Thousands of fresh graves are being dug in Santiago's main cemetery amid a spike in Chile's COVID-19 cases, authorities said on Thursday. Chile's infection rate soared this week, prompting the government to declare a mandatory lockdown of Santiago's seven million people from Friday.
As the planet battles the seemingly inexorable spread of the coronavirus, Antarctica remains the only Covid-19-free continent - thanks in the main to strict security and not a little luck. The natural isolation of the frozen and desolate expanse has been taken to new extremes since the WHO declared a pandemic on March 11.
Brazil and Mexico on Thursday reported a record one-day rise in new coronavirus cases, just as leaders of both countries intensified attempts to reopen their economies even as the spread of the virus in Latin America is seemingly gathering pace.
Brazil’s government lowered its 2020 economic outlook, forecasting a gross domestic product contraction of 4.7%, which would signal the country’s biggest economic crash in more than a century.
People attending Masses in St. Peter's and other papal basilicas in Rome will have their temperature checked as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Vatican said on Thursday.
France announced measures worth €18 billion (US$19 billion) to support its tourism sector, which has been hammered by the COVID-19 crisis and resulting shutdown in beaches, leisure attractions, and hotels.
President Donald Trump is mobilizing the U.S. military to distribute a novel coronavirus vaccine when one becomes available and will focus first on older Americans.
Chile ordered a mandatory total quarantine for the capital Santiago's seven million people on Wednesday, after authorities reported a 60% spike in coronavirus infections in 24 hours, dealing a stunning blow to hopes the economy would soon reopen.
Brazil registered a record number of new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday surpassing France's tally to become the sixth-worst hit country, as the coronavirus sends the economy towards its worst year since at least 1900.
The new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday. As some countries around the world begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions imposed in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading, the WHO said it may never be wiped out entirely.