- The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution demanding an “immediate cessation of hostilities” for at least 90 days in key conflicts including Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Congo to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
- New Zealand’s health minister, David Clark, resigned on Thursday, following recent slip-ups in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and personal mistakes.
- Italy’s hard-hit northern region of Lombardy accounted for considerably more than half of the nation’s latest confirmed 187 coronavirus cases – raising the total to 240,760 nationwide. The Health Ministry also reported 21 new deaths, raising to 34,788 the total of known deaths.
- More than 10.6 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, over 5.6 million have recovered, and more than 514,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest updates.
Thursday, July 2
01:15 GMT – Mexico coronavirus death toll hits 28,510, exceeding Spain
Mexico’s health ministry has reported 5,681 new cases of coronavirus infection and 741 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 231,770 cases and 28,510 deaths.
With the additional deaths, Mexico’s coronavirus toll exceeded Spain’s total number of fatalities from the virus, which on Wednesday was 28,363, according to a Reuters tally.
00:37 GMT – US coronavirus cases rise more than 48,000 to set new daily record
Coronavirus cases in the United States rose by over 48,000, the biggest daily increase since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.
The number of US COVID-19 infections has surged over the past week, with daily figures setting new records several times in the past week, according to the tally.
Arizona, California, Florida and Texas have led the increases and were among 14 states that have reported a more than doubling of case numbers during the month of June, according to a Reuters analysis as of the end of Wednesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned any nation that fails to use every mechanism available to combat the still raging novel coronavirus is in for a “long, hard” battle.
00:01 GMT – New Zealand’s health minister Clark resigns
New Zealand’s health minister, David Clark, resigned on Thursday, following recent slip-ups in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and personal mistakes.
“It has become increasingly clear to me that my continuation in the role is distracting for the government’s overall response to COVID-19 and the global pandemic,” he said in a news conference in parliament.
Clark said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had accepted his resignation.
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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Read all the updates from yesterday (July 1)Â here.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies