Official global death toll crosses 225,000

At least 227,644 people have lost their lives to Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The number of confirmed cases is more than 3,193,961 globally.

Trump says China wants him to lose the 2020 election

US president Donald Trump said that coronavirus has “upset very badly” the US trade deal with China, and that China “will do anything they can to have me lose in 2020” in an interview with Reuters. Trump does not see the 2020 election as being a referendum on his handling of the pandemic, he stated.

South Korea reports no new local transmission cases for first time since 29 February

On Thursday, South Korea reported no new domestic Covid-19 cases for the first time since its 29 February, as confirmed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The KCDC reported four new infections, all imported cases, taking the national tally to 10,765.

China’s Forbidden City will reopen on Friday

Three months after it was closed due to the coronavirus crisis, Beijing’s sprawling Forbidden City will reopen. The imperial palace across Tiananmen Square was shut down on 25 January as authorities sealed tourist attractions and took strict measures to contain the virus, including locking down an entire province.

Japan is expected to extend state of emergency by a month

Japan’s government is expected to extend a nationwide state of emergency for another month, after the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, described the Covid-19 outbreak as “severe”.

South Africa’s virus cases cross 5,000 after highest daily rise

On Thursday, he number of Covid-19 cases in South Africa surged past the 5,000 mark after it saw the largest single-day jump to date, health ministry figures showed. A total of 354 new cases were confirmed on Thursday, which brought the overall total to 5,350, with the number of fatalities increasing by 10 to 103.