Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Spain split between concern and relief as coronavirus lockdown eased

The construction sector across Spain and other industries in Catalonia and the Basque Country went back to work on Tuesday, after the government eased one of the world's toughest coronavirus lockdowns as the pace of new infections slowed. However, with the overnight death toll edging up further beyond 500, some frontline workers have joined the head of the Catalan regional government in questioning if the curbs were being lifted too soon. UK coronavirus death toll could be 15% higher than previously shown: new data

Britain's death toll from the coronavirus could run some 15% higher than official figures have indicated so far, according to broader data published on Tuesday that include deaths in the community such as in nursing homes. The Office for National Statistics said 6,235 people in England and Wales had died by April 3 with mentions of COVID-19 on their death certificates. Spain, Austria ease lockdowns but WHO warns coronavirus 'has not peaked'

Spain and Austria allowed partial returns to work on Tuesday but Britain, France and India extended coronavirus lockdowns to try to rein in the most serious pandemic in a century which the World Health Organization said had "certainly" not peaked. Nearly 2 million people globally have been infected and more than 119,200 have died, according to a Reuters tally of official figures. The epicentre has moved from China, where the virus first emerged in December, to the United States which now has the highest death toll at 23,568. UK PM Johnson continues his recovery from COVID-19

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is continuing his recovery from COVID-19 at his official country residence, his spokesman said on Tuesday, repeating that the British leader will only return to work on his medical team's advice. "He is continuing his recovery at Chequers," the spokesman told reporters. "The priority is for the PM to rest and recover and his medical team have advised him not to immediately return to work." India extends world's biggest lockdown as coronavirus cases cross 10,000

India extended a lockdown for its 1.3 billion people until at least May 3 on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of economic sacrifices to save lives as the number of coronavirus cases crossed 10,000. Sharp downward revisions to economic growth forecasts in the wake of the pandemic point towards sickening levels of unemployment, but Modi urged Indians to maintain the discipline shown in the first three weeks of the lockdown. Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

Nearly 2 million people globally have been infected and more than 119,200 have died, according to a Reuters tally of official figures. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS Hong Kong barristers call on Beijing to 'exercise restraint' in comments

The Hong Kong Bar Association on Tuesday called on Beijing to "exercise restraint" in its comments regarding affairs in the Chinese-ruled city, warning that its views could be perceived as interference in the global financial hub. The association, which represents around 1,500 barristers in the former British colony, made the statement a day after the Liaison Office, Beijing's top representative office in Hong Kong, welcomed an appeal court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the city's colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance. As rebel-held Syria fears virus, just one machine is there to test

A single machine at Mohamad Shahim Makki's medical centre in Idlib province, part of Syria's last rebel stronghold, is the only alarm that will sound when the coronavirus strikes a population of millions of the world's most vulnerable people. Makki's Epidemiological Surveillance Laboratory has the only device in areas outside of Syrian government control equipped to run a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to detect the virus. Exclusive: Nurses at Mexico hospital hit by coronavirus say they were told to avoid masks

Nurses at a public hospital hit by Mexico's worst coronavirus outbreak were told by their managers not to wear protective masks at the start of the epidemic to avoid sowing panic among patients, nurses and other medical workers said. Two doctors and a hospital administrator have died and at least 51 staff members have been infected since the new coronavirus was detected at the IMSS General Hospital in Monclova in the northern state of Coahuila in late March, the state health department said. China tightens Russia border checks, approves coronavirus vaccine trials

China has approved early-stage human tests of two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus as the country where the virus was first detected battles to contain imported cases, especially from Russia. Russia has become China's largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 infections originating in its northern neighbour. Chinese there should stay put and not return home, the state-owned Global Times said on Tuesday.