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HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD FACTS
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, May 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in
the coronavirus crisis.
– More than six million cases –
The pandemic has killed at least 369,086 people worldwide since it
surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100
GMT on Sunday, based on official sources.
There have been more than six million cases registered in 196
countries and territories.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 103,781 deaths. It
is followed by Britain with 38,376, Italy with 33,340, Brazil with
28,834, France with 28,771 and Spain with 27,125.
– Trump delays G7 –
US President Donald Trump announces he will delay the Group of
Seven summit, headed by the US this year and scheduled to take place
in June by videoconference.
Trump had said he might hold the gathering in-person, though German
Chancellor Angela Merkel declined outright, followed by varying
reactions from other members.
The G7 could now take place in September, Trump says, or it could
take place after the US presidential election in November.
– Spain seeks lockdown extension –
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he will seek parliament’s
approval to extend Spain’s state of emergency one final time, which
would keep the lockdown in place until June 21.
The sixth extension since March will need to be ratified on
Wednesday by the parliament.
– ‘Everything will be different’ –
Pope Francis, speaking in a video message to mark the feast of
Pentecost, says the post-pandemic world will be changed for “better or
worse” by the coronavirus crisis.
“Once we emerge from this pandemic, we will not be able to keep
doing what we were doing, and as we were doing it. No, everything will
be different,” he says.
– Jerusalem mosque reopens –
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site,
reopens after a more than two months, with new measures in place.
Worshippers have their temperatures taken and staff distribute
masks, while tape on the floor inside the mosque and on the stones
outside mark where people should pray at a safe distance.
– Saudi Arabia too –
Mask-clad worshippers flock to Saudi mosques that reopen
nationwide, except in the holy city of Mecca.
Worshippers are instructed to bring their own prayer mats and to
perform the cleansing ritual, or ablution, at home, instead of in
mosque grounds.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2110hrs