Worldwide corona death toll rises to 209,244

PARIS: The new coronavirus claimed at least 209,244 lives across the world at 11:40 GMT on Monday, with more than 3,029,746 cases registered in 193 countries and territories of which at least 900,334 are now considered recovered. Many countries are testing only the most serious cases.

The United States has the highest number of deaths with 56,139 out of 995,288 cases. Italy has the second highest toll with 26,977 deaths out of 199,414 cases, followed by Spain with 23,521 deaths and 229,422 cases, France 22,856 deaths and 162,100 cases, and the United Kingdom 20,732 fatalities and 152,840 cases.

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 4,633 deaths and 82,830 cases, including one new fatality and three new infections.

Europe has a total of 124,759 deaths from 1,379,443 cases, the United States and Canada have 57,513 deaths and 1,012,573 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean have 8,292 deaths and 169,174 cases, Asia has 8,077 deaths and 204,217 cases, the Middle East has 6,392 deaths and 156,097 cases, Africa has 1,425 deaths from 32,015 cases, and Oceania has 109 deaths from 8,023 cases.

Iran Monday announced 96 deaths but said daily confirmed new infections had fallen below 1,000 for the first time in more than a month. The latest fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours brought the overall death toll to 5,806, said health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour. Detected cases of infection rose by 991 to total 91,472 since the start of Iran´s outbreak, the deadliest in the Middle East.

In addition, Jahanpour said more than 700 people had died of poisoning in the month to April 19 after drinking alcohol in the mistaken belief it can kill the virus. Although its sale and consumption is banned in the Islamic republic, local media have repeatedly reported fatal poisonings from contraband alcohol.

At his briefing on Sunday, Jahanpour had announced 60 virus deaths, the lowest daily toll in the country sinceMarch 10. But the number of casualties is widely thought to be much higher than the official figures.

The government has allowed a phased reopening of shops and has lifted restrictions on movement within the country since April 11.

Schools, universities, mosques, cinemas, stadiums and other public spaces remain closed across the country.

In China´s two most important cities children went back to the school on Monday after more than three months at home.

Europe´s four worst-affected countries all reported marked drops in their daily death tolls, offering hope that the outbreak may have peaked in some places -- at least for now.

But leaders and experts remain divided on how quickly to revive shuttered economies while maintaining a delicate balance between freedom and safety.

Italy and New York laid out partial reopening plans, with France and Spain to follow suit this week, while tens of thousands of final-year students returned to school in Shanghai and Beijing after months of closures.

"I´m glad, it´s been too long since I´ve seen my classmates," 18-year-old Hang Huan said in Shanghai. "I´ve missed them a lot."

Students in Beijing must have their temperatures checked at school gates and show "green" health codes on an app that calculates a person´s infection risk, according to the education ministry.

Primary schools in Norway were also set to reopen on Monday, along with some businesses in Switzerland such as hairdressers and florists, while New Zealand prepared to begin its phased exit from lockdown in the evening.

"There is no widespread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Monday made his first public appearance since being hospitalised with coronavirus three weeks ago, saying Britain was beginning to "turn the tide" on the outbreak but rejecting calls to ease a nationwide lockdown.

In a statement in Downing Street marking his return to work, looking thinner and with his trademark blond hair a little more unruly than usual, Johnson apologised for being away "for much longer than I would have liked".

He thanked the British people for heeding more than a month of stay-at-home orders, saying their action had helped ensure the state-run National Health Service (NHS) had not become overwhelmed.

"That is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide," Johnson said, echoing his promise on March 19 that Britain could turn the tide on the outbreak in three months if people followed social distancing rules.

But more than 20,000 people have already died in Britain, not including deaths in care homes and in the wider community, making it one of the worst hit countries in the global pandemic.

And while Johnson acknowledged growing demands for the lockdown to be lifted to reduce the economic impact, he insisted that now was not the time.

"I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak, a huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS," he said.

Meanwhile, in Turkey authorities have detained 402 people over "baseless and provocative" social media posts about the coronavirus pandemic, the interior ministry said on Monday.

The official said some of the posts in question included claims that a lockdown would last longer than all-day weekend curfews announced by the government and accusations that authorities were lying about the number of deaths.

"In the past 42 days, 6,362 social media accounts have been analysed, and 855 suspects have been confirmed while 402 have been caught," the ministry tweeted.

The figure is separate from the detention of 410 people over similar claims at the end of March, a ministry official clarified.

The government has taken measures to limit the spread of the virus including shutting schools and restaurants, and ordering weekend curfews as long as is necessary. Turkey has confirmed over 2,800 deaths from more than 110,000 cases of coronavirus that have been recorded.

Meanwhile, China´s ambassador in Australia Monday warned that demands for a probe into the spread of coronavirus could lead to a consumer boycott of Aussie wine or trips Down Under.

Australia has joined the United States in calling for a thorough investigation into how the virus transformed from a localised epidemic in central China into a pandemic.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte came under attack on Monday from Italy´s Catholic bishops and even some of his own cabinet members for refusing to reintroduce mass once the coronavirus lockdown is lifted. Conte has unveiled a gradual easing of restrictions that will restore some semblance of former life starting on May 4.

The Mediterranean country´s official death toll of 26,664 is Europe´s highest and second globally only to the United States.

But the number of infections has been ebbing and scientists believe the contagion rate is low enough to gradually get back to work.

Conte has allowed Italians to take strolls in parks and go jogging starting next Monday. More stores will reopen and restaurants will resume takeout service.