.png)
-
Iraq’s health ministry reported the steepest single-day spike in coronavirus cases with 308 new infections since the government began recording cases in late February. As the country welcomes Eid al-Fitr, marking Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan, it has reported at least 4,200 cases and 152 deaths.
- Turkey’s health minister announced 32 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the country’s death toll to 4,308. Fahrettin Koca also reported 1,186 confirmed infections in the previous 24 hours, the highest number of the week, pushing the nationwide total to 55,686. An Eid al-Fitr weekend lockdown has been imposed in Turkey.
-
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, reported 949 new coronavirus cases, bringing the nationwide total to 21,745 with 1,351 deaths. As Indonesians head out to shop in preparation for the Eid celebration, a large market in Central Java was shut due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
-
More than 5.28 million people around the world are now confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University. More than 340,000 people have died globally, while more than two million people have recovered.
Here are the latest updates:
Sunday, May 24
11:38 GMT – China confirms three new coronavirus cases
China on Sunday reported three new confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Two of the cases were brought from outside the country and one locally transmitted in the northeastern province of Jilin that has experienced a minor outbreak now apparently largely contained.
No new deaths were reported and 79 people remain in treatment, with another 380 under isolation. China has reported a total of 4,634 COVID-19 deaths out of 82,974 cases.
11:10 GMT – South Korea reports 25 new cases, total at 11,190
South Korea reported 25 more cases of the new coronavirus Sunday as health officials are trying to bring mass infections tied to Seoul’s nightlife district of Itaewon under control, Yonhap news agency reported.
Total number of cases has now reached 11,190, while its death toll remained unchanged at 266, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Eight of the new cases came from overseas, and 17 are local infections, the statement said. The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 10,213, up 19 from a day earlier.
11:04 GMT – Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 431 to 178,281
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 431 to 178,281, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by 31 to 8,247, the tally showed, Reuters news agency reported.
10:30 GMT – Indonesia marks Eid al-Fitr, end of the Ramadan
Indonesians walk after praying to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a residential area amid the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bekasi, on the outskirts of capital Jakarta on Sunday [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]
01:57 GMT – New York Times front page lists virus victims; US deaths near 100,000
The New York Times newspaper has devoted Sunday’s entire front page to a long list of names of people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.
The names and brief descriptions culled from obituaries from around the country fill six columns under the headline: “US Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss,” with a subheadline reading: “They Were Not Simply Names on a List. They Were Us.”
The all-text list takes the place of the usual articles, photographs and graphics in an effort to convey the vastness and variety of lives lost, according to Simone Landon, assistant editor of the graphics desk.
A tally kept by Johns Hopkins University says more than 97,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States, while the Worldometers website showed more than 98,000 US deaths.
01:35 GMT – Mexico reports 65,856 coronavirus cases, 7,179 deaths
Mexican health authorities registered 3,329 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the country and 190 new deaths, Reuters news agency reported, quoting a health official. The total number of cases in the country has hit 65,856 with at least 7,179 deaths.
01:01 GMT – Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine trial has 50% chance of success – report
The University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine trial has only a 50 percent chance of success as the coronavirus cases ebb in Britain, the professor co-leading the development of the vaccine told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Adrian Hill, director of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, which has teamed up with drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc to develop the vaccine, ChAdOx1, said an upcoming trial, involving 10,000 volunteers, threatened to return “no result” due to low transmission of COVID-19 in the community.
“It’s a race against the virus disappearing, and against time”, Hill told the British newspaper. “At the moment, there’s a 50 percent chance that we get no result at all.” Human trials of the vaccine started in April.
00:40 GMT – Greece reports two coronavirus fatalities
Two fatalities from COVID-19 were reported in Greece during the most recent 24-hour period, bringing the death toll to 171, AP news agency reported quoting health authorities.
Another three new infections have been recorded since Friday afternoon, raising the nation’s total to 2,876. The number of patients on ventilators stands at 20, while 99 have left intensive care.
Greek authorities say they have performed 152,998 tests for the disease.
00:10 GMT – Brazil registers 965 new coronavirus deaths, cases hit 347,398
Brazil registered 965 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of fatalities to 22,013, the Ministry of Health said.
The country now has 347,398 confirmed cases, according to the ministry, up 16,508 from Friday, when it surpassed Russia to become the world’s virus hot spot behind the United States.
00:01 GMT – Argentina extends lockdown for Buenos Aires until June 7
Argentina extended a mandatory lockdown for the capital, Buenos Aires, until June 7, President Alberto Fernandez has announced, after the city saw a steady increase of coronavirus cases in recent days.
Argentina’s lockdown, which was due to expire on Sunday, has been in place since March 20, though officials relaxed restrictions in some areas of the country.
______________________________________________________________________
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
You can find all the updates from yesterday, May 23, here.
