Coronavirus latest: Brazil death toll passes 30,000
- More than 6.32 million people are now infected with COVID-19 globally and 379,709 have died
- Brazil’s health ministry reports a new record 1,262 deaths in the previous 24 hours
- China says it has had just a single new case over the last day
All times in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT)
03:50 The South Korean government has proposed its biggest stimulus package so far in a bid to cushion the blow to the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion, €25.9 billion) package is the third coronavirus stimulus package announced by the Moon Jae-in government, after significant boosts in March and April.
Chances of the package being passed in the parliament are high as Moon’s Democratic party has an overall majority.
Between January and March, South Korea — the world’s 12th-largest economy — saw its biggest plunge in gross domestic product since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The stimulus is aimed at creating 550,000 jobs and providing business owners and small-to-medium sized companies with “emergency funds”.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the South Korean economy will shrink 1.2% this year.
03:36 South Korea has approved the import of remdesivir for coronavirus treatment.
The country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved a request by the health authorities to import the antiviral drug produced by Gilead Sciences Inc.
Last week, a government panel concluded that remdesivir had shown positive results.
Remdesivir was originally developed to treat Ebola infections, but it also showed effectiveness against SARS and MERS coronaviruses in laboratory tests.
Read more: Coronavirus: Remdesivir is no miracle cure
03:29 OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher told German news agency DPA that coronavirus-related school closures would likely heighten social disparities in education systems.
A study published last year found that success in Germany’s public education system was largely contingent on social background. Schleicher said school closures would likely further engrain that into the German system.
“Children from disadvantaged social backgrounds usually only have one real chance in life: good teachers and efficient schools,” he said.
03:12 In Venezuela, the government and the opposition-led National Assembly have signed an agreement to work with the regional arm of the World Health Organization to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 does not respect or discriminate against gender, orientation or political party,” Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on state television.
“So this is good news, a good start, so that we can deepen our work together to combat COVID-19,” he added.
According to Rodriguez , Health Minister Carlos Alvarado, Dr Julio Castro, who heads the National Assembly’s commission on the coronavirus, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) signed the one-page agreement on June 1.
Under the agreement, the parties will seek funds to cover coronavirus response that includes improving testing, acquiring more protective gear and launching public health messaging campaigns.
03:12 Dubai authorities announced businesses could resume operations at full capacity as of Wednesday, marking an end to weeks of lockdown restrictions.
However, public health authorities said people must continue to adhere to social distancing measures and wear face masks in public.
In the Arab Gulf, many of the novel coronavirus outbreaks occurred in migrant labor camps. Some countries pledged to extend quality healthcare to those in need. Others offered to repatriate migrant laborers at the government’s expense.
Read more: Coronavirus deepens risks for migrant workers in the Gulf
03:00 Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has reported 342 new infections and 29 deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours.
According to the latest figures from RKI, the reproduction number, or R-value, has slipped below the critical level of 1.0 to 0.89.
This means an infected person on average infects less than one other person.
A total of 182,370 infections and 8,551 deaths have been reported in Germany since the crisis began.
02:52 The Iraqi Health Ministry announced its largest single-day spike in new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
Public health authorities reported 519 new cases, bringing Iraq’s total to more than 7,300. The increase is largely attributed to an increase in nationwide testing. At least 235 have died as a result of complications caused by the deadly pathogen.
In April, the Iraqi government refuted claims by Reuters news agency reporters, who said the government was under-reporting the number of positive cases in the country.
Since then, authorities have sought to expand testing. Public health experts have warned that Iraq’s healthcare system could suffer a fatal blow if the number of cases flared up.
Read more: Coronavirus: Arab uprisings struggle amid lockdowns
02:00 China has reported a single case of coronavirus, which was an imported one.
Four new asymptomatic cases were also recorded. China does not include asymptomatic patients in confirmed cases.
The mainland has recorded a total of 83,021 so far and with no new deaths reported, the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.
01:30 Belgium has been criticized for its seemingly sky-high COVID-19 death toll, which currently has one of the highest death toll per capita rates in the world.
Belgium’s head of viral diseases told DW that the high numbers are actually the result of a radically transparent system. Even suspected COVID-19 cases are counted regardless whether the deceased person was tested.
For more on Belgium’s death rate controversy, check out the report here: Belgium’s coronavirus (over)counting controversy
01:05 Mexico has seen its highest number of daily infections till date with 3891 cases being reported in the last 24 hours.
The daily death toll was 470.
The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 97,326 with 10,637 deaths, even as health authorities suspect that the number of unreported cases is significantly high.
00:30 British medical journal The Lancet has said it was concerned about the data behind a popular article that concluded hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients.
The findings of the article, published in the journal on May 22, had undermined scientific interest in the anti-malarial drug vigorously advocated by US President Donald Trump.
The drug, which has anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, is at the centre of a highly politicized debate.
It inhibited the coronavirus in laboratory experiments but has not been proven effective in humans, mainly in clinical trials that are randomized and placebo-controlled, as per the bar for data.
Last week, some 150 doctors questioned the findings of the article by signing an open letter to The Lancet.
The study observed 96,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, some treated with hydroxychloroquine.
In a note, editors of The Lancet said that serious scientific questions about the study were brought to their attention and they have commissioned an independent audit of the data.
00:05 The total number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil has now reached 31,199 since the start of the pandemic.
The South American country reported 28,936 additional cases of coronavirus infections and a new record number of daily deaths with 1,262 deaths registered in the last 24 hours.
Brazil has now registered 555,383 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, making it the second-worst affected country behind the US.
Experts estimate the real number of infections could be up to 15 times higher than official figures, given relatively little testing across the vast country of 210 million.
Read more: Coronavirus pandemic: Is Brazil the new epicenter?
Across Latin America, many health care professionals are reporting that they have little or no access to personal protective equipment. They are carrying the heaviest burden in the fight against the coronavirus.
In Panama, trade unions came out on the streets to protest the government’s decision to reopen the country’s economy. The demonstrators claimed that it will lead to a surge in infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
Panama is the worst-hit Central American country with 13,000 confirmed cases of infection and 350 deaths. The country’s construction industry and some mining operations resumed work on Monday after being closed as part of a nationwide lockdown.
00:00 Catch up on Tuesday’s developments here
dvv/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
In reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, unless otherwise specified, DW uses figures provided by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Coronavirus Resource Center in the United States. JHU updates figures in real-time, collating data from world health organizations, state and national governments and other public official sources, all of whom have their own systems for compiling information.
Germany’s national statistics are compiled by its public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). These figures depend on data transmission from state and local levels and are updated around once a day, which can lead to deviation from JHU.
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