Cases still show rise in Latin America

SAO PAULO－As countries in Europe, Asia and Africa begin ease restrictions due to the slowing spread of the coronavirus, countries in Latin America are still facing an uphill battle.

Brazil－the world's virus hot spot behind the United States－registered 965 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, taking the total number of fatalities to 22,013. The number of confirmed cases rose to 347,398.

In Argentina, the country extended until June 7 a mandatory lockdown in Buenos Aires on Saturday and tightened some restrictions, after a steady increase in the city's cases in recent days.

Officials will tighten traffic controls between the capital and Buenos Aires Province, the area with the second highest concentration of cases, Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said.

The country has recorded 11,353 infections, while the death toll is at 445.

In the US, President Donald Trump played golf at one of his courses on Saturday at the start of the Memorial Day weekend as he urged US states to reopen after coronavirus-related lockdowns.

Yet many US citizens remained cautious as the number of confirmed cases nationwide passed 1.6 million. Officials in Los Angeles County said they would maintain tight restrictions until July 4.

New York state reported its lowest number of daily fatalities of 84 in many weeks in what Governor Andrew Cuomo described as a critical benchmark.

Cuomo signed an order on late Friday allowing people to assemble in groups of as many as 10 as long as they stay at least 1.8 meters from other people and wear masks when they can't maintain that distance.

In Europe, Spain said on Saturday it would let in foreign tourists and restart top league football in the coming weeks, marking another phase in the easing of one of the world's strictest lockdowns.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the resumption of tourism and football, saying that from July 1, "entry for foreign tourists into Spain will resume in secure conditions" and La Liga football could resume on June 8.

In Italy, authorities confirmed on Saturday that an announced serological screening at the national level would begin next week on 150,000 people to ramp up the country's fight against the pandemic.

In France, the authorities are relaxing border restrictions from Monday as the virus gradually recedes, allowing migrant workers and family visitors from other European countries－but requiring quarantine for people arriving from Britain and Spain, and travelers from outside Europe are still banned until at least June 15, except for French citizens.

Single-day spike

In Asia, India on Sunday registered another biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases, raising its tally by 6,767 to 131,868.

The easing of restrictions with the announcement of the fourth phase of the lockdown in the country has seen an increasing trend in the new cases, and health experts also attribute the spike in cases to the increase in India's testing capacity.

Iran on Saturday announced a further relaxation of lockdown measures, and said it has started to gain control of the outbreak in nearly a third of its provinces.

Ten out of Iran's 31 provinces are now in the "containment stage", said Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

As of Sunday, the tally of COVID-19 infections in the country rose to 135,701, while death toll was 7,417.

In Africa, the South African government on Saturday approved essential travel for its nationals who want to return to countries where they are based.

South Africans who wish to leave the country are permitted to depart only for one of the following reasons: work, study, family reunion, taking up permanent residency and receiving medical attention.

Xinhua - Agencies