Coronavirus cases hit daily record in Sweden – latest update

France reports less than 30 new deaths for 2nd day

France's coronavirus death toll rose by 27, versus an average daily increase of 50 over the last 15 days, to 29,346, the fifth-highest total in the world.

On Wednesday, 23 Covid-19 deaths were reported.

Turkey's recoveries near 148,000

Turkey confirmed 987 daily recoveries from the novel coronavirus as the country continues easing measures against the pandemic, according to its health minister.

The total number of recoveries from the disease hit 147,860 as 1,021 more patients were discharged from hospitals over the past day, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing Health Ministry data.

"We have reached 2.5 million tests, 85 percent of the cases have recovered until now. Today's number of recovered patients is close to today's new cases.

"Virus takes power from false optimism. Do not ignore measures by thinking 'virus has slowed down'," he said.

The country's death toll from the virus rose to 4,763, as it reported 17 new fatalities.

Healthcare professionals performed 49,190 tests for the disease in the past 24 hours, raising the total number to more than 2.5 million.

According to test results, the total number of Covid-19 cases nationwide reached 174,023 with 987 new infections.

Afghanistan thanks Turkey for aid to fight Covid-19

Afghanistan thanked Turkey for sending generous medical supplies that reached Kabul on Thursday to help its fragile health system fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Minister Ahmad Javad Osmani said the shipment came at a crucial time for Afghans in the fight against the coronavirus and vowed the aid will be distributed fairly among the neediest and vulnerable.

Turkish Ambassador Oguzhan Ertugrul highlighted the historic and brotherly ties between Afghanistan and Turkey and stressed this cooperation will further strengthen bilateral ties.

Letters from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ashraf Ghani were exchanged.

Saudi Arabia records 38 new deaths

Saudi Arabia on Thursday confirmed 38 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to the Health Ministry.

A ministry statement said 3,733 new infections were registered over the past 24 hours.

The kingdom's confirmed cases from coronavirus now stand at 116,021, including 857 deaths, and 80,019 recoveries.

Italy reports 53 deaths, 379 new cases

Deaths from the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 53 against 71 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new cases rose to 379 from 202 on Wednesday.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 now stands at 34,167, the agency said, the fourth highest in the world after those of the United States, Britain and Brazil.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 236,142, the seventh-highest global tally behind those of the United States, Russia, Brazil, Spain, Britain and India.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 30,637 from 31,710 the day before.

Cases hit daily record in Sweden as tests ramp up

Sweden announced its highest daily tally of novel coronavirus infections, a record 1,474 new cases that authorities said was due to a long-delayed surge in testing.

The country's tactics to contain the epidemic have come under close scrutiny since it eschewed a lockdown in favour of mainly voluntary measures and its chief epidemiologist acknowledged last week it could have done more.

Thursday's figure took the total number of infections to 48,300 — though the Public Health Agency said the number of deaths was slowing.

Turkey lifts 14-day home quarantine for visiting expats

A 14-day home quarantine was lifted Thursday for Turkish expats visiting their homeland, said a top official of a Turkish state agency.

“During the summer period, we will assist our citizens abroad who are on a journey to the homeland,” said Abdullah Eren, head of Turkey’s Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), in a statement.

Ukraine reports 'alarming' record rise in cases

Ukraine said on Thursday there had been an "alarming" rise in coronavirus cases after a daily record of 689 new infections were reported as the country eases lockdown measures.

Cases have surged in Ukraine in recent days, with the total now reaching more than 29,000, according to official figures.

Since Friday, the number of cases has risen by over 3,600, 21 percent more than in the previous seven days.

WHO warns of 'accelerating' pandemic in Africa

The World Health Organization says the pandemic in Africa is “accelerating” and that while it took 98 days for the continent to reach 100,000 Covid-19 cases, it took just 18 days to get to 200,000.

WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said that community transmission has begun in more than half of Africa’s 54 countries and “this is a serious sign.”

The virus largely arrived on the continent via travellers from Europe and is spreading beyond capital cities and commercial hubs into more rural areas where many health systems are unequipped to handle cases that require intensive care.

Moeti pointed out South Africa, where the virus has spread from Western Cape province centred on Cape Town into the more rural Eastern Cape. South Africa has the continent’s highest number of cases with more than 55,000.

UK death toll rises by 151 to 41,279

The United Kingdom's death toll from confirmed cases rose by 151 to 41,279 as of 1600 GMT on June 10, according to government data released. 

The UK Department of Health and Social Care says 67 percent of those who tested positive for the virus have provided details of their recent contacts to the new test and trace program.

Oman reports 1,067 new cases, 5 new deaths
In Oman, 1,067 new cases were registered over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 19,954, according to the Health Ministry.

The Gulf country also confirmed five more deaths, bringing the tally to 89.

A total of 6,632 patients have recovered from the virus so far.

Minister of Health Dr Ahmed al Saeedi asked the public to limit family visits, and adhere to physical distancing, wear face masks and observe precautionary measures.

Norway allows airlines to fly full planes again

Norway will no longer require airlines to leave middle seats on planes empty, a measure previously introduced to reduce the risk of contamination with the virus, the country's transport minister said.

The Nordic country, which advised its citizens in March not to travel abroad, will open its borders for tourists coming from Denmark, and plans to update travel advice for other countries by June 15. 

EU plans advance purchase of promising vaccines
The European Commission is seeking a mandate from EU governments to buy in advance from pharmaceutical firms up to six promising vaccines against the coronavirus.

The EU executive will ask EU health ministers at a video conference meeting on Friday to back the plan, as the bloc fears it may not have enough shots if a vaccine is developed, the officials said.

As part of the plan, the Commission will also propose a temporary softening of regulatory requirements to develop vaccines that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the official said, confirming an earlier Reuters report .

UK's test and trace system reaches 26,985 in first week

Britain's Department of Health and Social Care said its tracing system contacted 31,794 people between May 28 and June 3 and of those it was able to reach 26,985, or 85 percent, and advise them to self-isolate.

The government's test and trace system is seen as key to helping to ease lockdown measures.

The 31,794 people were contacts of a group of 5,407 people who had tested positive for coronavirus and provided details of those they had met to the system, said the Department of Health.

However only two-thirds of the 8,117 people who tested positive for the virus during the period provided details of recent contacts to the system, with the remaining number notable to be reached.

Malaysia reports 31 new cases; no new deaths

Malaysian health authorities reported 31 new cases, raising the cumulative total to 8,369 cases.

The Health Ministry also reported no new deaths, keeping total fatalities at 118.

Philippines reports nine deaths, 443 more infections

The Philippines' Health Ministry confirmed nine new deaths and 443 additional infections.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed infections have increased to 24,175 while deaths have reached 1,036.

Indonesia coronavirus-related deaths reaches 2,000

Indonesia reported 979 new infections and 41 new deaths, taking the total number of cases to 35,295 and fatalities to 2,000, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

He said 12,636 people have recovered.

Beijing city reports first case in nearly two months

Beijing has confirmed a new case, the first in the capital in nearly two months.

The patient, a 52-year-old man, checked into a clinic due to a fever.

Russia’s case tally passes the half a million mark

Russia reported 8,779 new cases, bringing its nationwide infection tally to 502,436.

Officials said 174 people had died in the last 24 hours, pushing the official national death toll to 6,532.

India reports another 10,000 new infections in last 24 hours

India reported a record of nearly 10,000 new cases with health services in the worst-hit cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai swamped by the rising infections.

India's tally has reached 286,579 confirmed cases, the fifth highest in the world, with 8,102 deaths, including 357 in the last 24 hours.

The spike comes as the government moved ahead with the reopening of restaurants, shopping malls and places of worship in most of India after lockdown of more than two months. Subways, hotels and schools remain closed.

The actual infection numbers are thought to be higher because of limited testing.

The Health Ministry said it was ramping up the capacity with daily testing of more than 145,000 people. The number of tests in India crossed 5 million on Wednesday.

It also said that the total number of recovered patients has exceeded the active cases for the first time with the recovery rate of nearly 49 percent.

Turkey resumes international flights

Turkey has resumed international flights for the first time since planes were grounded on March 28 to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

A plane belonging to Anadolu Jet, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, left Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport for London at 08:40 am on Thursday. 

It was followed by flights to Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, Germany. Meanwhile, a Turkish Airlines flight also departed for Dusseldorf from the city’s other airport, Istanbul International Airport.

Only nationals of the destination countries or those with residence permits were allowed on the flights.

Entry into the terminals was also strictly regulated, with officials checking temperatures at the entrance and only allowing passengers with valid tickets to step inside.

Turkey resumed domestic flights on June 1.

South Korea reports 45 new cases

South Korea is reporting 45 new cases, all but two of them in the capital region, continuing a weeks long resurgence that health authorities fear could develop into a huge wave.

The figures announced Thursday bring national totals to 11,947 cases and 276 deaths. The capital of Seoul has 21 new infections, while 22 other cases are in nearby Incheon and Gyeonggi.

South Korea has been reporting around 30 to 50 new cases a day since late May, mostly in the densely populated Seoul area where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live.

Despite expressing concern over the steady rise in infections, government officials are resisting calls to reimpose stronger social distancing measures.
They cite concerns over hurting a fragile economy.

India lifts export ban on Trump-touted drug hydroxychloroquine

India has lifted an export ban on hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug touted by US President Donald Trump as a potential "game changer" in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, a minister said late on Wednesday.

"Department of Pharmaceuticals has approved the lifting of ban on Export of Hydroxychloroquine API as well as formulations," India's minister for chemicals and fertilisers, Sadananda Gowda, said on Twitter.

Manufacturers, except export-oriented units and those in special economic zones, would still have to supply 20% of their production to the domestic market, Gowda said.

The country, a leading exporter of generic medicines across the world, banned the export of the drug and its formulations in March as the coronavirus outbreak disrupted supply chains.

But India eased some of these restrictions in April and shipped 50 million tablets of the drug to the United States that month, Reuters reported.

Tokyo to allow all businesses to reopen from June 19 - Nikkei

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is planning to allow all businesses to reopen from June 19, scrapping the shutdown requests it had made to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Tokyo has already been easing restrictions this month after the government ended its state of emergency in late May. But establishments considered high risk for virus infection, such as live music venues, have remained shut while restaurants and bars have been operating under shortened hours. 

Thailand reports no new cases, no new deaths

Thailand reported no new infections or deaths, maintaining the total of 3,125 confirmed cases and 58 fatalities.

It was the first time in nearly three weeks that no cases were reported and the 17th day without a local transmission. 

All recent cases have been found in quarantine among Thais returning from abroad.

There are 2,987 patients who have recovered, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, a spokeswoman for the government's Covid-19 Administration Centre.

Germany's confirmed cases rise 555 to 185,416, RKI says

The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 555 to 185,416, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by 26 to 8,755, the tally showed. 

Brazil's deaths surge

Brazil registered 772,416 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, with 32,913 new infections in the last 24 hours, as the world's second worst outbreak after the United States continued to surge. 

With another 1,274 fatalities, the death toll in Brazil has reached 39,680, the world's third-highest after the United States and Britain.

Mexico sees record jump in cases 

Mexico's health ministry reported a record 4,883 new confirmed coronavirus infections along with 708 additional fatalities on Wednesday, bringing the total in the country to 129,184 cases and 15,357 deaths. 

The government has said the real number of infected people is significantly higher than the official count.

Latin America surpasses 70,000 fatalities 

The death toll from the pandemic in Latin America passed the grim milestone of 70,000 fatalities on Wednesday, according to an AFP tally of figures released by national health ministries. 

Brazil, the region's worst-hit country, accounts for almost 40,000 of the total deaths, registering 1,274 in the last 24 hours.

IMF approves $594M in aid for Guatemala

The International Monetary Fund approved a $594 million emergency assistance package for Guatemala's response to the coronavirus crisis, the lender said on Wednesday.

Puerto Rico claims peak over 

As Puerto Rico considers lifting pandemic quarantine restrictions, health officials said Wednesday that the US territory passed its peak of coronavirus cases and related deaths more than two months ago — though independent experts said those numbers are in doubt. 

Miguel Valencia, a health department consultant, said at a news conference that confirmed Covid-19 cases peaked at 84 cases on March 31 and deaths at six on April 6. 

Overall, Puerto Rico has reported more than 5,300 cases and at least 143 deaths on the island of 3.2 million people.