PARIS: The novel coronavirus has killed at least 436,806 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. At least 8,054,786 cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources on Monday.
Of these, at least 4,155,899 are considered recovered. The tallies probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases. The United States is the worst hit country with 117,951 deaths from 2,170,158 cases. At least 8,70,640 people have been declared recovered.
After the US, the countries with the highest death tolls are Brazil with 43,485 deaths from 873,963 infections, Britain with 41,736 deaths from 296,857 cases, Italy with 34,371 deaths from 237,290 cases, and France with 29,407 deaths from 157,220 cases.
China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 4,634 deaths and 83,181 infections with 78,370 recoveries.
Europe overall has 187,925 deaths from 2,411,653 cases, the United States and Canada have 123,928 deaths from 2,192,802 infections, Latin America and the Caribbean 79,777 deaths from 1,654,461 cases, Asia 23,361 deaths from 855,373 cases, the Middle East 11,848 deaths from 561,067 cases, Africa 6,523 deaths from 244,532 cases, and Oceania 131 deaths from 8,710 cases.
The number of deaths in Saudi Arabia surpassed1,000 on Monday, the health ministry said, amid a new surge in infections just weeks ahead of the Haj.
The death toll climbed to 1,011 as the total number of infections rose to 132,048, the highest in the Gulf, according to data from the ministry.
The number of daily cases exceeded 4,000 for the second day in a row on Monday. Intensive care units in the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah are crowded with coronavirus patients, putting pressure on the health care system, two medical sources told AFP.
Iran warned Monday it might have to reimpose tough measures to ensure social distancing, as it reported more than 100 deaths for a second straight day.
Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 113 new fatalities took to 8,950 the total number of COVID-19 deaths since the country´s outbreak began in February.
She also said another 2,449 people had tested positive in the past 24 hours, taking the overall caseload to 189,876.
The government shut down schools, postponed major public events, and barred inter-city travel to stop the virus´s spread in March before gradually easing restrictions from April.
Official figures have shown a rising trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections.
Chinese health officials reported 49 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including 36 more in the capital Beijing where a fresh cluster linked to a wholesale food market has fuelled fears of a second wave of infections.
In addition to the new Beijing cases, the National Health Commission said there were three confirmed cases in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing.
Chile´s new health minister announced Sunday that the country´s official death toll would include suspected cases, which could double the current figure.
Enrique Paris also said that quarantine measures in the Santiago metropolitan region would be extended "at least through June" after Chile recorded nearly 7,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.
The United States has recorded 382 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing its death toll to 115,729, according to a tally Sunday by Johns Hopkins University.
The world´s top economy is by far the hardest-hit country in the pandemic, with both the highest number of deaths and the largest number of infections -- 2,093,335 at 8:30 pm Sunday (0030 GMT Monday), a tracker maintained by the Baltimore-based university showed.
However, the country continues to register around 20,000 new cases and is struggling to come down from that plateau as infection rates fluctuate around the country.
UN agencies warned Monday that the coronavirus pandemic could kill an additional 51,000 under-fives in the Middle East and North Africa by the end of the year.
The World Health Organisation and United Nations children´s agency UNICEF said disruption of essential health and nutrition services risked "reversing progress (on) child survival in the region by nearly two decades".
A raft of EU nations reopened their borders to fellow Europeans on Monday after months of coronavirus curbs.
As caseloads have declined in recent weeks across many parts of Europe, governments have been keen to ease painful lockdowns that have saved lives but devastated economies and wearied confined populations.
Belgium, France, Germany, Greece and Ukraine were among those lifting border restrictions on Monday, while shops and outdoor attractions in England were set to welcome their first customers since March and in Paris cafes and restaurants were allowed to fully reopen.
Large queues were formed outside shops across England on Monday, as they opened their doors to customers for the first time in nearly three months after coronavirus lockdown measures were eased.
In London, crowds congregated outside the Nike store on Oxford Street, while Primark clothing stores in major cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool also saw long lines.
Visitors also returned to zoos and safari parks, places of worship were open again for private prayers, and some secondary school pupils returned to the classroom.
In the capital, commuters were forced to cover their faces on public transport network, while budget airline easyJet took off again for its first flights in 11 weeks.
A lockdown will be reimposed Friday on some 15 million people in the Indian city of Chennai and several neighbouring districts, state officials said, as coronavirus cases surge in the region.
"Full Lockdown from 19th for Chennai, Thiruvallur, Chengalpet & Kanchipuram districts," the Tamil Nadu state government tweeted Monday. It will be in place until the end of June.
India, home to 1.3 billion people, has gradually lifted a nationwide lockdown over the past few weeks even as new infections continue rising.
Tamil Nadu, where Chennai is the capital, is the second-worst hit state after Maharashtra.
The southern state has recorded just over 44,000 cases out of a nationwide total of 332,424, according to official figures. A majority of the cases are in Chennai, according to media reports.
Shops selling essential items and restaurants will be allowed to remain open from early morning until 2:00 pm local time during the lockdown.