More than 3.44 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 243,015 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Sunday.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.
EUROPE
* The British government had a contingency plan for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s death as he battled COVID-19 in intensive care last month, he said in an interview with The Sun newspaper.
* The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll rose 621 to 28,131 as of May 1, just short of Italy which has so far had the world’s second most deadly outbreak of the disease after the United States.
* Russia recorded its highest daily rise in confirmed coronavirus cases with 10,633 new cases, bringing the total to 134,687, with more than half of cases and deaths in Moscow.
* Roche Holding <AG ROG.S> received emergency use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an antibody test to help determine if people have ever been infected with the coronavirus, the Swiss drugmaker said.
* Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose by 164 to 25,264, according to Health Ministry data, marking the lowest one-day increase since March 18.
* Adults in Spain were allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks on Saturday as the government began easing tough restrictions.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japan could ease some coronavirus curbs by allowing places such as parks and museums to reopen, provided proper preventive measures were in place, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
* Singapore will progressively ramp up its manufacturing activities, its minister of trade and industry said, with the city-state looking to restart its economy as coronavirus curbs start to ease over the next few weeks.
* India’s air force flew aircraft low over more than a dozen cities, part of a nationwide campaign by the armed forces to thank healthcare workers and other essential services personnel fighting the outbreak.
* China has published a short animation titled “Once Upon a Virus” mocking the U.S. response to the new coronavirus, using Lego-like figures to represent the two countries.
* China’s most populous cities saw a spike in outbound travellers, tourists and day-trippers on May 1, first day of a long holiday weekend, led by Wuhan, epicentre of the epidemic that first struck the country late last year.
* Australia’s state of Victoria saw its highest increase in new coronavirus cases in weeks and New South Wales state struggled with a cluster of infections at an aged care facility, as parts of the country began easing distancing rules.
AMERICAS
* New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed back against what he called premature demands that he reopen the state, saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the coronavirus was needed.
* Families in a poor satellite city of Mexico’s capital with one of the country’s highest tallies of the coronavirus have staged protests to demand news of sick relatives and the return of the bodies of the dead after videos surfaced showing cadavers at a hospital.
* An inmate uprising at a Brazilian prison stoked by fears of a coronavirus outbreak saw seven prison guards briefly taken hostage in Manaus, a state capital deep in the Amazon rainforest where public services have been overwhelmed by the pandemic.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran plans to reopen mosques and schools in areas that have been consistently free of the coronavirus as President Hassan Rouhani’s government starts to ease restrictions.
* Malls in the United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi began reopening to a restricted number of customers as the UAE eases lockdown measures imposed more than a month ago.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said the United States’ capacity to withstand crises provides a silver lining as it combats the coronavirus, even as he acknowledged that the global pandemic could significantly damage the economy and his investments.
* Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold its entire stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines in April, Chairman Warren Buffett said at the company’s annual meeting, saying “the world has changed” for the aviation industry.
* The ongoing U.S. travel crisis is causing thousands of job cuts as the aviation sector waits for passengers to return to the skies but braces for years of lower demand because of the pandemic.
* Most major bourses in the Gulf fell sharply on Sunday with Saudi Arabia falling the most, mirroring Friday’s slide in global shares after President Donald Trump’s revived threat of new U.S. tariffs against China dampened risk appetite.
* Austria’s central bank expects economic output to shrink more than twice as much this year as it forecast just a month ago as the coronavirus lockdown lasts longer than anticipated, its Governor Robert Holzmann said.
(Compiled by Frances Kerry)
