The state-owned Health Times also reported on Sunday that nationwide, 18 students had jumped off buildings in the past three months and quoted experts calling for more focus on student mental health. The article was, however, soon deleted – a common occurrence in China when sensitive topics are raised.

“The government is accountable to parliament. If parliament thinks (the outbreak) has been handled badly, then it must challenge the government’s response,” Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet told RTL radio.Belloubet was speaking after Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into government actions to determine whether any criminal offences may have been committed.

“The model that I used for India found that there could be around 8-10 lakh cases in India by mid or end of July. So it won’t be surprising to get to those figures (5.5 lakh) in Delhi,” said Samit Bhattacharya, mathematics professor and researcher at the School of Natural Sciences at Shiv Nadar University.

“There is more than enough food in the world to feed our population of 7.8 billion people. But, today, more than 820 million people are hungry. And some 144 million children under the age of five are stunted — more than one in five children worldwide. Our food systems are failing, and the Covid-19 pandemic is making things worse,” the UN chief said in his video message for the launch of UN policy brief on the impact of Covid-19 on food security and nutrition on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Corporate India is rationalising its workforce in response to the economic slowdown. It is indeed a wait-and-watch game as organisations are gearing up for the post-lockdown era where they anticipate an upsurge in demand,” said Sandeep Gulati, Group Managing Director of ManpowerGroup India.

There were no active cases in New Zealand for the first time since the virus arrived in late February, the health ministry said. New Zealand has reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths from the disease.

New Zealand vowed to eliminate, not just contain, the virus. This means stopping transmission for an extended period after the last known case is cleared, while being ready to quickly detect and isolate any new cases including from abroad.

Countries will also strive to become less dependent on one another, especially for essential goods and services such as food or critical medical supplies, the prime minister said.

“This will have strategic implications. Countries will have less stake in each other’s wellbeing. They will fight more over how the pie is shared, rather than work together to enlarge the pie for all. It will be a less prosperous world, and also a more troubled one. All these changes will impact Singapore greatly and mean that the next few years will be a disruptive and difficult time,” he cautioned.