YEREVAN, May 8. /TASS/. New coronavirus cases in Armenia have grown by 145 over the past twenty-four hours to 3,029, the republic’s Health Ministry reported on Friday.

"One hundred and forty-five new cases have been identified over the past twenty-four hours. As many as 1,218 people have recovered from the illness while the total number of infected people stands at 3,029," the ministry said in a statement.

From May 4, the Armenian authorities eased the lockdown restrictions imposed over the pandemic. Under the government’s resolution, restrictions have been lifted on free movement of citizens, some types of economic activity are restarting and open air cafes and restaurants are reopening.

A total of 42 people have died of the coronavirus in Armenia since the start of the pandemic.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,900,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 270,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,344,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.