A woman with an unknown condition is helped from an ambulance at the St Thomas' Hospital on March 30, 2020 in London, England. (JUSTIN SETTERFIELD / GETTY IAMGES)

MOSCOW / BERLIN / SANTIAGO / MEXICO CITY - US cases rose 4.5 percent, more than the average of the past week, as the global death toll from the coronavirus passed 200,000. Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York is on a steady retreat from the deadly peaks that pushed the state to 10 percent of the world’s infections.

US cases increased 4.5 percent from the same time Friday, to 926,442, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The rise was above the average daily increase of 3.5 percent over the past week.

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Fatalities slowed in the European Union’s biggest nations as leaders plan to relax economy-crushing lockdown measures. Spain is ready to take further steps to ease its measures next week.

The US is helping livestock and poultry producers hurt by the closure of meatpacking plants during outbreak.

Argentina 

Argentina will extend a mandatory nationwide quarantine period until May 10 in a bid to combat the advance of the coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez said on Saturday.

The South American nation has recorded 3,780 coronavirus cases with 185 deaths, a modest tally compared with neighbors Peru, Chile and Brazil.

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian government may ask parliament to lift the state of emergency earlier than the initially planned May 13, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told reporters on Saturday. The special status was imposed in March to give the government powers to restrict movement and use police to detain those who violate quarantine rules.

The cabinet is also considering easing the restrictions to visit public parks as of next week, as well as partly lifting the existing ban on intercity travel and allow small hotels to reopen, Borissov said. Bulgaria has about 1,200 registered coronavirus cases with 54 deaths.

Canada

Canada shouldn’t reopen its economy until there is enough personal protective equipment for businesses to fight the coronavirus and stop the spread, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

“Plane loads” of PPE supplies will be landing next week from abroad and domestic supplies are ramping up, Trudeau said at a news briefing in Ottawa.

Canada had 44,364 cases as of Saturday morning and 2,350 deaths.

France 

France reported the fewest deaths in almost a month while occupancy of intensive care units were at the lowest level since the end of March.

Deaths rose by 369 to 22,614, according to figures provided by the Health Ministry on Saturday, the smallest daily increase since March 29, and slowing for a third day. New cases rose by 2,906 to 190,614.

Germany

Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 1,737 to 154,175, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

On Saturday, confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 2,055.

Germany’s death toll rose by 140 to 5,640, the RKI said on Sunday.

Italy

Italy posted the fewest deaths in almost six weeks as the government paved the way for a new stimulus package to revive an economy stalled by containment measures.

Civil defense authorities reported 415 deaths for the 24-hour period - the lowest since March 17 - down from 420 a day earlier. A total of 26,384 have died from the outbreak. There were 2,357 new cases, down from 3,021 a day earlier. That left total cases at 105,847.

Mexico

Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 970 new cases of coronavirus infection and 84 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 13,842 cases and 1,305 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely considerably higher than the confirmed cases.

Portugal

Portugal reported the biggest increase in new confirmed coronavirus cases in three days on Saturday, while the number of patients in intensive care units fell for a seventh day. There were 595 new cases in a day, taking the total to 23,392, the government said on Saturday. The total number of deaths rose to 880 from 854 reported through Friday morning.

Russia

Russia reported 6,361 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, pushing its national tally to 80,949.

Sixty-six people succumbed to the virus in the past day, bringing the death toll to 747, Russia’s official crisis response centre said.

Spain

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he expects to approve more steps easing confinement measures at a Tuesday cabinet meeting. One step will allow outdoor exercise and walks starting May 2, but only if infections move in a favorable direction, he said.

His announcement in a televised address is the second move in a week to relax one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. On Sunday, children up to 14 years old will be able to leave their homes once a day for an hour, accompanied by an adult.

UK

The UK became the fifth country to record more than 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, following the US, Italy, Spain and France.

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It reported 813 deaths on Saturday, bringing the total to 20,319. More than 148,000 have tested positive, according to figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care.