The Latest: South Africa nearing half-million virus cases

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa is closing in on a half-million confirmed coronavirus cases as the country posted nearly 300 deaths in a single day.

South Africa now has 452,529 cases and 7,067 deaths, making up more than half the reported cases on the African continent. It has the fifth highest caseload in the world.

Like many others, the country has struggled with trying to ease lockdown restrictions and then seeing cases rise. But businesses have expressed frustration as unemployment is now above 30% and likely to keep increasing.

And corruption related to pandemic aid is a problem as the president has warned that now, more than ever, persistent graft puts people’s lives at risk.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Virus-linked hunger tied to 10,000 child deaths each month

— Unemployment assistance, eviction protections and other virus relief at stake as Washington negotiates aid package

— Virus exacts a heavy toll in the NYC neighborhood of Corona

— Chinese CDC head gets injection of experimental vaccine to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved

Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s daily COVID-19 infections has dropped below 1,000 for the first time in three months.

The country on Tuesday counted 936 new cases reported in the last 24 hours throughout the country of 220 million people

Dr. Zafar Mirza, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, tweeted praise for Khan urging Pakistanis to wear masks as the "most effective...