109,000 Americans have died from Coronavirus, as global updates trickle in

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More than 400,000 people have died from Covid-19 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, with 6.9 million confirmed infections.

The grim milestone was reached in the early hours of Sunday morning (eastern time).

The United States has suffered more than 109,000 of those deaths, with the United Kingdom, Brazil and Italy behind it in terms of total fatalities.

George Floyd protesters say it’s worth braving coronavirus: “Obviously, people are a little bit closer together than is the recommended six-foot distance, but I think what we are doing is so important,” says Sarah Foster, one of the thousands of protesters marching in Washington, DC yesterday.

Health experts worry that the virus is spreading among protesters, even though most, including Foster, wear masks and try to keep their distance.

Despite the unease, more than 1,000 health professionals have signed a letter expressing their concern that the protests could be shut down under the guise of coronavirus protections. And they offer tips on how safely to keep protests in place.

White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19, they write.

The pandemic jump-starts efforts to free American held by Iran: In a bizarre twist of fate, Michael White, the US Navy veteran released from Iranian custody this week, may owe his freedom to the coronavirus outbreak.

When he and an Iranian being held in the US came down with the virus, it presented an opportunity to kick-start delicate negotiations that culminated in his release, Vivian Salama reports.

What coronavirus looks like if you don’t have internet access: With much of the world locked down in recent months, billions have watched the coronavirus crisis unfold through a seemingly universal window: the internet.

Eliza Mackintosh reports on the billions who remain offline. For them, lockdown means missing out on immediate access to vital public health information, remote work opportunities, online learning, telemedicine appointments, digital grocery deliveries, live-streamed religious services — weddings and funerals — and the many other ways we are now living our lives online.

A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact Vs. Fiction newsletter. You can sign up here.

Latin America

Latin America is losing its battle against coronavirus. As the global number of Covid-19 victims tops 400,000, the region has become the pandemics hotspot.

Latin America has recorded nearly 1.2 million cases and more than 60,000 deaths. But these numbers may be superficial, Matt Rivers reports. Thats because in several countries, testing rates remain low and many Covid-19 deaths go unreported.

Brazil, the regions worst-hit country, has reported a new record number of deaths in each of the past three days. One study released this week says Brazil will likely see 1 million cases and 50,000 deaths by June 20.

But tracking the toll has become more difficult. President Jair Bolsonaros government stopped reporting total numbers on Thursday, the day Brazils death toll surpassed Italys. It removed the cumulative data from the official tracker and said it would only report the number of new cases and deaths each day.

“The manipulation of statistics is a maneuver made by authoritarian regimes. Its an attempt to hide the Covid-19 numbers to reduce social control of health policies, said Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.

Only a handful of countries in the region — Uruguay, Belize and Costa Rica — have so far managed to limit the disease from spreading. How? Early responses, quarantine measures, an efficient tracing-and-isolation system and randomized testing.

Delhi to re-open borders as India relaxes nationwide lockdown

The borders of Indias national capital will re-open on June 8, one week after they were closed in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Delhis Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, confirmed that the regional government has decided to open its borders with adjoining states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from Monday.

Delhi will also allow shopping malls, restaurants, and places of worship to resume business with certain social distancing guidelines as issued by the central government, added Kejriwal.

While many businesses have re-opened, the Delhi government has decided to keep hotels and guest houses closed to tourists and guests in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the city, Kejriwal said. The government will use these facilities as makeshift hospitals if Covid-19 cases increase, the chief minister added.

The Delhi government has also decided to reserve those hospitals run by the state government and capitals private hospitals for the residents of Delhi while allowing all central government hospitals to admit people from all over the country.

China says it immediately notified the WHO of the coronavirus outbreak

China says it immediately notified the World Health Organization and other relevant parties of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a report published Sunday outlining China’s actions in fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic, the countrys State Council Information Office says China immediately notified the World Health Organization and relevant countries and regional organizations of the outbreak.

The report adds that China shared the whole genome sequence and specific primers and probes for detection of COVID-19, and regularly notified the World Health Organization and relevant countries with Epidemic information.

China has been criticized by other countries, in particular the United States, for allegedly withholding information about the outbreak in its early days.

The report also outlines that the National Health Commission preliminarily confirmed that the novel coronavirus was the pathogen of the epidemic on January 8, and the Chinese government has been updating the WHO daily since January 11, sharing the genome sequence with the WHO on the following day, January 12.


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