Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:
Known global death toll nears 350,000
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, at least 348,541 people have died around the world, while at least 5,555,691 are known to have become infected globally since the pandemic began.
The figures, which are based on official and media reports, are likely to significantly underestimate the true scale of the outbreak due to differing testing and reporting regimes, as well as suspected underreporting.
Americas are pandemic’s ‘new epicentre’
The World Health Organization says the Americas are the new epicentre of the global outbreak.
Its regional director, Dr Carissa Etienne, says outbreaks are accelerating in countries such as Brazil, where the number of deaths reported in the last week was the highest in the world for a seven-day period since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Excess UK deaths in Covid-19 outbreak approach 60,000
The number of excess deaths registered in the UK during the Covid-19 outbreak is almost 60,000, figures show, underlining Britain’s status as one of the worst-hit countries in Europe.
The Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday there had been 53,960 excess deaths in England and Wales from the start of the outbreak to 15 May. There were 4,210 deaths involving Covid-19 registered in England and Wales in the week ending 15 May, the fewest since the week ending 3 April.
Yemen humanitarian work near breaking point, says UN
The UN refugee agency says Covid-19 has pushed its humanitarian work to near “breaking point” in Yemen, a country devastated by five years of war.
It says a growing number of families have resorted to begging, child labour and marrying of children to survive. A separate UN agency says it had only received around 15% of the funding required for the $3.38bn (£2.74bn) aid package for Yemen this year.
UK PM faces increasing pressure from allies to sack aide
Dozens of MPs from the ruling Conservative party demand the removal of the prime minister’s chief aide, Dominic Cummings, after he insisted he did not regret breaching the government-ordered lockdown.
A junior minister resigns, while the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, a former chief whip and a former attorney general are among the Tory MPs to publicly call for Cummings to leave his Downing Street post.
Putin claims Russia past peak despite highest daily death toll
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says the country has passed its peak of infections on the same day the country records its highest daily death toll. After peaking in mid-May at more than 11,000 new cases a day, the number of daily infections in Russia has dropped to fewer than 9,000.
On Tuesday, the country reported its highest daily death toll of 174 – a number still far lower than in countries with similar rates of infections.
Spain declares 10 days of mourning
The Spanish government declares 10 days of mourning starting on Wednesday for the nearly 27,000 people who have died in the country. It is the longest official mourning period in the country’s four-decade-old democracy.
Flags will be flown at half-mast in more than 14,000 public buildings across the country and on Spanish naval vessels until 5 June.
Merkel losing control of Germany’s lockdown
Control over Germany’s lockdown measures is increasingly slipping from Angela Merkel’s grasp as more federal states announce unilateral steps to loosen restrictions, creating a patchwork of wildly varying rules on social distancing within the country.
Winfried Kretschmann, the premier of Baden-Württemberg, announces his state will allow seated public events with up to 100 people from 1 June, adding that there are no plans for further talks on coordinating the responses of Germany’s 16 states.
