Coronavirus updates: Iran fears ‘second wave’ as cases climb

China’s foreign ministry has refuted claims that Beijing delayed releasing coronavirus data to the WHO, saying this was “seriously inconsistent” with the facts.

It comes after the Associated Press yesterday reported that there had been “considerable frustration” among WHO officials who were not getting the information they needed.

The report claimed that the WHO were lauding China in public because they wanted to coax more information out of the government, citing obtained recordings.

“I can assure you certain reports were seriously inconsistent with facts,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian at a media briefing, according to a Global Times report.

“China’s coronavirus response is open to the world, with clear data and facts that can stand the test of time and history.”

Australian airline Qantas says it hopes to increase domestic flights to 40% of pre-pandemic levels by August, up from 5% currently.

That’s contingent on state borders reopening as expected, says chief executive Alan Joyce.

The airline and its budget carrier, Jetstar, will welcome back some furloughed staff. But “the majority” of those 25,000 employees will remain stood down for now, the company said.

“We know there is a lot of pent up demand for air travel and we are already seeing a big increase in customers booking and planning flights in the weeks and months ahead,” Mr Joyce said in a statement.

“We can quickly ramp up flying in time for the July school holidays if border restrictions have eased more by then.”

Anthony Houlahan has been working from home during the partial lockdown in Singapore.

To keep himself active he’s also been doing food deliveries in his spare time, but donating everything he earns to a children’s cancer charity.

Anthony is originally from Wales, but has lived in Singapore for many years and says this was a chance for him to give something back.

Nikhil Inamdar

BBC News, Mumbai

India is gradually unlocking its economy after a shutdown that lasted more than two months. But it’s unlikely to be business as usual for millions of retailers, small enterprises and factories.

By all accounts, reversing the disruption caused by India’s lockdown will be a long haul – and the price businesses, especially small firms, have paid is just starting to become clear.

“At least 20% of neighbourhood mobile shops that sell smartphones may never reopen again,” says Arvinder Khurana, president of India’s mobile retailers association.

The reasons are many, he adds – on the one hand, owners have fled the cities and are yet to return, and on the other, with job losses mounting and banks averse to offering consumer loans, there is no demand for high-end phones.

Read more here.

China’s civil aviation regulator says it will allow foreign airlines currently not permitted to operate international flights into China to start once-a-week routes from June 8, state media said.

A report in the Shanghai publication The Paper cites an order from the Civil Aviation Administration of China that said qualifying airlines can choose one destination to which they want to fly.

It comes after the US ordered the suspension of all flights by Chinese carriers into the US because Beijing had barred US airlines from coming into China.

Mexico has reported 1,092 novel coronavirus deaths for the past day, the country’s highest daily toll so far, taking the total fatalities to 11,729.

Daily infections were also at an all-time high of 3,912 – the overall number of confirmed infections now stands at 101,238.

Officials have said that the real numbers are expected to be much higher and the government is facing growing criticism for opening up parts of the economy over the past days. The car industry, mining and construction have all returned to work this week.

The Pan American Health Organisation has asked Mexico not to open its economy too fast because of the risk of accelerating infections.

Iran reported its first cases in February, and its “first wave” peaked on 30 March, with 3,186 cases.

Infections then dropped, reaching a low point of 802 on 2 May. Since then, the trend has been upwards.

It was confirmed yesterday that Australia’s much-envied streak of 29 years without a recession was coming to an end.

Speaking today, Prime Minister Scott Morrison described it
as “heartbreaking” and “something that I never wanted to see happen in Australia ever
again”.

Data shows that the economy shrank by 0.3% in the
first three months of the year, amid bushfires and the early stages of the
outbreak.

But Mr Morrison insists Australia is well placed to recover
economically amid low numbers of infections. Australia has five people with the
virus currently in intensive care, according to official figures.

“There are many lives and livelihoods
that are going to be impacted by the dreadful impact of the coronavirus, both
on the health impact and on the economic impact – jobs lost, businesses closed.
But Australia is reopening,” Mr Morrison said.

Political
opponents have criticised some stimulus measures as privileging the wealthy –
such as government grants for those who spend A$150,000 (£82,000; $103,000) or
more on home renovations.

Virus infections are seeing a renewed spike in Iran with more than 3,000 new cases for the second consecutive day. Officials said there were 3,134 positive tests, taking the total to over 160,000. There were also 70 new fatalities linked to the virus and the country’s overall death toll is now at 8,012.

Iran has begun lifting some of its restrictions but the government warned they might have be reimposed if there is a “second wave”.

“If in any part of the country these warnings aren’t taken seriously and God forbid the outbreak of illness peaks again, the authorities will have to reimpose restrictions,” President Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran had been one of the first hotspots outside of China before the pandemic broke out in Europe and later the US. In early May numbers dropped to a two-month low but in June have begun accelerating again.

The country’s health minister said he was concerned “that people have become completely careless regarding this disease”.

Welcome back to our rolling coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic. Here’s are the latest developments and hotspots we are watching:

• Iran has reported more than 3,000 daily infections for the second day in a row. It was one of the first places globally to suffer a major outbreak of the virus earlier this year, but after a drop in daily cases, number have been rising again
• Mexico reported 1,092 virus deaths yesterday – the highest
  daily toll so far. The number of deaths was more than double a previous record,
  and daily infections were also at a high of 3,912
• Over in Europe, Austria is scrapping entry checks at its land borders for
  all its neighbouring countries – except Italy. This means travellers will no longer be quarantined or subject
  to testing requirements
• Globally, almost 6.4 million people have been infected with
  the virus, with the US responsible for a vast majority of these cases. The
  global death toll now stands at 384,463