The deadly pandemic has already killed more than 125,000 people worldwide since it was first detected in China late last year.

Around the globe, the virus has crossed all walks of life. It’s infected everyone from political elite like heir to the British throne Prince Charles to grocery store clerks, musicians and prison inmates.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson became so sick that he was admitted to intensive care. He was released from the hospital on April 12.

Across the planet, leaders are agonising over when to lift lockdown measures to jump-start devastated economies but still avoid a second wave of infections.

Austria and Italy allowed some shops to reopen on Tuesday, a day after Spain allowed construction and factory workers to return to their jobs.

In Denmark, primary-school children will return to class Wednesday and hospitals will begin conducting non-critical procedures for patients suffering from conditions other than Covid-19.

Here are the developments:

UN chief defends WHO after Trump halts funds

UN chief Antonio Guterres has defended the World Health Organisation after US President announced a freeze in US funding because he said it had been biased to China.

According to Trump, the WHO prevented transparency over the Covid-19 outbreak when it first appeared in China, costing other countries crucial time to prepare, delaying decisions to stop international travel.

Trump had made no secret of his contempt for what he calls a “China-centric” institution, but his caustic barbs raised hackles - especially when the crisis is far from over.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much money is blocked by Trump’s order, or for how long. The US contributed US$400 million to the WHO last year.

Guterres said now is “not the time” to reduce resources for WHO. The novel coronavirus crisis is “unprecedented in our lifetime and requires an unprecedented response,” Guterres said.

“Obviously, in such conditions, it is possible that the same facts have had different readings by different entities.

“Once we have finally turned the page on this epidemic, there must be a time to look back fully to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the globe, and how all those involved reacted to the crisis,” he wrote.

“The lessons learned will be essential to effectively address similar challenges, as they may arise in the future. But now is not that time.

“As it is not that time, it also not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organisation or any other humanitarian organisation in the fight against the virus.”

China reports fewer cases but infections from Russia a worry

China reported on Wednesday a decline in new confirmed cases in the mainland, although an increasing number of local transmissions in its far northeast bordering Russia remained a concern for authorities.

China reported 46 new confirmed cases on Tuesday compared with 89 cases a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission. Of the new cases, 36 involved travellers arriving in China from overseas, compared with 86 imported cases a day earlier.

The 10 remaining cases were new locally transmitted infections, with Heilongjiang province accounting for eight of them and southern Guangdong province two.

The northeastern province of Heilongjiang has become a front line in China’s fight to keep out imported cases as infected Chinese nationals return overland from Russia.

Putin warns of ‘extraordinary’ coronavirus crisis in Russia

China has closed the border with Russia at Suifenhe, a city in Heilongjiang with a checkpoint into Russia.

New infections involving travellers arriving from Russia have also hit other parts of China such as the northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and Shanghai.

The number of new asymptomatic cases in mainland China increased to 57 on Tuesday from 54 a day earlier.

As of Tuesday, the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China reached 82,295.

Authorities said 3,342 people have died from the virus in China, including one new fatality in central Hubei province, the origin of the outbreak in the country.

UK dismisses 5G/coronavirus claims as ‘nonsense’

The British government on Wednesday dismissed a TV presenter’s claim that there could be a link between 5G technology and coronavirus as “complete nonsense”.

The 5G conspiracy theory, spread widely on social media, has already led to a new telecoms mast being set alight in Ireland at the weekend.

Experts have poured scorn on the claim, saying 5G is based on radio frequency and is not related to the viral outbreak.

But Eamonn Holmes, who presents ITV’s “This Morning” show, said they were dismissing the theory “when they don’t know it’s not true”.

“What I don’t accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don’t know it’s not true,” he said, leading to hundreds of complaints.

A government official told journalists that Holmes’s claims were “complete nonsense” and “entirely bogus”, while experts also rubbished the comments.

“It’s fair to say Eamonn Holmes is to the advancement of science what I am to banal and unsatisfying morning television,” said Michael Head from the University of Southampton.

The world’s worst downturn leaves Asia-Pacific investors cautious

Denmark allows some children to return to school

Denmark is beginning to relax its strict coronavirus lockdown measures by allowing some classes to return nationwide Wednesday to school.

The measure applies only to preschool to fifth grade, while students above that must continue to study online from home.

Gatherings of more 10 people are still banned. Dentists, tattoo parlours, hairdressers and other trades that have close physical contacts with patrons remain closed. Restaurants and cafes can only serve takeaway. Other shops, including supermarkets and grocery stores have remained open for weeks but have urged customers to keep a distance from each other and have put a limit on the number of people allowed inside.

On March 11, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen began a gradual lockdown of the country, which means that, among others, celebrations marking the popular figurehead monarch Queen Margrethe’s 80th birthday on Thursday - have been cancelled.

Frederiksen said Tuesday that Denmark can open “much faster” than expected citing figures showing a stabilisation of the virus crisis in the Scandinavian country. Frederiksen also said that “it should not go too fast because should there be a setback, it will not be too severe.”

India agrees to sell hydroxychloroquine to Malaysia

India is the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, sales of which have soared across the world including in the US, especially after President Donald Trump touted it as a potential weapon against the respiratory disease.

New Delhi had last month put a hold on exports of hydroxychloroquine to secure supplies for itself, before agreeing this month to supply it to some of its neighbours as well as “nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic”.

“On 14 April, India has given permission for Malaysia to import 89,100 tablets,” Malaysia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar said.

“We will try to get more hydroxychloroquine tablets from India, which is also subject to stock availability.”

India’s decision to sell the sought-after drug to Malaysia signals a turnaround in relations between the countries that had soured because of repeated criticism of some Indian policies by Mahathir Mohamad, before he resigned as Malaysia’s prime minister in February.

Spain’s daily deaths fall again

Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell on Wednesday to 523, after posting a one-day rise, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18,579, the health ministry said.

The number of new confirmed infections in the country, one of the worst hit by the pandemic, rose by over 5,000, after falling for six consecutive days, which lifts the total number of infections to 177,633.

Spain on March 14 imposed one of the tightest lockdowns in Europe, with people in the nation of around 47 million people allowed outside only to go to work when they can’t do so from home, buy food, seek medical care and briefly walk their dog.

The government tightened the restrictions on March 30 by freezing all non-essential activities like construction and manufacturing for two weeks in a so-called “economic hibernation” - a measure that was lifted on Monday.

“We adopted difficult measures which are effective, which protect and save lives,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday during a debate in parliament.

“As a result of this confinement, I am convinced that Spaniards will shortly recover a bit of normality...a new normality because nothing will be the same until a vaccine is found,” he added in response to criticism from the right over his handling of the pandemic.

Thailand extends ban on passenger flights

Thailand has extended a ban on incoming passenger flights until the end of April in a bid to curb the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s aviation body said on Wednesday.

The ban was first introduced on April 4, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has already extended it in once until April 18.

Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,613 cases and 41 deaths, while 1,405 patients have recovered and gone home.

Thailand’s tourist industry, a major employer and foreign currency earner in the country, particularly hard.

The country’s economy is expected to lose nearly US$40 billion, almost all of it in the tourist sector, due to the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, though that figure will increase if the crisis lasts beyond the second quarter, according to an estimate from the Thai Bankers’ Association.

Pandemic threatens Asia banana shortage

The coronavirus pandemic may limit supplies of bananas in Asia. Growers in the Philippines, the world’s second-biggest exporter, said overseas shipments may drop by nearly 40 per cent this year as lockdowns and social distancing measures curb output and transport.

The country’s exports of the fruit are expected to plunge to about 2.5 million tonnes this year from 4 million last year, said Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association. Producers, including Unifrutti Tropical Philippines Incorporated, have halted some operations, he said.

“Bananas have to be harvested every day,” said Alberto Bacani, president of Unifrutti Philippines. “By the time we come back, a lot of that fruit will be spoiled and will have to be thrown away.”

The Philippines accounted for an estimated 20 per cent of global banana shipments in 2019.

The country’s main island of Luzon has been under a lockdown since mid-March that will last through the end of April and provinces in the southern Philippines, where banana plantations and packing houses are concentrated, have also imposed quarantine measures.

UK lawmaker says China trying to exploit virus crisis

“We’re seeing quite a lot of action by the Chinese state, or state-owned companies, that seem to be exploiting this moment,” Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told Sky.

“Companies like Imagination Technologies... it’s been facing a rather hostile change in management in the last few weeks, which happened to coincide not just with the Covid crisis but also the prime minister being taken into hospital and the Easter weekend.”

Tugendhat said he was concerned by Donald Trump’s decision to suspend funding for the World Health Organisation.

“I’m concerned by this,” he said. “This is of course an important time for the WHO to be doing its job.”

“I understand his concerns with the way that the WHO has failed to call out China or indeed recognise the success that has been going on in Taiwan amongst other places.”

Vietnam extends lockdown in 12 provinces

Vietnam will extend its coronavirus lockdown in 12 provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for seven days, although restrictions will be lifted in some areas outside of the Southeast Asian country’s main cities, state media reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the decision at a meeting on Wednesday, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, adding that those 12 provinces were highly prone to the new coronavirus, which has infected 267 people in the country, but no deaths.

New Zealand PM takes pay cut

New Zealand lawmakers including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take a 20 per cent pay cut for six months in a show of solidarity with those who lost their jobs or are reliant on wage subsidies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ardern said on Wednesday.

The prime minister acknowledged the decision would not improve the government’s overall fiscal position but said it was “about leadership”.

“We acknowledge New Zealanders who are reliant on wage subsidies, taking pay cuts and losing their jobs as a result of Covid-19’s global pandemic,” she said.

“We feel acutely the struggle that many New Zealanders are facing, and so too do the people I work with on a daily basis.”

Ardern clarified that the pay cut, which extends to the leader of the opposition and public service chief executives, would not be applied to other members of the public services such as frontline medical staff.

Japan firm offers flats to avoid ‘coronavirus divorce’

An enterprising Japanese short-term rental firm is marketing its empty apartments as a way for stressed couples to get some time apart during the virus lockdown.

“Please consult with us before thinking about ‘coronavirus divorce’,” the Tokyo-based Kasoku urges customers, offering its Airbnb-like fully-furnished units as “temporary shelters” for people to escape the family, whether to work or just get some peace and quiet.

Japan’s government has declared a state of emergency in seven regions over the virus outbreak. While the measures do not include prohibitions on going out, people have been asked to avoid unneccessary outings, schools are closed and many people are working from home.

For those finding that arrangement onerous, Kasoku is offering apartments priced at 4,400 yen (US$40) a day.

Spokesman Kosuke Amano said the company has had 20 customers since it began the campaign on April 3. The service also comes with the offer of a free 30-minute divorce consultation with a legal official.

Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Politico and Bloomberg