Health

The U.S. debate intensified on Monday over when to lift restrictions to control the coronavirus outbreak, with protesters describing mandatory lockdowns as "tyranny" and New York's governor and other officials urging caution until more testing becomes available.

South Africa will increase welfare provision to help poor households suffering because of a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the coronavirus outbreak, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reported 746,625 cases of the coronavirus, and said the number of deaths had risen to 39,083.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 454 on Monday, slightly up on Sunday's tally, while the number of new cases dropped to 2,256, the lowest level in well over a month, the Civil Protection Agency said.

Russian technology company Yandex plans to make free tests for the new coronavirus available to people of all ages in Moscow and its suburbs.

The total number of people killed by the coronavirus in Canada rose by almost 7% to 1,611 from a day earlier, official data posted by the public health agency showed on Monday.

Singapore's health ministry confirmed on Monday an additional 1,426 cases of the COVID-19 infection, a record daily jump, mainly among foreign workers living in dormitories.

As Portugal prepares to ease its coronavirus lockdown, a number of cities and research organisations are rolling out antibody tests even though national authorities warn it may be too early to draw conclusions on immunity among the population as a whole.

A total of 16,509 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospitals in Britain, an increase of 449 in 24 hours, the health ministry said on Monday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expects to present a plan early next month for a gradual return to normal from the coronavirus lockdown, national news agency MTI quoted him as saying on Monday.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co said on Monday that its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Opdivo performed well in two separate late-stage trials, prolonging survival in previously untreated patients with kidney cancer and lung cancer.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran reached 5,209 on Monday with 91 deaths in the past twenty four hours, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV on Monday.

Malaysian health authorities on Monday reported 36 new coronavirus cases, the lowest daily rise since the government imposed curbs on movement and business to contain the spread of the pandemic a month ago.

The number of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Spain has surpassed the 200,000 threshold, the country's health ministry said on Monday.

Indonesia reported on Monday 185 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections in the Southeast Asian country to 6,760, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

China's health authority called for a stronger and more rigorous testing regime to ensure that the new coronavirus does not escape detection, whether in travellers arriving from abroad or from other parts of the country.

China dismissed as groundless on Monday Australia's questioning of how Beijing handled the coronavirus pandemic, saying it had been open and transparent, despite growing scepticism about the accuracy of its official death toll.

A black market has developed in Russia for an antiviral HIV drug explored as a possible treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to sellers, HIV activists and the head of the drug's main Russian producer.

Britain has secured 25 million protective gowns from China and is working across the globe to secure more supplies of medical clothing after some hospitals warned they were running dangerously low, Culture Minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday.

The Philippines health ministry on Monday reported 19 new coronavirus deaths and 200 additional infections.