Coronavirus live updates: Germany could extend lockdown to May 3; Russia sees another jump in cases

Global cases: More than 1.97 million Global deaths: At least 125,678 Most cases reported: United States (602,989), Spain (172,541), Italy (162,488), France (131,361), Germany (131,359)

Germany will extend restrictions on movement introduced last month to slow the spread of the coronavirus until at least May 3, Handelsblatt business daily reported Wednesday, citing the country’s DPA news agency.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is holding a video conference on Wednesday with cabinet ministers, and later with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states, Reuters reported. Officials are set to discuss whether to ease lockdown measures given Germany’s improving coronavirus data.

Russia reported a record daily rise in new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, of 3,388. The total number of cases now stands at 24,490, the country’s coronavirus response center said Wednesday. There was a rise of 28 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 198.

The number of new confirmed cases in Germany jumped by 2,486 to a total of 127,584, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The number of additional fatalities rose by 285 to a total of 3,254.

China’s National Health Commission said there were 46 additional cases of infection, of which 36 were attributed to travelers from overseas. Most of the travelers are likely Chinese nationals since China closed its borders to most foreigners late last month. The official report did not specify their nationalities.

There was one death reported in Hubei province. China also said there were 57 new cases of asymptomatic infections, where a person tests positive for the virus but does not demonstrate any of the usual symptoms associated with it.

A total of 82,295 confirmed cases have been reported by China and 3,342 people have died since the outbreak started.

Coronavirus live updates: Germany could extend lockdown to May 3; Russia sees another jump in cases, CNBC, Apr 15