Coronavirus live news: Russia and Afghanistan announce their biggest rises in cases – The Guardian

9.44am EDT09:44

Test results suggesting people in South Korea had been reinfected after recovering from Covid-19 were actually false positives caused by dead lung cells, the World Health Organisations technical lead, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show today.

You can watch the video here:

9.34am EDT09:34

Footballers in Serie A, Italys top division, will be allowed to start individual training sessions from Monday in the latest cautious step towards a restart for sport across Europe.

Athletes and non athletes, of non individual disciplines, just like any citizen, are allowed to practise individual sporting activities, in private and public areas, in respect of the interpersonal safety distance of at least two metres and in respect of the ban to gather in any form, the Italian interior ministry said in a letter to local authorities.

A number of clubs in Englands Premier League allowed players to work on an individual basis at their training grounds on a strict rota basis from last Monday, while players at clubs in the German Bundesliga are permitted to train in small, socially-distanced groups. The leagues in France and the Netherlands, however, have been concluded without any further activity taking place.

9.22am EDT09:22

NHS England has announced 327 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 21,180.

More details on this, and the rest of the Covid-19 picture across the UK, from my colleague Nadeem Badshah.

8.54am EDT08:54

Nearly 3,000 cruise ship workers quarantined aboard a liner will undergo tests for the novel coronavirus, German travel group TUI said.

Mein Schiff 3 was being used to ferry 2,899 TUI employees and crew home with both cruises and the usual means of transport in much of Europe shut down by the pandemic.

Problems began when the huge vessel docked at in the German North Sea port of Cuxhaven on April 28 with more than a dozen crew members showing flu-like symptoms.

One of them then tested positive for the virus on Friday leading the company to quarantine everyone on board.

A first wave of 229 tests on personnel who had been in contact with the infected crew member came back negative, TUI said.

8.49am EDT08:49

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said mosques would reopen across large parts of the country Monday, as officials reported a drop in the number of deaths from the novel coronavirus.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 47 people died of the virus over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily count in 55 days. He told a news conference he hoped the trend will continue in the upcoming days.

His remarks came as President Hassan Rouhani said 132 counties, around one third of the countrys administrative divisions, would reopen their mosques as of tomorrow.

Social distancing is more important than collective prayer, he said in a televised meeting of the countrys virus taskforce.

The president argued that Islam considers safety obligatory, while praying in mosques is only recommended.

Rouhani did not give the names of the counties affected by the measure or the number of mosques due to reopen on Monday.

The measure is not expected to be implemented in the capital, Tehran, or in the main Shiite holy cities of Mashhad which are among those most affected by the outbreak.

Mosques and some key Shiite shrines in Iran were closed in March amid the Middle Easts deadliest COVID-19 outbreak.

The targeted counties are low-risk, Rouhani said.

According to Jahanpour, the 47 new deaths brought to 6,203 the total number officially recorded in Iran since it reported its first cases in mid-February.

He added that 976 fresh infection cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 97,424.

8.21am EDT08:21

Handing over to my colleague Sarah Marsh for the next hour or so of global coronavirus updates.

8.15am EDT08:15

Dutch health authorities have confirmed a daily increase of 335 coronavirus infections, meaning the countrys total is now 40,571, while 69 new deaths have been recorded. In total, the Netherlands has now seen 5,056 fatalities.

This rise means the Netherlands is still 15th in the global ranking of Covid-19 cases, although the authorities have warned that the actual number of infections is probably higher because not all suspected patients are being tested.

8.05am EDT08:05

For those waking up in the US around now, Gene Marks has written a guide for small businesses who may not be covered by the governments paycheck protection program (PPP). If that applies to you, there could be other funding streams available.