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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Helen Sullivan (now) Sam Gelder, Martin Pengelly, Lucy Campbell, Mattha Busby and Helen Sullivan (earlier)

US slashes interest rates as states go into lockdown – as it happened

A worker sprays disinfectant on a Delhi Transport Corporation bus as a precautionary measure against spread of Covid-19.
A worker sprays disinfectant on a Delhi Transport Corporation bus as a precautionary measure against spread of Covid-19. Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images

We are going to close this blog now. Thanks for following along. You can find all of our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at our new blog here.

Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. We’ll be switching over to a new blog shortly. In the meantime – have any tips, good news or things I may have missed? Send me a message on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published an advisory on its website recommending that “for the next 8 weeks, organisers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.”

The note continues:

The Events of any size should only be continued if they can be carried out with adherence to guidelines for protecting vulnerable populations, hand hygiene, and social distancing. When feasible, organisers could modify events to be virtual.

This recommendation does not apply to the day to day operation of organisations such as schools, institutes of higher learning, or businesses.

New Zealand’s education ministry is asking principals to consider how they will teach students online if schools are forced to close due to the virus.

In a memo to head teachers, the ministry said officials would call every school on Monday and Tuesday to find out what support teachers would need to enact online learning, according to Radio New Zealand.

The ministry will ask principals about students’ access to devices and the internet at home, RNZ said.

There has not yet been any suggestion from either the ministry or New Zealand’s government that school closures are expected or inevitable at this stage. The country has eight cases of Covid-19.

Massachusetts closes schools

In the US, Massachusetts has become the latest state in the US to close its schooling system in a bid to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. Photograph: Scott Eisen/Getty Images


The state’s governor Charlie Baker has just announced that public and private schools will be closed from Tuesday until 6 April. Baker also announced that the state has banned gatherings of 25 people or more.
“With the steps we are taking today, we can ensure residents can still access key state services while taking necessary precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
The news comes just hours after South Carolina took similar measures to close it public schools until the end of March, and California announced it would enforce closure of bars and nightclubs, as well as limiting the capacity of restaurants.

New York City also announced today that public schools will close.

24 states have now announced some form of school closure in the wake of the crisis.

A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday, according to a US government official.

The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the trial has not been publicly announced yet.

The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at a Kaiser Permanente research facility in Washington state, the official said.

Biden and Sanders emphasise threat of coronavirus as Trump downplays

As the next Democratic debate is about to begin, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have sought to underscore the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, while Trump consistently downplayed the health threat.

Earlier this evening, at a White House press conference, Trump said the government has “tremendous control” over the virus. In contrast, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said moments later that the worst of the crisis was still yet to come in the US.

In contrast, Joe Biden delivered a speech Thursday afternoon saying Americans need to take serious steps and listen to medical experts to help combat the virus.

“We lead by science,” Biden said. “Downplaying it, being overly dismissive, or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease.”

Bernie Sanders said in a Friday speech that the crisis demonstrated the need for the Medicare for all healthcare system he has championed, arguing the policy could save lives during the pandemic.

“We cannot live in a nation where if you have the money you get the treatment you need to survive, but if you’re working-class or poor, you get to the end of the line,” Sanders said.

“In my view, the most cost effective way to reform our dysfunctional and cruel system is to move to a Medicare for all, single-payer healthcare system. ... And I think in the midst of this crisis, more and more Americans understand the truth of that.”

In more football news, in Australia football will continue despite fears over the spread of the coronavirus, but the remainder of the A-League season and next weekend’s W-League grand final will be played behind closed doors.

FFA announced on Monday that fans will not be able to attend the remaining six rounds of the men’s competition and the women’s title decider between Melbourne City and Sydney FC.

“This is an unprecedented time and extremely complex for the sport and society at large,” FFA CEO James Johnson said.

Here is how the football world is coping with coronavirus – with the help of home workouts, soap and face masks:

In another sign of the turmoil in the travel industry, Hanover-based holiday firm TUI Group announced last night it was temporarily suspending the “vast majority of all travel operations until further notice”.

The TUI Group logo is picture outside the venue of the travel and tourism company in Hanover, northern Germany.
The TUI Group logo is picture outside the venue of the travel and tourism company in Hanover, northern Germany. Photograph: Focke Strangmann/EPA


This includes TUI’s package holidays, cruises and hotel operations. “This temporary suspension is aimed at contributing to global governmental efforts to mitigate the effects of the spread of the Covid-19,” said TUI, which also plans to apply for ‘state aid guarantees’ to support its business.

Updated

Summary

  • The US Federal Reserve announced it is cutting its benchmark interest rate to near zero and said it would buy US$700bn in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities as it attempts to head off a severe slowdown.
  • New York City will close the largest public school system in the US on Monday, sending more than 1.1 million children home in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus, the city’s mayor announced on Sunday, calling it a “very troubling moment”.
  • UK over-70’s will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months, in order to protect them from the virus, he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
  • UK health secretary Matt Hancock said Britain has not ruled out following other countries and closing restaurants, bars and other shops to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
  • British police will have powers to arrest Covid-19 patients not self-isolating, the health secretary has confirmed.
  • Boris Johnson plans to hold daily ministerial press conferences on the crisis, in an attempt to shore up public confidence in the government’s handling of the pandemic.
  • Iran recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day from coronavirus on Saturday, with 113 new deaths in the past 24 hours, meaning the country’s death toll from the coronavirus has reached 724. There are 13,938 people infected across the country.
  • Spain reports deaths have jumped in a day to 288. The number of deaths in Spain from the coronavirus have more than doubled in a day, to 288, with the number of infections near 8,000.
  • People in Norway have been ordered to leave their countryside cabins and return to their homes, due to fears rural hospitals could be overwhelmed, according to Norwegian media.
  • Nike is set to close all of its stores in the United States and several other countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
  • The US embassy and the British Foreign Office are advising their non-resident citizens to leave Argentina quickly while flights are still open.
  • The death toll in Italy increased by 25% to 1,809 from 1,441 on Sunday – a rise of 368. The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tested negative for coronavirus, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
  • Louis Vuitton owner LVMH has said its cosmetics unit would manufacture large quantities of hand disinfectant gel to help stave off a nationwide shortage across France as the coronavirus continues to spread.
  • South Africa has declared a national disaster and introduced a series of drastic measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
  • Luxembourg on Sunday followed its neighbours France and Belgium in closing bars and restaurants to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
  • California governor Gavin Newsom has directed the closure of all bars, wineries, nightclubs and brewpubs in the state and called for all seniors age 65 years or older to stay in home isolation to curb the spread of coronavirus.
  • The US now has more than 2,900 cases in 49 states, Vice-President Mike Pence said in a press briefing on Sunday evening.
  • Lawyers acting for the mother of a child who has asthma and attends a primary school in County Armagh are planning to launch a judicial review of the Stormont government’s decision not to close schools in Northern Ireland.

Goldman Sachs says US economy to shrink 5%

Goldman Sachs has downgraded its US growth forecast for the first and second quarters in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Goldman Sachs has downgraded its US growth forecast for the first and second quarters in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
Goldman Sachs has downgraded its US growth forecast for the first and second quarters in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

In a note sent on Sunday, the US bank said it now sees real gross domestic product growth of 0% in the first three months of the year, from its original estimate of 0.7% expansion. For the second quarter, it sees US growth contracting to -5.0% from its initial forecast of 0%.

Goldman raised its third-quarter US GDP estimate to 3% from 1% originally.

“We expect US economic activity to contract sharply in the remainder of March and throughout April as virus fears lead consumers and businesses to continue to cut back on spending such as travel, entertainment, and restaurant meals,” Goldman said in its latest research note.

Apart from the impact on consumer spending, Goldman said it also revised its growth forecasts as significant supply chain disruptions have grown.

Updated

Fed chair Jerome Powell has wrapped up his Sunday night press conference after the central bank’s surprise announcement of another rate cut. The early reviews are ominous.

Interest rates are already close to zero so the latest cuts may not make a huge difference.

“There is room for us to do what we need to do,” Powell said.

But Dow futures - an indication of which way the markets may go tomorrow - are down.

Michael Antonelli, market strategist at RW Baird, doesn’t think stock markets will rally until there is better news on containment of Covid-19.

Updated

Stage editor Chris Wiegand has the latest from the theatre world:

The Old Vic, Arcola, Turbine and Bunker theatres in London are among the first UK theatres to suspend productions due to coronavirus.

The Old Vic has suspended the last two weeks of its run of Endgame, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Cumming. In a tweet on Sunday night, the theatre said they had “no reason to disagree with current scientific and government advice on coping with coronavirus” but explained that “it is becoming increasingly impractical to sustain business as usual”. All other upcoming Old Vic productions, including 4000 Miles starring Timothée Chalamet, remain scheduled to go ahead.

The Arcola in east London announced that it is suspending all public performances until further notice and said the impact of Covid-19 is a critical threat “to the livelihoods of all those who work in the arts”. On Twitter, the theatre announced “we do not believe that it is practical or responsible for us to stage shows while people’s lives are at risk”. The Arcola explained that the majority of its income comes from theatregoers and called for donations to ensure that it “stays thriving, long after this crisis is past”.

The Turbine theatre, which opened at Battersea Power Station last summer, has cancelled all performances until 18 April. The Bunker, which is housed in a former underground car park in London Bridge, has cancelled a week of performances which featured almost 100 artists and was due to start on Monday. “This is not a decision taken lightly,” they said. “We have spent months organising this week; at the last count we had 94 people involved in our week and to have to cancel the day before we begin is soul destroying. But we have to put our artists’ safety first.”

On Saturday, the Young Vic cancelled two performances of Nora: A Doll’s House due to a member of the company self-isolating as a precaution. The Young Vic said it would make a further announcement about the show on Monday morning.

Major theatres in Ireland, France, Germany and Italy – as well as New York’s Broadway – have been closed since last week.

Updated

Reporter Joe Parkin Daniels has this from Bogota, Colombia:

Venezuela has announced a “collective quarantine”, after cases of Covid-19 in the troubled South American nation jumped to 17 on Sunday evening.

“There is no other option,” president Nicolas Maduro said in a televised statement. “We either go into quarantine or the pandemic could brutally and tragically bring down our country.”

Maduro ordered the quarantine in six states and the capital Caracas, though said that transport, health and food delivery would continue.

Venezuela - which boasts the largest proven oil reserves on the planet - is already mired in social and economic turmoil, with shortages in basic goods and medical supplies widespread and runaway hyperinflation.

Public health experts warn that the country is far from ready to handle any outbreak amid an already collapsing health system.

Colombia, which neighbours Venezuela to the west, closed its border on Saturday, worried that the former could become the epicentre of an outbreak in South America.

Colombia, which has 34 cases of Covid-19, has also announced strict measures. On Sunday evening president Ivan Duque announced that schools would be closed from Monday on, adding to a ban on foreign visitors announced earlier on Sunday.

London’s French Lycée and its satellite schools have decided to close from Monday following concerns from parents.

The decision affects over 4,000 children in South Kensington and other locations.

In a statement, the school said: “This is a difficult decision. Rest assured that we will monitor its impact on each family and remain at your disposal to answer questions and support you.”

Serbia has introduced a state of emergency to halt the spread of coronavirus, president Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday after meeting top government and health officials in Belgrade.

Vucic said he was acting in line with legal provisions that allow him to declare a state of emergency in the absence of a sitting parliament, which was disbanded ahead of April 26 general elections.

“From this very moment we have a state of emergency,” Vucic said in a televised address, adding that the government will formulate the “harshest measures” soon.

He said that the fight “against an invisible adversary” will be aimed at the protection of the elderly, who are particularly at risk from the outbreak.

Vucic said kindergartens, schools and universities will be closed until the end of the semester.

Health authorities in the Balkan country have so far reported 46 cases of infection and tested 283 people. There have been no fatalities, but two patients are in a serious condition.

Vucic warned that from Monday the military will be guarding hospitals, while police will be monitoring those quarantined or in self-isolation for 14 or 28 days. Those who violate quarantine may face jail terms of up to three years, he said.

The Czech Republic tightened restrictions on Sunday to combat the new coronavirus outbreak, banning people from moving around except for work, essential shopping and other necessary activities until 24 March.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the new measures would take effect from midnight, adding the government recommended that those who can work from home or take holidays.

The country of 10.7 million has confirmed 253 cases of the virus with no deaths reported so far.

The restrictions come a day after the government closed most shops and restaurants for at least 10 days. Other measures include a ban on nearly all international travel from Monday, and closing schools.

The University of Nottingham will move all teaching online from 23 March in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The east Midlands university asked its students to remain calm and said:

The University is following the latest advice for the UK from the Department for Health and Social Care, Public Health England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office - as well as from the Chinese health authorities for our Ningbo campus.

Nonetheless, we are now treating w/c Monday 16 March as a transition period to accelerate our plans to deliver all teaching online from Monday 23 March. This means there will be no face-to-face lectures, seminars or tutorials from Monday 23 March.

Reporter Patrick Greenfield has this from Costa Rica:

The Costa Rican health ministry has announced that there are now 35 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Central American country.

Of those cases, 30 are Costa Rican nationals and 5 are foreigners ranging from 10 to 87 years old. According to the update, 450 people have tested negative for the virus.

Updated

UK coronavirus crisis 'to last until spring 2021 and could see 7.9m hospitalised'

The coronavirus epidemic in the UK will last until next spring and could lead to 7.9 million people being hospitalised, a secret Public Health England (PHE) briefing for senior NHS officials reveals.

Boris Johnson to hold daily coronavirus press briefings

Boris Johnson will seek to shore up public confidence in the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Monday by holding the first of what are intended to be daily ministerial press conferences on the crisis.

Three cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on the Pacific island of Guam, the second territory in the region to have confirmed cases of the virus.

All three confirmed cases are currently in isolation. Preliminary investigation has indicated that all three had travel connections—two recently traveled to the Philippines and the third had a family member who recently returned from Japan.

The Guam department of public health and social services was working to identify people who had been in close contact with the three people over the last 14 days.

Guam also declared a state of emergency, including a 14-day suspension of non-essential government operations, school closures, closure of senior citizen centres and self-isolation for people returning from travel.

The announcement follows the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the Pacific region last week, when French Polynesia announced that a politician, Maina Sage, had been diagnosed with the virus.

Sage had recently travelled to Paris and had met with France’s culture minister, who has since been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Regional organisations and Pacific governments are preparing for more cases of Covid-19 in the islands region. Many citizens in small island developing states are fearful of the potential stress on medical services.

An epidemic of measles across the Pacific last year highlighted the potential for transmission of infectious diseases, adding to existing burdens on public health systems from non-communicable diseases.

Updated

The leader of one of England’s leading school chains has broken ranks and called for this summer’s A-levels and GCSE exams to be scraped until 2021, and for students to repeat the whole school year if necessary.

Hamid Patel of the Blackburn-based Star Academies trust says the UK government needs to immediately announce that exams are off the table:

Covid-19 is a once-in-a-century pandemic and it requires once-in-a-century responses and solutions to reduce casualties. They may not be the only solutions, but need serious consideration by parliament if we are to avoid students and staff putting their own and others’ lives at risk because of the allure of high grades or a prestigious university place.

Read the full story here.

Air New Zealand is slashing its international flights.
An Air New Zealand aircraft on the tarmac of Auckland Airport in 2017. The airline is slashing 85% of its international flights due to the coronavirus. Photograph: Nigel Marple/Reuters

In New Zealand border restrictions went into place at 1am on Monday morning, with all arrivals to the country - including New Zealand citizens, having to self-isolate.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said the government had enforcement powers for self-isolation which it would enact if anyone proved reluctant. Anyone arriving from the Pacific Islands is exempt from the restrictions.

Meanwhile the country’s national airline carrier Air New Zealand is slashing 85% of its international flights in the next few months, and has placed itself in a trading halt.

Around the country more than 8,000 people are in self-isolation, including three government MPs. Later this week restrictions on mass gatherings are expected to be announced, as well as a financial stimulus package in the billions.

Our legal affairs correspondent Owen Bowcott has this from Northern Ireland:

Lawyers acting for the mother of a child who has asthma and attends a primary school in County Armagh are planning to launch a judicial review of the Stormont government’s decision not to close schools in Northern Ireland.

Darragh Mackin, a solicitor at Phoenix Law, said that the girl suffers underlying health problems, including severe asthma and is at a greater risk of harm should she contract the coronavirus.

He added: “It is clear that the respective public bodies have each failed in their respective obligations to our client, and indeed all children, by continuing to require their attendance at school in circumstances in which they would be at an increased risk of contracting the condition.

There is no time for any further delay. The necessary policies and decisions all need to be taken in a manner that recognises the real and immediate risk.

“The wider international community has spoken. Their advice cannot and should not be ignored.

“It is a deplorable situation when a mother has to initiate urgent legal proceedings to ensure that her child, and indeed children across the jurisdiction, are afforded the necessary protections and safeguards required under law.”

Sam Gelder here. That’s all from Martin Pengelly reporting on the White House briefing, so I’m back and will be catching up with the latest from across the world.

The anchors are going straight to Trump’s claim at the top of the press conference that “we have tremendous control over” the virus – and then to Dr Anthony Fauci saying, later in the briefing, that “the worst is yet ahead of us” and the response the US manages will determine how bad that “worst” will be.

Along with reports of clampdowns on social life in California and school closures in New York, and the Fed’s decision to slash interest rates close to zero, expect plenty of coverage of the president’s apparent contradiction by his top public health expert.

Last question, a White House aide shouts. If it is the last question it is about economic efforts to combat damage from the outbreak and whether enough has been done.

Pence says the administration strongly supports the House legislation passed on Saturday and “no American worker should worry about missing a pay cheque if they’re feeling ill.” There are of course gaps and worries and competing corporate interests which will affect the extension of paid leave which the House bill provides.

On the economy as a whole, Pence says “we’re in just the first few innings of this effort” but vital industries will be supported. It’s vague – of course it is.

There will be a morning briefing on Monday, Pence says, and a health briefing in the afternoon, and he appeals for Americans to keep up hygiene best practices. He salutes the task force members too, of course.

And we’re out, with a few shouted questions following Pence out of the door.

Pence is back up, and asked about the testing process and the work with tech companies including Google and that vexed issue of the diagnostic website.

“At some point early in the week there will be a website that goes up,” Pence says, where people can fill out a questionnaire to see if they might have coronavirus.

Adm Brett Giroir, assistant health secretary, describes the aims of the website project and the testing.

There will be approximately 1.9m tests rolled out to laboratories this week, he says. There’s no precise timeline but it’s an “absolute priority”, he says.

“I’m not going to say that the lab testing issue is over,” he says, but the focus will now be how to get people actually tested.

Pence is asked about possible shortages of hospital beds and ventilators and how the White House is planning to stop Americans “dying” and “suffocating”. He says he’ll call on health secretary Alex Azar but pauses first to praise the public-private partnership again.

Here’s former labor secretary Robert Reich on that subject:

Azar starts by praising the people on the podium behind him, then says any pandemic “runs the risk of exceeding our healthcare capacity”. Which seems obvious. He goes on to outline stockpiling and procedural preparations without mentioning many actual numbers.

“We have tremendous supplies but we want to acquire more,” he says, adding that for national security purposes he will not disclose “concrete numbers” of things like, yes, ventilators. A recent Johns Hopkins study suggested the national stock of those was nowhere near enough to cope with what may be coming.

Now we’re on to social distancing – and whether a national lockdown might be on the way while the president tells Americans to “relax”.

Pence hails Trump’s “decisive leadership early on”, to do with travel restrictions on China and now Europe, the UK and Ireland. Of course he does.

He calls on Dr Fauci, who says he meant what he said on the shows this morning about the need for social distancing to be strictly enforced and followed. “Anything and everything we’ll consider.”

He is asked for examples.

No bars or restaurants? “Could be, could be.”

He wants the press to let the new guidelines come out tomorrow, then ask questions.

Pence is asked about bar and restaurant closings and whether he expects them to spread nationwide, and about the airport customs delays on Saturday night.

There will be updated federal guidelines tomorrow, Pence says, but they will defer to state and local authorities.

He asks the acting homeland security secretary to address the screening problems at major airports which caused huge queues and no social distancing whatsoever on Saturday night and led Governor Pritzker to say the administration had to “get its shit together”.

Chad Wolf, the acting secretary, says the lines were “unacceptable” and 12 airports saw adjustments to practice but O’Hare in Chicago did not. Average wait time for screening is now 30 minutes he says, adding that the the process is “fixed”.

Asked if domestic air travel could be shut down, Wolf says all options are on the table.

Dr Anthony Fauci says the “testing space available” is “entering into a new phase” – successive members of the task force are stressing that the administration is doing better on that front, as they would of course be expected to do.

“The worst is ahead for us,” he says. “It’s how we respond that is going to determine how that endpoint is going to be.”

Now questions.

Dr Deborah Birx is up now, explaining how lab work is done in the US and how the US is “going to see a spike in the curve” as more testing is done and more cases of coronavirus are found.

Schools in New York City, meanwhile, were being kept open in part because of the vital social role they play for poorer families, providing full meals and childcare while parents work tough and necessary jobs. That support will still be needed now the schools are closed.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who faced a horrible quandary over the schools which it seems Governor Andrew Cuomo has now solved for him, has announced that there are now five deaths related to coronavirus in the city and 329 confirmed cases. The “number of confirmed cases is moving rapidly”, though, he says.

At the White House they’re on to task force members describing their work. One would expect the fireworks to start when or if Vice-President Pence takes questions, although they might be smaller rockets and Catherine wheels given his boss has left the room.

In New York, it’s being reported that the public schools have at last been closed, until 20 April at least.

Parents of students in the biggest such system in the US now have a major problem on their hands as they themselves are forced to work at home. I know, because I’m one such parent…

California wants bars, clubs and wineries closed

Here’s Lois Beckett from Oakland on the latest news out of California:

The state of California is “calling for the home isolation of all seniors” aged 65 and over, as well as all people with chronic health conditions, Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

Newsom also said California’s bars, nightclubs, and wineries must be closed while restaurants may stay open but must reduce capacity by half.

Newsom said the state was working on how to make sure that California’s 5.3m people aged 65 and over, as well as those with chronic conditions, would have access to meals, water and other essentials while in home isolation.

Newsom said the new policies were designed to keep the most vulnerable California residents safe during the inevitable surge of coronavirus cases that the state is anticipating in the next week. The state of California has only 11,500 beds in adult and pediatric intensive care units, and only 7,587 ventilators currently in hospitals, Newsom said.

These policies, including the closure of all California bars, nightclubs, and wineries, are official guidance, not orders, Newsom said.

“I have every expectation that guidelines will be followed,” he said. “We have the capacity to enforce if necessary.”

Pence goes on, heralding what he calls an “extraordinary and unprecedented national public-private partnership for diagnostic testing”. He would say that, of course, but he also praises the bipartisan passage of relief measures by the House on Saturday.

Then he says, “As the president often says, we are all in this together.”

The US now has more than 2,900 cases in 49 states, Vice-President Mike Pence says as he takes the podium.

The risk of serious illness remains low, Pence says, but because the risk is related to the most vulnerable, the administration will continue to urge every American to be vigilant in practising good hygiene and heeding official advice.

Pence says he has spoken to Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, who had harsh words for the administration last night and this morning.

Pence riffs extensively about the national day of prayer Trump declared for today, and repeats Trump’s words about his call with the grocery store executives – which will stay open, he says, if possibly with reduced hours.

The president and Pence will brief all the governors tomorrow, the VP says – “specifically about our expanding testing to the American people”. The lack of testing capability has been a key part of criticism of the administration’s response.

Pence says testing is now available in all 50 states and claims “unprecedented speed” in the development of coronavirus testing. He might get questions about that.

More than 10 states have their own drive-thru testing sites, Pence says, and he commends them for it, and says “retail partners” will work with states. This, we knew too.

Trump repeats that he does not want Americans to hoard or panic-buy food supplies – they can afford to relax and have a nice dinner, he says.

He goes on to thank the task force members crowding the podium behind him, many – including Dr Deborah Birx, who Amanda Holpuch profiled here and who had an introduction to bumpy Trump press conferences on Friday.

Trump leaves to “make some calls” and does not take questions.

US business editor Dominic Rushe has more on the Fed news:

In a highly unusual move the Federal Reserve stepped in on Sunday to prop up the US economy in the face of the escalating Covid-19 crisis.

The US central bank announced its benchmark interest rate has been cut to near zero and said it would buy $700bn in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities as it attempts to head off a severe slowdown .

“The coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” the Fed’s rate-setting committee said in a statement Sunday.

“The Federal Reserve is prepared to use its full range of tools to support the flow of credit to households and businesses.”

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has been facing intense criticism from Donald Trump over the president’s perception that he has moved to slow to cut rates.

He is set to hold a news conference at 6pm.

He starts by saying the Federal Reserve have made him “very happy” by lowering interest rates to 0.25%, which is a story just breaking across the wires. On the subject, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin was on the shows this morning, batting away questions about whether the administration is worried about a coronavirus-enhanced recession.

He also thanks Google for “substantiating what I said on Friday” about a website for self-diagnosis of Covid-19, which the press said was inaccurate. Trump claims he was right all along but it still seems Google, or a company related to it, is actually testing its website in the Bay Area of California and not rolling it out nationally.

The president also reels off a list of CEOs of grocery and supply chain companies who he spoke to today, about public panic-buying and how to avoid it.

Here comes Donald Trump.

Speaking of which:

As the briefing gets going and Mike Pence likely seeks to offer reassuring words, it’s worth considering that Dr Anthony Fauci, a very senior Trump administration official, said on CNN this morning that “Yes, it is possible” thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans could die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Here’s more of Fauci:

Our job, our challenge is to try and make that not happen. But to think, if we go about our daily lives and not worry about everything, that it’s not going to happen, it could happen. And it could be worse. To me, that’s a real impetus to take very seriously the kinds of things – I might make a point that people sometimes think that you’re overreacting. I like it when people are thinking, I’m overreacting, because that means we’re doing it just right.

Fauci told various morning shows he was in favour of more strict restrictions on social gatherings such as those adopted in Ohio and elsewhere, where bars and restaurants are being closed.

It’s breaking elsewhere that New York governor Andrew Cuomo wants New York City public schools closed this week. They are still open at the moment, unlike such systems in other big cities:

Martin Pengelly here in New York, taking over to cover an imminent White House briefing from Vice-President Mike Pence and members of his coronavirus task force.

It’s probably worth pointing out while we wait for the presser to start that the James S Brady Briefing Room, where it will be held, is notoriously not very roomy and thus entirely unsuited to social distancing. When full, the press practically sit in each other’s laps.

Before yesterday’s briefing members of the press had their temperatures taken and one was turned away. That was the briefing at which Donald Trump revealed that he had taken a coronavirus test, which was later reported to have been negative.

There have been a lot of reports about how often Trump and other officials including Dr Anthony Fauci, a top public health official, have touched their faces and shaken hands with each other during recent briefings. Here’s one.

Here’s some Guardian US coronavirus content to read up on as the briefing begins:

The Hague coffee shops shut due to coronavirus
People queue outside a cannabis coffee shop in The Hague, after the Dutch government ordered the closing of all schools, bars, restaurants, sex clubs and cannabis cafes on 15 March in a bid to fight the spread of COVID-19. Photograph: Sara Magniette/AFP via Getty Images

Cannabis smokers queued up outside Dutch “coffee shops” on Sunday after the government ordered their closure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Customers lined up in their dozens as they tried to beat a 6pm deadline for the closure of the marijuana cafes and stockpile supplies for what could be weeks of lockdown.

“For maybe for the next two months we’re not able to get some weed so it should be nice to at least have some in the house,” Jonathan, a Dutch buyer, said outside The Point coffee shop in The Hague.

The queues built up minutes after the Dutch health and education ministers gave a televised press conference announcing the closure of many businesses, along with all Dutch schools.

British horse racing is likely to go behind closed doors from next week, initially until the end of March but potentially for much longer, following a recommendation of the industry’s Covid-19 working party which will be considered on Monday by racing’s senior executives.

For the full story click here.

Illinois has joined Ohio in ordering all bars and restaurants to close due to the coronavirus outbreak, CNN has reported.

Tokyo Olympics coronavirus fears
A man wearing a face mask, following the coronavirus outbreak, walks in front of giant Olympic rings at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo, Japan, on 6 March 2020. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

A British athlete has told the Guardian the International Olympic Committee must act decisively by postponing the Tokyo 2020 Games because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Guy Learmonth, who captained the GB team at the European Indoor Championships last year and is hoping to be picked in the 800m, has become the first British athlete to warn the risks of going to Tokyo in July are not worth it in the current climate.

Read the full story here.

In the US, Ohio governor Mike DeWine announced on Twitter that all bars and restaurants will close in the state from 9pm on Sunday.

The decision comes amid growing pressure for state and city governments to act as the number of coronavirus infections in the US rises. As of Sunday afternoon there were more than 3,000 cases in 49 states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Washington, DC.

Boris Johnson has discussed the coronavirus pandemic with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The prime minister spoke to Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman this afternoon about the coronavirus pandemic,” Downing Street said.

“The prime minister updated the crown prince on the steps the UK is taking, driven by scientific advice, to tackle the spread of the virus.

“Both leaders agreed on the need for an internationally co-ordinated response to the outbreak, particularly on developing a vaccine and limiting the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.

“They resolved to work closely on this, including through the G20 presidency which Saudi Arabia holds this year.”

In Australia, the University of Queensland has has announced it will halt all classes for a week, as the number of Covid-19 infections in the state rise.

Vice-chancellor Peter Høj announced that all coursework would pause at the Brisbane-based university – including in person and online lectures and classes. This comes after the government on Sunday warned against all non-essential static gatherings of 500 people or more.

The university has approximately 53,000 student and 2,800 full-time equivalent staff, and is a member of Australia’s “Group of Eight”, a body of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious universities.

Three students at UQ have so far tested positive for Covid-19.

Urban Outfitters announced on Sunday it was closing all of its stores globally until at least 28 March.

“The health and wellbeing of our community is always our number one priority, from our dedicated staff, partners and suppliers to you, our customer,” the fashion store said in a statement. “With this in mind, we have decided to close all our stores globally.”

Staff will continued to be paid, the company said.

Australian Associated Press is reporting that Woolworths, one of Australia’s two big supermarket chains, will open its doors only to the elderly and disabled for an hour on Tuesday morning.

Woolworths will open its doors exclusively to the elderly and people with disabilities for a dedicated shopping hour, after panic buying due to the coronavirus stripped shelves of essentials items.

Most of its supermarkets across the nation will open to the vulnerable only from 7am to 8am, beginning on Tuesday.

Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of Covid-19 in Australia has seen supermarkets stripped of toilet paper, pasta and tinned and other dried goods.

“The move has been prompted by the unprecedented demand in supermarkets over the past week, which has seen many elderly and vulnerable people in the community missing out on vital items they may need when they shop,” Woolworths announced on Monday.

The managing director, Claire Peters, said despite the retailer’s attempts to quickly restock shelves, many elderly customers had continued to miss out.

“This temporary measure will give them, and those with a disability, the opportunity to shop before our stores officially open - helping them obtain the essential items they need most in a less crowded environment,” Peters said.

Access will be granted if the shopper has a relevant government issued concession card.
All other shoppers will be granted access after 8am.

“Now - more than ever - we need to be kind to each other,” Peters said.

Six care home residents in Scotland have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Highgate Care Home in North Lanarkshire said it had put in place “strict infection control measures” after it identified the positive cases of Covid-19.

Staff, residents and their families are being informed.

John Kirk, managing director of the care home, said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our residents and colleagues is of paramount importance. As such, we are committed to doing everything we can to keep them safe.

“We are working closely with all the relevant bodies, including NHS Lanarkshire and Health Protection Scotland, as we implement our comprehensive contingency plan, which includes closing the home to all but absolutely essential visitors, and continuing to take steps to ensure the highest standards of hygiene and infection control.”

France death toll hits 127

France’s Public Health Authority on Sunday reported there are 36 new deaths from coronavirus, taking the total to 127, and said there had been an increase of more than 1,000 cases.

The updated figure follows confirmation earlier on Sunday that the death toll had risen from 91 to 120.

The number of cases had risen to 5,423 cases, up from 4,449 on Saturday.

A number of schools in Scotland are closing from Monday due to coronavirus outbreaks.

Dunblane High School has closed to all pupils and staff after a pupil tested positive for Covid-19. Stirling Council said a deep clean of the school will take place immediately.

Isobel Mair School and Nursery in Newton Mearns and Murroes Primary School in Angus have also been closed after the emergence of coronavirus cases linked to their communities. Shetlands Islands Council previously said that some of its schools would be closed for the whole week for “operational and resilience reasons”.

Scotland has 153 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the latest figures. One person has died after testing positive.

Updated

Over in Spain police have been fining cyclists, and army specialists in protective suits have been spraying disinfectant in train stations.

It comes after the country imposed severe limits on public life and the coronavirus death toll more than doubled overnight.

Spaniards, house-bound by law since Saturday, emerged onto balconies and stood at windows on Sunday evening to whoop, cheer and beep horns to salute emergency services dealing with Europe’s second-worst outbreak after Italy.

The government’s official coronavirus death toll rose by 152 overnight to 288. The number infected rose by 2,000 new cases to 7,753.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro took selfies with supporters and celebrated the thousands of protestors gathering in major cities on Sunday, just days after he had called for a suspension of the demonstrations due to the spreading coronavirus.

Bolsonaro appeared to shrug off the advice of medical experts suggesting he remain isolated after several members of his delegation to Florida recently tested positive for the virus.

Bolsonaro strode down the ramp of the presidential palace in a Brazilian football shirt and met a throng of his hardcore supporters at the front gate, where he bumped fists, grabbed cell phones to take pictures and leaned in for selfies with the crowd.

“Although I suggested (a postponement), I can’t order anything because this protest isn’t mine,” Bolsonaro said.

The White House on Sunday urged Americans against “hoarding” as thousands flocked to supermarkets to stock up on essentials, saying US supply chains were strong and leaders were working together to ensure food supplies are available.

President Donald Trump held a phone call with more than two dozen grocery store and supply chain executives from across the country, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

“The president reminded the participants that this is an all-of-America approach and each of their stores and the stores they support can help Americans feel calm and safe when shelves are stocked with the items they need,” Deere said.

Updated

Luxembourg on Sunday followed its neighbours France and Belgium in closing bars and restaurants to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said that, from midnight, bars and restaurants would be closed but grocery shops, pharmacies and other essential businesses could remain open.

He called on citizens to limit their movements to travelling to work, food shopping, medical appointments and visits to help the elderly.

The over-65s - who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 - were urged to stay at home to reduce the risk of infection.

“They must cancel their activities and limit what is not essential,” Bettel said after an emergency meeting of his government.

Swimming pools, museums, sports centres, night clubs, libraries and cinemas are also to be closed to try to stop the transmission of the virus.

The tiny Grand Duchy has reported 77 cases of the virus and one death so far.

France’s health minister said on Sunday that 120 people had now died from coronavirus in the country, up from 91 on Saturday.

Oliver Veran told France 2 television that the number of cases had risen to about 5,400, up from 4,449 on Saturday.

Updated

Kate Connolly in Berlin reports that the German government has just given more information about its surprise decision to close Germany’s borders with Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg.

Interior minister Horst Seehofer said in a press conference in Berlin, the main reason for doing so, from 8am on Monday morning, was to slow down the spread of the virus, which was proving to be “fast and aggressive”.

The decision was not, as had been widely reported earlier in the day, primarily due to fears that people were driving over the border into Germany and buying up large quantities of the provisions that have been in most demand, and which are cheaper in Germany than in neighbouring countries.

There has been concern that such behaviour was in danger of causing social unrest in Germany, as people fear they will be unable to access food and other essentials for daily life in the event of the virus escalating.

But today’s decision, taken after consultation with Angela Merkel, the chancellor, and the leaders of Germany’s Länder, and announced only after discussions with the leaders of the affected countries, marked an unexpected u-turn in German policy.

For days, the health minister Jens Spahn, and Merkel, have separately insisted on several occasions that Germany had no intention of closing its borders, believing to do so would have little impact on the spread of coronavirus.

Seehofer said “We implicitly ask all citizens to stop undertaking any journeys that are not absolutely necessary.”

He added: “The situation is very serious. We must and will react to it accordingly”.

Some 5,813 people have so far been confirmed with coronavirus, according to figures on Sunday evening.

The ninth and 10th deaths of people in Germany were announced on Sunday.

The new rules would be enforced by border police, Seehofer said. Where there were personnel shortages, border crossings would be closed, he said.

German citizens and those with residency permits for Germany, will still have the right to return to Germany, and commuters who criss cross the border for work, will also be able to continue to do so, he said.

Pope Francis left Vatican City on Sunday to pray in one of Rome’s cathedrals for victims of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 83-year-old pontiff first visited Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica and then walked “on foot, as if on a pilgrimage” to the San Marcello al Corso church, the Vatican said in a statement.

The statement said Pope Francis selected the church because it holds a “miraculous crucifix which, in 1522, was carried in procession through the districts of the city” to mark the end of the Great Plague.

The pope prayed for “the end of the pandemic that affects Italy and the world, imploring for the healing of the many sick, and remembering the many victims,” the Vatican said.

Iraq has suspended all flights to and from Baghdad airport for a week as of Tuesday, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

The government imposed a curfew in the capital Baghdad over the same period earlier in the day. At least 110 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed so far in Iraq, and 10 people have died.

More on the news from South Africa from our Africa correspondent Jason Burke:

South Africa has declared a national disaster and introduced a series of drastic measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

In a televised address on Sunday evening, president Cyril Ramaphosa told South Africans that the greatest danger lay in “fear and ignorance”.

“Never before in the history of our democracy has South Africa faced such a severe situation,” Ramaphosa said, as he announced a package of travel bans and additional support to health services.

The current total of cases in the country now stands at over 60, with internal transmission of the virus becoming more common.

A travel ban will be imposed on flights to and from Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, the US, South Korea, Iran and China from the 18th.

Any current visas will be cancelled, Ramaphosa said, and South Africans returning from high risk countries will be placed in self-quarantine

In addition, gatherings of more than 100 will be prohibited, schools shut from Wednesday until after Easter and South Africans asked not to travel by any means of public transport. This last measure – a request, not an order – will effectively immobilise the vast majority of the population who do not own a car.

Ramaphosa also described measures to ramp up medical provision – a major concern in a country with an under-resourced health service – and to protect business from the impact of the shutdown. Tourism is a major earner in South Africa, and significant numbers of jobs are likely to be lost. The flagging economy of South Africa is ill-placed to withstand further strain, with soaring unemployment, a weakening currency and key utilities crippled by debt.

Forty new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.

The new cases include 23 males and 17 females.

Twenty-five are associated with the east of the country, nine are associated with the west and six are associated with the south.

There are now 169 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic and there have been two deaths.

Updated

South Africa is imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from the worst affected countries, including Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the US, the UK and China as of next Wednesday.

In an address to the nation, president Cyril Ramaphosa said South African citizens were being advised not to travel to any of those countries, and said any person who has done will be tested and put in self-isolation or quarantine. Any visitors who have been in one of the high-risk countries in the past 20 days will be denied a visa.

Schools will also be closed from Wednesday.

Updated

As well as the rise in the death toll from from 1,441 to 1,809 on Sunday, Italian authorities also confirmed the number of infected in the country has risen by 2,853 to 20,603. Meanwhile the overall total of cases, including those recovered is 24,747.

Updated

Hi, Sam Gelder here. I’m taking over the live blog from my colleague Lucy Campbell. If you want to get in touch with coronavirus news we may have missed, please email sam.gelder.casual@theguardian.com.

The Iraqi government has imposed a curfew in the capital Baghdad as of 17 March until 24 March to prevent coronavirus from spreading, the state news agency said on Sunday.

At least 110 cases have been confirmed so far in Iraq, and 10 people have died.

Updated

Louis Vuitton owner LWMH has said its cosmetics unit would manufacture large quantities of hand disinfectant gel to help stave off a nationwide shortage across France as the coronavirus continues to spread.

In a statement the company said: “LVMH will use the production lines of its perfume and cosmetic brands ... to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels from Monday.

“These gels will be delivered free of charge to the health authorities.”

The authorities of Italy’s Lombardy region, worst hit by the coronavirus, have accused the Civil Protection of having provided hospitals with “cheap masks that look like dust-cloths”.

On Friday, the Civil Protection provided 250,000 masks for doctors and nurses of Lombardy who refused to wear them citing they were “useless”. The regional authorities compaed them to dust-cloths.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a national production of masks,” the head of civil protection, Angelo Borrelli, told the Sole24Ore newspaper.

Italy is running out of masks after the outbreak of the coronavirus. In the country’s pharmacies, the Fp2 and Fp3 masks are practically impossible to find.

Last week, the Guardian visited the open-air market, in Ballarò, in Palermo, where some street vendors had set up stalls selling packages containing 14 masks for five euros. From the photographs taken by the Guardian, it can be seen how the masks are the same as those the Civil Protection has provided to Lombardy doctors.

The police have already seized thousands of counterfeit masks in Italy, sold for tens of euros each.

A man selling masks in the open-air market in Ballarò, in Palermo.
A man selling masks in the open-air market in Ballarò, in Palermo. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

Updated

Five members of the playing squad and staff of La Liga club Valencia have tested positive for Covid-19, weeks after the team travelled to Milan for a Champions League match.

Earlier in the day, Valencia and Argentina defender Ezequiel Garay became the first La Liga player to confirm that he has the virus.

Ezequiel Garay is the first La Liga player to confirm he has contracted the coronavirus.
Ezequiel Garay is the first La Liga player to confirm he has contracted the coronavirus. Photograph: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

“It’s clear that I’ve got off to the wrong start in 2020,” Garay, 33, wrote on Instagram. “I’ve tested positive for the coronavirus. I feel very good and now I just have to listen to the health authorities and remain isolated.”

The club said the four others who tested positive are in self-isolation and are in good health.

Spain is the second hardest-hit country in Europe, after Italy, and went into a near lockdown on Saturday. All organised football in Spain has been postponed for at least two weeks in a bid to prevent further spread of the virus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tested negative for coronavirus, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

Netanyahu was asymptomatic before undergoing the precautionary test, which was also administered to officials working close to him.

The video you didn’t know you needed. Dame Judi Dench and Gyles Brandreth implore people to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds.

Scandinavian Airlines is putting most operations on hold from 16 March due to the collapse in demand for air travel.

A gathering at a mosque in Malaysia that attracted 16,000 attendees has been linked to a major spike in infections in the country, as well as clusters of cases elsewhere.

On Sunday, officials in Malaysia confirmed that 190 new patients had been identified, the biggest leap in cases in the country yet, making it the worst-hit nation in Southeast Asia. The majority of the new patients have been linked to the recent religious gathering, which drew people from several countries two weeks ago.

Health officials in Malaysia said on Friday that they were working around the clock to conduct mass testing of attendees, while other governments in the region have also urged citizens who were present to monitor for symptoms and get tested.

In Brunei, 40 people who traveled to the event are now reported to have the virus, while five attendees in Singapore are also infected. The news prompted the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore to close all mosques for at least five days to limit transmission and allow for cleaning.

Thailand has urged citizens who traveled to the gathering to get tested as soon as possible. Indonesia has told hundreds of its citizens who attended to monitor their health and get tested if they are ill.

Malaysia has so far managed to identify about 4,900 out of 14,500 citizens who attended the event, according to Bloomberg. The health and defence ministries will meet on Monday to discuss further measures to stop the spread of the virus, which has so far infected 428 people in the country.

With more than 100 million Europeans now living under lockdown, my colleagues have produced this video report on how countries are trying to tackle the outbreak.

All pubs and bars in the Republic of Ireland have been ordered to close from Sunday evening to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

A sign on the door of The Temple Bar in Dublin, as pubs and clubs in Irish tourist hotspot Temple Bar closed with immediate effect amid Covid-19 fears.
A sign on the door of The Temple Bar in Dublin, as pubs and clubs in Irish tourist hotspot Temple Bar closed with immediate effect amid Covid-19 fears. Photograph: Aine McMahon/PA

In a statement, the government said: “Following discussions today with the Licenced Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), the Government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening (Sunday 15th March) until at least 29 March.

“The LVA and VFI outlined the real difficulty in implementing the published Guidelines on Social Distancing in a public house setting, as pubs are specifically designed to promote social interaction in a situation where alcohol reduces personal inhibitions.

“For the same reason, the Government is also calling on all members of the public not to organise or participate in any parties in private houses or other venues which would put other people’s health at risk.”

Updated

Qatar plans to stop inbound flights to the capital Doha as of 18 March for 14 days, with the exception of cargo and transit flights. The ban does not apply to Qatari citizens.

All public transport in Doha has also been suspended as of Sunday night.

The country now has 401 cases of coronavirus.

Updated

Algeria’s state carrier Air Algerie will suspend all flights to and from France starting 17 March due to the coronavirus outbreak, state television reported.

But Air Algerie will arrange emergency flights to bring back dozens of Algerian travellers and those based in France, it said.

Air Algerie will suspend all flights to and from France from Tuesday.
Air Algerie will suspend all flights to and from France from Tuesday. Photograph: Farouk Batiche/AFP/Getty Images

Sheffield Hallam University is transitioning to online teaching from 23 March.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will suspend all face-to-face teaching from 16 March and cancelling all performances until further notice.

Colombia will restrict entry by all passengers who are not residents or citizens from Monday in a bid to control the outbreak of coronavirus, President Ivan Duque has said.

Colombian citizens and foreign residents who arrive from March 16 will be required to perform an obligatory 14-day period of self isolation, Duque said on Twitter.

Haiti is considering closing its airports and ports to travelers as well as the border with the neighbouring Dominican Republic in order to prevent the entry of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said on Twitter.

Jouthe said that only goods could be permitted to enter Haiti, subject to evaluation.

The nation has so far not registered any cases of coronavirus infection.

The Dominican Republic has reported 11 cases.

Italy coronavirus deaths rise by 25%

The total number of confirmed cases in Italy has risen to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday, as the death toll increased by 25% to 1,809 from 1,441 on Sunday – a rise of 368.

In Turin, the banner reads “The longer you stay at home, the sooner we hug”, on the sixth day of an unprecedented lockdown across all of Italy.
In Turin, the banner reads “The longer you stay at home, the sooner we hug”, on the sixth day of an unprecedented lockdown across all of Italy. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters

Updated

A 59-year-old man who died after testing positive for coronavirus has been named locally as a former police officer.

Nick Matthews, from Nailsea, Somerset, reportedly died at Bristol Royal Infirmary in the early hours of Saturday.

His wife Mary told Nailsea People that he had been taken into hospital with breathing difficulties on Thursday. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted to the intensive care unit after showing other signs for coronavirus.

She said her husband, who was disabled and unable to work, had previously suffered a heart attack.

The couple had recently returned from a holiday in Fuerteventura.

Mary added that she and the rest of the family were in isolation, awaiting test results, and that anyone who had been in contact with them to also self-isolate and seek advice.

Updated

A fugitive boss of the calabrese Mafia was arrested, on Friday, thanks to the lockdown imposed by the Italian government to contain the coronavirus.

Cesare Antonio Cordì, 42, emerging boss of the Locri clan, in Calabria, has been wanted since last July and accused of fraudulent money transfer. The man was hiding in a villa in the countryside of Locri. The police have been busy, for days, on the checks to enforce the lockdown and the ban on going out, except in cases of extreme necessity. The day before, they stopped a man with shopping bags who justified himself saying he was only bringing the groceries to a friend who could not go out.

The police were suspicious of the fact that, in that area, almost all the villas were uninhabited. In the following hours, they followed him and found the shopping was destined for the boss Cordì.

To arrest him, the intervention of a special military unit was necessary. It consists of elite and highly trained soldiers, known as the Carabinieri Heliborne Squadron, or the Cacciatori, literally: the hunters.

According to investigators, Cordì is a mobster on the rise in the fierce Locri clan and the subject of a recent investigation by the Calabrian prosecutors.

Thousands of citizens have been reported for violating the ban on staying at home, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

In Sciacca, Sicily, a Covid-19 positive man who was forbidden from going out, was discovered by the police, while shopping. The Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation and accused the man of “aiding the epidemic”. If convicted, he faces 12 years in prison.

There is outrage in Brazil this afternoon after the country’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, ignored medical advice to leave his presidential palace and greet supporters outside - despite supposedly having been placed in isolation on Friday because he is waiting to take another coronavirus test.

At least four close Bolsonaro aides or officials have been diagnosed with the illness since returning from a trip to the US last week and Brazil’s president is set to take another test next week following confused reports last week that initially suggested he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Despite this, Bolsonaro decided to greet and touch supporters on Sunday during controversial anti-democracy protests which he has been promoting.
Bolsonaro also tweeted videos and photos egging on pro-Bolsonaro protests across the country - despite the risks of such gatherings given the spread of coronavirus in the South American country.

People wear masks as they participate in a motorcade demonstration in favor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus.
People wear masks as they participate in a motorcade demonstration in favor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus. Photograph: Andressa Anholete/Getty Images

Bolsonaro’s decision sparked fury among opponents and ordinary citizens who are increasingly alarmed about the spread of coronavirus in Brazil. Major cities including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have begun announcing strict measures such as the closure of schools and cinemas in a bid to contain the crisis.

“President Bolsonaro is promoting corona day,” tweeted Vera Magalhães, a prominent journalist and political commentator.

“Bolsonaro must be detained immediately,” tweeted the rockstar Lobão, a former supporter who has become one of the president’s most ferocious critics.

In an editorial published on Sunday morning, a leading Brazilian newspaper lamented: “The major crisis Brazil now faces isn’t the stuttering economy or the threat of coronavirus. The real crisis is lacking a government when it is needed most”

Updated

All arriving passengers from the UK to Bermuda will be required to complete a health questionnaire setting out their travel history for the last 14 days and are strongly urged to self-quarantine for the next 14 days, the Bermudan government has announced.

All Dutch schools are to be closed from 16 March, while all restaurants and bars are to be closed from today (18:00 CET), the government announced at a press conference this afternoon.

Schools and childcare facilities through the Netherlands will not open tomorrow and the catering industry must close its doors from 6pm this evening.

Schools and nurseries will remain only to children of parents working in vital professions, such as health care.

Cafes, restaurants, sports clubs, saunas, sex clubs and coffee shops also have to close.

The measures will remain in force until 6 April.

Several African countries have closed borders, cancelled flights and imposed strict entry and quarantine requirements to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has a foothold in 26 nations on the continent as cases keep rising.

The Kenyan government is suspending travel for anyone coming into Kenya from any country with reported cases, President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address.

He added that anyone entering Kenya in the last 14 days should self-quarantine. The ban would take effect within 48 hours and last for at least 30 days.

Schools should close immediately and universities by the end of the week. Cashless transactions were encouraged.

Kenya has recorded three cases of Covid-19.
Kenya has recorded three cases of Covid-19. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

Ghana will ban anyone has been to a country with more than 200 cases in the last 14 days, from Tuesday, unless they are an official resident or a Ghanaian national.

Namibia ordered schools to close for a month following two confirmed cases on Saturday.

Other nations have shut schools, cancelled religious festivals and sporting events.

Djibouti, which has no cases, announced it was suspending all international flights. Tanzania, which also has no cases yet, cancelled flights to India and suspended school games.

Updated

NHS Trusts have released the following details:

  • Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said a 72-year-old patient who tested positive for Covid-19 and had significant other health conditions had died at Queen’s hospital.
  • Epsom and St Heliere University Hospitals NHS Trust said that a man in his 80s who was being cared for at Epsom Hospital, and a man in his 60s being cared for at St Helier Hospital had both died. Both patients had underlying health conditions.
  • George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust said that a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions who was being cared for at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton had died.
  • Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said a patient in her early 90s who had underlying health conditions had died.
  • Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said a man who was being cared for at Wythenshawe Hospital had died. He was aged 91 and had underlying health conditions.
  • Mid Essex Hospital Service NHS Trust said a patient in her 90s with underlying health conditions had died.
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed that a patient in his 90s who was being cared for at Queens Medical Centre had died.
  • North Manchester Greater Hospital said two patients, both of whom were elderly and had underlying health problems, had died. One of the patients was a man in his 80s and the other was a woman in her 70s.
  • Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said a woman who was being cared for at New Cross Hospital had passed away. She was in her 60s and had underlying health conditions.
  • Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions had died.
  • Dudley Group NHS Foundation confirmed a patient in their 80s who was being treated for underlying health conditions had died.

The catering industry, childcare centres and sports clubs in the Netherlands will close from tomorrow, according to sources from The Hague. Cafés and restaurants have to be closed to prevent the spread of the virus, just like sports canteens, the Dutch Broadcast Foundation NOS reported.

The Dutch journalist Arjan Noorlander tweeted that “schools and crèches remain open to people with vital professions. Nurses, agents, fire brigades can ‘just’ bring their children.”

A student at the University of Exeter has tested positive for coronavirus while abroad, PA Media reports.

In a letter to students, Mike Shore-Nye, the registrar and secretary of the university, said: “Our immediate concerns are for the affected student, their family and friends, as well as the health and wellbeing of our university community. The student has not been on campus since 12 March and tested positive at home.”

The student, who is with their family and feeling “relatively well”, lives alone in a private one-bedroom apartment when in Exeter, Shore-Nye said.

Updated

People have not had enough of experts after all, writes our columnist John Harris in this comment piece on coronavirus and the politics of polarisation.

Updated

A package containing suspected counterfeit Covid-19 testing kits arriving from the UK was seized by US customs and border protection at LAX airport.

The fake kits had been labelled as “purified water vials”. They have been turned over to the FDA for analysis.

Updated

UK death toll up to 35 after 14 more people die

The number of UK deaths has risen to 35, after Public Health England confirmed that 14 more patients who tested positive for the coronavirus had died.

Updated

Schools in the Netherlands are set to close as the Dutch government steps up measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, national broadcaster NOS reported.

NOS said the measure was decided on during crisis meetings and would be announced later (5pm local time) at a government news conference.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said he would not rule out closing the country’s borders or forcing people arriving from foreign nations to go into self-isolation to help combat a coronavirus outbreak.

Asked specifically whether Canada might shut its borders to Europe or the US, Trudeau told CTV: “We are not taking anything off the table.”

So far, 249 Canadians have tested positive for Covid-19 and one person has died.

Updated

City, University of London will also end face-to-face teaching by 23 March.

The charity Beauty Banks has launched a fundraiser for people in the UK who are most vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus and cannot afford basic hygiene essentials and foodstuffs. Donations will go to food banks, homeless shelters, youth centres, NHS trusts and refugee centres.

You can donate here.

The Spanish government has sparked ire among hairdressers over its decision to allow hair salons to remain open during the nationwide near-lockdown.

Spain declared a state of emergency on Saturday, ordering the closure of all non-essential shops as well as bars, restaurants, cafes, football grounds and cinemas.

The country’s 47 million residents have been ordered to stay at home, allowed out only to buy food and medicine or travel to work, health centres or banks.

Sources with the Spanish government said the decision to allow hairdressers to remain open was made for hygiene reasons, so as to guarantee services for people with mobility issues who may need help washing their hair.

A workers’ union representing hairdressers in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba launched a Change.org petition on Sunday calling for hairdressers to be shuttered during the lockdown.

“It doesn’t make sense to expose this sector, which has so much contact with the public, to the virus,” reads the petition. Less than a day after its launch, it had racked up more than 70,000 signatures.

Two other associations representing hairdressers said they had advised their members to close during the lockdown in order to avoid any risk of spreading the virus.

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Germany is set to close its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland from 8am on Monday to try to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, German media reported on Sunday afternoon.

Exceptions are expected to be made for goods traffic and commuters.

The German government took the step following a conference call with the premiers of the affected states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland, said newspaper Bild.

The government has not officially communicated the border closures.

Updated

The US embassy and the British Foreign Office are also advising their non-resident citizens to leave Argentina quickly while flights are still open.

Updated

A hotel chain has said it could turn its properties into temporary hospitals if the NHS needs additional bed space during the coronavirus outbreak, PA reports.

Best Western Great Britain said it will discuss the move this week and would be willing to take “unprecedented” steps to help.

The chain, which is the largest independent hotel group in Britain, said it had seen a significant increase in cancellations over the last month due to the outbreak.

Rob Paterson, chief executive officer of Best Western Great Britain, said: “We are in unprecedented territory so we would be willing to take unprecedented steps to support the national effort.

“If the NHS wants additional bed space, and we can partner with other companies to provide the right medical equipment and supplies, and we can do it safely, then we would be willing to start having those conversations immediately.

“Whatever we can do to help.”

The National Education Union hastoday asked Ofsted to suspend its inspections of schools in England because of the pressure being placed on teachers by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Ofsted has come under fire after the inspectorate said it was “business as usual” during the outbreak, and noted existing guidance for inspections in situations where headteachers had died, for which it later apologised.

A letter to Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, from the NEU’s leadership, states: “We are very concerned, given the serious challenges that Covid-19 poses for schools, that Ofsted is still planning to conduct inspections.”

The Association of School and College Leaders(ASCL)has also called on Ofsted to halt its regular inspections.

Ofsted’s counterpart in Scotland has already announced that it has suspended school visits.

Sean Harford, Ofsted’s national director of education, told ASCL’s conference that “we will look very favourably” on all requests to postpone inspections.

Any move to halt inspections will need a decision by the government and even an amendment to current legislation that mandates Ofsted to carry out regular inspections.

Updated

Arts Council England (ACE) has announced details of a three-month coronavirus action plan designed to ensure “as strong a sector as possible as we come out the other side of this crisis”.

ACE has a £622m annual budget supporting England’s arts organisations – including theatres, orchestras, festivals and opera and dance companies – as well as individual artists, museums and libraries. All of them will be affected by the escalating coronavirus situation.

On Sunday, ACE announced measures that include refocusing some grant programmes to help compensate individual artists and freelancers for lost earnings.

“This will require further planning,” ACE said in a statement. “It may take about 10 days before we can announce the details.”

It also said funding conditions for the 800-plus national portfolio organisations to which it gives money would be suspended for three months with immediate effect.

That means organisations, whether a small fringe theatre or the National Theatre for example, don’t have to worry about whether they are meeting targets on diversity or achieving goals around the relevance or distinctiveness of their work.

The same also applies to projects that get money from ACE’s creative people and places scheme. “We can also advance grant payments to assist with cashflow.”

ACE said the priority was for arts organisations to stay in business. “In exchange for our support we ask them to honour contracts agreed with freelancers and artists and to think about what help they can offer their communities.

It said the new support was “just the start” and it was “collecting intelligence from across the sector so we can understand what is needed.”

Unlike the US and much of Europe, most UK galleries, museums, theatres and concert halls have followed government advice and remained open.

That could change quickly. On Saturday, South London Gallery said it was closing until further notice because of the spread of coronavirus “in order to protect the health and wellbeing of our staff, partners and visitors”.

Organisers of mass event festivals including Glastonbury in June, Edinburgh in August and Hay in May are also ploughing on with plans assuming they will be allowed to take place.

Edinburgh international festival has cancelled public launch events due to have taken place on Wednesday in Edinburgh and London. Instead it will announce details of its 2020 programme digitally through Facebook Live. It has also promised to refund in full anyone unable to attend an event because of coronavirus.

Updated

The Vatican’s Holy Week ceremonies will go ahead but without public attendance as Italy tries to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the Holy See has said.

The UK government is being urged to block-book hotel rooms to enable rough sleepers to self-isolate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Grassroots volunteer network Streets Kitchen and the Museum of Homelessness (MoH) have said hotel bills could be covered by the £500m coronavirus hardship fund announced in chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget on Wednesday.

The MoH tweeted: “This would mean people are safer, cross infection rates likely in shared shelter spaces are minimised … This plan would reduce hospital admissions and stop people being turfed out of shelters onto the streets and concentrate community efforts.”

The groups said volunteers could deliver food and supplies in a safe and managed way.

The call comes more than a week after homelessness charity Crisis raised concerns that the government has no clear strategy in place to protect homeless people from catching the coronavirus.

Glass Door, one of London’s biggest night shelter operators, revealed on Friday it refused to admit a rough sleeper it feared might be carrying the virus amid a lack of guidance.

A Public Health England spokeswoman said the advice is being coordinated by the ministry of housing and will be released within days.

Updated

The British Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to Myanmar due to the risk of quarantine for British nationals arriving in country.

Myanmar has announced that travellers who have recently visited France, Italy, Iran, Spain and Germany will be placed in government quarantine facilities for 14 days on arrival.

Recent travellers to the US will be put under surveillance for 14 days, while people who have visited China or the Republic of Korea will not be allowed to enter.

“This list of countries, and the nature of the restrictions, could change without warning,” the Foreign Office warned. Myanmar has recorded no cases of the coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the president’s office said recently that “the lifestyle and diet of Myanmar citizens” had helped protect the country.

Myanmar’s preference for paper currency over credit cards was also cited as a factor. “[In other nations] The person handling credit cards at the counter would be in close contact with hundreds of different people in a day. This is avoided by Myanmar’s predominant use of paper currency,” U Zaw Htay told a press conference.

Updated

Bulgaria will ban incoming flights from Italy and Spain as of midnight on 17 March in measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, its transport minister said.

Rosen Zheliazkov said on Sunday that Bulgarians who wanted to return home from these countries would have Monday and Tuesday to do so and would face 14 days’ quarantine.

He said the Balkan country, on the gateway between Asia and Europe, will ensure the free transport of goods and escort heavy trucks that need to pass through its territory.

Updated

The Philippines recorded four more coronavirus deaths and 29 new cases, bringing the domestic tally of infections to 140, as authorities placed the entire capital, Manila, under “community quarantine” for about a month beginning on Sunday.

A police officer checks a jeepney passenger’s body temperature at a checkpoint placed amidst the lockdown of Manila.
A police officer checks a jeepney passenger’s body temperature at a checkpoint placed amidst the lockdown of Manila. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

The latest deaths include an 86-year-old American male with travel history from the US and South Korea, the Department of Health said in an advisory.

The other three are Filipinos, including the latest fatality. In total, 12 people have died from the virus in the country, according to the health department.

Updated

Spain reports deaths have jumped in a day to 288

The number of deaths in Spain from the coronavirus have more than doubled in a day, to 288, with the number of infections near 8,000.

Across the country there are 7,753 confirmed cases, making Spain the second hardest-hit country in Europe after Italy. More than half of Spain’s cases are in Madrid.

One week ago, there were just 589 cases and 10 deaths in the country. The Spanish government has scrambled in the past days to contain the surge in infections, ushering in a near lockdown of its 47 million residents on Saturday.

Updated

In Wales, 34 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the country’s number of confirmed cases to 94.

Public Health Wales said it was working with partners in the Welsh government and the wider NHS in Wales now that the country had entered the “delay” phase.

Updated

Eleven new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.

The Department of Health said people with mild symptoms – new persistent cough and/or fever – should stay at home and self-isolate for seven days and that they will not require testing.

Updated

Argentina is planning a 10-day lockdown with a nationwide quarantine, President Alberto Fernández has said in a radio interview.

“Everything that can be done to stop people circulating, better be done,” the president said. “If you can stay at home, stay.” An official announcement that may include the general self-isolation order and the suspension of classes is expected this evening.

A cashier in Buenos Aires stands behind a makeshift plastic curtain as citizens take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.
A cashier in Buenos Aires stands behind a makeshift plastic curtain as citizens take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. Photograph: Lalo Yasky/Getty Images

Known cases of coronavirus have reached 45, after authorities announced 11 new cases Saturday, the highest day-to-day jump since the crisis began. The new cases include a four-year-old child and a man recently returned from the UK. Two people have died so far.

Argentina has closed its main nature tourist attractions, including Argentina’s side of the Iguazú waterfalls, the largest in the world when combined with their Brazilian side. The falls draw about 5,000 daily visitors this time of year.

Argentina last week suspended all flights from the US, UK, Europe, Iran, South Korea, Japan and China and police checks are in place at hotels and the homes of new arrivals to ensure they are obeying the two-week self-isolation period mandated by the government.

Updated

The Lebanese president Michel Aoun has said his country is in a state of “medical emergency” because of the threat of coronavirus.

The president called for citizens to work from home and avoid socialising to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Each of us is called upon to continue his work, from home, in the way he sees appropriate,” he said in a televised address at the start of a cabinet meeting that was expected to declare measures to deal with the outbreak.

Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday that it had recorded 99 cases of coronavirus.

A deserted street in downtown Beirut.
A deserted street in downtown Beirut. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA

Updated

The University of Law has also temporarily suspended face-to-face teaching.

Liverpool John Moores University has suspended all face-to-face teaching for the rest of the semester with immediate effect, as concerns continued to grow about the coronavirus outbreak.

The government of Hong Kong will extend compulsory self-quarantine to arrivals who have been to the UK, Ireland, the US and Egypt, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong citizens, as of 19 March.

Updated

Cyprus has said it will tighten its borders to only allow persons into the country with medical clearance, and place those who do arrive in compulsory quarantine for two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus.

People wearing protective masks outside a cafe in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.
People wearing protective masks outside a cafe in the Cypriot capital Nicosia. Photograph: Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters

It also announced a suspension in operations of private businesses, including retail stores, nightclubs, hotels and malls.

Thousands of Cypriot students abroad would be offered a €750 benefit to stay in the country of their study, Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades said.

Cyprus has reported 26 coronavirus cases.

Updated

Iran recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day from coronavirus on Saturday, Iran’s ministry of health announced on Sunday.

The number of people killed in the 24 hours to Saturday lunchtime was 113 people, raising the country’s death toll to 724. The number of infected people had reached 13,938, a rise of 1,209, a small drop on the size of the previous 24 hour increase.

Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 4,590 of those infected had recovered.

A bus driver wearing a protective mask as a precaution against coronavirus operates a bus in Tehran.
A bus driver wearing a protective mask as a precaution against coronavirus operates a bus in Tehran. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

The figures came as public authorities continued to disagree over measures to stem the flow of new cases. Some of the worst affected areas called for a quarantine of their cities, but the Mayor of Tehran said the measure was not practicable. He has advised all people aged over 60 to stay home, but he is not imposing a closure of shops or offices. Officials are relying on citizens to show self-restraint.

A claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Friday that they were set to clean the streets, roads and shops over the weekend did not materialise with large numbers still out in Tehran shopping and acting as normal. The army instead started screening drills in a small number of provinces.

The President Hassan Rouhani said he opposed curfews, and also rejected plans for fines to be imposed on anyone found to be driving while infected. He said it would be a sufficient punishment to turn people back, and gave the go-ahead for roadside checks in 11 provinces. He also announced a three-month grace period for hard pressed businesses to pay tax, electricity, water and gas bills and banking loans.

The death toll remained concentrated with the most 251 dying in the capital Tehran, 84 in Qom city and 143 in Khorazan and 72 in Mazandaran province. The vast majority are aged over 60 or more.

On Saturday, cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiee denied all rumours about a lockdown in Tehran.

Updated

Kate Connolly, our correspondent in Berlin reports that Germany is to close its borders to France, Switzerland and Austria, the government has just announced.

5,072 people were confirmed to have the coronavirus by early afternoon today, with the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands and Belgium, the worst affected area with 2,100 cases. The ninth and 10th deaths from the virus in Germany were announced today. Last week, a German man died in Egypt from the virus.

A polling clerk wears gloves at a polling station for Bavarian regional elections while the coronavirus has a tightening grip on daily life in Munich, Germany.
A polling clerk wears gloves at a polling station for Bavarian regional elections while the coronavirus has a tightening grip on daily life in Munich, Germany. Photograph: Andreas Gebert/Reuters

German doctors have warned that they face a personnel shortage, which should be of far greater concern than the oft-cited potential lack of ventilators in case of a mass outbreak. Michael Pfeiffer, president of the German Respiratory Society (DGP), said intensive care wards were already understaffed. He urged decision-makers to train extra staff as a matter of urgency.

Uwe Janssens, general secretary of the German Society for ICU Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), said the recommendations given by the Robert Koch Institute, the leading German public health advisory body, that every medical carer who has been in close, unprotected contact with confirmed coronavirus cases should self-isolate, was “quite simply not practical”. Janssens said it could lead to the collapse of Germany’s health system.

In the southern state of Bavaria, which is the third worst affected state, with 681 confirmed cases, local elections are taking place today, despite coronavirus fears, with people advised to bring their own pens, and soap, water and disinfectant on hand for voting station staff. The number of people who chose to vote by postal vote in the last few days, is said to have been considerably higher than in previous years.

As authorities ordered the closure of pubs and bars in Berlin, on top of the widespread closure of cultural venues, and all gatherings of 50 people or more, the city’s police urged the public not to call emergency services if they spotted a venue that had yet to close. “The order is still very new and word still needs to get around,” the police said in a tweet. “There is no need to ring our emergency number if you see pubs and bars which are still open.”

Updated

Gatherings of more than 50 people have been banned on the island of Montserrat.

The government also advised that all schools would be closed from 16 March-3 April, and hospital visits would be restricted until further notice.

The action curtailed St Patrick’s Week festivities and saw other events cancelled.

The move came after a passenger on a flight from the UK to Antigua tested positive for Covid-19 and it transpired that more than 80 Montserrat-bound passengers had travelled on the same flight. The passengers have been advised to self-isolate.

There are no confirmed cases on the island.

Updated

Georgia will temporarily shut its border with Russia for travellers from 16 March in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government has said.

“This decision would not apply accordingly to the citizens of the Russian Federation and Georgia who wish to return to their home country,” the government said on its website. Restrictions will not apply to freight traffic.

The ex-Soviet country of 3.7 million people has 30 cases of coronavirus, the highest number in the South Caucasus region.

Earlier this month, Georgia elections officials delayed the state’s presidential primary set for 24 March until 19 May in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Updated

Goldman Sachs Group Inc has confirmed to staff its first two cases of coronavirus, Bloomberg News reports, citing internal memos.

The investment bank informed its staff that an employee from its London office had tested positive and was at home in isolation, the report said.

The London case followed an earlier memo to staff in its Sydney office that an employee working in its Governor Phillip Tower site had a confirmed case of coronavirus, the report added.

Updated

Hungary has confirmed its first death of the new coronavirus, state news agency MTI reported.

A 75 year-old Hungarian national died shortly after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia and a suspected coronavirus infection.

Hungary has 32 confirmed coronavirus cases and 159 people in quarantine, according to government data. The government closed all schools and introduced restrictions on public gathering this week.

Thousands of runners have taken part in the Bath Half Marathon, despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Organisers faced calls to postpone or cancel the event, including from Bath’s MP, they but said it would go ahead as planned.

A total of 6,200 runners took part in the 13.1 mile race, about half the usual number expected.

About half the usual number of runners took part in the Bath half marathon run, which went ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus.
About half the usual number of runners took part in the Bath Half Marathon run, which went ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Almost 1,000 people joined a Virtual Bath Half group on Facebook instead – running the distance in their own communities and posting about it online.

Organisers said they had “carefully considered, listened and consulted” before deciding that the it would continue as planned. They said the risk of infection from outdoor events remained low and there was “no epidemiological or medical evidence” to suggest it should be restricted.

“Even if we were to cancel at this late stage on the eve of the event, we anticipate that thousands of runners would still turn up to run the route, and we feel we would owe a duty of care to those runners, given that our resources are ready and waiting to support them.”

The move proved controversial after the postponement of other major events, including the London Marathon.

Updated

Morocco has suspended all international passenger flights to and from its airports as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus, the foreign ministry said.

The country has confirmed 28 cases, including one death and one recovery.

Brunei has barred its citizens and foreign residents in the country from leaving the south-east Asian nation due to the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters is reporting.

The health ministry said it had confirmed 10 new cases, bringing the tally to 50.

Updated

Hong Kong has issued a “red” travel alert urging people to adjust their plans and avoid non-essential travel to Ireland, Britain and the United States, as the city tries to contain any further outbreak of coronavirus.

The government also said members of the public were advised to consider delaying all non-essential travel outside Hong Kong.

Updated

Equatorial Guinea has reported its first case of coronavirus, a 42-year-old woman who flew back to the capital, Malabo, from Spain on 13 March, the health ministry said in a statement.

Updated

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan effectively closed their borders on Sunday after Central Asia’s two biggest nations confirmed their first coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.

Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency, barring entry to Kazakhstan for everyone except returning citizens, diplomats and those invited by the government; Kazakhs are also barred from leaving the country.

Uzbekistan announced similar sweeping measures, barring entry for all foreigners and departures by locals.

The Tashkent government also closed schools, universities and colleges for three weeks, and cancelled all public events, measures previously announced by Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh president’s decree introduced restrictions – without detailing them – on the work of large retail trade facilities in addition to the already announced closure of all entertainment venues.

Tokayev’s office said he would address the nation of 19 million on Monday via state television. The emergency is set to last until 15 April.

Kazakhstan has confirmed eight coronavirus cases over the last three days, while Uzbekistan, which has a population of 34 million, reported its first case on Sunday, saying it has quarantined 150 people who arrived on the same plane from Paris.

Updated

Spain is to punish people who fail to comply with the restrictions that have been imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. El Pais reported that people could be fined €100 euros, and even sentenced to a year in prison if they “seriously resist or disobey the authorities or their agents in the exercise of their functions ”.

People in Spain – Europe’s worst-hit country after Italy – have been banned from leaving their homes unless they are buying essential supplies and medicines, or going work, following the deaths of 191 people from the virus.

Sportswear giant Nike Inc is set to close all of its stores in the United States and several other countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Nike stores in Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be closed from March 16 to 27, the company said in a statement.

However, Nike-owned stores in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries are currently open and will continue their normal operations.

“We are taking additional steps in other Nike-managed facilities, including the option to work from home,” it added.

Earlier this month Nike had temporarily closed its European headquarters in the Netherlands after an employee was infected with the coronavirus.

Major sporting events in South Africa are being cancelled as the number of cases there begins to rise steeply. The total has reached 51, 13 more than yesterday.

All – or almost all – appear to be individuals who have recently returned from travel to Europe or other badly hit places. This has been the pattern across most of the continent, where numbers of confirmed cases overall remain negligible compared to elsewhere.

Kenya, which has significant commercial ties with China and Europe, announced its first case late last week. However, the pandemic is still having a major effect.

Among sporting events in South Africa that have been cancelled in recent days include the Two Oceans ultra marathon in Cape Town, which was set to take place early next month.

There are widespread fears that weak and under-resourced health systems across the continent will have difficulty coping with large numbers of seriously ill people. Ventilators and other critical equipment are in extremely short supply in many countries.

Updated

When I heard about Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire, writes Dr William Hanage, a professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at Harvard.

The most fundamental function of a government is to keep its people safe. It is from this that it derives its authority, the confidence of the people and its legitimacy.

Nobody should be under the illusion that this is something that can be dodged through somehow manipulating a virus that we are only beginning to understand. This will not pass you by; this is not a tornado, it is a hurricane.

More than €4m has been raised in Italy from hundreds of campaigns within 24 hours to help those at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, GoFundMe said.

This is the largest fundraising effort we’ve seen on GoFundMe in Europe to date, with hundreds of campaigns raising more than €4m in just 24 hours.

What Italy is going through is incredibly difficult but it’s amazing to see people in Italy, Europe and across the globe come together to help.

Updated

Universities Scotland has said in a statement that the country’s higher education institutions will remain open – subject to expert advice – but that teaching and assessments will shift online.

Universities have no plans to close. The way that universities deliver their teaching and other services will change over the coming weeks, in light of new advice, and to recognise that students may wish to work from home, in the UK or overseas.

Universities will not close as they have commitments to students, including those who live on campus. Many research facilities must run around the clock and student support and IT infrastructure systems require continuous attention.

Now that the UK has moved into the ‘delay’ phase of the outbreak, many universities will start to transition to online learning and assessment for students in subjects where this is possible. They will offer revised guidance for staff who may need to work remotely.

The precise pace of this transition will vary by institution, reflecting different term dates and other factors. As large institutions, which educate and employ many thousands of people, it is sensible that we are responsive to this outbreak, in a manner that is consistent with public health advice.

Health secretary Matt Hancock urged people in the UK to be responsible when stocking up on supplies and that the government could take measures to ensure they do so.

Meanwhile, in north London, shoppers queue en masse to enter the local Waitrose.

Updated

French president Emmanuel Macron has said the government had no option but to impose stricter measures to tackle the coronavirus, but that the country would get through the crisis if it acted responsibly.

“I am the guarantor of the health of our citizens and also the democratic life of our country,” he said, defending his decision to hold local elections – which have been postponed in the UK.

“We will overcome this crisis by being responsible together and for each other,” he said, after casting his vote in northern France.

Macron said the decision to close shops and restaurants needed to be made because too many people were being too lax in how they protected themselves from the virus.

Meanwhile, a reader in the Rhône valley, in the south of France, has been in touch to say voters have been asked to bring their own pens to the polling stations.

French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte cast their ballots during the first round of the mayoral elections in Le Touquet, France.
French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte cast their ballots during the first round of the mayoral elections in Le Touquet, France. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Updated

The Scottish government is not planning to ask over-70’s to self-isolate, contrary to the UK government.

Instead, elderly people in Scotland will be asked to reduce social contact.

Jeane Freeman, Scottish health secretary confirmed the plans after UK health secretary Hancock said potential future measures to force over-70s to stay at home were a “very big ask”, but said it would be for their own “self-protection”.

Asked about whether Scotland would follow suit, Freeman said:

The additional measures that we’ve always talked about are about reducing contact for those over 70 and in their eighties, asking them to reduce their social contact because they are one of the groups who are most at risk of this virus making them seriously ill.

The other group is people who have underlying health conditions whose immune system is suppressed. It’s not isolation, it’s asking them to reduce social contact.

We don’t want people who are elderly to be stuck in their homes alone not contacting anyone, with their families not able to be in touch with them and to help them. What were saying to them is, reduce your contact.

The news of the potential isolation of elderly people was briefed anonymously to journalists overnight and has led to criticism over how the UK government is communicating policies and advice.

Overnight anonymous briefings to Sunday journalists are common, but there have been calls for a new approach in light of the pandemic.

Asked about how the news emerged, Freeman said:

It’s not how we would do it. Government’s should be coming and explaining these things really clearly.

Overnight briefing, background briefing, unattributed sources is not the way to ensure that the public are understanding what we are trying to do and our working with us to do that.

Updated

Urgent efforts to repatriate 30,000 British tourists from ski resorts in France are under way amid warnings of “widespread failures” in the travel sector in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

French mountains resorts closed at midnight on Saturday just hours after tens of thousands had landed for their annual holiday in the snow.

Leading ski and summer activity holiday company Neilson has called for the government to step in with “emergency measures”.

There were reports of chaos and confusion across the Alps with one source saying local police had taken the French government’s message into their own hands and going round hotels and restaurants telling marooned Britons to go home immediately.

Diane Palumbo, sales and marketing director at SkiWorld, said she had 900 customers across the Alps and they had been in talks with all the key resorts on Friday to warn them that if they were to close not to do so on Saturday when a fresh influx of tourists were scheduled to arrive.

“We are getting over our anger. It was literally not until 10pm last night that we were confident of the information we were receiving. The same people who had assured us on Thursday, Friday or even Saturday that they would remain open, have now all closed,” she said.

The French prime minister, Édouard Philippe, announced that the country must “close all non-essential locations, notably cafes, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs and shops” from midnight.

Although ski-resorts were not specifically listed, the ski industry in the UK believe they are all closing.

One of the biggest operators, Inghams, said “as a responsible tour operator” it would not be operating any more holidays to French resorts for the rest of the season and advised those who were due to go out on Sunday to abandon plans.

Palumbo said all those who had booked through an ATOL backed agent would get their money back but that small- to medium-sized tour operators and travel companies could go bust.

“The airlines are very quick to ask for help from the government but this is a massive flow of people which will costs the industry millions. If the government does not step in travel companies will start to fail because the cost of repatriation will be enormous,” she said.

David Taylor, chief executive of Neilson holidays, said it was “hugely disappointed” that it received such short notice on the closures. He called for emergency measures for the sector.

With the Covid-19 crisis likely to last several months, we are asking the government to consider emergency measures specifically targeted at the travel and leisure sector to deliver immediate relief and help avoid widespread failures.

This remains an isolated issue on 2020 departures only and we are confident that next year will see a healthy recovery provided a swathe of relief measures recommended to the government are enacted.

Separately Ryanair was frantically working to repatriate customers stranded in Spain after the country was thrown into lockdown arrangements. It has also cancelled all flights to and from Poland.

“Ryanair Group Airlines (including Buzz and Lauda) has been forced to severely reduce flights to/from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands from 24.00 Sun 15 Mar until 24.00 Thurs 19 Mar,” it said in a statement.

It added it was “contacting all affected customers by email to advise them of their options and we urge customs not to call us”.

Earlier, it announced all flights “to and from Poland have been cancelled from midnight on Saturday to midnight on 31 March”.

Updated

UK advises against 'all but essential' travel to US

The Foreign Office has advised against “all but essential travel” to the US after president Trump introduced a travel ban on the UK over the coronavirus pandemic.

A Foreign Office spokesman said:

We are advising against all but essential travel to the USA following the US government announcement imposing restrictions on travel from the UK (and Ireland) effective from midnight on Monday March 16 EST (4am GMT on Tuesday March 17).

British nationals with journeys planned and citizens already in the US are advised to contact their airlines or tour operators.

Updated

Health minister Nadine Dorries has reassured people panic-buying toilet roll that she has not run out of the bathroom essential during her week in self-isolation.

However, it was unclear how many rolls she had in her house when her period of quarantine began after she tested positive earlier this week.

A piece authored by the novelist has been published n the Times (paywall) this morning, documenting the Tory MP’s coronavirus ordeal.

I will always remember how I felt the moment I was told that I had tested positive for the coronavirus — not least because it was the very last thing I was expecting to hear.

A diagnosis would make no difference to how I behaved or dealt with my symptoms. But I had my 84-year-old mother staying with me for a few weeks and, despite the fact that she has survived polio, rheumatic fever, major heart surgery and a world war, she is not in the best of health.

The community nursing team were waiting for me as I drove into a Covid-19 testing centre on a local industrial estate. It resembled the tyre-change bay at my local garage.

Unlike with my situation, we know exactly where [her mother] caught it from and the irony is, despite her having had major surgery to replace the valves in her heart damaged by childhood illness, despite her pacemaker and breathlessness, her lifetime of smoking, hard work in her early years and poor diet, she had much milder symptoms than me.

G7 leaders will discuss the importance of a coordinated response to the impact of coronavirus on the global economy, according to No 10 following a phone conversation between Boris Johnson and Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The prime minister spoke to Japanese prime minister Abe about the coronavirus pandemic.

The leaders updated each other on their countries’ efforts to curb the spread of the virus. The prime minister stressed the importance the UK is placing on taking a science-led approach when deciding what measures to implement.

The prime minister and prime minister Abe agreed on the importance of international coordination to tackle the virus and its wider impact, particularly on the global economy, and they looked forward to the call between G7 leaders to discuss this.

The prime minster and prime minister Abe also discussed the UK and Japan’s efforts to combat climate change ahead of COP26 in Glasgow later this year.

Updated

Following reports of passengers not being able to claim refunds on flights to Spain after the British government advised against all but essential travel to the whole country, Ryanair has told customers they will be informed of their options.

Muslim authorities have announced that part of the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, is to close indefinitely due to concerns about the outbreak, with prayers continuing to be held on the esplanade outside.

Similar measures have been taken at the nearby Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, where outdoor prayers continue but only 10 people at a time are permitted in enclosed areas, in keeping with measures taken by the Israeli government.

British police to have powers to arrest covid-19 patients not self-isolating

Ministers are planning to give police in the UK the power to arrest people with coronavirus who are not self-isolating, the health secretary has confirmed.

“We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health, yes, and that’s important,” Matt Hancock told the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.

“I doubt that actually we will need to use it much because people have been very responsible.”

The emergency powers will be set out on Tuesday before the legislation is outlined in a Bill due to be published on Thursday, Hancock said.

Meanwhile, the government has been urged to prioritise the testing of doctors for coronavirus to ensure adequate staff levels during the pandemic.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the council of the British Medical Association, said he “can’t emphasise enough how serious the problem is” if numerous healthcare workers are self-isolating, and he urged the government to ensure that GP practices can run “in a normal fashion”.

Updated

Scottish Labour has urged the government to close the country’s parliament to the public.

The demand comes as a £320m support package was unveiled for the next financial year.

Scottish Labour business manager Elaine Smith said:

As we were advised at last week’s bureau, there are now increasing pressures on the cleaning contract and the staff that the private contractor employees. If we close to the public and also close the public gallery, café, shop, toilets etc, then efforts could be employed to concentrate on cleaning elsewhere in the building.

I presume the aim is to try and keep the members meeting for as long as possible and, as such, restricting the visitors to the building would also help to substantially cut the risk to elected members.

Closing the building to the public would also mean the possibility of a reduced police presence and less pressure on our security staff.

Union leaders are calling for private hospital beds in the UK to be used rent free, to ease pressure on NHS hospitals dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

The GMB union has launched a petition urging the prime minister to requisition private hospital beds, amid reports the NHS is to spend up to £2.4m a day to do so.

Rehana Azam, GMB national officer, said:

It’s time to take back these beds for the NHS, rent free. This is a public health emergency. Not a business opportunity for shoddy private healthcare chums to profiteer from distress.

Not a penny of taxpayer cash should line pockets of grotesquely wealthy health firms. Private resources must be requisitioned for public good.

France will start reducing plane, train and coach services between cities from Sunday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, two ministers said on Sunday.

In a joint news conference, ecology minister Elisabeth Borne and transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said cargo services would continue as normal, as would city metro services.

“We have to limit our movements as much as possible. Long distance trips must be kept to what is strictly necessary,” Borne said.

Djebbari said the number of long-distance trains would be cut by half, while several airport terminals in Paris would be closed.

Meanwhile, social distancing measures were observed in Paris as people stood a metre apart from each other while queueing at a bakery which is only letting three people in at a time this morning.

A poster on the door of a boulangerie said: “Stage 3. Please keep a distance of one metre between each person when queuing. Thank you.”
A poster on the door of a boulangerie said: “Stage 3. Please keep a distance of one metre between each person when queuing. Thank you.” Photograph: Sinead in Paris
People queueing outside a bakery in Paris.
People queueing outside a bakery in Paris. Photograph: Sinead in Paris

Iran death toll rises 113 in a day

Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus has reached 724, with 113 new deaths in the past 24 hours, an official confirmed, adding that some 13,938 people have been infected across the country.

“In the past 24 hours, 1,209 new cases have been confirmed ... with 113 deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll has reached 724,” tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran’s health minister.

Meanwhile, Iran’s official leading the response to the coronavirus outbreak acknowledged that it could overwhelm health facilities in the country, which is under severe US sanctions.

Updated

Colombia is to expel four Europeans for violating compulsory quarantine protocols designed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, just hours after it closed its border with Venezuela, the government said on Saturday.

Two men and two women of French and Spanish nationality will be deported after ignoring mandatory instructions to isolate themselves and leaving their hotels, against the warnings of staff, the migration agency said.

Colombia has so far reported 22 cases of the virus and has declared a health emergency to contain the disease. Measures include suspending public gatherings of more than 500 people and blocking cruise ships from entering its ports, Reuters reported.

President Ivan Duque said Colombia would close its border with Venezuela starting Saturday, while arrivals who are not residents or nationals and have stayed in Europe or Asia during the last two weeks will not be allowed to enter from Monday.

A person wears a medical mask as a precaution against the coronavirus at the main Bus Terminal in Bogota.
A person wears a medical mask as a precaution against the coronavirus at the main Bus Terminal in Bogota. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, said Britain has not ruled out following other countries and closing restaurants, bars and other shops to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

When asked if ministers were planning on shutting up shops other than pharmacies and supermarkets, Hancock told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “We haven’t ruled that out, we will do what is necessary.”

Government contingency plans briefed a fortnight ago that retired doctors, and leavers of the profession, would be called on to return to work in the event of a major pandemic were met with scepticism.

Scores of retired NHS doctors and nurses told the Guardian they are against returning to work to help tackle coronavirus, with many saying it would threaten their physical and mental health.

Asked whether he is confident in the government’s approach of calling on retired doctors to help, BMA chair Dr Nagpaul said:

I think that we need information now, I don’t think we’ve got that information. As I said earlier, you can’t just get doctors to return back to work instantly – we need to understand how they’ll be registered, how they’ll be trained, exactly what they’ll be doing – especially for many retired doctors who could also be in a risk group.

They can provide care but in a remote fashion, not patient-facing. We really need those answers, plans, now.

Updated

Freedom of movement will be “massively limited” in Austria as part of drastic measures to fight the spread of Covid-19.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the measures would include closing playgrounds and sports grounds across the alpine country from Tuesday.

Non-essential shops, restaurants and bars will also close. Travel restrictions will be further tightened, with border checks imposed between Austria and Switzerland, people no longer allowed to enter the country from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Russia.

Kurz said the coming weeks would be “challenging, difficult and painful”, but assured the public that the supply of crucial goods would be uninterrupted.

Shops including pharmacies and drugstores are to remain open for now. Austria has had 800 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, with the Tyrol region emerging as one of the hotspots of the infection. One person has died as a result of the virus.

Streets lie empty in downtown Vienna as the coronavirus affects everyday life.
Streets lie empty in Vienna as the coronavirus affects everyday life. Photograph: Johann Schwarz/Getty Images

Updated

Ireland’s taoiseach has warned he may seek enforcement powers to stop large gatherings in pubs after drunken scenes in Dublin’s city centre last night caused alarm with cabinet colleagues.

The Irish government is concerned that members of the public are not taking the coronavirus emergency measures which involves closures of schools and bans of indoor gatherings of more than 100 seriously enough.

Varadkar added:

People who have been out this weekend should avoid physical contact with seniors or people with chronic diseases. You could make them very very sick.

His warning comes 12 hours after European affairs minister Helen McEntee expressed alarm following posts on social media of drunken sing-alongs in pubs.

She pleaded with the public to be vigilant and pay heed to social distancing advice which warns that to do otherwise could force closures across the hospitality sector with devastating consequences for business owners, their staff and families.

Health minister Simon Harris had described drunken scenes in Dublin’s Temple Bar, an area popular with tourists and stag and hen parties, as “an insult” to the efforts of health workers fighting to stem the disease in hospitals nearby.

Ireland announced its emergency measures on Thursday and followed up with a summit with the Northern Ireland executive yesterday after which Arlene Foster revealed schools in the region could be closed for “at least 16 weeks”.

Jordan has announced six new cases of the novel coronavirus, the day after implementing a raft of quarantine measures including the banning of all passenger flights in and out of the country from Tuesday.

The kingdom’s health minister said the cases included four French tourists, a Jordanian citizen who had come from the UK and another Jordanian who had been in contact with a US tourist who visited Jordan.

Another case, a 70-year-old man, was tested positive in Tel Aviv and had spent time in Jordan. A Canadian tourist also tested positive there shortly after she had left the kingdom, where the all-important tourism season has just started.

The four French people are said to have stayed at a Dead Sea hotel. I’ve been ringing around to find out where exactly, but a staffer at one told me they had yet to be told anything and were “very worried”.

Before these new infections, the sole confirmed case was a man who had contracted the disease but recovered. Jordan has shut schools, universities, mosques, churches and tourist sites to try to contain the virus.

Updated

Greece has closed all its archaeological sites including the 5th century BCE Acropolis. With few other places to go, Athenians this weekend gathered on rocks beneath the ancient monument.

In a first, the 5th century BC Acropolis is closed. With few other places to go, Athenians take in the site on rocks beneath the ancient site.
In a first, the 5th century BC Acropolis is closed. With few other places to go, Athenians take in the site on rocks beneath the ancient site. Photograph: Helena Smith

Lack of ventilators in the UK 'consequence of NHS under-funding', BMA says

The chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, has suggested that sustained cuts left the UK’s public healthcare system far more unprepared than other European countries at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

He said the UK’s relative lack of ventilators was “a result of a decade of under-funding” and urged the government to provide “clear, decisive plans” to ensure that healthcare workers can provide the care patients need.

Our starting position unfortunately has been far worse than many other of our European nations – we have about a quarter of the critical care beds that Germany has, as an example, so it’s really critical, it’s really important that we now see transparently what plans the government has to expand that capacity.”

Asked whether the whole GP system needs to be looked at, Nagpaul added:

We need to have clear plans how patients can be remotely managed and how the technology can support that.

Yes. And one of the most immediate priorities of course is we don’t have enough doctors. Before the outbreak we were 10,000 doctors short, so we’re very worried and the doctors I represent are very concerned that they don’t, for example, have adequate protection.

Meanwhile, the Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy accused the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak of being a “shambles”.

She criticised ministers for “going to ground” after an apparent U-turn on banning mass gatherings and reports that powers may be handed to police and immigration officers to arrest sick people who will not self-isolate.

She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show:

I think even he [Matt Hancock] will accept that the last 48 hours has been a real shambles. This is causing serious concern out in the public. People just don’t know what to do for the best.

There is no reason to panic but we need far more information from the Government. This is a public health crisis and so the public must have confidence in the strategy the government is following.

Updated

More than 150 “mutual aid” groups have been formed across the UK to provide support from shopping, dog walking and picking up prescriptions within communities.

The groups, which number at least 174 and are being coordinated nationally by ‘Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK’, have organised online meetings today and are handing out flyers in streets.

As well as practical support the groups are offering telephone calls with people who are self-isolating due to infection or increased vulnerability.

Anna Vickerstaff, one of the coordinators of the national network, said:

Groups are being set up and run entirely by volunteers - and our hope is that they can help to make sure people who need support get it. With the NHS and public services having been so ruthlessly underfunded in the last decade, we really just want to make sure that people don’t end up suffering alone, or without the basics and support that they need from the outside world.

There’s some pretty big questions about whether or not the government’s response to this crisis has been fit for purpose. So it’s even more important that so many ordinary people across the country are keen to offer solidarity to each other in a moment of need.

Releasing low-risk prisoners is not yet part of government plans to limit the spread of the coronavirus in “grossly overcrowded” prisons, according to the Prison Officers Association.

When asked by Sky News’s Sophy Ridge if releasing some prisoners was in the contingency plan, Steve Gillan, general secretary of the association, said:

Not as yet but previous governments have done what was called an executive release of prisoners, that may come in the future to free up spaces in prisons.

He explained this could be in the form of temporary release or a decision by the secretary of state to release low-risk category prisoners towards the end of their sentences.

He added there were problems caused by a limited amount of single-capacity cells in the prison system.

No one to my knowledge as of this morning has actually been tested positive but they have been isolated in single-cell accommodation. We all know prisons are grossly overcrowded and that can only happen for a period of time.

People in Norway have been ordered to leave their countryside cabins and return to their homes, due to fears rural hospitals could be ovewhelmed, according to Norwegian media.

The municipalities that have many cottages should be able to take care of their own inhabitants in a very demanding situation, health minister Bent Høie reportedly said.

This means that everyone now has to follow the strong request of the prime minister to pack their cases and go home. If they do not, we will prohibit them from staying in the cabin.

It comes after prime minister Erna Solberg threatened to deploy the civil defence to bring people home from their cabins.

Updated

An 83-year-old British national has tested positive for coronavirus after disembarking a cruise ship in Chile, local media reported.

The man, who was travelling on the Silver Explorer, is in a “good condition” in hospital in Coyhaique, Patagonia, the country’s health minister Jaime Manalich said, as quoted in La Tercera.

Chile has quarantined nearly 1,300 passengers on board the Silver Explorer and another ship in the port of Chacabuco.

Following the man’s diagnosis, the 500 residents of Caleta Tortel have also been made subject of restrictions for a fortnight after the passenger was in contact with several members of the community, the Chilean health ministry said.

UK over-70s to be asked to self isolate for up to four months

Here is some from Matt Hancock’s announcement earlier. He said requesting all over 70-year-olds to self-isolate is a “very big ask”, but is a measure which is for their own “self-protection”.

In the coming weeks, over-70’s will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months, in order to protect them from the virus, he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and it’s for their own self-protection … Certainly in the coming weeks, absolutely.

Our generation has never been tested like this. Our grandparents were, during the second world war, when our cities were bombed during the Blitz.

Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort. Today our generation is facing its own test, fighting a very real and new disease.”

Experts on the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies have set out the need for extra action to slow the spread of the disease. The panel advised that the next interventions “will need to be instituted soon”.

Those measures will include steps to shield the vulnerable from the virus, including the elderly and those with existing health problems, by telling them to stay in their houses or care homes. There could also be a shift to household isolation rather than individual self-isolation.

Meanwhile, a new-born baby in England who has tested positive for coronavirus is likely to be one of the world’s youngest patients with the disease. The infant and its mother both tested positive at a north London hospital and staff who had contact with them have been advised to self-isolate.

The developments come as the UK’s approach to developing “herd immunity” against Covid-19 has been called into question.

But Hancock denied that achieving herd immunity was part of the government’s policy. Responding to criticism from parts of the scientific community, and when asked by Ridge if he was playing “roulette” with public safety, Hancock replied: “No, obviously.”

What we will do is listen to all the credible scientists and we will look at all the evidence. Herd immunity is not our goal or policy, it’s a scientific concept. Our policy is to protect lives and to beat this virus.

Updated

Heartwarming scenes in Madrid as people applaud healthcare workers from their balconies last night.

The UK is unlikely to have a vaccine for this round of the coronavirus pandemic, according to former chief scientific adviser Mark Walport

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge:

Vaccines are being developed at a very fast rate so there are a number of candidates: large companies, small companies, universities all working. The challenge here is to make sure the vaccine is safe and it works, and unfortunately, that takes a period of time to do so realistically.

It’s very unlikely that we are going to have a vaccine for the present round of this epidemic. We are talking months, up to a year.

Walport added it was “quite likely” that a large percentage of the population would get coronavirus, but many would be mild or sub-clinical.

Meanwhile, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called on Boris Johnson to hold another press conference today if the coronavirus situation has changed.

Speaking on the same programme earlier, he said:

The World Health Organization is saying that we should continue testing and contact tracing. They’re saying that is the best way to break the chain of contagion.

The UK have taken a different view that if you feel ill that you just stay at home for seven days and won’t be tested.

Many people are saying to me that they need a Covid-19 test if they’re ill because they need to know whether they should be interacting with other people in a few weeks’ time.

So I just need to understand better why the government is taking a different approach, based on its science, from other countries and I think that’s why it is so important that all the scientific modelling for example is published.

If things have changed since Thursday, and things are changing quickly, if things have changed since the prime minister’s press conference on Thursday then the prime minister should be doing another press conference today and explaining why things have changed.

Updated

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag has reported that US president Donald Trump has sought exclusive rights to a vaccine for the coronavirus which is being developed by a German-based company, CureVac.

The report, which quoted unnamed sources, said Trump had offered large sums of money to German scientists working on the vaccine, and that the Germany government was working to prevent the US procuring it on this basis.

Updated

Two more deaths confirmed in Australia

Australian health authorities have confirmed two more deaths from coronavirus in the past three days. A 77-year-old Queensland woman died in New South Wales on Friday.

NSW Health said the woman had recently arrived in Sydney. According to AAP, she developed symptoms on the plane, was taken to hospital and died the same day.

NSW Health also said a 90-year-old woman - a resident of Dorothy Henderson Lodge – died on Saturday. Testing has confirmed that she had COVID-19.

Four people diagnosed with coronavirus have now died in NSW while an elderly man who spent time on the Diamond Princess cruise ship died in Perth, Western Australia, earlier in March.

Updated

Greek authorities have confirmed a fourth death from coronavirus, saying a 53-year-old man succumbed to Covid-19 early on Sunday.

The man, the youngest victim so far, was reported to have contracted the virus working in a hospital in the northern city of Kastoria. Famous for its fur trade – and links with Italy - the town has been hard hit by coronavirus. Locals who attended Milan’s fashion week in February are among those who have fallen ill.

News of the fatality follows a health ministry announcement that 228 people have so far contracted the virus in Greece – the vast majority are Greek and do not of course include the like of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson who were recently made honorary citizens of the country.

Of that number five are said to be in critical condition in specialist hospital units around the country.

As of today, Greeks will be banned from public beaches and ski resorts after prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the unprecedented step of ordering both closed in a further bid to curb the spread of the novel virus. The leader was prompted to make the move after scenes emerged of Greeks converging on shorelines as temperatures climbed to 22C on Saturday.

“I just gave the order for all organised beaches and ski resorts to close tomorrow. The situation is serious and requires responsibility from all. We should avoid public places with lots of people. Let us all rise to the occasion.”

Updated

Hancock is confident the food supply will continue, though he again refused to provide a guarantee.

I understand why people are stocking up but they have to behave responsibly ... and consider the impact their stocking up may have on others. And we stand ready to take further measures if that’s necessary.

Questioned about the UK’s response to the pandemic, which has been described as idiosyncratic, he said the country will take the right decisions at the right time based on the scientific advice.

He said the government would publish its coronavirus modelling, from which the scientific advice is based, within the next couple of days.

“Our advice is one of the most transparent in the world,” he declared. “The best science is done in the open so people can challenge ... and make suggestions.”

UK government calls on manufacturing companies to switch production to ventilators

The UK has been through worse as a country but the coronavirus pandemic is a very significant challenge, health secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky.

It will disrupt the lives of almost everyone in the country, he conceded. He called for a “national effort” from hand-washing to ventilator production to help prevent the disease spreading and to save lives.

Every single person can act by washing their hands to prevent the disease spreading. Washing your hands is the single most important thing you can do. It slows the spread and kills the virus.

We are working to buy as many ventilators as possible. We start with around 5,000 and we need many times more than that.

He said government was working with the private sector to buy the ventilators that are available and to encourage manufacturing companies to switch production to the machines.

The demand for them is incredibly high. It is not possible to produce too many of them. Anybody who can should turn their production and engineering minds to the production of ventilators.

However, he could not confirm everyone who requires one will have access, and he confirmed that the government is set to ask, at some point in the coming weeks, over-70s to self-isolate for months at some point in the UK.

Updated

Thanks Helen. Do get in touch with me on Twitter @matthabusby or by email at mattha.busby.freelance@theguardian.com if you would like to bring anything to my attention.

For readers in the UK, the Foreign Office has updated its travel guidance as the coronavirus pandemic reaches 135 countries, territories or areas. It has advised against all but essential travel to 23 countries, according to PA Media.

China

The FCO advises against all travel to Hubei province due to the outbreak, and against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China. If you are in China and able to leave, the FCO says you should do so.

Italy

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all of Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia. Authorities in Italy have advised against travel for tourism purposes and said tourists already on holiday in Italy should limit their movements to those necessary to return to the place where they live.

Denmark

British nationals are advised against all but essential travel to the whole country, after Danish authorities announced they would be closing the borders for a month in response to the pandemic. Foreign nationals who “do not have a recognised purpose for entering Denmark” will be barred from entry.

Norway

The department advises against all but essential travel to Norway, after the Norwegian authorities said that all non-resident visitors arriving from countries other than Finland and Sweden would be asked to leave Norway on arrival. British nationals legally resident in Norway will be allowed to enter the country but must enter self-quarantine for 14 days.

Czech Republic

British authorities advise against all but essential travel to the Czech Republic due to a 30-day state of emergency declared on March 12. Prague airport is the sole airport carrying international flights, however many of them are being cancelled.
Czech authorities have said anyone who enters the country from the UK or other “at risk” countries will be required to self-isolate.

Jamaica

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the country due to restrictions on entry. Only Jamaican citizens, spouses and children of Jamaican citizens and foreign residents travelling from the UK will be allowed to enter.
The FCO said: “British nationals who wish to leave Jamaica are encouraged to make travel arrangements urgently before airlines reduce direct and indirect flight options.”

Poland

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the country, owing to restrictions being put in place following the outbreak which has seen borders closed and border controls introduced. Non-Polish nationals will only be able to enter the country if they are a spouse or child of a Polish national, hold a Pole’s Card, or otherwise have the right to stay or work in the country.

Slovakia

Travel restrictions in the country mean the FCO advises against all but essential travel. The department said: “Entry to the country is allowed only for Slovak citizens and foreign residents. All those arriving from abroad are required to self-isolate for 14 days.”

Argentina

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all of Argentina due to travel restrictions. “The FCO strongly encourage non-resident British nationals in Argentina to consider leaving to avoid difficulties they will face if flights out of the country and the region are further restricted and they are unable to get home,” the department said.

Vietnam

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to Vietnam due to the high risk of British nationals being placed into a 14-day quarantine.

Malta

The department advises against all but essential travel to Malta due to a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for all arrivals including returning residents.

Albania

Following the government of Albania’s decision to introduce “stringent measures” to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the FCO advises against all but essential travel. All borders are closed, with the exception of freight, to all nationals. Schools are also closed as are all shops except food shops and pharmacies.

Kosovo

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to Kosovo as all flights into the country have been cancelled, and land borders are closed to non-citizens.

Estonia

The FCO has advised against all but essential travel as the Estonian authorities are themselves advising against all travel in and out of Estonia, and passengers from several European countries must self-quarantine for 14 days upon entry.

San Marino

In conjunction with their travel advice for Italy, the FCO advises against all but essential travel to San Marino. “British nationals remain able to depart San Marino without restriction with a valid passport and onward ticket,” the department said.

Equatorial Guinea

The FCO advises against all travel to Equatorial Guinea after authorities announced border closures and the suspension of international flights for 30 days.

Liberia

The department advises against all but essential travel to Liberia due to the high risk of quarantine for British nationals, as well as travel restrictions.

Lithuania

British nationals are advised against all but essential travel due to border controls effective from March 15, lasting ten days.

Latvia

The FCO advises against all but essential travel, due to the increased travel restrictions. From March 17, it will not be possible for most British nationals to enter or exit Latvia and organised transport by air, sea and land will be suspended.

Peru

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the whole of Peru due to conditions including a ban on flights to and from Europe from March 16 for at least 30 days.

Mongolia

The department advises against all but essential travel due to the suspension of all flights until at least March 28, and recommended British nationals use charter flights scheduled for March 15 and 16.

Philippines

Due to the impact of domestic travel restrictions, possible curfews and plans to impose conditions on entry from the UK, the FCO has recommended against all but essential travel to the whole country from March 15.

Sierra Leone

The FCO advises against all but essential travel due to mandatory quarantine measures for British nationals arriving from March 16.

Cruise ships

British nationals aged 70 and over and those with pre-existing health conditions are advised against cruise ship travel.

South Korea

The department advises against all travel to the cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan which have been designated “special care zones” by South Korean authorities due to outbreaks.

From Sunday, travellers arriving from the UK will be subject to additional screening. People travelling from the UK will also be asked to report their condition to the authorities for 14 days.

Spain

The Spanish ministry of health declared the areas of Madrid and La Rioja, and the municipalities of La Bastida and Vitoria, and Miranda de Ebro, as places where there is community transmission of coronavirus and the FCO advises against all but essential travel to those regions. This advice was changed in the early hours of March 15, with the FCO advising against all travel to the country.

India

Although the FCO has not advised against travel, the department said the government of India previously announced it will suspend all existing visas due to the virus outbreak.

France

France has taken several steps to delay the spread of Covid-19 including the closure of restaurants, schools, universities, cafes, theatres and non-essential shops, the FCO said. Gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned and tourist attractions have been shuttered. The FCO has not currently advised British nationals not to travel to France.

United States

On March 14, the US government extended an existing European travel ban to the UK and Ireland, with the exception of returning US citizens and legal residents.
The FCO did not update its existing advice on the day of the announcement.

New Zealand

Arrivals from countries other than China and Iran will have to self isolate for 14 days on arrival, the department said. Foreign nationals arriving from China or Iran will not be allowed to enter the country as part of strict new controls.

Bolivia

The FCO has not advised against travel, however all flights to and from Europe have been suspended.

Bahrain

The department said all arrivals from the UK will be required to self-isolate for 14 days including those without symptoms, but has not warned against travel.

Singapore

British nationals will not be granted permission to enter Singapore if they have travelled to mainland China, Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days, the FCO said.

Malaysia

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all islands off the coast of eastern Sabah from Kudat to Tawau, including (but not limited to) Lankayan, Mabul, Pom Pom, Kapalai, Litigan, Sipadan and Mataking.

Portugal

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores.

Ecuador

The FCO advises against all but essential travel, as foreign nationals will not be admitted to the country from Sunday evening.

Updated

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I’m leaving the blog in the hands of my colleague Mattha Busby.

In Australia, the ABC is reporting that a woman from Noosaville infected with coronavirus died on Friday. We will have more on this shortly.

Meanwhile AAP reports that around 80 people have been asked to self-isolate after a University of Sydney student was diagnosed with coronavirus over the weekend.

Summary

As Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders prepare for the next democratic debate, in considerably different circumstances from those just under three weeks ago, the virus continues to spread in the US – though Trump remains coronavirus free.

More universities saw students affected by Covid-19, Metro Manilla’s 12 million people prepared to be sealed off, and Australia announced mandatory self-quarantine for all travellers arriving from overseas.

  • US President Donald Trump tested negative for coronavirus. A White House physician has issued a statement confirming that Trump does not have Covid-19. It came after the US president confirmed he had been tested for the virus at a press briefing earlier on Saturday.
  • The international travel industry faced a widespread shutdown over coronavirus fears after airlines announced new flight reductions and more countries introduced travel bans and isolation requirements.
  • Chaos reigned at US airports. Social media users posted pictures from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas showing general chaos and tightly packed crowds.
  • The Israeli justice ministry postponed the Netanyahu trial to May. The ministry announced a scheduled court hearing on Tuesday, the first day of a blockbuster corruption trial against Benjamin Netanyahu, will not happen until at least May due to the coronavirus.
  • The Australian government have ordered that all overseas travellers self-isolate for fourteen days upon their return. The legally enforceable requirement includes Australian citizens.
  • The Australian cruise ship industry was thrown into turmoil after a government ban on docking in Australia was announced after a widespread voluntary suspension of all major cruises.
  • Yale University in the US and the Universities of Sydney and the University of New South Wales in Australia each confirmed their first cases. Yale asked that students not return from until the end of the spring semester in May.
  • Presidential presidential primaries in the US state of Georgia were postponed. They were set to take place on 24 March.
  • US clothing brand Everlane joined Apple, Urban Outfitters and Verizon in closing stores over coronavirus concerns.
  • Mexico has registered a rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 41, from 26 a day earlier, the Mexican health ministry said on Saturday. The country has not confirmed any deaths from the fast-spreading virus.
  • South Korea’s downward trend continued. South Korea reported 76 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 8,162 with 75 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
  • In the Philippines, police started sealing off metropolitan Manila, home to more than 12 million people, AP reports.
  • No new cases have been confirmed among the cast and crew of the film actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were working on. The couple announced they had tested positive earlier this week while in Australia.
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus on Tuesday as the country awakens to the shock measures needed to fight Covid-19.

COVID-19 infections have jumped to 110 confirmed cases in Egypt according to the country’s Ministry of Health, up from 80 on Friday.

A municipality worker cleans lamp posts amid a sandstorm and coronavirus fears outside the Luxor Temple in Egypt’s southern city of Luxor on March 12, 2020.
A municipality worker cleans lamp posts amid a sandstorm and coronavirus fears outside the Luxor Temple in Egypt’s southern city of Luxor on March 12, 2020. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images

Egyptian president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi declared on Saturday that £5.2bn would be drawn from budgetary reserves as part of a plan to combat “any consequences of the virus.”

Yet as the Egyptian government slowly grapples with rising infection rates, the challenges of social distancing in a densely-populated country of 100 million people are becoming increasingly clear. Egypt’s authorities announced over the weekend that all nurseries, schools and universities will be closed from today and sports events suspended, on top of a ban on mass gatherings.

Prayer times have been limited to fifteen minutes, and face masks distributed for travellers on the Cairo metro during busy times as part of what Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly declared as the “second phase,” of Egypt’s response to COVID-19. This is due to the “discovery of more infection clusters,” since 45 passengers and crew on board a cruise ship in Luxor tested positive for the virus on Friday 6th March.

Tom Hanks has thanked his “helpers” on Twitter. The actor and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week while in Australia.

In Australia, here is everything we know about the new measures announced today by the prime minister, Scott Morrison.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media in Sydney, Sunday, March 15, 2020. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The Guardian’s Paul Karp and Lisa Cox report that people in some states could face hefty fines if they do not comply with new government restrictions aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus, with the prime minister announcing strict new requirements for all people arriving in Australia to self-isolate for 14 days.

Meanwhile Australia’s schools will remain open nationally despite escalating government restrictions on other aspects of life such as travel due to the spread of the coronavirus, however but new social distancing measures have been announced for schools in New South Wales.

The secretary of the NSW department of education, Mark Scott, said excursions, assemblies, travel, concerts and other events would be cancelled to limit exposure.

“Schools have been a focus of the community and the government as the impacts of the coronavirus have developed globally,” Scott said.

“From Monday onwards I expect assemblies and substantial gatherings to be cancelled, along with all excursions.”

All interschool arts and sports events have also been cancelled.

University of New South Wales and University of Sydney confirm one case each

In Australia, the University of New South Wales has now confirmed that one if its students has tested positive for coronavirus. The announcement follows the confirmation of a case at the University of Sydney shortly beforehand.

The below email screenshot was shared with the Guardian:

UNSW confirms coronavirus case
UNSW confirms coronavirus case Photograph: Supplied

Updated

Israeli justice ministry postpones Netanyahu trial to May

Israel’s justice ministry just announced a scheduled court hearing on Tuesday, the first day of a blockbuster corruption trial against Benjamin Netanyahu, will not happen until at least May due to the coronavirus.

The prime minister faces three separate inquiries, including charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies the charges but the trial had appeared to be a serious threat to his continued rule while he is already politically weakened.

The 70-year-old leader has failed to form a government following three inconclusive elections during the past 12 months. Israel is battling the coronavirus outbreak while also in a stale of political deadlock, with Netanyahu demanding rival politicians help him form an emergency government immediately.

The country’s president, Reuven Rivlin, will meet with political parties later on Sunday to see if a majority coalition can be formed, although a breakthrough after months of stalemate could be unlikely.

Latest global figures

There are now 156,400 coronavirus cases worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins. There have been 5,833 deaths related to the virus.

Here are 10 countries with the highest numbers of confirmed cases:

  1. China: 80,995
  2. Italy: 21,157
  3. Iran: 12,729
  4. South Korea: 8,086
  5. Spain: 6,391
  6. Germany: 4,585
  7. France: 4,481
  8. US: 2,952
  9. Switzerland: 1,359
  10. United Kingdom: 1,143

Here is more information on Australia’s new self-isolation requirements:

Who needs to isolate?

The Australian government announced new travel restrictions to try to slow the spread of coronavirus on 15 March. From midnight, all returning Australians and overseas visitors are required to isolate themselves for 14 days after arriving in the country.

People who have been in close contact with somebody diagnosed coronavirus are already required to self-isolate.

What does self-isolation mean?

Self-isolation starts when you arrive in Australia, with the federal department of health recommending you use personal transport, such as a car, to travel home or to your hotel from the airport, to minimise exposure to others.

 “If you need to use public transport (e.g. taxis, ride-hail services, trains, buses and trams), follow the precautions outlined in the public transport guide. 

 “During the 14 days of isolation, you must stay at home or in your hotel and don’t go to public places including work, school, childcare, university or public gatherings. Only people who usually live with you should be in the home. Do not see visitors.”

 “Ask others who are not in isolation to get food and necessities for you. If you must leave home, such as to seek medical care, wear a surgical mask. If you don’t have a mask, take care to not cough or sneeze on others.”

 “If you live in a private house, it is safe for you to go into your garden or courtyard. If you live in an apartment or are staying in a hotel, it is also safe for you to go into the garden but you should wear a surgical mask to minimise risk to others and move quickly through any common areas.”

What if I feel sick?

The health department recommends monitoring yourself for symptoms including “fever, cough or shortness of breath. Other early symptoms include chills, body aches, sore throat, runny nose and muscle pain.”

 “If you develop symptoms (fever, a cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath) within 14 days of returning to Australia or within 14 days of last contact of a confirmed case, you should arrange to see your doctor for urgent assessment. You should telephone the health clinic or hospital before you arrive and tell them your travel history or that you may have been in contact with a potential case of coronavirus.”

Limiting the spread at home

The health department recommends practising good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene as the best defence against most viruses.

 It also advises regular cleaning of household surfaces.

 “To minimise the spread of any germs you should regularly wash surfaces that are frequently touched such as door handles, light switches, kitchen and bathroom areas. Clean with household detergent or disinfectant.

Source: Australian Department of Health 

The $5.2bn Australian cruise ship industry has been thrown into chaos after a government ban on docking in Australia was announced after a widespread voluntary suspension of all major cruises.

As most major lines suspended all cruises for 30 days due to travel restrictions from the coronavirus passengers were asked to disembark from cruises on Sunday while other trips were cancelled at the last minute.

Most companies were offering passengers refunds and three days accommodation in a hotel. Ships which had already sailed for Australia were sent back to port.

Royal Caribbean Cruises was among the lines to announce global voluntary suspension in the past few days until mid-April.

The University of Sydney has confirmed that one of its students has coronavirus.

“Six locations on the University of Sydney campus are being intensively cleaned today (Sunday 15 March) after a student was diagnosed with Covid-19 on the weekend,” the university said in a statement on its website.

The case is one of the 22 new cases announced by New South Wales authorities earlier today.

We are hearing rumours of a case at the University of New South Wales but this is currently unconfirmed.

Updated

The US is on course to be severely ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak due to a delayed and dysfunctional testing regime and misleading messaging from the Trump administration, public health experts have warned.

As of Friday, there were more than 1,600 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus across the US, with 41 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. However, the actual number of infected Americans is certain to be far higher, with the true toll obscured by a calamitous lack of testing.

A lack of planning and restrictions that barred testing people without symptoms, even though the virus can be asymptomatic for some time, or those not arriving from overseas virus hotspots has needlessly worsened the situation, critics said.

In other developments around Latin America on Saturday, Colombia expelled two French nationals and two Spaniards for violating coronavirus quarantine rules.

The two couples separately took tourist trips in defiance of restrictions imposed on visitors from the worst-affected countries, immigration officials said.

Ecuador announced it was closing its borders to foreigners after the country registered its second coronavirus death.

People participate in an indigenous cleansing ritual to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Quito, Ecuador March 14, 2020.
People participate in an indigenous cleansing ritual to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Quito, Ecuador March 14, 2020. Photograph: Daniel Tapia/Reuters

In Bolivia, a ban on direct flights to and from Europe went into effect on Saturday. Travelers from China, South Korea, Italy and Spain are also banned from entry.

Panama banned flights from Asia, one day after blocking flights from Europe.

Authorities also announced that schools will shutter in Venezuela, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay.

As of 2200 GMT Saturday, Latin America had registered 6 coronavirus deaths and 430 cases of infection.

Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced Saturday.

Both ships are cruising the Chilean fjords in Patagonia.

The Bahamas flag cruise ship ‘Silver explorer’ that has been isolated in Chile’s southern port of Castro after a passenger showed symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus disease is seen in Chiloe, Chile, March 14, 2020.
The Bahamas flag cruise ship ‘Silver explorer’ that has been isolated in Chile’s southern port of Castro after a passenger showed symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus disease is seen in Chiloe, Chile, March 14, 2020. Photograph: Reuters

The 85-year-old man showed symptoms of the virus after getting off the Silver Explorer ship in the far southern port of Caleta Tortel, 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) from Santiago.

The man was later transferred to a hospital in the city of Coyhaique where he tested positive for the virus.

Chile has taken broad measures against the spread of the virus, banning events of more than 500 people, recommending people work from home, and ordering the quarantine of 2,600 students attending an elite private school in Santiago.

Thailand reported 32 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total infections in the Southeast Asian country to 114, health officials said.

It was the biggest daily jump in cases in Thailand, which was one of the first countries outside China to report coronavirus infections that has since swept much of the world.

Myanmar’s government has rejected suggestions that the country has undetected cases of the virus, reiterating that it is free of any infections and that “the lifestyle and diet of Myanmar citizens” has helped protect the country.

In this 2017 photo, nurses cover their faces with masks to protect from the spread of the swine flu outside the Naypyitaw hospital in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.
In this 2017 photo, nurses cover their faces with masks to protect from the spread of the swine flu outside the Naypyitaw hospital in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Photograph: Aung Shine Oo/AP

According to Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-run news source, the director general of the ministry of office of the state counsellor, U Zaw Htay, told a press conference:

Myanmar does not share the customs of greeting with handshakes, hugs or kisses that [Western] countries have. It also does not have a high number of credit card users compared to other nations, as the person handling credit cards at the counter would be in close contact with hundred of different people in a day. This is avoided by Myanmar’s predominant use of paper currency.

Myanmar people wearing protective face masks pass along a roadside at downtown area in Yangon, Myanmar, 13 March 2020.
Myanmar people wearing protective face masks pass along a roadside at downtown area in Yangon, Myanmar, 13 March 2020. Photograph: Lynn Bo Bo/EPA

U Zaw Htay added that the government was taking measures to prepare for the pandemic, and that people should avoid large gatherings, maintain good personal hygiene and not panic buy at shops.

Severe legal action would be taken against anyone sharing fake news online and against any businesses attempting to make profit from the situation, reporters were told.
Myanmar recently cancelled water festivals due to take place next month to mark the Buddhist New Year. Other Southeast Asian countries are also scaling back planned events.

South Africa’s mining and tourism industries are bracing for a virus buffeting, AFP reports.

Around 18.5% of South African exports go to China, with mining commodities making up around 86% of total trade with the Asian country.

South African traffic police officers wear protective face masks while they stand at a roadblock.
South African traffic police officers wear protective face masks while they stand at a roadblock. Photograph: Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images

With China’s growth expected to slow as a result of Covid-19, the demand for minerals is also expected to take a knock potentially affecting commodity prices and costing the industry millions.

South Africa’s economy is already fragile.

It slipped into recession in the final three months of 2019, the second contraction to hit the economy in as many years. That contraction was largely blamed on erratic electricity supplies.

The virus “will turn out to be a national crisis” and “it will have a huge impact... on our economy which as we all know is in a very precarious situation,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said when the first case was detected last week.

China ranked the seventh largest origin of foreign visitors to South Africa in 2018.

South Africa has so far imposed no travel bans on Chinese visitors, but Beijing has blocked outbound group travel from China.

“Despite the fact that we have had very few cases of the virus, the local tourism industry has already suffered serious losses,” lamented Tourism Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, said earlier last week. The country has 38 confirmed cases.

The South African fisheries industry was one of the first casualties after China halted animal imports.

China traditionally imports 95% of South African rock lobsters harvests.

Queensland, Australia state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has shed some light on how the federal government’s self-quarantine requirement will be enforced, as the state sees its biggest one-day jump since the start of the outbreak, with 15 new cases.

Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk arrives at the Council of Australian Governments meeting at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, March 13, 2020.
Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk arrives at the Council of Australian Governments meeting at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, March 13, 2020. Photograph: James Gourley/AAP

Palaszczuk said there were heavy fines for anyone who did not follow the directive to self-isolate under the ‘Public Health Emergency Act’.

“That bill was passed in early February and there are penalties for not complying with the notification and that is around $13,000,” she told AAP.

“We have random police checks to make sure people are compliant with that notice.”

The announcement from Israel that it will use anti-terrorism tracking technology to minimise coronavirus transmission follows a series of ever-stricter restrictions imposed by the Israeli government to contain the virus, Reuters reports.

The Israeli military said earlier on Saturday that it had ordered all troops to be back on their bases by Sunday morning, and that combat soldiers should prepare for a lengthy stay with no leave for up to a month.

Last week anyone entering Israel was ordered to self-isolate for two weeks and schools have been shut. Tens of thousands of Israelis are presently quarantined.

Israel’s Health Ministry said 193 people have tested positive, with no fatalities. Many had been on international flights in the past two weeks.

More now on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to use anti-terrorism tracking technology to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech regarding the new measures that will be taken to fight the Corona virus in Israel, at his Jerusalem office, 14 March 2020.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech regarding the new measures that will be taken to fight the Corona virus in Israel, at his Jerusalem office, 14 March 2020. Photograph: Gali Tibbon/EPA

Cyber tech monitoring would be deployed to locate people who have been in contact with those carrying the virus, subject to cabinet approval, Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem.

“We will very soon begin using technology ... digital means that we have been using in order to fight terrorism,” Netanyahu said. He said he had requested Justice Ministry approval because such measures could infringe patients’ privacy.

The Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service, confirmed that it was examining the use of its technological capabilities to fight coronavirus, at the request of Netanyahu and the Health Ministry, Reuters reports.

Avner Pinchuk, a privacy expert with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said such capabilities could include real-time tracking of infected persons’ mobile phones to spot quarantine breaches and backtracking through meta-data to figure out where they had been and who they had contacted.

“I am troubled by this announcement. I understand that we are in unique circumstances, but this seems potentially like over-reach. Much will depend on how intrusive the new measures are,” said Pinchuk.

The Shin Bet, however, said in its statement that quarantine enforcement was not on the table. “There is no intention of using said technologies for enforcement or tracking in the context of isolation guidelines,” it said.

Hoboken announces night curfew

The US city of Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, has announced a night curfew starting 16 March and ordered bars and restaurants to conduct only delivery services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor-elect Ravi Bhalla greets supporters as he walks down the street in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 2017.
Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor-elect Ravi Bhalla greets supporters as he walks down the street in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 2017. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

In a statement, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said all residents of Hoboken, New Jersey, will be required to remain in their homes between 10 pm and 5 am, “except for emergencies, or if you are required to work by your employer”.

The mayor said that bars and restaurants in the city will not be allowed to serve food from Sunday, 11 a.m. local time. However, they will be allowed to conduct delivery services.

Hoboken reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

More than 2,900 cases of coronavirus and at least 57 deaths have been reported in the United States, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Uzbekistan confirms first coronavirus case

An Uzbek citizen has tested positive for coronavirus after returning from France, Uzbekistan’s Healthcare Ministry said on Sunday, marking the first infection from the virus in the Central Asian country of 34 million.

Health officials wait for the arrival of 84 more Uzbekistani people being brought on a plane from China in February, 2020.
Health officials wait for the arrival of 84 more Uzbekistani people being brought on a plane from China in February, 2020. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

It said it was taking the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Uzbekistan’s state airline said on Sunday it was suspending or curbing flights to a number of cities in Western Europe, Asia and the Middle East until the end of April.

The Jakarta Post reports that the Indonesian transportation minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, has tested positive for coronavirus and is being treated in hospital.

New South Wales, Australia attorney general Mark Speakman has announced that “all new Supreme and District Court jury trials will be suspended until further notice,” from Monday, 16 March. “Jury trials already underway will continue,” he said in a statement.

The New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, 2011.
The New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney, 2011. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

“Visitors not involved in proceedings are asked to stay away from any NSW court building and measures will also be implemented to reduce contact between parties in current matters.

“The Local Court will also implement greater use of Audio Visual Link technology to minimise the number of people in court.”

The Australian state of Queensland has confirmed fifteen new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 55, including three passengers from the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship.

This post has been corrected to reflect a correction in the number of new cases made by the Queensland government.

Updated

Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will debate against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday.

As the two remaining Democratic presidential candidates return to the debate stage, their party, the stakes, and the world look much different than in their last meeting less than three weeks ago, AP reports.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden talk before a Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina.
Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden talk before a Democratic presidential primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

The fast-moving coronavirus was something of an afterthought in that debate; now the escalating crisis is likely to dominate Sunday’s contest.

The coronavirus crisis rapidly upended plans for Sunday’s debate. First, the Democratic National Committee announced that it would hold the contest without a live audience. Then the debate was moved from a large venue in Arizona, one of the states holding a primary Tuesday, to a television studio in Washington because of concerns about cross-country travel. One of the moderators had to withdraw because of potential exposure to a person who tested positive for coronavirus.

For Biden, the outbreak of a global pandemic has been a moment to bolster the central argument of his candidacy: that his eight years as vice president give him the experience, as well as the relationships in Washington and around the world, that are needed in the Oval Office during turbulent times.

Central American countries took further and tougher steps to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus on Saturday with measures ranging from bans on large gatherings to travel restrictions, Reuters reports.

El Salvador’s Congress approved a series of emergency measures sought by President Nayib Bukele to prevent the spread of the virus and to fend off the risk of a public health crisis.

Empty pool tables are pictured at La Dalia pool saloon and restaurant after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele ordered all bars and nightclubs to be closed and gatherings restricted to no more than 75 people for 14 days throughout the country.
Empty pool tables are pictured at La Dalia pool saloon and restaurant after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele ordered all bars and nightclubs to be closed and gatherings restricted to no more than 75 people for 14 days throughout the country. Photograph: José Cabezas/Reuters

The measures include restrictions on entry to and exit from El Salvador, as well as curbs on public gatherings. El Salvador has so far not reported any cases of coronavirus.

Earlier, Honduras and Guatemala banned public gatherings to prevent the virus from spreading as quickly as it has in Asian and European countries. Panama had already banned large gatherings.

Meanwhile, authorities in Panama said flights arriving from Europe and Asia would be temporarily suspended, with the exception of flights that transport doctors, medical equipment or other humanitarian aid.

Former Chinese executive who criticised Xi over virus handling is missing

An influential former Chinese property executive who called President Xi Jinping a “clown” over a speech he made last month about the government’s efforts to battle the coronavirus has gone missing, three of his friends told Reuters.

In this photo taken in 2012, Chinese real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang poses for photos in his office in Beijing, China.
In this photo taken in 2012, Chinese real estate mogul Ren Zhiqiang poses for photos in his office in Beijing, China. Photograph: AP

Ren Zhiqiang, a member of China’s ruling Communist Party and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group, has not been contactable since March 12, they said.

“Many of our friends are looking for him,” his close friend and businesswoman Wang Ying said in a statement to Reuters, describing them as being “extremely anxious”.

“Ren Zhiqiang is a public figure and his disappearance is widely know. The institutions responsible for this need to give a reasonable and legal explanation for this as soon as possible,” she said.

Calls made by Reuters to Ren’s mobile phone went unanswered.

The Beijing police did not immediately respond to requests by phone and fax for comment on Sunday. China’s State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

An essay Ren shared with people he knew in recent weeks took aim at a speech Xi made on 23 February. Copies of his essay were later posted online by others.

In the essay, which does not mention Xi by name, Ren said after studying the speech he “saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his ‘new clothes,’ but a clown stripped naked who insisted on continuing being emperor,” according to a version posted by China Digital Times, a U.S.-based website.

Ren’s disappearance comes as censorship over how local media and online users discuss the epidemic has tightened in recent weeks.

America has no real public health system – coronavirus has a clear run, writes Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor and professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.

As the coronavirus outbreak in the US follows the same grim exponential growth path first displayed in Wuhan, China, before herculean measures were put in place to slow its spread there, America is waking up to the fact that it has almost no public capacity to deal with it.

Instead of a public health system, we have a private for-profit system for individuals lucky enough to afford it and a rickety social insurance system for people fortunate enough to have a full-time job.

At their best, both systems respond to the needs of individuals rather than the needs of the public as a whole. In America, the word “public” – as in public health, public education or public welfare – means a sum total of individual needs, not the common good.

In Australia, here is everything we know about the new self-isolation requirement:

And here is what the government has told people about a lockdown, an option it says is still on the table:

Updated

In the US, Yale University has confirmed its first case of coronavirus and asked students not to return to campus, according to an email sent to students and shared with the Guardian.

Yale President Peter Salovey writes:

Earlier today, Director of Yale Health Paul Genecin notified us that a member of our community has tested positive for Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) on a preliminary test, and that we await confirmation of this result. Another community member and a household contact are also undergoing diagnostic evaluation, and we await test results for these individuals.

The Ivy League university had previously asked students to remain at home through April 5th.

Yale University, 2010.
Yale University, 2010. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

It has now decided that students will be kept off campus and teaching will be conducted online for the entire spring semester, including final examinations. The Guardian understands the Spring semester ends on 6 May.

“I hasten to note one vital exception: Yale will house those students who simply cannot go home, whether because they come from a country severely affected by Covid-19, or for other serious reasons,” says Salovey.

The university has asked students not to return to campus to retrieve their belongings, and only staff “whose work is deemed critical to current operations” are expected to return to work.

Updated

The Australian Society of Anaesthetists is calling for all elective surgeries to be postponed to to the increased demand on hospital resources due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ASA President Dr Suzi Nou said in a statement:

We are calling for the immediate postponement of elective surgery that can be safely deferred – a few weeks of inconvenience now could save many lives down the line.

The reality is that we will still be performing emergency surgery while at the same time dealing with this new emergency which will put enormous strain on our critical care services.

Elective surgery uses resources that may be life-saving down the line. Postponing this surgery can be a staged approach. We can act today by safely postponing surgery for patients that are going to require admission to an intensive care unit.

If you happen to spot interesting or cheering coronavirus news – or anything I’ve missed – please do drop me a line on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

A man wearing protective face mask walks on Ginza boulevard during a snowfall in Tokyo, Japan March 14, 2020.
A man wearing protective face mask walks on Ginza boulevard during a snowfall in Tokyo, Japan March 14, 2020. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Japan rose to 1,484 on Sunday, increasing by a faster pace than the previous day, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The total number of infections includes 697 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 14 returnees on charter flights from China, according to NHK data.

Deaths in the country related to the virus stand at 29, up one from the previous day. The total number of deaths include 7 from the cruise ship.

Updated

Argentina has banned entry to non-residents who have traveled to a country highly affected by coronavirus in the last 14 days, the government officially announced late on Saturday.

The ban was established for 30 days, according to the decree published in the official bulletin.

The bulletin did not specify which countries would be included in the ban, though Argentina already temporarily stopped issuing visas to travellers from the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Britain and many European countries.

Argentina now has 45 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the health ministry said, up from 21 on March 12.

Updated

An update on American Airlines reducing its flights now: it plans to cut 75% of its international flights through May 6 and ground nearly all of its widebody fleet, the company said on Saturday.

The dramatic announcement by the largest US airline came hours after the White House said the United States would widen new travel restrictions on Europeans to include travellers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, starting Monday night.

South Australia has reported one new case of coronavirus, bringing the state’s total to 20.

Tasmania, Australia has suspended all cruise ship visits to its ports after the island state recorded its sixth coronavirus case, AAP reports. Shortly after the announcement, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said the entire country will ban cruise ships from foreign ports for an initial 30 days.

The MSC Magnifica cruise ship leaving Venice in 2019.
The MSC Magnifica cruise ship leaving Venice in 2019. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein said he will direct TasPorts, which runs the state’s ports, to suspend all cruise ship visits until June 30, as a precautionary measure.

A domestic cruise ship, carrying 43 mainly local passengers and which has been in Tasmanian waters since December 31, will make a final call to Hobart port on Sunday afternoon.

No passengers will disembark and it will depart later in the day.

Twelve cruise ship visits are scheduled during the period to June 30, including five to Hobart, five to Burnie and two to Port Arthur.

About 1400 passengers and staff abroad the Magnifica, which arrived in Hobart on Saturday, were told they could not return to the ship if they disembark, an MSC Cruises spokeswoman has told The Mercury.

Nobody on the ship has the illness but the captain made the call as a precaution to protect passengers’ health.

P&O Cruises Australia on Saturday announced a 30-day pause in cruise operations to the impact of coronavirus.

Updated

Still in Australia for a moment – just to wrap up that presser from Prime Minister Morrison and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Kelly, Australia is enforcing a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for all travellers, including Australians, arriving from overseas.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly and Prime Minister Scott Morrison give an update on the coronavirus at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, March 6, 2020.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly and Prime Minister Scott Morrison give an update on the coronavirus at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, March 6, 2020. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Morrison says this requirement is legally enforceable, though he didn’t have the details of precisely how that might work or what the penalties for non-compliance might be.

Schools will remain open. No more handshakes.

“There’s no herd immunity,” says Dr Kelly.

Updated

The US source is a “major source” of cases in Australia, says Morrison.

The conference is over now, with a final message from the prime minister:

“So long as Australians keep being Australians we’ll get through this together.”

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says he hopes Australians will not lose their “sense of Australianness”, in response to a question about how social distancing might work:

Is social distancing being instructedto schools, kids in schools? How is social distancing going to work?

It’s pretty straightforward. 1.5m, you are about 1.5m away. Ensuring that you refrain from that sort of physical contact, whether it might be a handshake or something a bit more intimate, unless its close family and friends. It’s all common sense. We don’t need to tell Australians how to get out of bed in the morning and put their shoes and socks on and things like that.

Australians understand, these are important, normal, social interaction measures that people can take an hour very intuitive and all about reducing the amount of direct physical contact you have with others... I really want Australians to get on with their lives as normally as possible but there will be disruptions and they will adjust, Australians can of course adjust. What I hope won’t happened and I’m sure it won’t is that we won’t lose our sense of Australianness in all of this, we will support each other and if you have someone in self isolation, an elderly person next to you or down the road, they will be wisely exercising greater precautions about their social interactions. Make them a casserole and leave it on the door.

Updated

Question: What is the penalty for committing the offence of not self-isolating?

Morrison: That will be a matter for the states and territories.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is addressing media now. He says of the new self-quarantine requirement for all travellers arriving from overseas, including Australians:

Its legal enforcement, that will be the change. If your mate has been to Bali and they come back and they turn up at work and they are sitting next to you, they will be committing an offence so I think it’s up to all of us that we are ensuring it is in place. Australians will exercise commonsense. This provides the backstop of a legal enforcement.

Morrison says of cabinet:

It will now be meeting more regularly by video-conferencing rather than all cabinet members being in the one place, the national cabinet as it did today met through a secure audio-conferencing facility.

Leaders and other politicians, you can expect to see not travelling as much.

Updated

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison: “No more handshakes.”

Australian deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly says:

We are also starting to see, here in Sydney but other cities and into our regional areas, some human to human transmission in Australia. Not necessarily related to travel, that will be the next step, more proportionate measures will need to be taken as that develops. These are difficult times and the disruption to societies very much felt by us in the health side of government.

Updated

Dr Paul Kelly, Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, says – he seems to mean this reassuringly:

What is different about Australia is that we are not yet in winter. All of the places we are seeing this virus really escalate quickly now, to other parts of the world, are in the northern hemisphere. They are in the latter part of their winter months. They have flu seasons as well and all of the environmental elements that allow viruses to spread quickly are actually there in North America, in China, in other parts of northern Asia and we are seeing exactly what has happened there. In particular, not taking another action probably early enough in most of those countries.

Updated

Australian deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly is speaking now. He says:

The important issue of herd immunity that we talk about a lot in vaccination is exactly the challenge that we have at the moment. There’s no herd immunity, everyone is susceptible to this virus in Australia.

Updated

Australian schools to remain open, says PM

On the decision not to close schools, Morrison says it was made for two reasons. One was the need to keep children from infecting other people outside schools. Second was the massive disruption it would cause on the economy.

Here is what he said:

When you take children out of schools and put them back in the broader community, the ability for them to potentially engage with others increases the risk, and that is the understanding we have. There are also issues of herd immunity to elect children as well... And we may want to touch on those issues.

The other issue is the disruption impact that they can have and put a great risk, the availability of critical workers such as nurses and doctors and others who are essential in the community because they would have to remain home and look after the children, and so while it may seem anti-intuitive, there is very good reasons why you would not be moving to broadscale closures of schools, that could make the situation worse, not better, and so the states and territories are not moving in that direction, we will consider this again at our meeting after Tuesday night.

Morrison also announces new social distancing measures.

  • Non-essential static gatherings of more than 500 people occurring across the states and territories will be banned. This recommendation will be overseen by the state and territory governments although Morrison said the police would not be enforcing it. He called on common sense judgment to carry it out.
  • Specfic guidelines coming about what restrictions could be placed on Anzac Day celebrations on 25 April.
  • Aged care visiting guidelines are a priority, he says, and will be announced soon.
  • School closures could be counter-productive, he says.

Everyone arriving in Australia must self-isolate for 14 days

Scott Morrison says there will be universal self-isolation for 14 days for all arrivals at airports and cruise terminals starting from midnight tonight.

Updated

Morrison says he’s compared notes with his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson. He doesn’t say whether that has inspired him to copy Britain’s controversial “herd immunity” strategy where you hope millions get a mild dose and therefore immunise themselves.

Australian PM Scott Morrison gives Covid-19 update

Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, is giving a media conference now. It’s quite general stuff but the main point is that the government is trying to contain the spread and therefore ease the burden on hospitals.

The national security council has discussed the country’s emergency response plan, he says, and will continue to be driven by medical advice.

Many people will get the virus, but for eight out of 10 it will be mild and will pass.

But for older people and those with existing conditons it will be serious. Our main aim is to protect the vulnerable, he says. We can’t stop the virus but we can stop the spread, he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus on Tuesday as the country awakens to the shock measures needed to fight Covid-19, AAP reports.

On Saturday, Ardern announced almost all international arrivals, including Kiwi citizens, would be required to self-isolate for a fortnight on their return from overseas.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern displays a graph during a press conference on March 14, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand. A
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern displays a graph during a press conference on March 14, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand. A Photograph: Dave Rowland/Getty Images

The decision will have significant ramifications for the New Zealand economy, particularly the travel industry on which the South Pacific nation is deeply reliant.

The two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country – announced earlier today – are an Australian man in 60s who arrived in Wellington from Brisbane on March 14; and woman in her 30s from Denmark who arrived in Auckland on March 10, then flew to Christchurch, Stuff.nz reports.

Updated

In Australia, the state of New South Wales has confirmed 22 new coronavirus cases.

NSW Health has updated the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the state to 134.

That’s 22 new cases confirmed in the 24 hours from 11 am Saturday to 11 am Sunday.

Of the new cases, three people had recently travelled to the United States and their overseas travel is considered the likely source. Another case had returned from Singapore and another from the Philippines.

Five have caught the infection after contact with other confirmed cases of Covid-19. The source for the remainder of the 22 new cases is still being investigated. One of the cases under investigation is a 40-year-old man who had also recently travelled to the US and another 32-year-old man was also listed as having recently travelled overseas.

Some other data from NSW Health:

The total number of cases that are under investigation as possible Covid-19 cases is 1924.

20,511 other people have returned negative tests for Covid-19.

Updated

There’s a new coronavirus meme: people – and trams – as hand sanitisers.

Here is Harry Styles:

Here are Melbourne trams:

Here is lil Uzi Vert:

UK trade secretary Liz Truss:

Timothée Chalamet:

Police begin sealing off Metro Manila, home to 12 million

In the Philippines, police have started sealing off metropolitan Manila, home to more than 12 million people, AP reports.

Filipino soldiers wait to be deployed at checkpoints amid a coronavirus emergency lockdown, in Valenzuela, south of Manila, Philippines, 15 March 2020.
Filipino soldiers wait to be deployed at checkpoints amid a coronavirus emergency lockdown, in Valenzuela, south of Manila, Philippines, 15 March 2020. Photograph: EPA

Thousands of police, backed by the army and coast guard, started sealing the densely populated capital from most domestic travellers Sunday in one of south-east Asia’s most drastic containment moves against the new coronavirus.

Mayors also announced plans to impose a night curfew in metropolitan Manila. Residents have been asked to stay home except for work and urgent errands under month-long restrictions that took effect Sunday.

The city-wide quarantine means the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region. Large gatherings like concerts, movies and cockfighting will be prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended in the metropolis. School closures at all levels were extended by a month.

Officials said the temporary restrictions will not amount to a lockdown of the capital because many workers and emergency personnel like medical staff will be able to enter and leave the capital. Residents can move within the metropolis on their way to work or for urgent errands, including medical emergencies, officials said.

Updated

In Australia, Dr Adam Visser, the director of critical care at Toowoomba hospital in regional Queensland, has posted an impassioned plea for the Australian community to take individual action to help “flatten the curve” and keep intensive care units from being overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases.

I’m an intensive care specialist in a small city.

Coronavirus isn’t just like the flu, but it’s only really very dangerous to the elderly or the already unwell. Quite a lot of people in their 80s will die, but most of the rest of us will probably be OK.

If you’re in your 70s and you get Coronavirus, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

If you’re in your 60s and you have a heart attack, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

If you’re in your 50s and need bowel cancer surgery, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

If you’re in your 40s and have a bad car accident, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

If you’re in your 30s and have terrible pre-eclampsia as a complication of pregnancy, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

If you’re in your 20s and have a bad reaction to a party drug, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

I have 7 beds equipped with life support machines. We have a plan to increase to about 25. Getting more isn’t a matter or more equipment or more money, that bit is easy. There are not enough skilled staff, even if we all work double shifts every day for six months (and we probably will).

If 50% of my city gets infected, that’s 75,000 people. If 5% of them need life support (which is the estimate), that’s 3750 people. For 25 beds.

And then I might not have a bed for you.

So it’s up to you to flatten the curve. Wash your hands. Stay home.

Visser finished his post asking the prime minister to “lock down” Australia to halt the spread of Covid-19.

Updated

In transport news that’s a little more fun:

Updated

Chaos at US airports

Meanwhile, social media users are posting pictures from US airports – Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas – showing general chaos and tightly packed crowds.

Updated

In the US, United Airlines Co said late Saturday it would begin cutting flights to the United Kingdom after Washington expanded travel restrictions to Britain and Ireland, and Southwest Airlines moved toward flight cuts as the coronavirus outbreak sapped demand.

Delta Airlines Inc also said it planned to start cutting flights to the United Kingdom.
Southwest, one of the few U.S. airlines still flying a full schedule, said it was “seriously considering” cutting flights.

Delta airlines planes are parked at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on March 13, 2020 in New York City.
Delta airlines planes are parked at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on March 13, 2020 in New York City. Photograph: VIEW press#478422#51B ED/Corbis via Getty Images

US Vice President Mike Pence said restrictions on the UK and Ireland will begin Monday at midnight, barring most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States who have been in those countries within the last 14 days.

They do not bar flights to and from the United States, and Americans and permanent residents can still travel.

US airlines are scrambling to shore up capital. Among cost-cutting measures, airlines are offering employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence to match staffing with flights.

On Friday, Delta said it would cut capacity 40% in the next few months, the largest reduction in its history. It will eliminate nearly all flights to continental Europe for 30 days and will park up to 300 aircraft.

United and American Airlines also announced cuts to European service this week.

Updated

In Australia, the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says the country will need to look at tougher travel rules, similar to those that have been enacted in New Zealand, to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, reacts as he speaks to the media after arriving for the Meeting of the Council of Australian Governments at Parramatta Stadium in western Sydney on March 13, 2020.
The Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, reacts as he speaks to the media after arriving for the Meeting of the Council of Australian Governments at Parramatta Stadium in western Sydney on March 13, 2020. Photograph: David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

And he says restrictions should be in place for travellers from the United States.

“It’s a little difficult to explain why say China, who have very few new cases, there are travel bans there, but the United States, people are free to travel when we’re seeing many, many new cases and indeed the majority of Victoria’s new cases are connected to those who have travelled from the United States,” Andrews said at a media conference on Sunday.

He said he would be arguing for tougher measures during today’s meeting of the new national cabinet set up to deal with Covid-19.

“I think that arrangements similar to New Zealand will absolutely be on the agenda to be discussed today”.

New Zealand now requires all travellers entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days to try to stop the spread of the virus.

Andrews said he would also move “swiftly” to close Victorian schools if and when he has such advice from health authorities.

“It’s much more likely when, rather than if,” he said.

Updated

In Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson news, it appears that so far the couple have not passed on their coronavirus infections – which they announced earlier this week – to any members of the cast and crew of the Elvis Presley biopic they are in Australia to film.

A representative for the production said no cast or crew had come down with the virus although production had ceased for two weeks.

“We are aware of only the one case of the coronavirus amongst our cast and crew, and additionally the cast member’s wife,” the statement said.

“Working closely with the Queensland Health Department we have delayed our start date by approximately two weeks to allow for the cast member’s full recovery.”

Hanks tweeted on Friday that the pair were “taking it one day at a time” while in isolation in a Gold Coast, Queensland hospital.

New Zealand has confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, one of which is an Australian man. We’ll have more on this soon.

In Australia, the Sydney climate strike scheduled for 15 May has been cancelled, School Strike 4 Climate has announced on Facebook.

Student activists from School Strike for Climate Australia hold placards during a ‘Solidarity Sit-down’ outside of the office of the Liberal Party of Australia in Sydney, Friday, November 29, 2019.
Student activists from School Strike for Climate Australia hold placards during a ‘Solidarity Sit-down’ outside of the office of the Liberal Party of Australia in Sydney, Friday, November 29, 2019. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

The post adds:

“The good news is that we are still intending to hold powerful online activities for May 15 and will be in touch about this once the plan has been confirmed. The fight for climate justice continues!”

A 78-year-old Canadian who was on a cruise ship isolated in Brazil’s northeastern port of Recife tested positive for coronavirus, Brazilian TV network Globo reported on Saturday, citing a press conference.

Aerial view of the Silver Shadow cruise ship isolated in Recife, Brazil, 13 March 2020.
Aerial view of the Silver Shadow cruise ship isolated in Recife, Brazil, 13 March 2020. Photograph: Carlos Ezequiel Vannoni/EPA


The ship with 609 people on board has been isolated in Recife since Thursday morning after this passenger showed symptoms similar to those of the new coronavirus.
An Irish woman who was also in the cruise ship is also being tested.

The remaining passengers and crew members are still being kept in isolation in their cabins. The vessel, with the Bahamas flag, came from the Brazilian port city of Salvador.

The Pernambuco state health secretariat did not immediately confirm the report.

Brazil’s health ministry confirmed 121 coronavirus cases in the country in Saturday, 23 more than on Friday.

In an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two most hit by the virus, ordered schools to shut down.

Updated

Downward trend continues in South Korea

South Korea reported 76 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 8,162 with 75 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The latest numbers are in line with a downward trend in new cases, down from the 107 recorded on Saturday.

A medical worker changes his protective gear after his duty at a hospital facility to treat coronavirus patients in Daegu, South Korea, March 14, 2020.
A medical worker changes his protective gear after his duty at a hospital facility to treat coronavirus patients in Daegu, South Korea, March 14, 2020. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Updated

Mexico has registered a rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 41 – from 26 a day earlier, the Mexican health ministry said on Saturday. The country has not confirmed any deaths from the fast-spreading virus.

The country’s 33 million students will head into earlier and longer Easter vacations at the end of next week after Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma on Saturday announced measures to help avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

A nurse provides antibacterial gel to a patient who goes through a “sanitary filter”, at the Jalisco Dermatological Institute in Guadalajara, Mexico, on March 13, 2020.
A nurse provides antibacterial gel to a patient who goes through a “sanitary filter”, at the Jalisco Dermatological Institute in Guadalajara, Mexico, on March 13, 2020. Photograph: Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images

Earlier this week, governments of El Salvador, Panama and Peru all ordered short-term suspension of classes.

Updated

There’s a fairly heartbreaking video out of Italy, showing the striking increase in obituaries in daily Italian newspaper L’Eco di Bergamo. Bergamo is a city northeast of Milan.

The video compares the obituary pages on 9 February 2020 and 13 March 2020:

One of the world’s most respected economists, Mohamed El-Erian, has doubled down on his warnings about the scale of the economic shock resulting from the coronavirus crisis.

The chief economic adviser to the insurance company Allianz has written for Bloomberg about what he calls the “huge paradigm shift for economies, institutions, and social norms and practices” now affecting the whole world.

El-Erian, who voiced his concerns to the Guardian three days ago, goes on to say that the impact will be greater than anything experienced by most people in advanced countries – presumably meaning all those under the age of 75 who can’t remember the second world war or the 1930s depression.

Here is an excerpt from his piece:

Think of what is happening as a huge paradigm shift for economies, institutions, and social norms and practices that, critically, are not wired for such a phenomenon. It requires us to understand the dynamics, not only to navigate them well but also to avoid behaviours that make the situation a lot worse.

The bottom line is that the economic disruptions immediately ahead will be more severe and widespread than the ones experienced by the bulk of the population in advanced countries.

We live in a global economy wired for ever deepening interconnectivity; and we are living through a period in which the current phase of health policy — emphasising social distancing, separation and isolation — runs counter to what drives economic growth, prosperity and financial stability. The effects of these two basic factors will be amplified by the economics of fear and uncertainty that tempt everyone not just to clear out supermarket shelves but sadly also reignite terrible conscious and unconscious biases.

Australia’s new national cabinet is set to meet Sunday. The country’s confirmed cases of coronavirus now stand at over 250 and the government is facing questions about the possible closure of schools and tighter border controls, Reuters reports.

The government has already advised against non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday, though this does not include schools, airports or public transport.

A security guard wears a face mask as a preventative measure against Coronavirus Covid-19 in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia on March 14, 2020.
A security guard wears a face mask as a preventative measure against Coronavirus Covid-19 in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia on March 14, 2020. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images


The national cabinet which includes federal, state and territory leaders, dubbed a “war cabinet” by the media, will hold its first meeting via teleconference on Sunday to discuss the response to the spread of the virus.
The meeting is expected to canvas whether schools should be closed and whether border controls should be further tightened to contain Covid-19.

“We are rightly, keeping all options on the table, whether it’s in relation to travel or whether it’s in relation to schools. The schools question will be very much guided by the medical advice,” Health Minister Greg Hunt told ABC television.

“One of the things that they have talked about, is not moving too early on something like that.”

Visitors who have been in high-risk nations are already banned from entering Australia, while New Zealand on Saturday said it would require incoming travellers, including its own citizens, to self-isolate for two weeks.

Updated

In Australia, Nine news is reporting that a group of Australian surfers are stuck on their boat in an Indonesian port after they were prevented from disembarking due to measures in place to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The men told Nine they were down to their last supplies of food and water and they had contacted the Australian government seeking assistance.

Guardian Australia has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment and to confirm if they are assisting.

Morale boosting efforts deployed from balconies are catching on in Portugal, it seems. A Twitter user has alerted us to this video of people applauding for healthcare workers.

Videos of people singing and playing instruments from their balconies in Italy have flooded social media in recent days as that country endures nationwide lockdown.

You can find more here with the hashtag #somostodossns

Updated

US clothing brand Everlane has joined Apple, Urban Outfitters and Verizon in closing stores over coronavirus concerns.

“Effective tomorrow, we are closing out retail stores until March 28 and offering compensation to our retail team members during this time,” Everlane said in an email to customers.

Apple Inc said it is closing all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission, a move that was followed by several U.S. retailers on Saturday.

An employee holds an iPad outside an Apple Store which is closed during the global outbreak of coronavirus in Pasadena, California, U.S., March 14, 2020.
An employee holds an iPad outside an Apple Store which is closed during the global outbreak of coronavirus in Pasadena, California, U.S., March 14, 2020. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Apple’s hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operation, Cook said, and online sales will continue as usual, said CEO Tim Cook.

Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc., which owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People, said on Saturday it was closing all of its consumer stores worldwide until at least March 28. The company also said it would continue to pay its store employees while stores are closed.

Verizon Communications Inc. said it was temporarily closing “a number of its stores” across the United States in order to expand its work from home policy to include some of its retail employees.
Retailers are bracing for a blow to sales as virus-wary shoppers in Europe and the United States stay home. US retailers including Macy’s Inc, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gap Inc.’s Banana Republic sent notices to shoppers on Thursday saying they were open for business in a move to stem losses due to a steep decline in traffic.

An update on the new confirmed cases from overseas in mainland China now, which for the second day surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections.

Mainland China had 20 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on March 14, up from 11 cases a day earlier. Of Saturday’s cases, 16 involved travellers entering China from overseas, it said.

The remaining four cases were recorded in the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have first begun. Saturday also marked the tenth consecutive day where Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, recorded zero new infections outside Wuhan.

Traffic police officers wear protective masks in a street on March 14, 2020 in Shanghai, China.
Traffic police officers wear protective masks in a street on March 14, 2020 in Shanghai, China. Photograph: Yifan Ding/Getty Images

Of the 16 imported cases, 5 were found in the capital Beijing and three in Shanghai. The provinces of Zhejiang, Gansu and Guangdong respectively reported four, three and one cases.

The Shanghai case involved a Chinese native who lived in the Italian city of Milan, and travelled back to China via Frankfurt on March 12, the government said.

The Gansu government said one of its cases was found on a charter flight from Iran while the other two were travellers from Saudi Arabia.

Updated

In the US, Georgia’s presidential primaries, which were set to take place on 24 March, have been postponed until May because of fears over the new coronavirus, state election officials announced Saturday, a day after Louisiana also pushed back its primaries, becoming the first state to postpone its presidential primaries due to the virus.

In addition to public safety, one of the biggest considerations was the risk the virus posed to poll workers, who are often older, election officials said.

Georgia is reporting 66 confirmed cases, with most concentrated around metro Atlanta. One death in the state has been attributed to the virus.

Detailed view of discounted merchandise being sold at a store in the CNN Center after the NCAA Final Four was cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Detailed view of discounted merchandise being sold at a store in the CNN Center after the NCAA Final Four was cancelled due to the coronavirus. Photograph: Brett Davis/USA Today Sports

Staying in Australia for the moment, AAP reports that there is “slight optimism that Australian shares will have a positive start on Monday after the Futures market ended with a small gain over the weekend.”

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the “amazing” turnaround in the US markets on Friday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1985 points, or 9.4% and the Futures also finished higher augured well for Monday’s opening.

He said US President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency late last week over the fast-spreading coronavirus had a positive impact on the share market.

However, investors would react more positively if the number of people contracting coronavirus stabilised or even better, started to decline, Mr James.

“What investors want to see is a stabilisation of the Covid19 active cases globally, but if we saw a stabilisation in Australia that would certainly be encouraging for our local market.”

In Australia, eight more Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Victoria, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 57.

The new cases include six men and two women with ages ranging from their
teens to 60s. The Victorian health department wrote in a press release:

One is a student – a known contact of case 17, a teacher from Carey Grammar. The student was not at school during their infectious period. The school will remain closed until the holidays. And, as a precaution, 12 classmates will home-isolate.

All cases are recovering at home in isolation. All were acquired overseas or through close contact with known, confirmed cases of Covid-19.

At the present time, there remains only one confirmed case of Covid-19 in Victoria that may have been acquired through community transmission.

Updated

More on Trump’s negative result now.

The White House released the test results Saturday night after Trump – a self-described germaphobe – told reporters hours earlier that he had taken the coronavirus test, following days of resisting being screened despite the fact that he had been in recent contact with three people who have tested positive for the virus, including members of the Brazilian president’s delegation who visited with him at his Florida resort, AP reports.

Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Saturday that he had his temperature taken and it was “totally normal,” shortly before stepping into the room to discuss the government’s efforts to halt the spread of the virus. The pandemic has now infected more than 2,200 people in the U.S. and caused at least 50 deaths.

The president had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have since tested positive for the virus, including three people he spent time with last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The president, according to two people close to the White House, had been reluctant to take the test for fear it would project weakness or worry. Trump has wanted to appear in full control during the crisis, and had expressed concerns that taking personal steps could undermine that appearance.

He hasn’t yet tweeted about the result.

Updated

Just in case you missed this, Donald Trump has tested negative for coronavirus.

US President Donald Trump responds to a question from the news media during a press conference in the press briefing room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 14 March 2020.
US President Donald Trump responds to a question from the news media during a press conference in the press briefing room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 14 March 2020. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

A White House physician has issued a statement confirming that Donald Trump does not have Covid-19.

It comes after the US president confirmed he had been tested for the virus at a press briefing earlier on Saturday.

If you happen to spot interesting or cheering coronavirus news – or anything I’ve missed – please do drop me a line on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Summary

Hello and welcome to today’s coronavirus liveblog. US President Donald Trump has tested negative, the Spanish PM’s wife has tested positive, and more countries are announcing states of emergency, lockdowns and partial shutdowns.

  • Donald Trump has tested negative. Trump’s physician, Sean Conley, confirmed the US president does not have Covid-19. Earlier on Saturday, vice-president Mike Pence announced that the country’s European travel ban would be extended to the UK and Ireland from midnight on Monday (eastern standard time).
  • The Global number of confirmed cases stands at 156,098, with 5,819 deaths. As of today 72,621 people have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University. The institution runs a live tracker of coronavirus cases, based on official figures, meaning that the true figures may be somewhat higher.
  • A group of more than 240 UK scientists have denounced the British government’s plan to achieve “herd immunity” by delaying measures to prevent the virus spreading. The group said that enforcing social distancing now could save “thousands of lives”.
  • The Spanish government has formally declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus, placing the country in lockdown and ordering people to stay at home for the next two weeks unless they have to buy food or medicine or go to work or hospital.
  • The Spanish PM’s wife has tested positive for coronavirus. The Spanish government announced that the prime minister’s wife, Begoña Gómez, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
  • Israel proposes uses anti-terrorism tracking tech. Israel has – like France and Spain – announced a partial closure of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added that he hopes to deploy anti-terrorism tracking technology to locate people who have been in contact with those carrying the virus.
  • Colombia closes border with Venezuela and Ecuador bans foreigners. Colombia overnight closed its border with Venezuela in order to stem the spread of Covid-19 in the South American nation.
  • Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus and will close all air and sea ports from Monday, prime minister Fayez al-Serraj said on Saturday.
  • Rwanda, Seychelles and Central African Republic confirmed their first coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of African countries that have reported positive tests for the virus to 23.
  • NHS and private hospitals join forces to fight coronavirus. The NHS will form an unprecedented partnership with the private health sector this week in an emergency plan to combat the Covid-19 crisis, amid fears the UK’s publicly-funded hospitals will be unable to cope with the number of coronavirus patients.

Updated

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