Live Updates: France Confirms Its Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 20,000

The global death toll from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has exceeded 170,000 people, nearly 2,500,000 cases have been confirmed, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide stands at 2,473,209, with 170,042 deaths and 646,012 recoveries, the university said.

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the United States has topped 780,000, nearly 42,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

There are 783,290 COVID-19 cases in the United States, while the death toll stands at 41,872, the university said.

A total of 72,015 people have recovered.

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Brazil has exceeded 40,000, the country's Health Ministry said.

"A total of 40,581 cases have been confirmed, 2,845 people have died," the ministry said.

The day before, 2,462 deaths and 38,654 cases were reported.

Most cases were registered in the state of Sao Paulo.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The number of COVID-19 cases among US military personnel has reached 3,438 while the overall count increased to 5,335 with civilians accounted for within the Defense Department, the Pentagon revealed in a press release on Monday.

The US Navy has the most confirmed cases with a total of 1,240 and the US Army is second with 819 confirmed cases, the release showed.

The number of individuals currently hospitalized is 261 and 1,331 recoveries, the release said. No new deaths have been reported as the death count stands at 22.

The United States has more than 762,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 40,700 deaths caused by the disease as of Monday afternoon, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

PARIS (Sputnik) - The death toll from the coronavirus reported in France's hospitals and care facilities has topped 20,000 after 547 deaths were registered in the preceding 24 hours, Jerome Salomon, the head of the state health agency, said on Monday.

“The total death toll is 20,265,” he said, adding that the total number of active cases increased by over 2,000 to 114,657.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has fallen for the twelfth day in a row to 5,683, including 208 put there over the past day, Salomon said.

As many as 30,584 coronavirus-infected people remain in hospitals, including 1,465 hospitalized in the past 24 hours, he said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has not concealed any information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic from the United States as it has a longstanding relationship with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

Last week, the administration of President Donald Trump halted its funding of WHO, accusing it of allegedly misinforming the world about COVID-19 at the behest of China.

"Having CDC staff means there is nothing hidden from the US from day one, because these are Americans who are working with us and [it] just comes naturally, and they just tell [Washington] what they are doing. And for WHO, it's open, we don't hide anything. It's open, not only for CDC, them sending messages, or others. We want all countries to get the same message immediately," Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing.

This is not the first time the organization faces criticism of its handling of a viral disease outbreak. In 2015, WHO was panned for its response to the Ebola epidemic.

When it comes to COVID-19 pandemic, WHO is being blamed for allegedly kowtowing to Beijing, and arguing against the effectiveness of wearing face masks as well as adopting travel restrictions to stop the spread of the disease.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The introduction of antibody tests to determine whether people have been exposed to COVID-19 in the past need to be used with caution because scientists have yet to determine how long someone with antibodies remains protected against re-infection, White House COVID-19 task force member Anthony Fauci said in an interview on Monday.

“We do not know what an antibody titer means. There is an assumption, a reasonable assumption, that when you have an antibody that you are protected against reinfection. But that has not been proven for this particular virus,” Fauci told ABC. “We don’t know how long that protection, if it exists, lasts. Is it one month? 3 months, 6 months, a year?”

A recent Stanford University test of 3,000 people in the state of California concluded that the true infection rate was between 50-and-85 times the level of confirmed COVID-19 victims.

Moreover, scientists have said that up to one-in-four infected people never know that they had been infected in the first place.

In the United States, testing remains restricted to those with COVID-19 symptoms such as fever and a dry cough – the result of a chronic shortage of tests that has yet to be resolved.

Fauci is also the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday imposed a curfew in 31 worst affected Turkish provinces, including the capital city of Ankara and the largest city of Istanbul, over the coronavirus epidemic from April 23 to April 26.

Curfews over COVID-19 were already imposed twice before in 31 Turkish provinces from April 11-12 and April 18-19.

"Effective 00:00 on April 23, a four-day curfew is imposed in 31 provinces," Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation.

According to the Turkish leader, the "modern measures" have already started having an effect as the number of tests in Turkey began increasing amid of decreasing cases. 

"Soon, the number of deaths will begin decreasing, I hope," Erdogan said.

On Saturday, the Turkish government extended the lockdown in the 31 provinces, among them Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya, for 15 more days.

As of Tuesday, the Turkish health authorities have reported 90,980 COVID-19 cases, including 2,140 fatalities.

Japan has registered a record daily increase in its COVID-19 death toll as 25 people have lost their lives on Monday due to complications from the disease, national media reported, citing health authorities in the country.

According to the Kyodo News agency, the total number of people who have died after contracting COVID-19 in Japan now stands at 276.

As of Monday, the overall case total in Japan is at least 11,137, the agency reported. This figure excludes more than 700 people who tested positive for the disease on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which docked off the coast of Japan and was quarantined.

Earlier in the day, the Japanese minister for foreign affairs Toshimitsu Motegi stated that the global economy is facing its worst crisis since World War II as a result of the global pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday declared a nationwide state of emergency as a result of the coronavirus disease pandemic, effective until May 6. Earlier, emergency measures had been in force in Tokyo and six other prefectures.

The number of people who have contracted COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 10,000, Muhammad Abdulaali, a spokesman for the country's Health Ministry, said on Monday during a press conference broadcast by the country's state television.

According to Abdulaali, there have been 1,122 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, bringing the overall number to 10,484.

The number of recoveries has reached 1,490, while the death toll is 103 people.

On April 6, Saudi Arabia declared a 24-hour curfew in several of its cities, including its capital of Riyadh.

The number of Italians infected with coronavirus has declined for the first time since the start of the epidemic, the head of the country's civil protection agency said on Monday.

"Up to now there has been a total of 181,228 cases. There has been an increase of 2,256 persons compared to yesterday. At the moment, there are 108,237 persons positive for the virus, and this is a decrease of 20 compared to yesterday. This is a positive data, because it means the number of active cases is going down," Angelo Borrelli said at a briefing.

"Today we registered 454 new deaths," he added.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - New York City has decided to cancel all public events that had been scheduled for the month of June as part of its efforts to curb the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press briefing on Monday.

“This probably will not surprise you, but I'm now reporting today that we will cancel city permits for June events as well,” de Blasio said.

Last week, de Blasio announced the cancellation of non-essential events in May.

According to the mayor, authorities and organizers are currently exploring options on how they can reschedule the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Celebrate Israel Parade and Pride parade, among other events that were due to be held later in the year.

“We will know a lot more in the coming weeks,” de Blasio said, adding that the three indicators tracking the spread of COVID-19 must be consistently down in the city for the events to take place.

The latest data revealed that the number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 went down from 317 on April 17 to 212 the following day, as well as the citywide percentage of people testing positive for the virus from decreased from 38 to 34. However, Intensive Care Unites admissions have seen a daily increase from 849 to 853.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A batch of hundreds of thousands of medical masks and tens of thousands of goggles and protective suits has been shipped from China to the Dutch Schiphol airport in the Netherlands' capital city of Amsterdam on Monday, the country's Minister for Medical Care Martin van Rijn said.

"Great news, there was an airlift with protective equipment from China. Tonight at Schiphol, the first flight was welcomed with hundreds of thousands of masks, 30,000 coats and 30,000 protective goggles," the minister said on Twitter and to Dutch media.

The total number of masks was reportedly 800,000.

The delivery reportedly included FFP2 professional masks that were inspected and approved by the Dutch authorities in Shanghai before signing the contract.

The Netherlands will be receiving deliveries of personal protective equipment from China every day in the coming weeks. It is expected that a total of about 6 million masks will be shipped.

Van Rijn has previously said that China had already sent 30,000 protective clothing units and 30,000 safety goggles to the European country.

The Netherlands has so far confirmed 33,405 COVID-18 cases with 3,751 fatalities and 9,779 recoveries, according to the National Institute for Public Health and Environment.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A total of 137 doctors have passed away in Italy due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Monday, citing the national federation of doctors' guilds.

Seven doctors have died on Monday. The latest casualty is said to be Antonio Lerose, an ear, nose and throat specialist.

Italy is one of the worst-hit countries by the coronavirus outbreak, with 178,972 confirmed cases and 23,660 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK’s Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has praised health care professionals, volunteers, and other essential workers for their efforts amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in a statement released on Monday.

“As we approach World Immunisation Week, I wanted to recognise the vital and urgent work being done by so many to tackle the pandemic; by those in the medical and scientific professions, at universities and research institutions, all united in working to protect us from COVID-19,” Prince Philip wrote in a statement published on the Royal Family’s official website.

The Duke of Edinburgh also praised the efforts of postal staff, trash collectors and those working in food production for continuing to work during the health crisis.

As of 08:00 GMT on Sunday, a total of 120,067 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the UK since the start of the outbreak. The death toll as of 16:00 GMT on Saturday stood at 16,060.

Several leading UK political figures, such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have tested positive for the coronavirus disease. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is currently standing in for the prime minister as he continues his recovery.

LONDON (Sputnik) - Scotland’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 12 in the past day, bringing the total to 915, while the number of those infected has reached 8,450, first Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Monday.

In a televised update, Sturgeon added that 169 people were currently in intensive care with “confirmed or suspected” COVID-19 infection.

This is a fraction of the United Kingdom’s overall numbers, which is counting upwards of 120,000 cases and 16,000 deaths — most of them in more populous England.

Similar to the UK-wide statistics, Scotland is only counting the number of deaths in hospitals and does not tally the number of recoveries.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The coming weeks will demonstrate how to further deal with the spread of the coronavirus infection in the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday.

"We will understand what is happening and what is the dynamics of development, within a week and a half. It will be more or less clear how we will move on, as we have long been living in a mode of limited movements and self-isolation," Sobyanin said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

On Saturday, the municipal authorities extended the temporary restrictions imposed in Moscow on April 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic until May 1. In a bid to curb the virus, residents have been banned from leaving their homes without special digital passes.

As of Monday, Moscow has registered 26,350 COVID-19 cases, including 1,838 recoveries and 204 deaths. In Russia, 47,121 cases have been registered so far.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Portugal has recorded 657 new cases of COVID-19 within the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 20,863, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.

The number of fatalities has increased by 21, reaching 735, while the number of recoveries remains at 610.

The country is currently operating under a state of emergency that will last until May 2.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of people in Afghanistan confirmed to have the new coronavirus rose by 30 in the past day, with three patients dying from it, media cited the Health Ministry spokesman as saying on Monday.

Wahidullah Mayar told reporters at a briefing that the total number of infected had risen to 1,026, according to Tolo News. The capital accounted for half of the new cases. Kabul also reported two of the three new virus-related deaths.

There has been a shortage of testing kits and protective gear in the Central Asian country. Mayar said United Nations was to deliver 5,000 kits later on Monday. He also confirmed that 110 health workers had tested positive so far, with four of them dying.

BERLIN (Sputnik) - The German federal state of Bavaria will introduce a regulation requiring that masks be worn in public places beginning on April 27 as part of measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, Markus Soder, the state’s minister president, said on Monday.

"Today, there is a regulation for masks. This week, it [wearing masks] is voluntary, but starting from next week, when stores open, when students can go to schools, we will need good protection, starting so from next week, we will introduce the obligation to wear masks," Soder said, addressing the regional parliament.

The state's head added that it would be mandatory to wear masks in shops and public transport.

Bavaria, one of the worst-hit regions in Germany, will become the third state to make wearing masks mandatory, after Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Though there is no such requirement at the federal level, the federal government strongly recommends wearing masks in public places.

As of Monday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased to 141,672, and the death toll has risen to 4,404, with Bavaria recording a total of 37,849 cases.

As the world continues to struggle in finding a substantive cure for COVID-19, the Indian government has launched a programme to fund research for the same. The proposals include research on DNA vaccine, inactivated rabies vector platform and BCG vaccine.

India's Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council had invited applications on COVID-19 Research Consortium, under which 16 proposals of devices, diagnostics, vaccine candidates, therapeutics and other interventions have been recommended for receiving funding support.

Australia's new application tracing the contacts of users and warning about the risk of contracting COVID-19, which was introduced in a bid to curb the coronavirus pandemic, has raised privacy concerns among the population and data privacy experts, The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the newspaper, citing Vanessa Teague, the chief executive of Thinking Cybersecurity and an adjunct professor at the Australian National University, there will still be concerns until the government has formally made the data inaccessible to law enforcement agencies. The so-called centralized model, envisaging that officials would de-encrypt contact information based on a positive test for COVID-19, means that they will get access to a complete list of people's contacts. Instead, the government should use the decentralized model of the app, when it directly notifies users if they are a close contact of someone diagnosed with COVID-19, preventing the health authorities from getting access to personal data.

The newspaper also added that it was wrong to link the success of the app with lifting of the lockdown, as Singapore and South Korea, which used similar apps, still had lockdown measures in force.

So far, Australia has registered more than 6,600 cases of the disease, including 71 fatalities and over 4,200 recoveries.

Israel is not planning to return its diplomats to the homeland from Russia amid the coronavirus pandemic, Interim Charge d'Affaires of Israel in Moscow Eli Belotserkovsky said on Monday in an interview with Sputnik.

"Diplomats and their families are in Moscow, there are no plans to evacuate them [due to the pandemic]," Belotserkovsky said.

The diplomat added that the pandemic was a common problem for the whole world.

COVID-19 has claimed so far the lives of more than 165,000 worldwide, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, over 2.4 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally.

The Greek government is considering the step-by-step easing of restrictions against the spread of COVID-19 starting next month, most likely May 4, the Kathimerini newspaper reported on Monday.

Greece has been under quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19 since March 23, with citizens prohibited from leaving their residences except for going to work, shopping for food, medical emergencies and other necessities.

According to the newspaper, while the government does not intend to lift the restrictions too early, it is aware of the need to ease the pressure on citizens.

The first phase is said to involve the opening of small shops, which will operate under strict regulations.

Cafes, bars and restaurants are to be considered for reopening later, after the impact of the initial easing has been evaluated.

Schools are likely to be reopened in June or July, but only so that high school seniors can take university admissions tests.

Social distancing rules will be applied in all cases.

Greece currently has a total of 2,235 COVID-19 cases, with 110 fatalities and 269 recoveries, per the country's official statistics.

The total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Israel has risen by almost 300 to 13,654, with the death toll increasing to 173, the country’s Health Ministry said on Monday.

Two patients have died from the disease over the past 24 hours, according to the ministry’s report at 8 a.m. (05:00 GMT). There are 150 individuals are in critical condition, with 114 of them having received medical aid via lung ventilators.

The report said that the total of recoveries has reached 3,872, with 308 cases having been confirmed on Monday.

On Sunday, Israel has begun to gradually lift social restrictive measures introduced to limit the spread of COVID-19. Electronics and home goods stores have resumed operations, and citizens are permitted to exercise outdoors in groups of no more than two people.

The number of coronavirus cases in Iran has increased by 1,294 over the past day to reach a total of 83,505 while 91 more deaths have taken the toll to 5,209, Kainoush Jahanpour, spokesman for Iran’s Health Ministry, said Monday.

Jahanpour added that 3,389 patients remain in critical condition while the total number of patients who have recovered is nearly 60,000.

The numbers represent a continuing incremental slowdown in cases across the country. Certain shops and businesses were allowed to reopen over the weekend.

Iran has the highest coronavirus death toll among Middle Eastern nations, although Turkey on Saturday surpassed Iran with the total case numbers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) thanked Germany for the contribution of 500,000 euros ($544,000) to help in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Since late March, the IAEA has helped countries diagnose COVID-19 infections using the nuclear-derived coronavirus detection technique of the real-time RT-PCR (reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction), as well as sending out personal protection equipment to countries with shortages.

“Many thanks to Germany for the generous donation of €500,000 to the Agency in these urgent times of #coronavirus. This contribution will help us send out more testing equipment and protective gear to countries in much need,” the IAEA wrote on Twitter.

IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi for his part thanked Germany for the contribution, writing in a tweet “together we will defeat the virus.”

The agency’s efforts against the pandemic have been employed by at least 46 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a statement posted earlier this month.

Germany’s contribution comes in addition to similar donations from the United States, China, Norway, Canada and others, according to the agency.

Heads of the UN's major agencies have issued a letter with an urgent appeal for $350 million to support the global logistics system amid the coronavirus pandemic after disclosing that international donors have so far made available about $550 million of the $2 billion requested in March for emergency COVID-19 response.

On March 25, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that the United Nations had launched a $2-billion plan to help the world's most vulnerable countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and advert humanitarian catastrophes.

"The UN Secretary-General on 25 March launched the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, requesting US$2 billion to boost the global response. You have been fast and generous in your funding and have extended lifelines to those who were already caught up in war, poverty and the worst effects of climate change — especially at a time when your own populations are suffering from the impact of the virus. Around $550 million has generously been made available to implement the Plan so far, with significant additional resources being mobilized and pledged," the letter said.

According to UN officials, $350 million are urgently needed to support global logistics services and ensure efficient response to COVID-19 for the most vulnerable communities.

"We, humanitarian organizations from across the world, therefore, call upon you to urgently support this global emergency supply system with an initial $350 million to enable a rapid scale-up of logistics common services. These services, which WFP [UN World Food Program] provides on behalf of the entire global humanitarian community, will enable a swift, efficient response to COVID-19 for the most vulnerable people. Any delay in our action could undermine global efforts to bring the pandemic under control," the letter pointed out.

The letter is signed, among others, by the heads of the WFP, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, UN Refugee Agency and the UN’s emergency relief coordinator.

According to data from the Johns Hopkins University, there are now over 2.4 million coronavirus cases confirmed globally and more than 165,000 deaths from COVID-19.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic consequences of it may have "a contradictory" effect on the global transition the renewable sources of energy, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in a report on Monday.

"Unforeseen developments may well influence the energy transition. The outbreak of the coronavirus is disrupting global supply chains in many sectors, including renewable energy. The oil price volatility observed in early 2020 has contradictory effects. It is unlikely to have a significant impact on renewables in the power sector (where oil plays a limited role) but could affect the speed of electrification in the transport sector. Oil price volatility could also undermine the viability of unconventional oil and gas," the report, shared with Sputnik, read.

Even though the short-term impact on the energy transition will be negative, it is unlikely to affect the long-term planning on the reduction of emissions and sustainable development, the agency noted.

Since the energy market has faced a tremendous crisis due to the falling demand and the failure of the OPEC+ talks in April, the investments into the fossil fuel sector will prove to be "shortsighted and increasingly risky," leading to many assets being stranded, according to IRENA.

"Due to the slow progress to date in reducing emissions from the energy sector, already USD 11.8 trillion in assets will need to be stranded by 2050 in the Transforming Energy Scenario [presented by IRENA in the report]. Moreover, further delaying action for another 10 years would result in an additional USD 7.7 trillion in stranded assets by 2050," the report read.

The renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, biofuel and others, prevailed among new additions to the global power generation mix in 2019. The renewables’ capacity increased by 176 gigawatts (GW) in 2019, reaching a total of 2,537 GW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Despite the growth the renewable energy showcased last year, there are fears that the COVID-19 pandemic can slow down the transition to the alternative sources of energy. Many supply chains have been disrupted and part of the renewable energy facilities and factories have been shut down to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Russia has registered 4,268 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 47,121, the national coronavirus response response center said on Monday.

"Over the past 24 hours, 4,268 COVID-19 cases have been registered in 76 regions. Of these, 1,935 (or 45.3 percent) have been detected actively as those who have been in contact with infected people, without showing clinical symptoms," the center said in a statement, adding that Russia has so far confirmed 47,121 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions.

Of all the new cases, 2,026 have been registered in Moscow, 578 in Moscow region and 113 in Nizhny Novgorod region.

The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased by 44 to 405 over the past 24 hours.

As many as 115 patients have recovered over the given period, bringing the total number of cured people to 3,446.

"We've secured 25 million gowns from China, those will be coming in," Culture Minister Oliver Dowden told LBC Radio. "We're working across the globe to get supplies."

No deaths from the coronavirus disease have been registered in Thailand for the third day in a row, Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the national coronavirus response center, said on Monday, adding that there are 27 new COVID-19 patients.

"Today, 27 new cases of infection have been registered and, for the third day in a row, not a single death from the coronavirus infection [have been detected]," Visanuyothin said at a daily briefing.

The spokesman said that the total toll in the country amounted to 2,792, and the number of fatal cases stood at 47. A total of 1,995 people fully recovered from the disease.

Moreover, according to Visanuyothin, no COVID-19 cases have been registered in nine out of Thailand's 76 provinces over the last 28 days.

"When we're dealing with an unprecedented crisis like this we're not going to have perfect 20:20 hindsight vision on this," he told BBC TV. "Of course we will need to look back and see the things we could have done differently.

"But right now people would not be expecting us to be looking back over the past few months, they would be expecting us to be dealing with this crisis on a day to day basis. We have said that we will of course review all the lessons that we need to learn from this and indeed learn the lessons globally."

Since some airlines did not heed our advisory & opened bookings & started collecting money from flyers, a directive was issued to them on 19th April restraining them from doing so.

They were also informed that they will be given sufficient notice & time to commence bookings.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) April 20, 2020

President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei has prolonged the nationwide curfew in the country in light of the COVID-19 pandemic for one more week, until 26 April.

"The orders for this week remain the same, except for the curfew, which will be in effect from 06:00 p. m. [00:00 a. m.] to 04:00 a. m. [10:00 a. m.] of the next day," a statement published in the president's Twitter account said.

Initially, the curfew in Guatemala was declared on 22 March and has been extended twice. Previously, the curfew was in effect from 04:00 p. m. to 04:00 a. m.

On Sunday, Giammattei announced an easing of restrictions in the country amid the pandemic. Thus, citizens of all Guatemalan departments except Guatemala, Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango and El Progreso were allowed to move within the country.

According to the latest data, there are 289 COVID-19 cases across the country, and seven patients died from the disease.

The coronavirus disease pandemic has been an unprecedented blow to China's economic development, but the government is confident that it would overcome the difficulties, Yan Pengcheng, an official with the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, said on Monday.

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said last week that the country's GDP fell by 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first recorded GDP decrease in China since 1992, when Beijing started to publish official statistics.

"The first quarter of this year was extremely unusual, the new coronavirus epidemic is the most acute crisis since the World War II, which has become an unprecedented blow for China's economic development, and all major macroeconomic indicators have significantly decreased," Yan said at a press conference.

The official added that the economic situation in the first quarter of 2020 could not be seen as a reflection of basic economic realities of China, as the pandemic disrupted normal economic activity in many countries. Yan added that the pandemic represented an unprecedented challenge for the national economy, but expressed confidence in Beijing abilities to curb the negative impact of the outbreak.

According to the Chinese National Health Commission, the country now has 82,747 confirmed coronavirus cases. The death toll is 4,632; over 77,000 COVID-19 patients have been released from hospitals.

Sudan has registered 26 more coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, which brings the total of those infected to 92, the Health Ministry has said.

"The health ministry announced that it had registered 26 cases and two more deaths from the coronavirus, according to epidemiological reports on 19 April 2020," the ministry said in a statement, adding that new cases and fatalities were recorded in the province of Khartoum.

According to the ministry, the total number of deaths has reached 12, while the total of recoveries having increased up to eight.

Meanwhile, Libyan health authorities have registered 51 COVID-19 cases in the country with 11 recoveries. The death toll remains at one.

The number of people who contracted the coronavirus disease in India has increased by more than 1,500 bringing the total toll to 17,265, the country's Health Ministry reported on Monday.

The previous reports indicated that 15,712 people were diagnosed with COVID-19.

According to the ministry, a total of 543 people died of the disease across the country, 2,546 more recovered and were discharged from hospitals, and one patient left the country.

The biggest number of cases — 4,203 ones — have been registered in the central state of Maharashtra, followed by the National Capital Territory of Delhi with 2,003 cases.

Last week, the  ministry published a list of 170 districts it designated as hotspots of infection. However, some 400 regions where no cases of infection were registered were labeled green zones.

India is currently under the world’s largest lockdown, with 1.4 billion people ordered to stay indoors until at least 3 May. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the lockdown through 3 May while some agricultural activity will be allowed to resume later in April.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 1,775 to 141,672, and the death toll has risen by 110 to 4,404 in the past 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute said Monday.

The new figures are a significant drop from the 2,458 new cases and the 184 fatalities reported on Sunday.

According to the latest data, the most cases have been recorded in Bavaria (37,849), North Rhine-Westphalia (28,971) and Baden-Wurttemberg (28,253). Berlin has 5,196 cases.

The number of recoveries has increased by some 3,500 to about 91,500.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged the world's 20 largest economies (G20) during health ministers’ virtual meeting to support global response to the coronavirus pandemic and eliminate trade barriers.

On Sunday, G20 health ministers held a video conference to discuss the global fight against the coronavirus. In a joint statement after the virtual meeting, they admitted that the pandemic had highlighted "systemic weaknesses in health systems" and agreed to improve knowledge sharing and close the gap in response capabilities and readiness.

After the meeting, Tedros said that he voiced "three asks" at the meeting.

"1. Fight #COVID19 with determination, guided by science & evidence 2. Continue to support the global response 3. Work together to increase the production & equitable distribution of essential supplies & remove trade barriers," he tweeted.

He also thanked the ministers for "their commitment to a coordinated approach to fighting #COVID19" and urged the nations to support African countries with stimulus packages and debt relief amid the pandemic.

As of Sunday, over 2.2 million cases of the infection have been confirmed worldwide, according to the WHO. Over 152,000 patients have died.