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Coronavirus live news: world leaders pledge $8bn to fight pandemic; Italy death toll ‘far higher than reported’

Coronavirus live news: world leaders pledge $8bn to fight pandemic; Italy death toll ‘far higher than reported’

French hospital discovers Covid-19 case from December; cases in Germany likely to be 10 times higher than official count, say researchers; Japan extends state of emergency as global cases top 3.5m

  • Full story: German cases ‘may be 10 times higher than official figures’
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The World Health Organization has stressed that contact-tracing apps and other technology cannot replace old-fashioned “boots-on-the-ground” surveillance measures as many countries begin easing lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus.

“We are very, very keen to stress that IT tools do not replace the basic public health workforce that is going to be needed to trace, test, isolate and quarantine,” the WHO’s top emergencies expert, Mike Ryan, told journalists at an online briefing in Geneva.

The number of people who have died after contracting coronavirus in France increased by 306 to 25,201 on Monday, the sharpest rate of increase in four days, government data showed.

On Sunday, only 135 new deaths were reported, but on Sundays the data reporting from nursing homes is often delayed, leading to a catch-up during the week.

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