The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from São Paulo tested positive for the virus.
As of 13 May 2020, 188,974 cases have been confirmed in the country, causing 13,149 deaths.
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
On 17 March, Brazil's first coronavirus-related death was confirmed. At this time, there were 291 confirmed cases in the country. Three days later, State health departments reported almost a thousand confirmed cases across 23 of 26 states and also in the Federal District.
A month after the first confirmed case on February 26, the Ministry of Health reported that Brazil had 2,915 confirmed cases and 77 deaths. On 30 April, Brazil overtook China in number of confirmed cases, passing 87,000.
The pandemic has caused a large difference of responses from federal, state and local governments. On 27 March Brazil announced a temporary ban on foreign air travelers, and most state governors have added quarantines to prevent the spread of the virus.
Despite the global impact of the virus and guidelines from the World Health Organization, President Jair Bolsonaro says that the risk caused by coronavirus has been exaggerated. State governors have disagreed, causing lockdowns measures in their own states.
On 13 March, President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative for COVID-19. The same day, the Ministry of Health issued a warning recommending Brazilians and foreigners arriving in Brazil to stay in isolation for at least 7 days.
2020 Pacific typhoon season
The 2020 Pacific typhoon season is an ongoing event of which when typhoons form in the Pacific Ocean. The season lasts all year, although most tropical cyclones form between May and October. The season's first tropical cyclone formed on May 10, making it the sixth-latest start in the basin on record.
Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo), the season’s first storm, became a Category 3 typhoon and struck the Philippines, causing extensive damages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first few months of 2020 were extremely quiet, with no tropical systems developing between the months of January and April. On May 10, the season saw its first tropical system with the development of Ambo, making it the sixth-latest starting season on record, as well as the latest since 2016. Two days later, the system strengthened to the first officially named tropical storm of the season, Vongfong. Vongfong then hit the Philippines at peak intensity, and weakened soon after landfall.
After Vongfong, a month of inactivity ensued, and on June 10, a new tropical depression formed off the coast of Samar, and was named Butchoy by the PAGASA a day later. Butchoy made landfall in the Philippines as the JTWC issued a tropical cyclone formation alert for it. It then got upgraded to a tropical storm, and impacted Hong Kong, Macau and parts of China upon landfall.
A low-pressure area near Micronesia slowly organized over the course of a few hours, and developed into a tropical depression soon after. It became the first tropical cyclone to form in the Western Pacific in 2020, and PAGASA named it "Ambo". Favourable sea temperatures, low wind shear and excellent vertical outflow made the system intensify into a tropical storm, then the JMA named it "Vongfong".
Less than a day later, when convection started to rapidly organize around the storm's center, and a well-defined rain band at the northwest side of the storm, JTWC upgraded it to a typhoon. Vongfong made landfall on Samar Island at around 12 PM Philippines Time. It began to weaken because of many landfalls over the Philippines, and emerged into the South China Sea on May 17. It turned north and dissipated due to high wind shear the next day, just south of Taiwan.
The JMA classified a tropical low east of the Philippines as a tropical depression on June 10.
COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Portugal in March 2020 by the Directorate-General of Health (DGS).
The first recorded cases of COVID-19 in Portugal were reported on 2 March. A week later, the Portuguese government declared the highest level of alert because of COVID-19 and said it would be maintained until 9 April.
On 18 March, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, declared State of Emergency for the following fifteen days, with the possibility of it being extended. It was the first act of emergency since the Carnation Revolution in 1974. The act was extended on 2 April.
COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed by Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize to have spread to South Africa on 5 March 2020. The first known case was a South African returning from Italy.
On 15 March, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a national state of disaster, and announced measures like travel restrictions and the closure of schools from 18 March.
On 17 March, Ramaphosa formed the National Command Council on COVID-19, "to lead the nation's plan to contain the spread and mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus".
The parliament of South Africa suspended all activities on 18 March. Both the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance postponed their respective elective congresses.
On 23 March, a national lockdown was announced, starting on 26 March 2020. On 9 April, Ramaphosa announced that it would be extended until the end of April.
On 21 April, a 500 billion rand stimulus was announced in response to the pandemic.
On 23 April, Ramaphosa announced that the lockdown restrictions would slowly be phased out. Level 4 started on 1 May. On 1 June, the country entered level 3.
Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, extended the state of disaster on 3 June. It ended on 4 July.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) started testing people in South Africa for SARS-CoV-2 on 28 January 2020.
By the middle of March, state hospitals were offering free COVID-19 testing.
On 11 June, the Health Department said that over 1 million tests had been completed.
, the median age of people with laboratory-confirmed cases was 38 years, and the median age of patients who died was 64.
, there were confirmed cases and confirmed deaths, as well as recoveries.
, there were confirmed cases and confirmed deaths, as well as recoveries.
Stay-at-home order
A stay-at-home order (North America) or a movement control order (Southeast Asia) is an order from a government to lower/end movements of a population as a mass quarantine move for stopping an epidemic, or pandemic. This is done by ordering residents to stay home except for essential tasks or to work in essential businesses.
In many cases, outdoor activities are allowed. Nonessential businesses are either closed or made to working from home.
In some regions, it has added a curfew or called a shelter-in-place order, but it is not to be confused with a shelter in place situation.
Similar measures have been used around the world, but the term lockdown is used instead.
COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (), spread to the Philippines on January 30, 2020. The first case of the disease was confirmed in Metro Manila.
The first case was a 38-year-old Chinese woman who was quarantined at a hospital in Manila. The second case was confirmed on February 2, that of a 44-year-old Chinese man who died a day earlier, which was also the first confirmed death from the disease outside mainland China.