09.39 : More than 2,639,708 people have been infected across the world and over 184,280 have died but at the same time 722,383 people have recovered.
THE PANDEMIC IN NUMBERS
INFECTED CASES DEATHS DUE TO THE VIRUS
USA 840,092 USA 47,681
SPAIN 208,389 ITALY 25,085
ITALY 187,327 SPAIN 21,717
FRANCE 159,877 FRANCE 21,340
GERMANY 150,648 UK 18,100
WORLDOMETER CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN NUMBERS (Updated continuously)
REUTERS TRACKING THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS
REUTERS TRACKING THE SPREAD IN THE USA
All the latest news in brief as it happens
7.52 Thailand reports 13 new coronavirus cases, one new death
Thailand reported 13 new coronavirus cases on Thursday and one more death, a 78-year-old woman who had other health complications.
Of the new cases, five were linked to previous cases and five had no known links.
Three other new cases were reported from the southern island of Phuket where the authorities are aggressively testing the population because the infection rate there is severe, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
7.41 Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 2,352 to 148,046 – RKI
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,352 to 148,046, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, marking a third consecutive day of new infections accelerating.
The reported death toll rose by 215 to 5,094, the tally showed.
7.01 U.N. chief warns against repressive measures amid coronavirus crisis
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday the coronavirus could give some countries an excuse to adopt repressive measures for reasons unrelated to the pandemic as he warned that the outbreak risks becoming a human rights crisis.
Guterres released a U.N. report highlighting how human rights should guide the response and recovery to the health, social and economic crisis gripping the world. He added that while the virus does not discriminate, its impacts do.
5.35 Australia says all WHO members should participate in a coronavirus inquiry
All members of the World Health Organization (WHO) should cooperate with a proposed independent review into the spread of coronavirus, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Morrison on Wednesday spoke with several world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump to canvass support for a review into the origins and spread of coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year.
Escalating his calls, Morrison said all members of the WHO should be obliged to participate in a review.
3.35 China reports 10 new coronavirus cases in mainland vs 30 a day earlier
Mainland China reported 10 new coronavirus cases as of the end of April 22, down from 30 a day earlier as the number of so-called imported cases involving travellers from overseas declined, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.
The commission said six of the new COVID-19 cases confirmed on Wednesday were imported, down from 23 a day earlier. The number of new asymptomatic patients, who are infected but do not show symptoms, also declined to 27 from 42 a day earlier.
3.28 Panama reports 171 new coronavirus cases – health ministry
Panama posted 171 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the country’s total to nearly 5,000 infected persons, the health ministry said.
Officials also confirmed three more deaths stemming from the 4,992 confirmed cases, raising Panama’s death toll from the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the virus to 144.
2.09 Germany agrees more measures to shield workers, companies from coronavirus impact
Germany’s coalition parties agreed further measures to shield workers and companies from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a document showed on Thursday.
The aid package includes higher state transfers for people in short-time work schemes, with the government covering up to 80% of the lost net income, according to the document agreed by senior members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.
The parties agreed to temporarily lower the tax burden for the catering industry through a reduced VAT rate of 7% and to give tax relief for small companies by simplifying loss carry forward.
What happened on Wednesday, 22 April
EUROPE
- It may take European Union countries until the summer or even longer to agree on how exactly to finance aid to help economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic as major disagreements persist, a bloc official said.
- The British government came under sustained pressure over its coronavirus response when members of parliament got their first major opportunity in a month to hold it to account.
- French police will not shy away from enforcing a coronavirus lockdown in the high-rise Paris suburbs where unrest has erupted the past four nights, the interior minister said.
- Relieved Spanish parents welcomed a decision allowing children out on short walks for the first time in more than a month as the government voted to extend Spain’s lockdown until May 9.
- Ukraine extended strong quarantine measures till May 11.
- The Kremlin called allegations about artificial origin of the new coronavirus groundless and unacceptable.
AMERICAS
- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit out at Beijing again over the coronavirus outbreak, even as he welcomed China’s provision of essential medical supplies.
- The head of the World Health Organization said he hoped the Trump administration would reconsider its suspension of funding, but that his main focus was on ending the pandemic.
- Peru’s hospitals are struggling with a rapid rise in infections, with bodies being kept in hallways, masks repeatedly reused, and protests of medical workers concerned over their safety
- The U.S. House of Representatives expects to pass a nearly $500 billion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday.
- Mexico will increase spending on social programs and infrastructure projects by $25.6 billion, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, in a delayed attempt to jump-start the coronavirus-hit economy.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
- Australia sought support for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in calls with the U.S. President and major powers, but France and Britain said now was the time to fight the virus, not to apportion blame.
- Hackers working in support of the Vietnamese government have attempted to break into Chinese state organisations at the centre of Beijing’s effort to contain the outbreak, a U.S. cybersecurity firm said.
- A northeastern city of 10 million people grappling with what is now China’s biggest outbreak further restricted inbound traffic on Wednesday.
- More than 30 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture have tested positive.
- India suspended antibody tests because of concerns over reliability, health officials said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
- Sixty-eight people, mostly staff, have come down with the coronavirus at a prison in the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate, prison authorities said, without reporting any deaths.
- With just a few hundred ventilators and international aid slow to materialise, Sudan’s fledgling government knows it has an uphill battle against a coronavirus pandemic that has brought far richer countries to a standstill.
- Zambia’s Chamber of Mines has urged the government to urgently engage with the sector and agree relief measures.
- Iran reopened parks and recreational areas on Wednesday, pressing ahead with measures to ease its coronavirus curbs despite one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in the Middle East.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
- A jump in the price of oil and the promise of more government stimulus to ease the economic pain inflicted by the pandemic helped calm global equity markets on Wednesday. [MKTS/GLOB}
- Canada’s annual inflation rate tumbled to a near five-year low in March as gas prices plunged while analysts said the relevance of future data could be affected because of disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
- The collapse in China’s economic activity has fanned calls for the government to hasten the roll out of fiscal stimulus, as ballooning unemployment threatens social stability.
- Global crude steel production fell 6% to 147.1 million tonnes in March from a year earlier, World Steel Association data showed, as the coronavirus crisis forced the closure of furnaces.
- Turkey’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 8.75% on Wednesday, more than expected. * Switzerland’s federal budget deficit could jump to around 6% of national output this year, its finance minister said on Wednesday.
- Delta Air Lines Inc said it does not expect air travel to recover for two or three years and is working to halve its cash burn after posting its first quarterly loss in eight years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
REUTERS
