(Reuters) – More than 3.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 237,137 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Saturday.
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
** Joggers, cyclists and surfers across Spain emerged from their homes early on Saturday, with adults allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks as the government began easing tough coronavirus restrictions.
** Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow, where the mayor threatened to cut the number of travel permits.
** The head of Eton, Britain’s most elite fee-paying school, said the pandemic will usher in profound change akin to the societal transformation that followed the two World Wars because of mounting anger about inequality.
** French President Emmanuel Macron warned that ending the national lockdown on May 11 would be only a first step for the country to pull out of the coronavirus crisis.
ASIA-PACIFIC
** India has mandated that all public and private sector employees use a government-backed Bluetooth tracing app and maintain social distancing in offices as New Delhi begins easing some of its lockdown measures in lower-risk areas.
** A northeastern Chinese city of 10 million people struggling with currently the country’s biggest coronavirus cluster shut dine-in services, as the rest of China eases restrictions.
** 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.
** Malaysian authorities defended plans to ease lockdown measures next week even as the number of new infections jumped to a two-week high.
** Singapore will start easing some curbs over the next few weeks, authorities said, as the city-state takes the first tentative steps towards reopening its economy.
AMERICAS
** Americans in about half of U.S. states, led by Texas and Georgia, began emerging on Friday from home confinement while California and New York held fast to business closures and other restrictions.
** Top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, the White House said on Friday, calling it “counterproductive” to have individuals involved in the response testify.
** Imported by the Brazilian elite vacationing in Europe, the new coronavirus is now ravaging the country’s poor, ripping through tightly-packed neighborhoods where the disease is harder to control.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
** Yemen reported the first case of the coronavirus in a third province late on Friday, raising the number of diagnosed infections to seven with two deaths in one of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
** Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus increased by 65 in the past 24 hours to 6,156 on Saturday, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV.
** South Africa took its first shaky steps on Friday towards rolling back one of the world’s strictest COVID-19 lockdowns, seeking a balance between containing the disease and providing much-needed relief for the economy.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
** Corporations are warning on hits to their financial results as the pandemic disrupts supply chains and business activity.
(Compiled by Frances Kerry)
