Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 43.45 lakh people and claimed 2.97 lakh lives, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
1. More than 4.34 million people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus to date, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 296,000 have died – at least 83,791 of them in the US. About 1.6 million people have recovered.
2. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged governments, civil society and health authorities to urgently address mental health needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, warning that psychological suffering is increasing.
3. Australia posted its biggest ever monthly rise in unemployment on Thursday because of coronavirus lockdown measures, even as the country begins to gradually ease those social distancing rules.
4. Japan was expected to lift a state of emergency across a large part of the country on Thursday, according to Reuters news agency, but the capital Tokyo will remain under restrictions until there is a convincing containment of the coronavirus.
5. Infections in Seoul coming from nightspots in the neighbourhood of Itaewon reached 72 on Thursday, according to the Yonhap news agency, raising fears over what South Korean health authorities described as “a truly cruel virus” further spreading in the greater area of the capital.
5. The Japanese company, Takeda Pharmaceutical, could start a clinical trial as early as July for a potential treatment of COVID-19 that is based on antibodies from recovered patients’ blood, company executives said.
7. America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus, says a government whistle-blower who alleges he was removed from his job after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic, the Associated Press news agency reported.
8. Mexico’s health ministry confirmed 1,862 new cases of coronavirus infections on Wednesday, along with 294 additional deaths, slightly lower than the country’s record number of daily fatalities reported the day before, Reuters news agency reported.
9. Canada and the US appear likely to extend a ban on non-essential travel until June 21 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a Canadian government source and a top US official told Reuters news agency.
10. China’s National Health Commission reported on Thursday at least three new cases of the coronavirus cases in the country as of the end of Wednesday – down from seven cases the previous day.