Key points
Balochistan has reported 194 Covid-19 cases and one more death, according to the provincial health department's daily situation report.
With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 5,776 while the death toll is 54.
Nurses at a top hospital in India's capital which treats coronavirus patients threatened to stage a one-day walkout next week if working conditions don't improve, AP reported.
The nurses at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a leader in treatment of Covid-19 cases, have been protesting since Monday over long shifts and the need to use congested cubicles to change in and out of personal protective equipment, a possible health risk.
"More than 350 medical workers at AIIMS and 150 family members have been infected by the virus since March," said Dr D K Sharma, the hospital's medical superintendent. He said about 60pc have recovered.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) updated guidance on wearing facemasks during the Covid-19 pandemic, encouraging their use in crowded situations in places where the new coronavirus is widespread, AFP reported.
“Governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
British pharma giant AstraZeneca is “on track” to begin rolling out up to two billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine in September if ongoing trials prove successful, its chief executive said.
The company is partnering with Oxford University, which has pioneered the vaccine, and is already manufacturing doses before seeking final regulatory approval once testing concludes in the coming months.
“So far we're still on track ... we are starting to manufacture this vaccine right now, and we have to have it ready to be used by the time we have the results,” AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot told BBC radio.
“Our present assumption is that we will have the data by the end of the summer, by August, so in September we should know whether we have an effective vaccine or not.”
US President Donald Trump asserted that the country has made it through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, according to AFP.
“We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. And that strength let us get through this horrible pandemic, largely through, I think we're doing really well,” Trump said at a news briefing called after the release of surprisingly good US job numbers.
“We've made every decision correctly,” Trump said of his handling of the pandemic, which has claimed more than 108,000 lives in the United States.
A major British trial of hydroxychloroquine has found it has “no benefit” for patients hospitalised with Covid-19, researchers said, announcing they had halted tests of the drug, AFP reported.
“We have concluded that there is no beneficial effect of hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalised with Covid-19,” said a statement from the chief investigators in the randomised clinical trial, which is run by the University of Oxford and is testing a number of potential treatments for the new coronavirus.
They added they would stop recruiting patients to the hydroxychloroquine part of the trial “with immediate effect”.
1,353 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Sindh, taking the provincial tally to 34,889, the highest of any province in the country.
Sindh also reported 40 new deaths from the virus, its highest daily death toll since the outbreak of the disease, according to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. Sindh's overall death toll now stands at 615.
Shah said a total of 7,377 Covid-19 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, the province's highest number of daily tests so far.
As many as 17,787 patients have so far recovered from the disease in Sindh, the chief minister added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the volunteers of the Corona Relief Tiger Force to keep a close eye on utility stores, in an effort to keep the prices of food items from skyrocketing.
"Transport services were shut down due to the lockdown and food prices skyrocketed as a result. However, we kept up supply to utility stores and got some very good feedback from the volunteers."
He urged the volunteers to identify hoarders and inform the district administration. "You have to protect our people and help the poor [...] we will keep making you aware of what your duties are."
The premier added that the force's services will also be enlisted to help the country with the current locust invasion and to assist the government in its tree plantation project.
"I want you to participate in the 10 billion tree project. We are developing how we will use the Tigers to make Pakistan green, you will identify areas that we can plant in."
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the country cannot afford to go back towards a lockdown, urging the public to follow the government's standard operating procedures (SOPs) for curbing the spread of the virus.
"It is important for you to ensure that people follow SOPs because we can't go back to lockdown, this country cannot afford it," he said while addressing the volunteers of the Corona Relief Tiger Force.
"If we can slow down the [infection] curve because of SOPs, it will reduce pressure on hospitals."
He added that the country was already emerging from a difficult situation before the pandemic hit. "The purpose of reopening industries was to help the vulnerable. A lockdown for [the privileged] is not a problem, but it is a problem for the working class.
"How much more money can Ehsaas give? That is why important for you to ensure the implementation of SOPs," he said.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the main objective of the Corona Relief Tiger Force is to create awareness among the public.
"In Pakistan we have 1,700 deaths, we knew corona would spread. We have to understand corona is a virus that spreads when people gather so that is why we need to maintain social distancing.
"I will give you instructions every day. We will regularly give instructions on what you need to do, what the hotspots are [and] we will guide you.
"The virus will spread, you can't stop that. You can look people up in their rooms and that would slow the spread but it will not end it."
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that none of the country's coronavirus cases were traced back to mosques, despite the government's critics stating otherwise.
Addressing the volunteers of the Corona Relief Tiger Force, he said: "We were the only country in the Muslim world that said we would not bar Taraweehs and would keep mosques open. We decided that whoever goes there will have to follow SOPs."
The premier quoted the example of Sialkot. "There weren't enough police officials in Sialkot to stop the public from going to mosques so our tiger force went and raised awareness.
"Our critics said that the virus will spread from mosques [but] we did not see any cases emerge from there and today the world is opening mosques with standard operating procedures in place. This was an achievement for the force."
Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho's sister-in-law has passed away from the coronavirus.
In a tweet, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said she was "very sorry" to hear that Dr Pechuho's sister-in-law passed away from the virus and prayed for her family to be given the strength to bear the loss.
Former health minister and PML-N leader Saira Afzal Tarar has tested positive for Covid-19, according to the party's deputy secretary general Ataullah Tarar.
In a statement, he said that she had gotten tested after having Covid-19 symptoms. "She has since gone into quarantine," he said.
After recovering from the coronavirus, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has donated plasma to help other patients diagnosed with the respiratory illness.
In a statement, the governor urged those that had recovered from Covid-19 to donate their plasma. "We will have to learn to live with this virus. It is the public's responsibility to take precautionary measures against the virus."
The governor had tested positive for the virus on April 28 and had gone into isolation for 17 days.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a weekend curfew introduced to halt the spread of coronavirus, pointing to concerns over the economy, according to AFP.
Turkey has been locked down on weekends and public holidays since April, and the interior ministry said earlier today that 15 cities would again be shuttered this weekend.
However, hours later Erdogan announced on Twitter that he had cancelled the curfew after “feedback from our citizens” suggested it would have a negative economic impact.
“We were not willing to see our citizens suffer just as they began to return to their usual daily life following a two-and-a-half-month break,” the president said.
An official China manufacturing survey this week has suggested any recovery is months away, with export orders in May shrinking for the fifth straight month.
Desperate Chinese exporters are now turning to the domestic market, and they are seeking out e-commerce and even social media mobile apps to lift their fortunes.
Given the heightened uncertainty, export goods manufacturers are opening online stores on the likes of Alibaba Group’s Taobao platform as well as JD.com and Pinduoduo, or turning to second-hand sites or sellers on social media app WeChat to offload their stock at bargain prices.
Indonesians in Jakarta returned to mosques for prayers after the city relaxed rules on attending places of worship as part of a loosening of restrictions in place since late March to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.
A day earlier, Jakarta's governor had announced some easing of restrictions including attending mosques for communal prayers but warned the fight against the outbreak was far from over in southeast Asia's biggest city.
Under the new rules, places of worship must limit capacity.
The government has launched the Pak Nighban app that can provide information about the availability of ventilators in different hospitals, Radio Pakistan has reported.
Availability of ventilators can be checked in 1,110 hospitals that have been listed in the application.
Read more details here.
The Balochistan government is providing packages of multivitamins, masks and other necessary equipment to patients who are in home isolation, spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said in a press talk.
The step is being taken so that the province's recovery rate can increase, he said.
Shahwani added that currently, only 16 patients in the province are in a critical state out of which one was on ventilator.
Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani has said that the percentage of women contracting Covid-19 has increased from 21pc to 24 pc.
He blamed men for the rise in the infection rate, saying that as offices and educational institutions were closed, most women were at home. "It is us (men) who are taking corona inside our homes," Shahwani said in a media talk.
About 7pc of the patients in the province were children, he said and added that the average age group of infected people was between 21-40 years.
Balochistan spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani has urged people, who have recovered from the novel coronavirus, to donate plasma so that it can be used to cure other patients.
He said that the provincial government is also working with the National Disaster Management Authority to procure more testing kits and medical equipment. He thanked Dr Shamsi for donating kits to the government.
Two officials of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate General Information and Public Relations have contracted the novel coronavirus and have quarantined themselves at home.
One official was working with KP Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra as a public relations officer while the other employee was posted as the regional information officer in KPK House, Islamabad.
Jhagra and provincial chief minister's aide Ajmal Wazir have extended well wishes to both officers.
The number of new novel coronavirus infections in Mexico has surpassed the record set just the previous day, and officials reported 816 more deaths as the pandemic engulfs Latin America’s major nations.
According to Reuters, the additions bring Mexico’s tally to a total of 105,680 cases and 12,545 deaths.
Punjab's Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department has reported 2,040 new coronavirus cases — the highest single-day rise recorded by any province so far — taking the provincial tally to 31,144.
It has also reported 22 more deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 629.
According to the department, 7,806 people have recovered from the virus while a total of 266,959 tests have been conducted so far.
The city administration in Lahore sealed over 100 shops for violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the Punjab government and warned to get tougher by the day if shopkeepers and people do not behave.
Explaining the activity, an official of the district administration said: “Thursday was more of a warning shot. It was day first of implementation of the SOPs and the administration just wanted to convey its seriousness to traders. The severity and frequency of raids would certainly increase by the day if violations are reported.”
The same happened in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where the capital administration sealed two commercial centres, 22 industrial units and more than 100 stores for violating SOPs introduced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Administration officials were sent out to monitor SOP implementation after a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases reported in the city. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat, assistant commissioners and magistrates went out separately to check various localities.
Turkey will impose a two-day weekend lockdown in 15 cities as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the interior ministry has said.
Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that bakeries and certain shops could operate during the lockdown.
Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ajmal Wazir has reiterated that people should follow the SOPs set down for them by the government.
"You have to follow the SOPs we have laid down. It is not that difficult, you have to wear a mask — I am not wearing one at the moment because people are at a distance from me — wash your hands with soap and water and maintain social distancing. You can meet each other once this is over," he said.
The minister added that a National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting will review the relaxations done in lockdown as per the prime minister's vision.
He also said that a notice has already been taken on the shortage of petrol by the provincial government.
"A crackdown will be done and hoarders can face up to three years in jail."
Brazil's death toll from the new coronavirus has surpassed Italy's to become the third-highest in the world, AFP reported.
The country reported a new 24-hour record death toll at 1,437, bringing the total number killed to more than 34,000. That is behind only the United States, with more than 108,000 deaths, and Britain, with nearly 40,000.
Brazil is the hardest-hit country in Latin America, though the tolls are also rising sharply in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Chile.
Japan has kept its deaths from the new coronavirus low despite a series of missteps that beg the question of whether it can prevent future waves of infections.
Authorities were criticized for bungling a cruise ship quarantine and were slow to close Japan’s borders. They have conducted only a fraction of the tests needed to find and isolate patients and let businesses operate almost as usual, even under a pandemic state of emergency.
Singapore plans to soon launch a wearable device for novel coronavirus contact tracing that, if successful, it will distribute to all of its 5.7 million residents, the government has said.
“We are developing and will soon roll out a portable wearable device that will ... not depend on possession of a smartphone,” foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan told parliament, according to Reuters.
“If this portable device works, we may then distribute it to everyone in Singapore ... This will be more inclusive, and it will ensure that all of us will be protected,” he added.
A written answer submitted by the Finance Ministry during a Senate session has shown a grim picture of the economic impact of the coronavirus.
According to the ministry, up to three million people could end up unemployed due to the Covid-19 crisis. One million people in the industrial sector while two million people employed in the services sector could lose their jobs.
The ministry estimated that poverty rate would increase to 33.5 per cent from the current 24.3pc while the fiscal deficit would jump to 9.4pc from 7.5pc.
It also predicted that there would be a decrease of Rs2 billion in remittances from labourers working abroad.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, during an Upper House sitting today, has urged senators who don't wish to speak on the floor to leave the hall due to health safety reasons.
He said that the session's sittings from now on will be limited to two hours in order to ensure limited exposure.
Senators who were present in the Senate today were seen sitting apart and wearing masks as they questioned Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar over the upcoming budget.
As cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus continue to increase, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made wearing face mask compulsory in government offices.
A notification said that it was in the best public interest that no person would be allowed to enter any government office without wearing a face mask in order to stem infection of coronavirus.
The order issued by the administration department also instructed the line departments to display banners bearing the text “no mask, no entry”, at the entrance of offices. The notification circulated to administrative secretaries said that it was applicable to all the departments with immediate effect.
Read the full story here.
Pakistan's death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 1,816 after 84 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours (June 4).
The countrywide breakdown of deaths is as follows:
Sindh has reported 626 new cases for June 4, taking the provincial tally to 33,536, according to the government's Covid-19 portal.
It has also reported 20 more deaths, taking the total number of fatalities in the province to 575.
The government's Covid-19 portal has reported that 1,070 more people recovered from the coronavirus in Pakistan.
This has taken the total number of recoveries to 31,198.
Islamabad has reported 402 new coronavirus cases, taking its total to 3,946, according to the government's Covid-19 portal.
Gilgit Baltistan has reported 28 new cases while Azad Jammu and Kashmir has reported 14, taking their tallies to 852 and 299, respectively.
Islamabad has also reported three more deaths from the virus, taking its total fatalities to 41.
The Japanese public is being prepared for the reality of next year’s postponed Olympics, where athletes are likely to face quarantines, spectators will be fewer, and the delay will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily, citing government and organising committee sources, said making Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests mandatory for all spectators — in addition to athletes and staff — and limiting movement in and out of the athletes village were among the options Japan would discuss with the IOC.
The top priority is to avoid the worst scenario of cancelling the Games,” an unnamed government source told the daily.
Read full story here.
