The novel coronavirus has infected over 4 million people as of Saturday afternoon, per Johns Hopkins data.
By the numbers: COVID-19 has killed over 277,000 worldwide as of Saturday. More than 1.3 million people have recovered from the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (over 1.3 million from 8.4 million tests), followed by Spain (over 222,000).
What’s happening: The United Kingdom is on track to enter its deepest annual recession in three centuries, the Bank of England forecast this week in its monetary policy report.
- In South Korea, new cases have emerged after the country relaxed social-distancing requirements, prompting concerns of a second wave.
- In Spain, more provinces will reopen on Monday, the country’s government announced Friday. Spain’s best-case scenario is that the country can lift all restrictions by the end of June, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last week.
- Major U.S. manufacturers and the Trump administration have pressured Mexico to keep factories open during the pandemic, to maintain the flow of supplies to the U.S., the New York Times reports.
- Black men and women are roughly twice as likely to die from the coronavirus than white people in England and Wales, the NHS reported in new data released Thursday.
- The Trump administrationsongoing offensive over Chinas handling of the coronavirus pandemic now centers on one question: Who was patient zero?
- France will begin reopening all businesses on May 11 except “social venues like cafes, bars and restaurants,” the country’s finance minister said Thursday.
- In Africa, 945 health care workers across 28 countries have been infected by the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization found in a new report.
- Secretary of StateMike Pompeo is planning to travel to Israel next week for a 24-hour visit, despite coronavirus restrictions.
- India’s lockdown was extended until May 18, but the country has allowed liquor stores to reopen and loosened stay-at-home orders in recent days doubling the rate of infections and the daily death toll, the New York Times reports.
- Germany eased lockdown restrictions and reopened stores on Wednesday, as the country allowed each state to control the timing for their reopening, the BBC reports.
- The Fed now has the largest balance sheet of all central banks, having surpassed the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan.
- The U.K. has exceeded Italy to report the most coronavirus deaths in Europe, per Johns Hopkins data and its own tracker.
The big picture: Policy responsesto the crisis have been every-country-for-itself and in the case of the U.S. and China tinged with geopolitical rivalry.
- But the scientific work underway to understand the virus and develop a vaccine has been globalized on an unprecedented scale.
Coronavirus symptoms include: Fever, cough, shortness of breath, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headaches, sore throat, and a loss of taste or smell.
Editors note: The graphic includes “probable deaths” thatNew York City began reporting on April 14. This article has been updated with new details throughout. Check back for the latest.
Go deeper… The coronavirus: What you can do
