Parts of the world are starting to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and to cautiously resume some sort of normal life, but the new coronavirus will pose significant risks until vaccines are developed, the World Health Organization's top emergencies expert said on Sunday.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December. There have been 247,000 recorded deaths.
Here's the latest news from around the world overnight.
Europe
United Kingdom
The British government had a contingency plan for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's death as he battled COVID-19 in intensive care last month, he said in an interview with The Sun newspaper.
"They had a strategy to deal with a 'death of Stalin'-type scenario," Johnson was quoted as saying. "It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it."
Facing questions over why Britain's death toll from the new coronavirus was now the second-worst in Europe after Italy, a British minister said on Sunday people should not jump to conclusions and the full picture was not yet clear.
The death toll was 28,131 as of May 1, just short of the Italian total, increasing pressure on the conservative government which has been accused by the opposition of having acted too slowly in the early stages of the outbreak.
Transport minister Grant Shapps rejected a suggestion that the evidence on excess mortality showed the government's response to the outbreak had failed.
"You need to look at that over a much longer period of time. So we'll have to look back over a year I'm afraid, not to be evasive but we just won't have that information," Shapps told Sky News. "It's much more complex than you're making it sound."
France
Masked Parisian statues are helping spread a health message as France is set to enter its last week of strict confinement rules amid a coronavirus crisis.
Along the Trocadero esplanade, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, statues were on Sunday wearing masks across their mouths and noses as the city, usually crowded with tourists, stood silent.
Russia
Russia has recorded its highest daily rise in confirmed coronavirus cases with 10,633 new infections, bringing the total to 134,687, with more than half of cases and deaths in Moscow.
But the mortality rate has slowed in recent days and remains much lower, in relative terms, than many other countries.
Russia has said its lower mortality rate was because the Russian outbreak occurred later than in many other countries which gave the authorities more time to prepare.
Russia's nationwide death toll rose to 1280 on Sunday after 58 people died in the last 24 hours, Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said on its website.
Italy
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 174 on Sunday, against 474 the day before, the smallest daily toll of fatalities since March 10.
The daily number of new cases also declined sharply to 1389 from 1900 on Saturday.
In recent weeks of the epidemic that emerged in Italy on February 21, the daily death count has tended to fall on Sundays only to rise again the following day.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for transparent and impartial international scientific cooperation to discover a vaccine for the coronavirus and said it should be made accessible around the world when found.
"It is important to unite scientific capabilities, in a transparent and impartial way to find vaccines and treatments," he said.
Francis said it was also important to "guarantee universal access to essential technologies that allow each infected person, in every part of the world, to receive the necessary medical treatment".
Turkey
The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 61 in the last 24 hours to 3397.
The overall number of cases rose by 1670 to 126,045, the data showed, the highest total outside Western Europe, the United States and Russia.
Spain
Spaniards revelled in a second day of freedom, heading outside in time-slots for age groups on the first weekend adults were allowed out since one of the world's strictest coronavirus lockdowns was imposed in mid-March.
Asia
India
India's air force has flown aircraft low over more than a dozen cities, part of a nationwide campaign by the armed forces to thank healthcare workers and other essential services personnel fighting the coronavirus outbreak.
So far India has recorded nearly 40,000 coronavirus cases and more than 1300 deaths amid a weeks-long nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
South Korea
South Korea will further relax social distancing rules from May 6, allowing a phased re-opening of businesses, as the nation has largely managed to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control, the government said.
Japan
Japan could ease some coronavirus curbs by allowing places such as parks and museums to reopen, provided proper preventive measures were in place, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
A Japanese Nobel Prize-winner has denied online rumours he confirmed the virus was man-made.
Tasuku Honjo issued a statement refuting any link to the online rumors that he claimed that the novel coronavirus was invented in a lab in Wuhan, where it originated.
He said he was "greatly saddened" that his name and that of Kyoto University were being used to spread misinformation.
"At this stage, when all of our energies are needed to treat the ill, prevent the further spread of sorrow, and plan for a new beginning, the broadcasting of unsubstantiated claims regarding the origins of the disease is dangerously distracting," he said.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is set to hand out reusable face masks to all its more than 7 million citizens.
The government is preparing to lift a round of coronavirus restrictions next week.
The masks will contain reusable filters that can be replaced.
China
China has published a short animation titled 'Once Upon a Virus', mocking the US response to the new coronavirus, using Lego-like figures to represent the two countries.
China is also hitting back over calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 and is threatening economic sanctions on countries spearheading the movement.
Americas
United States
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has dumped all his stakes in US airlines, saying the world has changed.
Sunny days and warm weather are proving to be as challenging to manage as restaurants, hair salons and other businesses as about half of US states partially reopen their economies after the coronavirus lockdown.
On Saturday, thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington to view a US Navy flyover to honor healthcare workers and others battling the pandemic.
In New York City, the warmest weather yet this spring caused picnickers and sunbathers to flock to green spaces in Manhattan, including crowded conditions at Christopher Street Pier in Greenwich Village, according to photos on social media.
Last week, California ordered beaches in Orange County to close, after crowds defied public health guidelines to throng the popular shoreline. That prompted protests by demonstrators who accused the state's Democratic Governor of overreach.
The US has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the world. More than 68,000 Americans have lost their lives to the pandemic, with few signs the death rate will ease up soon.
Brazil
A global coalition of artists, celebrities and scientists have written an open letter to Brazil's President pleading with him to take immediate action to save Amazon tribes from a COVID-19 "genocide".
Middle East and Africa
Israel
Israel has reopened some schools, but the bid to edge back to normality as coronavirus concerns ease has been boycotted by several municipalities and many parents who cite poor government preparation.
Kitted with masks and hand-cleaners, the first three grades of elementary school and the last two grades of high school were allowed back on Sunday, redistributed in classes capped at 15 pupils to enforce social-distancing.
If the move does not unleash fresh contagions, other grades and kindergartens may soon follow suit.
Tanzania
Tanzania is planning to import a herbal tonic, which is being touted as a cure for COVID-19.
The country's President is chartering a plane to Madagascar for shipments of the artemisia plant drink.
However the World Health Organization says there is NO proof of any cure, and advises against self-medicating.
Pacific
Australia
Australian scientists are trialling stem cell therapy to aid COVID-19 recovery.
Reuters / Newshub.
