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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.
- Worldwide, the number of people confirmed to have the coronavirus has risen to more than three million, and at least 2109,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Some 892,000 people have recovered.
- US President Donald Trump returned to his daily press briefings after a few days absence to attack China over its handling of the coronavirus, saying his administration was conducting “serious investigations” into what happened.
- The UN rights chief has warned that countries flouting the rule of law in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic risk sparking a “human rights disaster”.
Here are the latest updates:
Tuesday, April 28
02:30 GMT – China ‘unity’ song’ triggers outrage in the Philippines
A ‘unity’ song penned by China’s ambassador to the Philippines in tribute to efforts to tackle the coronavirus, and shared on YouTube has triggered outrage in the Southeast Asian nation.
Critics told Al Jazeera’s Jamela Alindogan the song was nothing more than propaganda, pointing out that the video was shared as China stepped up its controversial claims to the entire South China Sea. Parts of the waters are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
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China’s unity song backfires as propaganda on South China Sea |
02:20 GMT – Hong Kong civil servants to return to work from May 4
Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam says civil servants will begin returning to work from May 4 but the government has still to decide on whether to ease travel and social distancing measures that are due to expire next week.
The territory reported no new cases of coronavirus on Monday, and has had only 16 cases over the past nine days. There have been a total of 1,038 cases in Hong Kong since the outbreak began in January, with four deaths.
01:45 GMT – Hard to hold Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without COVID-19 vaccine
The head of the Japan Medical Association has said it will be difficult to hold the Tokyo Olympics next year without an effective vaccine against the coronavirus.
“I am not saying that Japan should or shouldn’t host the Olympics, but that it would be difficult to do so,” JMA President Yoshitake Yokokura said at a media briefing.
Japan had spent $13 billion preparing for the Games before annoucing a one-year delay last month.
01:30 GMT – Taiwan pushes WHO role in rare ministerial call with US
The health ministers of Taiwan and the US held a rare call late on Monday with Taiwan thanking the US for its support in pushing for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization despite Chinese objections.
Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung thanks US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar “for the strong support extended by the United States for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO,” Taiwan’s Health Ministry said in a statement.
“Minister Chen told Secretary Azar that he hopes the US will continue to support Taiwan’s full participation in the World Health Assembly as observer, and WHO meetings, mechanisms and activities,” it added.
The World Health Assembly is the WHO’s decision-making body.
This morning I spoke with Minister Chen of Taiwan regarding the #COVID19 outbreak. I thanked him for Taiwan’s efforts to share their best practices and resources with the U.S.
Now, more than ever, global health partnership is crucial and I appreciate Taiwan’s contributions. pic.twitter.com/SZQ3u8Jgrr
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) April 27, 2020
00:15 GMT – Three China activists missing after archiving censored virus news stories
Three Beijing-based Internet activists have gone missing after archiving online censored news stories about the coronavirus, a relative told AFP news agency,
Chen Mei, Cai Wei and his girlfriend with the family name Tang, disappeared on April 19, according to Chen’s brother Chen Kung. They had been working to collect articles and content about the virus for a crowd-sourced project on GitHub.
While #China‘s #COVID19 numbers look like they have truly overcome the pandemic, the Chinese government’s efforts to crack down on citizens sharing relevant content or information online continues. The latest episode is the arrest of three citizens …https://t.co/1oQLETsvxg
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 28, 2020
00:00 GMT – Australia’s Bondi Beach reopens as lockdown loosened
Sydney’s Bondi Beach and two neighbouring beaches have been reopened as the government of New South Wales, Australia’s most-populous state, began to loosen coronavirus restrictions.
The state said it would also allow up to two adults to visit another person’s home from Friday. They would also be allowed to take their children.
About half of Australia’s 6,723 cases of coronavirus have been in New South Wales.
People were up early to surf as Bondi Beach was reopened after it was closed to curb the spread of the coronavirus [Loren Elliott/Reuters]
23:30 GMT (Monday) – Trump resumes briefings, attacks China
US President Donald Trump returned to his daily briefings to attack China over its handling of the coronavirus.
Trump said China could have stopped the virus before it spread across the world and that his administration was investigating what happened.
“We’re doing very serious investigations. .. We are not happy with China,” Trump told the White House media conference. “There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable. We believe it could have been stopped at source. It could have been stopped quickly and wouldn’t have spread all over the world.”
You can read the updates from yesterday (April 27) here.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
