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GENEVA -- The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Wednesday called on the United States to reconsider its decision to freeze funding to the organization, and hoped that the U.S. will once again support WHO's work and continue to save lives.
"The U.S. has been supporting WHO and it's number one donor (of WHO). We value that, we appreciate that," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a briefing.
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BUCHAREST -- Romania will lift the nationwide lockdown after May 15, when the state of emergency ends, President Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday.
"After May 15 ... we will not extend the restrictions on individual travel. We will be allowed to move into public spaces without having to state where we go and why we go," the head of state told a televised briefing after a meeting with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and other cabinet officials involved in fighting the epidemic.
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HELSINKI -- Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday that Finland could announce in May gradual easing of restrictions, while warning that the COVID-19 situation remains serious.
Talking to the media after hours of cabinet deliberations, Marin said in the decision-making on whether schools would reopen, the epidemic risks must be weighed against the problems of those children who have difficulty benefiting from the current internet teaching in difficult home conditions.
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SAO PAULO -- Starting May 11, Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, will gradually ease lockdown measures that began on March 24, Governor Joao Doria said on Wednesday.
Social distancing measures will be relaxed by regions, depending on the local conditions, Doria said at a press conference.
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ATHENS -- Greece welcomed on Wednesday the donation by China to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus at hosting facilities, where thousands of refugees and migrants are accommodated.
Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zhang Qiyue delivered to Alternate Migration and Asylum Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos 20,000 surgical masks to be distributed to reception centers for asylum seekers on the Aegean Sea islands and wherever deemed necessary.
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NEW DELHI -- India's federal health ministry on Wednesday evening said 12 new deaths due to the COVID-19, besides fresh 487 positive cases, were reported since the morning across the country, taking the number of deaths to 652 and total cases to 20,471.
"As of 5:00 p.m. (local time), today 652 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," read the information released by the ministry.
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