COVID-19 deaths top 400000 worldwide; Health Canada recalls some hand sanitizers; India surpasses Spain in total cases - Toronto Star

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Friday (this file will be updated throughout the day). Web links to longer stories if available.

8:20 a.m.: Coronavirus-related deaths have surpassed 400,000 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

The U.S. accounts for a quarter of the 400,225 deaths, with 109,802 as of Sunday morning. Second is the United Kingdom with 40,548 deaths, followed by Brazil with 35,930.

The U.S., by far, has the most confirmed cases, with 1.9 million. Brazil is the second most affected nation with 672,846. Russia is third, accounting for 467,073 of the 6.9 million global confirmed cases.

7:53 a.m.: Health Canada says some hand sanitizers are being recalled because they contain industrial-grade ethanol.

The agency says industrial-grade ethanol contains chemicals that may not be approved for use in hand sanitizers.

It warns that frequent use of these products can result in dry skin, causing irritation or cracking.

The products on the recall list include Eltraderm Hand Sanitizer, Gel 700 Hand Sanitizer, Sanilabs Hand Sanitizer and Walker Emulsions Hand Sanitizer.

Consumers are advised to stop using the products immediately and return them to their local pharmacy for proper disposal.

Health Canada says it's monitoring the effectiveness of the recalls.

7:30 a.m.: Senior Chinese officials, releasing a lengthy report on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, defended their government’s actions and said that China provided information in a timely and transparent manner.

National Health Commission Chairman Ma Xiaowei said Sunday that a recent news media report that the Chinese government didn’t initially share the genome sequence for the virus “seriously goes against the facts.”

An Associated Press investigation found that government labs sat on releasing the genetic map of the virus for more than a week in January, delaying its identification in a third country and the sharing of information needed to develop tests, drugs and a vaccine.

7:30 a.m.: They haul food, fuel and other essential supplies along sometimes dangerous roads during tough economic times. But Africa’s long-distance truckers say they are increasingly being accused of carrying something else: the coronavirus.

While hundreds of truckers have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks, the drivers say they are being stigmatized and treated like criminals, being detained by governments and slowing cargo traffic to a crawl.

That has created a challenge for governments in much of sub-Saharan Africa, where many borders remain closed by the pandemic, on how to strike a balance between contagion and commerce. Countries are struggling to reach common ground.

7 a.m.: India reported 9,971 new coronavirus cases on Sunday in another biggest single-day spike, a day before it prepares to reopen shopping malls, hotels and religious places after a 10-week lockdown.

India has now surpassed Spain as the fifth hardest-hit country, with 246,628 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 6,929 deaths.

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New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are among India’s worst-hit cities. Six of the country’s 28 states account for 73 per cent of the total cases.

India has already partially restored train services and domestic flights and allowed shops and manufacturing to reopen. E-commerce companies have started to deliver goods, including those considered nonessential, to places outside containment zones.

6 a.m.: China on Sunday reported its first non-imported case of the new coronavirus in two weeks, a 37-year-old woman who tested positive after arriving on the island of Hainan off the southern coast.

The National Health Commission said there were also five imported cases in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the nation’s total case count to 83,036.

The woman came from Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, and had tested negative two days before leaving for Hainan. China has largely stopped the spread of the virus at home, though it continues to have occasional localized outbreaks.

It is on guard against imported cases as it begins to ease restrictions on flights and people arriving from abroad. China’s official death toll from the virus is 4,634.

6 a.m.: South Korea reported 57 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, its second straight day with over 50 new infections. The new cases took the country’s total to 11,776, including 273 deaths. South Korea’s caseload peaked in late February and early March when it recorded hundreds of new cases each day.

But the outbreak has significantly eased amid aggressive tracing, testing and treatment, prompting authorities to loosen strict social distancing rules. The new cases in recent weeks have been linked to nightclubs, an e-commerce warehouse, church gatherings and door-to-door sellers in the Seoul metropolitan area.

6 a.m.: Malaysians will be allowed to travel interstate, get their hair cut at salons and visit street markets beginning Wednesday, when more coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Sunday that more economic sectors will reopen, schools and religious activities will gradually resume, and people can travel for domestic holidays after nearly three months of lockdown.

But he said certain prohibitions will remain as the country enters a “recovery” phase until the end of August.Malaysia has confirmed just over 8,000 cases of the virus, including 117 deaths.

6 a.m.: Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said he hopes the Black Lives Matter rallies across the country on Saturday that broke COVID-19 social distancing rules will not lead to a new wave of infections. More than 20,000 people marched in Sydney and crowds rallied in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and some regional cities and towns despite public health warnings.

“We don’t know whether people will be infected,” Hunt told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. “But if there is someone who is infectious in the midst of a crowd like that, that can have a catastrophic impact.” Australia has had over 7,250 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 102 deaths.

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Click here for coverage of coronavirus news from Saturday.

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2020-06-07 13:00:02Z
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