Coronavirus: latest global developments in the Covid-19 crisis

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Grave diggers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) bury a person, who presumably died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the special purpose section of a graveyard on the outskirts of Saint Petersburg, Russia June 10, 2020.

Paris, France - The pandemic has killed 412,926 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to a tally.

By AFP

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Published: Fri 12 Jun 2020, 1:23 AM

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- Over 412,000 deaths -

The pandemic has killed 412,926 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1900 GMT (11pm UAE) on Wednesday, based on official sources.
Some 7,294,130 cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 112,402 deaths, followed by Britain with 41,128, Brazil with 38,406, Italy with 34,114 and France with 29,139 fatalities.

- Spike in Moscow deaths -

Health authorities in Russia's capital say a total of 15,713 people died in May, 5,715 more than during the same month last year.

- Job losses loom in France -

France will lose 800,000 jobs in the coming months because of the economic crisis provoked by the pandemic, says Economy Minister Bruno Le Marie.

- Global economy -

The OECD says the global economy will contract at least six per cent this year and in the case of a second wave it warns economic output could shrink by as much as 7.6 per cent.

- Europe's external borders -

The European Commission will recommend EU member states begin to reopen their external frontiers to travellers from outside the bloc from July 1, diplomatic chief Josep Borrell says.

- Germany wary -

Germany announces it is extending its travel ban for countries outside the European Union until August 31, in a blow to top summer destinations like Turkey.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says the decision applies to countries outside the EU and the no-passport Schengen zone.

- Japan's record virus budget -

Japan's powerful lower house of parliament approves an emergency budget worth nearly $300 billion (Dh1.1 billion), doubling the scale of measures to pep up the world's third-biggest economy after the pandemic tipped it into recession.

- Italians file complaints -

Fifty relatives of virus victims file complaints over the handling of the pandemic in the first such legal group action in Italy.
They are filed at the prosecutors' office in Bergamo, the city in northern Italy worst hit by the pandemic, "because it has become the symbol of this tragedy", says Stefano Fusco, who created the group on Facebook.

- Lean months at Zara -

Spain's Inditex, the textile giant which owns fashion chain Zara, posts its first Q1 loss in nearly 20 years: 409 million euros (Dh1.7 billion), compared with a net profit of 734 million euros (Dh3.1 billion) in 2019.
Its online sales however post strong growth during the same period. Analysts with Bankinter say the results show the "severe but temporary" impact of the virus crisis.

- Azerbaijan cluster -

Nineteen staff in the office of Azerbaijan's president test positive and another 13 cases are confirmed among employees at the emergency situations ministry and the labour ministry, says anti-virus task force spokesman Ramin Bairamly.


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