Coronavirus Pandemic: Key updates

More than 4.1m infected

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 286,122 people since the outbreak first emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT yesterday. At least 4,188,040 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 195 countries and territories. The US has the highest number of total deaths with 80,684 followed by Britain with 32,065 deaths. It is followed by Italy with 30,739 deaths, Spain with 26,920 fatalities and France with 26,643 deaths.

'Airport screening ineffective'

Airport passenger screening for coronavirus during the early stages of the pandemic was futile because people can transmit the virus without showing symptoms, the United States' top health agency said. The analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was published days after a news report that the White House is pushing to return to the strategy as it seeks to re-open the hard-hit airline industry.

'China hacking vaccine research'

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and cybersecurity experts believe Chinese hackers are trying to steal research on developing a vaccine against coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are planning to release a warning about the Chinese hacking.

NY City toll underreported

New York City's coronavirus death toll may be several thousand more than the local government's official tally, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report. 24,172 people died in the Big Apple between March 11 and May 2. During that period, the city declared 13,831 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 5,048 probable deaths for a total of 18,879 fatalities linked to the virus. CDC said the rest 5,293 deaths not identified might have been directly or indirectly attributable to the pandemic.

'Trump Death Clock'

A newly erected billboard in New York's Times Square shows the number of US coronavirus deaths that its creator says could have been avoided if President Donald Trump had acted sooner -- and it's called the "Trump Death Clock." The "clock" ticks on the assumption that 60 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the US could have been prevented had the Trump administration implemented mandatory social distancing and school closures just a week earlier than it did.

Zinc-hydroxychloroquine found effective: study

The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has shown mixed results against the coronavirus in early studies, but a new paper out of New York suggests combining it with the dietary supplement zinc sulfate could create a more effective treatment. The research by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine was posted on a medical preprint site on Monday.