Daily COVID-19 pandemic roundup: March 29

(Adds info from: the WHO, the US, Italy, Russia, Syria, Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela)

Miami Desk, Mar 29 (efe-epa).- Here’s a roundup of stories around the world related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:

WHO: The World Health Organization on Sunday said that some 63,000 new cases of coronavirus have been detected worldwide within the last 24 hours, raising the global total to more than 638,000, with 30,105 people having died, an increase of 3,451 deaths over the Saturday tally. The US is the country with the most known cases, with more than 124,000.

US: New York’s Central Park will house a tent hospital – which health authorities began establishing on Sunday and which will begin operating on Tuesday – and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that its 68 beds will expand the capacity of Mt. Sinai West Hospital, located in the vicinity.

US: About 900 New York City police officers have tested positive for Covid-19 to date and almost 5,000 have had to self-isolate or are on the sick list, the NYPD announced on Sunday. Three police officers have died from the coronavirus.

US: Rhode Island will obligate all people – and not only New Yorkers, as initially planned – arriving from other US states to spend 14 days in quarantine with an eye toward reducing the local spread of the coronavirus. The state expanded the quarantine order to all arrivals after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had threatened to take the original ban to court.

ITALY: The coronavirus death toll in Italy rose on Sunday to 10,779, 756 of whom died within the past 24 hours, with the total number of known active cases increasing by 3,851 in the hard-hit European country to 73,880.

RUSSIA: Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on Sunday decreed that starting on Monday the city’s entire population would have to go into self-quarantine, one of a number of new measures to attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Previously, only people age 65 and older or who are suffering from chronic diseases had been required to self-isolate.

SYRIA: The Syrian government announced Sunday the country’s first death from Covid-19, where authorities say that there are 11 known cases, the SANA news agency reported.

CUBA: Cuban and US churches have joined together in requesting that the US government “immediately” lift its financial and trade embargo on the communist island amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

BRAZIL: The coronavirus death toll in Brazil rose to 136 on Sunday, 22 more than the day before, while the number of confirmed cases increased by 9 percent to 4,256, the Health Ministry reported. Brazil’s richest and most populous state, Sao Paulo with its 46 million people, is the hardest-hit region, with 1,451 people infected with Covid-19 and 98 deaths to date, followed by Rio de Janeiro state with 600 cases and 17 deaths.

COLOMBIA: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Colombia rose on Sunday to 702 with 10 deaths, the Health Ministry said in its daily status report. Cases have been reported in 22 of Colombia’s 32 provinces, with Bogota heading the list with 297 cases.

ECUADOR: Ecuadorian Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner said Sunday that the level of coronavirus contagion in the port city of Guayaquil is “alarming” and that the risk of contracting the virus there is rising day by day, with that city – and the surrounding province of Guayas – being the epicenter of the country’s health emergency. To date, 1,890 confirmed cases have been detected and 57 people have died.

VENEZUELA: Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez on Sunday reported on state-run VTV television the country’s third death from Covid-19, adding that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen to 129. He defended the severe movement restrictions imposed by President Nicolas Maduro, saying that “Quarantine is the only means that has been determined to work to flatten the infection curve and reduce the appearance of new cases.”

GERMANY: With the Bundesliga on hold, Borussia Dortmund will go back to a limited form of training this week in a maximum of pairs, according to player Emre Can, as the number of Covid-19 cases in Germany jumped by 4,000, bringing the total to more than 50,000 so far including 389 deaths.

FRANCE: Women facing gender-based violence or abuse during the coronavirus quarantine period in France will be able to alert authorities using a mechanism in place at shopping centers or pharmacies, the country’s equality secretary, Marlene Schiappa, has said.

VATICAN: Pope Francis used his Angelus Prayer to call for further measures to be taken in prisons during the coronavirus pandemic following a report from the Human Rights Commission that they could become the scene of tragedies.

RUSSIA: Russian authorities claimed that 85 percent of coronavirus patients in Moscow were under 65, with the local government saying 46 percent of the 1,014 cases were between 34-65; 33.5 percent between 18-34 and 5.5 percent under 18.