Coronavirus: latest global developments
A health worker collects a swab sample of a woman at a free Covid-19 testing van in Hyderabad, India on August 25, 2020.
What you need to know:
- More than 23.6 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
- The United States has recorded the most deaths with 177,284, followed by Brazil with 115,309, Mexico with 60,800, India with 58,390 and Britain with 41,433 fatalities.
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
The pandemic has killed at least 813,733 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Tuesday.
More than 23.6 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 177,284, followed by Brazil with 115,309, Mexico with 60,800, India with 58,390 and Britain with 41,433 fatalities.
South Korea orders all schools and kindergartens in Seoul, Incheon and neighbouring Gyeonggi province to switch to online classes from Wednesday until September 11, as authorities battle multiple clusters.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca says it has started a clinical trial of a drug designed to both prevent infection and treat people with COVID-19, with the first volunteers receiving doses and results expected by the end of this year.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the army will be deployed to help regional governments fight a rise in infections. The central government will make 2,000 soldiers available to the regions, which are responsible for health care, to assist them in tracking cases.
Long adverse to being in the red, Germany posts a public deficit of 51.6 billion euros ($60.9 billion) for the first half of 2020. For the first time since 2010, state revenue is down on a 12-month basis, federal statistics agency Destatis says, while government spending has soared by 9.3 percent.
Almost a million Rohingya refugees stuck in Bangladesh mark three years since escaping from Myanmar, with the pandemic forcing them to hold a day-long "silent protest" inside their flimsy, leaky huts.
Finnish national carrier Finnair announces plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce. Chief executive Topi Manner says a "rapid turn for the better in the pandemic situation is unfortunately not in sight".
Australian flag carrier Qantas says it plans to cut almost 2,500 more jobs, on top of 6,000 already announced, and the news comes just days after the airline posted a huge annual loss.
French football giants Marseille announce three more people have tested positive for the virus, following five players last week that forced the club to cancel what would have been the country's top-flight football Ligue 1 season opener.
Football fans in Belgium will make a progressive return to stadiums from September 11 meanwhile, the country's professional league announces.
