People enjoy the warm weather in Hyde Park, as Britain continues its lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, in London, May 9, 2020. (ALBERTO PEZZALI / AP)

LONDON / MILAN / BERLIN / PARIS / MEXICO CITY / PANAMA CITY / QUITO / RABAT / CAIRO / MOGADISHU / NAIROBI / MADRID / MOSCOW - British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Saturday announced a 2 billion-pound (US$2.5-billion) package to encourage cycling and walking amid the COVID-19 pandemic as another 346 patients have died in the country.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 667 to 169,218, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed

The move came as the government strives to double cycling and increase walking by 2025 with a national cycling plan being expected to be published in June.

"Swift emergency plans" to be put in place include increasing bike lanes, wider pavements for pedestrians and cycle and bus-only streets, Shapps told reporters at the Downing Street press briefing.

Public transport will remain a fraction of pre-pandemic capacity for some time, he said.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to address the nation on Sunday night to announce a roadmap to ease the current lockdown measures.

Another 346 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 31,587 as of Friday afternoon, according to latest figures by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

Italy

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 194 on Saturday, against 243 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases fell to 1,083 from 1,327 on Friday.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb 21 now stands at 30,395 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the US and Britain.

The number of confirmed cases amounts to 218,268 the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.

People registered as currently carrying the illness fell to 84,842 from 87,961 the day before.

Of those originally infected, 103,031 were declared recovered against 99,023 a day earlier.

The agency said 1.645 million people had been tested for the virus against 1.609 million on Friday, out of a population of around 60 million.

People walk along the promenade of Ladispoli, a coastal town some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Rome, May 9, 2020. (ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP)

Germany 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 667 to 169,218, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

The reported death toll rose by 13 to 7,395, the tally showed.

France

The number of people who have died from coronavirus infections in France rose by 80 to 26,310 on Saturday, the health ministry said, a much smaller daily increase than the previous day when it was 243.

The ministry said the number of people in intensive care units - a key measure of a health system’s ability to deal with the epidemic - fell by 56, or about 2percent, to 2,812. That is less than half the peak of 7,148 seen on April 8.

The number of people in hospital with the coronavirus also fell, to 22,614 from 22,724, continuing an uninterrupted three-week fall, and down 30 percent from an April 14 peak of 32,292.

France will start lifting its almost two-month-old national lockdown from Monday.

Spain

Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 143 on Sunday, down from 179 the previous day, the health ministry reported.

It marks the lowest daily death toll since mid-March.

Overall deaths rose to 26,621 from 26,478 on Saturday and the number of diagnosed cases rose to 224,390 from 223,578 the day before, the ministry said.

Russia

Russia has reported 11,012 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 209,688, its coronavirus response center said in a statement on Sunday.

The single-day increase has been over 10,000 for eight consecutive days in the country, the center's data showed.

The death toll from the pandemic increased by 88 to 1,915, while 2,390 people have recovered over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 34,306, the statement said.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, confirmed 5,551 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 109,740.

Russia's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog said in a statement Sunday that 243,434 people were under medical observation as of Saturday.

More than 5.4 million lab tests for COVID-19 have been conducted across the country so far, it added. 

Mexico

Mexico’s health ministry confirmed 1,938 new cases of coronavirus infection on Saturday, along with 193 additional deaths, as government models projected that infections could peak this weekend.

Reported coronavirus cases in the country total 33,460, with 3,353 deaths attributed to the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus. But the true number for both is almost certainly much higher due to very little testing.

Panama

Confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Panama reached 8,282 on Saturday, a rise of 212 from the previous day, and deaths climbed by six to 237, the health ministry said.

Ecuador

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health announced on Saturday that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has risen to 29,071, with 1,717 deaths.

The ministry also said that there had been 253 new cases and 13 new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Additionally, 83,657 rapid tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for COVID-19 have been administered throughout the country so far.

According to the ministry, 13,822 patients are stable in home isolation, 402 are stable but have been hospitalized, and 181 have been hospitalized with a reserved prognosis. 

The province of Guayas is the epicenter of the disease in Ecuador, accounting for 57.5 percent of the country's registered cases.

Morocco

The Moroccan Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 199 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,910 in the country.

The number of recovered cases increased to 2,461 with 137 new recoveries, while some 70 patients are being treated in intensive care units, Mohamed El Youbi, director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, said at his daily briefing.

El Youbi said that 186 deaths from COVID-19 were reported so far.

In addition, 9,017 people who have had contact with the infected patients are still under medical surveillance.

Egypt

Egypt on Saturday reported 488 new COVID-19 cases and 11 more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 8,964 and the death toll to 514.

Khaled Megahed, spokesman for Egyptian Health Ministry, said in a statement that 57 coronavirus patients left hospitals in the past 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries in the country to 2,002.

Egypt extended a nationwide night-time curfew until the end of the holy month of Ramadan to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Egyptian government has recently started easing the anti-coronavirus restrictions by reopening some services and offices closed over the past six weeks.

Somalia

Somali health ministry on Saturday confirmed 69 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total tally of infections to 997.

Fawziya Abikar, health minister said four people recovered from the deadly respiratory disease, raising the total number of recoveries to 110.

Abikar said four patients succumbed to the disease in the last 48 hours, raising the total number of deaths to 48.

A woman rides a Paris subway car as stickers are set for respect social distances against the spread of the coronavirus, May 9, 2020. (CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP)

Kenya

Kenya's ministry of health on Saturday confirmed 28 new cases that tested positive to COVID-19, bringing the total number to 649.

Rashid Aman, chief administrative secretary, said at a briefing in Nairobi that out of the 28 cases, 24 are Kenyans while four are foreign nationals from neighboring Tanzania.

He said that the new cases were derived from the 1,611 samples that were tested by medical personnel in the last 24 hours from various laboratories in the country.

Aman said that all the 28 cases were picked up by the ministry of health's surveillance teams in various parts of the country.

He said that five patients have recovered from the disease after receiving treatment and have been discharged from hospital, making the total number of recoveries to 207.

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Djibouti

Djibouti's Ministry of Health on Saturday announced 54 new COVID-19 confirmed cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Horn of Africa nation to 1,189.

The Djiboutian Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on Saturday, disclosed that from a total of 199 people who were tested over the last 24 hours, 54 were tested positive for the virus.

The ministry also announced that some 834 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered as of the stated period.