Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.
FOLLOW THE LIVE UPDATE | Trump halts WHO funding, death toll tops 125 000 worldwide
'Not the time to reduce the resources' of WHO: UN chief
It is "not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organisation or any other humanitarian organisation in the fight against the virus," United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
"It is my belief that the World Health Organisation must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against Covid-19," he said, after US President Donald Trump announced earlier that his country would cut off funding to the UN health body for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic.
- AFP
US hits record 2 228 deaths in past 24 hours: Johns Hopkins tally
The United States recorded 2 228 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 20:30 on Tuesday.
The number of fatalities was a sharp increase after two days in decline.
The outbreak has now claimed the lives of at least 25 757 people in the US, the most of any country.
- AFP
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New Zealand PM takes pay cut as virus hits economy
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Wednesday she will take a 20 percent pay cut in a symbolic act of solidarity with people struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ardern said her personal salary, those of her fellow ministers and of top public servants would be slashed by a fifth for six months.
The move will see Ardern's annual pay fall from around NZ$470,000 (US$285,000) to NZ$376,000, costing her about NZ$47,000 over the six-month period.
-AFP
Chile to pardon 1 300 prisoners to halt coronavirus spread
China has approved clinical trials for two more experimental vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday, as the world's scientists race to beat the pandemic.
The vaccines use inactivated coronavirus pathogens, and the approvals pave the way for early-stage human trials, Wu Yuanbin, an official from China's Ministry of Science and Technology told a regular press briefing.
China now has three different clinical trials for three possible coronavirus vaccines in the works.
Experts have raised hopes that a vaccine could be ready within 18 months.
-AFP
Virus hit 'like a bomb' as toll rises in Ecuador's business capital
Ecuador's economic capital Guayaquil is reeling from the most aggressive outbreak of Covid-19 in Latin America after the pandemic hit the city "like a bomb", its mayor said.
Cynthia Viteri has emerged from her own bout with the virus to battle the worst crisis the port city of nearly 3 million people has known in modern times.
"There is no space for either the living or the dead. That's how severe the pandemic is in Guayaquil," Viteri told AFP in a phone interview on Monday.
Mortuaries, funeral homes and hospital services are overwhelmed, and Viteri said the actual death toll from the virus is likely much higher than the official national figure of 369.
Guayaquil accounts for more than 70 percent of Ecuador's 7 600 infections since 29 February.
- AFP
99-year-old WWII vet beats coronavirus in Brazil
A 99-year-old World War II veteran in Brazil was released from hospital with military honours Tuesday after recovering from Covid-19.
Second Lieutenant Ermando Piveta, who served in the Brazilian artillery in Africa during World War II, was brought out of the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia to a burst of trumpet music and applause.
Wearing an army-green side cap, he raised his arms in the air as he left the hospital after eight days as a patient.
"He won another battle, this time against the new coronavirus. He was released from hospital the same day Brazil is commemorating the 75th anniversary of its troops' successful campaign in the Battle of Montese in Italy during World War II," the army said in a statement.
- AFP