Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

Paris, Sept 17 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Sep, 2020 ) :Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: - 'Alarming rates of transmission' - The World Health Organization warns of "alarming rates of transmission" of Covid-19 across Europe with a September surge -- Europe set a new record last week, with some 54,000 cases recorded in 24 hours -- that "should serve as a wake-up call for all of us".

"Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission across the region," the WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge tells an online news conference from Copenhagen.

- More than 941,000 dead - The pandemic has killed at least 941,473 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to an AFP count at 1100 GMT on Thursday based on official sources.

More than 29.9 million cases have been confirmed.

The United States has the most deaths with 196,831, followed by Brazil with 134,106, India 83,198, Mexico 71,978 and Britain 41,684.

- Restrictions in French cities - French Health Minister Olivier Veran says authorities are preparing tighter restrictions in several cities to curtail a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Veran, who will now hold weekly press conferences to chart the outbreak's progression, says measures will be announced for Lyon and Nice by Saturday, after curbs on public gatherings were imposed this week in Bordeaux and Marseille.

- NYC postpones school, again - New York City again postpones the return of in-classroom teaching for a large number of pupils, which was due to resume on Monday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announces that only the youngest children and those with special needs will return on certain days next week, while older pupils will have to wait until September 29 or October 1.

- Austria limits indoor gatherings - Austria announces that private indoor gatherings from midnight on Monday will be limited to 10 people, given an "exponential rise" in new infections.

- Wuhan re-opens for international flights - China's Wuhan, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak, re-opens for international flights, ending an eight-month moratorium.

China stopped international flights in March as Covid-19 swept the world, but has now largely brought the disease under control at home through travel restrictions, testing and lockdowns.