Coronavirus world round-up: Brazil's record fatalities as Donald Trump in row over face mask
Brazil recorded a record number of fatalities in a 24 hour period as the coronavirus death toll surpassed 20,000, the nation's health ministry said on Thursday.
The country is the epicentre of the outbreak in Latin America, and its highest one-day toll of 1,188 pushed the overall death tally to 20,047.
Brazil has now recorded more than 310,000 cases, with experts saying a lack of testing means the real figures are probably much higher.
Meanwhile, concern continues to rise about the potentially devastating impact of widespread outbreaks in the world's poorest areas.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reopened its Ebola-era hospital in Guinea, only four years since that epidemic ended, as coronavirus cases soar in the West African state.
The country is struggling to curb the virus, despite enacting imposing travel restrictions and a night-time curfew, raising fears about its capacity to contain a growing outbreak.
Guinea's weak healthcare system is now straining under the pressure, with authorities having recorded some 3,000 coronavirus cases to date, and 30 fatalities.
Global infections rise sharply
The number of people infected with coronavirus around the world has passed the grim landmark of five million, with most new cases emerging in America, Russia, Brazil and India.
The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that a daily record of 106,000 new cases were reported in the previous 24 hours – two thirds coming from just those four countries.
The pandemic has officially claimed more than 330,000 lives – with more than half recorded in Europe.
Trump warns Beijing over Hong Kong move
Donald Trump warned China that the US would respond "very strongly" if Beijing imposed tighter control over Hong Kong, as tensions rise between the two countries amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
China's government announced new national security legislation for Hong Kong at its annual rubber-stamp parliamentary sessions, in the latest sign from Beijing that it plans to crack down on pro-democracy protests.
"If it happens, we'll address that very strongly," Mr Trump said.
Meanwhile, the president's trip to a Michigan plant that makes lifesaving medical devices was overshadowed by his refusal once again to wear a protective face mask, though he did put one on when he was not near any reporters.
Read more: Why won't Donald Trump wear a face mask in public?
US flags at half-mast
Mr Trump tweeted that he would order US flags lowered to half-mast for three days in honour of Americans who have died from the coronavirus.
"I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus," Mr Trump said.
Monday is the Memorial Day holiday, observed in remembrance of Americans who have died in service.
Chechnya strongman 'in hospital with virus'
Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov is in hospital in Moscow suffering from suspected coronavirus, Russian news agencies reported overnight.
"Ramzan Kadyrov was taken by plane to Moscow with a suspected case of coronavirus. Now (he) is under medical supervision," state news agency TASS reported, citing a medical source who also said Mr Kadyrov was in a "stable" condition.
A crucial ally of President Vladimir Putin, Mr Kadyrov took power in Chechnya after his father Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in a 2004 bomb attack.
Ardern's opponents face monumental task
Jacinda Ardern's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been so popular in New Zealand that it has prompted a change of leadership in the conservative opposition party only four months before a general election.
Todd Muller, 51, on Friday deposed Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party following two disastrous opinion polls for the party that indicated that the Ms Ardern was heading for a huge victory in September.
Before the pandemic hit, polling indicated that the National Party and Ms Ardern's Labour Party were neck-and-neck, but a poll for One News-Colmar Brunton released on Thursday put support for Labour up 18 points at 59 per cent, a record for the centre-left party.
Ms Ardern's rating as preferred PM was 63 per cent, up 21 points to the highest figure in the survey's 25-year history.
Should Sweden have imposed lockdown earlier?
Sweden has reported the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, with an average of 6.05 deaths per day per million inhabitants.
That recent death rate has thrown further doubt over its decision to leave schools, restaurants and bars open, to allow public gatherings of up to 50 people and to trust the public’s good sense rather than imposing restrictions.
Italy death figures ‘not reliable’
Italy's death toll in March and April could be nearly 19,000 higher than the official figure of 32,000, the national social security agency said.
The Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS), the largest social security and welfare institute in Italy, said in a new study that the official death figures were not "reliable".
Italy is the second-worst affected country in Europe.
Virus could rip through Haiti's prisons
Nearly a dozen inmates in Haiti's largest prison have tested positive for the coronavirus, as fears mount that the disease could spread like wildfire through the country's dirty and overcrowded correctional system.
Last week, approximately 50 prisoners in the Port-au-Prince penitentiary reported having a fever, prompting health officials to test 12 inmates as a sample. Results indicated that 11 were positive.
Haiti has more than 11,000 people behind bars - most of them waiting to go on trial, sometimes for years - in such deplorable conditions that human rights activists liken it to torture.
The Port-au-Prince facility, built to house a maximum of 778 inmates, holds more than 3,600 prisoners, more than three quarters of whom have been waiting for a trial for months or even years.
What you might have missed
British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca secures more than $1 billion from the US to help fund production of its vaccine
Oxfam announces it will close 18 offices around the world and cut nearly 1,500 jobs, or almost a third of its workforce, due to a decrease in its financial resources
Russia outbreak: More than 140 workers at the Olimpiada mine, the country’s largest gold mine, and processing plant in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk are hospitalised and hundreds have tested positive in a major outbreak
Japan has lifted a state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo - and the measure could be removed nationwide as early as next week
