narvikk/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 328,000 people worldwide.

Over five million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations’ outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 1.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 93,439 deaths.

Here’s how the news is developing Thursday. All times Eastern:

 

10:36 a.m.: Over 38 million Americans have filed jobless claims since start of pandemic

An additional 2,438,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

That brings the nine-week jobless claims total since the coronavirus crisis took hold in the United States to approximately 38.6 million people.

Millions have filed for unemployment benefits in the United States every week for the last two months since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. New jobless claims peaked at nearly 7 million in the week ending March 28, though they have leveled off since then. Prior to this pandemic, the record for new weekly unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982.

10:19 a.m.: Wuhan says it has conducted over 3 million coronavirus tests since last week

The Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic, conducted 887,321 nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 on Wednesday, up from 856,128 tests the previous day, according to the local health authority.

No confirmed cases of COVID-19 with symptoms were found during Wednesday’s testing period; however, 28 new asymptomatic carriers were identified, according to daily reports published by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

Last week, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced a citywide campaign to test the entire population of 11 million residents for COVID-19 in an effort to search for asymptomatic carriers of the virus after a cluster of new cases emerged for the first time since the city had lifted its strict lockdown on April 8. The number of nucleic acid tests conducted in the city daily has rapidly increased since then.

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said it has now conducted over 3 million nucleic acid tests since May 12.

Although recommended, participation in the testing campaign is voluntary. Residents who were previously tested do not need to take part. It is not recommended to test children under the age of 6, according to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission’s website.

9:35 a.m.: 2-day-old baby dies from COVID-19 in South Africa

A 2-day-old baby who was born prematurely in South Africa has died from COVID-19, officials said Thursday.

The mother had tested positive for COVID-19 and the baby subsequently tested positive as well, according to a statement from Dr. Zweli Mkhize, South Africa’s health minister.

It’s the country’s first coronavirus-related neonatal mortality.

South Africa is the hardest-hit nation in Africa amid the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 18.5% of the continent’s diagnosed cases of COVID-19, according to data released Monday evening by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, South Africa has reported over 18,000 diagnosed cases of the disease with at least 339 deaths.

More than 92,000 people across all of Africa have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and at least 2,912 have died, according to a count kept by the African CDC.

8:57 a.m.: Japan may lift Tokyo state of emergency as soon as next week

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he may lift the state of emergency in Tokyo as soon as next week if the rate of new coronavirus infections remains low.

Abe declared a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures on April 7 as Japan reported a surge in COVID-19 cases. Abe later expanded the declaration to cover the entire country and last until May 31. Under the order, prefectural governors asked residents to stay home and for some businesses to temporarily close, but public cooperation was voluntary. There were no penalties for failure to comply.

On May 13, the prime minister ended the state of emergency in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures. The decree remained in place for urban regions, including the capital, Tokyo, and the large port city of Osaka.

Abe lifted the state of emergency in Osaka as well as Kyoto and Hyogo on Thursday, following a drop in the number of new cases reported each day. He said that Tokyo and four other prefectures will remain under restrictions for now, but he will meet with experts on Monday to see whether the infection rates have stayed low.

“If the current situation continues, it is possible that the state of emergency could be lifted in those areas,” Abe told reporters.

Earlier this month, Abe credited the recent decline in new infections to the efforts of residents staying at home and practicing social distancing. He warned, however, that the state of emergency may have to be reimposed if infections increase.

More than 16,000 people in Japan have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and at least 771 have died, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

7:53 a.m.: London’s Heathrow Airport launches thermal screening trial

London’s Heathrow Airport announced Thursday it has launched thermal screening in one of its arrival terminals to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The equipment will be installed in Terminal 2’s immigration hall and can detect elevated temperatures of arriving passengers. No personal data will be stored or shared through those trials, according to a press release from the airport.

“The technology under trial uses camera detection systems capable of monitoring the temperatures of multiple people moving through the airport,” Heathrow Airport said in a statement. “Passengers will be alerted to the trials through signage placed at the immigration hall, but will otherwise see no visible change to their arrivals journey as no other screening methods will be needed.”
 
If successful, the equipment may be rolled out across the airport into departures, connections as well as colleague search areas “to further stress test its capabilities,” according to the press release.

6:42 a.m.: Russia reports more than 8,000 new cases

Russia reported 8,849 new cases of COVID-19 and 127 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to the country’s coronavirus response headquarters.

The nationwide total now stands at 317,554 diagnosed cases with 3,099 deaths.

The capital, Moscow, is the epicenter of the country’s outbreak. However, the city on Wednesday reported more recoveries from the disease — 3,746 — than new cases — 2,913, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.

Russia has the second-highest highest number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases in the world, behind the United States, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Russia’s latest daily caseload is down from a peak of 11,656 new infections reported on May 11. Last Thursday marked the end of a 12-day streak during which the country registered over 10,000 new cases per day.

6:31 a.m.: Tyson Foods confirms 570 cases linked to North Carolina facility

Tyson Foods, one of the world’s largest food companies, has revealed the scale of the novel coronavirus outbreak at its poultry plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Facility-wide testing found that 570 people out of the plant’s 2,244-strong workforce were positive for COVID-19, the majority of whom “did not show any symptoms and otherwise would not have been identified,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Most of the workers were tested at the facility from May 6 to May 9, while 237 were either tested by the local health department or through their own health care providers. Those who test positive receive paid leave and may return to work only when they meet the criteria established by both Tyson and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our team members are essential to helping to feed the nation, and their health and safety is always our first priority,” Kevin Taylor, complex manager for the Wilkesboro facility, said in a statement Wednesday. “Disclosing our testing results will help better protect our team members and help provide the wider Wilkesboro community with the information it needs to stop the spread of the virus.”

Production at the facility has begun to ramp up after operations there were limited last week to carry out additional deep cleaning. Tyson said it has put in place a range of protective steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including symptom screenings for all workers before every shift, providing mandatory protective face masks to all employees as well as physical barriers between workstations and in break rooms, among other social distancing measures. Workers also have access to on-site nurse practitioners, according to the company.

“We are working closely with local health departments to protect our team members and their families, and to help manage the spread of the virus in our communities,” Tom Brower, senior vice president of health and safety for Tyson Foods, said in a statement. “We are using the most up-to-date data and resources to support our team members, and we are committed to ensuring they feel safe and secure when they come to work.”

6:02 a.m.: Wuhan bans breeding, hunting, human consumption of wild animals

The Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic, has issued an outright ban on the breeding, hunting and human consumption of wild animals.

The move appears to be in response to research showing the novel coronavirus most likely originated in bats and was transmitted to humans through an intermediary animal sold at a wet market in Wuhan.

The local government of Wuhan announced the ban Wednesday. However, the decree contains numerous exceptions, including for animals used in traditional Chinese medicine, as long as they are not eaten by humans.

4:23 a.m.: AstraZeneca says its ready to supply potential vaccine in September

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Thursday it has booked orders for at least 400 million doses of a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus being developed by the University of Oxford.

The U.K.-based multinational company said it has the capacity to manufacture 1 billion doses of the as yet unproven vaccine and would begin delivering them in September. The drugmaker aims to conclude further deals to expand manufacturing capacity over the next few months, according to a press release.

“We are so proud to be collaborating with Oxford University to turn their ground-breaking work into a medicine that can be produced on a global scale,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement Thursday. “We will do everything in our power to make this vaccine quickly and widely available.”

Researchers at the University of Oxford began testing the vaccine candidate, now known as AZD1222, in healthy human volunteers in southern England on April 23. AstraZeneca said data from the first and second phases of the clinical trial are expected shortly and, if positive, would lead to late-stage trials in a number of nations.

The company said it “recognizes that the vaccine may not work but is committed to progressing the clinical program with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk.”

3:38 a.m.: Global cases top five million

The coronavirus pandemic hit another grim milestone early Thursday as the worldwide number of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 surpassed five million.

Just two weeks ago, the tally had crossed the four million threshold, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

More than a third of the world’s COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in the United States.

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