* The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday warned that millions of children are in danger of missing life-saving vaccines against measles, diphtheria and polio due to disruptions in immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed confidence and efforts in stabilizing China's economic fundamentals and securing people's basic livelihood in the face of the economic difficulties and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese health authority said Saturday (April 25) that it received reports of 12 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for Friday, of which 11 were imported.
* Close to 20,000 people have died in hospital in the United Kingdom after testing positive for the new coronavirus, data showed on Friday (April 24), as Britain approached a milestone it had hoped never to reach. Britain has the fifth-worst official death toll in the world, after the United States, Italy, Spain and France, and government scientists have said that the death rate will only start to decline quickly in another couple of weeks.
* Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,055 to 152,438, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday - a second day of deceleration after three days of acceleration in new infections. The reported death toll rose by 179 to 5,500, the tally showed on Saturday.
* Malaysia reported 51 new coronavirus infections and two deaths on Saturday. The total number of recorded cases is 5,742, with 98 fatalities, the health ministry said in a news conference.
* The Philippines' health ministry on Saturday reported 17 new coronavirus deaths and 102 additional infections. In a bulletin, the health ministry said total infections have risen to 7,294 while deaths have increased to 494. Thirty more patients have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 792.
* The total number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar has risen to 144 cases, with five more confirmed cases reported late Friday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health and Sports.
* US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer on Friday notified Congress that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaces the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), will enter into force on July 1. Following the notification to Congress, the United States became the third country to notify the other parties that it had completed its domestic procedures to implement the agreement, the final step necessary for the USMCA to enter into force, according to the USTR's Office.
* US President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a US$484-billion relief package to boost funding for small businesses, hospitals and virus testing, as the country grapples with COVID-19 public health crisis and its economic fallout.
* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a rent subsidy program on Friday to help small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program titled Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance is meant to help small businesses cover their rents for April, May and June. It will lower rent by up to 75 percent for eligible small businesses.
* Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has developed a probe-free testing kit for COVID-19, which they claim has been approved by country's top health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), officials said Saturday. India is currently battling COVID-19 amid imposing a countrywide lockdown. So far 775 people have been killed because of the virus and total cases in country have reached to 24,506.
* The COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 327 to 12,756, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities Friday evening. The nationwide death toll from the virus has now increased to a total of 344, including those from a cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo, the latest figures showed.
* Republic of Korea reported 10 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Saturday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,718. The daily caseload hovered around 10 for the seventh consecutive day. Of the new cases, four were imported from overseas, lifting the combined number to 1,027. No death was confirmed for two straight days.
* Russia's Roscosmos state space corporation on Saturday launched a special Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), the corporation said in a statement. The spacecraft, delivering over two tons of various cargo, will dock to the Russian ISS segment at 0512 GMT after a "superfast" two-orbit flight for about three hours, it added.
* The Finnish coalition government on Friday rolled out its new policy rules for emergency aid to entrepreneurs, saying aid criteria would be based more on the permanent costs of companies so as to better match the problems caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. As of Friday afternoon, Finland has confirmed 4,395 cases of COVID-19 with 177 deaths, according to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.
* Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the country's number of COVID-19 cases might rise sharply during the Muslim's fasting month of Ramadan starting on Saturday. According to the data updated by the Health Ministry on Saturday morning, Pakistan's confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen to 11,940 with 253 deaths.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted 132 km west of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake, which occurred at 0253 GMT, was initially determined to be at 6.5105 degrees south latitude and 154.3008 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 16.9 km.
* New Zealand reported one more death of COVID-19, adding the death toll to 18 in the country, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday. Meanwhile, New Zealand reported three new confirmed cases and two new probable cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, making the total case number to 1,461 in the country.
* The number of cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ecuador has doubled to 22,719 after results from thousands of backlogged tests were obtained, Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said on Friday. Romo explained that to date, 56,513 tests had been administered for COVID-19, of which 22,719 came back positive.
* Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday confirmed 3,122 new COVID-19 cases and 109 more deaths in Turkey. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to 104,912 while the death toll surged to 2,600, Koca tweeted.
* Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced the gradual de-confinement measures in three phases at the end of a National Security Council meeting on Friday. An agreement was reached at a 7-hour meeting by the National Security Council (NSC), which decided on the lockdown measures to contain the new coronavirus as well as their extensions until May 3.
* A further 222 people had died of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours in Ireland, bringing the country's death toll to 1,014, according to figures released on Friday by the Irish Department of Health. The department also reported another 577 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the day, bringing the total cases to 18,184.
* The number of coronavirus patients in Israel has reached 15,058 after 255 new patients were added on Friday, the state's Ministry of Health said. According to the ministry, the number of death cases rose from 192 to 194, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 139 to 137 out of 409 patients currently hospitalized.
* Fighting between the Yemeni army and Houthi militia raged on in two districts in Yemen's central province of Marib on Friday, leaving dozens from both sides dead, a local government security source said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called in March on the Yemeni warring parties to "immediately cease hostilities, and do everything possible to counter a potential outbreak of COVID-19."
* The Omani Ministry of Health announced on Friday 74 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,790.
* In Iran, 1,168 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of the infected to 88,194, while the death toll increased by 93 to 5,574. The number of recoveries has reached 66,596 while 3,121 are still in critical condition and under treatment.
* In Israel, another hard-hit country in the region, the number of coronavirus patients has reached 15,058 after 255 new patients were added on Friday. The number of death cases rose from 192 to 194, while the number of recoveries in Israel reached 6,003 on Friday.
* Saudi Arabia announced on Friday 1,172 new cases of the coronavirus and six new deaths, raising the total to 15,102 and the death toll to 127. The tally of recoveries in the kingdom increased to 2,049 after 124 more patients were cured.
* The United Arab Emirates on Friday recorded 525 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 9,281, and 8 more deaths, pushing the country's death toll to 64.
* In Qatar, 761 new infections of the novel coronavirus were announced on Friday, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 8,525.
* Kuwait on Friday reported 215 new cases of COVID-19 and one more death, bringing the total infections to 2,614 and death toll to 15.
* Egyptian Health Ministry reported on Friday 201 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 4,092, including 294 deaths.
* Palestine on Friday reported four new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in its territories to 484.
* The Rwandan Ministry of Health reported late Friday 22 new COVID-19 cases, the largest single daily increase since the country registered its first case on March 14, bringing the total cases to 176.
* The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said that more than 3,000 migrants and refugees have been rescued off the Libyan coast so far this year. The UN refugee agency also said that there are currently 48,627 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya, adding that it requires more than US$85 million for its activities in 2020.
* The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Saturday announced one new COVID-19 case, bringing the number of total cases in the country to 61. The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Libya include 18 recoveries and two deaths.
* South Africa's COVID-19 confirmed cases surged to 4,220 on Friday, up 267 from Thursday's figure, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. Meanwhile, four more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 79, said Mkhize.
