Latest Coronavirus updates from around the world

European tourists evacuated

Hundreds of European tourists stranded in Bali were evacuated from the Indonesian holiday island on Saturday after their flights were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

British authorities booked seats on two commercial flights to London for hundreds of citizens, while Germany has chartered six flights from Denpasar to Frankfurt since Friday. France also organised flights to Paris for hundreds of its citizens.

Coronavirus cases recorded globally

More than 600,000 cases of the new coronavirus have been officially recorded around the world since the outbreak of the epidemic, according to an AFP tally at 1045 GMT on Saturday.

There were 605,010 cases of infection with 27,982 deaths in 183 countries and territories.

The United States had 104,837 cases of which 1,711 were fatal. Italy had the highest number of deaths at 9,134 and a total of 86,498 cases. China, the epicentre of the outbreak, had 81,394 cases and 3,295 deaths.

The figures represent only a fraction of the number of infections as many countries only carry out tests on suspected cases if they are hospitalised.

Spain counts 832 deaths in 24 hours

The death toll in Spain surged over 5,600 on Saturday after a record 832 people died in 24 hours, and the number of infections soared over 72,000, the government said.

Spain has the world's second-highest coronavirus death toll after Italy with 5,690 fatalities. The number of cases have jumped to 72,248 as the country moves to significantly increase testing.

Iran coronavirus death toll

Iran announced Saturday that 139 more people had died from the novel coronavirus, raising the official death toll to 2,517 in one of the world's worst-affected countries.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a news conference that 3,076 more cases had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 35,408.

Virus response fateful for EU

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned Saturday that the European Union could lose its purpose if it fails to come up with a strong response to the coronavirus threat.

Conte aired his grievances after the 27 EU leaders could not agree on an action plan during an argumentative six-hour video conference Thursday and gave their finance ministers two more weeks to forge a policy that could please Italy and Spain.

Sex toy sales on the rise

A recent study indicates that many people seem to have found a pleasurable way to deal with the boredom that comes with isolation: sex toy sales are skyrocketing across the world.

The report analyses numbers from the company Womanizer from 1 January to 6 March. Canada's sex toy sales are up 135% more than the company had anticipated while the US are up 75%. Sex toy sales are also up 60% in Italy, 40% in France, and 13% in the UK.

Trump signs $2 trillion recovery plan

President Donald Trump signed into law Friday the $2 trillion rescue plan to salvage a US economy crippled by the novel coronavirus, on a day the nation's total count of COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000.

Trump's signature brings an end to a dramatic, weeklong legislative saga on Capitol Hill and triggers the distribution of millions of relief checks of up to $3,400 for an average American family of four.

The two countries hardest-hit by the pandemic blocked Thursday's statement because it did not go far enough.

US lab unveils portable 5-minute COVID-19 test

A US-based lab has unveiled a portable test that can tell if someone has COVID-19 in as little as five minutes, it said in a statement Friday.

Abbott Laboratories said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given it emergency authorization to begin making the test available to healthcare providers as early as next week.

China virus epicentre eases travel restrictions

The Chinese city of 11 million people that was Ground Zero for what became the global coronavirus pandemic partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation.

IMF chief: 'Clear we have entered recession'

The coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Friday.

"It is clear that we have entered a recession" that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing. With the worldwide economic "sudden stop," Georgieva said the fund's estimate "for the overall financial needs of emerging markets is $2.5 trillion."

How to survive a lockdown Survivors from two dramatic rescues that captivated the world, the 2010 Chilean mine collapse and the 1972 Andes plane crash, gave their advice for how to survive a lockdown as the number of Latin American coronavirus cases soared past 10,000 Friday.

Italy, Spain suffer record virus deaths

Italy has logged a shocking spike in its already staggering coronavirus death toll, with officials warning the peak of the crisis was still days away, as the global infection rate surges relentlessly upwards.

REFERENCE RTL Digital Media News