The latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro speaks with journalists while wearing a protective face mask as he arrives at Alvorada Palace in Brasilia. Picture: Adriano Machado/Reuters

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro speaks with journalists while wearing a protective face mask as he arrives at Alvorada Palace in Brasilia. Picture: Adriano Machado/Reuters

Published May 23, 2020

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Brazil became the world No. 2 hotspot for

coronavirus cases on Friday, second only to the United States,

after it confirmed that 330 890 people had been infected by the

virus, the Health Ministry said.

It registered 1,001 daily coronavirus deaths on Friday,

taking total deaths to 21,048. President Jair Bolsonaro has been

widely criticized for his handling of the outbreak and is at the

center of a deepening political crisis.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* More than 5.21 million people were reported to have been

infected globally with the virus and nearly 337,000 have died,

according to a Reuters tally.

EUROPE

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls on

Saturday from opposition parties to sack adviser Dominic

Cummings after he travelled 400 km while his wife showed

Covid-19 symptoms to ensure their son could be looked after by

his family.

* Russia said 9,434 new cases of the coronavirus had been

reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide tally to

335,882. It also reported 139 new fatalities after a record of

150 deaths the day before, bringing the death toll to 3,388.

* Lockdowns will be eased in Spain's capital Madrid and

second city Barcelona from Monday to allow outdoor dining and

gatherings of up to 10 people.

* Britain will introduce a Covid-19 quarantine for

travellers arriving from abroad from June 8, interior minister

Priti Patel said, a measure that airlines have warned will

devastate their industry. All international arrivals, including

returning Britons, will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

     

AMERICAS

* Mexico on Friday registered a record for coronavirus

deaths on a single day, posting 479 more deaths along with 2,960

new infections, according to health ministry data. Authorities

have now reported 62,527 total cases of the coronavirus and

6,989 deaths since detecting the first cases in Mexico in late

February.

* The Trump administration weighed in on a lawsuit brought

against Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's coronavirus

stay-at-home orders, with a rare federal court filing in support

of the legal challenge he faces over his emergency powers.

The US Justice Department's filing in Illinois marked

another escalation by the administration in confronting state

governors it sees as going too far with restrictions meant to

quell the coronavirus pandemic.

* As the United States into the long Memorial Day holiday

weekend, Americans are back on the road after more than two

months of coronavirus lockdowns that kept them homebound, with

beach-area traffic tripling since the low point in mid-April.

* Canada will ramp up Covid-19 testing and contact tracing

as it gradually lifts restrictions and is working closely with

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google on a

mobile phone app to help, the prime minister said.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China recorded no new confirmed Covid-19 cases on the

mainland for May 22, the first time it had seen no daily rise in

the number of cases since the pandemic began in the central city

of Wuhan late last year.

* Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, said on

Saturday it recorded just three new cases of the coronavirus the

previous day and urged younger people to get tested as it

prepared to further loosen restrictions on pubs and restaurants.

* Coronavirus cases in Singapore topped 30 000 as the

city-state reported hundreds of new infections in cramped

migrant worker dormitories every day.

* Indonesia confirmed 949 new coronavirus infections, taking

its total to 21 745, the health ministry said. There were 25 new

deaths, taking the total to 1,351.

* Japan's central bank created its own version of the US Federal Reserve's "Main Street" lending programme to channel

more money to small businesses.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Iran moved to open businesses, religious and cultural

sites as it eases restrictions imposed to contain the

coronavirus pandemic. Museums and historical sites are to reopen

on Sunday to coincide with the Eid el-Fitr celebrations that end

the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, President Hassan

Rouhani said. Holy shrines will reopen on Monday.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Car rental firm Hertz Global Holdings Inc HTZ.N filed for

bankruptcy protection on Friday after its business was decimated

during the coronavirus pandemic and talks with creditors failed

to result in much needed relief.

The firm, whose largest shareholder is billionaire investor

Carl Icahn with a nearly 39% ownership stake, is reeling from

government orders restricting travel and requiring citizens to

remain home.

* Oil prices tumbled and global equity markets wavered on

Friday as China's move to impose a new security law on Hong Kong

further strained U.S.-Sino relations and clouded economic

recovery prospects.

* Unemployment rates rose and total employment fell in all

50 US states and the District of Columbia in April due to

lockdowns, the Labor Department said.

* China dropped its annual growth target for the first time

and pledged more government spending as the Covid-19 pandemic

hammers its economy.

Reuters

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