Coronavirus World Update, May 15: Global death toll crosses 300,000, Italy to allow movement, Japan eases restrictions

Over 4.5 million people have been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive in the world so far. Of these, 1.7 million have recovered and over 300,000 have passed away. [caption id=“attachment_7909521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Image source: Getty Images.[/caption] Today, China reportedly marked one month with zero new daily deaths by the novel coronavirus infection and Slovenia has become the first European country to declare that they have controlled COVID-19 and there is no need to take any extra precautions in the country anymore. On the other hand, Russia again saw more than 10,000 daily cases on Friday, bringing the total cases in the country to 262,843.

Baltics opened travel bubble, restaurants and bars opened in Australia

The three Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have opened their borders and will reportedly allow people to freely travel between the three countries without the need for quarantine. However, a person coming into this region from any other country will have to self-isolate for two weeks. After two months of lockdown, Australia eased the restrictions by opening restaurants and bars. The country has seen a total of 7,019 cases so far out of which 98 people have died of the disease. However, on Friday, Australia saw around 30 new cases, which is much higher than their recent average of below 20. To prevent another wave of infections, the country is set to ease restrictions in three phases. Some cafes in Sydney are reportedly allowing only 10 people at a time, which is phase one of reopening.

Bulgaria to open shopping malls, Italy to allow free movement, Japan lifted restrictions in some areas 

Shopping malls in Bulgaria will open from Monday after the two-month-long lockdown. The country with a population of about 7 million has reported a total of 2,138 cases and 102 deaths so far and had started to ease restrictions in late April. As per media reports, the Italian government may allow its citizens to travel across the country from June 3 and within the regions from May 18. However, there is still a chance for the draft to be changed before it is approved. Japan has reportedly lifted the state of emergency in a lot of its prefectures. However, the capital city Tokyo along with Osaka and about six other prefectures will still be closed at least until the end of May. Tokyo saw about 30 new cases on Thursday. Yuriko Koike, the governor of Tokyo reportedly said that the daily cases should be below 20 when businesses open in the area.

Roche’s new diagnostic tool

After its antibody test, the multinational Pharmaceutical firm, Roche has now reportedly said that it is going to sell an oximeter — Roche’s v-TAC — which would help the doctors screen for the presence of COVID-19 in patients with breathing problems. Oximeters are small devices that check the blood gas levels - the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide - in a person’s blood. Many COVID-19 patients reportedly see a drop in their blood oxygen levels (hypoxia), without ever noticing breathing problems. However, the condition can be life-threatening. For more information, read our article on What is oxygen therapy. Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.