A five-year-old boy in India has flown home on his own after being away from his mother for three months.

The lockdown in the country, which came into effect in March, meant that all domestic flights were halted until Monday.

Vihaan Sharma flew from Delhi to Bangalore on Monday, where he was greeted by his mother. Photos showed the boy carrying a "special category" placard, meaning he will have got assistance throughout the journey.

"He travelled alone from Delhi," his mother told ANI news agency.

The boy was staying with grandparents in Delhi - but the lockdown meant the planned short break turned into a much longer one.

Frances Mao
Sydney

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has outlined plans to restore Australia's economy.

Even as a world leader in containing the virus (an achievement that shouldn't be downplayed, he says), the economic impact has been severe - with 10% unemployment and debt costing 30% of GDP.

Around five million people (in a nation of 25 million) are currently relying on about A$150bn (£80bn; $98bn) in emergency welfare payments - due to end in September.

"At some point you’ve got to get your economy out of ICU [intensive care unit]," Mr Morrison said.

"You’ve got to get it off the medication before it becomes too accustomed to it. We must enable our businesses to earn our way out of this crisis."

Part of that will be classic centre-right policies like cutting tax and red tape for businesses, but he's also advocating for industrial reform with unions.

There's also a push to produce more skilled workers domestically. For years, Australia has relied on incoming skilled migrants to grow - but the pandemic has clearly disrupted that flow.

Australia's wealth has also been reliant on trade - so no surprise that the PM says the nation will remain "outwards-looking and open" and won't "retreat into the downward spiral of protectionism".

The first year of university is a chance for young adults to have a fresh start in a new city with a brand new group of friends. Many are told it will be the best year of their life.

But what was it like when Covid-19 hit and the first year experience ended unexpectedly?

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Long queues and chaos greeted passengers at Indian airports on Monday, as flights resumed two months after they were halted.

Local media said almost 100 flights were cancelled, but many more took off.

Maharashtra state, which has India's highest number of Covid-19 cases, said it would only allow only 50 flights a day, leading to several cancellations.

Angry passengers said they were not informed in advance, with some only learning of cancellations after waiting hours in long queues to enter the airport.

"Our flight was cancelled and there is no-one to answer us at the help desk. We don't know what to do now," a passenger in the southern city of Chennai told the ANI news agency.

India has confirmed more than 130,000 Covid-19 infections and 4,021 deaths so far.

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Image source, AFP

Saudi Arabia will lift its curfew across the country on 21 June, with the only exception being the holy city of Mecca - where shortened curfew hours will remain in place, from 3pm to 6am.

The Saudi curfew has varied but has recently been 24 hours a day, to cover the Eid festival. It previously ran from 5pm to 9am in most places during Ramadan, and was 24 hours a day in most places before then.

Bans on travelling within the country, praying in mosques, and going to work in both government and the private sector will be lifted on 31 May.

Global infections since the outbreak began are edging towards 5.5 million.

Some countries like China and New Zealand seem to have the pandemic under control, and Europe is in the process of lifting its lockdowns, but in the Americas, the pandemic is still in full swing - especially in South America.

If you want to keep on top of the global trends in infections, our visual and data team have put together a special where you can keep across all that.

Thousands of people visited US beaches over the Memorial Day weekend (the day itself was Monday) - and not everyone abided by the guidelines.

All 50 states have partially reopened, to varying degrees.

US coronavirus taskforce chief Deborah Birx urged people to continue to wear masks if they couldn't socially distance. She also said she was "concerned" by the crowded scenes.

Image source, Reuters

Brazil says it will not change its recommendation to use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine against Covid-19, despite the World Health Organization suspending trials of the drug over safety concerns.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has - like Donald Trump - promoted the supposed benefits of the drug against the virus.

Last week, a study in medical journal The Lancet said there were no benefits to treating coronavirus patients with hydroxychloroquine, and that taking it might even increase the number of deaths in hospital.

"We're remaining calm and there will be no change," a Brazilian health official said.

Hydroxychloroquine is used for malaria, and conditions like lupus or arthritis, but no clinical trials have recommended its use for treating Covid-19.

And across the nation, there are only 22 active cases.

In total, the Kiwis have reported about 1,500 infections and 21 deaths in a population of around five million.

Officials are confident they've "broken the chain of domestic transmission", with no new cases reported for most of May.

With the nation having largely lifted out of lockdown, the main threat will come when it reopens it borders.

Image source, NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT

Monica Miller
Asia Business Reporter, Singapore

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Singapore has cut its economic growth projection even further due to the impact of the coronavirus.

Officials say they expect the economy to shrink 4 to 7% - and are bracing for the worst recession the country has faced in its 55-year history. Previous estimates projected a contraction of 1 to 4%.

This is the the country's third revision in more than three months. Its Ministry of Trade and Industry reports that measures taken during the country's “circuit breaker” period (similar to a lockdown) have triggered large-scale job losses and weakened consumer spending.

The South East Asian country has one of the highest numbers of infections in Asia due to mass outbreaks in cramped migrant worker dormitories.

Last month, the government announced three stimulus packages worth $42bn support for some businesses.

After the most recent cut in GDP projections, officials say a fourth stimulus package could be announced later today. The last time Singapore faced such economic hardship was during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, when the economy shrank by 2.2%

As a financial hub with a huge port, the country is considered to be a bellwether - that is, an indicator of future trends - for international trade and the global economy.

Image source, AFP

Demonstrators in Ecuador have defied coronavirus restrictions to march through cities across the country in protest at tough economic measures imposed by the government to tackle the crisis.

Around 2,000 people protested in the capital, Quito, waving flags and wearing masks.

Last week, President Lenin Moreno announced public spending cuts which included the closure of seven state-owned companies.

"This protest is because the government is firing workers to avoid making the rich pay," Mecias Tatamuez, head of the county's largest union, said at a march in Quito.

The IMF predicts Ecuador's economy will shrink by over 6% this year.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

The number of US deaths linked to Covid-19 rose by 532 over the past 24 hours, according to data by the Johns Hopkins University., external

The country's overall death toll now stands 98,218, by far the highest number worldwide. But the daily number of deaths is on a downward curve.

The US also has the highest number of confirmed infections - with more than 1.6 million.

A high school student in Sydney has tested positive for the virus just one day after all students returned to the classroom.

Authorities said the boy's school, Waverley College, in the city's beach suburbs, was evacuated this morning.

The case highlights the risks of schools resuming normal lessons, which is happening this week across most of the country. In Victoria, pupils went back full-time today.

Australia has recorded a near flat virus curve for the past five weeks, with only single digit daily case increases in the past week.

Image source, Reuters

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the US, Joe Biden, marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath in Delaware.

He and his wife Jill wore black face masks - something President Trump has declined to do in public.

The president later retweeted a Fox News analyst to seemingly criticise Biden for his choice...

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Testing of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus has been halted because of safety fears, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Trials in several countries are being "temporarily" suspended as a precaution.

It comes after a recent medical study suggested the drug could increase the risk of patients dying from Covid-19.

US President Donald Trump has promoted the anti-malarial drug, despite warnings from public health officials that it could cause heart problems in Covid-19 patients.

Trump also said he was taking the drug himself to ward off the virus, but said in Sunday he was not taking it any more.

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Welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We’re kicking this live page off in Asia and Australia but will keep you up to date with our global teams as the day shifts across time zones to Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Here’s what you need to know this morning.

• A clinical trial of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine – the drug US President Trump said he was taking to avoid getting Covid-19 – has been suspended by the World Health Organization amid safety concerns
• Japan has lifted its state of emergency, but warned it could be reimposed if infections picked up. Limits on regional travel will be lifted on 19 June
• India on Monday saw its biggest daily increase in confirmed infections, just as the government reopened domestic air travel
• Argentina is extending the mandatory lockdown in Buenos Aires until 7 June after a steady increase in the city's confirmed cases
• The UK has announced that non-essential shops will be allowed to open from 15 June
• Spain says foreign visitors will no longer have to undergo a two-week quarantine from 1 July

• Iceland has also eased its restrictions, allowing gatherings of up to 200 people. Nightclubs and gyms are also allowed to reopen