More than 2.97 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 205,948 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Monday.

EUROPE

* Italy reported 260 more deaths on Sunday, the smallest daily tally since March 14, and said it plans to allow factories and building sites to reopen from May 4 and permit limited family visits.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce plans for easing a month-old lockdown as early as this week after he returned to Downing Street on Sunday night, the Telegraph reported.

* Death toll in France increased by 242 to 22,856.

* A group of 25 Dutch high school students arrived back in the Netherlands in a two-mast schooner on Sunday, as airline restrictions forced them to sail it home from the Caribbean.

* Total cases in Turkey rose by 2,357 in the past 24 hours, and 99 more people have died.

AMERICAS

* Total infections in the United States were more than 970,000 and the death toll stood at 54,822, according to a Reuters tally as of 0200 GMT on Monday.

* Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee were set to join other states in reopening businesses, while Oklahoma governor called on U.S. President Donald Trump to declare the pandemic an “act of God”.

* The U.S. government notified lenders on Sunday that it will cap how much each bank can lend under the emergency loan program.

* Argentina will extend a mandatory nationwide quarantine period until May 10, while Honduras will extend the blanket curfew by one week until 2100 GMT on May 3.

* Mexico reported 835 new cases and 46 additional fatalities. It also returned most occupants in government migrant centres to their countries of origin.

* Confirmed cases in Panama reached 5,779 on Sunday, a rise of 241 from the previous day, and deaths climbed by six to 165.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China reported three new cases on April 26, down from 11 a day earlier, while there were 25 new asymptomatic cases on April 26. Total cases in mainland China stand at 82,830.

* Japan’s Osaka Prefecture said it will name and shame more pachinko parlour gambling outlets that are defying coronavirus lockdown requests.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to comply with a nationwide lockdown and social distancing measures on Sunday, a day after some of the world’s toughest restrictions were eased slightly while cases of COVID-19 continued to mount.

* More than a million Australians rushed to download an app designed to help authorities trace close contacts of COVID-19 patients.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Egypt has asked the International Monetary Fund for financial support and will begin talks with it within days.

* Iran plans to reopen mosques in parts of the country that have been consistently free of the outbreak.

* Saudi Arabia eased curfews across the country, while keeping 24-hour curfews in Mecca and in neighbourhoods previously put in isolation.

* Israel permitted some businesses to reopen and said it would consider allowing children back to school.

* South Africa is seeking 95 billion rand ($4.99 billion) from multilateral lenders to help it fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Asian shares bounced as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced more stimulus steps, while oil took another spill as the world ran short of space to store it all.

* National Australia Bank Ltd asked investors for A$3.5 billion ($2.2 billion) and cut its dividend.

* The Bank of Japan ramped up risky asset purchases and pledged to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds.

Reuters