PARIS, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Here are some of the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
At least 257,687 people have died of the novel coronavirus since the
epidemic surfaced in China late last year, according to official sources.
There have been more than 3,675,869 officially recorded cases spanning 195 countries and territories.
The United States is the worst-hit country, with 71,078 deaths out of more
than 1.2 million cases. Britain follows with 29,427, though there is some
debate over the figures there.
Figures compiled by British regional health agencies put the number of
fatalities at over 32,000, which include cases where COVID-19 is only
suspected to be the cause and people who tested positive.
Italy follows with 29,315 deaths, Spain with 25,857 and France with 25,531.
The EU forecasts that the eurozone economy would contract by a staggering
7.7 percent in 2020, calling it a “recession of historic proportions”.
The 19-member single currency zone would rebound by 6.3 percent in 2021,
the EU says, but in a recovery that would be felt unevenly across the
continent.
Italy for example would see a cataclysmic recession of 9.5 percent in 2020,
and only a 6.5 percent recovery next year, according to data from the
European Commission.
China dismisses claims made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the
virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, saying he “doesn’t have any” evidence.
Beijing’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva says China will not prioritise
inviting international experts in to investigate the source of the virus
until after the pandemic is beaten.
Senior school students in 121 institutions in the Chinese city of Wuhan —
ground zero of the pandemic — return to class, wearing masks and walking in single file past thermal scanners.
Only the oldest students in the province of Hubei have returned to school –
– vocational students and seniors due to take the make-or-break university
entrance exams.
Return dates have generally not been confirmed for junior and middle school students.
South Korea returns largely to normal as workers go back to offices, and
museums and libraries reopen under eased social distancing rules.
Home-sharing platform Airbnb says it will slash one fourth of its workforce
— some 1,900 people — due to the collapse of the travel industry. — NNN-AGENCIES
