Coronavirus live news: South Korea sees biggest one-day jump in cases in weeks as global deaths top 350,000 | World news

The Americas have emerged as the new centre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, as a US study forecast deaths surging in Brazil and other Latin American countries through August.

“Now is not the time for countries to ease restrictions,” Carissa Etienne, WHO director for the Americas and head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said via videoconference.

The Americas have registered more than 2.4 million cases of the new coronavirus and more than 143,000 deaths from the resulting Covid-19 respiratory disease. Latin America has passed Europe and the United States in daily infections, she said.

“Our region has become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Etienne said, as other PAHO directors warned there are “very tough” weeks ahead for the region and Brazil has a long way to go before it will see the pandemic end. Also of concern to WHO officials are accelerating outbreaks in Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. A University of Washington study warned that Brazil’s total death toll could rise five-fold – to 125,000 – by early August.

Global deaths from coronavirus surpassed 350,000 on Wednesday. The number of confirmed cases was more than 5.58 million. The US, the worst-hit nation, was approaching 100,000 deaths.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says students will only go back to school if a coronavirus vaccine is available, AFP reports.

Schools were shut in March and children were due to return to classes at the end of August.

“Unless I am sure that they are really safe, it’s useless to be talking about opening of classes,” the president said in a speech aired late Monday.

Uki Goñi reports for the Guardian:

Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo turned its Carrasco international airport, closed because of the coronavirus lockdown, into a drive-in-cinema Tuesday evening. Some 100 cars turned up for the opening night, although authorities say the airport could potentially accommodate up to 1500 cars. All entertainment venues, including cinemas, have been closed in Uruguay since its lockdown on 13 March.

The movie sound was transmitted on a radio station for good audio quality and even the furthest away cars could see clearly on a giant 20-metre-high screen. “We hope to have about 80 screenings for some 20 thousand spectators, weather permitting,” said Rodrigo García of Magnolia, one of the firms behind the initiative.

Hundreds of migrant workers blocked roads and staged protests at quarantine centres in India’s poorest state Bihar Tuesday, calling for better food and living conditions, police said.

The labourers were among millions of India’s poor who have badly hit by the coronavirus lockdown. Many were left jobless, hungry and stranded in cities far away from home.

Migrants said they had found insects in their food and dirty toilets in the quarantine centres. They also said there was not enough water.

Protesters dispersed after being told that their concerns would be addressed by authorities, police told AFP.

Thailand’s state of emergency laws have been extended for another month until the end of June, despite the kingdom reporting a relatively low virus toll at just over 3,000 cases and 57 deaths, AFP reports.

The sweeping laws – which include muzzling the media over coronavirus reporting – are needed as the country starts to gradually reopen businesses, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Malls and restaurants reopened on 17 May with social distancing rules in place, and now commuters have started packing into Bangkok’s public sky train during rush hour.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• Known global deaths pass 350,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The current toll stands at 350,456. The number of confirmed cases is 5,589,932, after the number of declared cases doubled in a month, with more than one million new cases registered in the last 11 days. There were 500,000 cases registered in just 48 hours, between Sunday, when cases passed 5 million, and Tuesday, when cases passed 5.5 million. True death tolls and cases are likely to be significantly higher due to differing definitions and testing rates, delays and suspected underreporting. The US alone accounts for less than a third of the global toll, with 98,916 deaths.
• Tory unrest increases pressure on PM to sack Dominic Cummings. There is growing revolt within Boris Johnson’s party over his refusal to fire Dominic Cummings, his chief adviser, over his lockdown breach. A a junior minister has resigned, and 30 other Conservative MPs have called for Cummings to go. Eight more Tory MPs were publicly critical of Cummings’ actions and three said privately that he should be forced out, according to the Guardian’s Heather Stewart, Rowena Mason and Kate Proctor.
• The WHO says the Americas are the new epicentre of the disease. The World Health Organization’s regional director Dr Carissa Etienne said outbreaks were accelerating in countries such as Brazil, where the number of deaths reported in the last week was the highest in the world for a seven-day period since the coronavirus pandemic began. The number of coronavirus infections to accelerate in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, she said.
• Donald Trump thought it “very unusual” that Joe Biden wore a face mask. Biden wore the mask yesterday while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. The president has resisted wearing a mask in public, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans cover their faces while out in public and around other people.
• New Zealand expects plan for safe travel with Australia in June. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday a draft blueprint on safely starting travel between New Zealand and Australia will be presented to both governments in early June, Reuters reports. The neighbours have been discussing the possibility of a travel bubble between them as both have slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus to levels well below those in United States, Britain and some other European countries.
• New Zealand sees 5th day in a row with no new cases. New Zealand has reported a fifth consecutive day of no new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the country. There is no longer anyone in hospital with the virus, health officials are telling reporters at a news conference in Wellington, and only 21 cases across the nation are still considered active. Fewer than 1,500 people have been confirmed infected with Covid-19 in New Zealand. 21 people have died of the coronavirus since it arrived in the country.
• South Korea reports biggest daily jump in almost 50 days. South Korea South Korea has reported 40 new coronavirus cases for its biggest daily jump in nearly 50 days, causing alarm in a country where millions of children are returning to school. All but four of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to nightclubs, karaoke rooms and an e-commerce warehouse. Three cases were linked to international arrivals. South Korea has also jailed a man for 4 months for breaking quarantine rules, in the country’s first such prison sentence.
• Vietnam to readmit foreigners. Vietnam will resume issuing e-visas to citizens from 80 countries from 1 July, the government said Tuesday, though it was unclear whether quarantine measures would be lifted. The country imposed a blanket ban on foreigners entering the country in March as part of its aggressive response to the pandemic, which has also involved mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing.So far, Vietnam has not reported any coronavirus deaths.
• Macron unveils €8bn French auto rescue, champions electric cars. President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced an €8bn (US$8.8bn) plan to revive France’s auto industry by making it the European leader in electric cars, boosting a sector brought to its knees by the coronavirus. Macron said the package would include one billion euros in subsidies to encourage purchases of electric and hybrid cars and set a target of France producing a million green cars annually by 2025.The “historic” intervention will aim to turn France’s rechargeable car industry into Europe’s biggest, the president said.
• Germany extends distancing rules to end of June. Germany has extended social distancing rules aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus epidemic to 29 June, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said on Tuesday. Merkel’s government had been embroiled in disagreements with the least-affected states, some of which wanted to ditch the measures and open up entirely. Germany’s virus caseload now tops 181,200 with just over 8,372 deaths – much lower than European counterparts such as Britain, France, Spain and Italy.
• India backs hydroxychloroquine for virus prevention. India’s top biomedical research body on Tuesday backed the use of the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine as a preventive against coronavirus, after the WHO suspended clinical trials of the drug over safety concerns. The endorsement from the Indian Council of Medical Research came a week after US President Donald Trump said he was taking the drug as a preventative measure. India – which accounts for 70% of global production of hydroxychloroquine – on Tuesday reported 145,380 cases of the virus including 4,167 deaths.
• Spain begins 10 days of mourning. Starting on Wednesday, the country will mourn for the nearly 27,000 people who have died from coronavirus in the country. Flags will be hoisted to half-staff in more than 14,000 public buildings across the country and on Spanish naval vessels until 5 June. It marks the longest official mourning period in Spain’s four-decade-old democracy.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday a draft blueprint on safely starting travel between New Zealand and Australia will be presented to both governments in early June, Reuters reports.

The neighbours have been discussing the possibility of a travel bubble between them as both have slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus to levels well below those in United States, Britain and some other European countries.

Ardern said she spoke to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday and there was enthusiasm for travel to resume on both sides.

“We are working to move on this as quickly as we can. We are both very keen on it … across both sides of the ditch,” Ardern said at a news conference.

“It won’t be too long before we are ready,” she said.

Scott Tasker, co-chair of the Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group, which is developing the plans, said in a statement, “Our aim is to put forward a detailed set of recommendations that safely manage any health risks, while also allowing Kiwis and Australians to travel to each country without the need for a 14-day quarantine.”

Indonesia said Tuesday it is deploying 340,000 troops to clamp down on rampant social-distancing violations as coronavirus infections surge in the world’s fourth most populous country, AFP reports.

The military will be on the ground in two dozen cities – including the capital Jakarta – to make sure people wear masks and stay apart, as the government eyes a possible re-opening of shuttered businesses.

South Korea South Korea has reported 40 new coronavirus cases for its biggest daily jump in nearly 50 days, causing alarm in a country where millions of children are returning to school.

Figures from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday brought national totals to 11,265 cases and 269 deaths.

All but four of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials have been scrambling to stem transmissions linked to nightclubs, karaoke rooms and an e-commerce warehouse.

Three cases were linked to international arrivals.

A steady rise in cases in the greater capital area over the past few weeks has raised concern as officials proceed with a phased reopening of schools, which began with high school seniors last week. More than 2 million high school juniors, middle school seniors, first and second graders and kindergarten students were expected to return to school on Wednesday.