We are closing this blog now but you can stay up to date on all of our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at our new global blog below.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/jun/01/coronavirus-live-news-brazil-passes-500000-covid-19-cases-as-india-extends-lockdown-in-high-risk-zones
Summary
That’s all from me, Clea Skopeliti, for today. Many thanks to everyone who wrote in. I’m handing over to my colleague Alison Rourke in Sydney.
- The US has supplied Brazil with 2 million doses of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for use against the coronavirus, despite medical warnings about the risks associated with it. This comes only days after the WHO suspended testing it on Covid-19 patients due to health concerns.
- Leaders and public health officials across the US are warning about a potential spike in coronavirus infections resulting from the escalating protests over the death of George Floyd. Some have grown alarmed due to images of mass gatherings, where many of the demonstrators are not wearing masks.
- Poverty in the occupied West Bank may double as Palestinians are hammered by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank has warned. Despite low infection rates, the pandemic is having a devastating economic effect due to loss of income and increased spending on healthcare.
- In England, senior public health officials have made a last-minute plea for ministers to stop Monday’s easing of the lockdown, warning the country is unprepared to deal with any surge in infection. They said the new rules, including allowing groups of up to six people to meet outdoors and in private gardens, were “not supported by the science”.
- More that 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Chile, the health ministry has reported, with 827 of the deaths occurring in May alone. The country has had 99,688 confirmed cases and 1,054 deaths.
- El Salvador’s congress has passed a new emergency bill to gradually reopen the Central American nation’s economy, however, president Nayib Bukele has vowed to veto the measure. Bukele argues it is too risky to reopen the country at this point.
- South Africa has delayed Monday’s reopening of schools by a week, the Department of Basic Education has announced, saying that many are not ready to welcome back pupils. Unions have said schools do not have protective equipment to keep teachers and pupils safe, while a quarter of rural schools lack running water for hand-washing.
- India prepares to reopen country except for ‘containment zones’. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has extended lockdown until 30 June in a number of zones identified as ‘high-risk’ by individual states, while the rest of India prepares to reopen. The number of cases confirmed in India has reached a daily record high during the past 48 hours, and critics argue Modi is leaving the responsibility of dealing with the virus up to individual states.
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The premier of Victoria, Australia, has urged people to continue to work from home if possible. Daniel Andrews raised the issue of the infection risks involved in sharing office spaces, as well as commuting.
Poverty in the occupied West Bank may double as Palestinians are slammed by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank has warned.
The Palestinian territories have seen low infection rates after acting quickly to curtail the spread of Covid-19, with three deaths out of 450 cases registered among some five million residents in Gaza and the West Bank, AFP reports.
But the Palestinian Authority’s financial situation is “expected to become increasingly difficult” due to loss of income and increased spending on healthcare and other areas, the World Bank said in a report.
The fallout is expected to see the number of households living below the poverty line increase this year from 14 to 30% in the West Bank, largely due to Palestinians being unable to cross into Israel for work.
The Palestinian Authority last week announced an end to the lockdown it had imposed in early March across the West Bank after an outbreak of the Covid-19 illness in the biblical city of Bethlehem.
The easing allowed more than 63,000 Palestinians to pass through checkpoints for work on Sunday, according to the Israeli military branch handling civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The borders of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, remain closed to all but a few returning Gazans, who are quarantined on arrival.
The poverty rate was already 53% in Gaza before the pandemic and the World Bank forecast it would jump to 64% this year.
Overall, the Palestinian economy is set to shrink between 7.6 and 11%, the global body said, a severe downturn after one percent growth in 2019.
Updated
US sends Brazil 2m doses of hydroxychloroquine, despite medical warnings
The US has supplied Brazil with 2 million doses of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for use against the coronavirus, despite medical warnings about the risks associated with it.
The two governments released a joint announcement just days after the WHO suspended testing it on Covid-19 patients due to health concerns. Both presidents have promoted its use, despite the US Food and Drug Administration issuing a warning about its use against the virus.
“The American and Brazilian people stand in solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus,” the statement said. “We are announcing the United States Government has delivered two million doses of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the people of Brazil.
“HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil’s nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals against the virus. It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected.
The countries will also carry out a joint research effort, including “randomised controlled clinical trials”, and the US has pledged to send 1,000 ventilators to Brazil.
Updated
Egypt has shortened its night curfew by one hour despite recording high daily increases in both deaths and cases.
The health ministry announced 1,536 new cases had been confirmed, including 46 deaths. The total caseload now stands at 24,985, while the toll is at 959.
The night curfew has been tweaked, ending at 5am rather than 6am. Officials have indicated they are looking to slowly relax restrictions and revive economic activity despite the rising number of infections.
The government announced that the number of hospitals designated to deal with coronavirus cases is rising to 376 from 340, and the number of laboratories capable of processing test results to 57 from 49.
Hospitals assigned to treat coronavirus patients have 3,539 intensive care unit beds and 2,218 ventilators, a government statement said.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally on Sunday on horseback as supporters called for the Supreme Court to be shut down for investigating the right-wing leader, as one of its justices compared the risks to Brazil’s democracy with Hitler’s Germany.
Deepening a political crisis during one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, Bolsonaro has slammed the top court for investigating his interference in police affairs and opening an inquiry into his supporters’ alleged libel and intimidation campaigns on social media.
He has denounced the investigations, suggesting “absurd orders” should not be followed and warning that the court may “plunge Brazil into a political crisis.”
Supreme Court Justice Celso de Mello, who is responsible for investigating a former justice minister’s allegation that Bolsonaro tried to meddle with law enforcement for personal reasons, said the president’s supporters were seeking a military dictatorship.
“We must resist the destruction of the democratic order to avoid what happened in the Weimar Republic when Hitler, after he was elected by popular vote ... did not hesitate annulling the constitution and imposing a totalitarian system in 1933,” de Mello told other judges in a message seen by Reuters and reported in Brazilian newspapers.
Bolsonaro has said his aims are democratic and accused his opponents of going against the constitution.
On Saturday night, a group of masked backers of Bolsonaro marched to the court carrying torches to call for its closure. During Sunday’s demonstrations in Sao Paulo, opponents of Bolsonaro took to a main avenue to protest against “fascism” and clashed with riot police who intervened, using tear gas, to stop them getting close to a rally by supporters of the president.
Updated
You can get in touch with me on Twitter @cleaskopeliti.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported a total 1,761,503 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 23,553 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths in the country had risen by 915 to 103,700.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
Updated
Here’s a quick summary for those who are just waking up, or anyone else looking for a wee recap.
- The global caseload has passed six million, standing at 6,083,633, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker.
- Spain’s PM is seeking a two-week extension of the country’s state of emergency, which will take the lockdown up to 21 June.
- Iran has recorded over 150,000 confirmed infections, with 2,516 recorded in the past 24 hours.
- In the UK, health officials have made a last-minute plea to stop the lockdown easing set to take place tomorrow, saying the new rules are “not supported by the science”. In other last minute decisions, South Africa has delayed the reopening of schools - due tomorrow - by a week due to safety concerns.
- Chile has passed the grim milestone of 1,000 deaths, with 827 deaths recorded in May alone. The country is approaching 100,000 confirmed cases.
And here are the developments in more detail for those who want the full run-through.
Updated
While the rest of India prepares to reopen, individual states are identifying high-risk zones where lockdowns will stay in place.
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has extended lockdown until 30 June in these ‘containment’ zones that continue to report high infection numbers. Outside the zones, restaurants, malls and religious buildings will be allowed to reopen from 8 June, in a relaxation of the world’s longest coronavirus lockdown.
The number of cases confirmed in India has reached a daily record high during the past 48 hours, and critics argue Modi is leaving the responsibility of dealing with the virus up to individual states.
In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, 1,111 zones have been identified, while in Gujarat over 400,000 houses were marked as high-risk zones. Officials in the western state of Maharastra said all markets, except malls and congested spaces, will be allowed to function in a staggered manner. The eastern state of West Bengal identified 285 containment zones in its capital, Kolkata.
India has reported 182,000 confirmed cases, with 5,164 deaths.
Updated
The airport in the Namibian harbour town of Walvis Bay has closed after two people tested positive for the coronavirus and the economic hub went into lockdown.
The airport would be closed for seven days, manager Chrizelda George told media on Sunday.
A third Walvis Bay resident, a colleague of one of the patients, has since tested positive, bringing the total infections nationwide to just 24 with no deaths.
Other airports in the country will still allow domestic flights as scheduled and for emergency evacuations. Namibia’s flag carrier, Air Namibia, has also suspended all flights in and out of Walvis Bay until 8 June.
Most of the desert nation in southwest Africa, which has received international praise after recording so few cases, will ease restrictions from Tuesday.
Updated
South Africa delays reopening of schools
South Africa has pushed back Monday’s reopening of schools by a week, the Department of Basic Education has announced, saying that many are not ready to welcome back pupils.
The plan for grades 7 and 12, the last years of primary and secondary school respectively, to return on Monday were scrapped following teachers’ unions and governing associations urging school staff to defy the government order, saying schools did not have protective equipment to keep educators and pupils safe.
Many of South Africa’s state schools are in poor condition, especially in rural areas, and analysts say that a quarter of them have no running water, making hand-washing nearly impossible.
The department said its decision followed three reports by industry players that raised concerns about the state of readiness. “The Council of Education Ministers was concerned that, in some provinces, personal protective equipment for learners in particular had not been received and some schools had not been made ready for the arrival of teachers and learners,” it said.
On Monday schools will reopen only for management teams, teachers and non-teaching staff for instruction on health and safety measures, to finish cleaning and focus on supply chain matters.
Updated
Chile's coronavirus death toll passes 1,000
More that 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Chile, the health ministry has reported, with 827 of the deaths occurring in May alone.
The country has had 99,688 confirmed cases of the disease so far, and 1,054 deaths.
“We know we are in the most difficult weeks,” undersecretary of health Paula Daza said in a televised address. “We are making decisions and taking measures every day to contain the spread.”
El Salvador’s Congress has passed a new emergency bill to address the impact of the coronavirus crisis and gradually reopen the Central American nation’s economy, while president Nayib Bukele has vowed to veto the measure.
Bukele argues it is too risky to reopen the country at this juncture. The country has registered 46 deaths from coronavirus and a total of 2,517 cases.
Congress voted 56 to 6, with one abstention, late on Saturday to pass the bill that would establish guidelines for restarting production, outline workers’ rights, and regulate quarantines. The president has asked Congress to prolong the current quarantine measures for another 15 days.
“They know that this bill will be vetoed. Their interest is not to reactivate the economy. They are even less interested in people’s lives and health. Their job is to trip up the government,” Bukele wrote on Twitter.
Bukele has repeatedly angered rights groups, who say he has shown authoritarian tendencies, and clashed with lawmakers. In February, Bukele and a group of soldiers armed with automatic weapons briefly occupied congress.
Bosnia’s state court has ordered the release of a regional prime minister and two other men suspected of corruption in connection with the import of defective ventilators for coronavirus patients.
The court of Bosnia-Herzegovina said their detention was unnecessary, and turned down the prosecution’s requests to detain the three men for 30 days.
Fadil Novalic, prime minister of the autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation, had been held since Thursday, first in police custody and then in the state prosecution where he was questioned. Also released were Fahrudin Solak, an official in charge of procuring equipment to combat the outbreak, and Fikret Hodzic, owner of a raspberry processing firm that procured the ventilators.
While they have not been formally charged, they have been accused of abuse of office, taking bribes and money laundering. Solak and Hodzic were additionally accused of forging official documents. They deny all wrongdoing.
Updated
Health officials make last-minute plea to stop lockdown easing in England
Senior public health officials have made a last-minute plea for ministers to scrap Monday’s easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England, warning the country is unprepared to deal with any surge in infection and that public resolve to take steps to limit transmission has been eroded.
The Association of Directors of Public Health said new rules, including allowing groups of up to six people to meet outdoors and in private gardens, were “not supported by the science” and that pictures of crowded beaches and beauty spots over the weekend showed “the public is not keeping to social distancing as it was”.
Read Robert Booth, Helen Pidd and Peter Walker’s report on the eleventh-hour plea here.
Updated
Around 65% of small Israeli start-ups expect to cease operations in the next six months due to the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, a poll has shown.
The survey, conducted by the Israeli Innovation Authority - a state agency that finances start-ups - and a group of tech industries, paints a gloomy picture of future in the self-styled “start-up nation”, where the high-tech sector accounts for 10% of jobs.
The country’s economy was in full swing with unemployment at 3.4% in February, before the coronavirus pandemic struck a devastating blow to the global economy. Joblessness has since surged to a peak of 27%.
According to the survey of the heads of 414 high-tech healthcare, software, hardware and communications companies, more than a third have put staff on leave of absence during the pandemic.
Israel has recorded more than 17,000 infections and more than 280 deaths out of a population of nine million.
Crowds of protesters gathered in parts of the UK in solidarity with the unrest across the US after the killing of George Floyd. In London, hundreds gathered in Trafalgar Square before marching to the US embassy. As they walked chants could be heard of ‘I can’t breathe’ and the name of the organisers, Black Lives Matter.
Summary
Here are some of the key coronavirus developments from over the last few hours.
- The global death toll has passed 370,000. The coronavirus death toll now stands at 370,078, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. There have been 6,104,980 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide.
- Spain’s prime minister has confirmed his government will seek a sixth and final extension to the coronavirus state of emergency, to continue until 21 June. The country’s state of emergency has been in effect since 14 March. Sánchez said the extension is necessary and warned against complacency.
- Abu Dhabi has announced it will cordon off the UAE’s capital as well as banning travel between regions within the emirate for a week from Tuesday to control the spread of the coronavirus. The new restrictions will mean residents will need a permit to make the 90 minute trip between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
- Bangladesh has lifted its coronavirus lockdown, with millions heading back to work in densely populated cities and towns despite the country registering a record spike in deaths and new infections. The country reported its biggest daily jump in infections on Sunday, with 2,545 new cases and a record 40 deaths.
- Iran’s coronavirus caseload has passed 150,000. Iran’s ministry spokesman has announced 2,516 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 151,466, with warnings of a potential second wave caused by clusters in a number of provinces. The death toll has risen by 63 in the same time period, bringing the country’s total toll to 7,797.
- Thailand’s parliament has approved a record stimulus package of nearly $60 billion to revive its economy, which has been badly damaged by the coronavirus. The 1.9 trillion baht ($59.7 billion) package is the kingdom’s biggest-ever cash injection, and is a sorely needed boost for Southeast Asia’s second biggest economy which is expected to contract by 6-7% this year.
- UK records 113 deaths as it prepares to further ease lockdown. The Department of Health said 38,489 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus as of 5pm on Saturday, an increase of 113 from 38,376 the day before. In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Sunday, 115,725 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 1,936 positive results.
- The Italian ‘orange vest’ movement held several protests across the country on Saturday, demanding a new government and return to the Italian Lira while dismissing Covid-19 as a conspiracy. This included demonstrations in Milan and Bergamo, two cities in the epicentre of Italy’s outbreak. Many of the protestors in Milan were not wearing masks and flouted distancing rules, triggering calls for them to be charged.
Updated
France’s coronavirus cases are continuing to decline, health officials have said, with 14,322 patients currently in hospital, down from 14,380 a day earlier.
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care fell to 1,319 from 1,361, the health directorate said in a statement. The hospital death toll from the virus rose by 31 to 18,475, which represents the 11th consecutive daily increase below 100.
Figures for nursing home deaths will next be updated on Tuesday.
Hello, I’m Clea Skopeliti and I’ll be running the live blog for the next few hours. Please feel free to reach me on Twitter @cleaskopeliti, or by email, with any news tips or comments. Thanks in advance.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam’s holiest site outside of Saudi Arabia, reopened on Sunday for prayers for the first time since it was closed in mid-March.
With little regard for social distancing, throngs waited outside the holy site’s gates before it opened early on Sunday, with many wearing surgical masks, the Associated Press reports.
As they were allowed to enter, the faithful stopped to have their temperature measured.
The mosque was one of Jerusalem’s many holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall, whose access was restricted at the height of Israel’s coronavirus outbreak.
Throughout that period, worshipers continued to pray in the alleyways outside the mosque.Jews also resumed their pilgrimages on Sunday to the hilltop compound they revere as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical temples.
Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters
Updated
Abu Dhabi announced on Sunday it will cordon off the UAE’s capital as well as banning travel between regions within the emirate for a week from Tuesday to rein in coronavirus.
It means that residents of the United Arab Emirates will not be allowed to travel from the capital Abu Dhabi to the services hub of Dubai, 90 minutes on a major highway, without a permit.
The decision came as the authorities said they were easing other restrictions within Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, AFP reports.
The authorities placed “a ban on movement entering and exiting the emirate and between its regions” from 2 June, according to the Abu Dhabi media office.
It added that residents may move freely within their own regions between the hours of 6am and 10pm.
But malls, restaurants, and hotel beaches will be allowed to reopen on Monday at 40% capacity, the media office said.
It added that outdoor activities, such as horse riding, cricket, cycling, golfing and sailing were also now allowed.
The UAE has so far recorded more than 34,000 cases of the Covid-19 respiratory disease, including 264 deaths.
Earlier this week, Dubai emirate moved to lift restrictions on businesses and shortened a nighttime curfew.
Updated
The Guardian report on the major global coronavirus developments on Sunday can be read here.
Bangladesh lifted its coronavirus lockdown on Sunday, with millions heading back to work in densely populated cities and towns even as the country logged a record spike in deaths and new infections, AFP reports.
“The lockdown has been lifted and we are heading almost towards our regular life,” health department spokeswoman Nasima Sultana said, calling on those returning to work to wear masks and observe social distancing.
The lifting comes as Bangladesh - which on Friday took an emergency pandemic loan from the International Monetary Fund - reported its biggest daily jump in infections Sunday, with 2,545 new cases and a record 40 deaths.
Restrictions to curb the virus imposed on March 26 have been gradually eased in recent weeks, with only educational institutions remaining closed.
The country of 168 million has reported 47,151 infections and 650 deaths, although experts warn Bangladesh is not conducting enough testing and the actual toll is likely much higher, AFP reports.
In the UK, the Department of Health said 38,489 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus as of 5pm on Saturday, up by 113 from 38,376 the day before.
In the 24-hour period up to 9am on Sunday, 115,725 tests were carried out or dispatched with 1,936 positive results.
Overall, a total of 4,285,738 tests have been carried out and 274,762 cases have been confirmed positive.
Daily coronavirus testing capacity reached 200,000 on Saturday, including
capacity for 40,000 antibody tests a day, meeting the target to reach the
milestone by the end of May, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
Some of Italy’s famous cultural sites are coming back to life after being closed for more than three months owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Angela Giuffrida in Rome writes.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened on Saturday while the Colosseum and Vatican Museums will welcome visitors again from Monday, and Florence’s Uffizi gallery from Tuesday.
A huge exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the death of the Renaissance painter Raphael will open at Le Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome on Monday.
All sites and museums are reopening with strict safety measures in place. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which usually attracts 5 million visitors a year, is only permitting 15 people in at a time. They have to wear face masks as well as an electronic device that warns them if they are less than a metre of anyone else.
You can read more on this story here.
Egyptian hotels operating with a new reduced occupancy rate of 25% to contain the spread of coronavirus have almost reached full capacity, a tourism ministry official told Reuters on Sunday.
Egypt suspended international flights in March and shut down restaurants, hotels and cafes in order to combat the pandemic. Although airports remain closed to all but domestic and repatriation flights, hotels were recently allowed to reopen at a quarter of their usual capacity if they met strict health and safety protocols.
Around 78 hotels, mostly along the Red Sea coast, met these rules and are currently operating with an occupancy rate of 20%-22%, said the ministry official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. An additional 173 hotels across the country have applied for a licence to reopen and will be considered in the coming week, he added.
The government said it aimed to increase the permitted occupancy rate of hotels to 50% in June. Tourism is one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency and accounts for 5% of GDP.
Egypt has so far registered 23,449 cases of coronavirus including 913 deaths. Some of the first cases registered in the country were of foreign nationals.
Iran said its caseload of coronavirus infections passed 150,000 on Sunday, as the country struggles to contain a recent upward trend.
The government has largely lifted the restrictions it imposed in order to halt a COVID-19 outbreak that first emerged in mid-February.
But the health ministry has warned of a potential virus resurgence with new cluster outbreaks in a number of provinces, AFP reports.
Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 2,516 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 151,466.
Infections have been on a rising trajectory in the Islamic republic since hitting a near two-month low on May 2.
Jahanpour said the virus had claimed another 63 lives over the same period, raising the overall toll to 7,797.
Experts both at home and abroad have voiced scepticism about Iran’s official figures, saying the real toll could be much higher, AFP reports.
Paris is gearing up for a battle for public space after the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said cafes, bars and restaurants would be temporarily allowed to set up tables on pavements and in parking spaces when they open this week, Kim Willsher in Paris reports.
Coronavirus lockdown measures are being eased further on Tuesday, with food and drink establishment opening across most of France for the first time since 14 March. However, because Paris remains “orange” on the country’s Covid-19 map, meaning the virus is still circulating, bar, cafe and restaurant owners have been told they can only serve customers outside on terraces and with strict physical distancing and protection measures in place.
More on this story can be found here.
Thailand has passed a record stimulus package of nearly $60 billion to revive its economy which has been hammered by the coronavirus.
Thailand’s parliament approved the 1.9 trillion baht ($59.7 billion) package - the kingdom’s biggest-ever cash injection - on Sunday.
It is a much-needed boost for Southeast Asia’s second biggest economy, expected to contract by 6-7 percent in 2020, AFP reports
About $17.3 billion of the package will be given as aid to farmers and informal workers such as street vendors and those employed in massage parlours and bars who have seen their work dry up.
The stimulus will also provide for a fund to stabilise markets and boost purchasing power, as well as $1.4 billion for “healthcare readiness”, the government said, without providing further details on how the money would be spent.
The ruling coalition - led by premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s Phalang Pracharat party - holds a slim majority in the lower house, and members of the opposition largely abstained from voting.
Opposition MPs criticised the lack of transparency in how the money will be allocated.
The virus’ toll has slowed in recent weeks in Thailand, which on Sunday saw four new cases - all imported from overseas. So far, the kingdom has reported just over 3,000 cases and 57 deaths.
Its tourism-reliant economy has been severely affected by the halt in international travel. More than 20 million have already registered for a government cash handout of 5,000 baht (US$150).
Spanish PM confirms seeking final extension to state of emergency
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has just confirmed that his socialist-led coalition government will seek a sixth and final extension of the coronavirus state of emergency, which will run until 21 June. [See previous post at 10.37] .
Sánchez said a last, two-week extension of the the emergency powers, in effect since 14 March, was needed and warned against complacency.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday afternoon he said:
We cannot forget the thousands of lives lost to Covid-19. I ask for prudence and respect for the health rules.”
He added:
We need to go the final distance to end the health emergency. Today we need a final, definitive extension of the state of emergency, which will be lighter [than previous ones].”
Sánchez will need to seek congress’s approval for the extension, but it is likely to pass with the help or abstention of small but key Catalan and Basque parties.
The prime minister also said that the country’s vital tourist industry needed to be “reactivated” as soon as possible. The domestic market is set to reopen in the coming weeks and foreign tourists are due to return from the beginning of July.
“Visitors to Spain will find physical distancing, but emotional closeness,” he added.
The country’s death toll rose by four on Saturday to 27,125, the health ministry said, reflecting a dramatic decline in daily fatalities as Spain brings the outbreak under control. To date, it has recorded 239,228 cases.
Updated
A French care home has found an imaginative way of helping loved ones connect during the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can watch the Reuters video here.
WATCH: A French care home is helping families meet and hold each other again inside a plastic ‘happiness bubble’ pic.twitter.com/J35Sj55B39
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 31, 2020
A general view of the Pentecost Mass led by Pope Francis in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of the St. Peter’s Basilica. Photograph: Vatican Media/Reuters
Pope Francis is cautioning against pessimism as many people emerge from lockdowns to lament that nothing will ever be the same, AP reports.
During Mass in St. Peters Basilica to mark Pentecost Sunday, Francis noted a tendency to say nothing will return as before. That kind of thinking, Francis said, guarantees that the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.
He took to task his own church for its fragmentation, saying it must pull together.
The world sees conservatives and progressives but instead all are children of God,” he said, telling the faithful to focus on what unites them.
In this pandemic, how wrong narcissism is, Francis said, lamenting the tendency to think only of our needs, to be indifferent to those of others, and to not admit our own frailties and mistakes.
At this moment, in the great effort of beginning anew, how damaging is pessimism, the tendency to see everything in the worst light and to keep saying that nothing will return as before! the pope said. When someone thinks this way, the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.’’
A few dozen faithful, wearing masks and sitting one to a pew, attended the ceremony as part of safety measures to avoid spreading COVID-19.
While the Vatican has re-opened the basilica to tourists, the rank-and-file faithful still aren’t allowed yet to attend Masses celebrated by the pope for fear of crowding.
A German engineer on the first flight carrying European workers back to China has tested positive for coronavirus as an asymptomatic carrier, local authorities said Sunday.
The man was on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to the northeastern city of Tianjin which landed with around 200 passengers, mainly German workers and their families, AFP reports.
Tianjin authorities said in a statement on social media Sunday that the 34-year-old engineer had tested positive, although he had a regular temperature and reported no symptoms.
He has since been transferred to a local hospital for observation.
All passengers were tested for coronavirus after landing and have to quarantine for two weeks.
The engineer was one of three new asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus reported on Sunday, with the other two being domestic cases.
The country has not reported new fatalities in recent weeks, with its death toll remaining at 4,634.
China has set up fast-track entry procedures with several countries, including Singapore and South Korea, since drastically cutting international flights in late March and imposing an entry ban on most foreigners.
The Lufthansa flight landing on Saturday is expected to be followed by a second charter departing Frankfurt for Shanghai this Wednesday.
There are more than 5,000 German companies operating in China, according to the local German Chamber of Commerce.
Apart from the German flight, Beijing has announced that some Singapore nationals will be allowed to return from early June.
The Italian ‘orange vest’ movement held several protests across Italy on Saturday, including in Milan and Bergamo, two cities in the epicentre of Italy’s coronavirus pandemic, demanding a new government and return to the Italian Lira while dismissing Covid-19 as a conspiracy.
Hundreds of people gathered at Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, many without wearing masks and flouting physical distancing rules, triggering anger and calls for them to be charged.
Protesters claimed Covid-19 is a “political design by the government because they want to sell us to China”, according to Italian media reports.
Beppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, said he has asked the chief of police to charge the organisers for an event that was “an act of irresponsibility in a city like Milan that is trying so hard to get out of a difficult situation”.
Dozens of others who protested in Bergamo, the Italian city hardest by coronavirus, were also condemned by the mayor, Giorgio Gori, who described them as “irresponsible deniers”.
Similar protests were held in Turin, Bologna and Florence. Italy’s ‘orange vest’ movement was founded last year by Antonio Pappalardo, an ex police general, and models itself on France’s ‘yellow vests’.
Another demonstration attended by a significant number of people from extreme right groups was held in Rome, with many participants reportedly dismissing Covid-19 as “a trick”.
Updated
Hi. This is Caroline Davies. I am taking over the blog now and you can contact me on caroline.davies@theguardian.com
Summary
• The world has passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, with 6,048,384 confirmed infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases and deaths, with 1,769,776 infections and 103,685 fatalities.
• In a dramatic pivot, US president Donald Trump has postponed the Group of Seven summit that he wanted to hold in June. He will also expand the list of countries invited to attend the rescheduled event to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his return to Washington from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Trump said the G7 in its current format was a “very outdated group of countries.
• British ministers have been accused of creating a “false sense of security” by launching a test and trace system that is not yet capable of controlling local outbreaks. A series of concerns have been raised over the gaps in the system launched last week, with local health chiefs warning that they have not been given the time, powers or data to prepare for outbreaks in their area.
• Spain’s prime minister has said he will ask parliament to agree to a last two-week extension of the state of emergency lockdown until 21st June, after which the government will no longer restrict citizens’ movements, newspaper El Pais reported. Pedro Sanchez told regional government leaders that this would be the last lockdown as infection rates have reduced dramatically in one of the European countries worst hit by the pandemic.
• Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks. The death toll in Brazil from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
• South Korea has reported 27 new cases of coronavirus, including 21 from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to club-goers and warehouse workers. The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday brought national totals to 11,468 cases and 270 deaths. Twelve of the new cases were linked to international arrivals.
• Two of Islam’s holiest sites have reopened as large numbers of mosques across Saudi Arabia also opened their doors for the first time in more than two months. Worshipers have been ordered to follow strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed to the public. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site for Muslims after Saudi Arabia’s Mecca and Medina, also reopened for prayers.
Updated
Food insecurity on the rise in the US
A record number of Americans face hunger this year as the catastrophic economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic looks set to leave tens of millions of people unable to buy enough food to feed their families.
Nationwide, the demand for aid at food banks and pantries has soared since the virus forced the economy to be shutdown, resulting in more than 40m new unemployment benefit claims, according to the latest figures.
As a result, an estimated one in four children, the equivalent of 18 million minors, could need food aid this year – a 63% increase compared to 2018.
Overall, about 54 million people across the US could go hungry without help from food banks, food stamps and other aid, according to an analysis by Feeding America, the national food bank network.
Donald Trump has been forced to cancel a planned face to face Summit of leaders of the G7 nations in June and now wants to host an expanded meeting in September dedicated to combating China to which Vladimir Putin would be invited.
Trump revealed on Saturday he had cancelled the June G7 meeting after Angela Merkel the German chancellor told him in a phone call that she saw the summit in Washington as a health risk. Normally hundreds of journalists and officials attend the two day summits, as well as security staff. He had billed the face to face summit as a symbol of America “transitioning back to greatness”.
Reports suggest the call between Merkel and Trump on Thursday was stormy ranging over German plans for Nord Stream gas pipeline, Hong Kong and the medical risks in holding a face to face G7.
Trump’s new plan, outlined to reporters on Saturday, is to host an expanded meeting G7 including Russia, Australia, Korea and India dedicated to building an alliance against China. The plan is likely to be as controversial since Russia has been banned from western-led summits following Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and is not seen as a natural ally in the fight to defend human rights in Hong Kong.
Merkel and the French President Emmanuel Macron will also be reluctant to provide Trump with a prestigious platform, weeks ahead of the US Presidential election, to set out his China strategy. The Republicans see a tough approach to China as an election winning formula, even though his likely Democrat challenger Joe Biden is also sharply critical of the modern direction of China.
Spanish prime minister to seek two-week extension of state of emergency
Spain’s prime minister has said he will ask parliament to agree to a last two-week extension of the state of emergency lockdown until 21st June, after which the government will no longer restrict citizens’ movements, El Pais reported.
Pedro Sanchez told regional government leaders during a video-conference meeting on Sunday that this would be the last lockdown as Spain’s infection rates have reduced dramatically.
The country’s death toll rose by four on Saturday to 27,125, the health ministry said, reflecting a dramatic decline in daily fatalities as Spain brings the outbreak under control.
Here’s footage, tweeted by prime minster’s official residence, of that meeting earlier:
El presidente del Gobierno se encuentra reunido mediante videoconferencia con los presidentes/as de las comunidades y ciudades autónomas. Tras este encuentro, @sanchezcastejon comparecerá ante los medios de comunicación.#EsteVirusLoParamosUnidos pic.twitter.com/benRjMOBD2
— La Moncloa (@desdelamoncloa) May 31, 2020
Updated
Canada is to invest 30 million Canadian dollars (US $21.8 million) to enable its provinces and territories to promote holidays in their “own back yard” because of the closure of the country’s borders due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Destination Canada, the country’s national marketing body which usually focuses on luring international visitors, is due to announce the new funding later on Sunday, according to a statement seen by Reuters before its official release.
Canada, which has had more than 7,000 deaths due to COVID-19, has closed its borders to non-essential travel since March, and it is unclear when they will be opened again. Many provinces have also shut down domestic non-essential travel.
Quebec, which shares borders with the U.S. states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, accounts for more than 60% of the Canadian death toll from the virus, and Ontario, the most populous province, has also been hit hard.
The Afghan health ministry has warned that a “catastrophe” is spreading across the war-torn country as number of confirmed coronavirus cases passed 15,000, amid continued surge of transmission in Kabul.
Wahid Majroh, deputy health minister warned on Sunday that the virus was spreading as lockdown rules continued to be flouted.
Meanwhile, the health ministry recorded 680 new cases and eight deaths of Covid-19 as more than of half of tests done in a 24-hour period came back positive across the country. It takes the total number of infections to 15,205 and death toll to 257. There have been 1,328 recoveries.
Most of new cases recorded in the capital city of Kabul 371 patients tested positive, Kabul is the country’s worst affected area in number of transmissions with 6,146 confirmed cases and 30 deaths.
The Irish government is considering moves to speed up plans to ease the national lockdown, including brining forward plans to scrap limits on how far the public can travel from home.
Museums, galleries, hairdressers and other amenities could also reopen by the end of June, while hotels could be allowed to operate with limited occupancies subject to the spread of Covid-19 remaining suppressed, the Sunday Independent reports.
The newspaper reports that the current 5km limit on travel is expected to be replaced by a new 20km limit from Monday week, but the Irish government is now also considering if this could be allowed to expire from June 29, three weeks earlier than had been planned.
Updated
Hong Kong’s 17-day run without a local coronavirus infection ended on Sunday as a woman with no recent travel history tested positive, the South China Morning Post reports, citing sources.
Her husband also tested “preliminary” positive, it adds.
The city’s total of confirmed cases now stands at 1,083.
Parties and larger social gatherings have been blamed in Spain for spikes in infection that have caused regional problems for that country’s ongoing attempts to return to some level of normality, El Pais reports.
In the western city of Badajoz, infections that are believed to have been picked up at a birthday party led to 18 people having to self-isolate, while there have been other small cases of inter-familiar infections at other social gatherings.
“An innocent party can end up with an outbreak,” said Fernando Simón, the director of the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts.
“But some of the cases were not so innocent, and occurred after clear violations of the deescalation rules. This is why the Spanish authorities have been constantly calling on citizens not to drop their guard and to stick closely to the regulations of each phase. “If we are not all already in the new normality it’s for a reason.”
Fears that the easing of the lockdown in England could lead to a rise in infections after community transmission had been suppressed in recent weeks, have been expressed by a leading public health expert interviewed this morning on Sky news.
Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, asked by @SophyRidgeSky if she expects a rise in infections:
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) May 31, 2020
"I’m very sorry to say that I think it is right now inevitable looking at the numbers, the only thing that might save England is the good weather."
Police across swathes of Africa have failed to find more than a fraction of hundreds of people who have escaped from often unsanitary and uncomfortable Covid-19 quarantine centres in recent weeks.
There are more than 130,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Africa, but low levels of testing means the true total is likely to be much higher, reports the Guardian’s Africa Correspondent Jason Burke and Nyasha Chingono in Harare.
In Malawi, more than 400 people repatriated from South Africa and elsewhere fled a makeshift centre set up at a stadium in Blantyre, the commercial capital, last week. Police and health workers told reporters they were unable to stop the escapees as they lacked adequate protective gear.
At least 46 escapees had tested positive for the virus, officials said. Some of those who fled told reporters they had bribed police. In separate incidents 26 people left the Mwanza border post while waiting for test results and eight others, all tested and shown to be infected, broke out of an isolation centre in Blantyre.
In Zimbabwe, Paul Nyathi, a police spokesman, said a total of 148 people had escaped from centres where a 21-day quarantine is mandatory for those returning from abroad.
Government ministers in Britain have been accused of creating a “false sense of security” by launching a test and trace system that is not yet capable of controlling local outbreaks.
A series of concerns have been raised over the gaps in the system launched last week, with local health chiefs warning that they have not been given the time, powers or data to prepare for outbreaks in their area. They said that they were given details of their roles just four working days before Matt Hancock, Britain’s health minister, launched test and trace last week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a “world-beating” operation would be in place by June.
However, those involved in ongoing attempts to set up a system to target local outbreaks told the Observer that launching too soon risked giving the wrong message to the public. They said a comprehensive system was weeks away. “Doing it all too early risks giving people a false sense of security,” said one senior local government figure.
Russia has reported 9,268 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the national tally to 405,843.
Officials said 138 people had died of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, in the last 24 hours, pushing to nationwide toll up to 4,693.
Amid unease and outright criticism from some scientific advisors to the British government about moves to ease the lockdown in England, the First Minister of Scotland’s devolved government has been emphasising the reasons for the more cautious approach being taken by her administration.
Nicola Sturgeon, who attends meetings of a UK-wide committee of experts and political leaders convened by Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, said the believed there was a concern on the part of some scientists that politicians had been seeking to blame them for mistakes that have been made in recent months.
On Thursday and Friday, UK government advisers voiced unease over the decision to lift England’s lockdown while thousands of people a day are still becoming infected with the coronavirus, warning that loosening restrictions could easily lead to a second wave.
Sturgeon went on to suggest that there was a question of “underreporting” of deaths in England when it came to care homes.
Over recent months, care homes across the UK have been devastated by Covid-19. Forty per cent of homes have been hit in England, more in Scotland, and at least a dozen care workers are dead.
Updated
Large number of mosques across Saudi Arabia have reopened for the first time in more than two months, but worshipers have been ordered to follow strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed to the public.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site for Muslims after Saudi Arabia’s Mecca and Medina, also reopened for prayers for the first time since it was closed since mid-March.
Throngs waited outside the holy site’s gates before it opened early on Sunday, with many wearing surgical masks, the Associated Press reports. As they were allowed to enter, the faithful stopped to have their temperature measured.
The mosque was one of Jerusalems many holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Western Wall, that were restricted to worshipers at the height of Israels coronavirus outbreak. Throughout that period, worshipers continued to pray in the alleyways outside the mosque.
Updated
Rwanda’s ministry of health on Sunday reported the East African nation’s first death caused by the new coronavirus, Reuters reports.
The victim was a 65-year-old driver who opted to return home from a neighbouring country, where he resided, after falling severely ill, the ministry said in a statement.
He passed away from severe respiratory complications while receiving treatment at a specialised COVID-19 treatment facility. (Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyimana Writing by Duncan
The British government is coming under fresh pressure to drop plans which could see all primary schools in England returning to normal before the summer holidays.
Ministers have said that five tests set for itself by the government before the easing of the lockdown have been met - and schools will admit more pupils in selected classes from Monday.
However, unions have called for the government to “draw back” on the Monday opening, and National Governance Association, which brings together school governors, has expressed concern about a return to normal before summer.
The body’s chief executive Emma Knights has written to Britain’s Education minister, Gavin Williamson, asking him to “review and drop” this expectation, according to the BBC.
The leader of the opposition Labour party, Keir Starmer, said this will be a “critical week” for the country as lockdown measures are relaxed.
He also claimed government action over the past 10 days had made difficult decisions more “risky”
This is Ben Quinn picking up the global blog now. You can reach me at @BenQuinn75
Updated
Summary
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today. Many thanks to those of you who got in touch on Twitter and via email.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Global cases pass six million. The world has passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, with 6,048,384 confirmed infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases and deaths, with 1,769,776 infections and 103,685 fatalities.
- Donald Trump postpones G7 summit and signals wider attendance list. In a dramatic pivot, US president Donald Trump has postponed the Group of Seven summit that he wanted to hold in June. He will also expand the list of countries invited to attend the rescheduled event to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his return to Washington from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Trump said the G7 in its current format was a “very outdated group of countries. I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world.”
- Key UK election battlegrounds face double hit. Key English election battlegrounds in the north-west and Midlands will be severely exposed to a double economic hit from Brexit and coronavirus should the UK fail to secure an EU trade deal by the end of the year, new analysis has warned. Boris Johnson has continued to rule out any extension to Britain’s EU transition deal, which expires from January. It comes despite a deadlock in talks about a future trade deal, before the final round of talks this week.
- Pressure builds on South African president. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa faces a fresh leadership test over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak as Africa’s most industrialised nation prepares to reopen its economy on Monday. South Africa had already slipped into recession in the final quarter of 2019 before the virus arrived in March, and the rand has depreciated by 22.9% since January. Under eased restrictions, all but high-risk sectors of the economy will be allowed to reopen on Monday. The country reported 1,727 new cases, taking the cumulative total to 30,967.
- Brazil cases near 500,000. Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks. The death toll in Brazil from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
- Los Angeles shuts down Covid-19 testing amid protests. Coronavirus testing centres in Los Angeles, California have been closed due to safety concerns amid protests over the death of George Floyd, according to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the centres were being closed “because of the safety worries across the city”.
- South Korea reports 27 new cases. South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, including 21 from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to club-goers and warehouse workers. The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday brought national totals to 11,468 cases and 270 deaths. Twelve of the new cases were linked to international arrivals.
- Pope calls for world leaders to provide relief. Pope Francis implored world leaders to provide social and economic relief for the many workers who have lost jobs, and called for the enormous sums of money used to grow and perfect armaments be instead used to fund research to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.
- Cummings affair a danger to life, say experts. Britain’s top public health leaders warned Boris Johnson that trust in the government has been shattered by the Dominic Cummings affair and now poses real danger to life when lockdown measures are lifted this week. Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, has been embroiled in a scandal after he was seen in Durham, 264 miles from his London home, despite having had coronavirus symptoms. The more than 2 million vulnerable people who have been “shielding” from Covid-19 in England will be allowed to go outdoors from Monday.
- Greece to test visitors based on the airport they left from. Greece will conduct coronavirus tests on visitors arriving from airports deemed high-risk by the European Union’s aviation safety agency EASA when it opens its airports to tourism traffic on 15 June. The list currently includes 13 airports in the United Kingdom, all those in 22 US states and those in the Ile de France region surrounding Paris.
Government regulations come into force tomorrow that will allow groups of up to six people to meet up outside, including in back gardens. After 10 long and monotonous weeks of social isolation, it’s the news that, if not everybody, then certainly sausage manufacturers have been dreaming of.
“You can even have a barbecue,” announced prime minister Boris Johnson last week in one of those Churchillian moments of national spirit-raising for which he would like to be renowned. That is to say, you can chuck lighter fuel on the charcoal as long as your gathering is socially distanced, everyone washes their hands and exercises what Johnson called “common sense” – a disputed concept, these days; it may mean that if you don’t possess a barbecue set yourself, then you can drive 260 miles to see a family member who does have one.
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
“The Trump presidency is over,” writes Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, and a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.
By having no constructive response to any of the monumental crises now convulsing America, Trump has abdicated his office.
He is not governing. He’s golfing, watching cable TV and tweeting.
How has Trump responded to the widespread unrest following the murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for minutes as he was handcuffed on the ground?
Trump called the protesters “thugs” and threatened to have them shot. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he tweeted, parroting a former Miami police chief whose words spurred race riots in the late 1960s.
On Saturday, he gloated about “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons” awaiting protesters outside the White House, should they ever break through Secret Service lines.
Trump’s response to the last three ghastly months of mounting disease and death has been just as heedless. Since claiming Covid-19 was a “Democratic hoax” and muzzling public health officials, he has punted management of the coronavirus to the states.
The mayor of Atlanta, one of dozens of US cities hit by massive protests after the police killing of George Floyd, has a message for demonstrators: If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a Covid test this week, AP reports.
As emergency orders are lifted and beaches and businesses reopen, add protests to the list of concerns about a possible second wave of coronavirus outbreaks. It’s also an issue from Paris to Hong Kong, where anti-government protesters accuse police of using social distancing rules to break up their rallies.
Health experts fear that silent carriers of the virus who have no symptoms could unwittingly infect others at gatherings with people packed cheek to jowl and cheering and jeering, many without masks.
“Whether they’re fired up or not that doesn’t prevent them from getting the virus,” said Bradley Pollock, chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis.
One protester said she has no choice. “It’s not OK that in the middle of a pandemic we have to be out here risking our lives,” Spence Ingram, a black woman, said after marching with other protesters to the state Capitol in Atlanta on Friday. “But I have to protest for my life and fight for my life all the time.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, in her warning Saturday evening, said there is still a pandemic in America thats killing black and brown people at higher numbers.
The protests started in Minneapolis following the death there of George Floyd last Monday after a white officer pressed a knee into the black mans neck.
The Observer view on the premature relaxation of the lockdown:
Throughout this pandemic, Boris Johnson has claimed to have been “following the science”. By parroting this epistemological nonsense, ministers are encouraging us to believe that they are only doing what the scientists tell them. It is but a short step from there to blaming the government’s scientific advisers for the UK’s terrible death toll. This lends added significance to the roll call of prominent scientists – including some senior members of the government’s scientific advisory committee for emergencies (Sage) – who have this weekend publicly made clear their concerns that the government is relaxing the lockdown in England too early.
Updated
Global report: coronavirus cases pass 6 million as Donald Trump postpones G7
The number of people infected by the coronavirus around the world has passed 6 million, as the pandemic forced Donald trump to postpone the G7 summit in Washington.
More than 1.7 million of those cases have been registered in the United States, and its continued spread in the world’s richest nation has forced the US president to abandon plans to stage a G7 summit as his hoped-for sign of America’s recovery.
Brazil has surpassed France’s death toll after it reached 28,834 coronavirus fatalities, becoming the country with the world’s fourth-highest death toll. The country has almost 500,000 cases, second behind the US.
Serious concerns are emerging over the treatment of children in custody during the coronavirus pandemic, after evidence that some have been spending as little as 40 minutes a day out of their cell.
A series of “serious consequences for children’s rights, wellbeing and long-term outcomes” has been identified in an investigation by the office of the children’s commissioner for England. This comes with ministers warning that there is now an increased risk of self-harm and violence in adult prisons as a result of measures introduced to tackle Covid-19.
Children in custody have been subject to restricted activities for the past eight weeks, as institutions attempt to comply with official social-distancing guidance. Face-to-face education sessions have stopped in most centres, and visits have been hugely reduced. “Access to time out of cell, education, activities and family and professional visits have been severely curtailed,” the investigation finds.
UK front pages, Sunday 31 May
OBSERVER: Top scientists: Cummings has broken trust in Covid policy #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/S6YZFZ6uP9
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: ‘Dangerous moment’ as lockdown warnings grow #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/oEjMv21OFe
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
SUNDAY TIMES: Keep promises or face no deal @MichelBarnier tells @BorisJohnson #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/tZ9lIrU5R7
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Officials ‘could only cope with five Covid cases a week’ #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/9nPNOSddot
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
PEOPLE: Test and trace is national disgrace #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/f6ecv1Wi41
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
MAIL ON SUNDAY: You couldn’t make it up #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/rQz5w3oKCD
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
SUNDAY POST: Disaster planning #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/3hxGNiUXS1
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 30, 2020
Meet the robots helping to tackle coronavirus
Automatons have been chipping in with the effort to beat Covid, from disinfecting hospitals to delivering groceries.
The UN has equipped Rwanda with five anti-epidemic robots made by Belgian company Zora Bots to help against the country’s battle with coronavirus. The robots can screen a patient’s temperature, identify people not wearing masks and monitor abnormalities in how patients sound or look. They can also be used to deliver medicine and other essentials to the infected:
Thailand reported four new coronavirus cases on Sunday and no new deaths, taking the total number of infections to 3,081 with 57 deaths since January.
The new patients had arrived in Thailand from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia and have been in state quarantine, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, a spokeswoman for the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
Local infections have slowed and over the last two weeks, around 80% of new cases were Thais who had returned from abroad, Panprapa added.
Thailand will on Monday begin reopening more businesses classified as medium to high risks, including cinemas and gyms.
Pressure builds on Ramaphosa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a fresh leadership test over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, AFP reports.
Africa’s most industrialised nation is preparing to reopen its economy on Monday as it moves into level three of a five-tier lockdown, in force since 27 March, sowing bitter divisions.
South Africa had already slipped into recession in the final quarter of 2019 before the virus arrived in March. The rand meanwhile has depreciated by 22.9% since January. Unemployment and poverty are very high.
Under level three, all but high-risk sectors of the economy will be allowed to reopen, as will schools and places of worship. Liquor sales will resume, but for home consumption only.
Updated
Summary
-
Global cases pass 6 million. The world has passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, with 6,057,553 confirmed infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, and 369,106 deaths. The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases and deaths, with 1,769,776 infections and 103,685 fatalities.
- Donald Trump postpones G7 summit. US president Donald Trump has postponed the Group of Seven summit that he wanted to hold in June and will also expand the list of countries invited to attend the rescheduled event to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India.Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his return to Washington from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Trump said the G7 in its current format was a “very outdated group of countries”.“I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Trump said.
- Lockdown to be eased for England’s most clinically vulnerable. The more than 2 million people who have been “shielding” from Covid-19 in England because they are deemed to be clinically extremely vulnerable will be allowed to spend time outdoors from Monday for the first time in 10 weeks.Boris Johnson praised their resilience as their particular lockdown measures are set to be eased. The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, will confirm the move on Sunday.
- Brazil cases near 500,000 after record increase. Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks. The death toll in Brazil from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
- Los Angeles shuts down Covid testing amid protests. Coronavirus testing centres in Los Angeles, California have been closed due to safety concerns amid the protests, according to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the centres were being closed “because of the safety worries across the city.”
- South Korea reports 27 new cases. South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, including 21 from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to club-goers and warehouse workers. The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday brought national totals to 11,468 cases and 270 deaths. Twelve of the new cases were linked to international arrivals.
- Pope Francis implores world leaders to provide social and economic relief for the many workers who have lost jobs, and called for the enormous sums of money used to grow and perfect armaments be instead used to fund research to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.
- Britain’s top public health leaders warn Boris Johnson that trust in the government has been shattered by the Dominic Cummings affair and now poses real danger to life when lockdown measures are lifted this week. Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, has been embroiled in a scandal after he was seen in Durham, 264 miles from his London home, despite having had coronavirus symptoms.
-
Greece will conduct coronavirus tests on visitors arriving from airports deemed high-risk by the European Union’s aviation safety agency EASA when it opens its airports to tourism traffic on 15 June. The list currently includes 13 airports in the United Kingdom, all those in 22 US states and those in the Ile de France region surrounding Paris.
- South Africa’s infection cases now exceed 30,000, the country’s health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday. The country reported 1,727 new cases, taking the cumulative total to 30,967. The death toll increased by 32 to 643.
Thailand’s parliament is due Sunday to vote on whether to approve a near-US$60 billion stimulus to revive an economy battered by the pandemic.
If agreed, it will be the biggest state cash injection in Thai history.
Thailand has long paraded low unemployment as a symbol of its economic success. But millions rely on informal work or day wages for survival, jobs imperilled by a feared 6-7% contraction in the economy.
South Korea reports 27 new cases
South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, including 21 from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to club-goers and warehouse workers, AP reports.
The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday brought national totals to 11,468 cases and 270 deaths. Twelve of the new cases were linked to international arrivals.
South Korea was reporting about 500 new cases per day in early March but had seemed to stabilize its outbreak with aggressive tracking and tracing, which allowed authorities to ease social distancing guidelines.
But cases in the greater capital area have been rising steadily again since May amid increased public activity, causing alarm as millions of children have begun returning to schools.
On Saturday, KCDC senior official Kwon Jun-wook said at least 108 infections were linked to workers or visitors at a warehouse of local e-commerce giant Coupang, which has seen orders spike amid the epidemic.
Around 270 other infections have been linked to nightclubs and other entertainment venues, which saw huge crowds in early May amid the relaxed atmosphere on social distancing.
India is extending its ongoing lockdown in designated coronavirus containment zones until 30 June but will allow all economic activities to restart in a phased manner outside those areas as cases continue to rise in its major cities.
India’s Home Ministry said in a directive issued Saturday that a reopening phase set to start Monday is called Unlock 1.
The directive said religious sites and places of worship, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services and shopping malls will be allowed to reopen outside all containment zones starting 8 June.
Subways, schools and colleges will remain shuttered nationwide and only be allowed to reopen after further assessment of the situation in July, according to the directive.
India started easing lockdown restrictions earlier this month, allowing shops to reopen, manufacturing to resume, some trains and domestic flights to operate.
The country, which has a population of 1.3 billion, has reported 173,763 confirmed virus cases, including more than 4,970 deaths.
Updated
New Zealand records no new cases for 9th consecutive day
New Zealand has no new cases of coronavirus for the ninth day in a row, Stuff.nz reports.
As at 9am on Sunday, 1504 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the country, 1154 of which were confirmed by tests. The other 350 were “probable” cases of the illness.
Just one person – who is in their 50s and linked to the St Margaret’s Hospital and Rest Home cluster in Auckland – is believed to have an “active” case of the illness. That person is not in hospital.
The latest data indicated New Zealand was on track to becoming one of the first countries in the world to eliminate all active Covid-19 cases.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 286 to 181,482, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.
The reported death toll rose by 11 to 8,500, the data showed.
Brazil has surpassed France’s death toll, after it reached 28,834 coronavirus fatalities, becoming the country with the world’s fourth-highest death toll.
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro remain the hardest-hit states in Brazil in terms of sheer numbers, while per capita rates are higher in the country’s impoverished north and northeast, where health facilities are reaching capacity.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health has indicated “there is no way to foresee” when the country’s outbreak will peak, and experts say the number of cases could be 15 times higher than the confirmed figure because there has been no widespread testing.
The pandemic is spreading across Brazil under a cloud of confrontation, as governors and mayors implement restrictive measures while President Jair Bolsonaro, who has pinned his hopes of re-election on a booming economy, has berated them for imposing what he calls “the tyranny of total quarantine.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a ferocious competition erupt between China and the US, the UN’s two main contributors, fuelling paralysis according to diplomats, AFP reports.
After more than two months of negotiations, the 15 Security Council members were unable to reach agreement on a resolution supporting a call from the UN secretary-general for a global cease-fire while the world battles the novel coronavirus.
The reason? US-Chinese differences over a passing mention in the draft resolution to the World Health Organization (WHO), with which President Donald Trump on Friday said he planned to sever ties.
Both UN officials and diplomats say the US-Chinese conflict seems to be spreading, leaving them increasingly pessimistic.
“The Security Council has been frozen for 45 years between 1945 and 1990, because of the Cold War,” one ambassador said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The last thing we need is another Cold War that would freeze again the Security Council.”
“Importing bilateral disputes in the Council would be a disaster,” he said.
Added another ambassador: “We really shouldn’t enter in a new Cold War. But it doesn’t look very good at the moment,” whether regarding leadership, the pandemic or US-Chinese relations, three subjects “very closely tied to each other.”
Updated
'The idea that we’re not in a recession right now is fanciful,' says Australian shadow treasurer
Onto Australia’s economy now.
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says even if this week’s economic growth numbers prove to be positive, there is little doubt Australia is in a recession that has ended 29 consecutive years of expansion, AAP reports.
The national accounts for the March quarter are released on Wednesday, which will take into account the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Economists’ forecasts centre on a 0.3% economic contraction in the quarter, which will drag annual growth down to just 1.4%. The annual growth rate at 2.2% as of the December quarter was already well below its long-running average of 2.8%. Forecasts range for a decline of a much as 0.7% in the quarter.
“Even if the March quarter was not negative, the idea that we’re not in a recession right now is fanciful,” Dr Chalmers told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.
“Most economists, the government, the Reserve Bank, and certainly Labor expect that the June quarter will be much worse than the March quarter.”
Updated
Hammered by the health crisis, China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter from a year earlier, the first contraction since quarterly records began. Analysts believe it will be months before broader activity returns to pre-crisis levels, even if a fresh wave of infections can be avoided, Reuters reports.
While most businesses have reopened, many manufacturers are struggling with reduced or cancelled overseas orders as lockdowns push the global economy into recession. Domestic demand also remains depressed amid increased job losses and worries about a second wave of infections.
Factories reduced headcount for the first time since they reopened, with a sub-index falling to 49.4 from 50.2 in April, the survey showed.
Highlighting the uncertain outlook, the government’s work report earlier this month did not set an annual growth goal, marking the first time China has not set a target since 2002.
Beijing also announced additional fiscal measures to bolster the economy, equal to about 4.1% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to Reuters calculations, its largest stimulus package since the global financial crisis.
China recorded two new confirmed cases of coronavirus on 30 May, down from four the day before, data from the country’s health authority showed on Sunday.
Both cases were imported in the Chinese province of Shandong, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement on its website.
The NHC also confirmed three new asymptomatic cases, compared to four the day before.
With no new deaths reported, the death toll remained at 4,634.
The total number of confirmed cases in the mainland as of May 30 stood at 83,001, data form NHC showed.
Mexico on Saturday registered 2,885 new cases of coronavirus and 364 more deaths, bringing the total numbers to 87,512 cases and 9,779 fatalities, according to data from health authorities.
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque reopened to worshippers on Sunday after a two-and-a-half month coronavirus closure, but Muslim authorities imposed some precautions as health officials warn of an uptick in local infections.
The resumption of prayers at Islam’s third-holiest site caps a sombre period for Jerusalem’s Muslims, who this year marked the holy fasting month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday without their usual daily visits to Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock.
The Council of Islamic Waqf cited the slowed local spread of Covid-19 in lifting entry restrictions and reopening the compound’s iconic shrines, which shut on 15 March.
Worshippers must wear face masks and bring personal prayer rugs should they wish to pray inside the shrines or on the compound’s outdoor grounds, the council said in a statement.
Around 700 worshippers were present on the compound for dawn prayers on Sunday, the vast majority of whom wore face masks and brought prayer rugs.
Muslims believe the site to be where the Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. Jews revere it as the site of the Jewish temples of antiquity.
There have been 17,000 coronavirus cases and 284 deaths in Israel, and 386 cases and three deaths in the occupied West Bank.
Activity in China’s services sector expanded at a faster clip in May as measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak were lifted, official data showed on Sunday, suggesting business and consumer confidence may slowly be improving, Reuters reports.
The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.6 in May, from 53.2 in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
China’s services sector, which includes many smaller, private companies, has not recovered from the health crisis as quickly as manufacturing, with heavy job losses, pay cuts and fears of a second wave of infections making consumers cautious about spending again.
The official May composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, remained flat at 53.4 from April.
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
In the US, Los Angeles, which has shut down its Covid-19 testing centres in response to escalating protests, remains the primary hotspot for coronavirus cases in California, and the county announced 2,112 new cases and 48 deaths on Saturday.
New cases in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia
The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales, meanwhile, have recorded six and three new cases of Covid-19 respectively.
In NSW, all three cases are recently returned travellers who are currently in mandatory hotel quarantine.
In Victoria, the health minister Jenny Mikakos has just given an update to media on the six new cases. She said two of the cases are linked to a family outbreak in the Keilor Downs area of the state.
There has also been another case recorded flowing from an outbreak linked to a Rydges Hotel in Melbourne which has been hosting returned travellers in mandatory quarantine.
A security guard at the hotel has tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of cases from that cluster to seven.
Mikakos also said that two schools which were closed because of positive cases last week - Keilor Secondary College and Holy Eucharist Primary School - are due to reopen tomorrow.
Queensland, Australia to bring easing of restrictions forward
In Australia, the Queensland state premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has just announced the state will bring forward the easing of Covid-19 restrictions within the state, allowing gatherings of up to 20 people and travel within the state.
Speaking just now Palaszczuk said that from 1 June (so, tomorrow) restrictions banning recreational travel within Queensland will be lifted. Or, as she described it, “opening up Queensland for Queenslanders”. She also said that from tomorrow cafes, restaurants and bars in Queensland will be able to hold 20 people.
JUST IN: Here’s our latest roadmap to easing restrictions. From tomorrow, we're opening Queensland for Queenslanders. https://t.co/SqGYiangpX #covid19 #qldjobs pic.twitter.com/zMPKvDDARJ
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 31, 2020
The state had intended to lift those restrictions on 12 June, but Palaszczuk said the state had decided to lift the ban on travel within the state earlier than expected because of the “tremendous” work controlling the spread of the virus.
However, the state’s hard border closure to New South Wales, which is currently subject to a High Court challenge from mining magnate Clive Palmer, will remain in place.
Queensland recorded no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. There are currently five active cases in the state.
Los Angeles shuts down Covid testing amid protests
In the US, KTLA news is reporting that coronavirus testing centres in Los Angeles, California have been closed as a result of the protests.
KTLA reports:
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that all COVID-19 testing centers in the city closed Saturday afternoon due to safety concerns as protests against the killing of George Floyd continued throughout the city.
“We need to make sure, especially in communities that have less power, that we are able to make sure people don’t disproportionately die because of the color of their skin,” the mayor said. “We can’t do that when the city breaks down.”
All of the testing sites closed as of 3 p.m. the mayor said “because of the safety worries across the city.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if the other testing sites outside the city within broader L.A. County were affected.
Updated
Below is a roundup of the latest on the protests in the US.
A reminder that we have ongoing live coverage of the unrest here.
Donald Trump postpones G7 summit
US president Donald Trump has postponed the Group of Seven summit that he wanted to hold in June and will also expand the list of countries invited to attend the rescheduled event to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his return to Washington from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Trump said the G7 in its current format was a “very outdated group of countries”.
“I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Trump said.
US awol from world stage as China tries on global leadership for sizeRead more
The decision was a dramatic pivot for Trump, who had sought to host the group of major industrialised countries in Washington as a demonstration that the US was returning to normal after the coronavirus epidemic, which has killed more than 103,000 Americans to date.
Updated
In Australia, the New South Wales state government will walk away from its planned AU$810m (US$540m) redevelopment of the former Olympic stadium in Sydney as the state grapples with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, will announce that the state government will dump the stadium redevelopment, a key but controversial plank of its election pitch last year, instead announcing a AU$3bn fund for smaller, “shovel-ready projects”.
The announcement will come a day before NSW seeks to boost its flailing economy by further loosening the lockdown restrictions introduced at the height of the pandemic, including increasing the number of patrons allowed at venues from 10 to 50 and allowing regional travel for the first time since March.
In a statement issued to media before a formal announcement, Berejiklian said the decision to dump the stadium redevelopment was part of a wider plan to increase the state’s infrastructure spend to about $100bn.
Lockdown to be eased for England's most clinically vulnerable
The more than 2 million people who have been “shielding” from Covid-19 in England because they are deemed to be clinically extremely vulnerable will be allowed to spend time outdoors from Monday for the first time in 10 weeks.
Boris Johnson praised their resilience as their particular lockdown measures are set to be eased. The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, will confirm the move on Sunday.
In case you missed this earlier, in Australia, residents in the country’s most populous state, New South Wales, are enduring one more day of tight Covid restrictions before pubs, beauty salons and museums reopen and intrastate holiday travel is permitted, AAP reports.
For the first time in almost three weeks, zero Covid-19 cases were reported in NSW on Saturday, from 9500 tests.
A marketing campaign spruiking NSW as a tourist destination will target NSW, Victorian and ACT residents as coronavirus-related travel restrictions ease.
The state government on Sunday said a major tourism marketing push would coincide with the restriction changes.
Travellers from interstate will also be able to visit NSW under the changes, but must comply with the rules of their home state when returning.
The next phase of the “now’s the time to love NSW” campaign – first announced earlier this year after bushfires devastated the state – will include a new television commercial and social media video series, and international digital advertising to keep the state in overseas visitors’ minds.
“Interest in NSW road trips has jumped with a 125% increase in page views on VisitNSW.com in the past week,” Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said in a statement on Sunday.
Australians using lockdown to give up smoking
There are signs that thousands of Australians used the coronavirus shutdown to give up smoking, AAP reports.
Federal health Minister Greg Hunt says between January and May this year, the My Quitbuddy app was downloaded more than 24,000 times, a staggering 310% increase over the same time last year.
“These figures are very encouraging and I congratulate those who have taken the first step,” Mr Hunt said in a statement on Sunday, coinciding with World No Tobacco Day.
“Quitting is not always easy, but assistance is available and the benefits are significant.”
He said there was growing evidence that smokers were more likely to develop a severe case of Covid-19 if they contracted the virus.
The Australian government aims to reduce smoking to less than 10 per cent by 2025 through its 10-year National Preventive Health Strategy and has committed $31.6 million over four years from 2019/20 to reduce smoking prevalence.
This includes $20 million over three years to develop a new National Tobacco Campaign to encourage smokers to quit.
Updated
Brazil sees record one-day increase in cases
Brazil has nearly 500,000 cases, after a record one-day increase.
Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks.
The death toll in Brazil from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
Global cases pass 6 million
The world has passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, with 6,048,384 confirmed infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases and deaths, with 1,769,776 infections and 103,685 fatalities.
The ten worst-affected countries in terms of cases are:
- US: 1,769,776
- Brazil: 498,440
- Russia: 396,575
- United Kingdom: 274,219
- Spain: 239,228
- Italy: 232,664
- France: 188,752
- Germany: 183,189
- India: 181,827
- Turkey: 163,103
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Helen Sullivan, bringing you the latest global news for the next few hours.
Please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan[at]theguardian.com. Questions, comments, tips and news from your part of the world are all welcome.
Global cases have passed 6 million, with 6,048,384 confirmed infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official government data. The true number of infections and deaths, which currently stand at 368,711, are likely to be higher, as a result of delays, differing testing rates and definitions, and suspected underreporting.
The sombre milestone comes as Brazil, the second-worst affected country in the world after the US, is nearing 500,000 cases, after it registered a record 33,274 new infections on Saturday. The current total at confirmed cases stands at 498,440. The death toll is 28,834.
- Global cases passed 6 million. The world has passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, with 6,048,384 confirmed infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases and deaths, with 1,769,776 infections and 103,685 fatalities.
- Brazil cases neared 500,000 after record increase. Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks. The death toll in Brazil from Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.
- Pope Francis implored world leaders to provide social and economic relief for the many workers who have lost jobs, and called for the enormous sums of money used to grow and perfect armaments be instead used to fund research to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.
- Britain’s top public health leaders warned Boris Johnson that trust in the government has been shattered by the Dominic Cummings affair and now poses real danger to life when lockdown measures are lifted this week. Cummings, Johnson’s top aide, has been embroiled in a scandal after he was seen in Durham, 264 miles from his London home, despite having had coronavirus symptoms.
- Romanian prime minister Ludovic Orban paid a 3,000 lei fine ($690) for breaking his own coronavirus restrictions by not wearing a face mask and smoking indoors. A picture which went viral on social media shows Orban in his office, sitting around a table with several other cabinet members, smoking a cigarette while none of them wore masks.Russia to start vaccine trial within two weeks
- Russian scientists plan to start clinical coronavirus vaccine trials within two weeks, the health minister was quoted as saying on Saturday as authorities approved the country’s first anti-Covid-19 drug, Avifavir.
- Greece will conduct coronavirus tests on visitors arriving from airports deemed high-risk by the European Union’s aviation safety agency EASA when it opens its airports to tourism traffic on 15 June. The list currently includes 13 airports in the United Kingdom, all those in 22 US states and those in the Ile de France region surrounding Paris.
- Frontline workers in Mexico City’s hospitals are planning a national march to demand appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Nurses and other health workers account for about a quarter of all of Mexico’s coronavirus infections, government data shows, one of the highest rates in the world.
- South Africa’s infection cases now exceed 30,000, the country’s health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday. The country reported 1,727 new cases, taking the cumulative total to 30,967. The death toll increased by 32 to 643.
- Pakistan has reported 78 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, a single day record since the pandemic arrived in the country in March. The country has recorded 135 deaths in the past two days, and over 5,000 new cases, with health experts warning of a steep rise in the number of infections in coming days.
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Colombia is to lift quarantine measures in parts of the country, but issued new measures to control the spread of coronavirus in three of its most affected cities on Saturday, including the capital Bogota. The country has reported more than 26,600 coronavirus cases and 853 deaths.
- New York state governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill granting death benefits to the families of police officers, public health workers and other frontline workers who have died of the coronavirus. “You gave your lives for us, we will be there for your families going forward,” Cuomo said as he signed the legislation.
