Total COVID-19 cases across the globe have passed 9.5 million on Thursday, with the WHO saying it expected global infections to pass 10 million by the end of the week. The current total stands at 9,586,769. At least 488,824 people have died so far.
Here are the top 10 global developments this morning:
1. China’s health authority on Friday reported 13 new coronavirus cases, down from 19 a day earlier.
2. New Zealand has reported one new case of COVID-19 on Friday. It was diagnosed during the routine testing of quarantined travellers.
3. South Korea reported 39 new cases, mostly from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area where officials have been struggling to stem transmissions amid increased public activity and eased attitudes on social distancing.
4. Tokyo recorded 48 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, exactly one month after Japan lifted a national state of emergency decree and one week since the full easing of domestic travel restrictions and business closure requests.
5. Brazil confirmed 39,483 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 1,228,114. The death toll is nearing 55,000, with 54,971 fatalities currently confirmed.
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6. The World Health Organization has warned that hospitals are facing a shortage in oxygen concentrators, which are needed to support the breathing of Covid-19 patients suffering from respiratory distress, as 1m new cases of coronavirus are confirmed worldwide per week.
7. Mexico has surpassed 25,000 reported coronavirus deaths and 200,000 confirmed cases Thursday, as the treasury secretary said he tested positive and would self-isolate while working from home, AP reports.
8. US government experts believe more than 20 million Americans could have contracted coronavirus. Cases are now rising in 27 US states, up from 22 earlier this week.
9. Europe has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases since countries began easing restrictions, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, has told reporters.
10. In Portugal, several parts of Greater Lisbon will have to go back into lockdown from next week as Portuguese authorities deal with a worrying wave of coronavirus on the city’s outskirts.