A number of European countries have begun to cautiously ease some Covid-19 shutdown measures, with Spaniards being allowed out for the first time in 48 days, however Russia has reported a sudden surge in confirmed cases.
More than 242,000 people worldwide who had been diagnosed with the virus have now died, according to an AFP tally of official figures, and 3.4 million have been infected since it first emerged in China late last year.
With signs the pandemic is slowing in the hardest-hit nations, European countries and some parts of the US have begun to lift restrictions to try to inject life into economies crippled by weeks of closure.