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Coronavirus live news: World Bank warns of 'unprecedented global shock' as US records its deadliest day Coronavirus live news: World Bank warns of 'unprecedented global shock' as US records its deadliest day
(32 minutes later)
Global cases pass 750,000; Vietnam enters lockdown; Moscow locks down 12m people. Follow the latest updates Global cases pass 750,000; Vietnam enters lockdown; Russia records biggest daily rise in cases for seventh day running
Spain has recorded a record new single-day coronavirus death toll after 849 people died from the virus between Monday and Tuesday., reports my colleague Sam Jones in Madrid.
Public Health Wales has urged the country’s 440,000 smokers to quit now to reduce the risks from Covid-19 and said it has seen a spike in the number of people asking for help to stop, reports my colleague Steve Morris.
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia jumped to 2,337 on Tuesday, an increase of 500, as the country recorded its biggest daily rise for the seventh day in a row, Reuters reports.
In Russia, 18 people who contracted the coronavirus have now died, while 121 people have recovered.
Dubai enforced the UAE’s first full lockdown on a district housing the emirate’s famous gold and spice markets on Tuesday, to disinfect the normally bustling tourist and trade area as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reports
Indonesia confirmed 114 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,528, a health ministry official said.
Another 14 people had died, taking the total to 136, the official, Achmad Yurianto, reported.
Italy has extended its lockdown until Easter, but there is a glimmer of hope as the country reports a declining infection rate.
The BBC reports:
Encouraging news from Ireland, where the daily growth rate in confirmed cases of coronavirus has halved and the country appears to have avoided an unmitigated epidemic, writes my colleague Rory Carroll in Dublin.
My colleague Pablo Gutiérrez has produced this fantastic data-driven piece:
Coronavirus mapped: which countries have the most cases and deaths?
For all UK coronavirus news, please do read our UK liveblogFor all UK coronavirus news, please do read our UK liveblog
We will continue to cover all globval coronavirus related news hereWe will continue to cover all globval coronavirus related news here
The number of coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic has exceeded 3,000, Reuters reports.The number of coronavirus cases in the Czech Republic has exceeded 3,000, Reuters reports.
The central European country has had the highest number of cases among the European Union’s eastern wing, but far fewer than in western neighbours such as Germany and Austria.The central European country has had the highest number of cases among the European Union’s eastern wing, but far fewer than in western neighbours such as Germany and Austria.
The growth rate of new cases has shown signs of slowing, the Czech government said on Monday. The health ministry reported that the number of new cases rose by 184 on Monday to 3,001, a 6.5% increase, which is the second-lowest daily rise since the first infections were reported on 1 March By early Tuesday morning the number of cases stood at 3,002.The growth rate of new cases has shown signs of slowing, the Czech government said on Monday. The health ministry reported that the number of new cases rose by 184 on Monday to 3,001, a 6.5% increase, which is the second-lowest daily rise since the first infections were reported on 1 March By early Tuesday morning the number of cases stood at 3,002.
The government hopes to begin easing restrictions on daily life after the Easter holiday in April if the situation is under control.The government hopes to begin easing restrictions on daily life after the Easter holiday in April if the situation is under control.
Encouraging news from Ireland: the daily growth rate in confirmed cases of coronavirus has halved and the country appears to have avoided an unmitigated epidemic.Encouraging news from Ireland: the daily growth rate in confirmed cases of coronavirus has halved and the country appears to have avoided an unmitigated epidemic.
Restrictions on social and commercial life and other measures have had an “enormous” impact, Philip Nolan, the chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Group, told a media briefing.Restrictions on social and commercial life and other measures have had an “enormous” impact, Philip Nolan, the chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Group, told a media briefing.
“The measures that the state has imposed and that the public have really complied with very, very strongly are having an enormous effect on the number of actual cases that we’re seeing today.”“The measures that the state has imposed and that the public have really complied with very, very strongly are having an enormous effect on the number of actual cases that we’re seeing today.”
However, Nolan warned against complacency and said Covid-19’s growth rate would have to fall to “close to zero” for it to be suppressed.However, Nolan warned against complacency and said Covid-19’s growth rate would have to fall to “close to zero” for it to be suppressed.
The chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, agreed Ireland was seeing “encouraging signs” in the effort to flatten the curve but said the number of cases and admissions to intensive care units continued to rise, putting hospitals at risk of being swamped. Officials are especially concerned about clusters in nursing homes and hospitals.The chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, agreed Ireland was seeing “encouraging signs” in the effort to flatten the curve but said the number of cases and admissions to intensive care units continued to rise, putting hospitals at risk of being swamped. Officials are especially concerned about clusters in nursing homes and hospitals.
Ireland on Monday confirmed 295 new cases, the second highest daily number, bringing the total to 2,910. It recorded eight deaths, bringing the death toll to 54. Northern Ireland has 533 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.Ireland on Monday confirmed 295 new cases, the second highest daily number, bringing the total to 2,910. It recorded eight deaths, bringing the death toll to 54. Northern Ireland has 533 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.
Indonesia is set to release about 30,000 prisoners early as the country seeks to avoid a possible surge in coronavirus infections in its overcrowded prisons.Indonesia is set to release about 30,000 prisoners early as the country seeks to avoid a possible surge in coronavirus infections in its overcrowded prisons.
A document issued by the law and human rights ministry, whcih was viewed by Reuters, notes that adult prisoners would be eligible for parole if they had served two-thirds of their sentences, while children would be eligible if they served half of their jail term.A document issued by the law and human rights ministry, whcih was viewed by Reuters, notes that adult prisoners would be eligible for parole if they had served two-thirds of their sentences, while children would be eligible if they served half of their jail term.
Official data shows there are 270,386 prisoners across Indonesia, more than twice the official capacity of its jails. A war on drugs has led to a surge in the number of imprisoned people who are particularly vulnerable to the spread of diseases as many prisons lack proper sanitation.Official data shows there are 270,386 prisoners across Indonesia, more than twice the official capacity of its jails. A war on drugs has led to a surge in the number of imprisoned people who are particularly vulnerable to the spread of diseases as many prisons lack proper sanitation.
Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and president Joko Widodo on Tuesday declared a national public health emergency in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak. So far, the government has reported 1,414 infections and 122 deaths from the virus, but some officials and experts believe a lack of testing has masked the scale of the outbreak.Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and president Joko Widodo on Tuesday declared a national public health emergency in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak. So far, the government has reported 1,414 infections and 122 deaths from the virus, but some officials and experts believe a lack of testing has masked the scale of the outbreak.
More on the use of face masks:More on the use of face masks:
Czech citizens have mobilised in a national effort to make and distribute home-made masks after the government decreed face-wear mandatory for everyone in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic, writes Robert Tait in Prague.Czech citizens have mobilised in a national effort to make and distribute home-made masks after the government decreed face-wear mandatory for everyone in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic, writes Robert Tait in Prague.
The city of Jena in eastern Germany has decided to make people wear face masks when shopping or travelling by public transport, stepping up efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus and becoming the first city in the country to take the step, Reuters reports.The city of Jena in eastern Germany has decided to make people wear face masks when shopping or travelling by public transport, stepping up efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus and becoming the first city in the country to take the step, Reuters reports.
Depressing sexist news out of Malaysia.Depressing sexist news out of Malaysia.
The Malaysian government has urged women to dress up at home and avoid nagging their husbands in coronavirus lockdown advice.The Malaysian government has urged women to dress up at home and avoid nagging their husbands in coronavirus lockdown advice.
Reuters reports:Reuters reports:
Vietnam will begin 15 days of social distancing from Wednesday to curb community transmission of the coronavirus, the south-east Asian country’s prime minister said on Tuesday.
“From midnight April 1, everybody is required to stay at home and can only go out to buy food or in emergency cases and must keep at least two meters from others,” Prime Minster Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a statement.
Britons made over 79m extra grocery shopping trips in the four weeks to 21 March year-on-year as they stocked their “pandemic pantries”, driving a 20.5% jump in supermarket sales, industry data published on Tuesday showed.
Reuters report:
British Airways have suspended all flights from Gatwick airport.
Airlive.net reports:
The coronavirus epidemic is “far from over” in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures to curb the spread of the virus are buying time for countries to prepare for large-scale community transmissions, a WHO official said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports:
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Germany has risen to 61,913 and 583 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.
Cases rose by 4,615 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 128, the tally showed.
But the institute has been criticised for being out of date.
Zeit Online has the figures (as of March 31) as:
67,051 confirmed cases
8.1 per 10,000 inhabitants
6,522 recovered *
650 died.
The Johns Hopkins tracker has number of cases in the country at 66,885 and number of deaths at 645.
As the UK is waking up, here is a quick summary of the UK’s main stories at the moment.
More than a week after lockdown measures were put in place in the UK, the country’s chief scientific adviser has said there are early signs the measures are making a difference. The number of deaths rose to 1,408 on Monday, up but Sir Patrick Vallance said the number of additional patients being seen by the NHS each day was “stable”.
Police forces have faced criticism for taking a draconian approach to enforcing lock down measures. Police chiefs are drawing up new guidance warning forces not to overreach their lockdown enforcement powers. One force issued a summons to a household for shopping for non-essential items and another telling locals that exercise was “limited to an hour a day”.
The government has announced a £75m airlift operation to rescue hundreds of thousands of British nationals stranded abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic.The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced a mixture of charter flights to “priority countries” and affordable seats on commercial airlines from countries where they are still running.
The government has launched a national voucher scheme for children eligible for free school meals. Schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus.
Ministers have been accused of putting lives at risk by failing to rapidly expand testing for coronavirus as promised, after fewer than 5,000 people were tested in one day. Critics said the government had been misleading people about the scale of its testing programme as it became clear the UK has still not met its initial aim of 10,000 daily tests.
More than 80% of young people with a history of mental ill-health have found their conditions have worsened since the coronavirus crisis began in the UK, a survey has found.
A senior executive at one of Britain’s biggest outsourcing companies has told workers he believes coronavirus is “less severe” than normal influenza in a message explaining why they will not receive any special sickness benefits.
Good morning, this is Alexandra Topping taking over at the helm of the global coronavirus liveblog from my colleague Helen Sullivan – my thanks to her.
As ever, if you have a global coronavirus story you want to draw our attention to, please do get in touch. I’m on:
Alexandra.Topping@theguardian.com
and @lexytopping on Twitter - my DMs are open.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, on this, the last day of March 2020: The Longest Month in History.
I leave you now in the altogether more energetic presence of my colleague Alexandra Topping.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
New coronavirus study reveals increased risks from middle age. The first comprehensive study of Covid-19 deaths and hospitalisations in mainland China has revealed in stark detail the increase in risk for coronavirus patients once they reach middle age.
The number of deaths related to coronavirus in the US has passed 3,000, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. The figure means the toll from coronavirus now exceeds that from the September 11 terrorist attacks. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, at 164,539 is double those in China.
The World Bank has warned the pandemic is causing “unprecedented global shock” that could cause China’s growth to come to a standstill while driving 11 million more people in East Asia into poverty, the
British Airways is suspending all flights to and from London Gatwick, its second-largest base, starting 31 March.
Today marks a week of no new cases reported in Wuhan city, China, where the outbreak first emerged.
The coronavirus pandemic’s economic fallout could cause China’s growth to come to a standstill, the World Bank warned Monday. The impact could drive 11 million more people in east Asia into poverty.
All efforts to address coronavirus in Syria are impeded by a fragile health system, a senior UN official warned.
The age group most represented in Australian statistics for confirmed cases of Covid-19 are people in their 20s, because they are the group most likely to travel or socialise with returned travellers, experts have said.
Global cases pass three quarters of a million. Johns Hopkins University researchers, who have been keeping track of the spread of the virus, say the global number of cases is now at least 755,591.
Global death toll passes 37,000. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, at least 37,140 people have now died as a result of the outbreak. The institution says it has counted 745,308 confirmed cases worldwide, while at least 156,875 people have recovered.
Italy records hundreds more deaths – but a slower infection rate.The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has climbed by 812 to 11,591, the country’s civil protection agency says, reversing two days of declines in the daily rate. But the number of new cases rose by just 4,050; the lowest nominal increase since 17 March. A total of 101,739 people have now tested positive.
Virus poses ‘existential threat’ to South America’s indigenous communities. Indigenous leaders from across the continent are warning that the outbreak poses an “existential threat” to them. Tribes in the Amazon and Chaco regions are urging governments to ensure their territories are protected against outsiders possibly carrying the coronavirus.
Concerns over powers secured by Hungary’s nationalist PM. Viktor Orbán secures sweeping new powers to fight the outbreak. The country’s parliament passed a law submitted by his governmenthanding Orbán an open-ended mandate, triggering criticism by the domestic opposition, human rights groups and the Council of Europe, Europe’s main rights forum, as it contains no clear timeframe.
Dubai’s Expo 2020 to be postponed. The six-month multibillion-dollar trade fair that organisers had hoped would attract 25 million visitors will not go ahead as scheduled in October. Dubai was pinning many of its economic forecasts on the trade it was expected to generate.
Austria makes face masks compulsory for shoppers. Introducing the requirement is a “necessary step” to help to prevent the airborne transmission of the virus, says the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz. Shoppers are to be handed masks covering their mouthes and noses at the entrance of supermarkets from Wednesday.
More now on the comments from World Bank chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific, Aaditya Mattoo, who said in a report that the coronavirus pandemic is causing “an unprecedented global shock, which could bring growth to a halt and could increase poverty across the region”.
Even in the best-case scenario, the region could see a sharp drop in growth, with China’s expansion slowing to 2.3% from 6.1% in 2019, the report said.
Chinese state media reported that factory activity rebounded in March, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index, a key gauge of manufacturing activity, coming in at 52.0. This was higher than the 44.8 analysts expected in a Bloomberg survey, and up from 35.7 in February, which was the worst month since China began recording the data in 2005. A reading above 50 suggests growth in the sector.
But China’s international trade in services dropped 11.6% in January and February, with imports and exports of tourism services plunging 23.1%, citing the commerce ministry.
Tuesday briefing: Covid-19 danger jumps from middle age
The first comprehensive study of Covid-19 deaths and hospitalisations in mainland China has revealed in stark detail the increase in risk for coronavirus patients once they reach middle age. Four per cent of infected people in their 40s needed hospital treatment, as did more than 8% of patients in their 50s. More than 18% of those in their 80s and above needed hospitalisation after catching the virus. Only 0.04% of 10 to 19-year-olds had to go into hospital if infected.