As of 14.31 today more than 1,285,262 people have been infected across the world and over 70,344 have died but at the same time 271,847 people have recovered.
The USA is now the country with the most infected cases (336,851) ahead of Spain (131,646) who overtook Italy (128,948) in the last couple of days. Germany and France follow with 100,123 and 92,839 cases respectively
Confirmed Deaths by country:
Italy: 15,887 Spain: 12,641 USA: 9,620 France: 8,078 UK: 4,934
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN NUMBERS (updated continuously)
TRACKING THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS
THE VIRUS IN THE USA
All the latest news in brief as it happens
11.02 Czechs report slowest daily rise in coronavirus cases
The Czech Republic reported its slowest daily percentage rise in confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, as the country entered fourth week of restrictions on business and movement.
The country had 4,591 cases as of Sunday midnight, up 2.6% from the previous day, the Health Ministry said on its website. This was the lowest percentage increase since early March when the country had a handful of known infections.
This followed increases of 282 on Saturday, 332 on Friday and 269 on Thursday and was the lowest absolute daily increase since March 22.
Czech data on new cases have been lower on weekends as some laboratories do not process tests.
10.45 Russia’s coronavirus cases jump by almost 1,000 in 24 hours
Russia’s coronavirus case tally has risen to 6,343 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase of 954, the country’s crisis response centre said on Monday.
Cases have been recorded widely, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 591 new cases, the centre said. Forty-seven people have died across the country, it said.
10.31 German clubs resume training amid tight virus restrictions
Bundesliga clubs were allowed to return to team training on Monday, with some opting to train players in small groups amid strict measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Soccer in the country has been suspended for almost a month and the German Football League (DFL) has said the ban will remain in place for the top divisions at least until April 30.
Clubs, however, were given the all clear to resume training this week, with champions Bayern Munich deciding to train players in small groups to minimise the risk of infection.
09.45 UK PM Johnson will continue to lead government, housing minister Jenrick says
Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to lead the government, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Monday after the British leader spent the night in hospital for tests because he was still suffering symptoms of the coronavirus.
“He’s been working extremely hard, leading the government and being constantly updated, that’s going to continue,” Jenrick told BBC TV.
He is expected back to the office shortly
09.10 Swiss face shortage of ethanol for disinfectant after abandoning stockpile
Switzerland faces a shortage of the raw material needed to make disinfectant to tackle the coronavirus pandemic after the country abandoned its emergency reserve of 10,000 tonnes of ethanol two years ago, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Monday.
Switzerland keeps emergency stockpiles of everything from coffee, wheat, rice and cooking oil. In 2018, the country ended it longtime practice of stocking ethanol as part of efforts to privatise the country’s alcohol market, the Swiss newspaper said.
09.08 Norwegian Air’s March traffic tumbles 60% amid virus lockdown
Norwegian Air’s passenger volume fell by 60% year-on-year in March as the company gradually grounded its fleet amid global efforts to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The company has said it will cancel 85% of its flights in the time ahead and furlough 90% of staff while seeking financial aid from Norway’s government.
09.06 European stock index futures jump as coronavirus death toll slows
European stock index futures jumped more than 4% on Monday as a slowdown in coronavirus death toll in France and Italy raised hopes that lockdown measures were starting to show results.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 4.1% at 0600 GMT, with German DAX futures and French CAC futures gaining 4.5% and 4%, respectively.
Italy reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll for more than two weeks on Sunday, while France’s daily death toll from the novel coronavirus dropped and admissions into intensive care slowed.
08.37 Japan considering 6-month period for state of emergency -TBS
The Japanese government is considering a period of six months for the state of emergency that it is preparing to call in response to the coronavirus pandemic, broadcaster TBS reported on Monday.
The move would cover Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures as well as Osaka, TBS said, citing unidentified sources. Within the six-month period, these prefectures would decide the length of time for their individual measures, TBS said.
The government is preparing to announce a state of emergency as early as Tuesday, the broadcaster said.
07.52 Thailand reports 51 new coronavirus cases, three more deaths
Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday, according to a spokesman for the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infected patients or had activities with them, said the spokesman, Taweesin Wisanuyothin.
More than half of the new cases were in Bangkok, he said.
07.46 Germany reports fourth straight drop in daily rate of new coronavirus infections
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 3,677 in the past 24 hours to 95,391 on Monday, the fourth straight drop in the daily rate of new cases, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
The number of new cases was lower than the 5,936 new infections reported on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by 92 to 1,434.
07.00 Japan’s PM Abe to declare state of emergency as soon as Tuesday -Yomiuri
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus spreading across the country, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, as the cumulative number of infections topped 1,000 in Tokyo alone.
Abe will likely announce his plans to declare the emergency on Monday, the paper said, while Kyodo news agency said new measures would likely come into force on Wednesday.
04.51 American Airlines to temporarily suspend more flights in New York area
American Airlines Group Inc said late Sunday it would temporarily suspend more flights to three airports in the New York area, starting April 7, due to reduced demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
American Airlines said the new, temporary schedule will run through May 6, and include flights at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports and New Jersey’s Newark EWR.
They will only operate between 10 a.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET as turn-only operations with no aircraft or crews remaining overnight at the airports, the airline said.
04.31 S.Korea reports fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for first time since Feb. 29 peak
South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases on Monday for the first time since its Feb. 29 peak, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.
The KCDC reported 47 new infections, taking the national tally to 10,284. The death toll rose by three to 186.
03.50 China reports increase in new coronavirus cases on April 5; one death
Mainland China reported 39 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, all but one of them imported from abroad, up from the 30 reported a day earlier, as the number of asymptomatic cases also surged.
The National Health Commission said in a statement on Monday that 78 new asymptomatic cases had been identified as of the end of the day on Sunday, compared with 47 the day before. Only one new death was recorded on April 5, the new data showed.
03.13 Mexico registers 2,143 coronavirus cases, 94 deaths
Mexico on Sunday had registered 2,143 cases of the novel coronavirus in the country, an increase of 253 cases from a day earlier, the health ministry said.
The number of deaths linked to the virus rose by 15 to 94.
What happened on Sunday
EUROPE
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday after showing persistent symptoms of the coronavirus, 10 days after testing positive.
- Queen Elizabeth told the British people on Sunday that they would overcome the outbreak if they stayed resolute in the face of lockdown and self-isolation.
- Britain will have to impose more curbs on outdoor exercise if people flout lockdown rules, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
- France’s daily death toll fell in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday. Data showed 357 people died in hospitals, compared with 441 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total toll in hospitals to 5,889.
- Italy’s health minister outlined plans for broader testing and beefed-up health services as part of a package of measures that would follow a future easing of the country’s lockdown.
- The rate of new infections and deaths in Spain slowed again as the country, one of the worst hit by the pandemic, began its fourth week under a near-total lockdown.
- Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar re-registered as a medical practitioner and will work one shift a week to help out during the coronavirus crisis.
- Pope Francis marked a surreal Palm Sunday in an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, urging people living through the pandemic not to be so concerned with what they lack but how they can ease the suffering of others.
- Scotland Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood resigned on Sunday after she flouted her own advice to stay at home by travelling to her second home on two successive weekends.
AMERICAS
- * U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States was seeing a “leveling-off” of the coronavirus crisis in some of the hot spots, even as a senior official warned the country was entering the “hardest” week of the crisis.
- A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City tested positive, in the first known case of COVID-19 in an animal in the United States or a tiger globally.
- Over 336,000 people have tested positive and more than 9,500 have died in the United States, according to a Reuters tally. * Deaths in Canada has jumped by just over 20% to 258 in a day, officials said on Sunday, while Ottawa offered full-time jobs to reservists in the armed forces.
- Panama on Sunday said total cases stood at 1,988, a rise of 187 cases from a day earlier. The number of deaths increased by eight to 54.
- Mexico said total cases were 2,143, an increase of 253 cases from a day earlier. The number of deaths rose by 15 to 94. * Barbados on Sunday reported its first virus-related death.
- Haiti on Sunday reported its first death, with 21 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease.
- Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a constitutional amendment for a “war budget” to separate coronavirus-related spending from the government’s main budget and shield the economy as the country surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases.
ASIA
- Mainland China reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, up from 19 a day earlier as the number of cases involving travellers from abroad as well as local transmissions increased, highlighting the difficulty in stamping out the outbreak.
- South Korea reported fewer than 50 new cases for the first time since its Feb. 29 peak. The country reported 47 new infections, taking the tally to 10,284. The death toll rose by three to 186.
- Thailand reported 51 new cases and three more deaths. Thailand has confirmed 2,220 cases and 26 fatalities since the outbreak in the country in January.
- Turkey’s death toll has risen by 73 to 574 in the last 24 hours, with new confirmed cases jumping by 3,135 to total 27,069.
- India is restricting the export of most diagnostic testing kits, as coronavirus cases topped 3,350 on Sunday. The country is under a three-week nationwide lockdown.
- Carnival Corp’s troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner, the biggest single source of Australia’s 5,687 COVID-19 cases, docked at a port on Australia’s east coast on Monday to help remove crew who need urgent medical treatment and to refuel the ship to send it away.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
- About 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa as the continent’s economies are projected to shrink this year due to the impact of the pandemic, according an African Union (AU) study.
- Dubai imposed a two-week lockdown and Saudi Arabia sealed off parts of the Red Sea city of Jeddah as Gulf states tightened measures in big cities to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
- Franciscan friars wearing surgical masks and gloves made house calls in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, delivering olive branches to Christians who are self-isolating.
- The United Arab Emirates will reinforce its stockpile of strategic goods and waive residency visa fines for the rest of the year in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
- * Oil prices skidded after Saudi-Russian talks to cut output were delayed, while stocks jumped as investors were encouraged by a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths and new cases.
- British consumer confidence has recorded its biggest fall in more than 45 years, a survey showed on Monday, as a widening shutdown of the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus hammered households’ financial hopes.
- The Bank of England will not resort to irreversibly printing money in order to fund a surge in government spending as it tries to shield Britain’s economy, its governor Andrew Bailey said.
- The job losses suffered in March as the U.S. economy shut down were widespread but still were disproportionately felt in a handful of employment sectors and by women, the young and the less educated.
SPORTS
- FIFA is getting ready to deal with complaints and appeals over wage cuts for players, producing guidelines for clubs and football bodies looking to cut costs during the stoppage caused by the pandemic, an internal document seen by Reuters showed.