Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Italian regions testing for signs of coronavirus immunity

Authorities in northern Italy have begun testing health workers for antibodies that may help identify individuals with immunity to the coronavirus as they look for ways to ease the lockdown imposed a month ago to contain the epidemic. On Monday, the northeastern region of Veneto, which saw one of Italy's earliest outbreaks of the disease in February, started blood tests on health workers, following neighbouring Emilia Romagna, which began testing last week. Canadian province of Ontario angry over 'unacceptable' U.S. move to block face masks

Ontario, the most-populous province in Canada, complained on Monday the United States had blocked the export of more than 3 million face masks it bought to fight the coronavirus outbreak, while Ottawa said it was pressuring Washington to release the gear. The province bought two orders of almost 4 million medical masks from manufacturer 3M Co's plant in South Dakota, and one batch of nearly 3 million was halted, Premier Doug Ford told reporters. Speaking to Global News, he called the incident "absolutely unacceptable." Brazil army report calls for isolation to slow coronavirus, contradicting Bolsonaro

A report published by the Brazilian army's strategic studies center last week contradicts President Jair Bolsonaro by calling for widespread isolation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially ratcheting up an already heated public debate within the government. The study calls for reinforcing social distancing measures to slow the acceleration of confirmed cases that have doubled in the last six days to 12,056, with 553 related deaths. School closures will have little impact on COVID-19 control, review finds

School closures do not tend to help contain the spread of infections during outbreaks of disease such as COVID-19, but will have a big impact on how societies restart after lockdown, scientists said on Monday. Data on the effects of school closures on COVID-19 are limited as the pandemic is still under way, but researchers at University College London said evidence from flu epidemics and outbreaks caused by other coronaviruses suggests their impact on the spread of the disease will be small. Tripoli hospital under fire as continued shelling defies coronavirus

Projectiles struck the grounds of a hospital in Tripoli on Monday in an area held by the internationally recognized government near a frontline, residents said, even as Libya struggled to prepare for an outbreak of the coronavirus. The residents said they heard loud blasts and then saw black smoke rising from the area around the hospital during a day of heavy mutual bombardment by Libya's warring sides. UK PM Johnson moved to intensive care as COVID-19 symptoms worsen

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on Monday after his coronavirus symptoms worsened though his Downing Street office said he was still conscious. Britain has no formal succession plan should the prime minister become incapacitated, but Johnson, 55, has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him. Europe dares to consider easing lockdowns as U.S. enters 'peak death week'

European nations including hard-hit Italy and Spain have started looking ahead to easing coronavirus lockdowns after steady falls in fatality rates, as the United States prepared on Monday for what one official called "peak death week". British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the most prominent victim of the virus, was having tests in hospital on Monday after 10 days of symptoms, but said he was continuing to work. Officials declined to say whether he had pneumonia. Spain's coronavirus death pace slows, but agony continues

The pace of new coronavirus deaths in Spain slowed for the fourth day on Monday, but overcrowded crematoria in Barcelona and the death of soccer coach Pep Guardiola's mother showed the national agony was far from over. Spain has the second highest death toll in the world after Italy, but data gave some cause for hope that the worst may be passing. On Monday, the country reported 637 fatalities in the previous 24 hours - a 5% increase in total and less than half the pace recorded a week earlier. France's coronavirus death rate accelerates, cases near 100,000

France's coronavirus figures on Monday showed that the rate of increase in fatalities - now at almost 9,000 - sped up again after several days of slowing, while the increase in people needing intensive care continued to decelerate. The total number of cases, combining hospital and nursing home statistics, increased by 5,171 over the last 24 hours to 98,010, meaning France will likely become the fifth country, after Italy, Spain, the United States and Germany, to cross the 100,000 threshold on Tuesday. Macron calls on Iran to respect nuclear obligations: Elysee

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran to respect its nuclear obligations in a conversation with President Hassan Rohani, adding that this was the moment when the international community must come together to fight the coronavirus. "He (Macron) hoped that Iran would turn to the respect of its nuclear obligations, refrain from taking new measures contrary to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and contribute to the easing of regional tensions," Elysee said in a statement.

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