We’re closing this blog and have launched a new one at the link below. Head over there for the latest global coronavirus news throughout the day:
Peru police arrest Chinese man for illegal Covid-19 testing
Police in Lima on Sunday arrested a Chinese citizen for illegally conducting rapid Covid-19 tests on the public with newly-delivered kits stolen from Peru’s health ministry, AFP reports.
Tianxing Zhang, 36, was arrested in the Brena district of Lima as he was about to take samples from two women at the door of their house, police said.
He “was proceeding to carry out rapid tests for Covid-19 that he had stolen” from the Lima Sur health authority where he worked, according to a police statement.
Zhang was wearing a mask and a light blue medical apron at the time of his arrest by the state security police.
Both women had paid him to carry out a rapid home test, without health ministry approval.
“When questioned, he acknowledged he was not authorised to carry out this rapid test and that the Rapid Diagnostic Tests had been stolen from the Directorate of Integrated Health Network of Lima Sur where he had worked,” the police said.
According to the police, the bespectacled Zhang confessed to stealing two batches of the test to use, for monetary gain, on people who suspected they were ill with the coronavirus.
Police found a backpack with 25 Covid-19 tests and other medical supplies at his home.
Updated
US nursing home deaths soar past 3,300 in alarming surge
More than 3,300 deaths across the US have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by the Associated Press.
Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, the AP has kept its own running tally based on media reports and state health departments. The latest count of at least 3,321 deaths is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago.
But the true toll among the 1 million mostly frail and elderly people who live in such facilities is likely much higher, experts say, because most state counts don’t include those who died without ever being tested for Covid-19.
Christians around the world celebrated an Easter Sunday upended by the coronavirus without the usual crowded church Masses and large family gatherings.
Instead, they turned to the internet, television and radio from home to follow services that noted the grave impact of the pandemic. Some found novel ways to mark the holy day. Others still assembled in groups, but took precautions to try to avoid infection, AP reports.
Here’s a sample of Easter events around the world:
At the Vatican, St Peters Square was empty of crowds and ringed by police barricades. Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely vacant basilica, calling for solidarity the world over to confront the epochal challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the central German city of Hildesheim, around 400 people participated in a drive-in Catholic Mass for Easter Sunday.
At one of the biggest churches in South Korea, Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, a small number of masked church followers attended the service broadcast online via the church’s website.
Fauci says 'rolling reentry' of US economy possible in May
In the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases expert and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force said on Sunday that the economy in parts of the country could have a rolling reentry as early as next month, provided health authorities can quickly identify and isolate people who will inevitably be infected with the coronavirus.
Dr Anthony Fauci also said he can’t guarantee” that it will be safe for Americans to vote in person on Election Day, 3 November.
Fauci said the process will be gradual and based on the status of the pandemic in various parts of the US, as well as the availability of rapid, widespread testing. “Once the number of people who are seriously ill sharply declines, officials can begin to think about a gradual reentry of some sort of normality, some rolling reentry,” Fauci said.
In some places, he said, that might occur as soon as May. But whenever restrictions ease, Fauci said, “we know that there will be people who will be getting infected.”
Social distancing guidelines imposed by President Donald Trump are set to expire 30 April. Trump is eager to restart the economy, which has stalled because most Americans are under orders to stay at home to help slow the virus spread.
But other senior US public health officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s eagerness to reopen the country quickly, as a senior World Health Organization (WHO) figure warned that Covid-19 “is going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come”:
Updated
Hi, I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours.
You can get in touch with me directly at any time on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Summary
I’m handing over to my colleague Helen Sullivan in Sydney now. Thanks for reading. Here is a quick roundup of the latest developments.
- The global number of confirmed cases has passed 1.8m, reaching 1,844,410, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. There have been over 113,000 deaths globally.
- Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno and his cabinet members have taken 50% pay cuts in a bid to tackle the pandemic’s economic effects on the country.
- A former Israeli chief rabbi has died from coronavirus complications. Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron died from complications from the virus in a Jerusalem hospital, aged 79.
- UK government is facing mounting criticism over its coronavirus response, particularly over its failure to secure enough personal protective equipment and tests for NHS and care workers as the country’s death toll passed 10,000. This follows a warning that that the UK could experience the highest coronavirus death toll in Europe.
- China has vowed to improve treatment of Africans in the southern city of Guangzhou following international pressure. Facing accusations of discrimination linked to the pandemic, China said it rejected all “racist and discriminatory” remarks.
- Süleyman Soylu, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has resigned following the bungled handling of the country’s lockdown, only to have his resignation rejected by Erdoğan.
- Jordan has extended its month-long lockdown until the end of April. The country, which has registered 389 coronavirus cases and seven deaths, declared a 24-hour, nationwide curfew on March 20.
- Sudan has announced it is banning all passenger road transport between cities and introducing emergency laws to enforce measures aimed at stopping Covid-19’s spread. The country has 19 confirmed coronavirus cases and two deaths.
- Senior US public health officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s eagerness to reopen the country quickly, as a senior World Health Organization figure warned that Covid-19 “is going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come”.
- France’s death toll has continued to slow, with the country reporting a drop in coronavirus deaths on the previous 24 hours. There were 315 deaths in hospital over the last day, compared with 345 the day earlier.
Updated
Ecuador's president slashes cabinet members' salaries
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno and his cabinet members have taken 50% pay cuts in a bid to tackle the pandemic’s economic effect on the country.
In recent weeks, the outbreak has overwhelmed sanitary authorities in the largest city of Guayaquil, where corpses have remained in homes or on the streets for hours.
The salary reductions will also affect state officials including lawmakers in the National Assembly, who have heavily criticised Moreno’s plans to increase taxes to protect government finances amid the pandemic.
“I have arranged a 50% reduction in the monthly income of the President, Vice President, Ministers and Vice Ministers,” Moreno tweeted.
He dispuesto reducir el 50% del ingreso mensual a Presidente, Vicepresidente, Ministros y Viceministros. De la misma manera lo harán todas las funciones del Estado, Gob. Seccionales, en especial @AsambleaEcuador, porque #AEcuadorLoSacamosTodos.
— Lenín Moreno (@Lenin) April 12, 2020
Ecuador has registered 7,466 infections and 333 deaths. Reuters reports that another 384 people are believed to have died of coronavirus, but the cases have not been confirmed because the victims were not tested.
Moreno has proposed creating a humanitarian assistance fund that would collect 5% of the profits with reported revenue exceeding $1 million in 2018, and would tax workers with monthly salaries of more than $500. The measures have been criticised as unfair on workers.
Updated
A former Israeli chief rabbi has died after contracting the coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, who served from 1993 to 2003 as the state’s top chaplain for Sephardim, or Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent, died late on Sunday from complications from the virus in a Jerusalem hospital, aged 79, Israeli media said.
“Tragically, Rabbi Bakshi-Doron contracted the coronavirus and doctors’ efforts to save him did not succeed,” Netanyahu said in a statement. Israel has reported 11,145 confirmed cases and 103 deaths.
Updated
In case you missed it, here’s a handy explainer on how to make sense of the constant flurry of coronavirus statistics
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has rejected the resignation of interior minister Süleyman Soylu.
“The resignation of our interior minister has not been accepted by the president, he will continue his duty,” the presidency’s communications directorate said.
Soylu had said he was resigning after criticism of the implementation of the country’s weekend lockdown.
Updated
Criticism of the UK government’s response to the crisis is growing, report Rowena Mason and Haroon Siddique, particularly over its failure to get enough personal protective equipment and testing kits to NHS and care workers.
It comes as a government adviser also warned that the UK could experience the highest death toll from coronavirus in Europe on a day when the number of fatalities in British hospitals passed 10,000. Read the full story here:
The Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli performed inside the empty Milan Duomo on Sunday as millions tuned in via livestream.
Bocelli said: “I will cherish the emotion of this unprecedented and profound experience, of this Holy Easter which this emergency has made painful, but at the same time even more fruitful, one that will stay among my dearest memories of all time.”
The Andrea Bocelli Foundation has started a fundraiser to help hospitals purchase the necessary instruments and equipment to protect their medical staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has so far raised more than 200,000 euros.
The UK has cancelled an order for thousands of units of a simple model of ventilator developed to treat Covid-19 because more sophisticated models are now needed, Reuters reports.
“We are no longer supporting the production of the BlueSky device following a reassessment of the product’s viability in light of the ever developing picture around what is needed to most effectively treat COVID-19,” said a spokesman for the Cabinet Office, which is coordinating ventilator orders.
“We are continuing to work at unprecedented speed with a number of other manufacturers to scale up UK production of ventilators.”
The government has appealed to industry to come forward with new models that could be produced on a large scale at short notice. Over 30,000 ventilators in total have been ordered from various firms from sectors including aerospace, engineering and Formula One.
Following international pressure, China has vowed to improve the treatment of Africans in the southern city of Guangzhou after facing accusations of discrimination linked to the pandemic, and said it rejected all “racist and discriminatory” remarks.
Africans in the industrial centre of 15 million say they have become targets of suspicion and subjected to forced evictions, arbitrary quarantines and mass coronavirus testing, particularly as Beijing steps up its fight against imported coronavirus cases.
The African Union expressed its “extreme concern” about the situation, calling on Beijing to take immediate corrective action. Meanwhile, the United States denounced what it called “xenophobia towards Africans by Chinese authorities.”
A recent cluster of coronavirus cases linked to the Nigerian community in Guangzhou, southern China’s largest city, sparked the alleged discrimination by locals and virus-prevention officials. Several Africans told AFP they had been forcibly evicted from their homes and turned away by hotels.
“The Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the life and health of foreign nationals in China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement.
“The Guangdong (provincial) authorities attach great importance to some African countries’ concerns and are working promptly to improve their working method,” he added.
Among the measures Zhao announced were non-discriminatory health management services and hotels for foreigners who are required to undergo medical observation, to be offered at reduced rates for those in need.
Updated
In the UK, police are looking for thieves who stole personal protective equipment (PPE) from an NHS building, according to the Press Association.
The raid took place at the offices of the Care Homes medical practice in Salford, which cares for patients living in nursing and residential homes. Police were called to the premises shortly before 7.50am on Sunday and discovered that a number of laptops and a quantity of petty cash had also been taken. Inquiries are ongoing.
A spokeswoman for Salford Royal NHS foundation trust said: “We are shocked and saddened that one of our community bases has been burgled and belongings stolen, including some items of PPE equipment. Our priority has been supporting staff based at this unit and ensuring they have access to the equipment that they need to carry out their roles.
“It’s a testament to staff that service delivery has not been significantly impacted today following this incident. We will support Greater Manchester police in their ongoing inquiries.”
Updated
Police have caught a church in Paris holding a traditional Easter mass with dozens of worshippers, flouting the strict rules imposed to fight coronavirus, AFP reports.
Religious services and all gatherings have been banned in France for the past month, but the traditional Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Catholic church in the centre of Paris held an Easter mass late on Saturday, police sources said.
The priest was warned and booked for not respecting the confinement rules, the source said. This would have made him liable for a €200 (£176) fine.
Police had been tipped off by local residents who had heard music coming from the church in the fifth arrondissement in the heart of the French capital.
Updated
Turkey's interior minister resigns
This has just come in from the Guardian’s Turkey and Middle East correspondent, Bethan McKernan:
Turkey’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has resigned from his post after the bungled handling of a total lockdown across 31 Turkish cities over the weekend to contain Covid-19.
The government announced on Friday at 10.30pm that a 48-hour-long lockdown during which people would not be allowed to leave home would go into effect at midnight, causing panic across the country as people rushed to shops and bakeries to stock up before the curfew.
While officials rushed to reassure citizens that the lockdown would not affect basics such as groceries and pharmacies, the last-minute decision was heavily criticised by civilians and politicians alike. Istanbul – home to 16 million people – had a significant surge in panic buying and traffic backed up as people made late-night trips to check on loved ones.
The city’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu of the opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP), said in a video posted to Twitter that his municipality had not informed in advance of the expected shutdown.
Soylu addressed the criticism in remarks to Turkish media on Sunday morning, accepting “full responsibility” for Friday’s events, but announce his resignation via Twitter on Sunday evening.
“I acted in good faith ... to prevent the epidemic spreading,” Soylu wrote. “The scenes that occured before the lockdown began, even for a short time, are my responsibility. My actions should not have caused this.”
Political resignations are rare in Turkey. The last time a minister from the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party stepped down was in 2013.
Turkey has become one of the countries with the fastest rising number of recorded cases, which stood at 56,956 on Sunday.
Erdoğan, usually no stranger to heavy-handed tactics, has resisted calls by doctors’ unions and opposition politicians to order people to stop going to work and stay home, insisting that the “wheels of the economy must keep turning”.
Updated
Jordan has extended its month-long lockdown until the end of April, according to Reuters.
A government spokesman said Prime Minister Omar Razzaz took the decision in light of “developments and recommendations” related to the pandemic. The country has registered 389 coronavirus cases and seven deaths.
Jordan declared a 24-hour, nationwide curfew on March 20. The lockdown followed the Jordanian monarchy enacting emergency laws to give the government powers to restrict civil and political rights.
Updated
Sudan introduces emergency laws
Sudan has announced that it is banning all passenger road transport between cities and introducing emergency laws to enforce measures aimed at stopping Covid-19’s spread.
The country has 19 confirmed coronavirus cases and two deaths. Reports reports that officials are eager to prevent the virus’s spread, especially in light of the country’s economic crisis and weakened health system.
Authorities have imposed a 12-hour curfew, shut down schools, universities and clubs, and banned gatherings, but compliance with the rules has been uneven. Emergency laws means those breaking quarantine rules, hiding information or impeding medical treatment could now face criminal prosecution.
Updated
Meanwhile in the United States, President Trump is facing opposition to his keenness for a swift reopening of the economy.
Richard Luscombe, Edward Helmore and Martin Pengelly report: “Senior US public health officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s eagerness to reopen the country quickly, as a senior World Health Organization (WHO) figure warned that Covid-19 ‘is going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come’.
“According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, by Sunday lunchtime more than 530,000 Covid-19 cases had been confirmed in the US and close to 21,000 deaths, making the US the country with the most cases and the most fatalities.”
Updated
Greece has registered five fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 98, authorities say. AP reports that all the victims were men. The country now has a total of 2,114 confirmed cases of the virus, with 33 added since Saturday afternoon.
Authorities remain concerned that people will flout the country’s strict quarantine measures during the Orthodox Easter next Sunday. The feast is usually a period of mass exodus to the countryside, and on Sunday, 38 people were stopped trying to leave cities and fined €300 each.
Updated
Correspondents Tom Phillips and Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro have reported that experts fear the consequences of Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, continuing to downplay the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to public health.
Medical experts have said they fear that Bolsonaro could be hastening the country’s march towards a devastating public health crisis like those to have hit northern Italy and New York by undermining social distancing measures.
Updated
France's death toll continues slow
France has reported a drop in coronavirus deaths on the previous 24 hours, with the total toll now 14,393, AFP reports. There were 315 deaths in hospital over the last day, compared with 345 the day earlier.
The health ministry confirmed that a “plateau” appeared to have been reached but warned the situation remained serious despite the slightly improving data.
The country announced a total of 95,403 confirmed coronavirus cases. The country’s nursing and care homes report 37,188 confirmed or suspected cases, according to Reuters.
Updated
Summary
Here is a roundup of the latest developments around the world.
- The global death toll has passed 110,000, reaching 110,892, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The number of confirmed cases has passed 1.8m.
- Singapore has announced 233 new infections, bringing the total number to 2,532.
- Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun returning to Idlib, some driven by fear of the spread of the coronavirus to camps by the Turkish border.
- Italy’s death toll has continued to slow, reporting 431 deaths - the lowest daily rise since 19 March.
- Spain’s daily death toll has risen after falling for three days in a row, with 619 new deaths registered in the last 24 hours compared to 510 the day before.
- New York’s death toll has slowed, with governor Andrew Cuomo announcing there have been 758 deaths in the state in the last day, down from 783 the day before.
- The UK’s death toll has passed 10,000, as the government confirms that the total number of deaths from coronavirus in UK hospitals has reached 10,612.
- The Netherlands has topped 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, while the number of deaths has risen by 94 to 2,737.
- Boris Johnson has been discharged from hospital. He thanked the NHS for “saving [his] life” after leaving St Thomas’ hospital in south London where he had been hospitalised for a week.
- Italy has ordered 149 migrants onboard a rescue ship off its coast to be quarantined and tested for the coronavirus before they can disembark.
Updated
Singapore has registered 233 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,532.
Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun returning to their homes in war-torn Idlib province, some driven by fear of the spread of the coronavirus in camps by the Turkish border.
Reuters reports that about 1 million Syrians fled Idlib and the surrounding countryside in northwest Syria this past year after Russian-backed government forces escalated a campaign to retake the last rebel stronghold. Fighting has calmed since a ceasefire was agreed in March.
While Syria’s north-west does not yet have a confirmed case of coronavirus, doctors fear the area’s ravaged medical infrastructure and crowded camps would rapidly turn any outbreak into a humanitarian disaster.
As the tentative peace holds, displaced Syrians are faced with a grim choice: remain in overflowing camps where an outbreak could be deadly, or return home at risk of getting caught in renewed fighting.
“Our lives go from danger to danger as we flee from bombing, the regime, and conflict, to overcrowding and coronavirus,” Abu Abdo, 45, told the news agency.
Updated
The number of fatalities from coronavirus in Italy rose by 431 on Sunday, the lowest daily rise since 19 March.
The civil protection authority said 102,253 people are currently infected with the virus, 1,984 more than on Saturday (2%). The curve for infections has been flattening over the past week or so, and Walter Ricciardi, the scientific adviser to the Italian government on the coronavirus outbreak, told the Guardian last week that the plateau could continue for 20-25 days before there is a definitive decrease.
To date, there have been 156,363 cases of coronavirus in Italy, including 19,899 victims and 34,211 survivors.
Updated
Spain's death toll rises
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has warned that the country is “far from victory” in its fight against the coronavirus as the country’s death toll rose again after falling for three days in a row.
The country registered 619 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 16,972, the health ministry said, the highest in the world after the US and Italy. The toll was 510 on Saturday, the lowest since 23 March, according to AFP.
Conversely, the number of new infections continued to slow, rising by 4,167 to 166,019, a smaller increase than was recorded on Saturday.
Although health chiefs say the pandemic has peaked, they have urged citizens to strictly follow the national lockdown which began on 14 March.
“We are still far from victory, from the moment when he will recover normality in our lives,” Sanchez said during a televised address.
“We are all keen to go back out on the streets … but out desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse,” he added.
Updated
To follow New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus briefing, head over to our US live blog.
The governor reports there were 758 deaths in the last day, down from 783 the day before.
A total of 9,385 people have died from Covid-19 across the state since the start of the outbreak, and the total number of hospitalisations is at about 18,700.
Updated
The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has tweeted his support for health services and congratulated Boris Johnson on his recovery after he was discharged from hospital.
Very glad to hear the good news, @BorisJohnson, 🇬🇧 Prime Minister. I join you in #ThanksHealthHeroes from @NHSuk & all the world's health services for keeping people safe from #COVID19. I am also grateful to everyone staying at home to be safe. https://t.co/9NxN7fRL6R
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 12, 2020
Updated
Meanwhile in India, ten tourists have been forced to write ‘sorry’ 500 times after breaching the country’s lockdown.
AFP reports that the travellers - from Israel, Mexico, Australia and Austria - were caught taking a walk in Rishikesh, flouting the rule that allows people to leave their homes only for essential services like buying groceries and medicine.
Over 700 foreign tourists from the US, Australia, Mexico and Israel staying in the area had disobeyed the lockdown rules, a local police officer said, adding the unusual punishment was handed out to teach them a lesson.
Police said they would direct hotels in the area to allow foreign guests to step out only if accompanied by local helpers, with establishments that do not follow the order facing the threat of legal action.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to extend the nationwide lockdown that was originally meant to end on Tuesday, for another two weeks.
Updated
To follow Downing Street’s daily coronavirus briefing as the UK’s death toll passes 10,000, head over to our UK live blog.
Hello, this is Clea Skopeliti in London taking over the blog from my colleague Josh Halliday in Manchester.
If you have a story to share, please do drop me a message on Twitter. I won’t be able to reply to everything but will read them all. Thanks in advance.
Updated
Saudi Arabia has extended a nationwide curfew until further notice due to the coronavirus, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
The kingdom recorded more than 300 new infections on each of the last five days, according to Reuters news agency, reaching a total of 4,462 cases and 59 deaths. Its tally is the highest among the six Gulf Arab states.
Saudi Arabia placed its capital Riyadh and other big cities under a 24-hour curfew last week, locking down much of the population. Residents are allowed to leave their houses only for essential needs inside their residential area. Elsewhere, the curfew which began on March 23 runs from 3pm to 6am.
Saudi Arabia has halted international flights, suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage, and closed most public places. Elsewhere in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates warned of possible action against countries refusing to allow migrant workers to be repatriated.
UK death toll passes 10,000
The total number of deaths from coronavirus in UK hospitals has reached 10,612, the UK government has confirmed.
The grim milestone was passed after a daily rise of 737 fatalities was recorded in the 24 hours to 5pm on 11 April. The daily rise has slowed from 917 on Saturday but it remains to be seen whether this is a flattening of the curve, meaning the UK has reached its peak, or whether a delay in reporting cases over the Easter weekend is a factor.
The UK has recorded the fifth highest number of deaths in the world – behind the US, Italy, Spain and France – and is the sixth-worst affected country per 100,000 of the population.
As of 9am 12 April, 352,974 tests have concluded, with 18,000 tests on 11 April.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 12, 2020
282,374 people have been tested of which 84,279 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 11 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 10,612 have sadly died pic.twitter.com/xzxBZDmXnk
Updated
Boris Johnson thanks NHS for saving his life
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has posted a video message thanking the nurses and doctors of the National Health Service for “saving my life”.
Johnson was discharged from St Thomas’ hospital in south London on Sunday, three days after leaving the intensive care unit where he was treated for Covid-19.
It is hard to find the words to express my debt to the NHS for saving my life.
— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) April 12, 2020
The efforts of millions of people across this country to stay home are worth it. Together we will overcome this challenge, as we have overcome so many challenges in the past. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/HK7Ch8BMB5
Updated
Readers have been in touch to ask for more reporting on per capita death rates of countries.
Comparing statistics between countries is fraught with difficulty, not least because each one is at a different stage of the pandemic and every nation has unique characteristics (the number and usage of mass transit systems, for example, or the average age of the population – not to mention the varied forms of lockdown in place around the world).
The John Hopkins University, whose online dashboard is the go-to place for data on the pandemic, has published the below chart showing the mortality rate per 100,000 people for the 10 countries that are – by this measure – the worst-affected by coronavirus.
It shows that Spain has recorded the most deaths per 100,000 people – at 35.5 – closely followed by Italy and Belgium.
The US, which has the highest total number of deaths, is seventh in the world when the huge size of its population is factored in. The UK is in sixth place, with 14.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
Global death toll passes 110,000
The number of people who have died from coronavirus around the world has reached 110,042, according to the John Hopkins University tracker. The number of confirmed cases is approaching 1.8m.
Almost one in five (17.7%) of global deaths from the pandemic are in Italy, with nearly the same proportion in the US (17.1%).
The UK’s death toll passed 10,000 on Sunday. While the official total will be confirmed later, the combined figures from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland make it clear that the tally will take the UK past 10,000 deaths.
Readers have been in touch to highlight lesser-reported cases of countries that appear to have successfully slowed or stopped the spread of coronavirus.
Linda Burton, in Tbilisi, points out that Georgia has only 252 confirmed cases and three deaths out of a population of 3.7m. The three deaths were all women, aged 79 to 86, who had underlying health conditions, according to reports in local media.
There will, of course, be many factors behind this but experts have said the country was quick to enact travel restrictions – including banning flights from China as early as January – and closing nurseries, schools and universities in early March despite having relatively few confirmed cases.
In Madagascar, a country populated by 26.2 million people, the virus has barely taken off with only 102 confirmed cases and no deaths to date.
Angela Reilly, a Scot who lives and works in the capital Antananarivo, said she had been very impressed by the “swift and decisive” measures taken by the government, which declared a state of emergency on 21 March when it had only three confirmed cases.
All passenger flights have been grounded, personal travel is strictly limited, public transport has been shut down, and lockdown measures are in place across the island country.
Angela writes:
“I am so impressed by these moves, especially in comparison to the UK. People are largely calm and following the rules. The priority is health and protecting people, not politics and economics.
Italy has ordered migrants onboard a rescue ship off its coast to be quarantined and tested for the coronavirus before they can disembark, Reuters reports.
The Alan Kurdi ship, which is run by the German non-governmental group Sea-Eye, is sailing in international waters off the western coast of Sicily.
The transport ministry said in a statement those onboard will be transferred to another ship, screened by health authorities and quarantined on that ship.
Sea-Eye tweeted in the last hour that 149 people were onboard the Alan Kurdi and that Europe was “letting them drown”.
We still have 149 people on board the #ALANKURDI.
— sea-eye (@seaeyeorg) April 12, 2020
Europe not only lets people endure on board, but also lets people drown in the Mediterranean in these minutes.#LeaveNoOneBehind pic.twitter.com/Cw30WNUx3O
The Italian government last week closed ports to charity boats for the entire duration of the national health emergency over the coronavirus, a ban due to remain in effect until 31 July.
The transport ministry said allowing the migrants to disembark would put too much pressure on already stretched health services in Sicily. It gave no details on the planned transfer, its timing or location.
Updated
Thanks to Jedidajah Otte. This is Josh Halliday again to steer you through the next few hours.
Chinese cities near the border with Russia said on Sunday they would tighten border controls and quarantine measures on arrivals from abroad, after the number of imported cases of Covid-19 hit a one-month high, Reuters reports.
New daily confirmed cases in mainland China reached 99 on 11 April, almost doubling from 46 the previous day. All but two of the new recorded cases involved people travelling from abroad, many of them Chinese nationals returning from Russia.
In the commercial hub Shanghai, 51 Chinese nationals flying in on the same flight from Russia tested positive while 21 cases involved Chinese nationals travelling from Russia to the northeastern Heilongjiang province.
Chinese authorities fear a new wave of cases after strict lockdowns had largely contained the outbreak in China, where it has killed a recorded 3,339 people since it emerged in the city of Wuhan in December last year.
Updated
Readers from Malta have written in as concerns grow that at least four vessels carrying migrants are in distress at sea not far from the Maltese coast, after the foreign minister Evarist Bartolo suggested in a Facebook post on Saturday that migrant rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean are encouraging people traffickers.
Bartolo wrote that Malta “cannot handle anymore” asylum seekers as national resources are being stretched due to the pandemic.
Alarm Phone, one of independent organisations monitoring migration in the Mediterranean, have urged authorities to conduct rescue operations.
About an hour ago, Alarm Phone tweeted that one ship had seemingly capsized.
🔴SHIPWRECK: What we feared the most & what we warned against for days seems to have happened. Acc. to several sources, a boat capsized & many have died. We are not sure yet if it is a boat that we lost contact to. All EU authorities that watched without rescuing are responsible. https://t.co/dsVbA2p8yT
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 12, 2020
Boris Johnson leaves hospital
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has left hospital after having been hospitalised with Covid-19 for a week, my colleague Rowena Mason reports.
Johnson was being treated at St Thomas’ hospital in south London and had spent time in the hospital’s intensive care unit after his situation deteriorated.
Full story below.
Johnson’s fiancé, Carrie Symonds, thanked healthcare staff on Twitter. “There were times last week that were very dark indeed. My heart goes out to all those in similar situations, worried sick about their loved ones,” she wrote.
I cannot thank our magnificent NHS enough. The staff at St Thomas’ Hospital have been incredible. I will never, ever be able to repay you and I will never stop thanking you. 🌈
— Carrie Symonds (@carriesymonds) April 12, 2020
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands has topped 25,000, health authorities said on Sunday, according to Reuters. The number of deaths rose by 94 to 2,737.
The Netherlands’ National Institute for Health (RIVM) reported 1,188 new infections over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 25,587.
The rate of increase in infections and deaths has slowed for several days.
Summary
Here is a roundup of the latest developments around the world. I’m handing over to my colleague Jedidajah Otte for a while.
- The global death toll has reached 109,691, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. More than 1.78 million people have been diagnosed.
- Pope Francis departed with centuries of tradition and livestreamed his Easter Sunday mass to allow the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics to celebrate their holiest holiday.
- In a strikingly political speech, the pope said he hoped that rivalries from before the second world war “do not regain force” as a result of the pandemic. The pope said the European Union faced an “epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world”.
- The infection rate in Spain continued to slow. Its death toll rose to 16,972 on Sunday – a daily rise of 619 – but there are signs the country’s strict lockdown appears to be paying off. It remains a global hotspot for the virus, with the highest total of confirmed cases in Europe.
- Tight restrictions on movement came into force in Jerusalem where predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas have been hit disproportionately by the virus, in part because influential rabbis were slow to shut synagogues and religious seminaries.
- Britain has pledged £200m to the World Health Organization and charities to assist containment in vulnerable countries.
- Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.
Updated
One country marking a particularly difficult Easter this year is Sri Lanka. It is a year since more than 260 people, mostly Catholics, were killed in the Islamic State-inspired attacks on three churches and three hotels last Easter.
Due to coronavirus, there were no organised events to remember the victims as the country has been under curfew for most of the past three weeks. Like much of the rest of the world, Sri Lankan Christians observed Easter services on the internet and television.
Francesca Mudannayake, a Guardian reader in Sri Lanka, got in touch to describe the situation where she is:
“I am very surprised and envious the UK still allows people to go out for an hour every day … The general public [in Sri Lanka] have not really seen the outside world in just over three weeks. It’s distressing as it has been a year since the Easter attacks and we spent a lot of time trying to rebuild the economy only for it to again tank due to the virus. We hope for better days.”
Updated
Pope: 'EU is facing an epochal challenge'
We have more on what was an extraordinary address by Pope Francis, who was delivering his most pressing and political speech since he was elected seven years ago.
The pope expressed particular concern for the future of Europe, saying he hoped that rivalries from before the second world war “do not regain force” as a result of the pandemic.
According to Reuters, he added:
“The European Union is presently facing an epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world … This is not a time for division.”
The pope repeated a call for a ceasefire “in all corners of the world”, condemned arms manufacturing and said the pandemic should spur leaders to finally end long-running wars such as that in Syria. He also appealed for help for migrants and others suffering from existing humanitarian conflicts.
Updated
Pope delivers virtual Easter mass
Pope Francis has departed from centuries of tradition and livestreamed his Easter Sunday mass to allow the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics to celebrate their holiest holiday.
In the Vatican, the pope delivered mass from a largely empty St Peter’s Basilica before a handful of token faithful sitting one per pew and with the choir’s Kyrie hymn echoing off the bare marble floors, reports the Associated Press.
You can watch this historic occasion below:
LIVE from St. Peter Basilica | From Vatican City, Pope Francis offers Easter Mass and Urbi et Orbi blessing, in a St. Peter's Square nearly empty due to the COVID19 pandemic. https://t.co/dTBPH0GVbS
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) April 12, 2020
Pope Francis called for global solidarity in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, urging the relaxation of international sanctions, debt relief for poor nations and ceasefires in all conflicts.
He also warned the European Union that it risked collapse if it did not agree on how to help the region recover.
This is from the Reuters report of the pope’s address:
“This is not a time for indifference, because the whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic,” he said in the message, almost entirely dedicated to the pandemic’s effects on personal and international relations. “Indifference, self-centredness, division and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time. We want to ban these words forever!” he said.
Updated
In Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East, the number of deaths has risen by 117 in the past day to 4,474, the country’s health ministry has said.
In total, the Islamic Republic has recorded 71,686 cases of coronavirus – the eighth highest total in the world and the biggest in the region.
Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an emergency $5m loan to fight the virus, which appears to be tearing through hospitals across the country. However, the US – which is the IMF’s largest shareholder – is reportedly planning to oppose the request amid its ongoing sanctions dispute with Iran.
Updated
Thank you to everyone getting in touch from around the world. In the past couple of hours I’ve had emails and tweets from Cameroon, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Sweden, Turkey, Thailand, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Ireland and more.
I try to read every message but I can’t always respond – so apologies if you’ve not heard back from me. Your insights are greatly appreciated in helping us understand how the epidemic is affecting people across the globe.
Where we can, we will highlight the situation in your country. Also, keep an eye on this dedicated page for all of the Guardian’s coronavirus coverage.
Updated
Spain infection rate continues to slow
Despite the rise in the number of deaths and new cases in Spain, the country’s strict lockdown seems to be paying off. The overnight rise in new cases was 2.6% compared with a daily average of 12% at the end of March and 20% in mid-March.
The prime minister, who recently extended the lockdown until 26 April, is meeting the presidents of Spain’s autonomous regions by videoconference today to coordinate the country’s response.
Meanwhile Luis de Guindos, the former Spanish finance minister who now serves as vice-president of the European Central Bank, has described the Covid-19 crisis as the most serious economic challenge Spain has faced “since the civil war”.
De Guindos told La Vanguardia that the world was headed for a recession that would be felt particularly keenly in Europe- not least in Spain:
“Spain had an advantage at the beginning of the crisis because it was growing more on average than its partners in the eurozone.
“But it also has a problem: its economic structure leaves it more exposed to the crisis because it is more dependent on services such as tourism, which will be very deeply affected by the pandemic. That fact probably means it will suffer a deeper recession.”
Updated
Spain's death toll rises to 16,972
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Spain has risen by 619 since Saturday to a total of 16,972, Reuters reports.
The country’s health ministry said the number of recorded cases had also risen, from 161,852 to 166,019 on Sunday.
Spain has been a global hotspot for the disease, with more recorded cases than any other country except the US. However, data shows that the number of new cases is now in decline.
The latest daily jump of 4,167 new cases is the lowest the country has recorded since 22 March.
Spain’s population of 47 million people remains in strict lockdown but some non-essential workers have been allowed to return to their jobs, prompting concern that the contagion could return if measures are lifted too early.
Updated
My colleague Oliver Holmes, the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, has more on the historic city’s quarantine that came into effect at 12 noon on Sunday:
Israel’s government has quarantined parts of Jerusalem, including the historic and densely packed Old City, in an attempt to stall the spread of the coronavirus.
The measures will shut down travel in and out of several neighbourhoods, predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas. The minority group has been hit disproportionately by the virus, in part because influential rabbis were slow to shut synagogues and religious seminaries.
In the Old City, which Israel has occupied since a 1967 war, already tight restrictions meant Easter Sunday celebrations were low-key. At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Easter Mass was held by clerics and priests to mostly empty rooms.
“Despite the sign of death and fear that we are seeing everywhere all over the world, we have to look at the good all those that are giving their lives for the others,” Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa said in the shuttered church.
“The message of Easter is that life, despite all will prevail,” he added.
For the Jewish holiday of Passover, gatherings of at the Old City’s Western Wall – the holiest site where Jews can pray – have also been reduced. While tens of thousands of worshippers typically gather, only handfuls have been allowed to congregate.
Israel was quick to lock down most of the country as the pandemic spread worldwide. The country has confirmed around 10,000 cases, with roughly 100 deaths.
Updated
Indonesia has reported what appears to be its biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases, which have risen by 399 to of 4,241, the country’s health ministry has said. It also reported 46 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing to the total to 373.
Its previous largest daily rise was 337 new cases, recorded on 9 April, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
However, Indonesia’s tally must be seen in context: my colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe reported last week on how the country of 264 million people is thought to be able to process only 240 of the most accurate tests a day and is instead relying on quicker, less reliable tests. A sudden rise in burials has raised concerns over undetected cases in the country.
Updated
The European Union has directed €117m to help Afghanistan’s fight against the coronavirus as the country’s number of confirmed cases reached 600, my colleague Akhtar Mohammad Makoii reports.
All roads to the capital, Kabul, were blocked this morning, with tightened restrictions on movement in a city of about 6 million people. Afghanistan has recorded 45 new cases in the last 24 hours – 28 of which were in Kabul and eight in Kandahar.
The EU said it recognised that Afghanistan “may be severely affected” by the pandemic as its public health system is “weakened by years of conflict, has to cope with limited resources, and is not accessible throughout the country”.
Afghanistan has so far reported 18 deaths of Covid-19 and 37 recoveries. Concerns are high in Kandahar as thousands of Afghan migrants poured back from Pakistan in recent days.
Updated
Staying on Russia for a minute, the city of Suifenhe on the Chinese side of the border has implemented strict controls to prevent cases being imported from its neighbouring country.
The remote border city – which is 1,000 miles from Beijing – has recorded an increase in coronavirus cases even as China’s infection rate slows dramatically. The country reported 73 new cases on Saturday, according to the John Hopkins University tracker.
Last Wednesday, the whole of China reported 59 imported cases of Covid-19; state media reported that 25 of those were Chinese citizens who were returning through Suifenhe after flying from Moscow to Vladivostok, about 100 miles south.
Suifenhe’s authorities said on Sunday they were stepping up controls on traffic and enforcing quarantine measures. The city has banned all types of gatherings and drawn up a list of businesses that must be suspended from operations, Reuters reports.
Updated
Russia has reported its biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases, up by 2,186 to a total of 15,770. The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose by 24 to 130, Reuters reports.
My colleague Andrew Roth, in Moscow, reported last week on how Vladimir Putin appears to have taken a backseat during the crisis, delegating powers to trusted lieutenants and focusing on cushioning the blow to Russia’s economy.
The Israeli government has approved tight restrictions on several areas of Jerusalem, including the historic Old City, in a bid to slow the spread of the outbreak among its most vulnerable communities.
The measures, which come into force today until Wednesday, mean residents in several areas will only be able to leave their homes for “work, essential medical care, the funeral of a direct family member, the transfer of a minor between divorced parents, legal processes and any other essential reasons that have been the subject of prior approval”, reports Haaretz.
The extended curfew had faced opposition from ultra-orthodox ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who rejected the singling out of their constituencies.
Israel’s health ministry has documented more than 10,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and more than 100 deaths. About a fifth of all cases in Israel are in Jerusalem. A large percentage of the Covid-19 cases are in the country’s ultra-orthodox community, which for weeks did not adhere to government orders to maintain social distancing, the Associated Press reports.
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Many thanks to Helen, in Sydney, for steering us through the last seven hours. This is Josh Halliday, in Manchester, to guide you from here.
I’ve just looked at the readership figures: this blog has an extraordinary international reach, with readers joining us from the UK to Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and beyond. Thank you all for reading.
I’m interested in how your town, city and country are affected by the outbreak. If you would like to get in touch, please do drop me an email or contact me on Twitter.
Twitter: @JoshHalliday
Email: josh.halliday@theguardian.com
Summary
I’ll hand over to my colleagues in London now. Thanks for your company. Here is a quick roundup of the latest developments.
Thanks so much.
- The global death toll has reached 108,867, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker. More than 1.77m people have been diagnosed.
- Britain has pledged 200m pounds to the World Health Organisation and charities to assist containment in vulnerable countries.
- Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.
- The partner of Julian Assange has pleaded for him to be released from prison on bail over fears he could contract Covid-19.
- The World Bank has warned the pandemic is a “perfect storm” for the vulnerable economies of both South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
- China could take control of debt-struck nations’ assets at an accelerated rate because of the pandemic, or it could boost its soft diplomacy by forgiving debt.
- Mainland China has reported 99 new cases on Saturday, of which all but two were imported. The country’s national health commission said no one had died from the virus on Saturday.
- A “huge influx” of coronavirus patients in Russia has started to put a strain on Moscow’s hospitals.
- Thailand reported 33 new coronavirus infections and three new deaths on Sunday, while Germany’s number of confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 2,821 on Sunday, with 129 new deaths,
- For the first time in history, all 50 US states are now under disaster declarations, after Wyoming became the final state to announce.
- Pope Francis has urged people not to “yield to fear” at his Easter address. The event was scaled back due to coronavirus, with just two dozen attendees, a smaller choir, and no processions or baptisms.
- British prime minister Boris Johnson has said he owes his life to the NHS. He has been in hospital since Sunday night, and had spent three nights in intensive care.
- Seven African states have called on authorities to explain allegations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou city. Many report having been evicted, tested for coronavirus several times without being given results and being shunned and discriminated against in public.
Updated
For the first time in 25 years sub-Saharan Africa is about to go into recession, according to World Bank estimates.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s two biggest economies, South Africa and Nigeria are heading for deep recessions, it said, as demand drops from developed nations for raw materials such as oil and precious metals.
The same goes for Angola, Africa’s second biggest oil exporter.
Oil prices have fallen to between $20 and $30 a barrel, nearing the cost of production in Nigeria.
Following 2.4% growth last year, the estimate for sub-Saharan Africa 2020 is between -2.1 and -5.1 % as the economy contracts.
This is in part a knock-on effect from the economic hits being taken by Africa’s main trading partners: China, the EU and the United States.
Add to that the slump in the key markets of raw materials and tourism as well as the effect of measures to confine populations at home and you have the perfect economic storm for the continent.
The African Development Bank remains less pessimistic but still sees a fall into recession of between -0.7 and -2.8 %.
The African Union estimates that around 20m jobs, in formal and informal sectors, are under threat.
The United Nations puts the figure much higher, at up to 50m.
High unemployment and economic slowdown are also hitting African workers abroad, and therefore their money transfers back home, which are often a vital part of the economy.
Britain pledges £200m to the WHO and charities
Reuters: Britain said on Sunday it was pledging £200m ($248m) to the World Health Organization (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.
More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in 210 countries since the first cases were identified in China in December last year and British aid minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said assisting the poorest nations now would help prevent the virus returning to the United Kingdom.
Britain has reported almost 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus so far, the fifth highest national number globally.
“While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK,” Trevelyan said in a statement.
“Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too.”
Updated
From AFP:
It’s a grim truth that times are good for the coffin business when they’re bad for people, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
At a factory belonging to Europe’s largest coffin maker, OGF, in eastern France, workers are doing overtime to meet demand from families parting with their loved ones.
“Due to the epidemic, we decided to manufacture just four models of coffins that are top sellers with families” compared to the 15 types usually on offer, said factory director Emmanuel Garret.
The change “allowed us to optimise production”, he added.
Output has risen to 410 coffins per day, compared to 370 normally.
Workers are putting in nearly an extra hour per day.
“People have been forewarned and are ready to come in and work on Saturdays,” said Didier Pidancet, who heads up the team that selects the wood for the coffins.
France has been one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus.
“We’re proud to be participating in this national effort, we’re doing our best to ensure that victims can have their final overcoat, as we say,” added Pidancet.
Mathematician John Horton Conway has died after contracting Covid-19, his colleagues have reported.
I am sorry to confirm the passing of my colleague John Conway. An incomparable mathematician, a pleasant neighbor, and an excellent coffee acquaintance.
— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) April 12, 2020
His passing was sudden (fever started only Wednesday morning). Part of coronavirus's hard toll in New Jersey.
Conway was the subject of this engaging long-read published in 2015.
He is Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dalí, and Richard Feynman, all rolled into one. He is one of the greatest living mathematicians, with a sly sense of humour, a polymath’s promiscuous curiosity, and a compulsion to explain everything about the world to everyone in it. According to Sir Michael Atiyah, former president of the Royal Society and arbiter of mathematical fashion, “Conway is the most magical mathematician in the world.”
Conway’s greatest accomplishments were in fields such as finite groups and lattices, which won him great fame in the mathematical community, but one of his most accessible creations - still used to teach beginner programming to this day - was the “Game of Life”.
Less a winnable game than a system (or a ‘cellular automata’), it is often used to demonstrate that apparent complexity can arise from simple rules – or, to put it another way, that dizzying complexity can be explained by fundamental principles.
Updated
From Reuters: Indonesia has imposed curbs on public transport ahead of the annual exodus to home villages that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government said on Sunday.
About 75m Indonesians usually stream home from bigger cities at the end of Ramadan, due this year at the end of May, but health experts have warned against a surge in cases after a slow government response masked the scale of the outbreak.
Public buses, trains, airplanes and ships will be allowed to fill only half their passenger seats, under a new regulation that also limits occupation of a private car to just half the seats, while a motorcycle may be ridden only by one person.
The ministry also ordered public transport operators to check passengers’ temperature, while bus terminals, train stations, airports and seaports must provide soap and hand sanitizers and standby medical staff.
“The essence of this new regulation is to carry out public transport control...while still meeting the needs of the people,” transport ministry spokeswoman Adita Irawati said in a statement posted on the cabinet secretariat website.
The capital Jakarta is the epicentre of the outbreak in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, with the most infections and deaths among a national tally of 3,842 cases and 327 fatalities.
A video clip showing the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, encouraging people to stay home has prompted ridicule and anger online, as Tokyo registered another record daily rise in infections.
The clip, posted on Twitter on Sunday, shows an expressionless Abe at home cuddling his dog, sipping what appears to be tea or coffee, reading and clicking his TV remote control, while on another screen the popular singer and actor Gen Hoshino plays acoustic guitar and performs his song promoting social distancing, with the lyrics: “Let’s survive and dance, each one of us, wherever we are, all of us as one, let’s sing at home.”
Some pointed to Abe’s detached demeanour throughout the awkward one-minute video, while others were angered by his message, which began with words intended as sympathy for people who were unable to see friends or go out drinking.
But, he added, “this is the kind of behaviour that is going to save many lives” and reduce the burden on medical workers “who are battling the virus in the toughest of circumstances.
友達と会えない。飲み会もできない。
— 安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) April 12, 2020
ただ、皆さんのこうした行動によって、多くの命が確実に救われています。そして、今この瞬間も、過酷を極める現場で奮闘して下さっている、医療従事者の皆さんの負担の軽減につながります。お一人お一人のご協力に、心より感謝申し上げます。 pic.twitter.com/VEq1P7EvnL
Many on Twitter were unimpressed. “Are you kidding?” asked one user.
“This really isn’t what we need right now,” said another, while one woman berated him for mentioning disruptions to people’s social lives while students were being forced to drop out of college because they could no longer afford their tuition fees.
Summing up the general mood, one critic tweeted: “This person is far removed from the lives of ordinary people.”
Abe, who just a month ago was insisting that the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead as planned this summer, has attracted criticism for his response to the coronavirus outbreak, which includes the distribution of two reusable masks per household and restrictions on movement that some experts say do not go far enough.
Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other areas last week amid a sharp rise in cases in urban areas. The measures, including requests that people avoid nonessential trips outside, and work from home where possible, and that businesses close or reduce their hours - have since been expanded to all 47 of Japan’s prefectures.
Tokyo reported almost 200 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday - the fourth straight day of record increases - bringing the number of infections in the capital to more than 1,900, according to the Kyodo news agency.
- This post was edited for clarity at 3:51pm AEST
Updated
Thailand reported 33 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, for a total of 2,551 cases, as well as three more deaths, taking the southeast Asian nation’s toll to 38.
Two Thai men aged 74 and 44, and a woman aged 65 died, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
Germany’s number of confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 2,821 on Sunday to 120,479, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.
That was lower than a 4,133 increase reported on Saturday, and marked the second decline after four days of increases. The reported death toll rose by 129 to 2,673.
The partner of Julian Assange has pleaded for him to be released from prison on bail over fears he could contract Covid-19.
Stella Moris, who also revealed the couple have two children, aged one and three, said Assange had been in poor health for months and there were now genuine fears that the coronavirus was spreading the London’s Belmarsh prison where he is being held, awaiting an extradition hearing.
One prisoner has died and a number of prison officers are off sick with suspected Covid-19, Assange’s friends have claimed.
Moris said Assange was in isolation 23 hours an day and all visits had been stopped.
The pandemic has been a “perfect storm” for South Asian countries, the World Bank has said. AFP has more on the World Bank report released on Sunday.
South Asia is on course for its worst economic performance in 40 years, with decades of progress in the battle against poverty at risk, because of coronavirus.
India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other smaller nations, which have 1.8bn people and some of the planet’s most densely populated cities, have so far reported relatively few coronavirus cases but experts fear they could be the next hotspots.
The dire economic effects are already much in evidence, with widespread lockdowns freezing most normal activity, Western factory orders cancelled and vast numbers of poor workers suddenly jobless.
“South Asia finds itself in a perfect storm of adverse effects. Tourism has dried up, supply chains have been disrupted, demand for garments has collapsed and consumer and investor sentiments have deteriorated,” said a World Bank report.
It slashed its growth forecast for the region this year to 1.8-2.8 % from its pre-pandemic projection of 6.3 %, with at least half the countries falling into “deep recession”.
Worst hit will be the Maldives where the collapse of tourism will result in gross domestic output contracting by as much as 13 %, while Afghanistan could shrink by as much as 5.9 % and Pakistan by up to 2.2 %.
Regional heavyweight India, where the fiscal year began on April 1, will see growth of just 1.5-2.8% in its current financial year, down from an expected 4.8-5.0% for the year just ended, the bank predicted.
Updated
Donald Trump has said that reopening parts of the US for working life will be one of the toughest decisions he ever makes, and he’ll be making it “reasonably soon”.
Speaking with Fox show “Justice with Judge Jeanine”, Trump said:
“I think it’s going to be the toughest decision I ever made and hopefully the most difficult I will ever have to make. I hope I’m going to make the right decision. I will be basing it on a lot of very smart people, a lot of professionals, doctors and business leaders. There are a lot of things that go into a decision like that. And it’s going to be based on a lot of facts and instincts.”
“People want to get back, they want to get back to work. We have to bring our country back,” he said.
Separately, Trump has also continued his attacks on parts of the media, including the New York Times which ran an investigation into his and his administrations actions in January and February when the outbreak was spreading across the world.
Updated
As the coronavirus pandemic causes global economic devastation, China could take control of debt-struck nations’ assets at an accelerated rate, or it could boost its soft diplomacy by forgiving debt.
The choice has been laid out by the authors of a Harvard report on a Chinese tactic dubbed “debtbook diplomacy”, and comes amid calls for G20 nations to endorse a year-long debt moratorium for the poorest countries.
State-owned Chinese companies and banks have become major international lenders, including through large scale infrastructure investments under Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative.
China watchers have previously warned about the “debtbook diplomacy” ploy, where developing nations are unable to service heavy loan repayments on Chinese infrastructure investments, forcing them to relinquish control of assets to China.
“Debt is a very flexible instrument,” said report co-author Gabrielle Chefitz.
“As we see China making big soft power push, looking down the line … there are opportunities for China to require payment on debt perhaps with strategic assets in return, or to forgive that debt which furthers that soft power narrative as a global leader.”
More here:
Guatemala has reported 16 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the central American nation’s total to 153 cases, president Alejandro Giammattei said. Three people have died from the disease.
Great story from the Miami Herald which reports that Florida’s governor allegedly put pressure on the paper’s lawyers to quash a law suit demanding that the state divulge records showing how many people in care homes have tested positive for the virus.
The law firm, Holland & Knight, told Sanford Bohrer, a senior partner with decades of representing the Miami Herald, to stand down and abandon the lawsuit, the paper reports. It has refiled the suit through another law firm.
BREAKING: Florida Gov DeSantis, seeking to hide Covid infections & deaths, pressures Miami Herald law firm to squelch records suit | Miami Herald https://t.co/6WHQHU1T9t
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) April 12, 2020
The governor, Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has been accused of responding too slowly to the threat of the virus.
The coronavirus behind Covid-19 can produce three times more pathogens than the one behind Sars, a Hong Kong University study has found.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the study is the first of its kind based on testing of lung tissue from Covid-19 patients.
The team infected lung tissues donated by six patients and found that Sars-CoV-2 could replicate by about 100 time within 48 hours, compared to the Sars virus peaking at about 10-20. The new virus also induced slower immune and inflammatory responses, it said.
“The virus is like a ninja, replicating inside the body with lower inteferons and inflammatory response,” said Dr Jasper Chan Fok-woo, a colinical assistant professor at HKU’s medical school.
Mild symptoms or a lack of them has made this virus particularly difficult to contain, and the scientists warned measures would have to continue.
Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung sai there was “almost no possibility of containing the virus before July”.
A meeting of the North Korean ruling party’s central committee, presided over by Kim Jong Un, has called for stricter and more thorough countermeasures to ensure the safety of its citizens.
A joint resolution was adopted to take “more thorough state measures for protecting life and safety of (its) people from the great worldwide epidemic disease.”
The Korean Central News Agency said the widespread virus has created obstacles to the country’s effort in its economic construction, though it added the country “has been maintaining (a) very stable anti-epidemic situation” thanks to its “strict top-class emergency anti-epidemic measures ... consistency and compulsoriness in the nationwide protective measures.”
A World Health Organisation representative to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea told Reuters on Tuesday that the country continues testing of the coronavirus and has more than 500 people in quarantine but still had no confirmed cases yet.
From Reuters in Russia, where a “huge influx” of coronavirus patients has started to put a strain on Moscow’s hospitals.
“The situation in both Moscow and St Petersburg, but mostly in Moscow, is quite tense because the number of sick people is growing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview on state television, news agencies reported.
“There is a huge influx of patients. We are seeing hospitals in Moscow working extremely intensely, in heroic, emergency mode.”
Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said hospitals were taking all possible measures to ensure rapid admissions and that cases of ambulances needing to wait hours to drop off patients was not a systemic issue.
Russia has reported 13,584 cases of the virus, and the authorities said on Saturday that 12 new coronavirus-related deaths in the last day had pushed the death toll to 106.
Mexico reported 375 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the country’s total to 4,219 cases and 273 deaths, the health ministry said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday condemned aggression towards French people travelling into border areas, which has flared amid the coronavirus pandemic, AFP reports.
“Coronavirus knows nothing of nationality. It’s the same for human dignity. It hurts to see how some of our French friends have been insulted and attacked because of Covid-19,” Mass posted on Twitter.
“Such behaviour is completely unacceptable. And besides: we are in the same boat,” he added.
Corona kennt keine Nationalität. Genauso ist es mit der Menschenwürde. Es tut weh zu sehen, wie unsere französischen FreundInnen wegen #COVIDー19 bei uns teils beleidigt und angegangen werden. So ein Verhalten geht gar nicht. Abgesehen davon: Wir sitzen im selben Boot! https://t.co/ZjkcItxwTK
— Heiko Maas 🇪🇺 (@HeikoMaas) April 11, 2020
Maas’ tweet came in response to a similarly apologetic post from Anke Rehlinger, economy minister in Saarland state which borders France’s Grand Est region.
“I apologise to our French friends for these isolated incidents.”
Some days before, the mayor of a small town on the border, Gersheim complained of “a certain hostility to our French friends” in his district, including people being spat at.
One had been told to “go back to your corona-ridden country,” Michael Clivot added.
The French consul in Saarland, Catherine Robinet, confirmed that ‘isolated’ incidents targeting French nationals had taken place in the region, but she urged against “generalising” the anti-French sentiment, adding that she had also received numerous messages of support.
Some people in France also have reacted poorly to Germans in the country, she added.
China reports 99 new cases, no deaths
Mainland China has reported 99 new cases on Saturday, of which all but two were imported. The country’s national health commission said no one had died from the virus on Saturday.
The two local cases were in Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province and which borders Russia.
Of the 97 imported cases recorded, 43 were in the city of Shanghai.
There were no new cases reported in Hubei, the province where the outbreak is believed to have begun.
Elderly face whole year in lockdown – EU
Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said.
“Without a vaccine, we have to limit as much as possible contact with the elderly,” she told the Germany daily Bild.
“I know it’s difficult and that isolation is a burden, but it is a question of life or death, we have to remain disciplined and patient.”
“Children and young people will enjoy more freedom of movement earlier than elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions,” she said.
She said she hoped that a European laboratory will develop a vaccine towards the end of the year.
To ensure that people can be quickly vaccinated, authorities are already in talks with producers on gearing up for world production, she added.
Updated
In Australia more than a thousand people will land on home soil after weeks stranded abroad, AAP reports.
Long-stuck travellers flown from Peru, Uruguay, India and Nepal will trickle through Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday before being shuttled to hotels for two weeks of quarantine.
Nearly 100 of them spent weeks stranded on an Antarctic cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay while another 63 left Kathmandu on a Canadian government-backed flight.
“Thanks also to (the) Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and Canadian Govt. To do what you did remotely ... hats off,” Australian Ambassador to Nepal Peter Budd tweeted on Saturday night.
Puerto Rico, which has reported more than 780 cases of Covid-19, and at least 42 deaths, will continue its lockdown until at least 3 May.
Governor Wanda Vázquez announced on Saturday that people must stay indoors from 9pm to 5am, and only leave their house outside those hours to buy food or medicine or go to the bank. Non-essential businesses will remain closed.
However, she lifted all license plate restrictions and said hardware stores and car repair shops can operate once a week on a limited schedule.
Everyone is still required to wear a face mask to enter any business as Health Secretary Lorenzo González warned that the peak of cases is not expected until early May.
Updated
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has approved an extension of the kingdom’s curfew until further notice, the state news agency (SPA) reported early on Sunday.
The country has been under a 7pm to 6am curfew since 23 March, due to the rate at which the coronavirus is currently spreading.
The capital Riyadh, and other big cities, were plcaed under a 24-hour curfew last week.
The Pope has urged people not to “yield to fear” in his Easter address.
“Easter offers a message of hope in peoples darkest hour,” Pope Francis said at a late-night vigil Mass Saturday in St. Peters Basilica. The public was barred because of the pandemic, and around the world Catholics followed his service and other Masses on television or online.
“Do not be afraid, do not yield to fear: This is the message of hope,” said the Pope.
“It is addressed to us, today. These are the words that God repeats to us this very night.”
He encouraged people to be “messengers of life in a time of death,” again condemning the arms trade and urging those better off to help the poor.
Hello, welcome to the Guardian’s continuing international coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to Molly Blackall and other colleagues in London for taking us through the last day. This is Helen Davidson, in Sydney, to take you through from here.
If you would like to follow the Australia-focused blog you can find it here.
For US-specific updates, head over the the US blog here.
Here’s a quick summary of the latest international developments.
- The global death toll has reached 108,281, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker.
- For the first time in history, all 50 US states are now under disaster declarations, after Wyoming became the final state to announce.
- Pope Francis has urged people not to “yield to fear” at his Easter address. The event was scaled back due to coronavirus, with just two dozen attendees, a smaller choir, and no processions or baptisms.
- British prime minister Boris Johnson has said he owes his life to the NHS. He has been in hospital since Sunday night, and had spent three nights in intensive care.
- British opposition parties and senior Conservatives have united in calling on the British government to reopen Parliament.
- Seven African states have called on authorities to explain allegations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou city. Many report having been evicted, tested for coronavirus several times without being given results and being shunned and discriminated against in public.
- The Kremlin have warned that Moscow’s hospitals are under strain after a “huge influx” of coronavirus cases.
- The World Health Organisation have warned that Belarus must take further action to combat coronavirus, as they enter a new phase of infection. Belarus are still hosting football games, and their President, Alexander Lukashenko, has downplayed restrictive measures. In recent weeks, he has said that drinking vodka and bathing in saunas could help fight the virus.
