Spain let children go outside and play Sunday for the first time in six weeks as European countries methodically worked to ease their lockdowns and reopen their economies, while in the United States, governors moved at differing speeds, some more aggressive, others more cautious.

Elsewhere around the world, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson planned to go back to work Monday at 10 Downing St. after a bout with the coronavirus that put him in intensive care.

While governors in states like hard-hit New York and Michigan are keeping stay-at-home restrictions in place until at least mid-May, their counterparts in Georgia and Oklahoma have allowed salons, spas and barbershops to reopen. And Alaska cleared the way for restaurants to resume dine-in service and for stores and other businesses to open, with limitations.

The official death toll from the virus topped 200,000 worldwide, with 2.9 million confirmed infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, though the real figures are believed to be much higher, in part because of inadequate testing and differences in counting the dead.

Italy, Britain, Spain and France accounted for more than 20,000 deaths each, the U.S. for more than 55,000.

Some encouraging signs were seen, as Italy recorded its lowest 24-hour number of deaths since mid-March, with 260, and New York state registered its fewest since late last month, with 367.

BDST: 1735 HRS, APR 27, 2020
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