More than 5.68 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the top 10 global developments this morning:
1. More than 5.68 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. At least 355,575 people have died, while about 2.4 million have recovered.
2. The United States death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed 100,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The country now has more than 1.69 million confirmed cases.
3. The United Nations World Food Program is warning that upward of at least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shuttering people in their homes, drying up work and crippling the economy.
4. Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 25,000 people on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said. Deaths from the disease caused by the coronavirus over the last 24 hours were 1,086, while the number of cases rose by 20,599, reaching 411,821.
5. The number of coronavirus cases in the Arab Gulf region, which includes Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman, has passed 200,000, as the largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have begun to ease restriction.
6. The Philippines’ coronavirus task force has recommended President Rodrigo Duterte ease one of the longest lockdowns in the world for residents in the capital who have endured nearly 11 weeks of restrictions.
7. South Korea reported 79 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, the largest one day increase since April 5, according to the Reuters news agency’s tally.
8. China will soon relax its border controls for seven more countries, the country’s civil aviation agency said, allowing domestic and foreign airlines to apply for the so-called “green channels” for chartered flights to the mainland.
9. European governments moved to halt the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, and a second global trial was suspended, further blows to hopes for a treatment promoted by US President Donald Trump.
10. Egypt’s health minister announced 910 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 12 hours, the country’s highest daily rate of infections since the virus was detected in mid-February, according to The Associated Press.