Coronavirus: 5 million cases of Covid-19 now recorded globally

Five million cases of coronavirus have now been recorded around the world, just over five months after the virus first emerged.

The milestone comes as many countries begin to ease restrictions on populations which have been locked down for months.

The disease, which emerged in China in late 2019, is known to have caused more than 325,000 deaths to date.

Measures, including extensive controls on populations, in the country now mean it has the 13th highest number of total recorded cases to date with just under 83,000 cases and 4,634 deaths.

The United States has recorded the highest number of cases anywhere in the world with more than 1.5 million.

After America, the top worst affected nations are Russia (with more than 300,000 cases), Spain (more than 278,800), Brazil (more than 271,800) and the UK (more than 248,800).

Worldometer, the tracking service, uses the latest data from health ministries around the world in real time to provide global and national figures charting the impact of the virus.

A rise of 8,764 new coronavirus infections in Russia took the nationwide total over 300,000 on Wednesday, but the daily increase was the lowest since 1 May.

Only the United States has reported more cases than Russia, though the Russian death rate remains much lower than many other countries, something that has been questioned by some critics and relatives of those who have died.

However, Russia has said the way it counts deaths is more accurate than others and has defended its approach.

The country has recorded 2,972 with 135 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, the country’s coronavirus response centre said.

Dr Melita Vujnovich, the World Health Organisation’s​ Russia representative, said on Wednesday she believed the situation had entered a stabilisation phase, according to the TASS news agency.

In Moscow, Russia’s worst hit-region and now in its eighth week of lockdown, citizens remain largely confined to their homes unless they obtain digital passes to make certain journeys.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday it was too soon to consider letting people out for walks or exercise.

In Spain, which has begun to ease its lockdown measures, holidaymakers will be welcomed back “as soon as possible”, the country’s foreign minister has said, adding that this would only be when it is safe to do so.

Arancha Gonzalez Laya said cities with high concentrations of Covid-19 infection, such as Madrid and Barcelona, remain under stricter rules than more rural areas. However, she was unable to say whether Spain could welcome UK tourists by the summer.

Ryanair, one of the main carriers to Spain from the UK, last week said it planned to restore 40 per cent of its whole flight programme from July, although health secretary Matt Hancock also warned that foreign holidays for UK residents are unlikely this summer.

The UK government has said it is still working on details for how it will implement new quarantine measures for people arriving in the country.

“We are still developing measures, so we are not in the position to say ‘this is how it’s going to work’,” Priti Patel, the home secretary, said during an interview on LBC radio.

“In terms of how this will work, we will be announcing this shortly,” she said, confirming only that the duration of quarantine would be 14 days.

Additional reporting by agencies