A customer wearing a face mask selects clothes at a shop in Berlin, capital of Germany, on April 29, 2020. (BINH TRUONG / XINHUA)
MEXICO CITY / GENEVA / WASHINGTON / LONDON / RIO DE JANEIRO / JOHANNESBURG / TORONTO / ROME / PARIS / QUITO / KHARTOUM / NAIROBI / CAIRO / KIEV / KAMPALA / MOGADISHU - Social distancing measures in Germany will be extended until May 10, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff said ahead of a government meeting later on Thursday to review lockdown restrictions.
Merkel and state leaders will discuss proposals on reopening schools and nurseries and resuming sporting events, but will wait until May 6 for data on the effect of first steps to ease the lockdown before moving again, Helge Braun said.
Merkel and state leaders will discuss proposals on reopening schools and nurseries and resuming sporting events, but will wait until May 6 for data on the effect of first steps to ease the lockdown before moving again, Helge Braun said
The novel coronavirus reproduction rate in Germany is currently estimated at 0.76 on average, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said.
Germany registered 1,478 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, raising its total cases to 159,119, said RKI on Thursday.
The death toll now stands at 6,288, up 173 within the same period, according to RKI.
Four of Germany's leading science institutes said on Wednesday Germans must persevere with social distancing or risk exponential growth in the number of coronavirus cases.
Germany's government tamped down any hopes in the tourism sector that it might relax holiday guidance when it extended its warning against worldwide travel until June 14 on Wednesday.
A general view of a deserted Camden High Street, as the UK continues its lockdown to help curb the spread of coronavirus. In London, on April 29, 2020. (DOMINIC LIPINSKI / PA VIA AP)
WHO
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that he will reconvene the Emergency Committee on Thursday to evaluate the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and to advise on updated recommendations.
"In the three months since the Emergency Committee last met, WHO has worked day in day out to sound the alarm, support countries and save lives," he said at a virtual press conference from Geneva.
"We sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often. We said repeatedly that the world had a window of opportunity to prepare and to prevent widespread community transmission," Tedros stressed.
Noting that the WHO was committed to transparency and accountability, Tedros repeated his call for unity and solidarity.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to the WHO has exceeded 3 million worldwide, according to WHO's latest statistics.
ALSO READ: Russia infection tally nears 100k, new cases in Spain hold steady
As of 11:00 pm CET, the WHO's COVID-19 dashboard showed a worldwide total of 3,024,059 confirmed cases, including 208,112 deaths, have been reported to the organization.
The United States has reported 983,457 confirmed cases, with 50,492 deaths, to the UN health agency, making it the hardest hit country.
In Spain and Italy, the second and third worst-hit countries in terms of the number of infections, there had been 210,773 and 201,505 cases respectively. The death numbers in the two countries are 23,822 and 27,359 respectively.
Trailing behind were the United Kingdom, with 161,149 confirmed cases, and Germany, with 157,641 confirmed cases.
US
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the White House current coronavirus guidelines will be "fading out" as more states begin to reopen their economies despite coronavirus concern.
The governor of Florida, whose state was among the last to be locked down against the US coronavirus outbreak, announced on Wednesday he would permit limited economic reopening next week while leaving restraints in place for the greater Miami area.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom will announce on Thursday the closure of all beaches and parks in the state amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic after crowds jammed beaches last weekend, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
In Los Angeles, free COVID-19 tests will be offered to all residents of the county regardless of their symptoms, becoming the first major US city to make wide-scale tests available.
In another development, the Trump administration is planning to speed up development of a coronavirus vaccine with the goal of having 100 million doses ready by the end of 2020, a senior administration official said.
The official's remarks came on the same day as preliminary results from a US government trial showed that patients given remdesivir - Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental antiviral drug- recovered 31 percent faster than those given a placebo.
READ MORE: WHO: World must ensure equal access for all to vaccines, drugs
Also on Wednesday, the US Navy said that it would carry out a broader review into the spread of the coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, where 940 sailors from the ship's 4,800-member crew have tested positive for the virus.
Signs that read "please don't sit here" are stuck above some seats in a subway train to promote social distancing. In Milan, Italy, on April 29, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday he would gradually relax the country's coronavirus lockdown taking into account differences in contagion levels in different parts of the country.
In a speech to parliament, Conte said a new stimulus package to support the economy, due to be presented in a few days, would include 15 billion euros (US$16.3 billion) for companies and 25 billion directly for payroll workers and the self-employed.
The lockdown imposed on March 9 will be gradually rolled back from May 4 and agreed with local authorities "taking account of the regions where the epidemiological situation is less severe," Conte told the lower house of parliament.
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 323 on Wednesday, against 382 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new infections stood at 2,086, broadly stable from 2,091 on Tuesday.
The total death toll now stands at 27,682, the agency said, the second highest in the world after that of the United States.
The number of officially confirmed cases, which includes those who have died and recovered, amounts to 203,591, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.
People registered as currently carrying the illness declined to 104,657 from 105,205 on Tuesday.
Conte’s cabinet approved a decree covering use of personal data for a virus tracking app the government has said it hopes to release within the coming weeks. Users will get “clear, transparent” indications of how their personal data will be employed before activating the app, to be called Immuni.
France
The number of people who have died from the coronavirus infection in France rose by 427 to 24,087 on Wednesday, with the rate of increase slightly speeding up again after slowing on Tuesday, the health ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, the number of confirmed cases now stands at 128,442, up 1,607 over 24 hours. The figure stood at 129,859 on Tuesday but was tweaked a day after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that France would not end its coronavirus lockdown unless the number of new cases falls below 3,000 per day.
"It's a statistical readjustment linked to a change in the sampling", a ministry spokesman said.
UK
Britain now has Europe's second highest official COVID-19 death toll with more than 26,000, according to figures published on Wednesday that raised questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's response to the outbreak.
Some 26,097 people died across the United Kingdom after testing positive for COVID-19 as of April 28 at 1600 GMT, Public Health England (PHE) said, citing daily figures that included deaths outside of hospital settings for the first time.
That means the United Kingdom has suffered more COVID-19 deaths than France or Spain have reported, though less than Italy, which has Europe's highest death toll and the second worst in the world after the United States.
Britain plans to test a randomly chosen group of 100,000 people for COVID-19 as part of its efforts to understand infection rates better before loosening restrictions on the public, its health ministry said on Thursday.
The tests to see if people are currently infected with COVID-19, led by London's Imperial College and polling company Ipsos MORI, follow a separate testing program announced last week by the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics.
Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff said on Thursday that social distancing measures in Europe's largest economy would "certainly" be extended until May 10 for the time being.
Helge Braun told broadcaster n-tv a larger discussion about further steps to ease the lockdown would happen on May 6.
The number of new coronavirus cases in Germany rose the most in four days as the government considers further steps to ease restrictions on daily life.
There were 1,627 additional infections in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, taking the total to 161,539, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Fatalities rose by 153 to 6,467 and the death rate inched up to 4 percent from 3.95 percent a day earlier, while the number of recovered held at 120,400.
Germany's government tamped down any hopes in the tourism sector that it might relax holiday guidance when it extended its warning against worldwide travel until June 14 on Wednesday.
"We are not so far with fighting the virus and the development of the pandemic that we can recommend carefree travel," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told journalists.
READ MORE: 'Difficult' post-lockdown days lying ahead for Europeans
Russia
Russia's nationwide tally of confirmed coronavirus cases surged past the 100,000 mark on Thursday after a record daily rise in new cases.
The number of confirmed cases rose by 7,099, the largest single-day increase to date, to 106,498. The pace of increase quickened to 7.1 percent from 6.2 percent on Wednesday.
Total fatalities rose to 1,073 after 101 more people died.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Wednesday Russia has extended a ban on entry of foreigners to its territory, which was due to expire Thursday.
Spain
Spain recorded steep declines in the number of new coronavirus deaths and cases, as the nation begins gradually relaxing a strict lockdown regime after weeks of confinement.
The number of fatalities rose by 268 to 24,543 in the 24 hours through Thursday, the smallest increase in six weeks and compared with Wednesday’s of 325, according to data from the health ministry.
Total infections rose by 1,309 to 213,435 after the previous day’s gain of 2,144.
South Sudan
South Sudan's Ministry of Health has confirmed one new case of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 35.
Czech Republic
The spread of the coronavirus has been contained in the Czech Republic and the government will continue to cautiously open up the economy, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Thursday.
The country has seen the number of new cases drop below 100 for the past eight consecutive days, and the number of active cases has also been on the decline.
The ministry said the reproduction rate of the virus has dropped to 0.7, which means every newly infected person passes the infection to less than one other person. It predicted 7,900-9,700 total infections at the end of May, from 7,581 reported as of Thursday morning.
The country has also seen a decline in the number of hospitalised patients, to 348 on Wednesday from a peak of 446 on April 9. So far 227 people have died, equal to 21 per million people.
Most activities will be allowed as of May 11 and May 25.
Ukraine
Ukraine reached 10,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday as Health Minister Maksym Stepanov urged the public to be patient and not violate lockdown measures that have kept the country's death toll far lower than in much of western Europe.
Stepanov said in a televised briefing that 261 people had died from COVID-19.
The government is considering whether to open food markets back up in the meantime, with social distancing rules. But there are growing signs of public impatience.
Anger at the lockdown led to hundreds of businessmen protesting near the government building on Wednesday, while Stepanov also said more people were ignoring a ban on visiting parks.
Uganda
Two more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Uganda, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 81, the health ministry said late Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement that after testing 2,002 samples, a 21-year-old Burundian refugee and a 24-year-old Ugandan were positive for the virus.
Uganda on Tuesday launched a rapid assessment of the prevalence of COVID-19 in communities, targeting high risk populations.
So far, a total of 52 patients have recovered in the country.
A resident from the Alexandra township in Johannesburg, South Africa, gets tested for COVID-19, on April 29, 2020. (JEROME DELAY / AP)
South Africa
South Africa reported another 354 cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, the most new cases recorded in one day and bringing the total in the country to 5,350, the health department said in a tweet.
"This is the highest number of cases in a 24 hour cycle recorded to date and represents a 73 percent increase on the day before," it said, adding in a separate tweet that the number of deaths had risen by 10 to 103.
Brazil
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Brazil soared by a record number on Wednesday to 78,162 from 71,886 the day before, with 449 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
The death toll now stands at 5,466 deaths in the country.
Colombia
About two dozen migrants deported from the United States on a flight to Colombia last month have since tested positive for the coronavirus, two people familiar with the matter said, adding to worries that US deportations could be spreading the disease.
Of more than 60 migrants deported by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) on a March 30 flight from the United States, approximately 24 have tested positive for COVID-19, the sources said.
Colombia has reported around 6,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and close to 300 deaths.
Guatemala
In a similar situation to Colombia's, at least 103 migrants deported by the United States on a handful of flights in March and April have so far tested positive for the coronavirus in Guatemala. That is around a fifth of all cases in the Central American country.
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday reported 1,047 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 163 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 17,799 cases and 1,732 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Panama
Confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Panama reached 6,378 on Wednesday, a rise of 178 from the previous day, and deaths climbed by two to 178, the health ministry said.
Bolivia
Bolivia will extend its lockdown against the COVID-19 pandemic until May 10, the government announced on Wednesday, while planning to relax stay-at-home rules in parts of the country starting from May 11.
President Jeanine Anez, in a televised message to the nation, said Bolivia will move to a "dynamic" or "less rigid" quarantine on May 11, allowing some people to return to work.
Policy going forward will hinge on the country's success at containing the pandemic, which has killed 55 Bolivians so far with a total 1,053 cases confirmed.
Slovenia
Slovenia is preparing to gradually restart public transport from May 11, government spokesman Jelko Kacin said on Thursday, almost two months after it was suspended to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Slovenia has so far confirmed 1429 coronavirus cases and 91 deaths.
The education ministry said on Thursday that although schools are expected to reopen on May 18, most elementary and high school pupils will only return at the start of the new school year in September.
Earlier on Thursday, the government cancelled a restriction that has been in place since the end of March prohibiting citizens travelling outside their own municipality.
Hairdressers, outdoor bars and restaurants, libraries and museums are due to reopen on Monday but citizens will still have to wear face masks in indoor public spaces and are still not allowed to gather in groups in any public space.
Ireland
Ireland's five retail banks, specialist and non-bank lenders agreed on Thursday to extend loan repayment breaks for customers hit by the coronavirus crisis to six months from three months, their representative body said.
Over 65,000 mortgage breaks and over 22,000 business breaks have been granted to date, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Ireland's Chief Medical Officer said he was still not in a position to recommend easing stay-home coronavirus restrictions and does not anticipate a significant change in the coming days ahead of their May 5 expiry date.
"We're at a point where the number of people in intensive care, in a hospital bed is still quite high and if we were to ease restrictions at this moment in time, as opposed to next Tuesday (May 5), we could potentially run into difficulties sooner," Tony Holohan said at a news conference.
We're advising on Friday, but there are five or six days left between now and May 5," he said, adding that he did not think the advice would change on Friday when health chiefs meet and make updated recommendations to government.
Chile
Chile will move forward with coronavirus "release certificates," but the documents will not yet certify immunity, the country´s top health official said Wednesday, marking a reversal after weeks of global debate on whether recovered patients develop resistance to the virus.
Health Minister Jaime Manalich said officials in the South American nation would begin issuing certificates early next week to any person who has finished a mandatory quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus on a standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Manalich earlier this week said a patient who had contracted the disease was immune for "a minimum of three months," contradicting guidance from the WHO, which says there is no evidence for such claims.
READ MORE: WHO warns against 'immunity passports'
Chile has so far confirmed nearly 15,000 cases of the coronavirus and 216 related deaths.
Bosnia
Bosnia reported on Wednesday its sharpest daily rise in new coronavirus infections this month after its two autonomous regions, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic, had gradually begun to ease lockdowns.
There were 93 new infections and two deaths in the previous 24 hours, compared with 20 new infections a day earlier and 49 the day before that, officials said.
The total number of infected people rose to 1,677 with 65 deaths, while 29,130 have been tested.
The Bosniak-Croat Federation lifted its night curfew last Friday and abolished a measure of obligatory quarantine. But its crisis headquarters decided on Wednesday to reinstate the night curfew during the three-day Labour Day holidays and banned gatherings of more than five people.
It also decided that all wholesale trade businesses and retail shops, as well as hair-dressing and cosmetic salons, will reopen from May 1.
Hungary
Schools in Hungary will remain closed until the end of May and events with more than 500 participants cannot be held until Aug 15, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said on Thursday.
Orban on Wednesday lifted some restrictions outside Budapest imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak, saying shops and restaurant terraces will be allowed to reopen without time limits.
Existing restrictions will continue for now in the capital, which has reported the highest number of coronavirus infections.
As of Wednesday, Hungary reported 300 deaths among a total of 2,727 cases of COVID-19.
Orban said that outside the capital, open-air swimming pools will also be permitted to reopen but the wearing of masks or face-coverings would remain mandatory in shops and on public transport.
READ MORE: Wearing masks no longer a question for many Europeans
Nigeria
Nigeria will ease coronavirus lockdowns in three states over a six-week period from May 4, the head of the country's task force on the virus said on Wednesday.
The easing of restrictions in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states will be split into two-week phases, said Boss Mustapha, the chairman of Nigeria's presidential task force for COVID-19.
Sani Aliyu, the national coordinator of the task force, said people may move around for work, buying food, exercise and healthcare. Banks will be allowed to open from 8 am to 2 pm, and gatherings of up to 20 people are allowed.
But schools will remain closed, passenger flights will remain banned, restaurants will operate only on a takeaway basis, and all cultural events are cancelled.
Finland
Finland will reopen schools and daycare centres after May 13, the government said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin said children would return to school gradually, starting on May 14 for a little more than two weeks, before their summer break begins as usual at the start of June. Pupils at upper secondary and vocational schools will continue to study remotely, she added.
By Wednesday, 206 people had died in Finland and it had 4,906 confirmed coronavirus cases.
The Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare said some 200 cases of infection had been found in children under 16 years old in Finland but none of them had been hospitalized.
Cyprus
Cyprus will begin easing its tight coronavirus lockdown by allowing some businesses to reopen beginning on May 4, with restrictions on movement to be lifted on May 21, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday.
Construction and related companies would be allowed to reopen, as would retail businesses apart from malls and large stores, he said in a televised address. A curfew restricting movement at night would remain in force.
Full easing of movement would occur on May 21.
The island has reported 843 cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths.
Ghana
A rigorous program of testing for coronavirus and tracing the contacts of those found positive has helped Ghana avoid an explosion in cases that could have overwhelmed its health system, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Wednesday.
The West African nation has reported 1,671 cases with 18 deaths since March 13. Akufo-Addo said around 110,000 people had been tested, in a population of some 31 million, and the share of positive tests has remained consistent at around 1.5 percent.
Restrictions on public gatherings and border closures remain in place for now, Akufo-Addo said.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe on Thursday said it there are 40 confirmed COVID-19 cases after eight new infections were recorded in the past two days.
Two positive cases were recorded on Tuesday in Bulawayo, the country's second largest city, and six in the capital Harare on Wednesday.
The total confirmed cases include five recoveries and four deaths, the Ministry of Health and Child Care said in an update early Thursday morning.
People shop at a market in Tunis, Tunisia, on April 29, 2020. (ADEL EZZINE / XINHUA)
Tunisia
The Tunisian Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday night five new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infected to 980 in the country.
A total of 294 patients have recovered in Tunisia while 40 deaths were reported in 13 provinces, according to a statement by the ministry.
Health Minister Abdellatif Mekki warned that the country was "not immune to a second wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic."
"We have managed to control the first wave of this pandemic, but it remains a temporary and sensitive result as it depends on citizens' conduct and commitment during the next period," Mekki said at a press conference at the government's headquarters in the capital Tunis.
Also on Wednesday, Minister in charge of Major National Projects Lobna Jribi announced the main lines of the national strategy for partial lifting the lockdown measures, which would come into effect on May 4.
Ecuador
Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday raised the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country to 24,675, including 883 deaths.
In the last 24 hours, 417 new cases and 12 more deaths were registered.
Officials reported that 1,523 people have recovered from the disease.
Mozambique
Mozambique will extend the state of emergency for another 30 days until May 30 to contain the spreading of coronavirus, said President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday.
It is necessary to reinforce the implementation of the current preventive measures to avoid a much more restrictive level of "lockdown," which could have serious impact on the society and national economy, said Nyusi.
The country recorded 76 new positive cases, of which 68 cases were of local transmission and 8 imported, according to the daily briefing by health authorities on Wednesday.
Denmark
Denmark will launch the second phase of reopening after May 10, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a parliamentary inquiry debate on the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday.
"We will soon present the long-term plan for the order of the reopening. So both citizens and businesses know the time perspective for the opening of, restaurants, children's education, sports, and large centers," said Frederiksen.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Denmark stood at 9,008, with a death toll of 443, according to fresh figures from the Danish Statens Serum Institut on Wednesday.
Sudan
Sudan on Wednesday announced 57 new infections with COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 375.
The health ministry said that one new recovery and three more deaths were also recorded, taking the total recoveries and fatalities to 28 and 32, respectively.
According to the ministry, 10 out of Sudan's 18 states have registered coronavirus cases, with 344 in Khartoum state, 19 in Gezira state and three each in the states of Gedaref and White Nile.
Hamza Awadalla, a Sudanese epidemiologist and community medicine specialist, told Xinhua that the growing number of COVID-19 cases indicated "Sudan has entered the phase of community transmission."
Lithuania
A nursing home in western Lithuania has become a new coronavirus hotspot, the country's health minister Aurelijus Veryga said on Wednesday.
At the Kartena Catholic Hospital for Supportive Care and Nursing in northwestern Lithuanian town of Kartena, 22 of the total 28 patients and five medical workers had been diagnosed with COVID-19 by Wednesday, the ministry of health said.
Earlier this week, another coronavirus hotspot was identified at a nursing home around 13 kilometers from the capital Vilnius.
According to the health ministry, Lithuania had registered 1,375 confirmed COVID-19 cases by Wednesday morning. To date, 45 people have died and 563 have recovered.
Kenya
Kenya's Ministry of Health on Wednesday confirmed 10 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 384.
Mercy Mwangangi, chief administrative secretary of health, said five more patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 129.
The official also said that one more person has died while undergoing treatment, bringing the number of fatalities to 15.
Mwangangi expressed rising concern about Nairobi and Mombasa counties being the main sources of infections in the country, adding that the ministry may be forced to increase the containment measures.
Greece
Greece's health ministry said on Wednesday 10 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported within the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 2,576.
One patient died in the past hours, raising the death toll to 139, officials said at a regular press briefing at the Health Ministry.
Egypt
Egypt's COVID-19 cases rose to 5,268 after 226 new infections were confirmed on Wednesday.
The health ministry said that 21 more patients died on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 380.
Meanwhile, 31 patients were completely cured and had been discharged from hospitals, increasing the tally of recoveries to 1,335, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
The government is currently trying to strike a balance between fighting COVID-19 and resuming services, businesses and economic activities through a coexistence plan, according to a video cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
During the meeting, Health Minister Hala Zayed noted that 25 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Egypt took place due to late arrival at hospitals.
Switzerland
The Swiss government on Wednesday decided to speed up the process of lifting the COVID-19 containment measures, allowing restaurants, museums and libraries to reopen from May 11.
In addition, public transport will return normal schedules, and certain sports training sessions will also be allowed to resume from May 11.
Previously, the government said that only shops, markets and primary and lower secondary schools would reopen from May 11.
The government also agreed to gradually relax border restrictions, making it possible for family members of Swiss citizens and citizens of European Union (EU) member states to enter Switzerland.
As of Wednesday morning, a total of 29,407 confirmed coronavirus cases had been reported in Switzerland, and the death toll reached 1,408.
Morocco
The Moroccan Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday 69 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 4,321 in the country.
The ministry added that 168 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported while 928 patients have recovered in total.
Algeria
Algeria on Wednesday reported 199 new cases of COVID-19, recording the highest 24-hour infection rate registered in the country.
Seven more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total fatalities to 444, Djamel Fourar, head of the COVID-19 Detection and Follow-up Commission, said.
Fifty-two more cases of recovery were registered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,702.
Somalia
A Ugandan peacekeeper serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has tested positive for COVID-19 in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, a military spokesperson said on Thursday.
Those who have had recent close contact with the infected peacekeeper have been put under quarantine in Mogadishu, according to the military.
Somalia's health ministry on Wednesday confirmed 54 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 582.
One more patient has recovered, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 20, according to Health Minister Fawziya Abikar.
Canada
Canadian hospitals had beds to spare as the country hit 50,373 confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, and several provinces were relaxing public health measures, but health experts were already worrying about a future wave of infections.
Since the first death on March 9, the virus has killed 2,904 in total.
In British Columbia, the province had a total of 94 COVID-19 patients in hospital on Tuesday, including 37 in intensive care, down from a peak of 149 on April 4, according to provincial data compiled by Reuters.
In Ontario and Quebec, the number of patients in ICU has plateaued. Non-ICU hospitalizations are, however, still climbing in the two provinces, a consequence of transfers from overwhelmed long-termcare homes, officials said.
