Euronews brings you all the latest updates from the global coronavirus pandemic.
Key updates
Italy records 156 new deaths from coronavirus; France records 83 deaths
UK says around 17% of people in London may have coronavirus antibodies, due to preliminary results of a study
UK government U-turns on decision to increase healthcare surcharge for foreign healthcare workers
Global cases of COVID-19 pass five million
Beijing threatens "retaliation" in case of US coronavirus sanctions
Austria latest European nation to relaunch travel
Greece fears 70% drop in tourists this year
EasyJet resumes some flights from June 15
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First batch of US-manufactured ventilators arrive in Moscow
It comes as part of a $5.6m (€5.1m) humanitarian donation to Russia, which is the second worst-hit country in the world by the virus.
Turkey records lowest daily increase of new cases in months
A further 27 people died from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 4,249 deaths. A total of 153,548 in Turkey have tested positive.
Syrian refugee working in the NHS thanks campaigners for pushing government to U-turn on healthcare surcharge for migrant workers
The government announced earlier in the week that it would be increasing an NHS surcharge imposed on foreign workers from October.
But campaigners criticised this move - particularly as it would affect many of the people risking their lives during the coronavirus crisis - and led the government to pledge to find away to scrap the charge altogether for NHS and care workers.
Researchers say implementing social distancing measures one week earlier in US could have prevented nearly 36,000 deaths
If control measures had been adopted on March 8 instead of March 15, researchers found, some 703,975 cases and 35,927 deaths could have been avoided.
This was due to a retrospective analysis of the virus' spread.
They also warned that public health measures need to be implemented quickly to prevent second outbreaks.
“Efforts raising public awareness of the ongoing high transmissibility and explosive growth potential of COVID-19 are still needed at this critical time,” said lead researcher Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.
The paper was published on a pre-print server and is under peer-review for publication.
Nearly 39 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits
Nearly 39 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, the government reported Thursday.
More than 2.4 million people filed for jobless aid last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the outbreak.
This brought the total number of Americans filing for unemployment to 38.6 million.
This comes as many states plan to reopen amid the pandemic.
France records 83 additional deaths, 58 in hospital and 25 in care homes
The country had adjusted the numbers in care homes down the previous two days.
More than 144,000 have tested positive for the virus in France. The country began relaxing strict lockdown measures on May 11.
Italy records 156 new deaths from coronavirus
A total of 228,006 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Italy, including 642 more than yesterday.
Outdoors is safer than indoors but contact sport is a high risk
"We want grassroots football back as soon as we possibly can," UK health minister Matt Hancock said.
Updates from the UK daily briefing
Matt Hancock said the NHS surcharge was meant to make sure people contribute but that the prime minister has asked Hancock and the home secretary to see about removing NHS workers from the surcharge.
Read more about the NHS surcharge here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/21/uk-increase-of-healthcare-surcharge-for-foreign-workers-deemed-cruel-as-pm-refuses-to-waiv
The UK government said the proximity phone application is being trialled in the Isle of Wight and tells the user if they've been near someone with coronavirus.
It could be difficult to launch nationwide.
The test and trace programme will be put in place, meanwhile, as lockdown restrictions are lifted.
The government is recruiting additional public health staff to do contact tracing who are going through training before being deployed.
Preliminary antibody testing shows around 17% of people in London and around 5% or higher in the UK may have coronavirus antibodies
A preliminary study using antibody testing in the UK shows that around 17% of people in London and around 5% or higher in the rest of the country may have coronavirus antibodies.
Health minister Matt Hancock said they would need wider antibody testing for people in the population to know if they had antibodies.
UK records 338 fatalities in 24 hours due to coronavirus
Another 338 people have died in the UK in 24 hours bringing the death toll to 36,042 in the country, health minister Matt Hancock has said.
This is the highest death toll in Europe.
More than 250,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus and there are currently more than 9,000 people in the hospital with the virus.
The UK government is giving a live coronavirus briefing
We'll be giving you updates on this live blog. Watch the briefing in the player above.
Matt Hancock, the health minister, is currently talking about coming together for "mental health awareness week".
Beijing threatens to "retaliate" in the event of coronavirus sanctions by US
"We are firmly opposed to these bills and will adopt a firm response and retaliatory measures" if they are adopted, China's parliament spokesman Zhang Yesui said.
It comes after US allegations of China's failure to contain the coronavirus epidemic.
7.3% of Stockholm residents could have developed coronavirus antibodies, study shows
Elsewhere in the country, the number of people who developed antibodies was much lower.
The results showed that the spread of the virus was greater in people aged 20 to 64 than in those over 65, with 6.7% and 2.7% respectively having developed antibodies.
Sweden's Public Health Agency said it was "a sign that this group is isolating and protecting themselves quite well".
Scotland relaxing lockdown on May 28
Italy planning legal overhaul post-COVID-19
Italy’s government is seeking to turn the coronavirus emergency into an opportunity to pass “the mother of all reforms” to simplify the country’s notoriously bulky bureaucracy, invest in education and research and make Italy more attractive to foreign investment.
Premier Giuseppe Conte told parliament’s lower chamber on Thursday that an upcoming “simplification” decree aims to provide a “shock” to the economy, which was heading toward recession even before the pandemic turned Italy into the onetime European epicentre. He said it aims to make Italy more competitive and transparent while maintaining checks to prevent organized crime from infiltrating public and private contracts.
He said: “If we don’t succeed in simplifying now, in this state of absolute emergency, I frankly doubt we’ll be able to do it in the future.”
Austria latest European nation to relaunch travel
Oxfam could slash 1,450 jobs due to pandemic
Oxfam International, one of the world's leading aid agencies, will severely curtail its work because of the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic, including the closure of operations in 18 countries at the potential cost of 1,450 jobs.
The organisation, which currently operates in 66 countries and whose global work is coordinated via 20 affiliate offices around the world, said in a statement late Wednesday that it has had to accelerate changes as a result of the pandemic.
The charity will pull out of Afghanistan, Rwanda, Egypt, Sudan and Tanzania, among others.
Greece fears 70% drop in tourists this year
Greek tourist operators expect a 70% drop in arrivals this year, hoteliers' representative Grigoris Tasios told Skai TV.
It comes after the government set June 15 as the start of the tourism season.
Global cases of COVID-19 pass five million
China begins pivotal government conference delayed by coronavirus
China began its most important political event of the year on Thursday after a two-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The opening of the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is a further sign of what the government says is its victory over the outbreak that originated in the central city of Wuhan late last year.
That will be followed Friday by the opening of the National People’s Congress, the ceremonial parliament, highlighted by a speech from Premier Li Keqiang outlining economic and social goals for the year.
EasyJet will resume some flights from June 15
Easyjet said Thursday that it intended to resume certain flights from June 15, mainly on journeys "inside the United Kingdom and in France", with health measures on board, AFP reported.
"A small number of flights will start again on the routes where we think there is enough demand for them to be profitable," said the carrier, whose carrier almost all of the planes are currently stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has paralyzed global traffic.
"Additional routes will be announced in the coming weeks, as demand increases and containment measures in Europe are relaxed," the company said.
Iceland 'open for tourists' from June 15
A pandemic might not be the best of times to court tourists, but Iceland believes it has a lot to offer these days.
Very few COVID-19 cases, vast open landscapes, and a low population density are some of the arguments Iceland’s tourism minister is touting to lure back travellers to the country.
"It’s easy to go around without having to be in close contact with other people," Minister of Tourism, Industry and Innovation Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir told Euronews in a live interview.
You can watch the interview here.
G7: Emmanuel Macron is 'a yes', Merkel and Trudeau 'a maybe'
Trump: G7 may still be held in U.S. despite pandemic
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he's considering holding a meeting in the U.S. with the leaders of the world's major economies after all because it would be a “great sign to all” of things returning to normal during the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement was the latest effort by Trump to signal to the nation that the U.S. economy is humming again after months-long shutdowns meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 are beginning to be lifted across the country.
Trump had scheduled the Group of Seven summit for June 10-12 at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. But in March, he announced he was cancelling the annual meeting because of the pandemic and that the leaders would confer by video conference instead.
“Now that our Country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness’, I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David,” Trump tweeted. “The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all - normalization!”
Qatar warns that global recession may hit 2022 World Cup
Organizers of the World Cup in Qatar are concerned that many fans won't be able to afford travelling to the tournament in 2022 if the coronavirus pandemic causes a global recession.
Many countries around the world are expected to suffer historically deep recessions as a result of the virus and the associated lockdown restrictions.
“It’s all right now unclear — we are entering into a recession," World Cup organizing committee secretary general Hassan Al Thawadi said Wednesday. “There’s always the concern about the global economy and the ability of fans to be able to afford travelling and afford coming and participating and celebrating the World Cup."
Spain legal battle looms over Madrid lockdown
The regional authority of Madrid is appealing to Spain’s Supreme Court over the Spanish government’s refusal to ease its lockdown.
The Madrid regional government said in a statement Wednesday it believes that technical assessments over what areas can loosen restrictions adopted to stem the new coronavirus outbreak are not being applied in the same way in different parts of the country.
The Madrid region has officially recorded almost 67,000 of the country’s 232,000 COVID-19 cases, making it the hardest-hit area.
The conservative Popular Party, which is the Socialist-led national government’s main opposition, has a controlling majority in the Madrid regional authority.
Italy infection rates rise after gradual re-opening
More than two weeks into Phase II of gradual reopening in Italy, the number of reported new coronavirus infections grew by 665 on Wednesday to 227,364, with nearly half in the northern region of Lombardy that has been the epicentre for Italy’s epidemic.
Five regions reported no new cases of COVID-19 and nine regions reported no deaths, according to the civil protection agency.