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Coronavirus pandemic - World News

Sri Lanka makes cremations mandatory for Covid-19 victims

Sri Lanka has made cremations compulsory for victims of Covid-19 - a move which has angered its minority Muslim population who say this goes against their own religious customs.

Out of the seven confirmed deaths so far, three were Muslim, reports The Hindu newspaper.

Here's the latest from the rest of the South Asia region:

Pakistan's prime minister has appealed for urgent debt relief for developing countries to help counter the vast economic fallout being felt due to the pandemic. The country has more than 5,000 cases so far and 88 deaths

Farmers in Bangladesh are about to receive some extra help from the government, which announced a $1.7bn (£1.4bn) relief fund to help those struggling due to restrictions in place because of the virus

Three Indians who travelled to Nepal for a religious event have tested positive, taking the total number of cases to 12 in the Himalayan nation
 
Some non-essential workers in Spain will be allowed to go back to work on Monday as the country partially relaxes its lockdown measures.

Manufacturing and construction are among the businesses that will be allowed to reopen, as long as they adhere to strict safety guidelines.

Non-essential shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues will remain closed.

Ten million face masks will also be given to those travelling on public transport this week as people start to return to work.

Spain is one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak - with more than 166,000 confirmed cases and nearly 17,000 deaths as of Sunday. But the number of new infections has been falling.
 
UPDATE!
South Asia coronavirus deaths...
0 - Maldives (20 cases)
0 - Nepal (13)
0 - Bhutan (5)
7 - Sri Lanka (210)
19 - Afghanistan (607)
34 - Bangladesh (621)
93 - Pakistan (5374)
331 - India (9240)
 
SUIFENHE, China (Reuters) - China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks - with more than 90% involving people coming from abroad.

Having largely stamped out domestic transmission of the disease, China has been slowly easing curbs on movement as it tries to get its economy back on track, but there are fears that a rise in imported cases could spark a second wave of COVID-19.

A total of 108 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier, marking the highest daily tally since March 5.

Imported cases accounted for a record 98. Half involved Chinese nationals returning from Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District, home to the city of Vladivostok, who re-entered China through border crossings in Heilongjiang province.

“Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place,” said a resident of the border city of Suifenhe, who only gave his surname as Zhu.

“Some Chinese citizens - they want to come back, but it’s not very sensible, what are you doing coming here for?”

The border is closed, except to Chinese nationals, and the land route through the city had become one of few options available for people trying to return home after Russia stopped flights to China except for those evacuating people.

Streets in Suifenhe were virtually empty on Sunday evening due to restrictions of movement and gatherings announced last week, when authorities took preventative measures similar to those imposed in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the pandemic ripping round the world first emerged late last year.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 82,160 as of Sunday, and at the peak of the first wave of the epidemic on Feb 12 there were over 15,000 new cases.

Though the number of daily infections across China has dropped sharply from that peak, China has seen the daily toll creep higher after hitting a trough on March 12 because of the rise in imported cases.

Chinese cities near the Russian frontier are tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantines in response.

Suifenhe and Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, are now mandating 28 days of quarantine as well as nucleic acid and antibody tests for all arrivals from abroad.

In Shanghai, authorities found that 60 people who arrived on Aeroflot flight SU208 from Moscow on April 10 have the coronavirus, Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a press conference on Monday.

Residents in Suifenhe said a lot of people had left the city fearing contagion, but others put their trust in authorities’ containment measures.

“I don’t need to worry,” Zhao Wei, another Suifenhe resident, told Reuters. “If there’s a local transmission, I would, but there’s not a single one. They’re all from the border, but they’ve all been sent to quarantine.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...fight-against-second-virus-wave-idUSKCN21V06R
 
Germany now has more people who have recovered from coronavirus than active cases, officials say. Over the past 24 hours, there were 2,537 new positive tests, taking the total to 127,854. That's the fourth-biggest number in Europe, but just over 50% of those have recovered.

In Spain, 37% of the 166,831 people infected have recovered, in Italy 22% of 156,363, in France 21% of 133,670. In the UK 85,208 people have tested positive, but only 0.3% have so far recovered.

Germany also has a lower mortality rate, which is attributed to widespread testing, so that among the positive tests are many patients with only mild symptoms.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and top state officials will meet on Monday to discuss a possible easing of the countrywide lockdown.
 
Singapore continues to see a steady increase of new confirmed cases. The latest figure from Sunday was 233 tests coming back positive. It's the second time in a week that new cases had spiked above 200 in the city state of less than 6 million people.

Singapore had long been a model of how meticulous contact-tracing seemed to keep the virus under control. For long, the main concern was not local transmission, but imported cases. By now though, the spread is local.

Many of the recent positive tests are from workers' dormitories. The number of residents testing positive is "likely to continue going up especially as we undertake more aggressive testing at the dormitories," the health ministry said.

Workers in affected dorms are being isolated, some even in floating accommodation off the coast. In many cases, entire dorms are under lockdown, affecting tens of thousands of workers who in normal times contribute to Singapore's strong economy.

Overall, Singapore has 2,532 confirmed cases while 8 deaths have been linked to Covid-19.
 
New Spanish data released on Monday showed 517 people had died in the previous 24 hours, compared with 619 recorded on Sunday. The number of new confirmed new cases also fell.

The figures came as Spain allowed builders, factory workers and others unable to work from home to return to work, provided they follow strict safety guidelines. It was a return to normality of sorts for some non-essential workers.

On the Madrid metro and at bus and railway stations, police handed out face masks to commuters. But even at rush hour, use of Madrid’s transport system was much lower than normal.

Antonio Álvarez, a self-employed manual worker, described it as a relief to be able to resume work on the digging of a swimming pool on a private property near the capital.

“I think the restrictions so far have worked. If they hadn’t implemented them it would have been disastrous,” he said.
 
Ecuador has said police removed almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes in Guayaquil, the epicentre of the country's coronavirus outbreak, after COVID-19 - the disease caused by the new virus - overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals and funeral parlours.

Mortuary workers in the Pacific port city have been unable to cope with a backlog, with residents posting videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets.

"The number we have collected with the taskforce from people's homes exceeded 700 people," said Jorge Wated, who leads a team of police and military personnel created by the government to help with the chaos unleashed by COVID-19.

He later said on Sunday on Twitter that the joint taskforce, in operation for the past three weeks, had retrieved 771 bodies from homes and another 631 from hospitals, whose morgues are full.

Wated did not specify the cause of death for the victims, 600 of whom have now been buried by the authorities.

Ecuador has recorded 7,500 cases of the coronavirus since the first diagnosis was confirmed on February 29.

The coastal province of Guayas accounts for more than 70 percent of those infected in the country, with 4,000 cases in the capital Guayaquil, according to the national government.

The military and the police began removing bodies from homes three weeks after the mortuary system in Guayaquil collapsed, causing delays in forensic services and funeral homes under a 15-hour-long daily curfew.

Guayaquil residents posted videos on social media of bodies abandoned in the streets, along with messages asking for help to bury their family members.

The Ecuadorian government has taken on the task of burying bodies, given the inability of relatives to do so for various reasons, including financial ones.

In early April, Wated said "medical experts, unfortunately ... estimate that COVID-19-related deaths in these months will reach between 2,500 and 3,500, just in the province of Guayas."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...-ecuador-virus-epicentre-200413082635865.html
 
Official data from Belgium shows the daily death toll there rose by 303 on Monday, bringing its recorded total to 3,903. The update includes deaths in care homes from people who were suspected of having the virus, but were not necessarily tested.

Though the number may seem small compared with other European nations, Belgium's population is only about 11.5 million. Germany has a population of about 83 million, and has recorded about 3,000 deaths in total - meaning proportionally, Belgium's death toll is closer to Spain and Italy per head of population.

Belgium has confirmed more than 30,000 cases since the outbreak began.
 
More than 2,550 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Russia in the past 24 hours - the country's largest daily rise in infections so far.

About 11,500 of the 18,328 people infected have been in the capital Moscow. There have been recorded 148 deaths.

Although Russia has a relatively low number of cases compared with many European countries, the government has introduced a range of measures to deal with the outbreak. A full lockdown has been imposed in most regions.
 
South Korea reports more recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again

South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks.
 
President Vladimir Putin has warned that the situation in Russia is getting worse, after the country saw its largest single-day rise in confirmed cases of Covid-19.

"As we can see, the situation is changing almost every day. Unfortunately, it is not changing for the better," he told members of the Russian government.

The Russian president also said the military could be deployed to help tackle the outbreak as it had done in Italy and elsewhere.

On Monday new figures showed more than 2,550 new infections in Russia, bringing the total to 18,328. Almost two-thirds of confirmed cases have been in the capital Moscow.
 
French President Emmanuel Macron is delivering an address on the coronavirus epidemic.

Minutes before he started speaking, France released its daily figures on coronavirus deaths and cases.

There were 574 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total near to 15,000, French health authorities said.

However, number of patients in intensive care fell for a fifth day in a row, dropping by 24.

France’s health ministry said Monday’s figures confirm the country is in “the high plateau phase” of the epidemic.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a widely expected extension to the country's lockdown. Restrictions will now be kept in place until 11 May.

It comes at a time when France’s coronavirus epidemic is showing signs of slowing down.

"Hope is coming back but nothing is certain", he said.
 
French President Emmanuel Macron has said France was not "sufficiently ready" for the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

In a televised address he said "we lacked protective clothing, gels, masks, like other countries...we have made difficult decisions".

He warned that hospitals were still under pressure in some parts of the country.

France's schools could begin to reopen after 11 May, the president added.
 
Was talking to this doc friend of mine back home. He is on the front lines .According to him the variant of Corona is Pakistan is not as bad as the US. Not sure how that possible , does anyone got a clue ? . I thought it was the same mutation that jumped from animals to humans ?. Could it be that Pakistani's have a better immunity to it because they come in contact with more diseases in everyday life compared to a typical westerner ?
 
from_da_lost_dim3nsion said:
Was talking to this doc friend of mine back home. He is on the front lines .According to him the variant of Corona is Pakistan is not as bad as the US. Not sure how that possible , does anyone got a clue ? . I thought it was the same mutation that jumped from animals to humans ?. Could it be that Pakistani's have a better immunity to it because they come in contact with more diseases in everyday life compared to a typical westerner ?
Click to expand...

It's a different mutation, also there's a theory that a lot of third world countries had a BCG vaccine policy that makes them immune to covid-19.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/health/tuberculosis-bcg-vaccine-coronavirus/index.html

 
U.N. agencies: 117 million children may miss measles shots due to COVID-19

More than 117 million children could miss out on immunization against measles as the COVID-19 pandemic forces social distancing and piles pressure on health services, United Nations health agencies warned on Tuesday.

Measles immunization campaigns in 24 countries have already been delayed, and more will be postponed, potentially putting children in 37 countries at risk, according to the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI), which is backed by the World Health Organization, the U.N. children’s fund UNICEF and others.

“If the difficult choice to pause vaccination is made due to the spread of COVID-19, we urge leaders to intensify efforts to track unvaccinated children, so that the most vulnerable populations can be provided with measles vaccines as soon as it becomes possible to do so,” the group said in a statement.

“While we know there will be many demands on health systems and frontline workers during and beyond the threat of COVID-19, delivering all immunization services, including measles vaccines, is essential to saving lives.”

[For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser]

The respiratory disease COVID-19 has killed more than 113,000 people and left countries around the world in virtual lockdown as they try to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes it.

But in its shadow, a surge in measles outbreaks poses another major global health threat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in December that measles had infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed 140,000, mostly children, in what it described as “an outrage”.

The viral disease is highly contagious but can be prevented by mass immunization, which would normally mean babies and children being vaccinated as part of routine health services.

With the fight against COVID-19 in most countries focused on keeping health workers safe from infection and imposing strict social distancing measures, the WHO has recommended that governments temporarily pause preventive immunization campaigns, such as those against measles, where there is no active outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.

In many parts of Africa, medical aid projects that might normally include measles and other vaccine campaigns have stalled as countries have closed their borders and limited routine health services due to the pandemic.

The M&RI group said it supports the need to protect communities and health workers from COVID-19, but warned that this should not mean that children permanently miss out.

“Urgent efforts must be taken now ... to prepare to close the immunity gaps that the measles virus will exploit,” it said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-measles-shots-due-to-covid-19-idUSKCN21V28U
 
India's month-long lockdown was due to end on Wednesday but its billion people will now be under restrictions until 3 May
India has recorded nearly 9,000 virus cases but with limited testing in its crowded cities the fear is the true figure is much higher
In an angry press conference earlier, US President Donald Trump denied ignoring early warnings about the coronavirus
Trump says as president his "authority is total" and he can demand states reopen businesses
France has extended its lockdown for another month, until the middle of May
Australian PM Scott Morrison warns it is "very likely" the country will see more clusters
China says it recorded no coronavirus deaths on Monday
Nearly 1.9 million people worldwide have been confirmed to have the virus and half of humanity is under some form of restriction
 
Taiwan reports only five new cases, all imported

Taiwan's success in containing the virus continues. For Monday, it recorded five new cases, all of which were imported, meaning people who had travelled to Taiwan from abroad.

One person had come from the US while the other four were passengers on the virus-stricken Coral Princess cruise ship in Florida.

In total, Taiwan has 393 confirmed cases of which 109 have already recovered. Six deaths have been linked to Covid-19.

Over the past weekend, the island had even seen its baseball and soccer seasons get under way. While the season was delayed and the first games were held without any fans in the stands, it did nonetheless provide people with a rare bit of live sports action.

Taiwan's success in limiting the spread is largely attributed to Taipei's early and decisive action to curb travel, pursue aggressive contact tracing and impose strict quarantine for all incoming travellers.
 
China tightens Russian border checks, approves experimental coronavirus vaccine trials

China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus as it battles to contain imported cases, especially from neighbouring Russia, the new “front line” in the war on Covid-19.
 
A summary of the latest developments:

Some 1.92 million people around the world have now been confirmed to have the new coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 119,500 have died, while nearly 450,000 have recovered.

The WHO is due to release its latest strategic advice on tackling the outbreak, that will include six criterias for lifting restrictions on movement.
More than 10,000 people have now died from coronavirus in New York state.

India has extended a nationwide lockdown until May 3.
 
Turkey to release prisoners to ease overcrowding

Turkey’s parliament has approved legislation that will free some 90,000 prisoners to ease overcrowding in prisons amid the coronavirus pandemic.

However, that doesn't include journalists and activists, who will remain behind bars.

The legislation, approved early on Tuesday, reduces some sentences and places 45,000 convicts who are currently serving terms in open prisons, under temporary house arrest.
 
Malaysia arrests Myanmmar workers for breaching lockdown restrictions

Malaysian police have arrested 62 migrant workers from Myanmar for breaching lockdown restrictions
by allegedly staging a weekend street party marking Thingyan, the Buddhist New Year.

"Some admitted to attending the event and more arrests are being carried out to track the other suspects involved. Two mobile phones used by the suspects have also been seized," said Wan Kamarul Azran,
assistant police commissioner of Sepang, near Kuala Lumpur's international airport and Malaysia's Formula One rally track.

The Thingyan festival is usually aáweek of concerts, street parties and water fights across much of Myanmar- as well as among the hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrants in neighbouring Thailand
and Malaysia.
 
Germany reports fourth day of slowing cases

Confirmed new cases continue to slow in Germany, where the Robert Koch Institute has just announced 2,082 more cases, bringing the total to 125,098.

This is the fourth day of decline after four days of increases in new cases.

A further 170 people died from the virus, RKI said on Tuesday.
 
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the country remains "many weeks away" from lifting any restrictions despite the sharp slowdown in coronavirus cases.

"Patience has got to be our virtue here," Morrison said.

Australia confirmed 63 new infections on Sunday and Monday - the lowest two-day increase in a month - bringing its total cases to 6,366.
 
Spanish health ministry reports a further 567 people with COVID-19 have died taking the total number of deaths in the country to 18,056
 
The latest from Asia

India's prime minister warned of tougher measures over the next week, as he extended the country's lockdown until 3 May. We can expect more details on Wednesday.

China, where the coronavirus outbreak began late last year, reported 89 new cases - part of a recent spike driven by a surge of people returning from Russia.

Charities have appealed for a ceasefire in Afghanistan as coronavirus threatens to overwhelm a country that has neither the health system nor the infrastructure to respond.

And thousands of Pakistanis working in Gulf states have appealed to their government to repatriate them after they lost their jobs amid the pandemic.
 
Some countries have said they are passing their peak of infections and deaths, and are considering lifting restrictions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued six criteria for countries considering relaxing their lockdowns.

Transmission should be controlled

Health system capacities are in place to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact

Outbreak risks are minimised in special settings like health facilities and nursing homes

Preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other places where it’s essential for people to go

Importation risks are managed

Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the “new norm”.

These are basically the lessons learned from China and South Korea on how to best emerge from lockdown/restrictions and on what needs to be in place to avoid a second wave of infections.

Hardly any nation ticks all the boxes at the moment.

However, China says it has a good handle on the situation - with nearly all new infections being imported from other countries.
Also, South Korea - which didn't go into full lockdown but had some restrictions including school closures - has been testing widely since the start of the outbreak. So, the country has a decent handle on cases and control of transmission.

Countries such as New Zealand could also reach this point soon.

Ultimately though, this is just an advice, and countries will make their own decisions based on their own risk assessments.
 
Death toll in Belgium moves past 4,000

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Belgium has risen by 262, taking the country's number of fatalities to 4,157 - the fifth highest in Europe.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the number of deaths in Belgium is behind only Italy, Spain, France and the UK.

National broadcaster RTBF has reported the country's lockdown is likely to be extended until 3 May and the national security council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss when to end it.

There have also been 530 new cases of patients affected by Covid-19 in Belgium, bringing the total to 31,119. Of these, 20,094 are classed as "active" cases and 1,223 people are currently in intensive care.
 
78e98d72-2604-4f40-96ca-73a297c18346.png
 
Dutch coronavirus cases rise by 868 to 27,419 - authorities

Confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 868 to 27,419, health authorities said, with 122 new deaths.

Total deaths in the country are at 2,945, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health said in its daily update.
 
Worldwide update:

About one in 10 coronavirus-related deaths in England and Wales took place outside hospital in the week to 3 April

Some small shops in Austria reopen but some Italian regions postpone relaxation of lockdown restrictions

India's nationwide lockdown has been extended until 3 May

In an angry press conference, US President Donald Trump denied ignoring early warnings about the coronavirus

China says it recorded no coronavirus deaths on Monday

More than 1.9 million people worldwide have been confirmed to have the virus
 
Italy has seen the number of fatalities go up by 602, the second increase in as many days, to a total of 21,067 deaths. But the number in intensive care continues to fall (by 74) to 3,186.

Denmark imposed a lockdown more than a month ago and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen now plans to relax restrictions even more than planned as the rate of infection and hospital admissions is lower than expected. Schools for younger children were already due to reopen on Wednesday

Sweden has now seen more than 1,000 deaths since the outbreak began. Critics of the government's relatively light measures point to a fatality rate far higher than those of the country's Nordic neighbours

Russia has recorded its biggest rise in new infections in 24 hours - 2,774 new cases. Over half were in Moscow, and it has emerged that 34 members of the Bolshoi Theatre have tested positive

Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia says it aims to reopen schools gradually after the Easter holidays. Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss a federal plan with state leaders on Wednesday on how to ease the lockdown

Thousands of shops such as DIY stores were allowed to reopen in Austria on Tuesday and the government hopes to relax the lockdown further next week

Authorities in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK have foiled an attempt to cheat health authorities out of millions of euros by selling them non-existent face masks

In Montenegro, church services will be banned for next weekend's Orthodox Easter
 
Rishi Sunak says work is under way to get accurate daily data about deaths in UK care homes

NHS England medical director says the number of people in hospital with the virus is “plateauing”

Worldwide, more than 1.9 million people have been confirmed to have the virus

Confirmed cases in France have passed 100,000, a day after the country extended its lockdown to 11 May

The World Health Organization says the number of new cases is falling in Italy and Spain, two of the worst-affected countries

The death rate in New York state has gone up, with 778 reported on Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo says

The pandemic has plunged the world into a "crisis like no other", the IMF says

The UK economy could shrink by 35% if the lockdown lasts three months, a tax watchdog warns
 
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the country is weeks away from easing pandemic restrictions, if not longer.

"Right now we're still very much in this phase and have to remain in this phase for a good while," he said during his daily press briefing Tuesday.

Trudeau's caution seems well supported by Canadians. A Leger poll found that 21% of Canadians wanted to wait until there is a vaccine to ease restrictions, which could be more than a year away. Only 6% said they wanted the economy opened now, compared to 13% of American survey respondents.

The province of Ontario, which accounts for 41% of Canada's population, extended emergency orders by four weeks on Monday.

Trudeau also fielded questions about his plan to support long-term care homes, where more than half of Canada's Covid-19 deaths have taken case, and promised to better fund elderly support workers.
 
To recap, here are some of the day’s key developments:

Donald Trump says the US will immediately cut all funding to the World Health Organization, saying they wrongly trusted China to handle its own outbreak response

Trump says some parts of the US can re-open before 1 May, but many state governors disagree

India has extended its nation-wide lockdown until 3 May

Amazon has been ordered in France to only deliver essential goods during the country's recently extended lockdown

South Koreans are voting in national assembly elections, but are required to wear masks and stand at least 1m apart.

A zoo in Germany says the outbreak has hit its finances so badly that some animals may need to be fed to others

Italy has seen the smallest daily rise in new infections for more than a month, although its daily death toll remains high
 
Germany's virus death toll has risen to above 3,000. The country's Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said 285 deaths over the past day were linked to Covid-19, taking the toll to 3,254.

The overall number of positive tests is now at 127,584 according to the official figures. More than half of those people have already recovered though.

Later on Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss with regional leaders whether to lift some of the measures in place to stop the spread. Several European countries like Austria and Denmark have in the past days allowed some schools and small shops to reopen.
 
In Singapore, the recent spike in new positive tests is largely taking place among foreign workers. They are housed in huge dormitories and often live with 10 to 20 people in one room. The virus clusters in those dorms are spreading fast.

“Many of the dorms are now quarantined," Alex Au of migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too told the BBC. "But that’s like quarantining a cruise ship - in the end, thousands of workers will contract the virus which makes them one of the most vulnerable groups.”

It's a crisis of neglect, he says. "When authorities did their crisis modelling and began implementing social distancing guidelines, it seems they completely forgot that the workers are living in very different conditions to most other Singaporeans."

The city has now begun moving some workers into different facilities to enable social distancing, but Au says it’s a drop in the ocean.
 
The number of coronavirus cases in Spain rises to 177,633 while the death toll from the virus climbs to 18,579, the health ministry says
 
Japan urges citizens to isolate as reports warn of 400,000 deaths

Japan urged its citizens on Wednesday to stay home, as media reports warned that as many as 400,000 of them could die of the coronavirus without urgent action, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came under pressure to hand out more cash.
 
Confirmed cases of the virus stand at 1,997,000 according to Johns Hopkins university

President Trump says US will stop funding the World Health Organization, accusing it of mismanagement

His announcement is widely condemned, with Bill Gates calling it "as dangerous as it sounds"

UN Secretary General António Guterres says it is "not the time" to cut WHO resources

EU countries urged to lift restrictions in a co-ordinated way

The UK government promises that all care home residents and staff with Covid-19 symptoms will be tested

India has extended its nationwide lockdown until 3 May
 
As Denmark starts reopening schools for under 11s, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to hold talks with the leaders of the country's 16 states on when to relax coronavirus restrictions.

According to German media, the federal government in Berlin wants restrictions on movement to last until at least 3 May although some shops will be able to reopen under strict rules from 20 April.

Germany has not been as badly hit as other countries in Western Europe, with 3,254 deaths recorded by the RKI public health institute, including 285 in the past 24 hours.

Austria allowed some shops to open on Tuesday, and Germany may do the same.

The talks start at 14:00 (12:00 GMT) so the details may yet change.

The crisis plunged Germany's economy into recession last month.
 
Confirmed global cases near two million

We're close to reaching another sombre figure in the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases gets near to two million, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the disease globally.

Nearly 130,000 people have died and more than 500,000 have recovered, according to the US university's figures.

The US has the most cases, and more than 26,000 people have now died there.

The disease first emerged in central China just over three months ago and while it took a month and a half for the first 100,000 cases to be registered, that figure has accelerated since.

A million cases were reached on 2 April and that number has now more than doubled.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Global confirmed cases of coronavirus reach two million, but the true number of infections is likely to be much higher<a href="https://t.co/01d7bVcfiJ">https://t.co/01d7bVcfiJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/WkEJ7N4xv1">pic.twitter.com/WkEJ7N4xv1</a></p>— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/1250427100869193728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another day and another grim statistic, as the number of confirmed cases across the world reaches two million.

That's according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking infections and deaths around the world.

More than 600,000 cases have been recorded in the US alone, while 128,000 people have died globally.

The true number of infections is likely to be much higher, as levels of testing varies by country.

It's less than two weeks since the world reach a million confirmed cases.
 
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NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - India will allow industries located in the countryside to reopen next week, as well as resuming farm activities to reduce the pain for millions of people hit by a lengthy shutdown in its coronavirus battle, the government said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the population of 1.3 billion to keep indoors for 19 days more after a strict three-week lockdown, saying it was critical to save lives amid the pandemic.

But he said he felt the pain of the poor and on Wednesday the home (interior) ministry released guidelines allowing limited resumption of commerce and industry in the hinterland, less affected by the pandemic.

“To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities have been allowed, which will come into effect from April 20,” it said.

Millions of people have been thrown out of work across south Asia since the lockdowns began last month, and growing anger in some areas was reflected in the commercial capital of Mumbai on Tuesday when hundreds mobbed a train station demanding transport home.

Neighbouring Pakistan, which also announced a two-week extension to its shutdown to halt the virus, said it would reopen construction activity that provides a lifeline for the largest number of its people after agriculture.

Export industries, such as garments, will also be permitted to begin production, said Industries Minister Hammad Azhar, adding that the government had made an assessment of the sectors least vulnerable to infection.

“The low-risk industries, meaning where there is less danger of the epidemic’s spread as compared to others, they were identified,” he said.

A policeman wearing a protective mask santizes his baton as he stands guard during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the old quarters of Delhi, India, April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
India has 11,439 infections, government data showed on Wednesday, a jump of 1,076 from the previous day. These include 377 dead. Pakistan’s caseload is 5,988, including 107 deaths.

Health experts fear the small numbers relative to some Western nations are a result of low levels of testing in the region and that actual infections could be far higher.

Widespread contagion could be disastrous for the millions living in dense slums in South Asia, where health services are overstretched.

India, the region’s biggest economy, has one doctor for every 1,500 citizens, short of the ratio of one for every 1,000 recommended by the World Health Organization. In some rural areas, the ratio is one doctor to 10,000 people.

“We had no choice but to extend the lockdown, but we are trying to protect livelihoods,” said Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, which, along with Mumbai, accounts for more than a third of cases.

In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, hundreds of workers defied a government lockdown to take to the streets demanding wages.

“We have not received wages for the last two months,” said one of them, Sahana Begum. “Now we don’t have any food at home. We are dying from starvation.”

The second-largest apparel producer after China, Bangladesh is set to lose export revenue of about $6 billion this fiscal year, hit by cancellations from some of the world’s largest brands and retailers, two industry bodies said last month.

Here are official government figures on the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia:

* India has 11,439 confirmed cases, including 377 deaths

Slideshow (5 Images)
* Pakistan has 5,988 cases, including 107 deaths

* Bangladesh has 803 cases, including 39 deaths

* Afghanistan has 784 cases, including 23 deaths

* Sri Lanka has 219 cases, including 7 deaths

* Maldives has 21 cases and no deaths

* Nepal has 16 cases and no deaths

* Bhutan has five cases and no deaths
 
How the world reached two million cases

As we mentioned earlier today, the number of global cases of coronavirus is now more than two million, with more than 128,000 deaths.

More than 600,000 cases have been recorded in the US alone, although the true number of infections is likely to be much higher, as levels of testing varies by country.

It is less than two weeks since the world reached a million confirmed cases.

16f40855-a18e-433f-880c-16d37cd25636.png
 
The death toll in Italy rose by 578 on Wednesday bringing the total to 21,645, the country's civil protection agency said.

2,667 cases were reported, down from 2,972. The number of new reported cases is the lowest since 13 March.

The number of people currently in intensive care is 3,079. The number has been declining for the past 12 consecutive days.

Of those infected, 38,092 people have now recovered.
Italy's death toll is the second highest in the world after the US.
 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced plans to ease the country's lockdown.

Social distancing measures will remain in place until 3 May, and Ms Merkel recommended people wear face masks on public transport and in shops.

But from next week shops under 800 square metres will be allowed to open. Children in primary school and the last year of high school will return to class from 4 May.

According to Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country has 127,584 confirmed cases and has reported 3,254 deaths
 
France has revealed its death toll has now risen to 17,167.

10,643 of those died in hospitals, a rise of 514 over the past 24 hours.

However, the number of hospitalisations is down for the first time. The number of serious cases in intensive care has fallen for the seventh consecutive day.

6,524 people have died in care homes, a rise from the 5,600 reported as of Tuesday. However, public health authority head Jerome Salomon said this was due to a delay in reporting over the Easter weekend.
 
Confirmed cases around the world have surpassed two million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University

China has closed one of its temporary hospitals for Covid-19 patients. The hospital was built in just 10 days

Malawi has announced a 21-day lockdown from 18 April. There have been 16 confirmed cases and two deaths

The UN has warned that 74 million people in the Arab region are at a greater risk of contracting Covid-19 as they lack access to a basic hand-washing facility

Colombia is expected to release 7,000 inmates to limit the risk of the spread of coronavirus in prisons

The Tour de France will go ahead, officials have confirmed. However it will start in August

US The World Health Organization has expressed regret at President Trump's decision to withdraw funding. Philanthropist Bill Gates, a major funder of the WHO, said it was "as dangerous as it sounds"
 
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border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_AeaiDJcAI/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Since coronavirus emerged in China in December last year the number of cases officially recorded around the world has increased rapidly, to more than two million. The United States has more than three times as many confirmed cases as any other country. Of the two million cases, more than 500,000 people have now recovered, while 128,000 people have died. China's official death toll from the outbreak is just over 3,300 from some 83,000 confirmed cases. Critics of the Chinese government have questioned whether the country's official numbers can be trusted. Tap the link in our bio to see how the virus spread around the globe. #Coronavirus #covid19 #world #bbcnews</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bbcnews/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> BBC News</a> (@bbcnews) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-04-15T16:00:25+00:00">Apr 15, 2020 at 9:00am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
 
Last week the French defence ministry announced 50 sailors aboard its flagship, the Charles de Gaulle aicraft carrier, had come down with coronavirus symptoms. Authorities sent a medical team to test them and to prevent a major outbreak on the ship.

Now, the ministry has announced that at least 668 sailors have tested positive from the carrier and an escorting frigate, the Chevalier Paul - with only two-thirds of test results in. The ministry said 31 sailors are in hospital.

Charles de Gaulle was on deployment in the Atlantic as part of a Nato exercise. But once the first sailors showed signs of the virus the vessel was ordered back to its base at Toulon.

Nearly all the confirmed cases so far are sailors serving on the nuclear-powered carrier. All the ships are now being disinfected, the ministry said.
 
Belgium extends coronavirus restrictions until May 3

Belgium has extended measures to control the spread of the coronavirus to May 3, with a slight easing of restrictions to allow home improvement stores and garden centres to open and limited visits to care homes.

Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes told a news conference on Wednesday her government and economic and medical experts would meet next week to organise a gradual return towards normality from early May.

“The prospect of a better future is within our reach,” she said. “The strategy will be based on certain pillars - maintaining a safe distance, large-scale screening and also tracing ... and the development of new rules at the workplace.”

Wearing masks would also be a key part of the strategy. No large organised events would be held until at least early September and many people would still work from home, Wilmes said.

For now, home improvement stores and garden centres could reopen, albeit with social distancing in place.

Residents of nursing homes with elderly or disabled people could now identify a single person allowed to visit, provided that person had not shown any symptoms in the previous two weeks.

“It is not impossible some people will see this as an easing of the basic rules. But there is not the case. They remain as they are until May 3 and must absolutely be respected. We have not arrived at the stage of an exit,” she said.

Neighbouring France on Tuesday extended its lockdown measures until May 11.

Belgium’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases passed 33,000, with 4,440 deaths. Medical experts told a daily news conference it appeared a peak had been reached early in April, with the number of people admitted to hospital steadily falling since.

“What we observe is that, after a sharp increase in the number of cases, we now have a slow but real declining trend,” clinical microbiologist Emmanuel Andre said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...avirus-restrictions-until-may-3-idUSKCN21X2GA
 
Venezuelan indigenous baby tests positive for coronavirus in Brazil

A two-month-old baby born to Warao indigenous refugees from Venezuela has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the mayor’s office in the Brazilian city of Manaus said on Wednesday.

Some 600 Warao, a tribe from the delta of the Orinoco river, live in shelters in Manaus, the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state, where they started arriving in 2018 after escaping the economic crisis in Venezuela.

Municipal social workers who were moving families to new shelters to avoid crowding during the coronavirus epidemic found the baby had a cold and took her and the mother to a hospital 12 days ago. The baby tested positive for the virus on Monday.

Health experts and anthropologists have warned of the danger of the pandemic decimating Brazil’s 850,000 indigenous people because they have no immunity to external diseases and live in communal homes where social distancing is not possible.

So far, the indigenous health service Sesai has reported three deaths from the coronavirus among indigenous people, including a Yanomami youth aged 15 in the northern state of Roraima, bordering Venezuela.

The Manaus mayor’s office said in a statement it was not known where the baby contracted the virus. The father has been isolated and other Warao in the shelter are being monitored, it said.

At one of the shelters, seen from outside the fence by a Reuters photographer on Wednesday, Warao men played volleyball in the gymnasium and families gathered in an open area to chat while not wearing masks.

Manaus, a city of 2 million in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, has been particularly hard hit by the epidemic. Deaths in the state doubled in five days to 106 by Wednesday, Brazil’s Health Ministry said.

Amazonas state’s health system has been overwhelmed by the epidemic, with all intensive care beds and ventilators already taken as a result of the outbreak.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...itive-for-coronavirus-in-brazil-idUSKCN21X3EE
 
The IMF says the impact of the coronavirus on Asia will be "severe, across the board, and unprecedented"
There is hope of a rebound in 2021, but "it is highly uncertain how this year will progress", it says
Global infections passed the 2 million mark on Wednesday
The G20 group of top economies have agreed to suspend debt payments owed to them by 77 of the world's poorest countries
Germany has said smaller shops can start opening next week, as it eases its restrictions
US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his accusations that the WHO mishandled the crisis
Bill Gates, a major WHO donor, has said Trump's removal of US funding from WHO is "as dangerous as it sounds"
 
On Tuesday a crowd of angry, sometimes tearful people gathered in front of Thailand’s finance ministry, to protest their exclusion from a government monthly handout of 5000 baht ($160, £122) for lower-paid workers in the informal sector who have lost their jobs because of the crisis.

More than 20 million people applied for the scheme, but only nine million were approved, although the government is allowing people to appeal against their rejection.

Now Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has acknowledged that the scheme, which was supposed to last for at least three months, and was, perhaps optimistically, titled ‘No-one Left Behind’, in fact has enough funding for only one month of payments.

Any further payments, he said, would depend on him signing new decrees to approve additional economic stimulus.

The Thai government has promised to spend at least $58 billion, around ten percent of GDP, on various measures to help the ailing economy.

One leg of the Thai economy, tourism, has been shattered by the crisis. Another, export manufacturing, has been hit hard.

Household debt has risen over the past decade to around 80 percent of GDP, and most Thai households cannot survive without income for long, unless the government steps in.
 
Australia is succeeding in flattening the curve but to forge "the road out" of lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says a "more extensive surveillance regime" needs to be brought in.

He praised the extensive testing and contact-tracing system in place, and the actions from states to open testing to anyone with symptoms.

"But we need to do even better than that... so when we move to lesser restricted environment we can identify outbreaks very quickly and respond to them."

His government this week proposed a mobile app which would trace the movements of patients - technology also used in Singapore and South Korea - but this has raised privacy concerns.

At least 40% of Australians would need to download the app for it to be effective.

"We need the support of Australians," said the PM.

"If we can get that in place, get the tracing capability up from where it is, that will give us more options and Australians more freedom."

Australia has closed its borders and forced a lockdown of non-essential businesses.

People are discouraged to leave their homes, but schools, public transport, shops and outdoor areas remain open.

The nation has confirmed over 6,300 cases but fewer than 100 were detected this week.
 
Poland to reopen parks and forest on Monday as it starts easing curbs

Poland will reopen parks and forests on Monday and then revise the rules on the number of customers allowed in shops, as the country starts to loosen its coronavirus lockdown, State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin said on Thursday.

Japan to convene experts meeting about expanding emergency
The Japanese government will hold a meeting with a panel of experts on Thursday to consult about whether to expand the country's partial state of emergency, chief spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
 
The total number of coronavirus cases in the world has surpassed two million and more than 137,000 people have died, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.
 
Factory workers in Ciudad Juárez in Mexico have held a protest demanding that the Regal plant, which assembles electric motors for household appliances, be shut down. The employees said their work was not essential and that not enough was being done to protect them from coronavirus. Mexico has said that it could force the closure of non-essential companies if they refuse to suspend operations

The Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago almost 1,000km off the coast of Ecuador, have 78 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Forty-eight of those who have tested positive are crew on board a tourist ship. About 30,000 people live on the islands, which have a limited medical facilities.

A two-month-old baby from the Warao indigenous group has tested positive for coronavirus, officials in Brazil say. The baby's parents fled the economic crisis in Venezuela. Health experts have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could "wipe out" indigenous communities in Brazil.
 
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Coronavirus: 668 infected on French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

A third of the sailors serving with France's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle - 668 out of nearly 2,000 - are infected with coronavirus.

Nearly all are on the carrier itself, the navy says. An escorting frigate and carrier pilots are also in quarantine.

The carrier returned to the French port of Toulon early from Atlantic exercises. Twenty sailors are in hospital, one in intensive care.

The infection total looks set to rise, as 30% of test results are not yet in.

The navy is investigating how so many sailors caught the virus. Last week the aircraft carrier was brought home 10 days early from its Atlantic deployment after some sailors showed symptoms.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52308073
 
Japan declares nationwide state of emergency

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Japan due to the country’s worsening coronavirus outbreak.

The move allows regional governments to urge people to stay inside, but without punitive measures or legal force.

The state of emergency will remain in force until 6 May.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had previously declared a month-long state of emergency in seven regions.

Speaking at a special meeting of medical experts, Mr Abe said: “Areas where a state of emergency should be carried out will be expanded from the seven prefectures to all prefectures.”

As the number of infections in Japan has increased, criticism of Mr Abe’s response has grown louder.

One poll shows 75% of people think the prime minister took too long to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo.

After a recent spike in cases in the capital Tokyo, experts warned that the city’s emergency medical facilities could collapse under the pressure. Officials in Tokyo have also urged people to work from home.

After the initial state of emergency came into force on 8 April, a number of other regional governors called for the measures to be extended to their areas, saying that cases were growing and their medical facilities were overwhelmed.

Japan’s two emergency medical associations also issued a joint statement warning that they were “already sensing the collapse of the emergency medical system”.

And the mayor of Osaka appealed for people to donate their raincoats, so they could be used as personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers whom he said were being forced to fashion PPE out of rubbish bags.

How has Japan responded to the outbreak?

Despite recording its first case more than three months ago, Japan is still only testing a tiny percentage of the population, the BBC’s Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports.

Unlike South Korea - which has brought its outbreak largely under control through a programme of large-scale testing - the Japanese government said that carrying out widespread testing was a “waste of resources”.

The health ministry fears that hospitals could be overwhelmed by people who test positive, but only have mild symptoms.

Testing is also governed by local health centres, not on the national government level - and some of these local centres are not equipped to carry out testing on a major scale.

Hokkaido became the first region in Japan to declare a state of emergency due to the coronavirus in late February, and lifted the state of emergency on 19 March. However, it was re-imposed this week because of a second wave of infections.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52313807
 
Space crew to return to very different Earth

A crew of three are due to return from the International Space Station (ISS) early on Friday, to a very different planet they left last year.

No strangers to isolation, Russian Oleg Skrypochka and Jessica Meir from the US left Earth in September 2019, well before Covid-19 emerged.

Another American, Andrew Morgan, has been on the ISS since July 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual routine for returning space crews.

"It's quite surreal to see it unfolding on Earth below," Ms Meir told reporters during a recent video call. "From here, Earth looks just as stunning as usual, so it's hard to believe all of the changes that have taken place since we left."

The trio are scheduled to return to Earth at 05:00 GMT on Friday, by which time Mr Skrypochka and Ms Meir will have spent 205 days in space, and Mr Morgan 272 days.

The capsule normally lands somewhere in Kazakhstan, then a search team picks up the crew and brings them to the closest airport and they all fly home.

This time Kazakhstan has declared a state of emergency and most of the airports are closed.

The search party is currently in strict quarantine and will have to take a test immediately before going out to pick up the arrivals, to ensure they cannot be infected.

A replacement crew of two Russians and an American who flew to the ISS on 9 April also took the utmost precautions to avoid taking the infection into space, spending a month and a half in quarantine before the launch.

The Baikonur space launch pad, leased by Russia from Kazakhstan, is still operating and the three crew members will be flown there. The Russian will take a plane home while the Americans will be driven three hours to the south-east to Kyzylorda, from where a Nasa plane will fly them back to the US.

Usually, a team of returning astronauts and cosmonauts will undergo a special rehabilitation program lasting several weeks. After a long stay in zero gravity, the body needs time to get used to life in constant gravity.

But this time doctors have the additional task of protecting the crew from coronavirus.

"It will be difficult to not give hugs to family and friends after being up here for seven months," said Ms Meir, who last year made history after completing the first ever all-female spacewalk with another Nasa astronaut, Christina Koch.

"I think I will feel more isolated on Earth than here. We're busy with amazing pursuits and tasks and don't feel the isolation," she added.

The ISS has been orbiting the Earth since 1998. Five partners are involved - the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52300360
 
Singapore reports 728 new virus cases in biggest daily jump, total 4,427

Singapore's health ministry confirmed 728 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the tally to 4,427 in the city-state.
 
Explainer: Why are some South Koreans who recovered from the coronavirus testing positive again?

South Korean health officials are investigating several possible explanations for a small but growing number of recovered coronavirus patients who later test positive for the virus again.

Among the main possibilities are re-infection, a relapse, or inconsistent tests, experts say.

South Korea had reported 141 such cases as of Thursday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

RE-INFECTION OR RELAPSE?

Although re-infection would be the most concerning scenario because of its implications for developing immunity in a population, both the KCDC and many experts say this is unlikely.

Instead, the KCDC says it is leaning toward some kind of relapse or "re-activation" in the virus.

A relapse could mean that parts of the virus go into some kind of dormant state for a time, or that some patients may have certain conditions or weak immunity that makes them susceptible to the virus reviving in their system, experts said.

A recent study by doctors in China and the United States suggested the new coronavirus can damage T lymphocytes, also known as T cells, which play a central role the body's immune system and ability to battle infections.

Kim Jeong-ki, a virologist at the Korea University College of Pharmacy, compared a relapse after treatment to a spring that snaps back after being pressed down.

"When you press down a spring it becomes smaller, then when you take your hands off, the spring pops up," he said.

Even if the patients are found to have relapsed rather than to have been re-infected, it could signal new challenges for containing the spread of the virus.

"South Korean health authorities still haven't found cases where the 'reactivated' patients spread the virus to third parties, but if such infectiousness is proven, that would be a huge problem," said Seol Dai-wu, an expert in vaccine development and a professor at Chung-Ang University.

LIMITS OF TESTING

Patients in South Korea are considered clear of the virus when they have tested negative twice in a 48-hour period.

While the RT-PCR tests used in South Korea are considered generally accurate, experts said that there are ways they could return false or inconsistent results for a small number of cases.

"RT-PCR tests boast an accuracy of 95%. This means that there still can be 2-5% of those cases that are detected false negative or false positive cases," Kim said.

Remnants of the virus could remain at levels too low to be detected by a given test, Seol said.

On the other hand, the tests may also be so sensitive that they are picking up small, potentially harmless levels of the virus, leading to new positive results even though the person has recovered, Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of KCDC said at a briefing on Tuesday.

The tests could also be compromised if the necessary samples are not collected properly, said Eom Joong-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Centre.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN21Y0UE?__twitter_impression=true
 
Here’s the latest from Europe:

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offers a “heartfelt apology” to Italy, saying “too many were not there on time" when the country "needed a helping hand”

The latest data from Italy on Thursday shows the country’s death toll rising past 22,000, with 525 deaths in 24 hours - compared with 578 on Wednesday

Russia postpones the planned Victory Day parade on 9 May to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe, after veterans raised fears participants could be at risk

Switzerland becomes the latest EU country to ease its lockdown measures, with small businesses allowed to reopen from 27 April – provided they submit a health and safety plan first

Social distancing remains in place in Switzerland, though, with the country reporting more than 26,000 cases and a recorded death toll of more than 1,200

And from next week Slovenia will launch a random testing programme of its population in a bid to see the real extent of infections - with teams visiting about 1,500 people at their homes to administer antibody tests
 
France reports another 753 fatalities in 24 hours - bringing its total death toll to 17,920.

The country now has the fourth highest number of reported deaths from coronavirus in the world.

Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, says the total number of people in intensive care units fell for the eighth day in a row to 6,248 - the lowest point since 1 April.

The number of confirmed cases now stands at 108,847, up from 106,206 the previous day.
 
Albania to impose 2-8 year jail terms on coronavirus quarantine rule-breakers

Albania amended its penal code on Thursday to punish anyone breaking coronavirus quarantine and self-isolation rules and infecting others with up to eight years in jail as it slowly prepares to restart sections of its economy.

Critics of the tougher measure said fines were proving effective but Prime Minister Edi Rama defended the new penalty as necessary for successfully relaxing the lockdown.

Rama said the government believed about 2,800 people would have died if lockdown rules had not been imposed. As of Thursday, 26 people have died and 518 have been infected with the new coronavirus among Albania’s 2.8 million people.

The number is low compared to other countries, leading some to break the rules. Police have fined more than 7,000 people and suspended 1,800 driving licenses.

According to the new law, anyone infected with the coronavirus who broke self-isolation or quarantine rules and infected others, wilfully or not, would face from two to eight years in jail if his or her action caused grave harm, including death.

“These measures are being taken because we are going to relax (lockdown rules). We are winning the battle on the health front. And we shall win it on the economy front,” Rama said.

In asking parliamentarians to vote for the tougher law, Rama described quarantine rule-breakers as similar to carrying a bomb, in this case the new coronavirus.

“A bomb does nothing else but kill people,” Rama said.

Poorer than most in Europe, Albania enforced a tough isolation soon after its first case was detected on March 9 in a man coming from Italy, one of the worst-hit countries, because it feared its spread might overwhelm its weak health system.

Since Monday, Albania has enforced a weekday lockdown from 5:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next day and allows one person per family to shop for 90 minutes. Some industries keep working.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...avirus-quarantine-rule-breakers-idUSKBN21Y3BH
 
Wuhan, where the virus emerged, has revised its death toll up by 1,290 to 3,869 - an increase of 50%

China has reported its worst economic performance in decades as the impact of the virus hits

GDP figures for the first quarter of 2020 show its economy shrank 6.8%

Singapore reported 728 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday as it carries out mass testing among migrant workers

Tens of thousands of workers are confined to their dormitory accommodation, to try to contain the spread of the virus

The US, with more than 32,000 deaths, has announced plans to start opening up its economy again

French President Emmanuel Macron has joined the voices questioning China's handling of the early stages of the outbreak

There have now been more than 2,150,000 cases worldwide and more than 143,000 people have died with Covid-19
 
Singapore mulls placing workers who recover from COVID-19 on cruise ships

Singapore is assessing whether migrant workers who have recovered from coronavirus might be safer on cruise ships than back in dormitories that have become infection hotbeds, despite problems controlling onboard outbreaks encountered elsewhere.
 
Philippines' Duterte threatens martial law-like virus crackdown

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened a martial law-like crackdown to stop people flouting a virus lockdown in the nation's capital, AFP reported.

“I'm just asking for a little discipline. If not, if you do not believe me, then the military and police will take over,” Duterte said in a televised speech.

“The military and police will enforce social distancing at curfew [...] It's like martial law. You choose,” he added.
 
UK to send flights for stranded citizens in Pakistan

The British government has arranged chartered flights to bring back citizens in Pakistan after repeated calls for it amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The British High Commissioner in Pakistan said flights would begin next week, with "at least five daily flights from Islamabad and three from Lahore". Pakistan has confirmed nearly 7,000 Covid-19 cases so far.

As we reported last month, the UK government pledged £75m ($93m) to charter special flights to bring home citizens from countries where commercial flights are unavailable.

Here's news from the rest of South Asia:

In Bangladesh, hundreds of garment workers have been protesting for days over unpaid wages as a nationwide lockdown has forced many to suspend their operations. Orders worth $3bn have been cancelled by global brands like H&M and Walmart as confirmed infections in the country surge to more than 1,500

Sri Lanka's cricket board has offered to host the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League after the massively popular cricketing tournament was indefinitely suspended due to the pandemic. The island nation has reported more than 200 infections so far

Droves of people are leaving Nepal's Kathmandu valley amid a lockdown to get back home, local media reports. Many are making journeys that are more than hundreds of kilometres on foot, prompting concerns over a potential humanitarian crisis
 
German outbreak 'under control'
Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn has said the country's coronavirus outbreak is "again under control" following lockdown measures.

"The infection numbers have sunk significantly, especially the relative day-by-day number," AFP quoted him as saying on Friday.

Spahn also said a new coronavirus contact tracing app will be ready within "weeks" for Germans to use.

Germany has been praised for its aggressive testing efforts. It has almost 138,000 positive cases, according to Johns Hopkins University tracking, and 3,868 people have died nationally with the virus, which is a relatively low number.

The country is contemplating easing some restrictions, with smaller shops expected to re-open as early as next week and some schools set to resume teaching at the start of May.
 
What's the latest around Europe?

Denmark is to allow a number of professions to reopen from Monday, ranging from dentists, optometrists and physiotherapists to beauty and massage salons, tattoo and piercing studios, and driving schools. You can find more details here on how Denmark has relaxed its measures faster than other European countries.

Neighbour Sweden has defended its decision not to close cafes and restaurants or limit movement like most other countries. "It's a myth that life goes on as normal in Sweden," said Foreign Affairs Minister Ann Linde.

Elsewhere in Europe:

Bulgaria's capital Sofia was sealed off at midnight on Thursday ahead of the Orthodox Easter holiday as people ignored restrictions on movement in an attempt to get away for a break

Churches in Bulgaria have remained open for Easter despite appeals from the government to closeImage caption: Churches in Bulgaria have remained open for Easter despite appeals from the government to close

Tens of thousands of police have been deployed across Greece to ensure people do not try to head for holiday homes or churches. Greece has seen 105 deaths but has been widely praised for containing the spread of coronavirus

Belgium has recorded another 313 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the number to 5,163. Half of the country's fatalities have been in care homes

Russia has announced a record 4,070 new cases and 41 deaths. The outbreak there is yet to peak, and President Vladimir Putin has postponed the May victory parade planned to mark the end of World War Two
 
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain rose to 188,068 on Friday as the daily death toll increased from 551 on Thursday, to 585.

Only the US and Italy have had more confirmed fatalities than Spain, which has recorded 19,478 deaths in total.

Spain has the second highest amount of confirmed cases anywhere in the world, behind the US.

Spanish health authorities have identified 5,252 new cases of the virus - which represents an increase of 2.9%.

The update comes a day after figures from regional officials suggested the true national death toll could be much higher than previously reported.

On Thursday Catalonia almost doubled its regional tally as it changed its methodology to also include deaths in nursing homes and private homes for the first time.
 
Singapore battles migrant worker infections

It was once praised for its success in containing the virus - but Singapore is now struggling to deal with a wave of infections linked to its foreign worker dormitories.

Around 300,000 low-wage workers, mostly from South Asia, work in Singapore in jobs like construction and maintenance.

They often live in huge dormitory complexes, where up to 17 men could be sharing a room.

But many of these dormitories have now become virus hotspots. No one can enter or leave these buildings, leaving thousands of workers confined to their rooms.
 
amir1.jpg

There are now more than 2.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in 185 countries.
 
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