3 May 2020, Kathmandu
More than 243,500 people have died worldwide since the Covid-19 pandemic surfaced in China in December, as some countries are easing restrictions due to a reduction in coronavirus cases, while in some countries the virus is still playing havoc and deaths are increasing.
According to international media reports, in all, more than 3.4 million cases have now been reported in 195 countries and territories.
In the United States, which has the highest toll, 66,621 people have died. Italy is the second hardest-hit country, with 28,710 dead, followed by the United Kingdom with 28,131, Spain 25,100 and France 24,594.
The coronavirus death toll in the United States climbed by 868 in a single day, bringing the total number of fatalities to over 66,000. There are more than 1.14 million cases in the country.
More than a dozen states let restaurants, stores or other businesses reopen Friday in the biggest one-day push yet to get their economies up and running again, acting at their own speed and with their own quirks and restrictions to make sure the coronavirus doesn’t come storming back.
Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow, where the mayor threatened to cut the number of travel permits.
The death toll nationwide rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said, after revising the previous day’s tally.
Russia has been in partial lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, since the end of March. In Moscow, people who have not obtained a special permit for free movement, are only able to leave their homes to shop, walk their dogs and dispose of garbage.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the restrictive measures, called non-working days, to continue until May 11 inclusive, when the country finishes celebrating the Labour Day and Victory Day holidays.
Despite a relatively low number of cases and deaths compared to the United States, Italy and Spain, which have been hit hardest by the disease, Russia’s infection curve has not reached a plateau.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued an appeal on Saturday to Muscovites to continue to self-isolate. He said the number of critically ill patients is rising, but not as steeply worst-case scenario projections.
He said about two percent of Moscow residents — or more than 250,000 people — have the coronavirus.
“According to screening tests of various population groups, the real number of the infected is around 2 percent of Moscow´s total population,” Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog.
The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll rose 621 to 28,131 as of May 1, just short of Italy which has had the deadliest novel coronavirus outbreak among European countries.
“Sadly of those tested positive for coronavirus… 28,131 have now died,” housing minister Robert Jenrick told reporters at a Downing Street briefing. “That’s an increase of 621 fatalities since yesterday.”
Italy reported a death toll of 28,710.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 945 to 161,703, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The death toll rose by 94 to 6,575. Spain´s nearly 47 million people, under strict lockdown since March 14, are allowed outside for walks or sport.
Many restrictions remain however. In towns of more than 5,000 inhabitants, children and the elderly cannot leave home at the same times.
The repatriation of Europeans who found themselves outside the EU when borders closed as part of national lockdowns is almost complete, said the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
South Korea reported six more cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the nation’s total infections to 10,780, according to Yonhap news agency. It marked the fourth day in a row for the new daily infections to stay in the single digits.
(With inputs from agencies)
