Coronavirus: Latest Global Developments

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th May, 2020 ) :Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- Trump splits with WHO - US President Donald Trump says he is breaking off ties with the World Health Organization, which he says failed to do enough to combat the initial spread of the novel coronavirus.

Trump had already suspended funding to the UN agency, accusing it of being a "puppet" of China as the global health crisis erupted.

- New York plans partial reopening - New York, the US city worst-hit by the coronavirus, is "on track" to start reopening the week of June 8, after a more than two month lockdown, Governor Andrew Cuomo says.

- Record daily toll in Russia - Russia reports a record daily increase of 232 coronavirus deaths as Moscow authorities release mortality figures for the capital to dispel allegations they were being manipulated.

- Chloroquine debate deepens - Dozens of scientists raise concerns in an open letter over a large-scale study of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine published in the Lancet that led to the WHO suspending clinical trials of the anti-viral drugs as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

- More than 362,000 deaths - The pandemic has killed at least 362,028 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1900 GMT on Friday, based on official sources.

The United States has recorded the most deaths of any country, with 102,201.

It is followed by Britain with 38,161, Italy with 33,229, France with 28,714 and Spain with 27,121.

- Infant dies in Switzerland - An infant dies from COVID-19 in Switzerland, the first child to perish from coronavirus in the country, but infected abroad.

- Economic pain - Canada's economy shrank at an annualised rate of 8.2 percent in the first quarter.

Britain announces companies must start paying towards the wages of staff furloughed during the pandemic from August.

- Minimum income in Spain - Spain's leftwing government approves a minimum basic income scheme to tackle a spike in poverty stemming from the crisis.

- Opening borders - Greece says it will reopen its airports in Athens and Thessaloniki to arrivals from 29 countries from June 15, the start of the tourist season. Countries hardest hit by the pandemic are not on the list.

Denmark announces it will reopen its border to visitors from Germany, Norway and Iceland from June 15, but says the UK and the rest of the European Union will have to wait a few more months.

- Sotheby's to auction remotely - The auction house Sotheby's says its big spring auctions, which generate billions of Dollars in sales, will be held remotely and without an audience this year because of the coronavirus.

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