Coronavirus: What's happening around the world on Monday – CBC.ca

The latest:

Travellers to Britain are now being required to go into quarantine for two weeks — a sweeping measure meant to halt the further spread of COVID-19.

Starting Monday, all passengers will be asked to fill in a form detailing where they will self-isolate, with only a few exceptions. Those who fail to comply with the quarantine rules could be fined.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says the quarantine will cause “untold devastation” for the country’s tourism industry — not just on the airlines.

He told the BBC that hotels, visitor attractions and restaurants will also be hurt, and thousands of jobs will be lost.

Early indications suggest there has been a “good level of compliance” with Britain’s introduction of a 14-day quarantine for those arriving in the country, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

“All of the indications so far are that there has been a good level of compliance and we do expect the vast majority of people to play their part in helping to stop the spread of this disease,” the spokesperson told reporters, adding that this was based on people agreeing to fill in the necessary forms.

The U.K. is among the hardest-hit countries in the world, with more than 287,000 reported coronavirus cases and more than 40,000 deaths, according to a case tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

WATCH | Don’t make assumptions about the coronavirus, epidemiologist says:

The U.S. still had the most reported cases of any nation in the world at more than 1.9 million cases and more than 110,00 deaths, according to the Baltimore-based university.

As of 7:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Canada had 95,699 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases, with 54,233 considered recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial data, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 7,859.

Here’s what’s happening with COVID-19 in Canada

Read on for a look at what’s happening around the world with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Moldova registered a record number of new cases of the coronavirus during the first week of June, the government said Monday, as a former health minister described the pandemic situation in the country as “out of control.”

Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe and plagued by corruption and political turmoil, confirmed 1,449 new cases of COVID-19 for the week of June 1-7, nearly 300 more than the previous week, according to data from the Ministry of Health. It was the fourth consecutive week with more than 1,000 new cases.

During the first week of June, Moldova also suffered 46 coronavirus deaths, including two medical workers, compared to 45 deaths a week earlier.

A country of 3.3 million people, Moldova has become a politically strategic area for both the West and Russia since gaining independence after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since its first confirmed case on March 7, Moldova has registered 9,700 cases of the coronavirus and 346 deaths.

Dr. Ala Nemerenco, a former health minister, was very critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic.

“You don’t have to be an epidemiologist, a virologist or even a doctor to understand that the situation has gotten out of control,” Nemerenco said in a Facebook post in reference to the rising number of cases.

Children in South Africa began returning to classrooms on Monday as part of a gradual loosening of restrictions imposed under a months-long COVID-19 lockdown in the continent’s most industrialized nation.

The reopening of schools had been delayed after teachers’ unions urged school staff to defy the government order last week, saying schools lacked sufficient health and hygiene measures to keep educators and pupils safe.

South Africa has counted nearly 50,000 cases of the novel coronavirus — the most of any country in sub-Saharan Africa — along with almost 1,000 deaths.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Sunday that ramped-up efforts to equip schools over the past week meant that 95 per cent of South Africa’s primary and secondary schools were now able to host classes.

“The golden rule is there will be no school that will resume if not ready to do so,” Motshekga said.

The government will find alternative arrangements for pupils at schools unable to open on Monday, she said. Initially, only pupils in Grades 7 and 12 will return to class, with other years phased in gradually.

Total cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 100,000 on Sunday as the kingdom struggled to get a grip on a rise in new infections over the past 10 days.

India is reopening its restaurants, shopping malls and religious places in most states even as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country grows. The Health Ministry reported another 9,983 cases Monday, raising India’s count past 256,000 to fifth most in the world. The 206 fatalities reported Monday were the highest single-day rise and takes the country’s death toll to 7,135.

New Delhi is also reopening its state borders, allowing interstate movement of people and goods.

India already partially restored train services and domestic flights and allowed shops and manufacturing to reopen. Schools remain closed.

The number of new cases has soared since the government began relaxing restrictions. There has also been a surge in infections in India’s vast countryside following the return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who left cities and towns after losing their jobs.

The number of new coronavirus infections in Pakistan continued to spiral upward, as the nation of 220 million people surpassed 100,000 cases as of Sunday, with more than 2,000 deaths.

The daily infection rate spiked after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ended and markets were thrown open during the Eid-al Fitr holiday at the end of May. That followed the government refusing to close mosques and deciding to open up the country even as medical professionals pleaded for a stricter lockdown,

Since then, the daily infection rates have held fairly steady with just under 5,000 new cases each day. Testing has held steady in recent days at about 22,000 each day, with government officials saying Pakistan aimed to eventually carry out 30,000 tests every day.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone on national television to tell Pakistanis the country’s poorest cannot survive a strict lockdown.

The International Monetary fund and the Asian Development Bank have both given Pakistan millions of dollars in bridge loans to ease the economic impact of the pandemic pummelling economies worldwide.

Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, the city hardest hit by the new coronavirus, has partly reopened after two months of partial lockdown as the world’s fourth-most populous nation braces to gradually reopen its economy.

The city of 11 million people, with a total of 30 million in its greater metropolitan area, has been under large-scale social restrictions since April 10.

Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan announced that all worship facilities will be allowed to reopen with half their capacity and physical distancing measures on Friday, followed by offices, restaurants and grocery stores that begin to resume activities with only 50 per cent of their employees and clients on Monday. The measure also applies to public transportation.

Schools are closed during this month’s transition phase to the so-called “new normal,” while some shopping centres, zoos and beaches will open next week.

In New Zealand, health officials reported that the final person known to have become infected had recovered.

It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported in New Zealand, and Monday also marked the first time since late February that there have been no active cases. Health officials caution that new cases could be imported into the country, which has closed its borders to everybody but citizens and residents, with some exceptions.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said it was a pleasing development.

“Having no active cases for the first time since Feb. 28 is certainly a significant mark in our journey, but as we’ve previously said, ongoing vigilance against COVID-19 will continue to be essential,” Bloomfield said.

Experts say a number of factors have helped the nation of five million wipe out the disease, including its isolated location, along with leadership shown by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who imposed a strict lockdown early on during the outbreak. Just over 1,500 people contracted the virus in New Zealand, including 22 who died.

Russia said it will partially reopen the country’s borders as the country eases coronavirus restrictions.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Monday that travelling abroad for the purposes of work, studying, receiving medical treatment or taking care of relatives will be allowed. He said Russia will let in foreigners seeking medical treatment or taking care of family members. It wasn’t immediately clear when the partial reopening of the borders would go into effect.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters there is “no set date” yet for resuming international flights, which were halted in late March.

Last month, President Vladimir Putin called for gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions, saying that Russia was able to slow down the epidemic.

The country’s health officials, however, have been reporting around 9,000 new infections daily since mid-May and some experts are concerned that easing lockdown restrictions may be premature.

Brazil removed from public view months of data on its COVID-19 epidemic on Saturday, as President Jair Bolsonaro defended delays and changes to official record-keeping of the world’s second-largest coronavirus outbreak.

Chile revised its death toll sharply higher on Sunday, adding fatalities from databases that previously had not been included.

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