Iran reports 2,274 new COVID-19 cases, total surpasses 60,000

A total of 2,274 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Iran on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 60,500.

Iran also reported 136 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,739, according to local health authorities.

So far, 24,236 patients have recovered from the disease in the country.

Spain records 4,273 new COVID-19 cases, total now at 135,032

The pace of new coronavirus deaths in Spain has slowed for the fourth day. The death toll in the country rose by 637 to 13,055, its health ministry said on Monday.

It has reported 4,273 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 135,032.

Spanish government preparing for large-scale COVID-19 testing

The Spanish government is preparing large-scale COVID-19 testing, which will mainly target people working in certain institutions, such as nursing homes and supermarkets, as well as security and transportation personnel.

The government will conduct large-scale population testing and prepare infrastructure to isolate the infected.

The Spanish Ministry of Health will distribute a total of one million kits in the autonomous regions and ask them to prepare quarantine infrastructure.

Japan’s PM Abe begins state of emergency preparations

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begins preparations to declare a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.

It is expected to be effective till May 6 and cover seven prefectures, the Kyodo news agency reported.

15:50, 06-Apr-2020

China dispatched 11 charter flights between March 4 and April 3 to bring 1,827 Chinese nationals home from overseas amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Han Guangzu, a civil aviation official said Monday.

Most of them are students, Han said at a press conference.

Chinese envoy calls for China-U.S. cooperation against COVID-19

Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., on Sunday called on China and the U.S. to work together against the coronavirus, as COVID-19 continues to sweep across the world.

“We will always remember that in our most difficult days, our friends in so many places – many of them Americans, many of them New Yorkers – offered us a helping hand. We stand ready now to repay their kindness and help them make it through too,” Cui said in an article published in the New York Times.

“There has been unpleasant talk between our nations about this disease. But this is not the time for finger-pointing. This is a time for solidarity, collaboration and mutual support,” Cui added.

‘Failure could set the world on fire’

Kissinger tells U.S. to take lead in defending liberal world order in post-coronavirus era 

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger issued a dire warning that the world will never be the same after the coronavirus pandemic and the failure to resolve the crisis could “set the world on fire.”

Kissinger, who served under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, wrote in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal on Friday that the coronavirus has “struck with unprecedented scale and ferocity” and it will alter the world order forever.

The former secretary admitted the shortfalls of the U.S. handling the coronavirus. The infections are doubling every fifth day, with no cure or vaccine, tests are not enough to identify the extent of infection and hospitals are overwhelmed, he said.

But Kissinger said the Trump administration has done “a solid job in avoiding immediate catastrophe,” but the ultimate test faced by Trump’s government is to stop the spread as quickly as possible to regain the American people’s trust.