Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:
Italy announces staggered ending of lockdown
Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced the easing of a series of lockdown restrictions, including the reopening of all shops, bars, restaurants and hairdressers, from 18 May, and free travel to Italy for people coming from EU countries from 3 June without having to undergo quarantine.
New mother first Covid-19 death in Nepal
Nepal has reported its first coronavirus death late on Saturday, a 29-year-old woman who recently gave birth, as the total number of people infected in the country reached 281.
Ireland records fewest new cases since mid-March
Just 92 new cases of the virus were recorded on Saturday, the lowest daily number in nine weeks, with the total now at 24,048. A further 15 people with Covid-19 have died in Ireland, which brings the country’s official death toll to 1,533.
Turkey records lowest death toll since end of March
Turkey’s health ministry said 41 more people have died from Covid-19 in the 24 hours to Saturday, bringing the death toll to 4,096. The daily death toll is the lowest registered since the end of March.
Protesters arrested in several European cities
Dozens of people were detained in the Polish capital of Warsaw during a protest by business owners against coronavirus restrictions. Nineteen protesters were arrested in London, and police dispersed rallies in several German cities.
Tens of thousands of India’s migrant workers on the move
Impoverished workers are leaving cities and walking on highways and railway tracks towards their home communities as they saw themselves forced to leave cities and towns after they were abandoned by their employers amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Coronavirus tests for schoolchildren in England
Schoolchildren and their families will be tested for coronavirus if they develop symptoms, the British education secretary, Gavin Williamson, announced on Saturday in a bid to reassure parents and appease unions, as some children in England are set to go back to school on 1 June.
Israel to open schools and beaches
The government has approved the resumption of school for all grades in areas that are not considered coronavirus hotspots, starting on Sunday. Beaches will officially open on Wednesday.
Spanish government aiming to extend state of emergency
The Spanish government will seek to extend its coronavirus state of emergency for the last time until late June, as the country’s daily death toll reached a near eight-week low.
Lockdown easing is driving up infections in New York
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, said on Saturday that the state’s new confirmed Covid-19 cases are predominantly coming from people who left their homes to go shop, exercise or socialise, and not from essential workers. The state’s daily death toll was 157 and half the regions in the state are now in the process of reopening.
