Global coronavirus deaths top half a million

A Saudi cinema viewer has his temperature taken as he wears a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, at VOX Cinema hall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, June 26, 2020. AP

The death toll from Covid-19 surpassed half a million people on Sunday, officials said, a grim milestone for the global pandemic that seems to be resurgent in some countries even as other regions are still grappling with the first wave.

The respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus has been particularly dangerous for the elderly, although other adults and children are also among the 501,000 fatalities and 10.1 million reported cases.

While the overall rate of death has flattened in recent weeks, health experts have expressed concerns about record numbers of new cases in countries like the United States, India and Brazil, as well as new outbreaks in parts of Asia.

Iran reported on Monday 162 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest single-day toll since the country's outbreak began in February.

"This increase in numbers is in fact a reflection of our overall performance, both in terms of reopening and in compliance with health protocols," health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said at a news conference.

The previous record daily toll of 158 deaths was reported by health authorities in early April.

India reported close to 20,000 fresh novel coronavirus cases for the second day running on Monday, as the financial hub of Mumbai extended its lockdown by a month.

There were 19,459 new cases reported in the previous 24 hours, according to data from India's federal Health Ministry released on Monday. That is down slightly from Sunday's record of 19,906, but still sign cases in the country are yet to subside.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered his government on Monday to prepare a package of coronavirus restrictions similar to the hard lockdown that the Central Asian nation imposed in March-May after a recent sharp rise in infections.

In the Gulf, commercial flights at Kuwait International Airport will resume from August 1, the government's communications office said on Monday, after being suspended in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kuwait's cabinet agreed on a three-stage resumption starting at 30 per cent capacity, the statement said.

EU member states are still struggling to approve a list of "safe countries" from where travellers could visit Europe in July, with the issue now being put to a vote, diplomats said on Monday.

EU envoys on Friday agreed on a list of 14 countries to be confirmed by their national governments, with the United States, Brazil and Russia, where the coronavirus is still spreading, to remain excluded.

But the list has yet to achieve final approval, as capitals hesitate on whether to unify the EU's management of its external border.

To break the deadlock, Croatia, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, on Monday initiated a written approval procedure, which will end at noon on Tuesday, according to EU sources.

In this procedure, the EU's 27 member states must decide by qualified majority. For acceptance, 55 per cent of the countries are required, representing 65 per cent of the population.

The proposed "safe" list contains just 14 countries: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.