Coronavirus: Spain says epidemic slowing
Read the latest on the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world here
Coronavirus tests at Abu Dhabi hospital draw hundreds to queue in sun
A queue outside an Abu Dhabi emergency department stretches across a road as hundreds of mostly low-income migrant workers wait, two meters apart, to be tested for the new coronavirus.
The United Arab Emirates is ramping up testing as it tries to control the spread of the virus, which has infected at least 7,755 and killed 46 in the Gulf state. It aims to cover all UAE citizens and residents, the health ministry said on Monday.
Over 800 people are currently tested each day in a large tent at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi hospital. The tent, which has the capacity for up to 1,000 daily tests, was recently expanded from three smaller ones when the hospital saw demand would increase.
Capt Tom Moore opens NHS Nightingale hospital in Harrogate
Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old war veteran who raised over £27m for the NHS has opened a new Nightingale hospital in Harrogate.
Moore raised money by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, appeared via video link at the opening on Tuesday, reports the BBC.
UK coronavirus deaths in hospitals rise by 828 to 17,337
A total of 17,337 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospitals in Britain, an increase of 828 on the figure published 24 hours earlier, health ministry data showed on Tuesday.
The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus has risen to 129,044.
The figure for deaths is as of 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on April 20, while the figure for confirmed cases is as of 9 am (0800 GMT) on April 21.
Taiwan defence minister apologises after coronavirus outbreak on navy ship
Taiwan's defence minister apologised and said he was willing to resign after a coronavirus outbreak on a navy ship which visited the Pacific last month just as the country celebrated a huge drop in cases.
A total of 27 sailors are confirmed to have been infected so far. They were on a friendship visit by three Taiwanese navy ships to the Pacific island state of Palau, one of only 15 nations that have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Britons holed up in Kosovo due to coronavirus lockdown
Scotsman Mike Elm and his partner Rosie Watson, who are travelling from Europe to Asia to raise awareness of climate change, have been trapped in Kosovo for more than a month due to border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Elm and Watson are allowed to go out for 90 minutes each day to get essential items in the western town of Prizren and even their interview with Reuters TV had to be approved by Kosovo authorities.
“I am extremely fortunate in the place I ended up, it is a beautiful city. I can imagine it would be much more challenging if I was just here on my own twiddling my thumbs and having no one to debate with and laugh with,” Elm told Reuters.
Spain says epidemic slowing, but San Fermin bull festival cancelled
The latest 24-hour tallies took fatalities to 21,282 and infections to 204,178 - but they represented just a 2% increase, fuelling optimism the crisis may be waning at last.
Monday’s 399 deaths was the lowest number since March 22. Health emergencies coordinator Fernando Simon said death data was still worrying but an overall downward trend was clear.
Despite last week’s easing of restrictions to allow some workers to return, Spain still remains under the strictest lockdown in Europe, which has caused economic paralysis.
Authorities in the northern city of Pamplona regretfully called off the annual San Fermin bull-running festival, which draws thousands of tourists and was made famous in Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises”.
England's Covid-19 hospital death toll rises 778 to 15,607
The Covid-19 death toll in English hospitals rose 778 to 15,607, the health service said on Tuesday.
The rise is one of the steepest daily rises in nearly two weeks, according to NHS data.
“24 of the 778 patients (aged between 49 and 91 years old) had no known underlying health condition,” the health service said.
The United Kingdom’s death toll is due to be released shortly.
Russia jails protester for two months after anti-lockdown rally in south
A singer who led a one of Russia’s first public protests against lockdown measures aimed at curbing the coronavirus outbreak has been fined and jailed for two months pending an investigation.
Russia, where the cases of the virus have risen rapidly this month, has shut down whole cities and regions to slow the contagion, inflicting economic pain in some households as businesses have been forced to close.
Vadim Cheldiev, a singer in the southern region of North Ossetia who has 10,000 followers on social media networks, led Monday’s protest there and called for the resignation of the local government and the region’s head. Police took Cheldiev into custody and a court ordered he be held for two months and fined him 75,000 roubles ($975) for spreading false information about the outbreak, a court was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency on Tuesday.
He is being investigated for allegedly using violence against a member of the authorities, calling for mass protesters and spreading false information about the outbreak
US coronavirus response deepens divide as Trump suspends immigration
US President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus took an even sharper political turn on Tuesday after he seized upon the crisis in a controversial move to suspend immigration, and as he planned to meet with the governor of New York, the hardest hit state.
Trump is also seizing the moment to launch a sweeping effort to repeal or suspend federal business regulations in a separate executive action, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the planning.
Stranded foreign students in Dakar live in coronavirus limbo
After Senegal ordered universities to shut over the coronavirus outbreak, Ousmane Issaka, a student from Niger, found himself having to sleep on the pavement outside his shuttered dormitory in Dakar, with packed suitcases at his side but nowhere to go.
Though he had displayed no Covid-19 symptoms, Issaka, 24, was concerned about inadvertently taking the virus back to his home village of Bengou and had decided to stay put following the March 14 order.
Most of his 80,000 fellow students at Cheikh Anta Diop University had crammed themselves onto buses or rushed to Dakar airport before flights were suspended and borders closed.
Experts advise Dutch government to reopen primary schools
The experts advising the Netherlands on handling the coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday advised the government to reopen day care facilities and primary schools, documents released by broadcaster NOS showed.
The government’s special Outbreak Management Team said in its advice that the risk to public health of reopening primary schools, day care and special education after the May vacation is “manageable”, but said schools should start with smaller classes. The national May school break ends on May 3, but some school have already extended the break until May 11.
“The outbreak management team advises to start preparing for opening school to half occupancy until more data is available from Scandinavian countries where schools have been or are about to open,” it said in a document shown on the NOS site. All schools have been closed in the Netherlands since March 14.
Austrian restaurants, churches and some schools to reopen from May 15
Austria will further loosen its coronavirus lockdown on May 15 by allowing restaurants and cafes to reopen and religious services to resume, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday.
The Alpine republic acted early in its outbreak to close restaurants, bars, theatres, non-essential shops and other potential gathering places more than a month ago. It has told the public to stay at home and work from there if possible.
It has also been among the first to loosen its lockdown, allowing DIY stores, garden centres and shops of less than 400 square metres - roughly twice the area of a singles tennis court - to reopen a week ago. Shopping centres, larger shops and hairdressers are due to follow from May 1.
Demand for masks crashes website of Japan's Sharp
The website of Japanese electronics firm Sharp crashed on Tuesday after the company started selling face masks online, as Japan’s tally of coronavirus infections passed 11,000.
The company started accepting online orders for masks from 1000 local time, but the surge in traffic overwhelmed the website.
Spain records 430 more coronavirus deaths
Deaths in Spain from the new coronavirus rose by 430 in the last 24 hours to a total of 21,282 on Tuesday, the government said.
That was higher than the previous day’s increase of 399, though officials are confident the pandemic is slowing in one of the world’s worst-hit nations.
The number of cases rose to 204,178 from 200,210, health ministry data showed.
Vietnam seeks to reopen all domestic flights from Thursday
Vietnam’s civil aviation authority said on Tuesday it is seeking government approval to resume all domestic routes from Thursday after the expiry of a government order for seven more days of social distancing in some provinces.
The authority proposed reconnecting flights from the capital Hanoi and business hub Ho Chi Minh City to other domestic destinations from April 23 and increasing the frequency of flights between three key routes.
Vietnam had suspended domestic flights from April 1 to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus. On April 16, after a lockdown order was partially lifted, some domestic flights between key routes from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Danang resumed.
Coronavirus case detected at workers' quarters in India's presidential palace
About 500 people entered self-isolation at the Presidential House in the Indian capital on Tuesday after a worker's relative tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, as the number of cases nationwide neared 18,000 despite a strict lockdown.
India's 1.3 billion people have been ordered to remain indoors for 40 days to slow the spread of the virus so that the country's hospitals are not overwhelmed by a flood of infections.
Coronavirus very likely of animal origin, no sign of lab manipulation: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests that the novel coronavirus originated in bats in China late last year and it was not manipulated or constructed in a laboratory.
Swiss coronavirus death toll nears 1,200, positive tests top 28,000
The Swiss death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 1,187, the country’s public health agency said on Tuesday, rising from 1,142 people on Monday.
The number of positive tests increased to 28,063 from 27,944 on Monday, an increase of 119, it said. The infection rate has slowed of late from a peak of 1,300 new positive tests per day at the end of March.
Los Angeles coronavirus infections 40 times greater than known cases, antibody tests suggest
Some 4.1percent of adults tested positive for coronavirus antibodies in a study of Los Angeles County residents, health officials said on Monday, suggesting the rate of infection may be 40 times higher than the number of confirmed cases.
The serology tests, conducted by University of Southern California researchers on 863 people indicate the death rate from the pandemic could be lower than previously thought but also that the respiratory illness may be being spread more widely by people who show no symptoms.
Singapore to extend partial lockdown by four weeks until June 1
Singapore has extended by four weeks until June 1 a partial lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infections in the city-state, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday.
The measures, which include the closures of most workplaces and schools, were initially set to run from April 7 until May 4.
Covid-19 death toll in England 41% higher than early data suggested - ONS
The true extent of the death toll in England and Wales from Covid-19 was 41 percent higher than the daily figures from the government indicated by April 10, according to data on Tuesday that includes deaths in the community.
The Office for National Statistics said it recorded 13,121 deaths by April 10, compared with 9,288 in the government's daily toll for those who died in hospital.
Global hunger could double due to Covid-19 blow: UN
The number of people facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of Covid-19, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
The impact of lost tourism revenues, falling remittances and travel and other restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to leave some 130 million people acutely hungry this year, adding to around 135 million already in that category, Reuters reported.
Russia's Covid-19 cases top 52,000
Russia recorded 5,642 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 52,763, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said today.
Fifty-one people with the virus died in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 456, it said, Reuters reported.
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia began rising sharply this month, although it had reported far fewer infections than many western European countries in the outbreak’s early stages.
Thailand records 19 new coronavirus cases, one new death
Thailand recorded 19 new coronavirus cases today, a senior health official said, the lowest daily tally in more than a month.
A 50-year-old taxi driver accounted for the latest death, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Reuters reported.
Thailand's 19 new cases make up its lowest daily increase since it reported seven cases on March 14, preceding a surge in new cases, that prompted the prime minister to enforce an emergency decree and order a partial lockdown.
The Southeast Asian nation has a total of 2,811 cases and 48 deaths. Nearly 75%, or 2,108 sufferers, have recovered.
Philippines reports nine new coronavirus deaths, 140 more infections
The Philippines' health ministry today recorded nine new coronavirus deaths and 140 additional confirmed cases.
In a bulletin, the health ministry said total coronavirus deaths have reached 437 while infections have risen to 6,599. But 41 more patients have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 654, it added, Reuters reported.
Bangladesh confirms 9 more deaths from coronavirus, 434 new cases
Bangladesh today confirmed nine more deaths from the novel coronavirus and 434 new cases of infection after testing 2,974 samples in last 24 hours.
With this, the death toll from the deadly virus rises to 110 and the number of total infected person stands at 3,382, The Business Standard reported.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 1,785 to 143,457
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 1,785 to 143,457, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday, marking a slight increase in the number of new infections after two days of declines.
New infections had increased by 1,775 on Monday, Reuters reported.
The reported death toll rose by 194 to 4,598, the tally showed today.
Denmark to allow public gatherings of up to 500 people from May 10
Denmark will increase the maximum number of people allowed to meet in public to 500 from May 10, up from a 10-person limit, broadcaster TV2 reported on Tuesday citing the health ministry.
The new limit will be in effect until Sept. 1 this year, TV2 said, Reuters reported.
Singapore reports 1,111 new coronavirus cases
Singapore said today it had preliminarily confirmed 1,111 new coronavirus cases, taking the city-state's total infections to 9,125.
The health ministry said most of the cases were migrant workers living in dormitories, a group that accounts for more than three quarters of the city-state's total infections, Reuters reported.
The World Health Organisation's regional chief said today that Singapore - which has the highest number of reported cases in Southeast Asia - is facing "very difficult challenges" from a recent surge in infections but has the healthcare system and risk management capacity to handle it.
The city-state recorded its biggest ever daily jump in cases on Monday with 1,426 new infections.
China seeks fast-track travel arrangements with some countries
China is in talks with some countries to establish fast-track procedures to allow travel by business and technical personnel to ensure the smooth operation of global supply chains, the foreign ministry said today.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters during a daily briefing that China and South Korea have reached a consensus on such a fast-track arrangement, Reuters reported.
China last month blocked entry for nearly all foreigners in an effort to curb risks of coronavirus infections posed by travellers from overseas.
World's largest folk festival cancelled due to Covid-19
Germany's Oktoberfest, the world's largest folk festival, where revellers from all over the world gather to swig large quantities of beer, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, the southern state of Bavaria said today.
Around six million partygoers gather every year in Munich for the two-week long festivities, held in packed tents with long wooden tables and oompah bands, which makes more than 1 billion euros (869.99 million pounds) for Munich, Reuters reported.
This year's Oktoberfest had been scheduled to take place from Sept. 19 to October 4.
More unrest, vandalism break out in Paris suburbs
Young people set bins on fire and let off fireworks in low-income suburbs near Paris, French media said on Tuesday, in a new night of unrest as strict lockdown rules to curb the coronavirus threaten fragile social peace in deprived areas.
Television stations BFM TV and C News broadcast images of fireworks being set off in areas such as Villeneuve-La-Garenne, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Asnieres as riot police moved in, while Agence France Presse also reported bins being set on fire, Reuters reported.
Trouble had first broken out in Villeneuve-La-Garenne, north of the French capital, on Saturday night, after a motorcyclist collided with an unmarked police car during a chase.
The male driver had to go to hospital for treatment, while French police have said they will launch an internal inquiry into the incident.
France's banlieues, or high-rise neighbourhoods ringing many of its cities, have long been flashpoints of anger over social and economic grievances. In 2005, unrest lasted three weeks after two youths died fleeing police in a northern Paris suburb.
Italy to start easing coronavirus lockdown from May 4
Italy will announce before the end of this week its plans for the gradual reopening from a lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus emergency that will be applied starting from May 4, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday.
"I wish I could say: let's reopen everything. Immediately. We start tomorrow morning ... But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would make the contagion curve go up in an uncontrolled way and would nullify all the efforts we have made so far," Conte wrote in a Facebook post, Reuters reported.
"We must act on the basis of a national (reopening) plan, which however takes into account the territorial peculiarities."
Pope postpones two mega-events by a year because of coronavirus
Pope Francis has postponed two major international Catholic Church events by a year because of the uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Vatican said on Monday.
While the Vatican and the pope have postponed a number of events and trips that had been planned for this year, Monday's announcement was the first time the outbreak has affected the long-term planning of the 1.3 billion-member Church, Reuters reported.
Coronavirus to impoverish millions of children in Middle East: Unicef
Millions of children in the Middle East will become poorer as their caregivers lose jobs from lockdowns aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus across the region, according to the UN Children's Fund (Unicef ).
The organisation said children were nearly half of an estimated eight million people who will be hurt by the loss of about 1.7 million jobs this year as a result of businesses closing, salaries being suspended and other effects of lockdowns in the region, Reuters reported.
"It is evident that the pandemic is affecting children firsthand. Many families in the region are already becoming poorer due to the loss of jobs especially the daily-paid," Ted Chaiban, Unicef 's regional director in the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement issued on Monday from Amman.
"Families are struggling to bring food to their table due to containment measures," he added.
About 110 million children are now at home and not in schools in the region, Unicef said.
Humanitarian agencies and NGOs say curfews and lockdowns are already making it difficult or impossible for many to provide for their families.
Unicef estimates that there are 25 million children in need, including refugees and internally displaced people from conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Sudan Palestinian territories, Iraq and Libya,
The agency said it was appealing for $92 million to allow it to step up its efforts to combat COVID-19.
Millions already lack health care, food, water and electricity in conflict-stricken countries where prices are rising and infrastructure damaged, UN and humanitarian agencies say.
"The combination of lack or inadequate basic services, years of conflict in several parts of the region, poverty, deprivation and now COVID-19 are hitting vulnerable children the most, making their hard lives simply unbearable," Chaiban said.
WHO says currently not possible to determine precise source of coronavirus
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it is not possible to determine the precise source of the new coronavirus at this stage.
As of now, no conclusions could be made, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Reuters reported.
However, the available evidence suggests an animal origin, Kasai told an online press conference.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan in central China.
Northwest China sees return of coronavirus cases
A northwestern Chinese province on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus reported on Tuesday its first cases in nearly three weeks, all involving travellers from overseas, as imported infections in the rest of China started to ease.
Shaanxi province reported 21 new infections from abroad as well as seven cases with no clinical symptoms, all of whom were travellers on a commercial flight from Moscow bound for the Chinese capital of Beijing, Reuters reported.
Due to a ban on international flights arriving at Beijing, the Air China jet landed on Monday in Xian, capital of Shaanxi, where the virus was detected by medical staff conducting tests at the airport and cases were confirmed on Tuesday.
All of the infected were Chinese nationals.
New imported infections in mainland China fell to four cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, the lowest since March 12, after Chinese authorities slashed international flights and severely restricted arrivals of foreigners.
Despite the curbs, the arrival of imported cases has proved difficult to predict, although in the last 14 days, Chinese citizens returning home from or via Russia have accounted for the majority of the infections.
The northeastern province of Heilongjiang has so far borne the brunt of the incoming infections, with both air and land links to Russia.
Fearing infections from Heilongjiang, the health authority of Changchun, capital of neighbouring Jilin province, has mandated that people who have lived or travelled to the Heilongjiang cities of Harbin or Mudanjiang this month are subject to quarantine and must undergo three rounds of tests.
Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning province, on Monday issued similar rules for people from Harbin or Mudanjiang.
Last week, a local case in Fushun city in Liaoning was found to be related to a locally transmitted case at a Harbin hospital, spurring fears of a widening outbreak in northeast China.
Mainland China has an accumulated total of 82,758 confirmed cases and 4,632 deaths as of the end of April 20, the National Health Commission said, including 11 new cases on Monday.
China also reported 37 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases on the mainland on April 20, compared to 49 a day earlier.
China does not include people who test positive but exhibit no clinical symptoms such as a fever in its tally of confirmed cases.
The number of people who have had contact with confirmed cases and are currently under medical observation for symptoms stood at 8,791 as of Monday.
Australia eases restrictions on elective surgeries after slowing coronavirus spread
Australia will relax restrictions on elective surgeries after slowing the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today.
Australia had in March banned all non-emergency elective surgeries to free-up hospital beds amid expectations of a surge in coronavirus cases, Reuters reported.
But in recent days, Australia has seen growth of less than 1% in new coronavirus cases, allowing Canberra to expand the number of surgeries that are permitted.
Indonesia bans Ramadan mass exodus tradition to curb coronavirus spread
ndonesia will ban the mass exodus tradition, locally known as ‘mudik,’ at the end of the Muslim fasting month in May in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in the Southeast Asian country, President Joko Widodo said today.
“I have taken the decision that we will ban mudik,” Widodo told a cabinet meeting. “That is why the relevant preparation needs to be done,” Reuters reported.
Widodo cited a transport ministry survey that said 24% of Indonesians were insisting on joining the exodus after Ramadan in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country.
Hong Kong to extend coronavirus-related restrictions by 14 days
Hong Kong’s government will extend social restrictions aimed at tackling the coronavirus for another 14 days, the Chine-ruled city’s leader Carrie Lam said today.
Hong Kong recorded zero new coronavirus cases on Monday for the first time since early March. The city has confirmed 1,025 total cases and four deaths since the outbreak began in January, Reuters reported.
Hong Kong banned public gatherings of more than four people for 14 days from March 29 and later extended that restriction until April 23. Game centres, gyms, cinemas and other places of amusement and public entertainment are also closed and foreign arrivals at the airport have been suspended indefinitely.
France becomes fourth country with more than 20,000 coronavirus deaths
France on Monday officially registered more than 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, becoming the fourth country to pass that threshold after Italy, Spain and the United States, and the pace of increase in fatalities and infections sped up again after several days of slowing.
“The epidemic is very deadly and is far from over,” France’s public health chief Jerome Salomon told a news briefing, adding that the death toll was now higher than that of the heat wave in the summer of 2003, Reuters reported.
He said the number of people in intensive care had fallen for the 12th consecutive day, to 5,683 - the lowest since March 31 - suggesting the national lockdown is having positive effects in containing the disease.
Another encouraging signal was a decline for the sixth day in a row in people hospitalized for COVID-19, even though the total, at 30,584 versus 30,610 on Sunday, is going down only slowly.
While France is due to start unwinding some confinement measures from May 11, Salomon insisted on the importance of strictly complying with the lockdown.
He said coronavirus-linked fatalities were up 2.8%, at 20,265, after an increase of 2.0% on Sunday. The United States has more than 41,000 dead, Italy 24,114 and Spain 20,852. The global death toll stands at more than 165,000.
The number of confirmed cases increased by 1.8% in France to 114,657 and possible cases in nursing homes were up 1.1% at 40,726, for a total of 155,383, up 1.6% in 24 hours after a 0.7% increase on Sunday.
Salomon also said the virus reproduction rate had gone from three at the beginning of the outbreak, before the lockdown was put in place, to less than one.
“The pandemic produces less sick people than before. That is how we will be able to contain it and then reduce it”, he said.
UK virus death toll rises by 449 to 16,509
A total of 16,509 people hospitalised with coronavirus in Britain have now died, health ministry figures showed Monday, up by 449 — the lowest daily toll for a fortnight.
Figures are however always lower on a Monday due to reporting delays over the weekend, AFP reported.
Colombia extends coronavirus lockdown until May 11, but some sectors to reopen
Colombia will extend its coronavirus quarantine until May 11, President Ivan Duque said on Monday, but will allow construction and manufacturing to reopen.
Nearly 200 people have died of COVID-19 in the Andean country, which has almost 4,000 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease, Reuters reported.
It is the second time Colombia’s quarantine has been extended. The lockdown began late last month and had been set to end April 27.
The government may allow other sectors to eventually return to work, Duque said, but will take measures if coronavirus cases increase or the health system becomes overwhelmed.
The lockdown has taken a sharp toll on Colombia’s economy, which is now set to contract by up to 2% this year, according to government predictions.
Spain daily virus death toll drops under 400
A total of 399 people died of COVID-19 in Spain over the past 24 hours, down from 410 a day earlier, the government said yesterday.
The latest figures also showed the number of cases soaring to 200,210 in Spain, which has suffered the third-highest number of virus deaths in the world after the United States and Italy, AFP reported.
Panama posts nearly 200 new coronavirus cases, extends flights ban
Panama registered 191 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the country’s total to 4,658 cases, the Health Ministry said.
Officials also confirmed 10 more deaths, raising Panama’s death toll from the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus to 136, Reuters reported.
Earlier on Monday, the Central American country’s aviation authority said in a resolution it will extend by one month a suspension on international flights for what it said was public health reasons.
The suspension, which was set to expire April 22, will now extend through at least May 22. Exceptions will be made for humanitarian flights as well as those transporting medical supplies deemed necessary to fight the viral outbreak, one of the worst in the region.
