CONFIRMED CORONAVIRUS CASES EXCEED 3.5M WORLDWIDE

Countries from Asia to Europe move to ease lockdowns as deaths slow, and US steps up rhetoric on China.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there is “enormous evidence” that the virus originated in a lab in China, in a comment likely to add to tensions with Beijing over the outbreak.


Australia, Malaysia, and India are among countries in Asia that will begin to ease parts of their lockdown on Monday.


Afghanistan’s health ministry raised the alarm over the spread of the new coronavirus after a small study with random tests in Kabul suggested that about a third of the capital’s residents could be infected.


The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus exceeds 3.5 million. More than 247,000 people have died while about 1.1 million have recovered.