Hello, Helen Sullivan with you now. We’ve launched a new coronavirus pandemic live blog at the link below, where I’ll be bringing you the latest news and a bit of joy, too, for the next few hours.
Final summary
I’ll be handing over to my colleagues in Australia shortly, but here’s a closing summary of the key coronavirus developments from the last few hours before I go.
- Dubai has entered a two week lockdown which will see just one resident per household allowed to leave...
- Trump has warned that the next two weeks will be the “toughest” in the US’s efforts to tackle coronavirus, and said he would be deploying thousands of military personnel to states to support them.
-
New York’s death toll has exceeded 3,000, almost a quarter of the US total.
- Two prison officers in London have become the first prison staff to die from coronavirus in the UK.
- Malawi’s president and ministers will take a 10% salary cut and redirect funds to support the country in fighting coronavirus.
- A senior health official in Iran has warned that the Iranian capital could see a resurgence of coronavirus cases, after residents in Tehran flouted restrictions.
- Tunisia’s parliament have given the government new powers to tackle coronavirus, including the ability to make decrees and seek finance without the approval of the parliament.
Thank you all for your information, fact checks and many kind words over the past few hours - all are very much appreciated.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe.
Updated
The Municipality of Livorno in Italy has begun printing stamped and numbered food vouchers which can be obtained by submitting a self-certification. The scheme, which began on Saturday, enables those in need to claim 200-400 euros in vouchers for their shopping.
Bermuda has entered two weeks of lockdown, which will see people given slots to shop according to their surnames, Bermuda’s daily newspaper the Royal Gazette is reporting.
Visits to grocery shops and gas stations will be organised alphabetically, with people with surnames from A to K shopping on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and those with names from L to Z on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sundays will be reserved for elderly people.
Shoppers will need identification to prove they are attending the correct slot, and police may enforce the rules.
The shopping rules will come into play on Monday, but the lockdown began on Saturday. It is now illegal in the country to enter a home which is not your own, or allow someone else into yours.
A further 53 people have tested positive in North Macedonia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases to 483, media outlet MIA is reporting, citing a government press release.
The current death toll is 17.
Updated
Here’s a wonderful photograph of neighbours in the UK social distance dancing together to keep fit during the pandemic.
Queen Elizabeth is set to call on Britons to show the same resolve as their forebears and approach the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic with good humour, in a rare address to the nation on Sunday.
She will thank frontline healthcare workers and recognise the pain suffered by families. The address will be her fifth in 68 years on the throne.
“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any,” the 93-year-old monarch will say, according to extracts released by Buckingham Palace.
“That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country.”
Read more here:
Updated
Ecuador has begun storing the bodies of those who have died from coronavirus in giant refrigerated containers, after hundreds of deaths in the city of Guayaquil, the epicentre of the country’s outbreaks, have filled up morgues and hospitals.
The government has installed three containers, the largest about 12 meters (40 ft) long, at public hospitals to preserve bodies until graves were prepared, according to Guayaquil’s mayor, Cynthia Viteri.
Ecuador’s death toll is currently at 318, one of the highest tolls in Latin America. President Lenin Moreno warned this week that the real figure was higher, as authorities were collecting more than 100 bodies a day, many from relatives’ homes, as a strict quarantine prevented them from being buried.
Trump's virus briefing
Here is a brief summary of what Donald Trump said at his press briefing:
- He has spoken to New York governor Andrew Cuomo and is working to get additional resources to the state to help with the coronavirus outbreak. “We have given the governor of New York more than anyone has been given in a long time”, and said Cuomo hasn’t been “gracious”. “I know he’s grateful he just can’t find the words to say it,” Trump added.
- The next two weeks will be the toughest and Americans must expect “a lot of death”.
- Thousands of soldiers and military personnel will be sent to support states. We’re going to be adding a tremendous amount of military to help,” Trump said in a daily briefing with reporters.He added that 1,000 military personnel are being sent to New York City, including military doctors and nurses.
- He’s reiterated a familiar line about his intention to open up the US as soon as possible, saying that the “cure must not be worse than the problem.
- 29 million doses of anti-malarial drugs will be put into a strategic national stockpile for coronavirus patients.
Updated
Donald Trump is currently giving a press briefing on coronavirus. You can watch it live here, and I’ll post a summary afterwards.
First prison officers in UK die from virus
The two prisoner officers from Pentonville prison in London who have passed away after suffering from coronavirus symptoms (see 21.13) are the first prison officers to die from the virus in the UK, the Prison Officers’ Association has told the Guardian.
Mark Fairhurst, National Chair of the POA, told the Guardian that 7,900 prison staff, including officers, support grade staff and governors, were self isolating, and a further 15 had confirmed cases of coronavirus.
He also said that 90 prisoners had been confirmed as suffering from Covid-19, with another 1,200 prisoners self-isolating.
Updated
Officials from around the world have warned that they expect restrictive lockdown conditions to continue for weeks longer.
You can read more from my colleague Ashifa Kassam here:
Two staff members at a prison in London have died after suffering from symptoms of coronavirus, the Prison Officer’s Association has said.
Bovil Peter and Patrick Beckford, believed to be in their 60s, were both support staff workers at the jail.
POA national chairman Mark Fairhurst said: “My thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved with these tragic deaths - two at the same prison is very concerning.”
Mr Fairhurst said he did not know if either of the men had any underlying health conditions.
He described Mr Peter as “an experienced member of staff” who was working at operational support grade at the prison, and “he died earlier this week due to Covid-19 symptoms”.
Mr Fairhurst added of Mr Peter’s death: “I just want to highlight the fact that this (Covid-19) puts us all at risk.
“We are on the front line doing a commendable job on behalf of society and he will be sadly missed by all his colleagues. We wish the best for his family and friends.”
Albania reported 29 new cases on Saturday, their highest increase in a single day so far, bringing the total to 333.
The increase comes as Albania enters its third 40-hour lockdown, intended to halt the spread of coronavirus.
So far, there have been 18 deaths related to Covid-19.
Updated
In Peru, the government have ordered men and women to go out separately on alternate days, as part of their efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus.
On Saturday, women were allowed out. Here are some photographs from Lima.
Updated
The conspiracy theory that links 5G technology to the spread of coronavirus is “dangerous nonsense”, a British minister said at the government’s daily coronavirus briefing. The bizarre theory has led to phone masts around the UK being attacked.
You can see Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and medical director of the NHS, Stephen Powis, debunk the theory here:
Updated
Algeria will extend its curfew to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The curfew will last from 3pm to 7am in the capital of Algiers and eight other provinces, and from 7pm to 7am in the majority of others. The two provinces furthest south in the country currently have no confirmed cases of the virus, so will not be subject to the curfew.
Algeria has recorded 1,251 cases of coronavirus.
The president and ministers of Malawi will take a 10% salary cut and redirect the money towards combatting the spread of coronavirus, President Peter Mutharika has said.
The announcement came in a national address on state television, which also unveiled a number of measures to protect businesses, including tax breaks, reduction in fuel allowances and an increase in the risk allowances for health workers.
Updated
Donald Trump’s pick for a new watchdog to oversee the $2 trillion support package, issued to combat the economic fallout of coronavirus, is not independent enough, congressional Democrats have said.
Late on Friday, the White House announced that Trump would nominate Brian Miller, a special assistant to the president and senior associate counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, to the role of special inspector general for pandemic recovery.
However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the role must be “independent from politics” and that Miller’s appointment “clearly fails that”.
Pelosi has also said she would form a bipartisan select committee on the coronavirus crisis to oversee the use of the $2 trillion approved by Congress to respond to the pandemic.
Senate Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democratic senator on the Senate Finance Committee, also criticised the move.
Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal said in a post on Twitter that the appointment was akin to putting a “fox in charge of the henhouse.”
The new watchdog position, which comes with a $25m budget, was created to “conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the making, purchase, management, and sale of loans, loan guarantees, and other investments” by Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Updated
After the news broke earlier that New York is to receive 1,000 ventilators from China, my colleague Jessica Glenza in the US takes a deeper look at the donation and the situation in the state:
Updated
New York City authorities must better protect corrections officers at Rikers Island jail, a judge has ruled.
The ruling stated that officers must be provided with protective masks and have their temperatures monitored for signs of coronavirus. It also said there should be an increase in the sanitation of their work spaces.
It comes after dozens of infections have been reported at the facility.
The city has appealed the ruling - which stays the order until the appeal is heard.
Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesman for the New York City Law Department, said the city is deeply concerned about the health and safety of its employees and that “we are confident that the court will recognize the steps we have taken to ensure our correctional facilities are safe.”
The head of the union, Elias Husamudeen, said that the union was “outrageous that we even have to be in court to ensure our employer protects the lives of our members.”
Thanks to all those getting in touch. Just a reminder that if you spot something I miss (or get wrong!) please feel free to drop me a message on Twitter @mollyblackall.
Your input is always appreciated!
Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Turkey have reached 23,934, an increase of more than 3,000 since yesterday.
Coronavirus-related deaths rose by 71 to 501 people, health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.
In the last 24 hours, 19,664 tests were conducted bringing the total performed in Turkey so far to 161,380, Koca, said.
Updated
Here are the latest figures from France, from our Paris correspondent Kim Willsher.
The coronavirus death toll in France has reached 7,560 since 1 March, the health ministry has said. This figure includes hospitals and nursing homes.
Of these 5,532 occurred in hospital, up from 5,091 on Friday. This is a lower increase than in previous days.
The number of deaths in care homes was 2,028, up 612 from yesterday.
There are now 68,606 confirmed cases in France, and 28,143 in hospital. Of these 6,838 are in intensive care units up from 6,662 the previous day.
Of those in intensive care, 35% are under 60 years old, 60% are between 60 -80, 105 patients are under 30 years old).
15,438 patients have been cured.
Asked if France was seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, Jérôme Salomon, head of the French health authority, said: “It is not a drop in admissions to intensive care it is a drop in the increase.
“The number of people in intensive care is increasing every day, but it is a smaller increase. We are waiting for a drop in the numbers,” Salomon said.
“We are at the beginning of the period when we can examine the impact of the lockdown.”
We were told earlier that the 68,606 figure referred to confirmed cases in hospital, but my colleague Kim Willsher in France has amended this, confirming that it refers to the total confirmed cases. Apologies for any confusion - there are many different sources of information and this can make reporting difficult!
Updated
More than 25 organisations helping domestic violence victims in the UK have reported an increase in their caseload since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, my colleague Mark Townsend reports.
The rise in domestic abuse as a result of coronavirus is a trend sadly replicated around the world. You can read more on the situation in the UK here:
The number of coronavirus related deaths in New York has passed 3,000, governor Andrew Cuomo has announced.
In the last day, 630 people have died of coronavirus in the state - the highest increase so far. This takes the total death toll to 3,565.
Long Island, east of New York City, is the worst hit area, Cuomo said, describing the virus there as “like a fire spreading”.
Cuomo said that projections suggested the state was around a week away from the peak of the spread, despite only recording its first case 30 days ago.
New York City alone accounted for more than a quarter of the over 7,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths tallied by Johns Hopkins University.
Updated
A senior Iranian health official has said that there may be a resurgence of coronavirus in the area in and around the capital of Tehran, as residents flout restrictions.
The warning came after many residents ignored advice to stay at home, with crowding and traffic jams on the city’s streets as the country’s New Year holidays ended on Saturday.
Iran is the worst-hit country by coronavirus in the Middle East. On Saturday, the country announced 158 more coronavirus patients had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 3,452. The total number of cases currently stands at 55,743.
“We are still concerned about the virus, for example with the level of traffic in Tehran today and queues of cars stuck on freeways, because these people can take the virus to their homes or workplaces,” Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on state TV.
“Even a medium level of virus here can spread to nearby cities with the high level of job-related traffic between nearby cities and Tehran,” said Harirchi, who has himself had the virus.
“Dr Harirchi cautioned about a probable return of coronavirus in case of negligence and said social distancing measures were absolutely necessary,” said the TV.
The television showed stores that had re-opened despite a closure order on non-essential services and businesses.
Updated
Tunisia’s parliament has given the government new powers to combat the spread of coronavirus and expected economic fallout.
This will allow the government to issue decrees, make purchasing agreements and seek finance without consulting parliament.
The decision was backed by all political parties.
Tunisia has 495 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 18 deaths, and has imposed a national lockdown until April 19.
Updated
Italy plans to extend special powers to protect key industries from unwelcome foreign interest, a government official has said.
There is allegedly concern in the Italian government that foreign investors might try to take advantage of the collapse of share prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic to buy assets in Italian industries.
Cabinet undersecretary Riccardo Fraccaro said on Saturday that Rome would expand its vetting powers to the whole banking and insurance sector, alongside the health and food industry.
The scheme would allow the government to oppose any move by non-EU and EU players to buy a stake in companies considered to be strategically important.
A draft will soon be proposed to Italy’s cabinet, and measures would also apply to transactions within the EU, Fraccaro said.
Since Italy imposed the first set of restrictive measures on 23 February, Milan’s all-share stock index has fallen by close to 35%.
Dubai enters two-week lockdown
Dubai has entered a two-week lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus beginning tonight, according to state news agency WAM.
Mobility will be restricted, and legal action will be taken against those who do not comply, the government has said.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, alongside food and drug delivery services will continue to work as normal.
Updated
Carrie Symonds, the pregnant partner of Boris Johnson, had coronavirus symptoms but is now getting better, she has revealed.
I’ve spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of Coronavirus. I haven’t needed to be tested and, after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I’m on the mend.
— Carrie Symonds (@carriesymonds) April 4, 2020
The UK prime minister said on Friday he was remaining in isolation with mild symptoms of coronavirus, including a raised temperature, seven days after he first tested positive.
Updated
A thousand ventilators will arrive in New York’s JFK airport from China on Saturday, governor Andrew Cuomo has said. For more information, we’ve compiled a video from a press conference with Cuomo:
Updated
The UK government is risking losing out on an offer of 400,000 coronavirus test kits from South Korea to a rival country because they have not yet been tested by Public Health England, it has been claimed.
A shareholder in the South Korean LG conglomerate has sourced the kits from five companies in the country and has offered them to the UK through a contact who was a former deputy leader of the Conservative party.
Nick Markham says has has been in touch with the government but they are dragging their heels insisting they won’t make a decision until the kits are tested.
More coming soon ...
Updated
Coronavirus deaths in Italy passes 15,000
The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy has passed 15,000.
On Saturday, the country registered 681 deaths from Covid-19 – 86 less than Friday, bringing the total to 15,362. Currently, 88,274 are infected, with an increase of 2,886 new cases, 547 more than Friday. At this point 1,238 have recovered, bringing the total number to 20,996.
The civil protection announced that more than 70 people had been discharged from intensive care in the last 24 hours, a daily record since the beginning of the outbreak.
In total, 124,632 people have tested positive with coronavirus in Italy, including people who have died, recovered and the ones who are currently infected.
On Friday, Giuseppe Conte, the Italian prime minister, wrote to Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, calling on the EU to be bolder as it faces up to the coronavirus emergency.
“European solidarity has not been felt and there is no more time to waste,” reads the letter, published by Italian daily La Repubblica. “It is time to show more ambition, more unity and more courage.”
Lockdown in the country could be extended until 1 May and “phase two” of living with the virus can begin in mid-May, emergency commissioner Angelo Borrelli said on Friday.
The government has officially extended the coronavirus lockdown until mid-April, but Borrelli stressed the importance of keeping to “the most rigorous conduct in observing lockdown rules”.
Updated
The number of coronavirus cases in Canada has risen to 12,924, up from 11,747 yesterday.
There have been 214 recorded deaths. On 3 April, there were 152.
These figures are coming from Reuters, using the Canadian Public Health Agency’s data.
Updated
Twenty doctors from Ukraine flew to Italy on Saturday to support medical efforts against coronavirus, and to learn from frontline workers to prepare for the outbreak in Ukraine.
A team including surgeons, neurosurgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses will be deployed to Marche in central Italy for two weeks.
At Kiev airport, before the medical mission’s departure, Davide La Cecilia, Italian ambassador to Ukraine, said: “The national health service in our country is very stressed. So we badly need medical personnel and are very happy that Ukraine is sending this humanitarian aid.”
Updated
Thirteen people have died in a care home in Scotland of suspected coronavirus.
The deaths at Burlington Care Home in Glasgow are not recorded in the official death toll, as that figure includes only hospital deaths.
The Scottish government is going to be including deaths in the community from Monday.
Updated
Cats have been infected with coronavirus in Wuhan, and can get the virus from close contact with humans, Chinese state media is reporting.
According to a new report, 15 of the serum samples of 102 cats collected in Wuhan, where the virus originated, tested positive for coronavirus.
In 11 of the 15 positive tests, neutralising antibodies for coronavirus were found. Three of the samples from cats whose owners had coronavirus had a higher number of neutralising antibodies, which indicates the cats may have been infected from close contact with their owners, the report suggests.
The report was published by researchers at the Huazhong Agricultural University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and the findings have been reported in China’s Global Times.
Updated
UK's daily briefing
Here’s a summary of the key points from Michael Gove in the UK’s daily coronavirus briefing. I’ll be updating this as the briefing goes on, so do refresh your screens.
Ventilators
- British manufacturers are working with the government to produce ventilators. A team from University College London, working with Mercedes-Benz have produced a new device that has been clinically approved.
- Gove said 200 were produced yesterday, with a further 200 to be produced today and tomorrow. This will increase to 1,000 a day next week.
- Three-hundred have arrived today from China.
- There are 8,000 ventilators in the NHS at the moment.
Frontline staff
- Seven healthcare professionals in the UK have now died from coronavirus.
- Yesterday, 10,984 tests were administered to NHS staff.
Hospital admissions
- In London, hospital admissions fell slightly between 1 and 2 April, but have gone up in other areas.
- Admissions are steady in Wales.
- Hospital admissions have gone up 35% in Yorkshire and the north-east.
- In the Midlands, they have gone up by 47%.
Death toll
- 708 people have been recorded as dying from coronavirus since yesterday, the highest daily total so far. This is an increase of 20%.
- 637 of these were in England. In England, the youngest of the daily rise was aged five years old, and the eldest 104. Of these, 40 had no known underlying health conditions, and this group were aged between 48 and 93.
- Wales has recorded 154 deaths and Scotland, 218 and Northern Ireland, 56.
- This brings the national death toll to 4,313 - important to remember that this is only the number of deaths in hospitals.
- Coronavirus deaths in English hospitals made up 3,939 of the UK’s total.
Schools
- School attendance is at just 2% in the UK at the moment.
- Gove said that the government would be doing more to help children eligible for free school meals and those in need during the Easter holiday and beyond.
Updated
In the UK, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, is leading the UK’s daily coronavirus briefing. You can follow live updates on our UK blog, where my colleague Lucy Campbell is monitoring the briefing.
I’ll be adding a summary of the briefing here, when it’s finished.
Updated
Hi everyone, I’m Molly Blackall, taking over the liveblog from Sarah Marsh. I’ll be bringing you all the key developments in the coronavirus pandemic from around the world for the next few hours.
If you spot anything I miss, feel free to drop me a message on Twitter, @mollyblackall. I won’t be able to respond to everything, but I’ll certainly try to read it all. Thanks in advance!
Updated
I am going to be handing over the blog now to my colleague Molly Blackall who will be running it for the next few hours. Thanks for all your contributions today, it always makes the job a bit easier.
Egypt’s main cancer treatment facility has 17 cases of the novel coronavirus among its medical staff, an educational institute said, sparking fears of exposure among vulnerable patients.
Cairo University, with which the National Cancer Institute is affiliated, said in a statement on Saturday that “17 doctors and nurses” at the NCI had contracted Covid-19.
The university said it would open an investigation “to determine whether there was any negligence” at the institute.
Earlier in the day, the NCI director, Hatem Abulkassem, had told a private TV channel that three doctors and 12 nurses were infected.
Abulkassem said the facility would be sterilised and patients who were in contact with the medics would be tested, along with all staff members.
He said patient visits had been suspended in recent weeks.
Updated
In the UK, number of councils are banning funeral ceremonies because of the coronavirus crisis.
Bradford, Leeds and Kirklees councils have said families will no longer be able to attend services at crematoria. Instead the councils will offer “direct cremations”, in which there is no ceremony and mourners are not present; and burial services at gravesides, with a maximum of 10 mourners observing physical distancing guidelines.
The new rules will take effect from Monday in Kirklees and Bradford. Leeds has been offering direct cremations only for the past two week.
Updated
Hello everyone. I will be on the live blog for the next hour, so please do get in touch if you want to share any news tips with me, or information about what’s happening where you are.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Iran’s new cases of coronavirus have dropped for the fourth consecutive day, official figures released today show, as a two-week holiday in the Islamic republic came to an end.
Iran registered 2,560 new infections of Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, the health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference. It is the fourth consecutive drop in new cases since Tehran declared a daily total of 3,111 on 31 March.
Jahanpour said there were 158 new fatalities from the virus, bringing the country’s official death toll to 3,452.
Iran is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with 55,743 officially declared cases, though there has been speculation abroad that the real number could be higher.
Saturday should have marked a return to regular activity in Iran after a two-week holiday for the Persian New Year. But in the capital, Tehran, many shops were still closed, Agence France-Presse reporters said.
Iraj Harirchi, a deputy health minister who tested positive for the virus in late February and has returned to public life, told state television on Saturday that “the increase in traffic in Tehran is worrying”.
President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday warned that the country might still battle the pandemic for another year.
Updated
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has said he had a telephone conversation with the US president, Donald Trump, about using the two countries’ partnership to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
“We had a good discussion, and agreed to deploy the full strength of the India-US partnership to fight Covid-19,” Modi said in a tweet.
Had an extensive telephone conversation with President @realDonaldTrump. We had a good discussion, and agreed to deploy the full strength of the India-US partnership to fight COVID-19.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 4, 2020
Updated
I am back from lunch and with some nice news. The National Orchestra of France has been posting its performances to YouTube while players are confined to their homes under lockdown measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Using video and audio technology, the musicians recorded themselves playing Bolero alone at home but together online.
Updated
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Portugal pushed past the 10,000 mark on Saturday, Reuters reports, as the country’s health minister said there was still “no light at the end of the tunnel”.
Marta Temido told a news conference:
This fight is not a 100 metre race, it is a long marathon. This is the time to balance fear and courage, courage to stay home, to continue helping others, to ask for help when we need it.
Portugal has confirmed 10,524 coronavirus cases and 266 deaths, with health authorities expecting the outbreak to plateau at the end of May.
Portugal extended its state of emergency by another 15 days on Thursday, and tightened measures to restrict movements, especially during the normally busy Easter holiday period.
Updated
Sky News is reporting that the British retailer Cath Kidston – famous for its vintage floral designs – has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as part of its attempt to find a buyer.
The move does not mean it will automatically fall into administration, but it gives the company breathing space as it tries to secure a sale.
Many retailers are battling for survival in the UK after the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of most stores.
Coronavirus: Vintage retailer Cath Kidston lines up administrators https://t.co/rLMFqzq3B5
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 4, 2020
Updated
Guardian reporters have looked at how the Indian prime minister’s handling of the pandemic has heaped more misery on the country’s poorest citizens.
For more than a decade, Begum Jan had managed to survive on the streets of Kolkata. A longtime wheelchair-user, she had a specific spot on a busy street. Rickshaw drivers and passers-by always made sure she had something to eat.
But last week, for the first time since she became homeless after falling ill with tuberculosis and losing her job as a housemaid, the 62-year-old was in danger of starving.
“For the past week, none of these people who usually help me have come in sight,” she said, her voice cracking with sadness. “They are all at home because of the lockdown; they don’t have any job and so they cannot help me any more.”
Updated
Lockdown in Spain to be extended
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, will ask parliament to extend lockdown measures by 15 more days until 26 April as the number of daily coronavirus infections and deaths slowed again on Saturday in one of the world’s most hard-hit countries.
After speaking to Sanchez by telephone, the opposition leader Pablo Casado tweeted that the premier had informed him “that he will request Congress to extend the state of emergency” for the second time. It was last extended through to 11 April.
A government spokeswoman said Sanchez would announce the extension of the state of emergency, which has confined most Spaniards to their homes for three weeks already, at a news conference on Saturday afternoon.
Spain’s death toll rose to 11,744 on Saturday – the world’s second highest after Italy – but the 809 people who died from the disease over the past 24 hours was below Friday’s 932 and down from Thursday’s record of 950, the health ministry said.
That represented a 7% increase in total deaths, about a third of the near 20% increase registered a week ago.
Updated
In the 24 hours to 5pm UK time on Friday, the UK recorded 708 hospital coronavirus deaths, a rise of 20% to 4,313, the health ministry said. As of 9am on Saturday, a total of 183,190 people have been tested, of which 41,903 tested positive, the ministry said.
Updated
I am going to be taking a lunch break and will return shortly. A colleague will take over in the meantime.
Updated
The United Arab Emirates has requested to postpone the start of the Expo 2020 Dubai until October next year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the body that oversees the world fair said.
Dubai, the UAE city-state, had hoped to attract 25 million visitors to the multibillion-dollar, six-month event, which was due to launch on 20 October 2020.
“The government of the United Arab Emirates has formally requested the postponement of World Expo 2020 Dubai,” the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions said in a statement.
“Following consultations with the BIE, participating countries and key stakeholders, the UAE has proposed 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 as the new opening dates of Expo 2020 Dubai.”
The UAE government also requested approval to continue using Expo 2020 Dubai as the event’s official name.
Updated
Saudi authorities announced a lockdown and a partial curfew in seven neighbourhoods of the Red Sea city of Jeddah, starting on Saturday, as part of measures to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said residents in those neighbourhoods could only go out for grocery shopping and medical care, between 6 a.m (0300 GMT) and 3pm. Entering and exiting the neighbourhoods will be restricted, it added.
In the UK, Newcastle defender Danny Rose says footballers feel their “backs are against the wall” over talks about wage cuts, with Premier League clubs due to speak with players’ representatives on Saturday.
Top-flight players, currently out of action because of the coronavirus pandemic, have come under fire after a number of clubs furloughed non-playing staff but left players’ wages untouched.
The Premier League said on Friday that clubs would consult players over a combination of pay cuts and deferrals amounting to 30% of their annual salary.
They also agreed to provide a £125m ($153m) fund for the English Football League and National League and pledged £20m in charitable support for the NHS and other groups.
Updated
Thanks to everyone who has been emailing me as I run the Guardian’s live feed, updating you on global stories. If you feel you have something useful to share with me then please get in touch. Apologies if I cannot respond to you all but some of your emails are very heartening, so keep them coming.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
Instagram: sarah_marsh_journalist
Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Updated
German cases slightly decrease prompting 'very cautious hope'
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases have risen by 6,082 in the past 24 hours, a slight decrease from the day before, according to data from the government’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The reported reduction, which were down from 6,174 new cases a day earlier, could be a sign that the rate of infection is beginning to level off. However, the government cautioned it was far too early to identify a trend.
Germany now has 85,778 cases, up from 79,696 infections on Friday, with the highest level of infections in Bavaria, according to the RKI statistics. Deaths have increased to 1,158, the RKI said, from 1,017 deaths as of Friday.
Lothar Wieler, president of the RKI, said late on Friday that the rate of new infections had been brought under control thanks to more comprehensive measures to stop people from congregating in public or at work.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the national lockdown could nonetheless stretch beyond Easter, but that the new figures gave cause for “very cautious hope”.
“The rise in confirmed new cases is going a bit slower than a few days ago,” she added. “But it is definitively way too early to identify a trend and therefore it is also too early to ease some of the strict rules we have set for ourselves.”
Updated
Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, will extend the state of emergency in the country with Europe’s highest number of coronavirus infections by another two weeks until 26 April, El País newspaper has reported.
Updated
Indonesia said coronavirus cases in the country had topped 2,000 and deaths risen to 191, but doubts have been raised over official figures by data showing a big jump in funerals last month in the capital, Jakarta.
Achmad Yurianto, health ministry official, said there had been 106 new confirmed infections, taking the total number of cases in the south-east Asian country to 2,092, with 10 new deaths.
“We are still on high alert over infections that are taking place in the community that are caused by positive cases among people who are not showing symptoms,” he said.
Indonesia is relying mainly on social distancing policies to combat the virus since President Joko Widodo has opposed the harsh lockdown measures adopted in many neighbouring countries.
The country reported its first case of the virus a month ago, but epidemiologists say a relatively low level of testing means the number of cases may be vastly under-reported.
Jakarta has been at the centre of Covid-19 infections in Indonesia, accounting for 1,028 cases and about 90 deaths, according to central government data, or roughly half the country’s total for both.
Jakarta’s governor, Anies Baswedan, and some public health experts suspect the number of infections and deaths in the city has been significantly under-reported. “It is extremely disturbing,” Baswedan told Reuters on Friday, referring to the funeral statistics. “I’m struggling to find another reason than unreported Covid-19 deaths.”
Updated
In a complex of holiday bungalows to the east of Madrid, Venezuelan refugees and homeless people have replaced the tourists, business meetings and wedding parties that usually fill the premises.
The owner of the La Ciguena resort has turned the facility over to some of Madrid’s most vulnerable families, after he had to close the hotel because of the coronavirus outbreak sweeping through Spain.
“Since we’ve arrived, they’ve attended to our every need,” said Stephanie Paez, an eight-month pregnant Venezuelan refugee accompanied by her partner and mother. She said her aim was to find a job, an apartment and get her residency papers once the coronavirus crisis was over.
Spain is in strict lockdown as it battles one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks. The country’s death toll has surpassed 11,000, second only to Italy. Bars, restaurants and shops selling non-essential items are closed.
Updated
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The daily pace of new coronavirus infections and deaths in Spain slowed again on Saturday as prime minister Pedro Sanchez was expected to announce a new extension to lockdown measures that have confined most people to their homes for three weeks.
The total death toll rose to 11,744 – the world’s second highest – on Saturday, from 10,935 the day before, the health ministry said, representing a 7% increase in total deaths after a 9% rise on Friday. That is less than half the pace of the about 20% increase registered a week ago.
A total of 809 people died from the disease in the past 24 hours, down from Friday’s 932 and Thursday’s daily record of 950, the figures showed.
Meanwhile, the total number of registered infections rose to 124,736 on Saturday from 117,710 on Friday, when Spain overtook Italy in the total number of infections for the first time.
In a press conference on Friday, Salvador Illa, the health minister, said Sanchez would call opposition leaders after a meeting of his coronavirus task force on Saturday to let them know his decision on extending the lockdown from the current end date of 13 April.
Health officials say the slowdown in new infections proves the effectiveness of the lockdown in place.
Updated
China’s south-western Guangxi region, which has borders with Vietnam, has suspended cross-border passenger transportation and restricted exit of citizens from the country amid concerns of an increase in imported coronavirus cases.
It has closed most ports except for a few being used for freight transportation, the Guangxi health commission said in a statement late on Friday.
Updated
Kuwait recorded its first death from the coronavirus outbreak, state news agency KUNA reported, citing a health ministry spokesman. The total number of people diagnosed with the disease increased by 62 in the past 24 hours to 479 cases, he said, according to KUNA.
Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak climbed to 3,452 on Saturday, with 158 more fatalities recorded over the past 24 hours, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpur said.
The total number of cases diagnosed with the disease reached 55,743, of whom 4,103 are in critical condition, he said on state TV. Iran is the country worst affected by the pandemic in the Middle East.
In the UK, Cheltenham festival organisers have defended their decision to go ahead with the horse racing event last month after fears were raised that the mass gathering helped spread coronavirus.
More than 250,000 racegoers attended the four-day National Hunt event even though other large sporting events were cancelled shortly afterwards.
A number of people reported on social media that they attended the festival only to go on and develop symptoms of Covid-19.
However, organisers said they had complied with the government guidance at the time.
A spokesman for Cheltenham Racecourse said: “The festival concluded three weeks ago and went ahead under the government’s ongoing guidance throughout, like other popular sports events at Twickenham, Murrayfield, 10 Premier League matches and the Uefa Champions League at Anfield that same week.”
Updated
Hope everyone is doing ok today. I am running the Guardian’s live feed, updating you on global stories. If you feel you have something useful to share with me then please get in touch.
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Donald Trump has said he will probably not wear a protective face mask despite his administration encouraging people in the US to do so in public to prevent spreading the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance for people to wear bandanas, T-shirts and other cloth-based coverings in crowded areas, particularly in hotspots.
Updated
Fall in daily deaths in Spain
Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus rose to 11,744 on Saturday from 10,935 the previous day, the health ministry said.
However, it marks the second straight day in which the number of new deaths has fallen.
A total of 809 people died from the disease over the past 24 hours, down from 932 in the previous period, the figures showed.
The total number of registered infections rose to 124,736 on Saturday from 117,710 on Friday, the ministry said.
Updated
An interesting article today from Tom Phillips on the connection between Covid-19 and Brazil’s globe-trotting elite, highlighting the gulf between rich and poor in one of world’s most unequal societies.
“Nobody could have imagined the virus would strike with such devastating force.” https://t.co/ly8YFNHa5M
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) April 4, 2020
Updated
Spain’s coronavirus cases have risen to 124,736, up from 117,710 on Friday, the health ministry said.
Elsewhere, in Iran the death toll from coronavirus reached 3,452, officials have said.
Updated
Summary of developments so far today:
- China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus, as the world’s most populous country observed a three-minute silence.
- Indonesia reported 106 new confirmed infections on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the south-east Asian country to 2,092. Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto also said there were 10 new deaths, taking the death toll to 191.
- Elsewhere, Malaysia has reported 150 new coronavirus cases, with 3,483 in total and four new deaths.
- Britain will not be able to relax its stringent lockdown rules until the end of May, a leading government adviser has said, warning that first the spread of coronavirus must slow and intense testing must be introduced.
- The Philippines health ministry on Saturday reported 76 additional coronavirus infections and eight new deaths.
- At least 15 medics in Egypt’s main cancer hospital have been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials have said.
Updated
A 79-year-old woman who tested positive for the coronavirus died in Georgia on Saturday, the presiding doctor at the clinic where she was treated said, reporting the country’s first death related to the pandemic. The patient had other illnesses and underlying conditions.
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has invited the leaders of the opposition parties to work with him to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, saying he wants to hear their views and update them on the measures taken so far.
Johnson said he would invite all opposition leaders to a briefing next week with the UK government’s chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser.
Updated
In the UK, doctors have expressed concern about cancer patients missing out on vital treatment due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Indonesia reported 106 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the south-east Asian country to 2,092. Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto also said there were 10 new deaths, taking the death toll to 191.
Elsewhere, Malaysia has reported 150 new coronavirus cases, with 3,483 in total and four new deaths.
Updated
In France, amid lockdown, charity workers are preparing more than a thousand meals a day for migrants and homeless people on the half-abandoned grounds of a former Paris hospital whose patron saint was devoted to the poor.
The Frances Aurore Association, a charity dating back to the 19th century, has been serving meals at the former St Vincent de Paul hospital since 24 March, a week into the nationwide confinement to stem the spread of the virus.
Florie Gaillard, who works for the association, said everyone who lives in the transitional housing is under confinement there, the offices are closed, and the usual crowd at the day centre is in shelters. But the need is still there.
There was an entire informal economy that existed before that is no longer there, said Gaillard. People who begged, or who knew which restaurant would give them a meal at the end of the evening, were in need.
Updated
Anyone in need of a boost? As the world battles the coronavirus pandemic, communities are coming together to support each other through difficult times. From dressing up as Spider-Man to leaving out food for strangers, here are some of the small things people are doing to keep each other’s spirits up.
Scarce supplies of medical equipment are leading to growing competition within the US and among nations, in what one French politician called a worldwide treasure hunt.
The governor of New York state, thecentre of the US outbreak, vowed to seize unused ventilators from private hospitals and companies, while President Donald Trump said he was preventing the export of N95 respirator masks and surgical gloves, a move he said was necessary to ensure medical supplies are available in the US.
The number of people infected in the US exceeded 250,000, and the death toll climbed past 7,000, with New York state alone accounting for more than 2,900 dead, an increase of more than 560 in just one day. Most of the dead are in New York City, where hospitals are swamped with patients.
Updated
Sharing a beautiful article written by my colleague and friend Haroon Siddique, one of our senior reporters. He wrote about his dad, who died last week after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms.
Updated
Welcome to the Guardian’s global live feed, bringing you all the latest updates of the day on coronavirus from around the world. Please do share your thoughts, news tips or relevant insight and information from where you are with me. I will try to respond to as many of you as I can.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
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Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
South Korea has expanded a social distancing campaign by another two weeks to April 19 to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
More than 10,000 cases have been reported in South Korea. At one point, it had the second-worst outbreak of Covid-19 after mainland China, but it has brought it largely under control.
Still, the government has said it needs to maintain social distancing measures to avoid another spike in infections.
“We have no choice but to continue an intense social distancing campaign for some time,” the prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, said.
Updated
Britain will not be able to relax its stringent lockdown rules until the end of May, a leading government adviser has said, warning that first the spread of coronavirus must slow and intense testing must be introduced.
Neil Ferguson, a leading professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, said work was under way to establish how the rules could eventually be relaxed. Speaking to BBC Radio, he said.
We want to move to a situation where at least by the end of May we’re able to substitute some less intensive measures, more based on technology and testing, for the complete lockdown we have now.
There is a great deal of work under way to look at how we can substitute some of the very intense social distancing currently in place with a regime more based on intensive testing, very rapid access to testing, tracing of contacts.
But in order to substitute that regime for what we’re doing now, we need to get case numbers down.
The government has put Britain into a widespread lockdown, closing pubs, restaurants and nearly all shops, while banning social gatherings and ordering people to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential to venture out.
By Friday, Britain’s death toll from the global pandemic had risen to 3,605, among 38,168 people who have tested positive for the highly infectious respiratory illness known as Covid-19.
Updated
The Philippines health ministry on Saturday reported 76 additional coronavirus infections and eight new deaths.
In a bulletin, the health ministry said a total of 144 people have died in the Philippines while 3,094 have been infected, the majority of whom were reported in the past four weeks.
Updated
Australia reported a sustained fall in new coronavirus infections and conducted the biggest peacetime maritime operation on Sydney Harbour on Saturday, refuelling foreign cruise ships before expelling them from local waters.
Confirmed cases rose by 198 over the 24-hour period to Saturday afternoon, bringing the national total to 5,548, health ministry data showed. The death toll from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, rose to 30.
That kept the country’s daily new infection rate at about 5%, significantly below the 25%-30% increases recorded around two weeks ago, but officials stressed it was still too early to claim victory.
“What I really would caution against is thinking we have got through this completely, because we definitely have not,” the deputy chief health officer, Paul Kelly, said in a televised briefing. “We really have to be hyper-vigilant now.”
Updated
China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus, as the world’s most populous country observed a nationwide three-minute silence.
At 10am Beijing time, citizens paused; cars, trains and ships sounded their horns; and air-raid sirens rang out in memory of the more than 3,000 lives claimed by the virus in China.
In Wuhan – the city where the virus first emerged late last year – sirens and horns sounded as people fell silent in the streets.
Staff at the Tongji hospital stood outside with heads bowed towards the main building, some in the protective hazmat suits that have become a symbol of the crisis worldwide.
“I feel a lot of sorrow about our colleagues and patients who died,” Xu, a nurse at Tongji who worked on the frontlines treating coronavirus patients, told Agence France-Presse, holding back tears.
“I hope they can rest well in heaven.”
Updated
Britain may be able to relax some physical distancing measures by the end of May if the spread of the coronavirus eases and testing increases, a leading professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London said on Saturday.
Updated
In England, cancer treatment has become a postcode lottery, with many patients not receiving vital care as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to leading doctors.
It comes as the NHS said non-urgent operations would have to be put on hold so hospitals could focus on battling the Covid-19 pandemic, and NHS England guidance states that cancer services should continue to deliver care. However, it also calls for “local solutions to continue the proper managements”.
Prof Karol Sikora, the chief medical officer at Rutherford Health, which runs oncology centres, said the advice provided by NHS England around cancer was sensible but was being “implemented inconsistently” around the country.
“That is always the trouble – it becomes inconsistent, so people getting chemotherapy have now had it stopped even though they are category one and two patients, the highest priority. Also, some hospitals have put blanket bans on cancer treatment for two to three weeks ... Not everyone needs to rush ahead with cancer treatment but others need to continue despite this to get the best long-term cure,” he said.
Angus George Dalgleish, a professor of oncology at St George’s, University of London, said: “It’s difficult. Coronavirus is having a devastating impact on how we deliver ordinary care – everything is out on hold or delayed.”
Asked whether this could mean more indirect deaths because of patients not getting care, Dalgleish said: “We won’t know until it is all over. But we are already seeing the effects of patients who are not going to get treatment.
“I heard today St George’s is going to have nine wards full of coronavirus patients. They cannot do that without seriously impacting care of everyone else.”
Read more here.
Updated
At least 15 medics in Egypt’s main cancer hospital have been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials have said.
The news raises fears the pandemic could prey on health facilities in the Arab world’s most populous country.
Egypt has reported around 1,000 confirmed cases and 66 fatalities from the global pandemic. Authorities have closed schools and mosques, banned public gatherings and imposed a night-time curfew to prevent the virus from spreading among the population of 100 million, a fifth of whom live in the densely populated capital, Cairo.
Dr Hatem Abu el-Kassem, the director of the National Cancer Institute, said three doctors and 12 nurses had tested positive for the virus. He said all other health workers at the facility, which treats hundreds of cancer patients every day, would be tested.
The institute will be partly closed for three days to be sterilised, with only the emergency ward remaining open.
Updated
Hello everyone. I am taking over the Guardian’s global live feed and, as ever, getting your help to cover the latest information is key. So if you have any news tips or insight from where you are then please do get in touch via any of the channels below.
Twitter: @sloumarsh
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Email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest events:
- People across China paused for three-minutes at 10am Beijing time to remember the more than 3,000 patients and medical workers who have died during the country’s coronavirus outbreak. Citizens stood still, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rung out. Saturday has been declared a day of mourning. The country reported 19 new cases on Friday, most of which were linked to foreign travel.
- The World Bank Group president, David Malpass, said the rapidly spreading pandemic was expected to cause a “major global recession” that would be likely to hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest.
- Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has said he faces a stark choice between a lockdown to stop or slow an outbreak, and the need to protect the economy to ensure “people don’t die of hunger”.
- Health officials in the US advised Americans to cover their faces when outside. But the president, Donald Trump, has undermined the guidance, saying: “I’m choosing not to do it.” Melania Trump later urged people to take the official advice seriously.
- South Korea said it will extend a ban on sports, religious and other gatherings until daily cases drop down to 50 or fewer, a number that officials believe the health system will be able to manage.
You can also read a full summary of recent developments here. I’m now handing over to my colleague Sarah Marsh.
Updated
Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has said that while educational institutions and shopping malls will remain closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the construction sector will open again.
Khan said he faced a stark choice between a lockdown to stop or slow an outbreak, and protecting the economy to ensure “people don’t die of hunger”.
In the subcontinent, with a high rate of poverty, we are faced with the stark choice of having to balance between a lockdown necessary to slow down/prevent the spread of COVID19 & ensuring people don't die of hunger & our economy doesn't collapse. So we are walking a tightrope.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 4, 2020
Updated
Many celebrities and news outlets in China have toned down the colours on their social media profiles, as the country holds a day of mourning to remember those who have died in the coronavirus outbreak.
Today we mourn the loss of lives in the #COVID19 outbreak. We will never forget the year of 2020, the sacrifice we made, the courage we mustered and the unity we displayed. Our hearts are with all people fighting the disease. Stay strong. Light will shine out of darkness. pic.twitter.com/2fWBijLYeO
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 3, 2020
Today also marks the start of the annual Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, when millions of Chinese families often travel to pay their respects to their ancestors. But in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak began, all tomb-sweeping activities have been banned until at least the end of the month, and many are still in lockdown.
Instead authorities have encouraged people to watch cemetery staff carrying out the task through online streaming services. On pavements and in housing compounds, some residents burned joss paper, a tradition believed to send money and wealth to deceased relatives, Reuters reported.
Updated
Earlier today, people across China stopped for three minutes to pay tribute to those who have died in the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
Citizens stood still, while cars sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rang out. Here is some footage of the moment people paused to remember the more than 3,000 lives lost.
Updated
Thailand temporarily bans incoming flights
Thailand has said that it will temporarily ban all incoming passenger flights, and that anyone whose flight took off before the ban is imposed will need to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival.
The suspension of flights - which will come into effect from Saturday morning, and be lifted late on Monday - will cause further misery for Thais stuck abroad. It is also likely to create more complications for stranded tourists who are attempting to leave Thailand.
Thailand, which has reported 1,978 cases of the coronavirus and 19 deaths, is attempting to reduce the risk of imported cases.
Here’s a bit more detail on South Korea, which announced earlier that it would be extending its social distancing rules.
High-risk facilities have been closed and religious, sports and entertainment gatherings banned for the past 15 days. The health minister said this morning that these measures will remain in place until daily cases drop down to 50 or lower - a number that officials believe the health system will be able to manage.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo told reporters:
Our goal is to be able to control infections in a way that our health and medical system, including personnel and sickbeds, can handle them at usual level. If the number goes down to 50 or lower, stable treatment of the patients including the critically ill will be possible without much pressure on the system.”
The country has largely managed to bring under control what records suggest is Asia’s largest epidemic outside China, and has been praised for its use of mass testing.
The country now records around 100 or fewer new daily cases. Smaller outbreaks in churches, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as infections among travellers, continue to emerge.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 94 new cases on Saturday, taking the national tally to 10,156. The death toll rose by three to 177, while more than 300 recovered from the virus for a total of 6,325.
Updated
The singer Pink said that she has recently recovered from Covid-19, and announced that she is donating $500,000 each to two emergency funds helping tackle the outbreak.
In a statement posted on Twitter, she said that she had accessed a test through her family’s primary healthcare physician two weeks ago.
(1 of 2) ❤️ pic.twitter.com/giodqm0PWf
— P!nk (@Pink) April 4, 2020
“It is an absolute travesty and failure of our government to not make testing more widely accessible. This illness is serious and real,” she wrote. She thanked health care workers and everyone around the world who is working hard to protect loved ones.
She added that she will donate $500,000 each to the Temple University Hospital Fund in Philadelphia and the COVID-19 response fund run by the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles
Updated
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest events:
- People across China people paused for three-minutes at 10am Beijing time to remember the more than 3,000 patients and medical workers who have died during the country’s coronavirus outbreak. Citizens stood still, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rung out. Saturday has been declared a day of mourning in the country. The country reported 19 new cases on Friday, most of which were linked to foreign travel.
- World Bank Group president David Malpass said the rapidly spreading pandemic was expected to cause a “major global recession” that would likely hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest.
- Health officials in the US advised Americans to cover their faces when outside. But the US president Donald Trump has undermined the guidance, saying: “I’m choosing not to do it.” Melania Trump later urged people to take the official advice seriously.
- South Korea, which has been successful in containing a major outbreak, has said it will extend a ban on sports, religious and other gatherings. Prime minister Chung Sye-kyun cited concerns over imported cases and new outbreaks that continue to occur in small clusters.
- US attorney general William Barr has ordered release of more federal inmates due to coronavirus pandemic, warning that the federal Bureau of Prisons is facing emergency conditions.
-
Thousands of people have been detained across Central America for violating rules put in place by their governments to curb the coronavirus transmission.
- Mexico’s health ministry said 10 more people have died after becoming infected.
- The European Union’s top diplomat has said sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical supplies to countries battling outbreaks.
Updated
US attorney general orders release of more inmates
US attorney general William Barr has ordered release of more federal inmates due to coronavirus pandemic, warning that the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is facing emergency conditions.
Barr said under his emergency order, priority for releasing vulnerable inmates into home confinement should be given first to those housed in federal prisons that have been hardest hit by COVID-19, including facilities such as Oakdale in Louisiana, Elkton in Ohio and Danbury in Connecticut.
Barr’s order comes after five inmates at FCI Oakdale 1 and two at FCI Elkton 1 died from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
The BOP said Friday that 91 inmates and 50 of its staff throughout its 122 institutions have fallen ill with COVID-19, though reports suggest the numbers affected is much higher.
Thousands detained across Central America for violating quarantine rules
Thousands of people have been detained across Central America for violating rules put in place by their governments to curb the coronavirus transmission, Reuters has reported.
Central America is home to a large, poor population with no options to work from home, take paid sick leave or observe social distancing rules because they work in the informal economy and live in crowded conditions.
Honduran authorities said about 2,250 people have been arrested for violating the curfew imposed since mid-March while Guatemalan authorities said 5,705 people had been detained for leaving their homes without justification.
In Panama, more than 5,000 people have been detained in recent weeks for violating curfew rules; another 424 people have been detained for not complying with recent rules that limit men and women leaving the house to alternate days.
Meanwhile, in El Salvador, 712 people have been detained for failing to comply with the mandatory home quarantine decreed by President Nayib Bukele, and have been taken to containment centers.
Here is some footage from China’s state broadcaster CCTV, shared by Global Times, taken as the country observed a three-minute pause to remember the more than 3,000 lives lost during the coronavirus outbreak.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, with other leaders, including Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan, attend National Mourning for #COVID19 victims in Beijing at 10 am Sat during the National Mourning Day. pic.twitter.com/gjYnq899vN
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 4, 2020
Updated
China pauses for three-minutes to remember victims of coronavirus
It is now 10am in Beijing and across China people have paused for three-minutes to remember the patients and medical workers who died in the coronavirus outbreak.
Citizens will stop still, cars, trains and ships will sound their horns, and air-raid sirens will ring out in memory of the more than 3,000 lives lost.
In Wuhan, where the outbreak began, all traffic lights in urban areas will be turned red for three minutes. The city of 11 million was the hardest hit by the outbreak, recording 2,567 fatalities. This accounts for more than three quarters of China’s coronavirus deaths.
Updated
Across China people will soon observe a three-minute pause to mourn the patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus. The country will pause at 10am Beijing time.
Saturday has been declared a day of mourning across the country, where flags are flying at half-mast, and all public events and entertainment have been stopped. It coincides with the start of the annual Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, when millions of Chinese families pay respects to their ancestors.
As of Friday, the total number of nationally confirmed cases stood at 81,639, including 19 new infections, the National Health Commission said. Eighteen of the new cases involved travellers arriving from abroad.
Updated
South Korea extends ban on religious, sports and entertainment gatherings
South Korea has said it will extend its intensive social distancing campaign, citing concerns over imported cases and new outbreaks that continue to occur in small clusters, Reuters has reported.
The country has largely managed to bring under control Asia’s largest epidemic outside China with around 100 or fewer new daily cases. But smaller outbreaks in churches, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as infections among travellers, continue to emerge.
This week, the government has been gauging whether it should extend a 15-day intensive social distancing policy it implemented on March 21, under which high-risk facilities were urged to be closed and religious, sports and entertainment gatherings were banned.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the situation is still “grave”, citing a recent spike in imported cases and clusters in the greater Seoul area which he said also prompted the government to cancel the re-opening of schools next week.
We’re in a situation where we have to maintain the intensive social distancing for some time,” he said.
Chung did not say how long the measures would be kept in place for.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 94 new cases on Saturday, taking the national tally to 10,156. The death toll rose by three to 177, while more than 300 recovered from the virus for a total of 6,325.
Updated
Mexico death toll rises to 60
Mexico’s health ministry said on Friday that the number of people who have died of coronavirus in the country has risen to 60, up from 50 a day earlier. It registered a total of 1,688 coronavirus cases, up from 1,510.
I’ll bring you more on today’s figures later.
Updated
Tunisia’s interior ministry has sent a police robot to patrol the streets of the capital and enforce a lockdown imposed last month as the country battles the spread of coronavirus, Agence France Presse reports.
Known as PGuard, the “robocop” is remotely operated and equipped with infrared and thermal imaging cameras, in addition to a sound and light alarm system.
In images and a soundtrack posted on the interior ministry’s website, the robot calls out to suspected violators of the lockdown: “What are you doing? Show me your ID. You don’t know there’s a lockdown?”
Tunisia has been under night-time curfew since 17 March and authorities imposed stricter lockdown orders from 22 March.
Since 2 March, 14 people have died from coronavirus in the North African nation and 455 people have tested positive for the disease.
You can read the full story here.
More than 1,000 asymptomatic patients under observation in China
China’s official state broadcaster, CGTN, says 19 new Covid-19 patients have been confirmed across mainland China, including 18 who have been linked to foreign travel. A further 64 new asymptomatic patients have also been confirmed.
In total, 1,030 asymptomatic patients are now under medical observation across mainland China.
Updated
Sanctions should not prevent the delivery of medical supplies, EU official says
Sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical equipment and supplies to countries battling outbreaks of the coronavirus, the European Union’s top diplomat has said.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, made the call in a declaration on Friday backing the UN’s call for an immediate global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on the pandemic.
“The European Union also stresses that sanctions should not impede the delivery of essential equipment and supplies necessary to fight the coronavirus and limit its spread worldwide,” Borrell said.
The EU, he said, would apply humanitarian exceptions to ensure that sanctions currently in place would not hamper any efforts to fight the disease, adding that it “also encourages other jurisdictions to provide the necessary clarifications to ensure that their respective sanctions are no obstacle to the global fight against the pandemic.”
Borrell’s comments come after the US ignored calls to suspend its sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, and after Cuban officials said the six-decade US embargo of their country blocked a shipment of coronavirus aid from Asia’s richest man, Jack Ma.
Calling for international solidarity, Borrell said:
Now is the time to devote all our energy and resources to fight the world’s common challenge – the coronavirus. It is time to focus on global health. Only together can we protect the most vulnerable people in our societies, both medically and economically, from this virus and the human suffering that it brings.”
Hello this is Rebecca Ratcliffe at the helm of our global coronavirus liveblog. If you think we’ve missed a story or want to draw our attention to something please do get in touch.
My email is rebecca.ratcliffe@theguardian.com and I’m @rebeccarat on Twitter.
Here are the latest developments:
- World Bank Group president David Malpass said the rapidly spreading Covid-19 pandemic was expected to cause a “major global recession” that would likely hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest.
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Americans should cover their faces when outside, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending. But the US president Donald Trump has undermined the guidance, saying: “I’m choosing not to do it.” Melania Trump later urged people to take the official advice seriously.
- The UK has endured its deadliest day so far, with 684 more people dying in UK hospitals. This brings the total number of UK fatalities to 3,605. The country’s Department of Health and Social Care says 173,784 people have been tested; of whom 38,168 were positive.
- Italy has recorded 766 more deaths, but the infection rate has continued to slow. Some 85,388 people are currently infected, with an increase of 2,339 new cases; 138 fewer than Thursday.
- The Falklands Islands has confirmed its first case. The patient has been hospitalised since 31 March and developed a range of Covid-19 symptoms, tested positive for the virus, and is now in a stable condition.
- A large-scale public inquiry into the UK response is now inevitable, a former head of the country’s civil service has said.
- There are demands for better protection for the UK’s healthcare workers following the deaths of two nurses in their 30s, while another frontline worker quit her job after being forbidden from wearing a face mask.
- The number of cases detected in Egypt jumped to 985, the country’s health ministry said.
- Albania reported 27 new cases – its second biggest daily increase – and ordered a third 40-hour lockdown over the weekend.
