19 consecutive days Vietnam has no new cases in the community
As of 6am on May 5, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control said there had been no new cases in the past 12 hours. In addition, in the past 19 days, Vietnam has had no cases of community transmission and 131 cases were quarantined immediately upon entry. The total number of people in close contact and entering from epidemic areas under health monitoring is 25,625, of which 246 are quarantined at hospitals.
To date, 221 out of 271 Covid-19 patients in Vietnam have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Among the cases still being treated, 11 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 two or more times.
The death toll in the US could reach 100,000 people
The United States remains the country with the highest number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in the world, with 1,210,907 infections (up 22,785 from the previous day) and 69,564 deaths (up 966). On May 4, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that 226 new Covid-19 deaths were recorded in New York in the previous 24 hours. This is the lowest number of deaths in a day in the state in 5 weeks (since March 27), according to the New York Times.
According to sources, forecast documents from the Trump administration show that the US will have about 200,000 new cases of SARS-COV-2 infection by June 1 with the daily death toll reaching about 3,000 people.
On May 4, US President Donald Trump said that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the US could reach 100,000 people, however, he described the country's response to this crisis as "successful". "We will lose between 75,000 and 100,000 people. That's terrible. We should not lose any more people than that," Mr. Trump said.
The forecast also said the Great Lakes region, Southern California and parts of the South and Northeast all saw increases in cases, highlighting the risks many states face as they begin to ease restrictions allowing businesses and public spaces to reopen even as new cases continue to rise.
Roche gets US approval for COVID-19 antibody test
On May 3, leading Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said it had been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its blood antibody test kit to determine whether a patient is infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus or not.
Roche has not yet announced a price for its antibody test.
Roche said it will ramp up production to increase the number of test kits from 50 million per month to more than 100 million per month by the end of this year. According to the group, Roche's antibody test will take venous blood, with higher accuracy than finger prick blood, with a specificity rate exceeding 99.8% and sensitivity of 100%, meaning there will be very few "false" positive results and no "false" negative results.
Similar antibody tests are also being developed by other pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott and Becton Dickinson (USA) and DiaSorin (Italy). Abbott said its test has a specificity and sensitivity of 99.5% and 100%, respectively. Meanwhile, Diasorin said its Liason XL test has a specificity of 98.5% and a sensitivity of 97.4%.
Russia becomes the "hottest spot" of the COVID-19 epidemic
Russia is becoming the hottest spot of the Covid-19 epidemic today when the number of new infections increased by 10,581 cases per day, higher than most countries in the world. As of 6:00 a.m. on May 5 (Vietnam time), Russia recorded a total of 145,268 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 1,356 deaths.
Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on May 4 that the country will maintain some restrictions until a vaccine against Covid-19 is available. Minister Murashko affirmed that Russia will remove restrictions in stages, but some will remain until measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are in place. The head of the Russian health sector warned of the risk of a second outbreak of Covid-19.
Europe continues to ease lockdown measures
Spain has now entered the fourth phase of reopening the country by the end of June. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that 6 million masks will be distributed to the people. Spain has recorded 248,301 cases of Covid-19, including 25,428 deaths.
After 55 days of nationwide lockdown, on May 4, Italy officially entered phase 2 of the Covid-19 emergency, the phase of "living with the SARS-CoV-2 virus". As of 6:00 a.m. on May 5, Italy recorded a total of 211,938 cases of Covid-19. Of these, 29,079 were deaths and 82,879 were recoveries.
Belgium has recorded 50,267 cases of Covid-19, including 7,924 deaths. Authorities have begun easing lockdown measures as the number of Covid-19 cases has gradually decreased in recent weeks.
Greece eased its restrictions for the first time in six weeks on May 4, allowing about 10% of businesses, including hairdressers, bookstores and flower shops, to reopen. The next phase of the relaxation will be implemented from May 11, based on the government's assessment of the actual epidemic situation.
Since last week, Switzerland has begun easing restrictions, gradually restoring people's daily lives and minimizing the impact on the economy. The easing is expected to apply next week to schools, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, museums and libraries. As of 6 a.m. on May 5, Switzerland has recorded nearly 29,981 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 1,784 deaths.
On the same day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health announced that the country recorded 418 more cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, bringing the total number of infected people to 12,331. Of these, 1,619 people recovered and 303 died. However, from May 11, the government will partially relax the blockade measures.
Europe raises $8 billion for COVID-19 vaccine research
Faced with the positive developments of the epidemic situation, many European countries have begun to partially lift restrictions to control the epidemic, thereby gradually restoring people's daily lives and minimizing the economic damage caused by Covid-19.
Along with that, on May 4, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen held an online conference with world leaders and charities to raise 7.5 billion euros (about 8.23 billion USD) for research on vaccines to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus and drugs to treat COVID-19 on a global scale.
It is expected that about 40 countries around the world, along with the United Nations and charitable organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and research institutes, will participate in this fundraising.
China recorded only 1 new infection
China's National Health Commission (NHC) said that as of the end of May 4, China had recorded only one new case, down from three the previous day. This new case was "imported" from abroad.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in mainland China is now 82,881. With no new deaths recorded, the death toll remains at 4,633.
South Korean schools reopen next week
On May 4, South Korea recorded only 8 cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 10,801, including 252 deaths and 9,217 recoveries. On the same day, South Korea announced that it would reopen schools in phases starting on May 13 after more than 2 months of closure, as the number of infections in the community has dropped to zero in recent days.
But health experts are urging vigilance as about 5.5 million elementary, middle and high school students begin returning to class. Senior high school students preparing for college entrance exams will return to class on May 13, followed by younger students in stages from May 20 to June 1.
Japan extends state of emergency
On May 4, the Japanese government decided to extend the nationwide state of emergency to prevent the spread of Covid-19 until May 31, amid concerns that the country's health system will be overloaded if the number of new infections continues to increase.
Prime Minister Abe declared a state of emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic in seven prefectures and cities in Japan on April 7. More than a week later, on April 16, he decided to expand the scope of the emergency to all 47 prefectures and cities. The current state of emergency is scheduled to expire at the end of May 6.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Japan is now 14,877, not including 712 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored in Yokohama port, and 487 deaths.
new "hot spots" in SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil, the Covid-19 hotspot in South America, continued to record 679 new infections, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 101,826, including 7,051 deaths. New infections continued to be recorded in many countries in the region such as Panama, Ecuador, Honduras... but with a lower rate of spread. Brazil is the South American country most heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with its hospital system, funeral homes and cemeteries almost "collapsed" due to overload while daily cases continue to increase exponentially.
Meanwhile, Mexico has officially recorded 23,471 cases of Covid-19 and over 2,154 deaths. However, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Sentinel surveillance system, used in Mexico since 2006, estimates the number of Covid-19 cases in the country to have reached 128,033.
Covid-19 epidemic continues to spread in the Middle East and Africa
In the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two countries that have recorded four-digit new infections. Specifically, on May 4, Iran had 1,223 new infections, Saudi Arabia announced 1,625 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel... continue to record new infections.
On May 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that social distancing measures to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic will be relaxed from May 7. In addition, Israel is also considering resuming flights abroad.
On the same day, the South African Ministry of Health announced that 437 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases to 7,220. The number of deaths due to Covid-19 in South Africa increased by 6 to 138. 2,746 Covid-19 patients have been cured. On the same day, hundreds of health workers in South Africa participated in a trial of the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis to determine whether the vaccine used worldwide for the past 100 years is effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2.
Cuba sends 25 medical expert delegations abroad to support epidemic response
On May 4, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel delivered a speech on the occasion of attending the online Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), emphasizing that the international community and governments need to "combine their will and efforts to face this enormous challenge", and at the same time, stating that international cooperation and solidarity are decisive factors for success in the fight against the pandemic.
Cuba has recorded 1,668 cases of Covid-19 with 69 deaths and 876 recoveries.
The Cuban leader announced that over the past month, the Caribbean island nation has sent 25 medical expert teams to 23 countries around the world to support the fight against the epidemic, many of which are members of NAM.
The epidemic situation in Southeast Asia remains serious.
In Southeast Asia, Indonesian health officials said that on May 4, the country recorded 395 cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection causing Covid-19 acute respiratory disease, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 11,587. In addition, Indonesia had 19 deaths from this disease, bringing the total number of deaths to 864, while 1,954 patients have recovered.
Malaysian health officials said on the same day that the country had 55 more cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection, bringing the total number of infections here to 6,353, while the number of deaths due to Covid-19 here remained at 105.
Singapore's Ministry of Health also said that on May 4, the island nation recorded 573 cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection causing COVID-19 epidemic, bringing the total number of virus infections in the country to 18,778 cases.
Philippines applies many strict measures in COVID-19 prevention
Meanwhile, the Philippines recorded 262 new Covid-19 cases on the day, bringing the total number of cases to 9,485; including 16 new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 623.
In Thailand, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Thailand returned to double digits due to illegal immigrants. Thus, as of May 4, Thailand had a total of 2,987 Covid-19 patients, including 54 deaths. To date, the country has cured 2,470 Covid-19 patients, while 193 patients are still being treated at medical facilities.
