ZCZC
BFF-30
HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD FACTS
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, June 7, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in
the coronavirus crisis.
– Nearly 400,000 deaths –
The pandemic has killed at least 399,907 people worldwide since it
surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100
GMT on Sunday, based on official sources.
At least 6,917,107 cases have been registered in 196 countries and
territories.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 109,802 deaths,
followed by Britain with 40,465, Brazil with 35,930, Italy with
33,846, and France with 29,142 fatalities.
– China foreign trade plunge –
China’s exports and imports fell in May, official data shows.
Imports saw their sharpest on-year fall in over four years at 16.7
percent, while exports fell by 3.3 percent.
Analysts say a deeper downturn in exports is looming for the
world’s manufacturing powerhouse.
– Iran surge: more testing? –
Iran’s health ministry says a surge in new reported infections is
due to increased testing rather than a worsening outbreak.
– UK places of worship –
The UK government announces it will reopen places of worship for
individual prayer on June 15, but services and worship groups will
remain banned for the time being.
– Camp confinement –
Greece extends for another two weeks a lockdown on its overcrowded
migrant camps, affecting more than 33,000 asylum seekers living in
camps on the Aegean islands and some 70,000 living in other facilities
on the mainland.
– Israel plans ahead –
Israel says it has opened a factory to make millions of the
high-spec N95 masks as it prepares for a possible “second wave” of
cases.
The new masks are being made in Sderot, a southern town near the
Gaza Strip, using machines imported from China by the defence
ministry.
– Pope: cautious optimism –
Pope Francis says the worst of the crisis is over in Italy,
addressing the faithful for the first time in Saint Peter’s Square
since the health emergency began.
“Your presence in the square is a sign that in Italy the acute
phase of the epidemic is over,” Francis tells those assembled for his
weekly Angelus prayer.
“But be careful… do not celebrate victory too soon”.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2202hrs