driven for car industry

President Emmanuel Macron has said that support for the French car sector, hard hit by the coronavirus lockdown, will be 'massively amplified'.

'The health crisis massively and brutally brought the French car sector to a halt. This is a part of our economy, thousands of jobs,'

Macron also said on Twitter. France on Tuesday is due to announce a support package for carmakers, the latest industry to get a sector-specific plan to help it recover.

Italian reveller concern

The Washington Post is looking at one risk to a second wave in isolated incidences.

Media

UK media clear on Cummings' excuses

The front pages of the Tuesday editions of the UK papers are not entirely convinced by Dominic Cummings' press conference to explain why he broke lockdown when he was wife was ill and he suspected he might have been exposed to Covid-19.

A look back...

It was another busy day in the word of coronavirus yesterday as you'll have seen in our rolling live feed. Some headlines:

- Dominic Cummings, the special adviser to UK PM Boris Johnson, has no regrets over Durham trip

- WHO suspends hydroxychloroquine testing

- China reported a further seven cases of Covid-19 in the mainland

- Madrid moved into Phase 1. What did it mean?

Coronavirus live coverage: welcome

Hello and welcome to our global coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now registered well over five million cases worldwide.

Join us for the latest news and numbers as they emerge throughout the course of the day.