Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2020 ):Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- Spotlight on WHO - World Health Organization member states agree to an independent probe into the WHO's response.

At the UN agency's annual assembly held virtually for the first time, countries adopt a resolution by consensus calling for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the response, including a probe of WHO actions and timelines.

The move comes amid mounting criticism from the US over the WHO's handling of the pandemic, with President Donald Trump threatening to pull the US out, accusing the agency of botching the response and of being a "puppet of China".

Russia denounces Trump's attempt to "break" the WHO, accusing Washington of "politicising".

- Economic impact - US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the US economy risks suffering "permanent damage" the longer the lockdown to contain the pandemic drags on.

The number of Britons claiming jobless benefit soared nearly 70 percent in April to 2.1 million, as the coronavirus devastated the labour market.

The World Bank warns that the crisis threatens to push some 60 million people into extreme poverty, wiping out the gains made over the past three years.

- More than 320,000 dead - The pandemic has killed at least 320,255 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1900 GMT on Tuesday based on official sources.

The United States has recorded the most deaths at 91,179. It is followed by Britain with 35,341, Italy with 32,169, France with 28,022 and Spain with 27,778.

- Borders - The Canada-US border will remain closed to all non-essential travel for another month, until June 21, to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces.

However, Central European countries including Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, say they could open their borders to each other as of mid-June.

And Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia agree to ease travel restrictions reciprocally in stages, starting June 1.

- Italy begs for tourists - The Rome government appeals to neighbouring Germans to shed their fears and spend their holidays in Italy this summer, as it prepares to reopen to European tourists from early June and scrap a 14-day mandatory quarantine period.

"Come and visit our beaches, our sea, our mountain villages, enjoy our cuisine. We are ready to welcome you with a smile," Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio says in a interview with Germany's Bild to be published Wednesday.