COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 21 May
Image: REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz
- This daily roundup brings you a selection of the latest news updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
- Today's top stories: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpass 5 million globally; largest number of coronavirus cases reported in a single day; and Pakistan's PM warns 'millions facing starvation'.
What is the World Economic Forum doing about the coronavirus outbreak?
1. How COVID-19 is impacting the globe
- Confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 5 million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 328,000 people have died from the virus, while over 1.9 million have recovered.
- New flight guidelines from the EU require face masks and hand hygiene.
- Cuba has not reported a single death in one week.
- UK healthcare workers begin hydrochloroquine trial.
According to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, there were 106,000 cases reported from Tuesday to Wednesday of this week. That's the most cases reported in a single day since the outbreak began last December.
"We still have a long way to go in this pandemic," he said.
3. 'Millions facing starvation' - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on COVID-19 Action Platform call
Millions will face starvation unless developing economies can reopen. That was the statement of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns during a virtual meeting of the Forum's COVID Action Platform yesterday.
Khan explained that Pakistan had 25 million workers who depended on daily wages or who were self-employed. When the world locked down, he said, "all these people became unemployed. When we're talking about 25 million workers, you're talking about 25 million families and it has affected almost 120-150 million people."
Added Khan, "Unless the men and women work, they cannot feed their families."
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has suggested businesses could shift to a four-day working week to help boost domestic tourism.
Talking on a Facebook Live video, Ardern acknowledged shorter workweeks have become a topic of discussion as companies have adjusted to remote work. A four-day week, structured so workers pay levels remained the same, could be one way to give New Zealanders the leisure time to explore their home country. “I really encourage people, if they’re an employer and in a position to do so, to think about whether or not that’s something that would work for their workplace, because it certainly would help tourism all around the country.”
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