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Globally, the death toll from the coronavirus has exceeded 184,000, with the number of cases worldwide standing at more than 2.6 million.
More than 232,000 people may have been infected in the first wave of the virus, also known as Covid-19, in mainland China, four times the official figures, according to a study by Hong Kong researchers.
China reported more than 55,000 cases as of February 20th but, according to research by academics at Hong Kong University’s school of public health, published in the Lancet, the true number would have been far greater if the definition of a Covid-19 case that was later used had been applied from the outset.
China has now reported more than 83,000 cases.
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The new estimates come amid a mounting clamour for an international inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak’s origins, led by the United States and Australia, although the estimates appear far from constituting the proof of a cover-up sought by some on the political right. The US and Australia have called for an international investigation into the handling of the outbreak.
China announced on Thursday it would donate an additional $30 million (€27.7 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support the global battle against Covid-19.
Europe
Human trials for a coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom are due to get under way, with hundreds of people volunteering to be part of the study.
Researchers from the University of Oxford will administer the first dose to a healthy person on Thursday afternoon, while another will be given a meningitis vaccine, used in the trial for comparison.
The Oxford Vaccine Group hopes to repeat the process with six more volunteers on Saturday, moving to larger numbers on Monday.
Up to 1,102 participants will be recruited across multiple study sites in Oxford, Southampton, London and Bristol.
A Covid-19 vaccine is considered the ultimate exit strategy by many experts, and scientists across the world are racing to develop one that can be produced at scale. The Oxford team hopes to have at least a million doses of its candidate ready in September.
Earlier on Thursday, Britain's death toll in hospitals rose by 616 to 18,738 in the 24 hours to 4pm Irish time on April 22nd, the health ministry said on Thursday.
“As of 9am 23 April, 583,496 tests have concluded, with 23,560 tests on 22 April. 425,821 people have been tested of which 138,078 tested positive,” the health ministry said.
“As of 5pm on 22 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 18,738 have sadly died.”
The Spanish health ministry said on Thursday that 440 people died from the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, which brought total fatalities to 22,157.
That was slightly higher than the previous day when 435 people died. The number of diagnosed cases rose by 4,635 to 213,024 from 208,389 the day before.
Spain reported the most new coronavirus cases and fatalities in almost a week, a day after the government secured parliamentary approval to extend a state of emergency through May 9th.
Parliament on Wednesday authorised the government to extend the state of emergency for two more weeks.
The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 516 to 21,856 on Thursday, the health ministry said in a statement.
The 2.4 per cent increase was slightly slower than on Wednesday and Thursday, when the death toll increased by 2.6 per cent, but well below the more than 4 per cent rate seen last week.
The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 infection fell further to 29,129 from 29,741 on Wednesday and the number of people in intensive care fell to 5,053 from 5,218 on Wednesday. Both have been on a downward trend for several days.
The country also offered retailers some relief on Thursday, saying it wanted them to reopen when a nationwide lockdown ends on May 11th, though some curbs could remain in certain areas to delay a new wave of the coronavirus.
The government has ruled out restaurants, bars and cafes reopening straight after the lockdown is lifted, and finance minister Bruno Le Maire indicated restrictions were likely to remain in regions that have been hit worst by the virus.
France has suffered the world’s fourth-highest reported coronavirus death toll of more than 20,000, with more than 158,000 infections.
President Emmanuel Macron ordered the lockdown in mid-March to slow the spread of the virus, but the government has been working on a plan that would minimise the chances of France being hit by a second wave of coronavirus cases when it ends.
The government in the Netherlands has abandoned its initial attempt to commission a Covid-19 contact tracing app after the final seven designs were dismissed as inadequate on privacy grounds.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte tweeted on Thursday that EU leaders had agreed to work on a recovery fund after a video call about the global coronavirus outbreak.
“On the basis of proposals from the European Commission we will work in a constructive manner on a joint strategy for the recovery phase, linked to the multiannual budget,” Mr Rutte said in a tweet.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Germany against loosening Covid-19 lockdown restrictions too soon and said her country favours "considerably higher" contributions to the EU budget to fight the pandemic – but not jointly-issued debt.
Meanwhile, EU leaders will meet over video conference on Thursday in a bid to bridge deep divisions over how to finance the response to the coronavirus pandemic, an issue some have warned has put the future of the union at stake.
Asia
Nearly 50 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan's Nagasaki have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concern about the strain on the city's hospitals if conditions worsen for those infected.
While clerics and governments across the Muslim world will greet Ramadan this week under lockdown, working together to shut mosques and urging worshippers to pray at home, in Pakistan, some of the most prominent imams have rallied their devotees to ignore the anti-pandemic measures.
Malaysia will extend travel and other curbs aimed at fighting the spread of Covid-19 by two weeks to May 12th, prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday, but more sectors may be allowed to resume operations.
The country, which has so far reported 5,603 infections and 95 deaths, started a partial lockdown on March 18th. For weeks Malaysia had the highest number of infections in southeast Asia, but daily increases have now slowed to double digits.
“Should the number of Covid-19 cases show significant reduction, the government may ease curbs on movement in stages in several sectors including the social sector,” Mr Muhyiddin said in an address to the nation. He said the so-called movement control order (MCO) could still be extended further.
The premier said finance officials had been asked to formulate a plan for Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy that would encourage domestic spending, among other things.
North America
United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo said a fundamental reform of the WHO is needed following its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and that the United States, the WHO's biggest donor, may never restore funding to the UN body.
“I think we need to take a real hard look at the WHO and what we do coming out of this,” Mr Pompeo told Fox News late on Wednesday. “We reformed this back in 2007, so this isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with the shortcomings of this organization that sits inside the United Nations. We need a fix. We need a structural fix with the WHO.”
President Donald Trump suspended US funding of the WHO last week, accusing it of being “China-centric” and promoting China’s “disinformation” about the outbreak. WHO officials have denied this and China insists it has been transparent and open.
The United States has been the biggest overall donor to the WHO, contributing over $400 million (€ 370 million) in 2019, roughly 15 per cent of its budget. Senior US officials last week told Reuters Washington could redirect these funds to other aid groups.
On Wednesday, Mr Pompeo said the United States “strongly believed” Beijing had failed to report the outbreak in a timely manner, in breach of World Health Organization rules, and had failed to report human-to-human transmission of the virus” for a month until it was in every province inside of China.”
Mr Pompeo said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom did not use his ability “to go public” when a member state failed to follow the rules.
According to a Reuters tally, the disease has killed nearly 48,000 in the United States, making it the worst-hit country by official statistics.
On Wednesday, two cats in New York became the first pets in the United States to test positive for the new coronavirus but there is no evidence pets can spread the virus to humans, according to US health authorities.
Canada's number of confirmed cases rose to 40,824 from 38,932 on April 22nd. Deaths have also hit 2,028, up from 1,871, according the the latest data from the country's public health agency.
Africa
African nations that lack ventilators to treat Covid-19 patients will receive some from the Jack Ma Foundation, an African Union official said on Thursday, as Nigeria stressed Africa’s dependence on a properly-funded WHO to help it fight the pandemic.
Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than 26,000 confirmed cases of the disease, just a fraction of the more than two million cases reported globally. But the WHO has warned that the continent could see as many as 10 million cases in three to six months, according to its tentative model.
With the pandemic driving up demand for protective equipment and medical supplies across the world, the African Union said it was working to set up its own joint procurement system.
Meanwhile, the Jack Ma Foundation has donated 300 ventilators, which will arrive in coming weeks. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said states without any ventilators would be prioritized as they are distributed.
Ten unidentified African nations were facing the virus without a single ventilator, he said last week.
Mr Ma, the Chinese billionaire founder of Alibaba Group, has donated thousands of tests kits, masks and protective gear to all African nations. Mr Nkengasong described the testing situation across Africa as “very disappointing.”
“As of this week in a continent of 1.3 billion people, just about 415 thousands tests have been conducted,” he said, urging governments to scale up testing. The goal is to test 10 million people across the continent, he added.
Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, said it began the pandemic with roughly 350 ventilators for its 200 million citizens. It has since received around 100 additional units.
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, warned of dire consequences should the WHO not receive full funding.
“We rely on them for guidance, lives are saved because of the work that they do... we don’t have the luxury on the continent to build up all the infrastructure on our own,” Mr Ihekweazu said of Africa’s situation, calling the WHO “critical to our collective survival.”
“If the funding to WHO is affected in the way it may be, then there will be a huge price for humanity to pay.”
With much of the continent in lockdown, Africa’s CDC is working with governments on plans to safely ease the restrictions.
Two west African countries, Burkina Faso and Ghana, lifted some coronavirus-related restrictions this week, after the shutdowns hobbled both their economies. - Agencies