Confirmed cases worldwide near 5.5m. According to the Johns Hopkins university coronavirus tracker, infections worldwide number at least 5,495,061. The death toll stands at 346,232. True death tolls and cases are likely to be significantly higher due to differing definitions and testing rates, delays and suspected underreporting.
WHO warns of ‘second peak’ in areas where Covid-19 is declining. Countries where coronavirus infections are declining could still face an “immediate second peak” if they let up too soon on measures to contain the outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO emergencies chief, Dr Mike Ryan, told an online briefing: “We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now it is going to keep going down and we are get a number of months to get ready for a second wave. We may get a second peak in this wave.”
Mexico City records thousands more deaths than usual, amid doubt over official Covid-19 toll. This year, Mexico City has issued 8,072 more death certificates than the average for the same period in the past four years, according to a new study that suggests the country’s coronavirus death toll could be significantly higher than the official figure of nearly 7,400. The report’s authors found 37% more death certificates were issued in April 2020 than that month’s average during the previous four years. By the end of May they estimated the number may grow to 120%.
White House brings forward Brazil travel restrictions by two days. The US has amended the timing of its Brazil travel ban to come into force at 11.59pm Washington time on Tuesday. It came as Brazil recorded a daily death toll higher than the US for the first time (807 versus 620). Brazil has the world’s second highest number of infections. In its original announcement, the White House said the travel restrictions would come into force on 28 May.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte did not visit dying mother due to Covid-19 restrictions. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, was unable to visit his dying mother in her final weeks because he obeyed coronavirus restrictions against visiting care homes, his office has said. His mother did not die of Covid-19, although there had earlier been an outbreak of the disease in the home where she was living, Dutch media reported.
UK PM’s aid refuses to apologise or resign over lockdown breach. The British prime minister Boris Johnson’s senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, has refused to apologise or resign for breaching lockdown rules. Cummings drove 264 miles from London to his parents’ estate in Durham, despite suspecting that both he and his wife had coronavirus. Cummings also admitted to having taken a second trip, to a beauty spot 30 miles from Durham, which he claimed was necessary to check his eyesight was good enough for the longer drive back to London.
WHO suspends hydroxychloroquine trial. The World Health Organization has suspended testing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 patients due to safety concerns. The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, cited a paper published last week in the Lancet that showed people taking hydroxychloroquine were at higher risk of death and heart problems than those who were not taking it. In light of the study, he said, the organisation would pause the hydroxychloroquine arm of its solidarity global clinical trial.
Coronavirus measures ‘disastrous’ for children, says Dutch watchdog. The coronavirus pandemic will have a “disastrous” impact on children’s rights worldwide, making them more vulnerable to forced labour and underage marriage, a rights group said on Tuesday. School closures left boys and girls more vulnerable to child labour, early marriage and teenage pregnancy, while millions would fall into extreme poverty because of the coronavirus outbreak, the NGO KidsRights said.
Australia will not open the country’s borders ‘anytime soon’. Australia will not open the country’s borders “anytime soon”, the PM, Scott Morrison, said on Tuesday, but added the country would continue its discussions with neighbouring New Zealand about a trans-Tasman safe travel zone. “I was speaking with Prime Minister Ardern this morning, and we’ll continue to have our discussions about the trans-Tasman safe travel zone,” Morrison told the National Press Club in Canberra.
Masks too dangerous for children under two, Japan medical group says. Children under the age of two shouldn’t wear masks because they can make breathing difficult and increase the risk of choking, a Japan medical group has said, launching an urgent appeal to parents as the country reopens from the coronavirus crisis.
Saudi Arabia to revise curfew times. Saudi Arabia will revise curfew times this week, and lift them entirely across the Kingdom with the exception of the holy city of Mecca, starting on 21 June, state news agency reported in a statement early on Tuesday. Bans on domestic travel, holding prayers in mosques, and workplace attendance in both the government and private sector will be lifted, starting 31 May, the statement added. For Mecca, the curfew time will be adjusted to 3pm-6pm and prayers will be allowed to be held in mosques from 21 June.
Iceland eases national alert. Iceland eased its national alert against the coronavirus on Monday, allowing for public gatherings of up to 200 people and night clubs and gyms to reopen as the country nears complete recovery from the outbreak. Iceland, which limited the virus spread through a meticulous test-and-trace strategy and a full lockdown, has confirmed 1,804 infections and 10 deaths. But there have been only five reported new cases in May, and more than 99% of infected persons have recovered.
