Coronavirus pandemic reaches 6 million cases as its grip reaches Latin America

Latin America reels as many countries in Europe ease lockdown measures even as they fear a second wave of cases

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  A medical staff wearing protective suits takes samples from a man during Covid-19 testing at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea. AP Photo

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  A health worker holds a glove outside the San Jose public hospital emergencies entrance in Santiago, Chile. Reuters

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  Medical worker Mohamed jumps rope as he attend a training session with French boxer Hassan N’Dam at the Villeneuve-Saint-Georges hospital, outside Paris. AP Photo

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  NHS workers at the Aintree University Hospital react during the last day of the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS in Liverpool, Britain. Reuters

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  Medical workers react as they watch the Blue-Impulse aerobatic team of Japan Air Self-Defense Force fly over the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters

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  A disinfection team sprays inside a classroom at Ivory Park Secondary School east of Johannesburg, South Africa. AP Photo

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  Paul Santiago Kelley, a graduating senior at Brophy College Preparatory, smiles as he takes a selfie as he celebrates Diploma Days with photos of all his fellow classmates in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. AP Photo

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  Linda Hoveskeland, right, and Ardell Hoveskeland speak with family and friends joining over Zoom after their socially distanced wedding at the Peace Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. AFP

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  A cashier wears a face shield behind plastic protection as she works in a supermarket in Bangkok, Thailand. Reuters

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  A man walks across marks used to space worshippers apart after Friday prayer at the Al Barkah Grand Mosque in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia. AP Photo

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  Members of Myanmar's parliament are pictured on a break abiding by social distancing rules with plastic dividers at tables at the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw parliament building in Naypyidaw. AFP

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  Seafarers, who got quarantined as they arrived in the Philippines weeks ago, wait for their free ride back to their provinces, in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. AP Photo

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  A staff member directs a guest to a parking spot at the pop-up 'Mov'In Car' Drive-in cinema cafe on its opening night at the Entertainment Quarter car park in Sydney, Australia. Bloomberg

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  A girl sits in a field where circles were painted to help visitors maintain social distancing at Trinity Bellwoods park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

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  Unemployed people affected by the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus take food donated by a Catholic family in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Guatemala City, Guatemala. AP Photo

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  Works of art are displayed as part of artist Ann Morrow Johnson's "Museum of Quarantine on Quebec" on the fence of her home in Hollywood, California, USA. AFP

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  An image of veteran Stephen Kulig, who died from the COVID-19 virus at the age of 92, is projected onto the home of his daughter, Elizabeth DeForest, as she looks out the window of a spare bedroom as her husband, Kevin, sits downstairs in Chicopee, Massachusetts, USA. AP Photo

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  Relatives carry the coffin of a suspected COVID-19 victim at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. AP Photo

More than six million cases of coronavirus have been officially recorded worldwide, two thirds of them in Europe and the United States, according to analysts tracking the pandemic.

At 1am UAE time on Sunday, there were 6,003,762 cases.

The death toll, as recorded by John Hopkins University, was 367,356 and the number of recoveries globally was 2,533,246.

The US remains by far the worst country for number of cases and deaths at 1,764,671 and 103,472 deaths respectively.

The virus is now spreading fastest in Latin America, with more than 45,000 cases in the last 24 hours.

Brazil on Saturday reached 28,834 coronavirus fatalities, authorities said, surpassing hard-hit France and becoming the country with the world's fourth-highest death toll.

At the epicenter of South America's coronavirus outbreak, Brazil saw an increase of 33,274 cases on Saturday, which the Health Ministry said was a new daily record.

The UAE has 33,896 on the John Hopkins tracker.

There were 726 new cases detected in the UAE in the last 24 hours.

The country's number of recoveries on Saturday rose to 17,546, after 449 new cases were recorded.

Two additional Covid-19 deaths bring the total number of deaths to 262.

Europe, which has endured widespread lockdowns and economic crashes, is beginning to open up.

Health personnel perform coronavirus tests in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, one of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic. EPA

Many countries are easing lockdowns, often in stages, and opening borders.

More than two months after the coronavirus pandemic took hold on the continent, countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain are making plans to gradually welcome guests back.

From June, visitors from certain EU countries will be able to travel again, although each country has its own set of rules for those planning to visit.

Emirates has opened bookings for flights to 12 Arab countries, with the routes from Dubai resuming from July.

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  A young Syrian refugee gets his temperature checked before being tested for the Covid-19 during a testing campaign organised by Lebanon's health ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the southern city of Sidon. AFP

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  A medical worker handles a sample from a taxi driver while testing for Covid-19 in Morocco's capital Rabat. AFP

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  A worker is seen through a window as he places markers to ensure social distancing at Al Mirabi Mosque in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. AP Photo

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  Baccalaureate students wearing face masks sit at a classroom at Riadh high school, in La Marsa in the suburbs of Tunis, Tunisia. EPA

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  A waiter sanitises the hands of a customer in a restaurant as Palestinians ease the coronavirus disease restrictions, in Gaza City. Reuters

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  Fatih Municipality workers disinfect the Egyptian Bazaar before reopening in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA

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  Residents take a walk beneath a billboard bearing the instruction "it's serious, stay at home" in a neighbourhood of Kuwait city. AFP

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  A view of a closed mosque in central Baghdad, Iraq. EPA

Flights to destinations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Sudan and Jordan are now available to book for dates after July 1 on the airline’s website. In total, 16 of the airline’s services are set to resume.

But the threat of a second wave remains.

President Donald Trump wants state governors to ease lockdown orders. Many of them have done so, but the degree has been down to the severity of local outbreaks.

India has announced it will begin a major relaxation of the world’s biggest coronavirus lockdown from early June, despite another record rise in confirmed infections in the country.

Millions of migrant workers fled home to their villages, many of them walking hundreds of kilometres and some dying on the way.

Prime Minister Narenda Modi conceded that much of the country had since "undergone tremendous suffering" in an open letter to the public on Saturday.

Mr Modi announced a $266 billion package - 10 per cent of the country's GDP - to revive the battered economy.