GLOBAL COVID-19 UPDATE

Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 230,000 mark, cases rise to 3.2M

At least 230,309 people have died worldwide, since the epidemic surfaced in China in December, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

More than 3,218,410 cases have now been reported in 195 countries and territories.

In the United States, which has the highest toll, 61,717 people have died. Italy is the second hardest-hit country, with 27,967 dead, followed by the United Kingdom with 26,711, Spain 24,543 and France 24,376.

More than 130 therapies studied

More than 130 therapies are being investigated as possible treatments for the coronavirus, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations says.

Vaccines hope

US pharmaceutical laboratory Pfizer says it hopes it can roll out up to 20 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with German firm Biontech for emergency use by the end of 2020.

British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca partners with the University of Oxford to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine being trialed in the UK.

COVID-19 not man-made

US intelligence services say they have concluded that the COVID-19 virus is not man-made or been genetically modified, in a denial of rumours widely circulating in the United States.

More than 1,000 Russian deaths

Russia passes several symbolic thresholds, including the 1,000-death mark, the 100,000-case mark and registering a daily record of new infections.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announces he has tested positive for the virus and is going into isolation.

Britain has passed 'peak'

Britain is "past the peak" of its coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says.

"We are on the downward slope," he says at his first appearance at a daily government briefing since his own battle with COVID-19.

Recession

The coronavirus will push the eurozone economy into "an economic contraction of a magnitude and speed that are unprecedented in peacetime," European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde says, predicting a contraction of five to 12 percent of GDP this year.

France confirms it has officially plunged into recession.

Spain's economy contracts by 5.2 percent in the first quarter, and Italy by 4.7 percent.

Eurostat says the eurozone's economy has fallen by 3.8 percent.

The Canadian economy could contract by 12 percent in 2020 according to an official study.

Unemployment

The jobless total in Germany jumps sharply in April, to 2.6 million from 2.3 million in March, according to data from the federal labour agency BA.

In the United States another 3.84 million workers filed first-time claims for jobless benefits in the week ended April 25, bringing the number since mid-March to more than 30 million.

Further German lockdown easing

Germany announces further plans to ease coronavirus curbs on public life, with religious institutions, playgrounds, museums and zoos given the green light to reopen.

UN deadlock

The United States and China remain at loggerheads over a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for a 90-day humanitarian pause in conflicts worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. -- Agence France-Presse