For the first time on Saturday, cases of coronavirus in China were down to zero, but spiked in India and overburdened medical facilities across Latin America - both in countries that did not impose serious lockdowns and those praised for strong, early isolation.
The persistence of the virus proved difficult for health and government officials trying to keep their constituents safe and at the same time resuscitate their ailing economies, distorting the United States' Memorial Day weekend and gatherings across the Muslim world that highlighted the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
China's number of new COVID-19 cases fell from four to zero between Thursday and Friday, the country's National Health Commission disclosed.
China has witnessed a steep decline in locally contracted cases since March, as key prohibitions on movement helped the government take control of the crisis in some parts of the nation.
Health officials have not registered any new fatalities from the disease in more than one month. However, an influx of imported cases, primarily involving Chinese nationals returning from overseas, have been noted by health officials.
Strict travel policies have helped Chinese officials curb the outbreak in most of the country's vast regions, which have reported a substantial drop in domestic infections since March. There are almost 5.3 million novel coronavirus infections around the globe and over 340,000 fatalities, the Johns Hopkins University reported.
The United States remains to be the epicenter of the pandemic with 1.6 million cases, almost a third of the world's total cases. Brazil is at second, with over 347,000 sickness, with Russia next with nearly 336,000 cases.
Wuhan also disclosed this month its first cluster of COVID-19 since a broad lockdown of the city was lifted April 8, prompting local officials to warn that counter-pandemic efforts could not be loosened and to roll out a rigid action plan that will test all of the city's 11 million residents for the virus.
New asymptomatic cases were down to 28 from 35 from the previous day, the NHC reported. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the mainland was pegged at 82,971 with the fatality number remaining flat at 4,634.
Meanwhile, Mexico and Brazil posted record figures of Covid-19 infections and deaths nearly on a daily basis in the past few days, triggering a backlash of their leaders for limited lockdown measures. But infections were also up and intensive care units were overwhelmed in Chile, Peru and Ecuador, nations praised for implementing aggressive business shutdowns and isolations.
