Latest On Coronavirus

The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world reached almost 330,000, over 5.04 million cases of infection were detected, and over 1.92 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the world reached almost 330,000, over 5.04 million cases of infection were detected, and over 1.92 million of those patients were cured, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from federal and local authorities, media and other sources.

As of 21.00 GMT Thursday, the number of people infected globally is 5,047,377, of them 329,816 died.

The United States still has the highest case count in the world, with 1,562,110, including 93,863 fatalities and 294,312 recoveries.

New York City could start a partial reopening in early June following a strict shutdown imposed by the local and state authorities in March to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in his address to the parliament's lower house that the once worst-affected European country is now over the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, yet calling upon citizens to refrain from mass gatherings and traveling abroad.

Italy may begin allowing interregional travel from June 3 if the epidemiological situation, amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, is not deemed to be at high risk, Regional Affairs Minister Francesco Boccia said.

Austrian authorities will not open the borders for those countries that have failed to take the situation with the spread of coronavirus under control, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon presented a roadmap for a four-phased relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions based on the so-called "test, trace, isolate, support" approach amid the steady reduction in new cases across the country, stating that the first stage of quarantine easing is to start on May 28.

Air Serbia has become the first flag carrier in the Balkans to resume operations after a flight from Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport left for the Swiss city of Zurich on Thursday, the country's minister of construction, transport and infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said.

Georgia will lift the nationwide state of emergency and curfew on Friday, but keep part of the restrictions in force as the COVID-19 outbreak is not yet over, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.

The Japanese government has lifted the coronavirus state of emergency in three more prefectures but has decided to keep measures in place in capital Tokyo and the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced.

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) carrier has made wearing face masks mandatory for all passengers amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

Cambodia is planning to open in June all museums in the country that were closed in March over the spread of the coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said on Thursday.

The situation with COVID-19 in northeastern Syria is getting worse, and the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) took advantage of the pandemic, while the United States does not care about the civilian population of the region, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev expressed belief that the coronavirus pandemic would not result in the end of globalism, but would still change the world.

When facing epidemics similar to the one triggered by the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, humans have historically tended to blame each other instead of standing united against the common health threats, political analysts have told Sputnik.

The US economy's decline from the coronavirus pandemic is expected to bottom out by the second quarter and a gigantic increase in activity is possible in the final three months of the year, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said. However, the likelihood that the US economy will need another stimulus bill to fight the continued negative impact from COVID-19 is strong, he said.

Nearly 2.5 million more Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, bringing the total number of US job losses from the coronavirus pandemic to around 39 million.

The weekday demand for electricity across the United Kingdom fell by 13 percent to its lowest levels in decades during the COVID-19 lockdown, according to a research published by Electric Insights Quarterly.

The Russian Cosmonaut Training Center resumed training of Indian astronauts recently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos, told Sputnik.

The COVID-19 crisis presents a unique opportunity to reboot the Australian economy through developing net zero emissions energy, becoming a global exporter of such technology and moving away from gas, the Clima Council non-profit said in a report.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved requests from 59 countries for getting emergency assistance to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told reporters.

The European Union is mulling offering aid to companies that have gone through a rough time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but are not receiving relief from their national governments, Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni told Germany's Handelsblatt.

The United Nations has launched a new global initiative to counter misinformation about the novel coronavirus disease, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have signed an agreement aimed at improving health services for refugees and internally displaced people all over the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO said.

The United Nations' Syria Relief Fund released $23 million to support communities across Syria to fight COVID-19, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza said.

International humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that the growing number of deaths at the only specialized health center for treating patients with COVID-19 symptoms in the southern Yemeni city of Aden indicated the dire epidemiological situation in the country that could turn into a catastrophe.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it had approved $396 million in emergency financial assistance to Jordan to cover a portion of the country external financing stemming from the effects of the novel coronavirus disease.

Humanitarian aid delivered in a commercial flight from the United Arab Emirates' capital of Abu Dhabi to the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel's Tel Aviv was turned down by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.

Scientists from Germany and France suppose that SARS-CoV-2 can lead to the death of neurons and cause neurodegeneration-like effects, according to research, published at the bioRxiv website for preprint studies.

Workers of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) will be the first to receive coronavirus antibody tests after the government struck a deal with the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche, media reported.

UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a partner of the Oxford University in leading the national effort for the development of a coronavirus vaccine, said that it had concluded agreements on the mass production of a vaccine against COVID-19 and expected the first deliveries in September.

More than 40,000 health care workers from across the world will take part in a global trial of two anti-malarial drugs � hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine � to check their effectiveness in preventing the COVID-19 infection, and the first tests began in the UK cities of Brighton and Oxford on Thursday, according to Bangkok-based Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU).

Bangladeshi firm Beximco Pharmaceuticals said it had become the world's first company to launch the anti-viral drug Remdesivir, which may effectively treat COVID-19 in patients.

The EU's accusations against Russia of disinformation on the COVID-19 are cynical, it's an unscrupulous attempt to distract attention from its problems in the fight against the coronavirus, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.