Russia prepares for worst and Greek cabinet to donate wages

The daily number of infections worldwide continues to jump sharply.

World Health Organisation figures show the increase in new infections is now about 70,000 per day – up from about 50,000 just days ago.

More than 32,000 people have died worldwide.

Here is the latest on the situation from around the world:

Hungary’s parliament has approved a bill giving prime minister Viktor Orban’s government extraordinary powers during the coronavirus pandemic, without setting an end date expiration.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia has managed to slow down the spread of coronavirus but should be prepared for contagions to quickly grow.

R u s s i a h a s b e e n relatively lightly hit by the outbreak, with 1,836 cases and nine deaths.

But the number of new cases has mushroomed, forcing the authorities to brace for the worst.

Moscow went on its own lockdown yesterday as all of Russia braced for sweeping nationwide restrictions.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said an electronic monitoring system will be used to control residents’ for their compliance and warned “we will steadily tighten the necessary controls”.

Cases across Africa rose closer to 5,000 in 46 countries. South Africa has the most cases with 1,280.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will enter self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the virus.

Greece’s prime minister is calling on all his cabinet ministers to donate 50% of their salaries over the next two months to the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

Nepal has reported five confirmed cases, including one person who has recovered.

Pakistan’s death toll is 21.