Iran says virus deaths drop below 100 for first time in month
Iran said the number of lives lost in the country to the novel coronavirus dropped to double figures for the first time in one month.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 98 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll to 4,683.
"Unfortunately, we lost 98 of our compatriots infected with the disease... but after a month of waiting, this is the first day that the death toll has been double figures," he told a televised news conference
Spain's virus death toll tops 18,000
Spain reported 567 deaths from the new coronavirus, a slight increase after a one day decline, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18,056 - officially the third highest in the world behind the United States and Italy.
The number of new infections rose by 1.8 percent to 172,541 cases, according to the health ministry, the smallest increase since the country imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 14 to curb the spread of the virus.
09:30 GMT - Russia posts another record daily rise in new COVID-19 cases
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia has crossed 20,000, while the death toll is nearing 200, authorities said.
A total of 2,774 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall case count to 21,102, Russia’s coronavirus task force said in a statement.
The death toll has risen to 170 after 22 more fatalities, while recoveries reached 1,694 as 224 more patients were discharged from hospitals.
Taiwan reports no new coronavirus cases for first time in a month
Taiwan reported no new cases of the coronavirus for the first time in more than a month, in the latest sign that the island's early and effective prevention methods have paid off.
Taiwan has won plaudits from health experts for how it has fought the virus, including starting as early as December 31 with checks on passengers arriving from China's Wuhan city, where the first cases were reported late last year.
Taiwan has reported 393 cases to date and six deaths. A total of 338 were so-called imported cases, where people were suspected of becoming infected overseas before entering Taiwan, and the rest were cases of local transmissions.
Hunger for 'good news' grows amid coronavirus crisis
Battered by grim headlines, horrifying statistics and deep uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, many people worldwide are trying to lift their spirits by seeking out positive news stories.
Sites specialising in upbeat news have seen a surge in recent weeks, and Google searches for "good news" have jumped five-fold since the start of the year.
The Good News Network, created in the late 1990s, has seen traffic treble in the past month with more than 10 million visitors, according to founder and editor Geri Weis-Corbley.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/ ... 21888.html
