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Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest events:
- Two people died in the United Arab Emirates; the first deaths suffered by the country. The country’s official news agency, WAM, said each had suffered from previous health conditions.
- Israel also announced its first death. The country’s health ministry has said an 88-year-old man who had been suffering from previous illnesses had died.
- A member of the US vice president’s staff tested positive. The employee, who was not identified, had not come into close contact with either the US president, Donald Trump, or his boss, Mike Pence, who is in charge of the US’s coronavirus response.
Panama has confirmed 200 coronavirus cases, up from 137 on Thursday, the country’s health minister has said.
Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, has said the vice president’s office office was notified about the staffer’s positive test on Friday evening. The statement did not name the individual.
“Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines,” she said, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cuba is going to stop allowing foreigners to enter the island, with the exception of residents, in a bid to contain the outbreak, its president Miguel Diaz-Canel has said.
Pence staffer tests positive
A member of the US vice president’s staff has tested positive, Reuters reports, citing Mike Pence’s press secretary.
Pence was placed in charge of Washington’s response to the pandemic by the US president, Donald Trump. Neither the president nor the vice president had been in close contact with the patient, the press secretary said.
Argentina’s authorities are trying hard to enforce the nationwide
mandatory quarantine imposed Friday by President Alberto Fernández, with great difficulty in some cases.
In the northern city of Jujuy, police in white full-body sanitary
suits tried to arrest a group of youngsters who defied the quarantine,
in a dramatic chase captured by an onlooker around San Martín park
Friday morning (ART).
Un grupo de jovenes violando #AislamientoSocialObligatorio en
— #AlertasTransito #Clima #Transito (@AlertasTransito) March 20, 2020
Jujuy - Parque San Martín es detenido por Policia #AlertasTransito pic.twitter.com/gV284Aqzwn
Updated
The French Riviera city of Nice will be put under curfew from Saturday night, the local prefect has said, adding that it’s necessary to enforce strict confinement measures decided by France. Bernard Gonzalez has told BFM TV:
A curfew is going to be put in place. This decree is essentially aimed at those who find it funny to gather together and defy public authorities.
The curfew will start at 11pm local time (10pm GMT) and run until the early hours of the morning.
Any irresponsible failure to adopt social distancing must end, Ireland’s president has said. Michael D Higgins appealed to young people to respond to official advice on limiting the spread of Covid-19.
Another 126 cases were confirmed in Ireland on Friday, bringing the total to 683, and three people have died. Higgins signed into law emergency health legislation giving the power to impose detention and other measures.
These new health and social measures may be difficult for many but they affect us all and we are at a point now when a person’s actions have consequences not only for themselves but for all in society.
Irresponsible individual action puts all at risk. We must draw on our strengths now.
Large numbers of young people have been seen socialising in Dublin’s Temple Bar, despite a high-profile warning against gatherings a short time earlier from the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
We reported earlier that the District of Columbia and New Jersey were announcing new restrictions.
Now, the governor of Illinois, Jay Pritzker, has ordered all residents to “shelter-in-place”, beginning on Saturday evening (CDT). All non-essential businesses are to close indefinitely.
Using a term that usually refers to the response to mass shootings, the governor said:
To avoid the loss of tens of thousands of lives we must order an immediate shelter-in-place.
Pritzker said the order does not mean people cannot go outside at all, but they are to stay home unless it is essential to go to food shops, pharmacies, doctors’ office, fuel stations, or other essential places. He called it a very difficult choice and said in the short-term it likely cost some people jobs.
Ultimately, you can’t have a livelihood if you don’t have a life.
The governor also said the scheduled date for all public schools in the state to reopen has been indefinitely postponed.
I want to be honest with you: we don’t know yet all the steps that we’re going to have to take.
The clampdown follows similar orders in California and New York.
At least 11 people have died from the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil, up from seven on Thursday, the country’s health ministry has said.
Infections now number 904, the ministry said, compared with 621 the previous day. Brazil is currently Latin America’s hardest hit country by the outbreak.
Similarly, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium Helen Dickinson has said:
The VAT deferral is a vital lifeline for thousands of firms and millions of jobs in UK retail. Hardworking staff across the retail industry should benefit from the coronavirus job retention scheme, which will guarantee wages and help keep people in jobs. But it is essential that both are delivered promptly and effectively.
In the UK, where the prime minister has told the likes of pubs and restaurants to close their doors, the British Beer and Pub Association has welcomed measures announced at the same time aimed at keeping firms in business. The association’s chief executive, Emma McClarkin, has said:
The government has been clear that pubs must now shut down. The safety and wellbeing of people is our priority.
We stand ready to play our part in the fight against Covid-19 and in the process protecting our communities and employees.
As a sector employing nearly one million people, the chancellor’s support package announced today on staff wages will safeguard thousands of livelihoods and help closed pubs try to get through this difficult period.
We stand ready to work with the government to ensure that the support is accessible as fast as possible.
There remain areas where we need further support to sustain our great brewing and pub sector through this difficult time, to ensure that all staff will have jobs to return to and to guarantee all pubs can reopen again when this crisis is over and continue to be at the heart of communities up and down the country.
UAE announces first deaths
Two people have died in the United Arab Emirates, its health ministry has said. The country’s official news agency, WAM, reports that the two deaths are cases that suffered from previous health conditions.
The death toll in Turkey due to the coronavirus has risen to nine, the country’s health minister, Fahrettin Koca, has said. He added that there was a total of 670 confirmed cases in the country; a 24-hour increase of 311.
Israel reports first death
An 88-year-old man who was suffering from previous illnesses has died in Israel, the country’s health ministry has said. It said the man had been brought to the hospital about a week ago in serious condition.
Israel has reported 705 cases of coronavirus, the large majority with mild symptoms. About 10 patients are in serious condition and 15 have recovered completely.
The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has spoken to the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, about the need for global cooperation, Downing Street has said.
They agreed on the need for a global response to this global challenge, and for countries to coordinate in order to stop the spread of the virus and limit the economic impact on our citizens.
They underlined the importance of continued funding for the development of a vaccine and to support the resilience of healthcare systems in developing countries.
The prime minister said that the UK had already committed £241m to the international response and would continue to look at what further support was necessary.
The number of confirmed cases in Costa Rica has reached 113; an increase of 26 on Thursday, the government has said. It is the country’s largest single day rise so far.
Two people have died so far in the Central American country and the health minister, Daniel Salas, has said the next 15 days will determine how badly the global pandemic will affect Costa Rica.
Beaches have been closed across the country in an effort to stop the advance of the virus, with citizens asked to stay home throughout the crisis if possible.
Este es el detalle de los casos de COVID19 en Costa Rica. Datos actualizados al medio día de hoy. Esta es información oficial.#EstaEnTusManos pic.twitter.com/YAx8EcPbCT
— Ministerio de Salud (@msaludcr) March 20, 2020
Updated
In Zimbabwe, the health minister Obadiah Moyo said a man who lives in Victoria Falls, a popular tourist destination, has been infected.
Moyo said the 38-year-old had travelled to Britain on 7 March, returning home via neighbouring South Africa on 15 March. He put himself in self-quarantine upon arrival and later called his doctor after realising he was not feeling too well,” the Associated Press quoted the minister as saying.
Zimbabwe declared a national disaster days ago and some citizens have openly dreaded the pandemic’s arrival. Already public hospitals lack basic items such as gloves. Relatives of patients are expected in some cases to even provide buckets of water.
But Zimbabwe’s government has insisted it is well prepared to deal with the outbreak.
- This post originally and incorrectly said the infected man had died. It has been updated.
Updated
In America, several areas are putting in place new restrictions. The District of Columbia’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, says social distancing directives for schools, local government and mass gatherings will be extended to 27 April.
And New Jersey’s governor, Phil Murphy, says he’s planning to order the shutting down of all non-essential businesses and that he “almost certainly” will tighten rules on gatherings to restrict them to no more than 10 people – or possibly even ban them altogether.
Here’s a little more detail on those Italian park closures we reported earlier.
From Saturday, parks and public gardens will be shut down and people will be allowed to take exercise only around their homes, Reuters reported, citing a government directive it has obtained.
Games and recreational activities in the open air will also be prohibited.
“We must do even more to contain the contagion,” the health minister, Roberto Speranza, said.
The death toll from the outbreak in Italy leapt by 627 to 4,032 on Friday, with 47,021 confirmed cases.
Brazil’s universal health system will soon be overloaded by Covid-19 pressure, the country’s health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, has warned.
“Clearly by the end of April our health system will begin to collapse,” he said during a teleconference with members of Brazil’s business elite, wearing a mask and sitting next to President Jair Bolsonaro. “Collapse is when there is money, health plans, but no room in the hospitals,” he added, making comparisons with Italy; which recently overtook China’s Covid-19 deaths.
Brazil so far has so far recorded 612 cases and eight deaths.
According to the minister, the number of cases will begin to climb rapidly in April and continue through May, June and July before levelling out in August and falling in September.
Updated
In his letter Rouhani warns:
The coronavirus outbreak has endangered the health of – and even presented a considerable threat to – humanity with no distinction as to nationality, or gender or religious backgrounds. This presents an opportune moment to further contemplate our common pains and our human principles.
Today, all of humankind feels apprehensive toward the future; a future threatened in every aspect; be it health, business, and even social relationships and the way of life. The level of unpredictability and uncertainty is simply unprecedented.
In language Tehran has rarely directed towards the US since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Rouhani urged the American people to form an alliance with Iran to fight a common enemy.
It is self-evident that our success in what is likely to be a long fight depends on the spiritual and heartfelt affinity of all human beings. The international defence that we have to mount will not be successful without camaraderie on the part of the whole of humankind.
Today, instead of soldiers belonging to different armies, human soldiers, donning similar colour uniforms belonging to no particular country are selflessly and altruistically at war against the enemy of humans across the globe. In this common fight, we all belong to one front.
The US has so far not shown any willingness to relax sanctions, arguing instead that humanitarian exemptions mean the sanctions have not damaged Iran’s ability to combat the virus. The US has largely accused Iran of failing to take the necessary steps to stem the spread of the virus, saying lack of resources has not been an issue.
The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, made a direct emotional appeal to the American people to persuade Donald Trump’s government to lift their sanctions against his country, saying anything that restricts Iran’s own fight against the pandemic will undermine the fight against the virus throughout the world.
Any hostile actor seeking to undermine Iran’s health system and restricting the needed financial resources to tackle the crisis will undermine the fight against the pandemic all over the world.
The time has come for American people to halt this dark chapter in American history.
Rouhani added that Tehran, Paris, London and Washington were not that far apart in terms of the spread of the virus.
His remarks came after the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zaif, sought to enlist the help of the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, and the `EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrel, to use their influence to persuade Washington to relax their sanctions.
Italy is taking ever tougher measures; closing all parks and telling people they can only exercise around their homes, Reuters reports. The country’s health minister has said Italians “must do more” to contain the outbreak.
Updated
In the UK, Transport for London (TfL) is suspending road charges in order to help key workers get around the capital – but authorities are adding that other people should be avoiding the roads wherever possible.
The congestion charge and the ultra-low and low emission zones are all to be suspended from Monday and until further notice.
Wales first minister, Mark Drakeford, said he agreed with the measures announced by prime minister, Boris Johnson, to close pubs, clubs and restaurants.
“Health is a devolved responsibility, and as Welsh ministers, we will tonight exercise our powers under the 1984 Public Health Act in order to close restaurants, pubs, bars and other facilities where people gather,” Drakeford said.
He added: “This also includes leisure centres, gyms, cinemas, theatres and betting shops. I will sign the necessary regulations later tonight, and they will come into force immediately.”
“We do not take this move lightly, and we know this will be immensely difficult for those employed in the industries affected.”
Updated
Head of the French health authority Jérôme Salomon in his daily update said the situation was worsening rapidly in France. Urged people to follow strictly the advice keep 1m distance and wash hands.
It is “urgent” to do this, he said. There are now 12,612 confirmed cases in France, and 450 deaths. Of the deaths, 87% were aged over 70 years old. There are 5,226 people in hospital, 35% of them over 65 years old: 1,297 of these are in intensive care, 50% under 60 years old. 1,587 have been released from hospital.
“You should not wear a mask if you are not ill. These are resources that should be reserved for health professionals,” Salomon said
A US disaster relief group opened a field hospital on Friday in Italy’s north, as the country’s coronavirus death toll showed no sign of easing.
Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian disaster response group based in North Carolina, began setting up the respiratory care unit in Cremona, about 90 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Milan, and expected to receive its first patients later Friday.
The unit, located in the parking lot across from the city hospital, provides eight intensive care unit beds equipped with ventilators, 20 beds for general care, a laboratory and pharmacy, and is set to expand over the weekend.
“We came here because our fellow brothers and sisters, our Italian brothers and sisters, are hurting,” said Kelly Suter, health director of the new hospital.
Hospitals in Paris are scrambling to find more intensive care beds, ventilators and medical staff ahead of an expected spike in the number of coronavirus patients in coming days, with the figure expected to peak in April, doctors said.
Coronavirus cases in Paris and its suburbs now account for about a quarter of the 11,000 cases across France, and has about 250 now in intensive care, up from just 50 five days ago. The death toll in all France as of Friday evening stood at 450.
“We are working at full speed to ramp up the number of intensive care beds,” Antoine Vieillard-Baron, head of the surgical and medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital Ambroise Pare, told a conference call with reporters.
Belgium became the latest European country to close its borders to contain the coronavirus Friday, shutting them to all but freight and travellers deemed to be on essential business.
Interior minister Pieter De Crem said the decision had been taken after “intensive contacts” with Belgium’s neighbours, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Coronavirus can sicken or kill young people, who must also avoid mingling and spreading it to older and more vulnerable people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, told a virtual press conference: “Today I have a message for young people: You are not invincible, this virus could put you in hospital for weeks or even kill you. Even if you don’t get sick the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”
Amid shortages of protective gear for health workers and diagnostic tests, “air bridges” will be needed to bring supplies to countries for vital health workers, the WHO’s top emergency expert Dr Mike Ryan said.
Updated
The World Health Organization said Friday that the Chinese centre of the coronavirus outbreak at last reporting no new cases gave hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic.
The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours - for the first time since reporting its first case in December in an outbreak that has gone on to infect more than 250,000 people around the world and kill more than 11,000 people.
Updated
US-Mexico border is closed to non-essential travel as coronavirus outbreak continues.
In Greece, the government has announced further restrictions on movement to curb the spread of the novel virus as the death toll from Covid-19 climbed to eight.
As of 6am tomorrow, travel to islands will only be allowed by local residents, following mounting evidence of Athenians snapping up ferry bookings for islands en masse. Ships carrying essential provisions will be exempt from the ban. Pleasure boats out at sea will also have to dock permanently – a stringent measure in a country with one of the longest coastlines in Europe.
The restrictions came as Greek health authorities said confirmed coronavirus cases had risen to 495, an increase of 31 since yesterday, even if presumptive cases are thought to be higher. Most are in Athens.
Announcing the latest figures, infectious diseases professor, Sotiris Tsiodras, the Greek health ministry spokesman on coronavirus, blasted Greeks for also heading to villages from the capital, emphasising the risks posed of transmission to remote areas and reiterating the next few weeks were critical.
The centre-right government has stopped short of issuing a country-wide curfew, but has signalled it may well be forced to extend an already draconian lockdown if Greeks continue to flout restrictions.
The deputy civil protection minister, Nikos Hardalias, also attending the early evening update on Friday, said the government was considering imposing heavier fines on those caught violating measures. Group gatherings of more than ten are banned with 1,000 euro penalties, per person, for infractions.
Updated
Summary: latest updates from across the world
- Italy announces 627 more coronavirus deaths, the biggest day-to-day increase in the country’s four-week epidemic. The total number of deaths was 4,032, with the number of infections reaching 47,021. Italy’s previous one-day record death toll was 475 on Wednesday.
- UK will close all cafes, bars and restaurants and the government said it would pay 80% of wages of those not working.
-
Trump has invoked new powers to speed up virus supplies. US president Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to get needed medical supplies on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, mobilizing the federal government to marshal the private sector to combat the pandemic.
- There have now been at least 10,316 deaths from coronavirus since it emerged and more than half of those deaths (5,168) have been in Europe, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
- More than a quarter of a million cases have been detected in 161 countries and territories around the world.
- The Tunisian president, Kais Saied, on Friday ordered a general lockdown, restricting public movement to counter the spread of the coronavirus.
- Among the other worst-affected countries is Iran with 1,433 deaths and 19,644 cases, Spain, with 1,002 deaths and 19,980 cases, France with 372 deaths and 10,995 cases, and the United States with 205 deaths and 14,250 cases.
Updated
Dr Maria van Kerkhove, speaking at the WHO briefing, said: “Think of a large gathering, people are close to one another and if you have an infected individual in that cluster... the opportunity for the virus to pass between people is much greater.”
She added: “Physical distancing is not enough. It has to be part of a larger package of interventions”.
A question is asked about the mortality rate in Europe – with Italy’s tragically higher and Germany’s lower.
Dr Maria van Kerkhove said there was no information about how each country is recording deaths.
She said: “We spoke about this the other day: the difference in mortality compared by country. You have to be careful about how you compare countries ... First it is about populations that the virus is infecting ... moving in older populations we know can cause more deaths. There are a number of factors in which mortality can vary between different populations. Also discussed was the challenges of describing mortality as an epidemic, or pandemic, unfold ... This is just a snapshot of what true mortality is... There are a number of individuals very severe and still in ICU – some will recover and some will die. We don’t have precise numbers of death.”
Updated
Italy reported a record 627 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its overall toll past 4,000 as the pandemic gathered pace despite government efforts to halt its spread.
The total number of deaths was 4,032, with the number of infections reaching 47,021. Italy’s previous one-day record death toll was 475 on Wednesday.
The nation of 60 million now accounts for 36.6% of the world’s coronavirus deaths. Italy has seen more than 1,500 deaths from Covid-19 in the past three days alone.
Its current daily death rate is higher than that officially reported by China at the peak of its outbreak around Wuhan’s Hubei province.
Updated
Dr Maria van Kerkhove, speaking at the WHO briefing, said people can keep connected in many ways without being in the same space.
“We are saying physical distance ... we want people to remain connected through the internet and social media because your mental health, when going through this, is just as important as your physical health.”
Updated
Misinformation is impacting on efforts to quell the coronavirus pandemic as even “very well educated” people share false cures, hoaxes and conspiracy theories online, experts warned as recorded cases continued to climb .
The World Health Organization (WHO) has increased its efforts to tackle myths and rumours since it warned in February of a massive “infodemic”, a deluge of information, including false claims that can risk public health.
The WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “I have a message for young peopole: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks or even kill you.”
Italy sees biggest day-to-day rise in deaths
Italy announces 627 more coronavirus deaths, the biggest day-to-day increase in the country’s four-week epidemic.
Cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants must close tonight in UK
Boris Johnson is telling cafes, bars, and restaurants to close as soon as possible and not to open tomorrow. He said they can provide takeaway services. He also ordered nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close.
He said: “You may be tempted to go out tonight and I say to you please don’t, you may think that you are invincible - but there is no guarantee that you will get it.
“But you can still be a carrier of the disease and pass it on.”
He added: “We want you as far as possible to stay at home.”
Updated
Boris Johnson is now talking to the media, giving his 5pm briefing. You can follow it live via the link below. New measures are expected as he updates the nation on his government’s response. He will be joined by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor and Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer.
Updated
There is now a World Health Organisation briefing being streamed live from the top of our live blog.
Uki Goñi reports from Buenos
There was panic on a ferry with 385 passengers doing the one hour crossing from Uruguay to Argentina Thursday night when it was discovered that a 21-year-old male coronavirus patient was on board.
Ambulances with health officials in full-body white sanitary suits rushed to greet the ferry’s arrival in Buenos Aires. They boarded the ship and quickly removed the youngster to a private health clinic.
Argentina’s security ministry tweeted images of the procedure and said it had arrested the young man as well as two female passengers who
refused to be screened upon arrival.
Coronavirus: la fiscal Alejandra Mángano junto con el juez federal Luis Rodríguez imputaron al pasajero irresponsable de Buquebús pic.twitter.com/4knEs7bLIH
— Agencia El Vigía (@AgenciaElVigia) March 20, 2020
Nine persons, including the young man, have been placed in hospitals, while the remaining passengers and crew of 19 have been placed in
quarantine.
According to press reports, the young Argentinian had recently arrived from Holland. In Uruguay he developed symptoms and was under observation at a a medical facility. Some reports say he escaped the facility, others that he left before receiving his test results.
With a group of friends, the teenager is said to have managed to trick the fever inspection at the port of Colonia by taking a paracetamol before boarding.
The exact details are still forthcoming. According to one report, Uruguayan authorities alerted the ferry company Buquebus of the situation when the ferry was about to arrive in Buenos Aires.
Another report states that the young man started feeling unwell and alerted ship officials that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus. The young
man is said to have received an email while on board from the Uruguayan clinic saying he had tested positive.
Passengers who had started to disembark were told to return to their original seats to work out who had been sitting in close proximity to the young man, a passenger on the ship said in a WhatsApp audio to his family. “This is total chaos,” the passenger said.
Passengers and crew have been distributed among four hotels in downtown Buenos Aires, which have been turned into makeshift quarantine facilities.
Some passengers resisted being quarantined and had to be forcibly removed from the ferry, with images of their resistance going viral.
La @PrefecturaNaval detuvo durante la madrugada, en la terminal de Buquebus, a un pasajero con síntomas de #Coronavirus COVID-19 y a dos mujeres que se negaron a realizar los controles correspondientes. pic.twitter.com/8hBP61Y2lo
— Ministerio Seguridad (@MinSeg) March 20, 2020
Johnny Depp’s UK libel case has been postponed due to coronavirus. A libel case brought by Hollywood actor Johnny Depp against Britain’s the Sun newspaper, over allegations he abused his ex-wife Amber Heard, was suspended Friday due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Updated
Thanks to those who have been sending me information and please continue to do so. Any news tips or insight from where you are will help us build a picture of what is happening.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Updated
Trump invokes new powers to speed up virus supplies
US president Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to get needed medical supplies on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, mobilizing the federal government to marshal the private sector to combat the pandemic.
Trump had said earlier in the week he would tap the act as needed. He said Friday he has put that in gear.
Trump also announced an effective closure of the US border with Mexico, prohibiting most travel except for trade. That brings it in line with the restriction on the Canadian border earlier this week.
Updated
The world underestimated the pandemic, says Ian Goldin, an Oxford University professor who predicted it. In 2015, Goldin warned in his book “The Butterfly Defect” about the risks of a global pandemic in a modern, interdependent world.
It appears though that not everyone was listening. Governments, Goldin argues, did not truly understand the potentially enormous dangers posed by astonishing events such as those witnessed across the world in the last few weeks.
Updated
Trump said he did not believe a national lockdown was necessary at this stage, while New York and California have told residents to stay indoors except for essential activities.
The president said New York and California are “hotbeds” of coronavirus, but some parts of the country do not have to take the same steps.
Read more on the Guardian US live blog, which is now updating on his briefing.
A jet carrying 359 people including hundreds of American and Canadian cruise ship passengers home from France landed at Atlanta’s international airport on Friday as emergency responders prepared to screen them for the coronavirus, federal officials said.
Three people on the flight have tested positive for COVID-19 but have no symptoms, while 13 others are sick but haven’t been tested, the US Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, said data from Italy indicate the coronavirus fatality rate is twice as high for men across all age groups.
Birx reiterated the virus appears to be less deadly for younger people, but she emphasized younger Americans still need to take precautions.
“No one is immune,” Birx said. “We know it’s highly contagious to everyone. Do not interpret mild or moderate disease as lack of contagion or that you’re immune.
UK deaths reach 177
The total number of confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in the UK now stands at 177. There have been 167 in England, six in Scotland, three in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.
Updated
Brazil declared a state of emergency on Friday, freeing up funds for the federal government to fight the coronavirus pandemic, as President Bolsonaro’s popularity declined over his handling of the crisis.
The Senate approved a measure letting the government waive fiscal targets this year, with senators voting remotely after two of them tested positive for the virus causing the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
Updated
Leyland Cecco in Toronto, Canada
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced his government will turn away asylum seekers at the US-Canada border as a temporary measure, meant to further halt the flow of people into Canada amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Canada and the United States are announcing a reciprocal arrangement that we will now be returning irregular migrants that attempt to cross anywhere at the Canada-US border,” Trudeau said Friday.
Speaking to reporters from self-isolation for the fifth day in a row, Trudeau said the plan to deny entry into Canada for asylum seekers is part of a broader agreement struck with the United States. The two countries announced plans earlier this week to shutter the 5,500 mile shared border to all non-essential travel. Trudeau stressed the “exceptional measure” to deny asylum seekers was temporary. The federal government had previously weighed placing those seeking to enter Canada into mandatory self-isolation. Canada has received roughly nearly 55,000 asylum claims since February, 2017.
The prime minister also announced plans to support manufacturing companies across the country, including large automative companies, as they quickly retool much of their production lines to build much-needed medical equipment, including ventilators and masks.
Early indications suggest the virus is hitting the Canadian economy hard as businesses across the country close. Trudeau said the government has received 500,000 employment insurance applications this week— compared to 27,000 from the same period in the prior year.
Canada has close to 1,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 11 documented deaths from the virus.
Updated
The US President, Donald Trump, said on Friday he had put the Defense Production Act into action after saying earlier this week he would invoke the measure but essentially put it on hold until needed.
The measure is meant to allow the US government to speed production of masks, respirators, ventilators and other needed equipment to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump said he put the measure into action on Thursday evening.
Updated
Summary: the latest global updates
- There have now been at least 10,316 deaths from coronavirus since it emerged and more than half of those deaths (5,168) have been in Europe, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
- More than a quarter of a million cases have been detected in 161 countries and territories around the world.
- Italy has overtaken China as the worst country with the most virus-linked deaths, with 3,405 as well as 41,035 cases.
- Among the other worst-affected countries is Iran with 1,433 deaths and 19,644 cases, Spain, with 1,002 deaths and 19,980 cases, France with 372 deaths and 10,995 cases, and the United States with 205 deaths and 14,250 cases.
- For a second consecutive day China has reports no new domestic cases. But it is now worried about a second wave of infections coming from abroad and on Friday the health commission reports 39 more imported cases.
- International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says it is “premature” to postpone the Tokyo Games planned for July-August, but admits the body is “considering different scenarios”.
- Pharmaceutical industry executives say they expect it will take 12 to 18 months to roll out a vaccine and jointly pledge to make it available worldwide based on need.
- The Canada-US border is expected to be closed by Saturday for non-essential travel. The same measure is being considered for the US-Mexico border.
Trump said US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, would announce restrictions on US-Mexican border travel today.
However, the president then appeared to preempt the announcement by saying the southern border was closing to non-essential travel.
The restrictions mirror those placed on the US-Canadian border earlier this week.
Updated
I am looking after the Guardian’s coronavirus live blog. As ever, please send your news tips and share stories where you are via any of the below channels.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
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Updated
Britain’s lead negotiator for post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union is self-isolating after showing mild symptoms of coronavirus, a spokesman said Friday – the day after his EU counterpart said he had the virus.
British negotiator David Frost “has been showing mild symptoms and so he is following the guidance to self-isolate”, a spokesman for prime minister, Boris Johnson told reporters.
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Trump has expressed approval of California and New York’s decisions to order all residents to stay home except for essential activities. “I applaud them,” Trump said of New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, and California governor, Gavin Newsom.
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Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday ordered a general lockdown, restricting public movement to counter the spread of the coronavirus.
No details yet on how long the lockdown will remain in effect, but I'm chasing. #Tunisia https://t.co/nu1uuaCIby
— Simon S. Cordall (@IgnitionUK) March 20, 2020
Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá
Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, is the latest Latin American capital to go into city-wide quarantine, albeit for a trial period until Tuesday.
The Andean capital, with a population of nearly 8 million, went under a quarantine at midnight local time, shuttering businesses in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19. The measure is an effort from local authorities to prepare for widespread quarantines, which they say are now inevitable as confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus reached 128 in Colombia on Thursday.
“It is an exercise in preparation ahead of an eventual quarantine,” Bogotá’s mayor, Claudia López, said in a press conference, announcing that bus terminals will also be shut down over the long weekend. “We must stay in our homes to avoid what happened in Italy when a quarantine was declared and many travelled and spread the virus around the rest of the country.”
Capital cities across Latin America are currently locked down, including Lima in Peru, Buenos Aires in Argentina, and Caracas in Venezuela.
The quarantine in Bogotá has been mimicked by other provincial officials in Colombia, with other cities also locking down despite some confusion sowed by the president, Iván Duque, who on Wednesday said that only the national government has the jurisdiction to declare quarantines. Medellín and Cali, Colombia’s two largest cities outside Bogotá, will also go under quarantine on Friday evening.
On Thursday, Duque announced that all international flights to Colombia would be suspended from 23 March, and that nationals would be barred from entering after then for a period of 30 days. Land and maritime borders were closed on Tuesday, while gatherings of more than 50 people are banned.
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Global cases top quarter of a million
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has just topped a quarter of a million (250,856), according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. That includes 10,415 deaths and 87,284 who recovered.
Updated
Some 2,600 US military personnel, including civilians, are in self-isolation in Europe after being identified as people of concern during the coronavirus outbreak, the US military disclosed on Friday.
The number is far higher than anything previously reported. “These individuals are not necessarily sick, but may have been exposed and are doing their due diligence following health preventative measures,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
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The White House is about to hold its daily coronavirus briefing, where the president is expected to announce restrictions on travel at the US-Mexican border. Follow the Guardian US blog here.
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Spain fatalities above 1,000 as 235 more lives claimed
Spanish authorities said on Friday they would turn a Madrid conference centre into a giant makeshift military hospital for thousands of coronavirus patients, as Europe’s second-worst outbreak claimed another 235 lives.
Spain’s worst single-day death toll yet brought the country’s total fatalities above 1,000.
Jordan has announced a round-the-clock curfew from Saturday morning until further notice to battle the coronavirus outbreak, the government announced.
The exceptional measure, to be applied for an indefinite period, was taken after “citizens did not respect directives” calling on them not to leave their homes except for extreme emergencies, government spokesman Amjad Adayleh said.
He warned that lack of compliance with the curfew would result in “immediate imprisonment, which will not exceed one year”.
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Mexico and the US are set to announce plans on Friday to sharply limit travel over their busy shared border as they try to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mexican foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, said his government and the Trump administration have agreed to a plan that would prohibit recreational and tourist travel, similar to the restrictions put in place earlier this week along the US and Canadian border.
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All non-essential workers in New York must stay home, Cuomo announces
New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has announced all non-essential workers in the state must stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is the most drastic action we can take,” Cuomo said.
The announcement comes one day after California governor, Gavin Newsom, announced all of the state’s 40 million residents must stay indoors except for essential activities.
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Major London hospital has no critical care capacity left
A major London hospital has declared a “critical incident” because of a surge in patients with coronavirus, HSJ reports.
In a message to staff, Northwick Park hospital in Harrow said it has no critical care capacity left and was contacting neighbouring hospitals to discuss transferring patients who need critical care to other sites.
The message, sent last night, said:
I am writing to let you know that we have this evening declared a ‘critical incident’ in relation to our critical care capacity at Northwick Park hospital. This is due to an increasing number of patients with Covid-19.
This means that we currently do not have enough space for patients requiring critical care.
As part of our system resilience plans, we have contacted our partners in the North West London sector this evening to assist with the safe transfer of patients off of the Northwick Park site.
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Tunisian president, Kais Saied, on Friday ordered a general lockdown in the country, restricting public movement to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking in a televised broadcast, Saied said he was asking the majority of people to stay at home and stopping movement between Tunisian cities.
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The luxury London store Harrods, which stayed open throughout the bombing during the second world war, has announced it is shutting.
It will keep open its food halls and pharmacy, but the rest of the department store will close.
The welfare of our community of colleagues, customers and partners has been our absolute priority throughout this time of uncertainty,” managing director Michael Ward said in a statement.
It will close from 7pm (1900 GMT)on 20 March.
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At least 5 million people have been designated as “key workers” in the UK whose jobs are essential to keep the country going during the coronavirus crisis – but many are paid well below the national average, Guardian analysis has found.
Of this group, at least 1.5 million workers earn below the national median salary of £24,897. The lowest paid key workers were checkout workers and shelf fillers, whose median salaries were £10,000 and £12,000 respectively. There were 13 roles in total earning below average wages, including undertakers, welfare administrators and teaching assistants.
The median salary of the occupation groups analysed by the Guardian stood at £31,029. Some of the higher paid roles include air traffic controllers, who earn £94,000 a year on average, and doctors, who earn £61,000.
Key workers, who include doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, nursery staff, police and transport workers, are entitled to send their children to schools and nurseries, which are closed indefinitely for the majority of students.
The Guardian analysis found equivalents for job roles mentioned in the government’s list of key workers in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings dataset published by the Office for National Statistics. The list of equivalents found will not include all key workers. Earnings are based on full and part-time workers’s median earnings in 2019.
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The US Homeland Security Department has said restrictions barring non-essential travel across the US-Canadian land border will begin at 11:59pm (EDT) on Friday and last until 20 April, according to a notice.
It said that restrictions do not impact air travel or trade or cargo, but does apply to passenger rail and ferry travel. The restrictions stop tourist trips, but allow US citizens and permanent residents to return to the country. The ban includes exceptions for people travelling for medical purposes, attending school or to work in agriculture, public health purposes or military-related travel.
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Belgium’s Charleroi airport has announced that it will close to commercial flights for at least two weeks because of travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The airport, the country’s second busiest and the main continental European hub for budget airline Ryanair, said it would halt operations on Tuesday night until 5 April at the earliest.
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Hello everyone. I am taking over the live blog now from my colleague Ben. If you want to share any information with me then please do via any of the channels below.
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
With restrictions being eased across China, the world is getting a glimpse of life after coronavirus.
In Shanghai, women walk arm in arm past a reopened shopping district. Narrow pavements are crowded as residents browse food shops. At one entrance to a hospital, a man wore his hazmat suit partly unzipped as he waved in cars.
In Beijing, traffic has begun to return and more residents can be seen out on the streets, in parks and in shopping and restaurant districts. Jia Shu’na, 20, travelled to Beijing on Wednesday, a stop along her route back home to Inner Mongolia to resume classes.
“Now I feel like things are gradually recovering. Now a lot of transportation has opened up,” she said, sitting in a park with her luggage. Jia said she noticed long lines at the train station when she departed from the southern province of Yunnan, and several people in each train car. “Many people have gone out. It’s much better than before,” she said.
More than 80,000 people have been infected by the virus that first appeared in the city of Wuhan, killing more than 3,000, but the number of new infections per day has dropped dramatically.
Every major carmaker in the UK and Europe is suspending or cutting production as the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak spreads – with only lower-volume manufacturers such as Aston Martin keeping factories open.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Bentley Motors have become the latest British carmakers to suspend production at their UK factories.
In Sweden, Volvo announced on Friday that it would close its factory, the last remaining high-volume plant in Europe, from 26 March.
Europe’s lockdown has disrupted global supply chains, and massively reduced demand in all key markets is thought by most analysts to be all but certain.
Russian protests to be scaled back
Opponents of Vladimir Putin’s plans to amend the constitution so that he can run for president again in 2024 have said they had been forced to scale back Russian protests this weekend due to coronavirus, but would press ahead with some demonstrations.
Putin’s changes, which have already been approved by both houses of parliament, would overturn a current constitutional ban on him running for president again in 2024, allowing him to potentially stay in power until 2036
Separately, the Kremlin said that Putin has not been tested for coronavirus and does not need to undergo such a test because he is healthy and has no symptoms, Reuters reports.
Russia has reported 199 coronavirus cases so far, fewer than in many other European countries. But the figure has risen sharply in recent days and one person diagnosed with the virus has died.
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A map showing the differing levels of countermeasures has been compiled by Olivier Lejeune, an analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA).
It includes the latest decisions by Argentina and California to impose a full curfew. Lejeune has tried his best to keep it accurate for every country in the world.
Darker the colour, deeper the lockdown.
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) March 20, 2020
Fascinating map of global #coronavirus coronavirus countermeasures ( compiled by @O_LJ ) pic.twitter.com/Q4sVwWXcZ8
Bavaria to impose curfews from Saturday morning
Bavaria is going to impose curfews from Saturday morning in an attempt to further curb the spread of Corvid-19 in the southernmost German state.
From midnight on Friday people in Bavaria will only be allowed to leave their homes if they can show their trip outside is strictly necessary, such as commuting to work, vital shopping, doctors appointments or seeing people who require care.
“We’re shutting down public life almost completely,” Bavarian state premier Markus Söder said.
The conservative politician justified the further restriction of free movement by pointing to the latest spike in figure: confirmed Covid-19 cases in Bavaria rose by 35% from Thursday to Friday, with number of deaths rising to 15. Söder also said appeals for people to voluntarily curtail their movement had not worked.
People would still be allowed outside to go for runs and walks, Söder said, adding “fresh air is good for you”. People are advised to do so on their own or within family groups, with police advised to hand out fines for non-compliance.
In what might be the first case of its kind in British territory, a 26-year-old on the Isle of Man has been arrested for allegedly failing to self-isolate against coronavirus.
The suspect was held by police on the island on Thursday, two days after the British crown dependency announced strict measures to prevent the illness spreading.
Since Tuesday night, anyone arriving on the island is subject to 14 days of self-isolation even if they do not have symptoms of the virus.
The man, who has not been named, will appear in court in Douglas, the island’s capital, on Friday. He faces a fine of up to £10,000 and a possible three-month jail sentence.
The island’s chief constable tweets:
Extraordinary measures in extraordinary times, but failing to follow self isolation requirements is a serious matter. https://t.co/h8Do8wzl1v
— CC Gary Roberts (@CCGaryRoberts) March 20, 2020
Updated
South African airport blocks disembarkation by 'high risk' passengers
As coronavirus cases in South Africa jumped on Friday to 202, the most in the sub-Saharan region, the continent’s and the country’s busiest airport said foreigners cannot disembark.
The Associated Press also reports that South Africa said five of its new cases had attended a church gathering of more than 200 people in central Free State province. All had traveled abroad.
Another new South Africa case was a health worker who had been in a number of private hospitals.
Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport said that aircraft with foreigners will be contained at an isolated bay. This is a tweet from an hour ago:
Foreign nationals from high risk countries will not be allowed to disembark the aircraft.
— ORTambo (@ortambo_int) March 20, 2020
Inbound crew will be screened and quarantined.
South African citizens returning from high-risk countries will be clinically assessed and immediately quarantined. #ProtectUProtectUs
Updated
Thanks to a tip from a reader, we’ve looked at how New York City’s department of health has changed its guidance on doctors and nurses who come into direct, prolonged, and unprotected contact with patients who are known to suffer from the coronavirus.
In short, unless they are exhibiting symptoms, they need to keep working. We heard from medical staff who are concerned that the new policy is spreading the disease.
Updated
The authorities on the French Riviera are using a drone fitted with a loudspeaker to instruct people to “stay home”.
The drone flew over Nice this morning and has been deployed over Cannes this afternoon.
“Remember the instructions regarding the Covid-19 epidemic. All movements outside the home are banned except where there is a derogation,” was the message.
“Please respect a safe distance of at least one metre between each other,” it added.
Le drone de la société @drone_06 en action sur l’avenue Jean-Médecin à #Nice06 Muni d'un haut-parleur, l'engin répète deux messages préenregistrés: "Les déplacements sont interdits sauf dérogation" et "respectez les distances de sécurité s'il vous plaît" @Nice_Matin #Nice06 pic.twitter.com/z8WlswT8fs
— Grégory Leclerc (@GregLeclerc) March 19, 2020
The device is being piloted by a local drone business run by former police officer Sabri Ben Hassen.
“For the moment, we’ve only one and it’s sending out the message with a 100 decibel speaker. To give some idea, an Airbus produces 120 decibels when it is taking off,” Ben Hassen, 33, told AFP.
The operation was commissioned by the local police prefect.
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UK government discussing new London clampdown
Government was today actively discussing a new clampdown on London with pubs, cinemas and gyms being ordered to close to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An announcement could be made in hours, with concern among crisis planners rising that too many people are continuing to ignore social distancing advice - making the spread of the virus more likely.
The British capital is the target of tougher measures because it has the highest rate of infection and deaths so far. Debate within government is continuing about whether non-essential shops - that is those not selling food or medical supplies - would be included in the ban.
The Government had been considering a formal ban on Thursday and was braced to announce it - but pulled back.Among senior government figures there is a deep reluctance to issue banning orders.
Officials believe they would have the power to order bans even without special emergency laws drafted specifically to battle the pandemic.
Crisis planners and government advisers have been looking at various data, such as transport usage in the capital and hospital admissions, to assess if the pleas made on Monday for people to stay home was being heeded.
Continuing anecdotal evidence of people, especially younger Londoners, continuing to go to pubs despite repeated pleas has led to government believing it may have no choice but to issue the ban, which may be announced within hours.
You can follow the UK coronavirus developments here.
The UK government has banned the parallel export of 80 crucial medicines – including adrenaline, insulin, paracetamol and morphine – to protect supplies during the coronavirus outbreak.
The government describes parallel exporting as “when companies buy medicines meant for UK patients and sell on for a higher price in another country, potentially causing or aggravating supply problems”.
The Department of Health said that any company found to be parallel exporting could face tough action from the country’s drug regulator, including the removal of their trading licence. The full list of medicines is here.
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Guardian film editor Catherine Shoard has this on the big fall in takings at the US box office.
With only around 440 cinemas of 5,600 still open across the US, Wednesday’s midweek box office takings hit a historic low with $300,000 recorded.
Most multiplexes, including the AMC, Regal and Cinemark chains, closed earlier this week. It is thought that some drive-ins, whose revenue is not officially recorded, remain open.
The same Wednesday in 2019 recorded almost $11m in ticket sales while last Wednesday’s box office was $7.7 million, according to Comscore. The Hollywood Reporter suggests “analysts say $300,000 is no doubt the lowest number in modern history for a single weekday”.
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has tweeted that the US states of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are too close all barber shops, nail and hair salons, tattoo shops, and similar services from tomorrow at 8pm.
#BREAKING: NY, CT, NJ, and PA will temporarily close all barber shops, nail & hair salons, tattoo shops, & similar services in our four states effective tomorrow at 8PM.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 20, 2020
These temporary closures are not going to be easy, but they are necessary to protect the public health.
Journalists in Turkey have put together a day-long campaign calling for the immediate release of jailed colleagues because of the threat posed by Covid-19, reports Bethan McKernan, the Guardian’s Turkey and Middle East correspondent.
Sırf yaptıkları haberlerden, attıkları tweetlerden veya söyledikleri sözlerden dolayı dört duvar arasında tutulan tüm gazeteciler ve hayatları tehlikede olan tüm tutuklular tahliye edilsin!
— Fatih Polat (@fpolat69) March 20, 2020
Hemen şimdi. #TutukluGazetecilereÖzgürlük pic.twitter.com/sBaDRlkzgX
The video says:
Injustice during the time of corona. Some journalists defied pressure and reported the truth for years. They were threatened, detained and arrested for defending the truth. Now, behind bars, they are defenceless against the coronavirus. Once the pandemic breaks out in prisons, it will pose a greater threat. Cleaning supplies are limited, living conditions are unhealthy. Isolation has become more merciless after visits were banned, telephone calls are limited. At these gravest of times, we miss them the most. Release the journalists.
More than 120 journalists are still being held in Turkey’s jails, a global record. The situation for the media in the country has not improved since state-of-emergency measures were lifted in 2018, two years after a failed coup, according to the International Press Institute.
On Thursday night the Turkish health ministry confirmed that cases of coronavirus have almost doubled in 24 hours to 359 infections and four deaths.
A total of 64 people have been detained over “provocative and baseless” social media posts about the pandemic, the interior ministry said.
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Summary
Worldwide death toll passes 10,000
There have been more than 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 around the world, roughly two-thirds of which have occurred in China and Italy, and more than 240,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed. There have been 205 deaths in the US, 144 in the UK and seven in Australia, as a result of the outbreak.
Spanish death toll passes 1,000
The death toll in Spain has surged to 1,002 – climbing by 235 deaths in the past day – as the country scrambles to contain an epidemic that has spiralled into one of the worst in Europe. The latest statistics from the country’s health ministry showed 19,980 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country.
More than a third of the documented cases are in Madrid. On Friday army specialists were set to begin entering care homes to help with disinfection after the virus claimed more than 50 lives at elderly care facilities across the region.
Concern as large numbers take to the roads for Iranian new year
Appeals by the Iranian government for the nation to stay at home at the start of Iranian new year have been widely ignored with more than 1.2 million taking to the roads, according to the Iranian police.
Northern towns on the Caspian coast, one of the main holiday destinations, reported tens of thousands of cars trying to reach them.
UK Hotspot being investigated in England’s West Midlands
The British government is investigating a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in the West Midlands, with one of the region’s NHS trusts reporting nine deaths from the illness, the highest number for any trust in the country.
The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed the government was looking “very, very closely” at why a hotspot seems to have emerged in the region, where 28 deaths have been recorded so far. The majority of deaths have been of elderly and at-risk patients.
Governor of California shuts down state
The governor of California has ordered all citizens to stay at home as he escalated the attempts of America’s most populous state to combat Covid-19. Gavin Newsom earlier wrote to Donald Trump to warn that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus – roughly 56% of the population.
EU open to coronavirus Brexit delay – European Commission chief
The EU would be open to a possible request from Britain for the delaying of the UK’s departure from the European Union, according to the president of the European Commission.
Ursula Von Der Leyen’s offer came against the backdrop of the continuing coronavirus outbreak across Europe, which has now led to the UK’s chief negotiator going into self isolation due to symptoms and his EU counterpart testing positive for Covid-19.
Warnings over global economy amid profit warnings and lay-offs
A worldwide credit crunch triggered by the coronavirus will set in motion a wave of corporate bankruptcies that will make the global financial crisis look like “child’s play”, investors have warned.
With the world’s most advanced economies all entering a shutdown that could last months, companies that have gorged on cheap money for the past decade face going out of business thanks to a huge spike in borrowing costs on international money markets.
China reports no new cases for a second day
China’s national health commission said earlier on Friday the 39 new cases it confirmed on Thursday were all imported, with 14 in Guangdong, eight in Shanghai, six in Beijing, three in Fujian, and one each in Tianjin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Gansu.
China is among a number of countries where stringent measures appear to have brought the virus under control, but where concerns are now mounting of a fresh wave brought in by travellers.
US politicians face demands to resign over reports of stock sell-offs
Two Republican senators have faced demands to resign after it was reported they sold off millions of dollars worth of stocks just before the market dropped amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic.
Richard Burr of North Carolina, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, whose husband is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), denied that they kept the public in the dark about the scale of the threat.
Updated
Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has said that he may take a new coronavirus test, Reuters reports.
The Brazilian leader said last week that he tested negative for the disease, after reports suggested that he tested positive.
Concern as large numbers take to the roads for Iranian new year
Appeals by the Iranian government for the nation to stay at home at the start of Iranian new year have been widely ignored with more than 1.2m taking to the roads, according to the Iranian police.
Northern towns on the Caspian coast, one of the main holiday destinations, reported tens of thousands of cars trying to reach them.
Latest figures published Friday showed Iran now has 19,644 cases of infection and 1,433 deaths. New infections in the past 24 hours was 1,237 and the number of new deaths 149.
The number of new infections is a record for a single day, and the number of deaths, the same as the day before.
Every layer of Iranian society, clerical army and national, as well as local government, had urged Iranians to stay at home at New Year, a time when Iranians traditionally travel to see friends and family and celebrate the coming of Spring.
Authorities in Mashad, Iran’s second most populous city, and the capital of Khorasan-e Razavi province in the North West said traffic was only 2 % down on the previous year, despite calls by city councillors for people to stay away.
Updated
Belgium has recorded its biggest daily rise in deaths since the beginning of the epidemic, a spokesman for the Belgian health ministry said on Friday.
Authorities recorded 16 new deaths on Thursday because of coronavirus, for a total of 37 in the country, the biggest daily rise since the beginning of the epidemic.
Belgian lockdown measures were imposed on Wednesday to contain the spread of coronavirus.
In Spain, where new statistics revealed that the death toll in Spain has surged to 1,002, the country is scrambling to contain an epidemic that has spiralled into one of the worst in Europe.
More than a third of the documented cases are in Madrid. On Friday, army specialists were set to begin entering care homes to help with disinfection after the virus claimed more than 50 lives at elderly care facilities across the region.
While health authorities have warned that the peak of the crisis is still a few days away, those on the frontlines described beleaguered hospitals operating near capacity, their struggles exacerbated by a severe shortage of protective gear such as masks and gloves.
“The current situation in hospitals in Madrid is critical,” said Ángela Hernández, of the Association of Doctors and Professionals in Madrid. “The health care system in a state of alarm.”
Earlier this week, her association began offering – via telephone or email – free therapy to healthcare professionals in the region in hopes of helping them better cope with the crisis.
Aranzazu Loa, whose 68-year-old mother is being treated for pneumonia in a hospital on the outskirts of Madrid, described a chaotic situation. “There are patients with pneumonia who have been left sitting on chairs in the emergency ward for 48 hours, forced to sleep in these chairs as they wait for the results of their Covid-19 tests,” she said.
The regional leader of Madrid denied reports that healthcare workers were being forced to decide who gets potential life-saving care. “The healthcare system treats all patients equally,” Isabel Díaz Ayuso told broadcaster Antena 3. “No one is being singled out.”
The country’s health minister on Thursday promised reinforcements for the system, announcing plans to recruit from groups such as medical students and recently retired physicians to add as many as 50,000 healthcare workers to the system.
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With the cruise ships gone and the souvenir stalls closed in Venice, the coronavirus lockdown has been transforming La Serenissima’s waterways, John Brunton reports for the Guardian.
He writes:
At the world-famous and usually overcrowded Rialto market, most of the fish and vegetable stalls are still open, though customers are few and far between. All markets are allowed to serve customers at a minimum one metre distance.
In a queue to buy fish, Franco Fabris, an architect, reminisced: “When I was a kid growing up, there were far less boats in the canals and lots of kids would jump in and go swimming.”
“For the moment I am not going out fishing as all the restaurants I supply have closed, so what is the point?” said Franco Folin, a fisherman. “But when this all over, we may well see more fish returning because for the moment pleasure fishing is prohibited – there will be an awful lot of extra marine life in the lagoon.”
Spain: death toll passes 1,000
More than 1,000 people have now died in Spain from coronavirus, according to the Spanish government.
Spain’s health ministry released figures on Friday recording that there are 19,980 people infected, with 1,141 admitted to the intensive care units and 1,002 dead.
Fernando Simón, the director of the Ministry’s Health Emergency Coordination Centre has warned that “the data is very likely to underestimate reality”.
Updated
YouTube has followed Netflix’s lead in reducing video quality across Europe, according to a Reuters report, to help the continent’s internet service providers cope with the increased usage as social distancing continues.
All YouTube videos will now play in standard definition by default for viewers in the EU, a move which should substantially reduce the bandwidth used by visitors to the Google-owned website.
The decision follows Netflix’s announcement that it would reduce the quality of its own streams, lowering its impact by 25% overall. Both companies were asked by the EU’s industry commissioner Thierry Breton to take action, amid concerns that networks could collapse if most people who would have been outside in the evening are instead at home consuming video content.
Initial fears about broadband capacity rested on the rise in remote working, which led to speculation that residential broadband networks would not be able to cope. But in practice, daytime peaks have risen, while still remaining well below a typical evening peak.
Like Netflix, YouTube’s decision also covers the UK, even though Britain has technically left the EU.
The move comes on the day YouTube launched a special section of its site for verified Covid-19 news.
Every user’s homepage now features a selection of videos from trusted local sources, including the Guardian, on the outbreak. The company has struggled to control the flow of misinformation around coronavirus, initially responding by “demonetising” any video on the topic to remove the incentive to sensationalise the story, but later reversing course in order to help fund well-made, accurate content.
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Malaysia will mobilise the army to help enforce curbs on movement aimed at reining in the coronavirus, the government said today as it grapples with the highest number of infections in south-east Asia.
Malaysia reported 130 new infections on Friday, taking its total to 1,030, accounting for nearly 40% of those across south-east Asia.
Since Wednesday, Malaysia has closed its borders, schools and non-essential businesses and ordered people to limit going outside, warning of a “tsunami” of cases if the curbs are not followed.
But people continued to go to restaurants and parks, the defence minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said.
“The army will begin mobilising on Sunday,” he told a news briefing, according to the Reuters news agency. “We are confident with the army’s assistance, we would be better able to enforce this order.”
Updated
Footage of an Irish funeral in which mourners have been respecting social distancing measures has been shared by an RTE journalist, Seán Mac an tSíthigh.
Yesterday we buried a lovely woman. Due to #Covid19 there was no wake & our community couldn’t enter the church.
— Seán Mac an tSíthigh (@Buailtin) March 20, 2020
But the entire parish came out & lined the 2km road to graveyard to say goodbye to Betty Ryan.
Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine #WestKerry pic.twitter.com/Sns99qUSad
Austria: infections trend "encouraging"
Austria will extend its coronavirus restrictions until 13 April, the chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said today.
After the country reported more than 2,200 coronavirus cases and six deaths from the global pandemic, he added, however, that the trend towards infections was “encouraging”.
Authorities imposed severe restrictions on movement on Monday in response to the developments in Italy and a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases in some of its regions.
“Hold tight,” Kurz addressed Austrians at a news conference. “We must not slow down. We must stick with the measures we have taken.”
Updated
A growing number of musicians are heading online as Covid-19 puts live shows on pause.
The Brighton band Metronomy were supposed to be playing sold-out dates in Portugal, Spain and France at the start of their European tour when the Covid-19 outbreak meant all their shows were cancelled. This week, instead of taking to the stage in Madrid, Adelekan has started giving online tutorials in bass and music production.
This week Neil Young, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Keith Urban and pop-punk act Yungblud have all put on or promised impromptu online performances as most major concerts, festivals and gigs are cancelled until at least after the summer.
For once, an entire country is begging for bad weather this weekend, as Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the behaviour of the population tomorrow will crucially influence whether her government will have to issue curfews from Monday.
“Saturday is a crucial day, and we will keep a close eye on that”, the German chancellor’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told news magazine Der Spiegel.
“While people usually used their weekends to socialise with friends and relatives, “this is currently not an option outside the family core,” the CDU politician added.
“If that doesn’t happen, then it could happen that the federal states have to take further measures that we would like to avoid”.
Schools, nurseries, bars, nightclubs and non-essential shops have been closed in most parts of Germany since Tuesday, in an attempt to find a “third way” between a full lockdown and the more laissez-faire approach to curbing the spread of Covid-19 taken by the UK or the Netherlands.
In Berlin, streets have been noticeably emptier throughout the day, but the measures to curb social interaction also seem to have led to an increase in the number of people going out for a run or a cycle in the park.
On Sunday evening, Merkel will hold a phone conference with the premiers of Germany’s 16 federal states in which a full lockdown is expected to be discussed.
The cities of Freiburg and Leverkusen have already announced lockdown plans of their own. Freiburg’s two-week ban comes into effect on Saturday, banning citizens from entering public places including streets, squares, public green spaces and parks.
Updated
The British Museum has seen a surge in the number of online visitors with the top 10 searches including those for the Benin Bronzes, metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, and the Lewis Chessmen, a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces.
It said the number of online visitors between 1-18 March was 978,548, up from 472,890 in the same period last year. Most of the increase has happened over the last seven days.
The largest number of online visitors are from Italy, 203,250 in March so far, followed by the UK (175,734), US (113,741), Spain (111,707), Turkey (54,133), Russia (22,764), Canada (15,610), Australia (15,575).
The reasons are obvious. Every UK museum and gallery closed down this week so people self-isolating at home are desperate for a diversion.
The top 10 searches are: ‘Egypt’, ‘Virtual tour’, ‘Benin bronzes’, ‘Rosetta stone’, ‘Netsuke franks’, ‘Lewis Chessmen’, ‘Virtual’, ‘Rosetta’, and ‘Vase Exekias.’
The museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, said: “Culture gives comfort in times of turmoil, it unites us and makes us understand what it means to be human. As the world grapples with this current crisis, I am glad that so many people are coming to the website and online collections of the British Museum.”
Updated
The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, is self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The news, which was reported by various sources today and attributed to the UK government comes after Frost’s EU counterpart, Michel Barnier said he had tested positive for the disease on Thursday
The chief negotiators on both sides are now in isolationhttps://t.co/PKB46v9Cxl via @bpolitics
— Ian Wishart (@IanWishart) March 20, 2020
Details are expected today of plans by the US and Mexico to halt much of cross-border travel without disrupting trade during the coronavirus outbreak.
Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he proposed steps to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that won’t paralyse economic activity and keep the border open to commerce and work.
Pompeo said on Twitter that he was working closely with his Mexican counterpart on travel restrictions.
#Mexico Foreign Secretary @m_ebrard and I have been working closely on travel restrictions that balance protecting our citizens from further transmission of #COVID19. Together, we can reduce public health risks and prioritize essential cross-border commerce and trade.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 20, 2020
Rail services in Scotland will move to a reduced timetable from Monday 23 March as people follow the extraordinary advice to limit social contact and stay at home.
Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail announced they would be operating a reduced service so emergency staff can travel and will prioritise moving goods and emergency supplies such as medicines can be moved around the country.
David Simpson, ScotRail operations director, said: “We are facing an unprecedented challenge on Scotland’s Railway and the revised timetable will help to provide a critical service for the key workers across the country.
“Our own people are absolutely committed and are working flat out on the frontline to help keep the country moving, while also keeping themselves and customers safe.
Scottish transport secretary Michael Matheson said the government is in discussions with rail unions to protect rail staff during unprecedented times.
“We are also investigating ways to provide proportionate relief to operators, while also ensuring contractual incentives remain to mitigate the impact of doing so. Any changes to rail franchise contracts, including funding mechanisms, will be made in the best interests of the public and business communities.”
Updated
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa have risen by 52 to 202, according to the country’s health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
He is giving a press conference now which is being livestreamed here
Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize addressing the media at Bophelo House, Free State https://t.co/Z1ycLH2e62
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) March 20, 2020
The virus has multiplied in Africa more slowly than in Asia or Europe, but the number of cases has started to rise more rapidly in South Africa in recent days.
Updated
Twitter won’t be removing a tweet from Elon Musk that claims that children are “basically immune” to Covid-19, a day after committing to remove misinformation related to the disease, the company says.
Musk came under fire on Thursday night for tweeting:
Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020
The claim isn’t supported by the evidence, which suggests that children can and do catch the virus, with many becoming seriously ill around the world, and many more helping to spread the disease further while suffering mild or no symptoms.
While death rates remain low for under-18s, a March paper in the journal Pediatrics concluded “children at all ages were susceptible to COVID-19”.
But, in a statement given to tech site The Verge, Twitter said it would not be enforcing its new rules on medical misinformation against Musk.
“When reviewing the overall context and conclusion of the Tweet, it does not break our rules”, the company said. “We’ll continue to consult with trusted partners such as health authorities to identify content that is most harmful.”
Musk has been talking down the risk of Covid-19 for some time. On March 6, he tweeted: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528
He has told employees at one of his companies, SpaceX, that “the risk of death from C19 is vastly less than the risk of death from driving your car home.”
He did not deploy the same metaphor at another of his companies, which makes cars, but instead told Tesla employees that they should continue working at his Fremont, California, factory unless they were showing symptoms, despite a shelter-in-place order in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Musk was eventually overruled by the local sheriff’s office.
Britain’s bus operators have called on the government to provide £1bn in immediate help to maintain critical services as passenger numbers fall away with the coronavirus.
Operators say passenger numbers have already fallen by more than half outside London, with a loss of £50million per week in revenues, even before the closure of schools.
While the government had pledged to deliver £5bn in additional funding over five years to the industry, with the importance of bus services having risen up the political agenda before the coronavirus outbreak, bus firms now say they need a first tranche simply to guarantee income and support staff costs to maintain vital routes.
Graham Vidler, chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents bus companies, said: “Operators are under extreme pressure and facing impossible choices over which routes they have to cut and how many staff may have to go.”
Firms collectively employ around 100,000 drivers and 120,000 support staff, whose jobs are at risk.
In Britain, BT is to remove all caps on home broadband plans to give customers unlimited data while working from home or self-isolating.
The BT Group, which also includes mobile network EE, said it wanted to help people stay connected during periods of isolation because of the coronavirus outbreak.
If comes after the firm said it was among networks in talks with the Government over allowing ministers to use anonymised mobile data to monitor whether people are following social distancing measures.
An iconic Italian deli which has served London for more than 75 years is raising money so it can supply pasta and sauce to people in need amid the coronavirus crisis, reports London’s Evening Standard.
Lina Stores, which has a site in Soho and another in King’s Cross, wants to make provisions for hospitality staff whose jobs have been cut and people in at risk groups.
“We want to look after London - the community that has been supporting us for over 75 years,” the store, which opened in the 1940s, said in a Go Fund Me page, which has raised more than £11,000 so far and has an aim of £20,000.
Well, this is amazing. Iconic Lina Stores in Soho is raising money to supply pasta and sauce to people in need amid the coronavirus crisis, reports @EveningStandard London's Evening Standard.
— Alexandra Topping (@LexyTopping) March 20, 2020
Here's the Go Fund me page: https://t.co/DYLFjSfMFC pic.twitter.com/EJQI4dHlbE
It sounds like a plot from the Police Academy films: hundreds of trainee cadets, some just a few weeks into their training, are sworn in and assigned to active duty to deal with a national crisis.
A trope that Hollywood screenwriters have long used in various forms but on Friday it’s a deadly serious reality in Ireland where 319 students will be sworn in at the Garda College in Templemore, county Tipperary, to deal with the coronavirus emergency.
The Garda commissioner, Drew Harris, and justice minister, Charlie Flanagan will preside over a brief attestation ceremony that will observe social distancing protocols.
Some 124 tutors and instructors from the college are also being deployed to frontline policing. The eight-acre campus may be turned into an improvised health facility.
On Thursday the parliament passed draconian legislation to allow police detain people who breach self-isolation instructions. It came as the Health Service Executive reported another 191 cases, bringing Ireland’s total to 557.
Simon Coveney, the tánaiste and foreign minister said political leadership and people’s actions would determine whether Covid-19 “kills hundreds of people, thousands of people or tens of thousands of people in Ireland”.
The Guardian’s Editor-in-chief, Katherine Viner, has written to readers about how we aim to cover the Coronavirus crisis, emphasising the value of expertise, scientific knowledge and careful judgment in our reporting
She writes:
With you, we are trying to face this unsettling moment with fortitude, and we’re remembering our history – the Guardian and Observer continued to publish throughout the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars, and we will do our best to do the same during this global coronavirus pandemic.
Read on here
Sales at the UK chain Wetherspoons have been falling sales after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told members of the public to stay at home and not visit Britain’s pubs.
The pub chain said that sales, which had risen by 3.2% in the previous six weeks, started falling by 4.5% in the week ending March 15, as the coronavirus pandemic scared customers off.
The decline picked up even further when the Prime Minister told people that it was vital they do not visit pubs in order to slow the spread of the highly infectious disease.
“In the early part of the current week ... sales have declined at a significantly higher rate,” Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin said in a statement to shareholders on Friday.
Earlier this week the Guardian reported on how staff at the pub chain had spoken of their fears about having to continue working in busy pub environments without masks, hand gel or other protective equipment.
They spoke out as the company announced that its pubs would remain open – but customers will pay by card, avoid standing at the bar and sit at alternate tables.
“We’re effectively going to become Petri dishes,” said one worker who said that he and others should be provided with hand gel, gloves and face masks.
“We come into contact all day with the general public, we handle money, dirty plates, glasses, sometimes bodily fluids, and the fact we can’t wear a mask/gloves front of house is making people feel on edge. We of course are washing our hands as often as possible but it’s just bizarre we aren’t allowed to protect ourselves.”
France has tightened the rules of who can go out by banning sports cycling and demanding runners and walkers limit the distance they take from home to a maximum 1-2km and 20minutes.
📢 Face à l'épidémie de COVID-19, la @FFCyclisme demande à tous les cyclistes de faire preuve de responsabilité en évitant toute pratique à l'extérieur durant cette période.
— FFC (@FFCyclisme) March 19, 2020
Un seul mot d'ordre : "Sauvez des vies ! Restez chez vous !"
Plus d'informations ⤵ pic.twitter.com/tj0l3WJn8n
A statement from a cycling body reads: “Faced with the COVID-9 epidemic the French Federation of Cycling asks all cyclists to show their responsibility and avoid all cycling outside during this period. Remember the rule: “Save lives! Stay at home!”
The cycling rule is thought to apply only to those cycling for sport. Those using their bikes for essential shopping or work journeys - and carrying the correct papers - are expected to be allowed to continue, subject to policing.
French government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye warned the confinement rules were likely to be tightened further.
“We see quite irresponsible behaviour, people going to beach to the park. We have to tighten the restrictions. the fines are now 135 and their application is strict; Those who haven’t the right to go out, who don’t have their justification document, who overstep the regulations will be sanctioned,” Ndiaye said.
Updated
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has said he would use “all state power” to tackle the health and economic problems caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Authorities launched rapid testing for the disease today in areas where there have been cases of the virus, Widodo told reporters.
A scramble by the UK to produce thousands of ventilators to fight the coronavirus outbreak was achieving results as top companies have already produced a prototype and it should be ready for use in hospitals by the end of next week, according to Britain’s health secretary.
“More than half a dozen companies have already made one in prototype, to check with us that we are happy with the quality ,” Matt Hancock told BBC TV.
He also said that negotiations were advancing to purchase new equipment in large numbers that would enable home testing.
“Frankly I don’t care where it comes from as long as we can get our hands on it,” he told the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4.
The tests had only recently been invented and approved by regulators in the past couple of days, he added.
Separately, he said that the UK government was looking “very, very closely” at why there is a coronavirus hotspot in England’s Midlands.
Asked on Sky News about 28 deaths recorded in the West Midlands, he said: “There is a hotspot, not as big as in London, but there is a hotspot in the Midlands.
A critical care nurse in Britain has made a tearful appeal to members of the public to stop stripping supermarket shelves of food after she came off a shift and was unable to buy supplies for her family.
“Those people who are stripping the shelves of basic foods. You just need to stop it because it is people like me who will be looking after you when you are at your lowest, so just stop it,” said the nurse, named as Dawn.
Critical care nurse Dawn has pleaded for the public to "stop it" after being faced with empty supermarket shelves following a 48-hour shift. pic.twitter.com/1sQHM2U5Ba
— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) March 19, 2020
The recording was played this morning to Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who told the BBC’s Today programme that his heart went out to people like Dawn.
He said that people should follow the guidance which has aleady been set out but the government “would do whatever it takes” if necessary.
Spain is preparing new flights today to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the local mayor ordered trucks on to the runway yesterday to prevent a plane from landing.
That’s according to Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez, who was speaking after the European Union asked Ecuador to guarantee access to its airports to ensure it can airlift citizens out of the South American nation.
The Iberia flight which was unable to land was planning to repatriate 190 EU citizens.
A journalist at TeleSur has tweeted some footage of how the incident unfolded on Thursday.
Alarming incident at Ecuador's International Airport in Guayaquil today as an @Iberia flight from Spain is denied landing by the mayor @CynthiaViteri6 who ordered the blocking of the runway, utilizing municipal and police vehicles.
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) March 19, 2020
Helicopter view of the blocked runway: pic.twitter.com/OZpgqsO5Y9
Cirque du Soleil, the world famous entertainment company, has announced it is temporarily laying off 4,679 employees - some 95 percent of its workforce.
MISE À JOUR - 17 MARS Nous aimerions vous remercier pour votre soutien en ces temps difficiles. Nous partageons votre déception concernant la suspension de nos spectacles et nous voulons que vous sachiez que nous travaillons activement pour trouver des solutions pour tous. pic.twitter.com/IzO5OnkbeP
— Cirque du Soleil (@Cirque) March 17, 2020
With schools and universities in the UK now relying on digital services for their switch to remote learning, parents and students are already complaining that residential internet speeds are slowing down dramatically.
The Department for Education in England says it is engaging directly with telecommunications providers to try and fix the problem:
“The government is having regular calls with the major fixed and mobile operators, and with Ofcom, to monitor the situation and ensure that any problems on the networks are rapidly addressed and rectified.
“We fully understand the importance of having reliable internet connectivity at this time, so that people can work from home wherever possible and access critical public services online, including health information.“
A 36-year-old Australian man diagnosed with Covid-19 has died in Iceland, while his wife has been quarantined with the illness.
However, doctors said the man’s symptoms were atypical for the novel coronavirus, and although he had the illness they are continuing to investigate the cause of his death, Iceland’s national broadcaster reported.
“While he was found to be infected with the coronavirus, it is unlikely to have been the cause of his death,” epidemiologist Dr Thorolfur Gudnason, the chief of the health directorate’s national vaccination program, told public broadcaster RUV. “His symptoms came on very quickly and were not those usually associated with Covid-19 deaths.”
Updated
France will consider taking additional measures to limit people’s movements if necessary, the country’s foreign minister has said.
News about those comments from Jean-Yves Le Drian are just breaking on Reuters now and we’ll bring you more as we hear them.
It’s worth nothing however that the French state has implemented some of the strictest rules on movement already in Europe.
Following Italy and Spain, France went into lockdown last Tuesday, with people allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and other essential supplies, travel to work if unavoidable, exercise or attend medical appointments.
It’s another day of carnage in the business world, with aviation in the firing line.
In Finland, the government has said it will guarantee Finnair’s €600m (£550m) pension premium loan to aid the flag carrier hit by coronavirus along with other airlines.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways will survive the coronavirus epidemic, its chief executive said in a video released today, a day after the industry’s largest body warned that Middle East airlines were in crisis.
Updated
EU 'open' to Brexit delay request from UK - Von Der Leyen
The EU would be open to a possible request from Britain for the delaying of the UK’s departure from the European Union, according to the president of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
She was speaking on German radio.
The Guardian reported last week that Britain, which entered an 11-month transition period earlier this year, will have to guarantee “uniform implementation” of Brussels’s state subsidy rules.
Updated
Good morning from London. This is Ben Quinn picking up the blog, which will be bringing you coverage of global developments and also important ones from here in Britain.
In the UK, parents are waking up to learn further details of how nursery and school places will be provided for key workers including health service, communications and police staff.
After waiting all day yesterday, the UK government last night finally published details setting out whose children would be allowed to continue at their schools and nurseries. We have covered that story here.
UK government list of key workers & guidance for schools, colleges and local authoritieshttps://t.co/WPfxCEcgdv
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) March 20, 2020
Parents and young people in the UK are also awaiting further clarity today on how qualifications will be awarded after summer school tests were hit by school closures.
Also in Britain, Rishi Sunak, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, is to unveil an emergency package aimed at protecting workers’ jobs and wages as they face hardship in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated
Summary
If you’re just joining us or coming back for updates, these are the main developments:
- The governor of California has ordered all citizens to stay at home as he escalated attempts to combat Covid-19 in America’s most populous state. Gavin Newsom earlier wrote to Donald Trump to warn that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus.
- Train services in Britain will be wound down to a minimum from Monday. Passenger numbers have dropped 70% in the outbreak. Key workers will be able to keep their children in school when they close on Monday.
- Researchers at Oxford University are racing to develop a UK vaccine against coronavirus with the hope of making it available by the end of the year.
- The number of deaths in Italy has passed the total in China to make it the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities. Southern and central Italy are braced for a “tsunami” of cases.
- Three passengers who left a cruise ship in Sydney on Thursday have tested positive. Officials have implored around 2,700 other passengers who left the ship to self-isolate.
- Australia’s PM has told people to “reconsider” domestic travel.
- Argentina has gone into lockdown, Haiti has closed its borders and Chile has postponed a constitutional referendum.
- Thailand, where cases rose sharply again, will require all visitors from abroad to present a health certificate confirming they virus-free.
- Stock markets in Asia have had a better day and oil prices have risen. The FTSE100 is set to rise 2.25% this morning but some believe a new credit crunch will create a wave of defaults in the corporate world.
- Donald Trump has cancelled the G7 meeting at Camp David. It will now be carried out by teleconference.
Mixed day for global stock markets
It’s been a mixed day on Asia Pacific stock markets so far. Concerns about the economic impact of the outbreak have been soothed slightly by massive stimulus packages in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. But investors were still cautious in Japan where the Nikkei finished down 1% today. Sydney was up 0.74% despite a very strong start while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index has risen more than 4%.
Global stocks markets bounce w/Dollar halted an 8d disorderly rally as investors took stock of stimulus measures, giving tentative signs of returning appetite for riskier assets. Dax Future up 2%. Bond mkts stabilize w/US 10y at 1.14%. Gold on course to $1500. Bitcoin at $6.2k. pic.twitter.com/Mi3ga1Gthj
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) March 20, 2020
The FTSE100 is set to lift 2.25% at the opening bell and the US benchmark S&P500 is on course to rise 1.5%.
Our long read today is a fascinating insight into the coronavirus outbreak as seen from the frontline. Despite the growing death toll and the unprecedented speed at which events are moving, the past few weeks feel like just a prelude of what is to come, writes Gavin Francis, a GP in Scotland.
UK train services to be reduced
In another sign of the tightening lockdown in Britain, train services will start to be reduced from Monday.
Timetables will be progressively thinned out to reflect the 70% drop in passenger numbers since the outbreak started to take hold.
The exact number of services will be left for operators to decide but they must maintain enough trains for key workers and for the public to access medical appointments, as well as ensuring the flow of goods by rail.
Gwyn Topham, our transport correspondent, has the full story:
My colleague Helen Davidson has filed a wrap of the day’s main developments so far. It includes details about the worsening outbreak in the US and how China has reported no new locally transmitted cases for the second day running. Here it is:
UK's key workers allowed to keep children in school
In the UK, the department of education has issued a list of key workers who will still be able to send their children to school despite them being closed from Monday.
They include health workers, nursery care staff and those involved in food production and distribution. Here’s the full list:
And more from Japan where Justin McCurry reports that a senior member of the Japan Olympic Committee [JOC] has called for this summer’s Tokyo games to be postponed. She echoed concerns that athletes will not be able to prepare due to the massive disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It should be postponed under the current situation, in which athletes can’t be well prepared,” Kaori Yamaguchi, who won a bronze medal in judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, told the Nikkei business daily in an interview published on Friday.
Yamaguchi, the first JOC board member to call openly Tokyo 2020 to be postponed, criticised the International Olympic Committee [IOC] for insisting that the Games would open as scheduled on 24 July.
Yamaguchi said the IOC, which is reportedly “considering different scenarios” for the Games, could put athletes’ health at risk if it decided there was no alternatives to holding them this summer.
Yamagushi’s intervention came as the Olympic torch arrived in Japan to begin its journey to the main stadium in Tokyo.
The torch relay will begin next Thursday at J-Village, a soccer training centre that served as an operations base for workers who battled triple meltdowns at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Organisers have asked people not to line the relay route for the first few days, and similar restrictions may go into effect as the torch continues its 121-day journey through Japan.
South Korea and China support Japan holding a “complete” Olympics, the South Korean foreign ministry has said, according to Reuters.
The ministers held a video conference to discuss cooperation on the coronavirus pandemic amid growing concerns over the number of infected people arriving in their countries from overseas.
Updated
Our Africa correspondent, Jason Burke, has been looking at how the continent’s fragile health systems might cope with a sustained outbreak of the virus.
He’s spoken to officials in Nigeria where they are scrambling to add isolation beds and provide more specialised medical training and equipment at state hospitals.
“Our health system is not as strong as we’d like it to be,” said Chikwe Ihekweazu, the head of Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control. “It is because we are a bit worried about our capacity to deal with a large outbreak.”
Here’s his full story:
And on the other side of the world, cases are increasing in New Zealand.
From Sunday, Thailand will require all visitors from abroad to present a health certificate confirming that they have been tested and are free from the coronavirus. This is effectively a travel ban in all but name.
Given the shortages of tests globally, it will be almost impossible for most people to obtain a certificate. The announcement comes as the Thai government faces pressure to impose tougher measures to stop the virus, which appears to have spread more rapidly over the past week.
The government reported 50 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the total to 322. Most infections have been recorded in Bangkok.The government has shut down schools, universities across the country, while entertainment venues - such as gyms, cinemas and bars - have been asked to close in the capital.
There’s so much going on that I’ll just a quick roundup of some other developments around the world:
- Malaysia will deploy the army from Sunday to assist police in enforcing a a partial lockdown.
- Nasa’s planned new moonshot is the latest victim of the virus. The space agency has ordered the temporary closure of two rocket production facilities after an employee tested positive for the illness. It will likely delay plans to return astronauts to the moon in 2024.
- Iran’s president says that the country can fight the virus “with unity”.
- Vietnam will temporarily suspend visa-free travel for citizens of Japan, Belarus and Russia from Saturday.
- An Australian tourist has reportedly died of the disease in Iceland.
Thailand has 50 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 322, a health official said on Friday. The majority are in Bangkok.
A group of 41 new cases is linked to earlier infections, while another, of nine, centres on overseas arrivals and contact with foreigners, Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the disease control department, told a news conference.
Summary
If you’re just joining us or popping back for updates, these are the main developments in the past few hours:
- The governor of California has ordered all citizens to stay at home as he escalated the attempts of America’s most populous state to combat Covid-19. Gavin Newsom earlier wrote to Donald Trump to warn that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus – roughly 56% of the population. Another eight people have died in the worst-affected US state, Washington.
- The number of deaths in Italy has passed the total in China to make it the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities. Southern and central Italy are braced for a “tsunami” of cases.
- Three passengers who left a cruise ship in Sydney on Thursday have tested positive. Officials have implored around 2,700 other passengers who left the ship to self-isolate.
- Australia’s PM has told people to “reconsider” domestic travel and he has delayed the federal budget from May to October.
- Researchers at Oxford University are racing to develop a UK vaccine against coronavirus with the hope of making it available by the end of the year.
- British PM Boris Johnson told his daily media conference that the country could turn the tide on the virus in “12 weeks”.
- Argentina has gone into lockdown, Haiti has closed its borders and Chile has postponed a constitutional referendum.
- Stock markets in Asia are enjoying a better day and oil prices have risen, helped by massive state intervention around the world. The Bank of England has cut rates to 0.1%, US Republicans propose giving each American $1,200 and Europe is rolling out packages worth 1.7 trillion euros. But some investors believe a new credit crunch will create a wave of defaults in the corporate world.
- Trump has cancelled the G7 meeting at Camp David. It will now be carried out by teleconference.
Updated
If you’re wondering about how you might cope with life under social distancing, look no further than our UK podcast.
Zoe Williams has spent the week researching tips for life under a new regime of social distancing and self-isolation. She tells Anushka Asthana it is important to give yourself a break amid the hardships.
Following on from our earlier post about the Olympic flame’s arrival in Japan, an official from the Japan Olympic Committee has urged a delay of the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“It should be postponed under the current situation where athletes can’t be well prepared,” Kaori Yamaguchi, a JOC executive board member, told the Nikkei daily in an interview published on Friday.
Yamaguchi, who won a bronze medal for judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is the first JOC board member to call openly for a postponement of the Tokyo Games, which are scheduled to open on 24 July.
Organisers have scrapped qualifiers and scaled back test events, while many countries have imposed travel bans.
The International Olympic Committee, which will take the final decision on whether to proceed as scheduled, has voiced its commitment to the Games going ahead.
Yamaguchi criticised the IOC stance, saying the body “is putting athletes at risk.”
“By asking them to train under these conditions, the IOC is opening itself up the criticism that it is not putting athletes first,” Yamaguchi told the newspaper.
“Unlike other sporting events, the Olympics symbolise the ideal that sports bring about world peace,” she said.
The Olympics should not be held “if people across the world can’t enjoy themselves,” she said.
Updated
Australia to keep schools open
Back to that press conference in Australia and the country’s chief medical office Brendan Murphy has confirmed that schools are still advised to stay open. This has been one of the most contentious elements of the Australian government’s response to the outbreak so far, with many asking why Australia has not followed the lead of other countries, including the UK this week, of shutting down schools.
Brendan Murphy is addressing that question now:
I think it is really important to recognise that, as we’ve said before, we think the risk to children with this virus is very low.
Only 2.4% of all the cases in China in Hubei Province were under 19, and there have been very, very few significant cases.
Obviously we do have some concerns that children may have a role in transmission but most children who have seemed to have got the virus have got it from adults as you’ve seen in this case.
We think keeping children at home when there is relatively no community spread is probably disproportionate given they probably won’t stay at home anyway.
They may be cared for by elderly parents. There may be circumstances where there are outbreaks in an area where we do need to close schools for a period of time.
Our strategy is in the for the next six months to keep schools open and we think that risk is appropriate.
China exonerates Li Wenliang, doctor who warned about coronavirus outbreak
China has taken the highly unusual move of exonerating a doctor who was reprimanded for warning about the coronavirus outbreak and later died of the disease.
The official China News Service late Tuesday said police in the city of Wuhan had revoked its admonishment of Dr Li Wenliang that had included a threat of arrest and issued a “solemn apology” to his family.
It said two police officers had been issued disciplinary punishments” for the original handling of the matter, without giving further details.
In death, Li became the face of simmering anger at the ruling Communist Party’s controls over information and complaints that officials lie about or hide disease outbreaks, industrial accidents, natural disasters and financial frauds, while punishing whistleblowers and independent journalists.
The 33-year-old ophthalmologist died in early February at Wuhan Central Hospital, where he worked and likely contracted the virus while treating patients in the early days of the outbreak.
After seeing thousands of new cases daily at the peak of the city’s outbreak a month ago, Wuhan on Friday had its second consecutive day with no new confirmed or suspected cases.
The health ministry said all of the 39 new cases recorded nationwide Friday were brought from overseas, showing that rigid travel restrictions and social distancing requirements appear to have had their desired effect.
China has loosened some travel restrictions in Hubei, the province surrounding Wuhan, although its provincial border remains closed and Wuhan itself remains under lockdown.
Officials say they will only lift the quarantine after Wuhan goes 14 consecutive days with no new cases.
Australian PM announces further social restrictions but urges people to ‘keep Australia running’
Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has addressed the country, saying that as long as “we continue to work together in the way we are... Australia will bounce back strongly”.
There is a way through this. We all need to keep going. I need all of you to keep going. And we are going to keep going to keep Australia running. All Australians have a role to play as we make our way through, and there is a way through.
There will be additional cases. This is something we should be continuing to expect. This is anticipated. The presence of additional cases is not something of itself that should cause alarm, because at the end of the day you don’t stop this virus, but you can defeat it by slowing it down. And that is how we save lives.
Among the social restrictions announced by Morrison today, are:
- Any gatherings of up to 100 people (larger gatherings are banned) must allow for four sq metres of space per person.
- People should avoid “unnecessary travel for the upcoming school holidays.
- Additional funding to support aged care facilities
- All non-essential travel into remote indigenous communities banned.
- Warnings of region-specific shutdowns if community transmission is identified in particular parts of the country.
Morrison also announced that the country’s budget – normally announced in May – would be delayed until October.
Panama, which is a major regional travel hub for Central America, has announced it is suspending all international flights from Monday.
The measure will see no international inbound or outbound flights from Tocumen International Airport, the region’s busiest airport with connecting flights to many other destinations in Central and South America.
A partir del domingo 22 de marzo a las 11:59 p.m. quedarán suspendidas las llegadas y salidas de todos los vuelos internacionales a nuestro país, por un periodo de 30 días #ProtégetePanamá #UnidosLoHacemos
— Nito Cortizo (@NitoCortizo) March 19, 2020
President Laurentino Cortizo made the announcement on Twitter and said the suspension would last 30 days. Panama has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Central America, which jumped from 109 to 137 on Thursday.
Cargo, humanity and domestic flights will continue as normal, the President Cortizo said.
A second dog has tested positive for coronavirus in Hong Kong.
Like the first, this one is showing no symptoms and there remains no evidence that a dog can pass the virus back to a human. It too was picked up from a home where its owner had been diagnosed with Covid-19.
The German Shepherd was sent for quarantine with another mixed breed dog, which tested negative.
The department of agriculture said it would continue to monitor and repeatedly test both dogs.
“It strongly advises that mammalian pet animals including dogs and cats from households with people confirmed as infected with Covid-19, or close contacts of Covid-19 infected people, should be put under quarantine in AFCD facilities,” the statement said.
“Pet owners are reminded to maintain good hygiene practices and under no circumstances should they abandon their pets.”
There’s anger in the US at Republican politicians who sold stocks after receiving classified briefings about the deteriorating public health situation despite giving public assurances that everything was under control.
It is stomach-churning that the first thoughts these Senators had to a dire & classified #COVID briefing was how to profit off this crisis.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 20, 2020
They didn’t mobilize to help families, or prep response. They dumped stock.
Sen. Loeffler needs to resign, too. https://t.co/3lx1Bjt4be
There’s more on this story here.
Three passengers test positive on cruise ship in Sydney
Three passengers on board the Ruby Princess cruise ship in Sydney have tested positive for Covid-19, the health minister of New South Wales says.
The tests, done on board, were originally for the flu, but were tested for Covid-19. Of the 13 tested, three tested positive. NSW authorities are now worried the nearly 2700 people who were also on that cruise, may not know Covid-19 was present on the ship.
They want all passengers on the Ruby Princess to go into self-isolation.
Anyone who shows symptoms should immediately contact their GP
Olympic flame has arrived in Japan
The Olympic flame has arrived in Japan, writes Justin McCurry in Tokyo, as uncertainty grows over whether it would reach its destination in Tokyo in July due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A chartered plane carrying the torch arrived at an airbase in northeastern Japan on Friday morning amid reports that the International Olympic Committee [IOC] was examining alternatives for the Games, which are currently due to open on 24 July.
The New York Times reported that the IOC’s president, Thomas Bach, said the organisation was “considering different scenarios” for Tokyo 2020 [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/olympic-games-2020] – the first time Bach has publicly suggested that there may be alternatives to holding the Games this summer.
The torch relay in Greece was cancelled to avoid drawing crowds and the handover ceremony was open to a small number of officials and journalists.
The torch will be displayed in areas of north-east Japan affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 18,000 people, before beginning the first part of its Japan leg in Fukushima [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/04/japan-lifts-evacuation-order-futaba-town-fukushima-disaster], where the disaster caused a nuclear meltdown, next Thursday.
Organisers have urged spectators not to line the route during the opening stages of the relay, and similar restrictions could be put in place as the flame makes its way through Japan’s 47 prefectures in the coming weeks. Runners and staff will have their temperature and health monitored, the organisers said.
The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, added to speculation that the Tokyo Olympics could be postponed after telling reporters this week that Group of Seven leaders had voiced support for a “complete” Games – an increasingly distant prospect given that athletes in countries severely affected by the outbreak are unable to prepare or qualify for their event.
Abe’s deputy, Taro Aso, said holding the Olympics as scheduled made “no sense” if some countries were unable to send athletes.
The IOC said earlier this week that only 57% of athletes had so far qualified for the Olympics, after the coronavirus outbreak disrupted qualifying tournaments.
Abe reportedly told other G7 leaders during an emergency video conference on Monday that he had yet to decide on whether to support postponing the Games. “We did discuss it,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “[Abe] has told us that he has not made a decision as to what to do,” Trump said, adding that the Japanese leader faced a “big decision”.
Here’s more of what California governor Gavin Newsom told people in the state on Thursday afternoon local time.
CA is issuing a statewide, mandatory STAY AT HOME order.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 20, 2020
Those that work in critical sectors should go to work. Grocery stores, pharmacies, banks and more will stay open.
We need to meet this moment and flatten the curve together.
Go to https://t.co/xtXFwVeWc2 to learn more.
We direct a statewide order for people to stay at home. That order goes into effect this evening. We are confident the people of California will abide by it.
If we meet this moment, we can truly bend the curve to reduce the need to have to go out and to cobble all those assets together.
I don’t believe the people of CA need to be told by law enforcement it’s appropriate to home-isolate, go about the essential patterns of life, but do so by socially distancing yourselves from others and using common sense.
The state was facing hospitalization rate of 20% — about 19,543 people that would need to be hospitalized, above the existing capacity of the system, he said.
We’ve got more on the dramatic escalation in California’s attempts to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Shortly before issuing his stay at home order, governor Gavin Newsom said 56% of California residents were expected to contract Covid-19 over the next eight weeks. It would require nearly 20,000 more hospital beds than the state could currently provide. Here’s the story:
Newsom had earlier on Thursday asked Donald Trump to send a US Navy hospital ship to Los Angeles “immediately”. The city, the nation’s second-largest city, would likely be “disproportionately impacted” by the pandemic in the coming weeks, he said.
And here’s how the order might work:
Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro has news of stranded cruise ship passengers being flown home from Brazil.
Hundreds of British, European, Australian and New Zealand citizens stranded in the Brazilian port of Recife in the Northeastern state of Pernambuco on a cruise-liner will began flying home on Friday. A chartered Latam flight will take 116 British passengers and crew and 15 Europeans from Recife to Heathrow at 21.30 Friday night. Veejay Rangarajan, the UK’s ambassador in Brazil, tweeted the news on Thursday night. “I’m delighted,” he posted. “Thanks to all the passengers for their patience and resilience.”
The passengers have been confined to their cabins on the Silver Shadow cruise liner since it docked in Recife on March 12 and a Canadian male passenger aged 78 felt sick. He later tested positive for Covid-19 and is hospitalised in serious condition, a spokesman for the Pernambuco state government said. His Canadian wife has also since tested positive but has milder symptoms. An Irish woman passenger earlier tested negative.
The Australian government did not immediately comment on reports that a separate flight carrying 25 Australians and two New Zealanders will leave Recife at 5pm. There are also 103 Americans on board and the US consulate in Recife said it is continuing to work to “facilitate the return of all U.S. citizen passengers aboard the Silver Shadow to the United States”.
California governor issues statewide 'stay at home' order
California’s governor has issued a statewide “stay at home” order to residents, telling them to leave their homes only when necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.
World faces new credit crunch, investors warn
The stock markets have taken a terrible battering in recent weeks but although they are showing signs of recovery today – the Nikkei is down just 1% while stimulus-rich Australia is up 4% – trouble looms in the international credit markets.
I’ve been speaking to investors and economists who say that the crisis has exposed deep-seated weaknesses in the global financial system.
Angus Coote, of Jamieson Coote Bonds in Melbourne, says the corporate world is heading for a wave of bankruptcies as companies struggle to rollover debt because borrowing costs (as shown by so-called credit spreads) have spiked so much as risk has increased.
Even though U.S. stocks rallied yesterday, top-rated credit continued to selloff. Investment-grade bond spreads blew out to the widest since 2009, tripling since the 2018 lows. Withdrawals from large investment-grade bond ETFs are ongoing. pic.twitter.com/7hNgS2Akmf
— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1) March 18, 2020
He says this will make the GFC look like “child’s play”.
Here’s the full story:
South Korea has reported 87 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total infections to 8,652, the country’s disease control centre said on Friday.
Just in: South Korea reports 87 additional cases of coronavirus yesterday (March 19), back below 100.
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) March 20, 2020
Total of 8,652. https://t.co/My4fjoTjdG
Argentina announces lockdown until 31 March
As I mentioned in the summary at the top, Argentina has announced a nationwide lockdown until the end of the month. The country has so far recorded 128 cases including three deaths.
Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernandez, addresses the nation on Thursday night. Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images
Our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Uki Goni, has this dispatch:
Argentina is going into an obligatory nationwide quarantine until atleast March 31, President Alberto Fernández announced Thursday night, just two and half hours before the measure goes into effect at the stroke of midnight.
“This means nobody can move from their place of residence, everybody has to stay home,” the president said in a televised address.
Police and other security forces will be patrolling the streets to enforce the measure, Fernández said. Only supermarkets, neighbourhood grocery stores, drugstores and some other shops such as neighbourhood hardware stores will be allowed to remain open. The only permitted outings will be to shop for food, medicine and walk pets. No jogging or outdoor walking will be allowed.
Banks, shopping malls, restaurants, entertainment venues and most other stores will remain closed. “We are going to be completely inflexible,” the president said. “This truly is an exceptional measure at an exceptional moment, but it is absolutely within the framework of what democracy allows.”
The president left the door open for prolonging the measure should the spread of the disease demand it.
Authorities announced the highest daily coronavirus jump Thursday, with 31 new cases, bringing the total to 128 cases since the first cases were made public on March 5. There have been three deaths so far.
Of the 31 new cases, 20 correspond to recent arrivals from countries where coronavirus is widespread, five from contacts with some of these persons and six cases whose source of contagion has not yet been determined.
Updated
Mainland China records zero cases for second successive day
Figures released in China on Friday morning say that the country has gone a second successive day without recording any new locally transmitted cases.
However, China had 39 new confirmed cases on Thursday, the country’s health commission said, all of which were imported, Reuters reports.
Of the new imported infections, 14 were in Guangdong, eight in Shanghai and six in Beijing, the health authority said on Friday.
China’s total cases so far is 80,967, with 3,245 deaths.
Australian banks have granted small businesses a six-month loan deferral as part of the country’s ongoing economic measures to soften the impact of the outbreak. You can follow all the developments there with our separate Australia-focused blog.
On Thursday the central bank cut the main interest rate to zero as the nation faces its first recession for nearly 30 years.
Olympic flame to arrive in Japan
A plane will arrive in Japan from Greece today carrying the Olympic torch amid mounting concern about whether the Games will go ahead in Tokyo as planned in late July.
The flame will be taken to Japan’s north-western coast which was ravaged by a tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster in 2011. The welcome ceremony will have no spectators.
Japan’s deputy PM said on Thursday that the Olympics are “cursed” by world events every 40 years.
Summary
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the main developments:
- The number of deaths in Italy has passed the total in China to make it the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities compared with 3,245.
- Southern and central Italy are braced for a “tsunami” of cases as the outbreak spreds from the badly hit northern regions.
- Researchers at Oxford University are racing to develop a UK vaccine against coronavirus with the hope of making it available by the end of the year.
- Donald Trump claimed a malaria treatment would be ready to help combat Covid-19 in the US before he was contradicted by officials.
- The governor of California has written to Trump saying that 25.5 million people in the state could contract the virus – roughly 56% of the population. Another eight people have died in the worst-affected state, Washington.
- Argentina has gone into lockdown, Haiti has closed its borders and Chile has postponed a constitutional referendum
- Governments and central banks around the world have stepped up their stimulus response. The Bank of England has cut rates to 0.1%, US Republicans propose giving each American $1,200 and Europe is rolling out packages worth 1.7 trillion euros.
- Trump has cancelled the G7 meeting at Camp David. It will now be carried out by teleconference.
Updated
