At least 265,366 people have died of the novel coronavirus since the epidemic surfaced in China late last year, according to international media reports, as countries around the world have started easing lockdowns. There have been more than 38,36,812 officially recorded cases spanning 195 countries and territories.
The United States is the worst-hit country, with 73,497 deaths out of more than 1.25 million cases. Britain follows with 30,076, though there is some debate over the figures there.
Figures compiled by British regional health agencies put the number of fatalities at over 32,000, which include cases where COVID-19 is only suspected to be the cause and people who tested positive. Italy follows with 29,684 deaths, Spain with 25,857 and France with 25,809.
Senior school students in 121 institutions in the Chinese city of Wuhan -- ground zeroof the pandemic -- returned to class, wearing masks and walking in single file past thermal scanners.
Only the oldest students in the province of Hubei have returned to school -- vocational students and seniors due to take the make-or-break university entrance exams.
Return dates have generally not been confirmed for junior and middle school students. South Korea has returned largely to normal as workers go back to offices, and museums and libraries reopen under eased social distancing rules.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday he could begin to ease a nationwide coronavirus lockdown next week, but warned he would do nothing that would risk a new surge of cases. He was speaking the day after Britain overtook Italy to become the worst-hit country in Europe.
Johnson said that "every death is a tragedy", calling the statistics "appalling", but said there was not yet enough data to make international comparisons.
In particular, he said he "bitterly regrets" the deaths in care homes, which stand at more than 6,000, but added that there had been a "palpable improvement" in the last few days.
The wider death rate is coming down, six weeks after the government imposed stay-at-home orders to stem the rate of infection, and the lockdown measures are up for review on Thursday.
Speaking in parliament for the first time since he himself was hospitalised with coronavirus, Johnson said the government would review the data and he would set out the next steps on Sunday.
"We´ll want if we possibly can to get going with some of these measures on Monday. I think it would be a good thing if people had an idea of what is coming," he said.
However, the government has previously stressed that measures would only be lifted gradually. Johnson repeated on Wednesday: "It would be an economic disaster for this country if we were to pursue a relaxation of these measures now in such a way as to trigger a second spike."
Meanwhile, the tiny gambling enclave of Macau reached the landmark of 28 days in a row with no new confirmed cases -- which many epidemiologists says is the threshold for being able to declare an outbreak over.
The densely crowded semi-autonomous Chinese city had early infections but quickly shut its borders. It has recorded just 45 cases and no deaths. For the Middle East, its main source of income, which is oil, has been hit after a global decrease in prices, thus, the lockdown came as a double whammy for the region.
The Middle Eastern countries have also sent back many expatriates who were working in the region to their respective countries in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Saudi Arabia on April 26 eased curfews across the kingdom but is yet to lift restrictions in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina.
According to a royal decree, curfews will be eased between 9am and 5pm until May 13 in the area outside Makkah and other lockdown areas,
The royal order also allowed some economic and commercial activities to restart, including wholesale and retail shops and shopping malls, from Wednesday until May 13.
The shops have been asked to ensure that the distance between customers should be at least 10 square metres. Malls have been directed to be sterilised every 24 hours and children under 15 have been banned from entering them.
Riyadh has also decided to not open up schools, mosques and restaurants as maintaining due to social distancing problems. Social gatherings of more than five people also remain banned because of COVID-19, Reuters reported.
The state news agency has also reported that activities which do not allow physical distancing, including salons and cinemas, will remain closed.
In a step to further control the spread of the coronavirus, authorities in Riyadh have asked people not to use banknotes.
Saudi Arabia has also allowed entry and exit in the Qatif province from April 30 onwards.
In the UAE, Dubai took the lead among the emirates and was the first to announce the easing of lockdown restrictions on April 23 by setting rules for citizens and expatriates to follow.
The emirate has made it compulsory for individuals who step out of their homes to wear a face mask and avoid touching any surfaces or their face. Anyone found violating the order will have to pay a fine of 1,000 dirhams.
The publication reported that Dubai has also barred senior citizens and people with existing medical conditions from leaving their homes. It added that domestic workers have also been prohibited from meeting anyone outside the home or receiving food from unknown sources.
Following Dubai, on May 3, UAE capital Abu Dhabi also allowed the reopening of malls to a limited number of customers,
Meanwhile, Sharjah also reopened its malls to the public. Bahrain has made it mandatory to wear masks outdoors after easing some restrictions at the start of Ramazan.
The country had previously announced that shopping malls and some stores will reopen on April 9.
However, Bahrain announced that it has extended the closure measures it took to limit the spread of the coronavirus for two additional weeks from April 23 until May 7.
Oman’s Supreme Committee formed for dealing with the coronavirus crisis on April 28 had decided to open some business activities.
The committee decided to open businesses after reviewing the economic impacts of the pandemic, particularly commercial and industrial activities.
The businesses allowed to reopen are vehicle repair workshops, fishing boat repair workshops, car parts sale shops, outlets selling spare parts of fishing equipment, outlets selling electronic and electrical appliances and computers, outlets repairing home electrical appliances/equipment, satellite transmission equipment outlets, car rental offices, equipment and machinery rent offices, sale in outlets specialised in stationery and office supplies, printing presses, quarries and stone crushers.
Kuwait, on the other hand, has decided to extend the suspension of work across all state institutions until May 28 and expanding its nationwide curfew to 16 hours.
Initially, the suspension was supposed to last until April 26 when it was announced last month. Meanwhile, at least 90,000 healthcare workers worldwide are believed to have been infected with COVID-19, and possibly twice that, amid reports of continuing shortages of personal protective equipment, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) said on Wednesday.
The disease has killed more than 260 nurses, it said in a statement, urging authorities to keep more accurate records to help prevent the virus from spreading among staff and patients.
The Geneva-based association said a month ago that 100 nurses had died in the pandemic sparked by the novel coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
“The figure for healthcare workers infections has risen from 23,000 to we think more than 90,000, but that is still an underestimation because it is not (covering) every country in the world,” Howard Catton, ICN’s chief executive officer, said.
The 90,000 estimate is based on information collected on 30 countries from national nursing associations, government figures and media reports. The ICN represents 130 national associations and more than 20 million registered nurses.
Iran warned of a "rising trend" in its coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday as it said 1,680 new infections took its overall caseload beyond the 100,000 mark.
The Islamic republic has struggled to contain the Middle East´s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak since announcing its first cases in mid-February.
Concerns were raised last month about the threat of a "second wave" of the virus in a report by parliament that criticised the government´s slow response.
"We are witnessing a rising trend in the past three or four days, which is significant," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference.
The rise was "based on our behaviour, especially in the past two weeks, considering that a part of society has apparently had a change of attitude," he added.
Meanwhile, China hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, saying he "doesn´t have any" evidence.
Washington and Beijing have clashed repeatedly over the virus, which emerged in China late last year but has since spiralled into a global pandemic.
Pompeo said on Sunday that there was "enormous evidence" to show that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
"I think this matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a regular press briefing.
"Pompeo repeatedly spoke up but he cannot present any evidence. How can he? Because he doesn´t have any," she said.
Most scientists believe the new virus jumped from animals to humans, with suspicion around a market in Wuhan that sold wildlife for meat.
Beijing´s UN ambassador in Geneva said China will not invite international experts to investigate the source of COVID-19 until after securing the "final victory" over the virus.
China´s priority is first beating the pandemic -- and secondly countering the "absurd and ridiculous" US politicisation of the new coronavirus, Chen Xu told reporters in an online briefing.
The WHO says it is waiting on an invitation from China to take part in its investigations into the animal origins of the virus, first reported in the city of Wuhan in December.
Asked when the WHO could expect an invitation, Chen replied: "The top priority, for the time being, is to focus on the fight against the pandemic until we win the final victory.
"It´s not that we are allergic to any kind of investigations, inquiries or evaluations," he said, as they could aid international efforts to prepare for future public health emergencies.
"For whether or how the invitation will take place, we need to have the right priority setting at this moment, and on the other hand, we need the right atmosphere."
Chen said the atmosphere had been soured by "politically-motivated" accusations against China, "smearing, demonising" its handling of the initial outbreak.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on plans announced the previous day to shut down the task force advising him on the coronavirus pandemic.
The White House´s earlier suggestion that the high-level team could close around the start of June was Trump´s latest signal that he thinks it´s time to move on from the health crisis and reopen the economy.
But in a series of tweets Wednesday, he said the task force had been so successful that it "will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN."
The president, however, said that he could "add or subtract people" to the group, which suggested the situation remained fluid.
Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the task force, said Tuesday he was "starting to look at the Memorial Day window, early June window" for shutting it down. That holiday falls on May 25.
* Total cases in Germany increased by 1,284 to 166,091 and fatalities rose by 123 to 7,119.
* Deaths in Italy climbed by 369 on Wednesday, while the daily tally of new infections also rose by 1,444.
* Spain has extended the state of emergency for two more weeks from Sunday.
* The United Kingdom has drawn up a three-stage plan to ease its lockdown, The Times newspaper said.
* Number of new cases in Russia rose by more than 10,000 for the fourth consecutive day.
