Summary of Latest Developments.

China accused US politicians of telling lies to distract from their own performance, shortly after US President Donald Trump renewed his verbal attacks on China.

Worldwide the number of people confirmed to have coronavirus has risen to more than three million, and at least 212,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 906,000 people have recovered.

Trump returned to his daily press briefings after a few days' absence to attack China over its handling of the coronavirus, saying his administration was conducting "serious investigations" into what happened.

The United Nations human rights chief has warned countries flouting the rule of law in the name of fighting the pandemic risks sparking a "human rights disaster".

Here are the latest updates:

UK death toll under-reported by 52 percent.

The United Kingdom is on track to become one of Europe's worst-hit countries in the coronavirus pandemic, according to data on Tuesday that showed deaths from COVID-19 had already topped 20,000 by April 17, including a fast-rising toll in care homes.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the death toll involving COVID-19 in England and Wales was 52 percent higher than the daily figures for deaths in hospitals released by the government as of April 17, according to data that include deaths in the community.

Portugal to lift state of emergency from May 3.

Portugal's lockdown, which shut most non-essential services last month to contain the spread of the coronavirus, will be lifted from May 3, but the reopening of the economy will be a slow and gradual process, the country's president said.

"What matters in this new phase is that the Portuguese know that containment remains important so we must take small steps and constantly evaluate (the situation)," President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told a news conference as he announced Sunday's end of a state of emergency first imposed on March 18.

France to lift lockdown only after cases drop below 3,000 per day.

France will not end its nationwide lockdown unless the number of new cases of coronavirus infection drops below 3,000 per day, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told parliament.

"The lockdown being lifted on May 11 depends on new cases dropping below 3,000 a day ... If the indicators are bad, the lockdown will not be lifted on May 11," Philippe said.

The number of confirmed new cases dropped below 3,000 on April 15. In the past two weeks, the number of new cases per day was on average about 2,162 per day.

Iran counts 71 virus deaths as new cases top 1,000.

Iran announced 71 deaths from the new coronavirus, and said there were also more than 1,000 new cases of infection in the Islamic republic.

The fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours brought to 5,877 the overall death toll from the illness in the Middle East's hardest-hit country.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 1,112 people tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. 

That took to 92,584 the total number of infections recorded in Iran since it announced its first cases in mid-February.

Lift sanctions to prevent 'disaster' in Sudan: UN.

Sudan risks being plunged into a humanitarian disaster by COVID-19 unless sanctions are lifted and donors provide financial support, the UN rights chief said.

Michelle Bachelet said the transitional government is facing ongoing unilateral sanctions, the failure of international institutions to provide debt relief, and a deficit of international support.

"The tipping point could be COVID-19," Bachelet warned.

"The health system is simply not equipped to handle an outbreak on the scale we have seen elsewhere in the world. There is only one way to prevent a humanitarian disaster, and that is for the donors to step up and extend a helping hand to Sudan."  

Khartoum remains on a US blacklist as a state sponsor of terrorism, stifling investment.

BP announces $4.4bn quarterly loss as oil prices crash.

British energy giant BP said it slumped into a $4.4bn net loss in the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic crushed demand for oil, triggering a price crash. 

"Our industry has been hit by supply and demand shocks on a scale never seen before," BP's new chief executive Bernard Looney said in an earnings statement, having seen crude prices plunge from around $70 per barrel at the start of the year to close to $10 currently. Furthermore, he confirmed there would be job losses.

China lab rejects COVID-19 conspiracy claims.

Claims that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan have no basis in fact, the head of the lab told Reuters, adding that there were still no conclusive answers as to where the disease started.

Conspiracy theorists have claimed SARS-CoV-2, now responsible for more than 200,000 deaths worldwide, was synthesised by the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), based in the city where the disease was first identified.

Though the scientific consensus is that the coronavirus evolved naturally, such claims have gained traction. US President Donald Trump said on April 15 that his government was investigating whether it had originated in the Wuhan lab.

As Germany lockdown eases, spread of coronavirus worsens.

First signs the transmission of the coronavirus has again picked up were visible in German official data, just as the country attempts a cautious easing of its lockdown measures.

The reproduction or infection rate - under close watch by health authorities - mounted again to 1.0, meaning each infected person passes the virus on to one other, figures from the Robert Koch Institute for disease control showed.

Egypt extends state of emergency on virus, security fears.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the renewal for three months of a long-running state of emergency, citing health as well as security concerns. 

The country has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 when twin church bombings claimed by an ISIL armed group affiliate killed dozens of people. 

The new extension comes as the government battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the Arab world's most populous country. 

The health ministry has so far recorded 4,782 COVID-19 cases in the population of 100 million.

US politicians 'telling barefaced lies' over coronavirus pandemic: China

Beijing has accused US politicians of "telling barefaced lies" over the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the globe, after President Donald Trump threatened to seek damages from China for the outbreak.

"They have only one objective: shirk their responsibility for their own poor epidemic prevention and control measures, and divert public attention," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press briefing.

Source:News Agencies.