Russia reports almost 10,000 cases in 24 hours

Moscow/ New York /Rome:  Russia reported 9,623 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, its highest daily rise, bringing the total to 124,054.

The nationwide death count rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said, after revising the previous day's tally.

The United States has at least 1,103,781 reported cases of coronavirus and 65,068 related deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

As states begin to include probable deaths in their counts, so will JHU. As a result, numbers may surge to reflect this change in the upcoming days.

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases and those in the military, veterans hospitals and federal prisons.

New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 308,314 cases and 24,039 deaths, followed by New Jersey with 121,190 cases and 7,538 deaths, Xinhua news agency reported.

The pandemic has claimed 28,236 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities, and recoveries to 207,428, latest data from the country's Civil Protection Department showed on Friday.

Some 269 new fatalities were registered over the past 24 hours. There were also 2,304 new recoveries compared to Thursday, pushing to 78,249 the total number of recoveries since the pandemic broke out in the northern Lombardy region on February 21, Xinhua reported.

The number of active infections dropped by 608 cases to a total of 100,943, according to the bulletin of the Civil Protection Department.

Of all those actively infected, some 1,578 patients are in intensive care -- a decrease of 116 compared to Thursday, and 17,569 are hospitalized with symptoms -- down by 580.

"Some 81,796 people, equal to 81 percent of all those infected, are in isolation (at home) without symptoms or with mild symptoms," the Civil Protection Department noted.

The latest data came as the country is preparing to ease the national lockdown put in place since March 10 and until May 3.

The so-called "Phase Two" of the state of emergency will see the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors resume their productive activities on May 4.

The government's plan of gradual reopening would continue with retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18, and then bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1.

Any of these businesses will be allowed to restart only on condition that they are able to respect workplace safety protocols, which were outlined by the government, trade unions, and business groups together earlier this month.

Such a schedule would be subject to change in case new outbreaks occur across the country.

Meanwhile, Spain's death toll hit 25,100 on Saturday after 276 people died overnight, the health ministry said.Total cases rose to 216,582 from 215,216 on Friday.

Spain has had one of the worst outbreaks in the world, but is past its peak and gradually easing lockdown restrictions.

Joggers and cyclists across Spain emerged from their homes, with adults allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks as the government began easing coronavirus restrictions.

In Barcelona, runners and cyclists crowded paths near the beach, while surfers and paddle-boarders were out enjoying the waves.

In Madrid, cyclists and skateboarders streamed along the city's wide boulevards, ducking under police tape set up to prevent people congregating in common areas.