Declared coronavirus cases top 7m globally

PARIS/HONG KONG/MOSCOW/TEHRAN/ WELLINGTON: Declared coronavirus infections topped seven million globally, some two-thirds in Europe and the United States Monday.

At least 7,003,851 cases have been officially recorded around the world, including 402,867 deaths, and Europe is the hardest-hit continent with 2,275,305 cases and 183,542 deaths. The United States has recorded 1,942,363 cases and 110,514 deaths since the outbreak first emerged in China late last year.

The number of cases reported globally has doubled in just over a month, and more than one million cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the past nine days.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), likely reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Though testing in many countries has increased since the outset of the outbreak, many nations are still testing only symptomatic or serious cases.

Meanwhile, India reported the highest daily spike of nearly 10,000 COVID-19 cases on Monday while new infections in Malaysia were brought down to a single digit.

During the past 24 hours, India's health ministry reported 206 new deaths and 9,983 more positive cases, the highest spike in terms of fresh cases in the country so far. The total number of deaths crossed the 7,000-mark, reaching 7,135, as the total number of cases reached 256,611, said the latest data issued by the health ministry.

Malaysia reported seven new cases, the lowest within nearly three months since implementing movement control order in March.

Bangladesh reported 42 more deaths and 2,735 new cases, bringing the total number of fatalities to 930 and the total number of confirmed cases to 68,504.

Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry recorded 575 new positive cases in one day, bringing the total number of cases to 20,917 in the country, spokesman for the ministry Tawhid Shakohmand said.

The number of cases in the Philippines rose to 22,474 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 579 more infections.

The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 847 within one day to 32,033, with the death toll adding by 32 to 1,883, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said at a press conference.

The number of confirmed cases in Pakistan has risen to 103,671 with 2,067 deaths, according to the data updated by the country's health ministry. A total of 4,728 new cases and 65 deaths were reported during the last 24 hours.

South Korea reported 38 more cases, raising the total number of infections to 11,814. The daily caseload fell below 40 after staying above 50 for two days in a row. Of the new cases, five were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 1,297.

Russia announced Monday it would lift a range of anti-coronavirus measures including a strict lockdown on Moscow, despite still recording thousands of new infections every day.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the capital´s general lockdown and pass system would end on Tuesday, allowing residents to travel freely for the first time since late March. "Moscow is returning to the usual rhythm of life," he said in a video message on Facebook, adding that the elderly and those with chronic diseases will be allowed to leave their homes.

Russia has been moving quickly to ease restrictions even as it registers nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 100 deaths on a daily basis. The country had recorded a total of 476,658 coronavirus infections as of Monday -- the third-highest number in the world -- and 5,971 deaths.

President Vladimir Putin has rescheduled a high-profile World War II military parade in Red Square for June 24 and a vote on constitutional reforms for a week later, on July 1. The vote, which will clear the way for changes allowing Putin to potentially stay in power beyond his current Kremlin term, was the centrepiece of the longtime leader´s political calendar for this year but had to be postponed from April 22 as coronavirus cases surged.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of children in the Philippines will not be allowed back to school until a coronavirus vaccine is available, officials announced Monday, saying they may have to broadcast lessons on TV.

Nations like France and South Korea began resuming face-to-face classes as they got their outbreaks under control, but Philippine authorities see the risk as too great.

President Rodrigo Duterte said last month that even if students could not graduate, they needed to stay out of school to fight the spread of the disease. "We will comply with the president´s directive to postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine is available," education secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement on Monday.

Classes are to resume at the end of August and teachers will use distance learning methods via the internet or TV broadcasts where needed, Briones added. Millions live in deep poverty in the Philippines and do not have access to computers at home, which is key to the viability of online classes. "The teacher and the school will have to adjust... depending on the availability of communication," Briones said in a press briefing.

Iran on Monday urged its citizens to wear masks in public as it announced another 70 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,043 new cases of infection.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the latest figures took the overall toll to 8,351 dead out of a total of 173,832 people infected. "Everybody must wear masks when attending places like stores or any other place where it is not possible to observe social distancing carefully," he said on state television.

Since announcing its first cases in city of Qom in February, Iran has struggled to contain what quickly became the Middle East´s deadliest outbreak of the COVID-19 illness. It initially imposed a series of measures aimed at halting its spread, such as the closure of mosques, but has gradually rolled back many of these steps since April.

"The majority of provinces are in a stable situation," Jahanpour said on Monday. He said the southwestern province of "Khuzestan is still red" -- the highest level on the country´s colour-coded risk scale. Eight other provinces were "on alert", he said.

"The provinces at risk should be more serious and cautious," Jahanpour said, calling on people to avoid unnecessary travel.

While, New Zealand has lifted almost all of its coronavirus restrictions after reporting no active cases in the country.

At midnight local time all of New Zealand moved to level one, the lowest of a four-tier alert system, reported BBC World.

Under new rules, social distancing is not required and there are no limits on public gatherings, but borders remain closed to foreigners. New Zealand has reported no new COVID-19 cases for more than two weeks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters she did "a little dance" when she was told the country no longer had any active virus cases. "While we're in a safer, stronger position, there's still no easy path back to pre-COVID life, but the determination and focus we have had on our health response will now be vested in our economic rebuild," Ms Ardern said. "While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone. So can I finish with a very simple, 'Thank you, New Zealand'."