Coronavirus updates and highlights: A quick look at the major developments

Globally, more than 3.5 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, and close to 2.5 lakh people have died due to the pandemic. Speaking of the nations hit most with the infectious disease, the US tops the list with more than a million cases, followed by Spain (247,122), Italy (210,717), the UK (186,599), France (168,693) and Germany (165,664).

However, the US, Italy, and Spain among others have started thinking about re-opening as the virus spread seems to have slowed down.

While millions of people took advantage of easing coronavirus lockdowns to enjoy the outdoors, some of the world’s most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections Sunday, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet, AP reports.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in India has reached 42,533, with more than 2,500 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Statewise, Maharashtra has reported the most cases in the country (12,974), followed by Gujarat (5,428), Delhi (4,549), Madhya Pradesh (2,846), Rajasthan (2,772), Tamil Nadu (2,757), and Uttar Pradesh (2,626).

In major developments, we came across the news of the US President Donald Trump claiming that a vaccine to treat corona patients could be ready by end of this year.

Trump believes as many as 100,000 Americans could die in the coronavirus pandemic, after the death toll passed his earlier estimates, but said he was confident a vaccine would be developed by the year's end.

Trump alternated during a two-hour virtual town hall broadcast by FOX News between forecasting a rapid recovery for the U.S. economy and casting blame for the pandemic's spread on China, where the disease is believed to have originated.

Also, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, also claimed there is “enormous evidence” the coronavirus outbreak originated in a Chinese laboratory. However, he did not provide any of the evidence.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to extend the country’s state of emergency on Monday until the end of May, reports the public broadcaster NHK.

Abe is expected to explain the reasoning behind the extension of the state of emergency, which is now due to expire on Wednesday, at a news conference in the evening, NHK said.

In Russia, new cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time, while the death toll in Britain mounted near that of Italy, the epicenter of Europes outbreak.

In case you don’t know,  the U.K. population is comparatively much younger than Italys and Britain had more time to prepare.

That apart, the United States continues to see tens of thousands of new infections each day.

Well, we do have good news from New Zealand which has reported zero new cases for the first time.

It’s an “encouraging” result, said Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health.

There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 86 per cent of them now recovered. Seven people are in hospital.

Back home, in one of our podcasts, we did talk about the recent guidelines rolled out by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will come into effect from today.

To know more, tune in to the podcast Lockdown 3.0: List of activities allowed and prohibited across the country

Even though restrictions have been eased in non-hot spot areas, metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, all marked red zones, will stay under strict lockdown.

Read by: Kanishka Gupta