A man and a woman walk back home with their groceries on a deserted street on the outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 31, 2020. (PETER DEJONG)
GENEVA / WASHINGTON / NEW YORK / GABORONE / BOGOTA / SAN SALVADOR / MEXICO CITY / DAKAR / TUNIS / BUJUMBURA / RIO DE JANEIRO / PARIS / MADRID / SANTIAGO / PRAGUE / STOCKHOLM / BELGRADE / CAIRO / OTTAWA / BRAZZAVILLE / KINSHASA / CAPE TOWN / HAVANA / BERLIN - As Spain reported its deadliest day yet in the coronavirus pandemic, Germany and Italy moved to prolong rigid lockdown measures until after Easter on April 12.
Even though infection rates in some countries are showing signs of receding, European governments worry that easing restrictions too soon could backfire.
On Wednesday, the European Commision proposed a short-time work scheme modelled on Germany’s Kurzarbeit programme to help people keep their jobs as the coronavirus pandemic hits economies across the 27-nation bloc.
Announcing the scheme by video message, Commission head Ursula von der Leyen did not give details on how it would be funded, saying only it would be guaranteed by all EU countries -a clue that it could be linked to the EU budget.
Meanwhile, European scientists and technologists will launch a joint initiative on Wednesday to support the use of digital applications in the fight against coronavirus while complying with the region’s tough privacy laws.
The Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) brings together 130 researchers from eight countries to develop applications that can support contact tracing efforts within countries and across borders.
In the meantime, NATO will speed up deliveries of medical aid to allies suffering the most from the coronavirus but must focus on defending Europe, the alliance’s chief said.
NATO foreign ministers are set to discuss aid measures on Thursday via video conference, a first for an alliance ministerial, after countries such as Turkey and the Czech Republic began delivering supplies to Italy and Spain.
More than 851,000 people worldwide have contracted COVID-19 with 42,053 dying from it, according to a Reuters tally on Wednesday. Italy has been hardest hit, with 12,428 fatalities.
Spain
There were 864 new coronavirus fatalities in Spain on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed cases increased to more than 102,000. Spain has been in almost-complete lockdown since March 14.
Spain approved an emergency measure on Tuesday designed to help domestic workers who have seen their work hours reduced, temporarily suspended or been fired since the country went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Italy
Italy will extend anti-coronavirus lockdown restrictions imposed last month to April 13, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday.
“We must not confuse the first positive signals with an ‘all clear’ signal. Data shows that we are on the right path and that the drastic decisions are bearing fruit,” Speranza told the upper house Senate.
After days of steep rises in cases, data this week has suggested the pace of growth in the number of total cases in Italy is slowing, with new infections coming in at 4,053 on Tuesday. Deaths have remained largely steady at over 800 a day.
Italian manufacturing activity plunged in March at the steepest rate for 11 years, dropping to 40.3 in March from 48.7 in February.
The Netherlands
Measures to limit the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands appear to have halved the rate of infection but need to be continued to be really effective, the country’s top official for infectious diseases said on Wednesday.
The rate of recorded infections in the Netherlands, where more than 1,000 people have died, has dropped considerably since the Dutch government closed all schools, restaurants and bars last month, the head of the Dutch Public Health Institute Jaap van Dissel said in a briefing to parliament.
The average number of people infected by someone carrying the coronavirus has dropped below 1 in the Netherlands since mid-march, Van Dissel said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday all schools, restaurants, and gyms would remain closed until at least April 28.
As of Monday, the number of deaths in the Netherlands resulting from the coronavirus epidemic stood at 1,173, while the number of confirmed infections had risen to 13,614.
UK
Lockdown and social distancing measures introduced by the British government to slow the spread of COVID-19 may already be working, according to preliminary research findings, and could soon see Britain’s epidemic of infections declining.
Britain is aiming to increase the number of tests for coronavirus to 25,000 a day by the middle of the month from its present capacity of 12,750 a day, housing minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Wednesday.
To achieve the goal, the British government is working with industry to address a shortage of chemicals required for coronavirus testing kits, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
The government also announced the first medical ventilators which Britain has recently ordered from businesses will be ready this weekend and available to the health service next week.
The number of people with coronavirus who have died in Britain rose by 563 to a total 2,352 by 1600 GMT on March 31, the government said on Wednesday.
It said there were 29,474 confirmed cases of the virus at as 0800 GMT on Wednesday, up from 25,150 the day before.
Separately, Johnson’s photographer has coronavirus symptoms and is self-isolating, the Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday, days after he visited a temporary field hospital set up to treat patients infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old boy in London who tested positive for coronavirus has died, King's College Hospital said on Tuesday. It is Britain's youngest fatality from the pandemic.
READ MORE: Belgian girl, 12, becomes 'Europe's youngest' virus victim
Germany
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 67,366 and 732 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.
Cases rose by 5,453 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 149, the tally showed.
Germany's export-dependent manufacturing sector saw the steepest decrease in output in almost 11 years in March, a survey showed on Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic forced plant closures in Europe's biggest economy.
Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, in Washington, March 31, 2020. (ALEX BRANDON / AP)
US
US President Donald Trump and his top healthcare advisers urged Americans on Tuesday to follow strict social distancing measures ahead of a "tough two weeks" that could lead to at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.
White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx displayed charts demonstrating data and modeling that showed an enormous jump in deaths to a range of 100,000 to 240,000 people from the virus in the coming months.
We want Americans to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to through a very tough two weeks and then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting ... you're going to be seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel.
Donald Trump, US president
Trump said 2.2 million people could have died, according to the modeling, if no mitigation efforts had been put into place.
"We want Americans to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to through a very tough two weeks and then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting ... you're going to be seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel," the president said.
On the US' mitigation efforts, Vice-President Mike Pence said they were having an impact
The US Army Corps of Engineers sought hotels, dormitories, convention centers and large open spaces to build as many as 341 temporary hospitals, Lieutenant General Todd Semonite said. The corps has already converted New York City's Jacob Javits Convention Center into a 1,000-bed hospital.
The death toll in the United States has passed 4,000 early Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The toll, as tallied by Reuters, shot up by more than 850 on Tuesday, by far the most for a single day.
As of Wednesday morning, the United States has reported 189,510 infections, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Nearly half the fatalities were in New York state, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by Sunday.
More than 3,700 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States during the outbreak, more than the number who died in the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The total confirmed US cases rose to 184,000, up 21,000 from Monday.
Hawaii reported its first death from COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trump urged Florida officials to open an Atlantic Coast port to a Dutch cruise ship stuck at sea with a coronavirus outbreak onboard, urging the governor to drop his opposition.
Separately, the Pentagon will send roughly 500 troops to the US-Mexico border to assist the US Department of Homeland Security's efforts to deal with the coronavirus, two US officials told Reuters.
Somalia
Former Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein died on Wednesday in Britain, about a week after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Hussein's family confirmed the death, at King's College Hospital in London.
The former prime minister served between November 2007 and February 2009 in the transitional government of Somalia.
Russia
A Russian military transport plane took off from an airfield outside Moscow early on Wednesday and headed for the United States with a load of medical equipment and masks to help Washington fight coronavirus, Russian state TV reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a government meeting on Wednesday by video conference as precautions to protect himself against coronavirus, the Kremlin said, a day after a doctor who met Putin last week said he had been diagnosed with the virus.
Authorities in Moscow unveiled a smartphone app designed to keep tabs on people who have been ordered to stay at home because of the coronavirus and Russia on Wednesday expanded its lockdown to cover more of its sprawling territory.
Russia has registered a total of 2,777 cases of COVID-19 in 75 regions of the country as of Wednesday, with the number of infected declining to 440 in the last 24 hours from 500 the previous day, official data showed.
Among confirmed cases, four were came from Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
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UN
The United Nations Office in Geneva confirmed nine cases of coronavirus among its staff as of March 30, said Alessandra Vellucci, director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, on Tuesday.
Earlier on March 28, Vellucci told a press briefing here that 78 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among the UN staff worldwide.
Besides the UN Office in Geneva, the International Labor Organization, the World Trade Organization as well as the World Health Organization have all reported COVID-19 cases among their staff members.
People jog and walk on the Regent's Canal Towpath as the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak continues in London, March 31, 2020. (MATT DUNHAM / AP)
READ MORE: Spain's coronavirus cases surpass China's with 85,195 cases
Georgia
Georgia will put 2 billion lari ($606 million) from its state budget toward helping the economy through the coronavirus pandemic, its Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people had reported 115 coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, with no deaths.
Nigeria
Nigeria on Wednesday declared 12 new cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the West African nation to 151.
The disease has caused two deaths in the country, with nine others discharged, said a statement by Nigeria's center for disease control.
Senegal
The Senegalese ministry of health on Wednesday reported 15 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total confirmed cases to 190.
The 15 were one imported case and 14 close contacts of earlier confirmed cases, Ministry of Health and Social Action spokesperson Alyose Waly Diouf told a daily briefing on the outbreak.
Ghana
Ghana's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen by 34 to reach 195, Minister for Health Kwaku Agyemang-Manu said on Wednesday.
All the cases have been isolated and treated, the minister said without elaboration.
Botswana
Botswana's Vice-President Slumber Tsogwane on Tuesday evening announced the southern African country's first death from COVID-19.
Tsogwane said the death of the 79-year-old lady of Ramotswa village, some 100 km southeast of Gaborone, Botswana's capital has brought the confirmed cases of COVID-19 to four.
Botswana's Minister of Health and Wellness Lemogang Kwape announced Monday the country's first three cases of COVID-19.
Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo reported its first two deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday evening, hours after a nationwide home confinement was put into effect.
The country has reported 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including the two deaths and two recoveries, said Minister of Health and Population Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo at a press conference.
President Denis Sassou Nguesso has declared a state of health emergency and a curfew between 8 pm (1900 GMT) and 5 am (0400 GMT), starting from Tuesday.
Colombia
The first two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed among Colombia's indigenous people on Tuesday, local authorities said, fanning fears that the highly contagious disease could decimate vulnerable tribal communities.
The cases were found in two people from the Yukpa group who live in dire poverty in a cluster of makeshift shelters and tents in the northern border city of Cucuta, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the country's leading indigenous authority.
Colombia reported 108 new infections and two deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 906, and the death toll to 16.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, wearing a protective suit and a face mask, visits the Kolmi-Hopen protective face mask factory in Saint-Barthelemy-d'Anjou near Angers, central France, March 31, 2020. (LOIC VENANCE / POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
France
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to make France self-sufficient in protective masks by year-end and learn lessons from the coronavirus emergency.
France has already ordered 1 billion masks to ease an acute shortage nationwide that has angered front-line healthcare officials and politicians as the coronavirus outbreak has swept across the country, killing at least 3,523 people.
Speaking at a mask-producing factory on Tuesday, Macron said he had ordered a tripling of domestic mask production by the end of April to 10 million and production of 10,000 extra respirators by mid-May.
The number of people in France infected with the virus rose to 52,128 on Tuesday, a 17 percent rise on the previous day.
Prince Albert II of Monaco has recovered from COVID-19 infection, the Prince's Palace of Monaco announced on Tuesday.
Swiss
The Swiss death toll from the coronavirus has reached 378, the country’s public health ministry said on Wednesday, rising from 373 people a day earlier as Switzerland prepares additional measures to mitigate the epidemic’s economic hit.
The number of positive tests also increased to 17,139 from 16,176 on Tuesday, the ministry added.
The Swiss government is preparing to expand an emergency liquidity programme for coronavirus-hit businesses, as banks have already handed out more than half of the 20 billion Swiss francs (US$20.70 billion) set aside for state-backed loans.
Switzerland
The peak of Switzerland's coronavirus epidemic could stretch into later this spring or summer, the head of the Swiss government's communicable diseases division said on Tuesday, as the country's death toll continued to rise.
The number of dead rose to 373, the country's public health agency said, while the number of positive tests increased to 16,176.
Health Minister Alain Berset warned that extraordinary measures to contain the virus would remain in force for some time, since vulnerable groups still need to be protected even once the number of infections began to subside.
A worker sprays disinfectant to sanitize Duomo square, in Milan, Italy, March 31, 2020. (CLAUDIO FURLAN / LAPRESSE VIA AP)
Slovakia
Slovakia on Tuesday registered its first death linked to the coronavirus, according to data from the National Health Information Centre.
As of midnight on Monday, Slovakia had 363 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.
Sweden
Record numbers of hotels and restaurants went bankrupt in March in Sweden as customers stayed at home to avoid spreading the coronavirus, figures from credit information firm UC showed on Wednesday.
Bankruptcies in the restaurant and hotel sector shot up 123% in March compared with the previous year, with the transport sector also seeing a big jump, up 105%.
Furloughed crew from crisis-hit Scandinavian airline SAS are taking a three-day course in basic hospital duties to help plug gaps in a Swedish healthcare system strained by thousands of coronavirus cases.
Sweden has 4,435 confirmed cases of the virus and 180 deaths, with the capital especially hard hit.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has been tasked with devising a national strategy for expanding testing for COVID-19, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced at a Tuesday press conference.
El Salvador
El Salvador has registered its first death from coronavirus, President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter on Tuesday.
DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) registered a total of 109 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB).
According to the INRB, 11 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday, including seven locally transmitted cases and four imported cases.
READ MORE: Fears grow of virus spreading like wildfire in refugee camps
Senegal
Pape Diouf, former president of French football club Olympique de Marseille, passed away Tuesday night, which is the first death related to COVID-19 in Senegal, the Senegalese health ministry confirmed.
Tunisia
Tunisian Health Ministry reported late Tuesday 32 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 394.
Tunis, Ariana, Medenine and Ben Arous are the most affected areas with 94, 56, 43 and 41 cases respectively, said a statement by the ministry.
Ten deaths from the coronavirus were reported in the cities of Ariana, Sousse, Mahdia, Sfax, El Kef, Tataouine and Bizerte, it added.
Burundi
The first two cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in Burundi, Health Minister Thaddee Ndikumana said at a press conference Tuesday evening.
The two patients, respectively 56 and 42 years old, are Burundian nationals who entered Burundi from Rwanda. One had traveled to Dubai, Ndikumana said.
The remaining east African nation where the COVID-19 has not been reported is South Sudan.
South Africa
South Africa on Tuesday recorded 27 new cases of COVID-19, bringing its total confirmed cases to 1,353.
The disease has caused five deaths in the country, with the current mortality rate standing at 0.37 percent, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
To date, the country has conducted a total of 41,072 tests for COVID-19, according to the NICD.
The NICD expected the transmission rate to decline, following a number of interventions put into place, including a 21-day national lockdown which began on midnight Wednesday.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian province of Stara Zagora on Tuesday imposed a night curfew to fight the coronavirus, the regional governor said.
Gergana Mikova signed an order that bars residents and visitors from leaving their homes or accommodations from 9 pm until 5 am. Exceptions would only be made for shift workers and those in need of emergency medical care.
As of Monday, the Balkan country had 399 confirmed cases of coronavirus and eight deaths. Health authorities in Stara Zagora reported three cases on Monday.
Chile
Chile's Health Ministry on Tuesday said that 2,738 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 12 have died,
In the 24 hours since the last report, 289 new cases of infection were detected, and four patients, all "over 60 years of age and with preexisting ailments," passed away.
The ministry has decided to extend a quarantine by two weeks in Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, and by a week in six districts of the metropolitan area of the capital Santiago, where more than half of the infections have been registered.
Commuters wearing face masks ride a bus in Mexico City, March 31, 2020. (EDUARDO VERDUGO / AP)
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry on Tuesday registered 1,215 cases of the coronavirus in the country, up from 1,094 the day before.
It also said 29 people died from the virus in Mexico, up from 28 a day earlier.
Nearly 30 medical workers at a hospital in northern Mexico have been infected with the virus, the regional health department told Reuters on Tuesday.
The health department at the northern border state of Coahuila said 29 medical and nursing staff of the publicly owned IMSS General Hospital in Monclova had tested positive for coronavirus as of late Tuesday.
The outbreak began when one of the hospital's doctors contracted coronavirus from a patient at his private practice earlier this month, and then that doctor spread the virus to his colleagues while on duty, the department said.
Brazil
Brazil's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported that the death toll from COVID-19 has climbed from 159 to 201, as cases of infection rose from 4,579 to 5,717.
The figures show the country's COVID-19 fatality rate is 3.5 percent, said the ministry.
Over the past 24 hours, 1,138 more people have tested positive for the virus, compared with 323 new cases reported over the previous 24-hour period.
Czech Republic
The Czech government's coronavirus tsar on Tuesday defended its order for people to wear face masks outside the home, saying they were important to protect others.
The Czech government approved more aid for companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday, an effort to prevent massive layoffs because large parts of the economy have ground to a halt.
Companies will be covered for most of the salaries paid to employees if they retain them, with the exact level depending on how strongly the government's measures against coronavirus affected them, Labor Minister Jana Malacova said.
The self-employed will receive a one-off subsidy of 25,000 crowns (US$1,006.00) upon application and meeting a list of criteria like reporting a 10 percent drop in income in the first quarter, Finance Minister Alena Schillerova said.
The tally of coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic has reached 3,002 by Tuesday morning and 24 deaths has been registered.
Serbia
Serbia prepared a 5.1-billion-euro (US$5.6 billion) package of economic measures to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic, according to government statement on Tuesday.
READ MORE: UN calls for response to socio-economic impacts of COVID-19
Egypt
Egypt's Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday 54 new cases of COVID-19, raising the tally of infections in the country to 710.
The death toll rose to 46, after five more fatalities were confirmed, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed announced in a statement.
Seven Egyptians were discharged from the quarantine hospital, raising the number of the recoveries to 157, Megahed said.
Sudan
Sudan's Health Ministry on Tuesday announced a new COVID-19 case, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to seven.
Canada
Canada's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped by 35 percent to 89 in less than a day, officials said on Tuesday, and the major province of Quebec said it was running low on key medical equipment.
Ottawa said it would spend C$2 billion to help buy supplies amid complaints from some doctors and nurses about shortages of personal protection gear.
As of 2 pm Tuesday Canada Eastern Time, there were 8,467 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 95 deaths in the country, according to CTV News, which has been tracking the number of COVID-19 cases in Canada.
Morocco
The death toll from COVID-19 reached 36 in Morocco on Tuesday, while the total number of confirmed cases reached 602, the Ministry of Health said.
A total of 24 patients have recovered from COVID-19, said the ministry's spokesman in a briefing.
Croatia
A convenient drive-in testing for coronavirus was initiated in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, on Tuesday as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to grow at a steady rate.
Croatia's National Civil Protection Headquarters announced at a daily briefing 77 new COVID-19 cases with the total number standing at 867.
More than 7,000 people have been tested since the outbreak of coronavirus in Croatia, 611 in the last 24 hours.
So far there have been six confirmed deaths, 32 people are put on a ventilator, and 67 people have been cured.
Uganda
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday said taht the country was studying the possibility of locally manufacturing personal protective gear for health workers who are on the frontline fighting COVID-19.
Concerns raised by health workers that do not have protective gear will be addressed once the production starts, Museveni said, adding that the ministry of health has ordered protective gear from China.
Uganda currently has 44 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the first case was registered on March 21.
Meanwhile, police charged 20 LGBT+ people with disobeying rules on social distancing and risking the spread of coronavirus on Tuesday, drawing criticism from campaigners who said they were using the restrictions to target sexual minorities.
Algeria
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Tuesday urged citizens to be "disciplined" to help overcome the coronavirus outbreak even as the number of cases and deaths rose.
Some Algerians have ignored steps taken by the government to limit the spread of the virus including a night curfew in 10 provinces and a full lockdown in the Bilda area, south of the capital Algiers.
The government will spend US$100 million to import equipment including 100 million masks from China in addition to a local production of 90,000 masks per day.
Algeria will next week extend the closure of schools, universities and mosques, Tebboune said.
Ecuador
Ecuador witnessed a surge in infections and deaths from COVID-19, registering 274 daily new cases on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases reached 2,240, including 75 deaths, in Ecuador, one of the hardest-hit South American nations.
In the past 24 hours, 274 new cases were confirmed, and 13 patients died. Another 61 deaths were likely caused by COVID-19 but needed to be verified, said Julio Lopez, an official from Ecuador's Public Health Ministry, at a press conference.
Ecuador is seeing an exponential rise in infections, and the virus has now spread to all 24 provinces of the country, he added.
An ambulance driver wears a protective suit to protect from coronavirus with writing that reads: "Together we will win!" at Gregorio Maranon hospital to a temporary hospital set up at the IFEMA convention centre in Madrid, Spain, April 1, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)
Ethiopia
Ethiopia has postponed parliamentary elections scheduled for August due to the coronavirus outbreak, the electoral board said on Tuesday, a move endorsed by some key opposition parties.
The board will announce a new timeline once the pandemic has subsided, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia said.
Ethiopia has 25 confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far.
Greece
Greece reported 102 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, including 20 people on a ship and a female asylum seeker who recently gave birth in hospital in Athens, the first recorded case among thousands of migrants kept in overcrowded camps.
Greece, which reported its first coronavirus case at the end of February, has reported 1,314 cases so far. In total, 49 people have died.
Poland
Poland's parliament on Tuesday approved a coronavirus rescue package to support the economy but rejected many changes proposed by the opposition such as mandatory weekly coronavirus tests for medical workers.
As of Tuesday, 2,215 people had tested positive for the coronavirus in the country of 38 million, while 32 people had died, according to the health ministry.
Cuba
Cuba said on Tuesday it was suspending the arrival of international passenger flights and asking all foreign boats to withdraw from the Caribbean island's waters to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said that Cuba would remain open for commerce and donations.
Cuba, which has confirmed 186 cases of the fast-spreading disease, partially closed its borders last week, banning the arrival of foreign tourists and the departure of Cubans.
Kenya
Kenya's health ministry on Wednesday confirmed 22 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number to 81.
Health minister Mutahi Kagwe said 21 out of the 22 cases are people who are currently in quarantine. The patients had arrived in the country last week.
Cameroon
Nearly a month since the declaration of the first case of COVID-19 in Cameroon, the African nation is seeing a boom in the reported infections after having generalized the testing.
According to the latest numbers given by the health minister Manaouda Malachie, Cameroon recorded until Wednesday morning 233 confirmed cases, including six deaths and ten cured. The total number of confirmed cases was only 99 last Saturday.
