BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.
The following are the updates on the contagious disease.
- - - -
NEW YORK -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 600,000 Tuesday evening, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
The country has seen 602,989 cases with 25,575 deaths by 6:50 p.m. (2250 GMT), according to the CSSE.
- - - -
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is halting the nation's funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), a move experts have warned against, as COVID-19 continues to take a toll globally.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said a review is being conducted to assess the WHO's role in addressing the spread of the coronavirus.
- - - -
ROME -- The COVID-19 has claimed another 602 lives in locked-down Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 162,488 since the pandemic began here in late February, the country's Civil Protection Department said Tuesday.
Speaking during a nightly televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli confirmed that there were 675 new active coronavirus infections compared to Monday, bringing the nationwide total to 104,291 cases.
- - - -
LISBON -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa reiterated on Tuesday that almost all measures of containment and social isolation will be maintained beyond April 17, amid mounting pressure of conditionally reactivating the national economy.
In an interview with the Radio Observador, the prime minister said the country will continue to restrict the movement of people and economic activities during the state of emergency, which is widely believed to be renewed until the beginning of May, adding that the right to strikes will be one of the few exceptions.
- - - -
LILONGWE -- The Malawi government has declared a 21-day lockdown throughout the country starting from the midnight of April 18 through the midnight of May 9 in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Minister of Health and Population Services Jappie Mhango, also chairperson of the Special Cabinet Committee on COVID-19, made the announcement Tuesday evening in a televised statement in the presence of President Peter Mutharika.
- - - -
GENEVA -- There had been 189 confirmed cases and three deaths of COVID-19 among the United Nations staff, a senior UN official said here on Tuesday.
Alessandra Vellucci, head of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, told a press briefing here Tuesday that as of the previous week, there had been 10 confirmed cases among the staff of the United Nations secretariat in Geneva, and new figures were expected to be available soon.
Latest comments