UN urges halt in conflict amid coronavirus pandemic: Live updates

• New United States coronavirus cases rose by nearly 50,000, according to a Reuters tally, marking the biggest one-day spike since the start of the pandemic. More than half of new cases each day come from US states of Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, home to 30 percent of the country’s population. More than 128,000 people have died in the US due to the pandemic. 

• 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.

• Close to 10.7 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, over 5.6 million have recovered, and more than 516,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates.

Thursday, July 2

05:08 GMT – Cuban capital to ease lockdown, joins rest of the country

Cuba has announced that it will begin easing a pandemic lockdown on Havana on Friday, while most of the rest of the country will move to phase two of a three-phase process towards normalization.

The capital’s 2.2 million residents will once more be able to move around on public and private transport, go to the beach and other recreation centers, and enjoy a seaside drive just in time for the summer break. They can also dine and have a drink, although social distancing and wearing masks remain mandatory. Optional medical and other services will also resume.

Only a handful of COVID-19 cases were reported in Cuba last month, all but a few in Havana. Most of the Caribbean island, home to 11.2 million inhabitants, has been free of the disease for more than a month.

04:48 GMT – India’s tally of coronavirus infections crosses 600,000

India’s coronavirus infections surpassed 600,000 on Thursday, with 17,834 deaths, as authorities battled to contain the pandemic while easing lockdown rules, officials and the health ministry said.

The increase presents a severe challenge for India’s strained medical capacity and overburdened health system, Reuters news agency reported.

An easing phase called “Unlock 2” was announced on Monday, allowing more economic activities to resume even as some densely populated containment zones stay under lockdown.

04:04 – Tokyo confirms more than 100 coronavirus cases on Thursday, NHK says

Tokyo confirmed more than 100 new coronavirus infection cases on Thursday, public broadcaster NHK said, the Japanese capital’s highest daily tally in two months.

The city of 14 million initially sought to hold new daily cases below 20 since Japan lifted a state of emergency on May 25, but its tally has consistently exceeded 50 recently, according to Reuters news agency.

This week, the metropolitan government said it would move away from numerical targets and rely more on expert advice to rein in the virus and avert further economic slowdown. Tokyo’s daily count last exceeded 100 on May 2.

03:19 GMT – South Korea reports 54 new cases

South Korea reported 54 new cases as the virus continues to spread beyond the capital area and reach cities like Gwangju, which has shut schools and tightened social restrictions after dozens were found infected this week.

Health Minster Park Neung-hoo during a virus meeting expressed alarm over the rise of infections in Gwangju, which had one of the smallest caseloads among major South Korean cities before this week.

Park urged the city’s residents to refrain from unnecessary gatherings, maintain distance from others and wear masks.

The total cases nationwide has reached 12,904, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), with the death toll staying at 282.

02:55 GMT – Australia sets up checkpoints to contain Melbourne virus hotspots

Australian police set up suburban checkpoints in new coronavirus hot spots in Melbourne on Thursday as authorities struggled to contain new outbreaks in the country’s second-largest city, even as travel restrictions eased elsewhere, according to Reuters news agency.

Images published by the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Thursday showed police flagging down cars in suburban streets after 36 suburbs in Melbourne in Victoria state went into lockdown following a spike in new infections there. The state reported 77 new cases on Thursday, up slightly from the previous day and in line with two weeks of double-digit daily increases.

Australia has fared better than many countries in the pandemic, with around 8,000 cases and 104 deaths. However, the recent jump in Victoria has stoked fears of a second wave of COVID-19, echoing concerns expressed in other countries.

02:07 GMT – Colombia tops 100,000 coronavirus cases, posts new daily record

Colombia’s confirmed coronavirus infections tipped across the 100,000 case threshold on Wednesday, as the country’s quarantine measures roll on and intensive care units fill, Reuters news agency reported.

Confirmed coronavirus cases now number 102,009, the health ministry said, 54,941 of which are active. Some 3,470 people have died.

Wednesday also marked the highest-ever daily increase in confirmed cases with an uptick of 4,163.

The mayor of the country’s capital Bogota said over the weekend the city should prepare for a stricter lockdown as ICUs reached 70 percent capacity, but ruled out tougher measures after the national government turned over hundreds of additional ventilators.

01:44 GMT – China reports five new coronavirus cases in mainland on July 1

China on Thursday reported three new coronavirus cases and two new asymptomatic case in the mainland for July 1, compared with three cases a day earlier, the health authority said.

Two of the new infections were imported cases, the National Health Commission said in a statement, while the capital city of Beijing reported one new case. There were no new deaths.

As of July 1, mainland China had a total of 83,537 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said. China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained at 4,634.

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 to almost 50,000 to set new daily record

Coronavirus cases in the United States rose by almost 50,000, the biggest daily increase since the pandemic started, according to the latest Reuters tally late on Wednesday.

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. The United States reported at least 49,286 cases as of the end of Tuesday.

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 US has reported at least 2.68 million cases with over 128,000 deaths.

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.

___________________________________________________________________

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) here.