Coronavirus Pandemic: Latest Updates

More than 302,000 dead

GMT based on official sources. There have been more than 4,454,090 officially recorded cases in 196 countries and territories. The United States has recorded the most deaths at 85,906. It is followed by Britain with 33,614, Italy with 31,368, Spain with 27,459 and France at 27,425.

Loomoing recession

The coronavirus pandemic could cut up to 9.7 percent off the global economy, the Asian Development Bank said yesterday. Meanwhile, Europe's economic powerhouse Germany tipped into a recession in the first quarter, with its economy shrinking by 2.2 percent due to the pandemic. Portugal's gross domestic product dropped 3.9 percent in the first quarter. The British government is to pump up to 1.6 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) into London's public transport system to restore services and help prevent overcrowding as people return to work.

Brazil, Mexico cases surge

Brazil and Mexico on Thursday reported a record one-day rise in new coronavirus cases, just as leaders of both countries intensified attempts to reopen their economies. Brazil, the hardest-hit country in Latin America, registered a daily record of 13,944 new cases, bringing its total to 202,918 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,933 deaths since the outbreak began, according to health ministry data. Mexico, the second most impacted nation in the region, reported 2,409 new infections on Thursday, to bring its total confirmed coronavirus cases to 42,595. An additional 257 coronavirus deaths brought total fatalities to 4,477.

Russia probes FT, NYT

Russia on Thursday launched a probe into the Financial Times and the New York Times after the newspapers said local authorities could be vastly under-reporting deaths from the coronavirus in the country. Russia has the world's second-highest number of coronavirus cases but has registered 10 times fewer deaths than Britain, France, Italy and Spain. As of yesterday the country had 262,843 confirmed coronavirus infections and 2,418 deaths.