Covid-19 updates from around the world as Ireland sees no virus deaths for first time in 65 days

The coronavirus has infected almost 5.5m people across the world and killed more than 346,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Covid-19 updates from around the world as Ireland sees no virus deaths for first time in 65 days
Almost half of the population of Spain, including residents in the biggest cities of Madrid and Barcelona, are entering phase 1 of Spain's Covid-19 lockdown exit which allows social gatherings in limited numbers, restaurant and bar service with outdoor sitting and some cultural and sports activities. Picture: AP/Emilio Morenatti

For the first time in 65 days, Ireland reported no deaths from the Coronavirus, marking a major milestone in the country’s bid to suppress Covid-19.

Announcing the daily statistics, Dr Holohan said there were now a total of 24,698 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, with 59 identified.

Since March 21 there has been no reported death in 24 hours. This leaves the number of confirmed fatalities at 1,606.

The coronavirus has infected almost 5.5m people across the world and killed more than 346,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates on the pandemic from around the world:

France

French president Emmanuel Macron is to unveil new measures to rescue the country’s car industry, which has been hammered by the virus lockdown and the resulting recession.

He tweeted that the government’s support for the national car industry, which includes brands like Peugeot-Citroen and Renault as well as parts suppliers, will increase “massively”.

People stroll at Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris this week. France is gradually lifting its Covid-19 lockdown. In Paris, where all city parks remain closed, residents stroll along the Seine river and outside the Tuileries Gardens. Picture: AP/Michel Euler
People stroll at Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris this week. France is gradually lifting its Covid-19 lockdown. In Paris, where all city parks remain closed, residents stroll along the Seine river and outside the Tuileries Gardens. Picture: AP/Michel Euler

“This is a part of our economy, thousands of jobs,” he said.

Mr Macron is meeting car-makers and unions at the Elysee presidential palace on Tuesday morning.

He will then visit supplier Valeo, which makes equipment for electric cars, at its factory in Etaples, in northern France, from where he will detail the rescue plan.

Car sales in France fell by about 90% in April compared with a year earlier as showrooms were shut and factories suspended production.

The country started easing restrictions since May 11 after two months of strict lockdowns.

Montenegro

The first European country to declare itself free of the coronavirus infection, plans to open its borders to citizens of several European countries – except for former ally Serbia.

Announcing the decision, Montenegro’s prime minister said borders will be opened as of June 1 for nationals of the countries that meet the entry criteria of the small country’s health authorities – to currently have at most 25 Covid-19 patients per 100.000 inhabitants.

Premier Dusko Markovic said the states that meet the criteria are Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania and Greece.

Mr Markovic did not mention neighbouring Serbia, triggering an angry rebuke from Belgrade – even though Serbia is not saying it meets Montenegro’s entry criteria.

Spain

The foreign minister has said European Union members should agree to a common approach to open borders, re-establish freedom of travel in the Schengen Area and define which countries outside it should be considered safe to travel from and to.

Arancha Gonzalez Laya told Spanish radio that restarting cross-border travel should be decided collectively even if countries in the EU are phasing out lockdowns at different dates.

The minister said that Spain is eager to welcome tourists to shore up an industry that amounts to 12% of the country’s GDP but that it plans to do it with “health, sustainability and safety.”

Russia

The government has reported a record daily spike of 174 deaths, bringing the country’s death toll to 3,807.

Russia’s coronavirus caseload surpassed 360,000 on Tuesday, with almost 9,000 new infections registered in the past 24 hours.

The country’s comparatively low mortality rate raises questions among experts both in Russia and in the West, with some suggesting the government may be manipulating the statistics and under-reporting virus-related deaths.

Russian officials vehemently deny the allegations and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the measures taken to curb the spread of the outbreak.

India

For a seventh consecutive day, India has reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases.

The country’s health ministry reported 145,380 new infections, an increase of 6,535 from the day before, and 4,167 deaths.

Officials say the recovery rate has also risen above 40%.

Most of the cases are concentrated in two neighbouring states in central India, Maharashtra, home to financial hub Mumbai, and Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

An uptick in cases has also been reported in some of India’s poorest eastern states as migrant workers returning to native villages from India’s largest cities have begun arriving home on special trains.

India’s virus caseload has been climbing as pandemic lockdown restrictions have eased. Domestic flights resumed on Monday after a two-month hiatus, though at a fraction of normal capacity.

Australia

Tensions are rising between federal and state leaders over differing approaches to lifting pandemic restrictions.

A photo from April shows surfers walking along Bondi Beach in Sydney as coranavirus pandemic restrictions are eased. U.S. biotechnology company Novavax began injecting a coronavirus vaccine candidate into people in Australia with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year. The first phase of the vaccine trial involves 131 volunteers and will test the safety of the vaccine while looking for signs of its effectiveness. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft
A photo from April shows surfers walking along Bondi Beach in Sydney as coranavirus pandemic restrictions are eased. U.S. biotechnology company Novavax began injecting a coronavirus vaccine candidate into people in Australia with hopes of releasing a proven vaccine this year. The first phase of the vaccine trial involves 131 volunteers and will test the safety of the vaccine while looking for signs of its effectiveness. Picture: AP/Rick Rycroft

Australia recorded nine new coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period. The nation has reported 7,118 infections, and 102 deaths.

Nearby neighbour New Zealand has had similar success in slowing the virus spread. New Zealand has gone four days without detecting a new infection and has recorded a single new case in the past week.

New Zealand has treated 1,504 cases, including 21 deaths.

Australia’s population is five times larger than New Zealand’s five million people.

Phillipines

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered about 24,000 workers who have lost their jobs abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic to be transported by land, sea or air to their homes, and warned local officials not to refuse them entry.

The workers returned to the country in recent months but had to undergo two weeks of quarantine in hospitals, hotels and makeshift isolation centres in metropolitan Manila in a chaotic situation that delayed their trip home and sparked a myriad of complaints.

Some had to wait weeks to be tested for the coronavirus and receive results.

Mr Duterte said in televised remarks that some provincial officials have refused entry to returning workers from abroad as a precaution and warned them of possible lawsuits.

Authorities have been scrambling to unclog quarantine facilities in the capital with about 300,000 more displaced Filipino workers slated to come home soon.

“I’m ordering you to accept them, open the gates of your territories,” Mr Duterte said. “Do not impede it. Do not obstruct the movement of people, because you run the risk of getting sued criminally.”

China

Authorities have reported seven new coronavirus cases, all brought into the country by Chinese citizens returning from abroad.

Just 81 patients remain in hospital with Covid-19, and another 408 are in isolation and being monitored for either suspected cases or after testing positive for the virus without showing any symptoms. China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths from the disease among 82,992 cases.

With the decline in numbers, students have gradually returned to class and some international schools in the capital Beijing are preparing to re-open on June 1.

China is proceeding this week with the annual session of its ceremonial parliament, which is being held under social distancing restrictions.

United States

A ban on foreign travellers arriving in the US from Brazil due to the surge in coronavirus cases there will now take effect late on Tuesday, two days earlier than previously announced.

The ban had been set to go into effect late Thursday. The White House announced the change on Monday without explanation.

Brazil is second to the US in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, and has seen cases surge in recent days.

The White House cited Brazil’s status as Latin America’s hardest-hit country on Sunday when it announced the ban, saying it would prevent additional infections in the US.

Brazil

The World Health Organisation has warned Brazil against reopening its economy before it can perform enough testing to control the spread of the pandemic.

The organisation’s executive director, Michael Ryan, said in a news conference that Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates meant it should keep some sort of stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of negative impacts on the economy.

Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop, announced he is including religious institutions in the list of “essential services”.

This means churches would be able to open their doors, while keeping a minimum two metres between attendees, in spite of existing recommendations for people to stay at home and most businesses remaining shut.

Meanwhile, Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria ruled out a full-on lockdown in Brazil’s largest state economy and said he would start loosening restrictions on June 1.

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