Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

[June 02, 2022]  (Reuters) - The World Health Organization has cast doubts on North Korea's claims of progress in the fight against a COVID-19 outbreak, saying it believes the situation is getting worse, not better, amid an absence of independent data.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

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ASIA-PACIFIC

* India's health ministry reported 3,712 new coronavirus infections for the past twenty four hours on Thursday, the highest in nearly a month, driven up by a record number cases recorded in the financial capital, Mumbai.

* North Korea reported 96,610 more people showing fever symptoms amid its nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the impoverished country's first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak, its state media KCNA said on Thursday.

* Mainland China reported 129 new coronavirus cases for June 1, of which 37 were symptomatic and 92 asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.
 

EUROPE

* Almost 10 times as many tourists visited Spain in April compared to the same month last year, spending close to the amount that foreign visitors did before COVID-19, National Statistics Institute data showed.

AMERICAS

* U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said on Wednesday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

* COVID-19 cases in the Americas increased 10.4% last week from the previous one, but countries must also pay attention to a rise in other respiratory viruses in the region, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

Residents line up for nucleic acid tests on a street as the city prepares to end the lockdown placed to curb the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China May 31, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song

* Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has asked employees to return to the office or leave the company, according to an email sent to employees and seen by Reuters.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* A study in Japan found that women were significantly more likely than men to develop rash-like side effects after a first dose of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.

* Canada on Wednesday authorized a single booster shot of Pfizer and partner BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for 16- and 17-year-olds.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby on Wednesday said air fares are returning to normal levels following the pandemic lows and there is "not a hint of evidence" that rising ticket prices are hurting consumer demand.

* Most European Union countries have boosted their renewable plans since 2020, putting them on course to cut fossil fuel use this decade as the energy and COVID-19 crises have spurred, not derailed their green transition, researchers said on Thursday.

(Compiled by Shailesh Kuber and Dina Kartit; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Grant McCool, Alison Williams and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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