Key Points:
- Confirmed cases 1 854 043
- Deaths 114 290
Live COVID-19 Monitor here
- S Korea to ship 600,000 testing kits to US: Reuters
- Germany’s cases rise by 2,537 with 126 new deaths
- Asian leaders to hold virtual summit on COVID-19 outbreak
- Australia, New Zealand say too soon to ease restrictions
- French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to warn France later on Monday that ts lockdown to combat the coronavirus must go on for several more weeks at least.
- Japan’s Hokkaido declares second state of emergency
- China grapples with more imported cases of coronavirus
- South Korea reports 25 new cases
- Care home deaths in US probably exceed 3,300: AP
- Countries risk having second waves of outbreak, if they open up too early, says professor
- Singapore reports 233 new cases
- Mexico reports 442 new cases
- Large increase in South African infection rate
South African cases show a large increase:with a daily rise of 145
The latest number of confirmed cases is 2 173.
No new deaths were reported – but there have been 25 in the country so far.
There have been 80 085 tests conducted so far. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that public laboratory tests are increasing, with 3 192 of 5 032 tests conducted in the past day being done in public labs.
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South Korea reports 25 new cases
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says South Korea confirmed 25 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, down from 32 the day before.
The country had a peak of 909 cases on February 29, but has brought that down through aggressive testing, isolation and contact tracing.
Countries risk having second waves of outbreak, if they open up too early, says professor
With many affected countries under lockdown or stay-home measures, authorities are debating over when things can go back to normal.
But a professor at the University of Hong Kong warned that if countries open up too early, they risk experiencing a second major wave of infections.
I think having timelines is going to be very challenging. No country is going to want to open up too early, and then be the first major country to have a big second wave,” Ben Cowling told CNBC.
This is because, even if they overcome their first wave, they will be susceptible to infections imported from other countries which are still into their first round of infections, or even going through a second wave, which could be starting now in China, Cowling said.
It’s really going to be very difficult, I think testing is critical, but still need some social distancing in place. So it may not be a full opening up, even in June or July,” he said.
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WATCH – “When you don’t know what’s possible, anything is possible”
