COVID-19: Over 800,000 dead since outbreak

HEALTH   VIRUS

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- More than 847,000 dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 847,071 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT Monday.

More than 25.2 million cases have been registered.

The United States has recorded the highest number of deaths with 183,068, followed by Brazil on 120,828, India 64,469, Mexico 64,158 and Britain 41,499 fatalities.

- Australian cases drop -

Australia reports fewer than 100 new coronavirus cases, the lowest number in two months as authorities appear to bring an outbreak in second city Melbourne under control.

Victoria state, which has been battling a second wave of infections in the city, recorded just 73 cases after peaking above 700 in late July, providing hope for a way out of a strict city-wide lockdown.

- New Zealand lifts Auckland lockdown -

Schools across New Zealand's biggest city Auckland reopen as it emerges from lockdown, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing confidence a second-wave outbreak is under control.

Aucklanders are allowed out of their homes, but the government limits non-school social gatherings in the city to 10 people and makes masks compulsory on public transport nationwide.

- Protesters 'shameful': Merkel -

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemns as "shameful" an attempt by protesters angry at coronavirus restrictions to storm parliament, saying they had abused the right to demonstrate peacefully.

Several hundred people tried to get into the Reichstag building during a rally against coronavirus rules in Berlin on Saturday.

- US demonstrations against flu jabs -

Hundreds of people demonstrated Sunday in the US city of Boston against a new state rule mandating flu shots for students, a measure intended to ease the impact of the pandemic.

The northeastern state of Massachusetts became on August 19 the first in the United States to add seasonal flu shots to a list of mandatory vaccines for students, though exemptions are granted for religious or health reasons.

- Economic damage -

Italy posts a record economic contraction of 12.8 percent in the second quarter after household spending and investment crashed during lockdown, driving the eurozone's third-largest economy deep into recession.

And state-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom announces that net profit fell 25-fold in the first half of 2020 due to the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and low oil and gas prices.