Blogroll

New Zealand recorded no new coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the outcome of her discussions with Australia on a travel bubble between the two countries would be announced later in the day.

Global coronavirus deaths rose past a quarter of a million on Monday after infections topped 3.5 million, a Reuters tally of official government data showed, even as several countries began easing lockdowns designed to contain the pandemic.

Mexico registered 1,434 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday and 117 new deaths, a health official said, bringing the total in the country to 24,905 confirmed cases and 2,271 deaths.

Brazilian Health Minister Nelson Teich on Monday disputed the need to set up a new hospital to fight the coronavirus pandemic in hard-hit Manaus, even as the city's hospitals are overwhelmed and officials have resorted to burying COVID-19 victims in mass graves.

Apple Inc on Monday capitalized on the Federal Reserve's emergency measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak to issue its cheapest bonds in years, making it the latest blue-chip company to do so to fund stock buybacks and dividends.

China reported one new coronavirus case for May 4, down from three the day before, data from the national health authority showed on Tuesday.

Israel has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, calling the step a "significant breakthrough" toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indonesia reported on Monday 395 new coronavirus infections, taking the total in the Southeast Asian country to 11,587, said health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

Chipmaker Intel Corp has bought Israeli public transit app maker Moovit for about $900 million to help it develop self-driving "robotaxis" that could take to the streets in early 2022, the company said on Monday.

Ecuador on Monday exceeded 30,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, while the government launched a plan to start gradually relaxing quarantine measures that have been in place since mid-March.

A new forecast projects nearly 135,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States through the beginning of August mainly due to reopening measures under way, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington said on Monday.

Hairdressers, ironmongers and florists opened for business with restrictions on Monday as Spain began a four-phase plan to reopen by end-June, while the 24-hour death tally from the coronavirus pandemic stayed under 200 for the second day in a row.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that medicinal plants such as Artemisia annua, touted as possible treatments for COVID-19, should be tested for efficacy and side effects.

World leaders and organisations pledged $8 billion to research, manufacture and distribute a possible vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 on Monday, but the United States refused to contribute to the global effort.

Britain will start testing its own COVID-19 tracing app on the Isle of Wight from Tuesday, hoping that the technology in combination with more testing and tracking will help limit transmission of the coronavirus.

Robinhood Markets Inc said on Monday it has raised $280 million in a funding round that valued the online brokerage at $8.3 billion as it benefits from new signups amid increased market volatility and stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus.

Yemen has reported two new coronavirus infections in Hadhramout, the national emergency coronavirus committee said on Monday, raising the number of diagnosed infections in the war-town country to 12 with two deaths.

A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.

Apple Inc on Monday launched an updated version of its MacBook Pro with modified keyboards, as the laptop line had faced criticism for typing-related problems, while boosting performance and adding storage.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday it now expects makers of antibody tests for the new coronavirus to submit requests for emergency use authorization of their tests within 10 days from when the test is validated.