E3: Coronavirus live news: Muslim world prepares for Ramadan under lockdown

Unemployment in US up by 4.4 million to a total of over 26 million; world has ‘a long way to go’, warns WHO chief; Iran reports lowest new daily infections for a month

1.50pm BST

This is Nick Ames taking over for the next hour or so of global coronavirus news. As ever, any tips, updates or suggestions are always warmly welcomed. You can email me on nick.ames@theguardian.com or tweet/direct message me at @NickAmes82.

1.38pm BST

An additional 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, adding to a total of more than 26 million since the coronavirus pandemic shut down swathes of the US and brought its economy to a near standstill, report Dominic Rushe and Amanda Holpuch in New York.

The pace of layoffs appears to have slowed slightly, but a backlog of claims means millions more are likely to file in the coming weeks. States across the country are encountering problems with the sheer number of people applying for unemployment benefits.

1.12pm BST

If astronomers, clerics and officials agree, tomorrow will mark the first day of Ramadan. And amid a global pandemic, this year’s month of fasting and reflection for the world’s Muslims will be very different, writes Martin Chulov, the Guardian’s Middle East editor.

Normally a sociable time, where abstaining from food and water during daylight hours gives way to sumptuous meals and gatherings at dusk, the 2020 rituals have been modified to fit public health directives that urge people to maintain a distance from each other while the coronavirus remains active.

1.02pm BST

In most of the world, medical staff have been lauded as heroes for their response to the coronavirus pandemic. But in Mexico, the growing number of Covid-19 cases has brought with it a wave of violence against nurses and doctors who have wrongly been accused of spreading the disease, reports Analy Nuño in Guadalajara.

At least 21 medical workers have been attacked in 12 states across the country, according to Fabiana Zepeda, the head of nursing for the Mexican Social Security Institute.

12.46pm BST

Greece is extending coronavirus lockdown measures by a week to 4 May, the government said on Thursday, AFP reports.

“Restrictive measures that apply until 27 April are extended by a week to 4 May,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

12.36pm BST

One of the Bank of England’s top policymakers has warned that, because of the coronavirus crisis, the UK faces potentially its worst economic shock in several hundred years.

Jan Vlieghe, a member of the Bank’s interest-rate setting committee, made this warning in a speech just released:

Based on the early indicators, and based on the experience in other countries that were hit somewhat earlier than the UK, it seems that we are experiencing an economic contraction that is faster and deeper than anything we have seen in the past century, or possibly several centuries.

12.26pm BST

Regular readers of the blog will have tracked how Singapore has shifted from one of the world leaders in tackling the coronavirus outbreak, to in recent weeks facing accelerating transmissions.

It turned out that even while the city state had been aggressive in testing, contact tracing, quarantining, and blocking travel from infected areas, the disease was silently spreading through the army of migrant workers it relies upon to carry out basic services. Yesterday, after days of recording more than a thousand new infections a day, the number of cases in Singapore passed 10,000

The dormitories in which Singapore’s migrant workers live have, until recently, been almost hidden from view. The vast, steel buildings are mostly on the outskirts of town, tucked inside industrial estates, far away from the city-state’s glittering skyscrapers and luxury hotels.

Inside, the men who carry out back-breaking work to build Singapore’s infrastructure sleep on bunk beds, crammed into rooms with as many as 20 people. The biggest dormitory complex houses up to 24,000 workers.

12.11pm BST

Iran has reported its lowest daily number of new coronavirus cases since 21 March, with 1,030 detected in the past 24 hours according to its health ministry spokesman.

Ninety more people had died from Covid-19 since Wednesday, Kianoush Jahanpour said, while 3,105 patients with the disease remain in a critical condition. However the latest figures suggest that the epidemic in the country, which has so far suffered the Middle East’s worst coronavirus outbreak, is on a downward curve.

11.54am BST

Ratings agency Fitch says the world is heading for a recession of “unprecedented depth in the post-war period” with global gross domestic product to tumble by 3.9% in 2020. “This is twice as large as the decline anticipated in our early April GEO [global economic outlook] update and would be twice as severe as the 2009 recession,” said Fitch’s chief economist.

11.54am BST

Vietnam eased social distancing measures on Thursday, after reporting no new coronavirus infections for six consecutive days.

After a decisive - and early - response to the pandemic, including mass quarantines and aggressive contact tracing, the Southeast Asian nation has recorded just 268 virus cases and zero deaths, according to official tallies.

We go to each and every alley, knocking on each and every door. We follow the guidance from our government that ‘fighting the pandemic is like fighting our enemy’.

11.40am BST

The number of new coronavirus cases has fallen in Russia for a second day and remained below record levels for four days, raising hopes that the disease may have reached a plateau in the country, Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, reports.

But concerns remain that the disease’s progress into the regions beyond Moscow may fuel a new explosion of cases in the weeks to come.

11.28am BST

More than 24,000 Covid-19 cases have been reported on the African continent, with over 6,250 recoveries and 1,100 deaths, the World Health Organization reported on Thursday morning.

In his press conference yesterday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said he believes that Africa is still at the beginning of its coronavirus outbreak.

11.16am BST

This is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog now, keeping you up to date with the latest in coronavirus world news for the next eight or so hours.

I’m always interested in hearing about any tips, suggestions or updates from where you are in the world. If you have anything to share, please send me an email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or a direct message on Twitter to @damiengayle.

11.10am BST

I can’t be alone in finding evidence of wildlife benefiting from the absence of humans heartening in these times.

This is an excellent example - Thai authorities have released drone footage of a herd of dugongs - a rare sea mammal - cruising off an island in the south of the country.

Watch: Thai authorities have released drone footage of a herd of dugongs – a rare type of sea mammal – cruising slowly off an island in the south of the country. Travel restrictions imposed to counter the COVID-19 pandemic have left coastal regions undisturbed pic.twitter.com/GYcYF9EXEd

10.59am BST

The Spanish government has just given more details on what the loosening of lockdown restrictions means for children in Spain, who have been confined to their homes since 14 March, writes the Guardian’s Sam Jones in Madrid.

From Sunday, children who are 14 or under will be allowed out to walk and play in the streets for an hour a day between 9am and 9pm.

They will need to stay within one kilometre of their homes and be accompanied at all times by an adult, who will be permitted to take a maximum of three children out at a time.

10.41am BST

Germany has agreed on a further aid package to help its economy survive the coronavirus crisis. The extra 10.8bn euros (£9.4bn, $11.7bn) will go towards tax cuts for businesses and further employment benefits for workers. Families are to be given help to buy equipment like computers for home learning.

Workers staying at home due to the lockdown will now receive 70-77% of their net salary from the fourth month of unemployment, a 10% increase over what they got for the first three months. From the seventh month, they will receive 80-87%.

10.17am BST

The Spanish health ministry said on Thursday that 440 people died from the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, which brought total fatalities to 22,157.

That figure ids slightly higher than the previous day when 435 people died. The number of diagnosed cases rose to 213,024 from 208,389 the day before.

10.02am BST

China said on Thursday it would donate a further $30 million to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is seeking more than $1 billion to fund its battle against the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 180,000 people worldwide, Reuters reports.

The pledge comes about a week after U.S. President Donald Trump suspended funding to the WHO and accused the Geneva-based organisation of promoting Chinese “disinformation” about the virus, which emerged in the central city of Wuhan last year.

China has decided to donate additional $30 million in cash to WHO to support its global fight against #COVID19, in particular strengthening developing countries' health systems. China already donated $20 million in cash to WHO on March 11.

I hope the U.S. believes that this an important investment, not just to help others, but for the U.S. to stay safe also.

9.51am BST

In the UK, vaccine trials on humans lead by Oxford University are due to start on Thursday.

The New York Times says that Germany has joined the race for a vaccine, giving the green light to human trials of potential vaccines.

Germany gave the green light for human trials of potential coronavirus vaccines developed by German biotech company BioNTech, which is racing teams in Germany, the U.S. and China to develop an agent that will stop the pandemic.

The trial, only the fourth worldwide of a vaccine targeting the virus, will be initially conducted on 200 healthy people, with more subjects, including some at higher risk from the disease, to be included in a second stage, German vaccines regulator the Paul Ehrlich Institut said on Wednesday.

9.46am BST

The Philippines’ health ministry on Thursday reported 16 new coronavirus deaths and 271 confirmed infections, ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision whether to lift or extend quarantine measures on the country’s main island

In a bulletin, the health ministry said total deaths have increased to 462 while infections have risen to 6,981. But 29 more patients have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 722.

9.16am BST

Afghanistan has recorded its biggest one-day rise of coronavirus cases as the number of confirmed patients with Covid-19 reached 1,226, triggered by a surge of infections in Kandahar and Kunduz, writes my colleague Akhtar Mohammad Makoii in Herat.

In the last 24 hours 83 new cases have been reported, most in the southern province of Kandahar.

9.05am BST

Germany’s confirmed virus cases have increased by 2,352 to 148,046, officials said on Thursday. The number of deaths linked to Covid-19 has risen by 215 to now 5,094.

8.55am BST

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has thrown her support behind the embattled World Health Organization, distancing her government from President Donald Trump’s pause in US funding to the global body.

Speaking in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, Merkel said:

The WHO is an indispensable partner and we support it in its mandate.

It’s not the end phase but still just the beginning. We will be with it for a long time.

I know how difficult the restrictions are, it’s a challenge to democracy, it limits our democratic rights.

It’s the biggest challenge since World War Two, for the life and health of our people.

The question of how we can prevent the virus from overwhelming our health system and subsequently costing the lives of countless people, this question will for a long time be the central question for politics in Germany and Europe.

8.43am BST

Russia recorded 4,774 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, a fall in the number of daily new cases for the third day running, bringing its nationwide tally to 62,773, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said on Thursday.

Forty-two people with the virus had died in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 555, it said.

8.21am BST

European Union leaders are expected to sign off on a huge rescue package for countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis when they hold a video conference later on Thursday.

The €500bn (£438bn) package was agreed after fierce debate between richer countries in the north of the EU and weaker economies in the south which have suffered most from the pandemic.

8.08am BST

The French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, has said he does not think this week’s outbreak of violent clashes in French housing estates will result in scenes similar to the 2005 riots that broke out throughout the country.

“We are not in this sort of scenario,” Castaner told BFM TV.

8.01am BST

More than a thousand Hong Kong residents are still stuck in India, after the country went into a sudden lockdown last month, writes my colleague Helen Davidson.

The Hong Kong legislator Priscilla Leung has told reporters today the government is working on bringing them home in groups, but that the 200 or so citizens among the group should be first priority. The rest are Hong Kong permanent residents with Indian or other passports.

7.43am BST

This story from my colleagues in the US is worth flagging:

A senior US government doctor who worked on the search for a coronavirus vaccine has claimed he was fired after resisting Donald Trump’s push to use the unproven drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit.

While I am prepared to look at all options and to think ‘outside the box’ for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public.

7.29am BST

I’m sure that the whole world now shares an aversion to using handles to open doors, or cupboards or fridges in supermarkets or literally anything else.

Well, those good folk in Finland have starting thinking about this tricky problem and come up with the below. Once again proving beyond doubt that Finland is the best country in the world.

Hands-free door handles at this Finnish supermarket allows customers to open doors with their arms pic.twitter.com/a1fSJOID5z

7.12am BST

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I’ll now be handing over to my colleague Alexandra Topping – but before I go, here’s a Welsh minister not switching off his mic and being caught ranting about one of his colleagues on an especially crowded Zoom chat:

pic.twitter.com/JWDJKd4a9u

7.07am BST

6.55am BST

GUARDIAN: Revealed: scale of coronavirus’s deadly toll on ethnic minorities #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/mYntYpDCyn

Army of thousands to help trace virus victims#TomorrowsPapersToday @hendopolis pic.twitter.com/HvDrfJZEXt

Tomorrow's @independent front page #tomorrowspaperstoday To subscribe to the Daily Edition: https://t.co/XF8VnDpHYF pic.twitter.com/ViWtn4oWgm

TELEGRAPH: Social disruption will last for a year #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/mP1BlMfnlw

FT: Universities plea for £2bn rescue falls on deaf ears in the Treasury #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/WXRzV3E3ZS

6.50am BST

The world-famous song “Pata Pata”, a South African dance hit from 1967, is being re-released with new lyrics to spread information about coronavirus to vulnerable communities.

Meaning “touch touch” in the Xhosa language, “Pata Pata” was written by Grammy-winning singer Miriam Makeba who named it after a dance move popular in Johannesburg at the time:

This new Angélique Kidjo version of Miriam Makeba's Pata Pata – coronavirus edition – SLAPS: https://t.co/rjDoCqVqPk

6.38am BST

Caelainn Barr, Niko Kommenda, Niamh McIntyre and Antonio Voce have this report for the Guardian:

The UK government has been urged to recognise that race and racial inequalities are a risk factor for Covid-19 after Guardian research which has revealed that ethnic minorities in England are dying in disproportionately high numbers compared with white people.

6.34am BST

More than 232,000 people might have been infected in the first wave of Covid-19 in mainland China, four times the official figures, according to a study by Hong Kong researchers.

Mainland China reported more than 55,000 cases as of 20 February but, according to research by academics at Hong Kong University’s school of public health published in the Lancet, the true number would have been far greater if the definition of a Covid-19 case that was later used had been applied from the outset.

6.25am BST

Thanks for following along. A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

6.23am BST

At least 183,441 people have lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with the number of confirmed cases worldwide at more than 2.6 million.

The US accounts for more than 842,000 cases and almost 47,000 deaths.

6.20am BST

As the coronavirus lockdown continues, many of us holed up at home with family will be wondering how much more of it we can take. But what is it like if you have 11 kids or live with your extended family? We asked some of Britain’s biggest families how they are coping.

6.16am BST

Here’s the full story on the Australian billionaire who was allowed to self isolate at home, despite the Australian government having ordered 11 days earlier that everyone arriving from overseas would be held in a hotel or other accommodation for a period of supervised quarantine

Australian media mogul Kerry Stokes and his wife were allowed to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine on medical grounds when they arrived in the state of Western Australia by private jet two weeks ago, and instead spent 14 days holed up in their Perth mansion.

6.12am BST

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.

6.07am BST

With endorsements from a controversial French physician, Fox News, and Donald Trump, hydroxychloroquine – an old anti-malarial drug that is today more commonly used to treat lupus – has received a disproportionate amount of attention as a potential treatment for Covid-19.

6.05am BST

The government must not ignore the “slave-like” conditions of migrant workers making rubber medical gloves in Malaysia in its rush to source protective equipment to keep frontline NHS staff safe from coronavirus, human rights groups say.

Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of rubber gloves, but the industry has been accused of grossly exploiting its workforce, mostly impoverished migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal.

6.02am BST

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, Reuters reports.

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.

Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,839 cases and 50 fatalities, while 2,430 patients have recovered and gone home.

5.48am BST

Isolated in a recent European Union council of ministers, with attitudes described by European leaders past and present as “repugnant”.

5.41am BST

5.26am BST

5.05am BST

In case you haven’t seen it yet, and need a little something to pick you up, this video, showing the perils of videoconferencing is truly one for the ages.

4.47am BST

Asian stock markets rose on Thursday as the combination of a rebound in crude prices from historic lows and the promise of more US government aid to cushion the coronavirus-ravaged economy helped calm nervous markets, Reuters reports.

4.35am BST

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, Reuters reports.

Escalating his calls, Morrison said all members of the WHO should be obliged to participate in a review.

“If you’re going to a member of a club like the World Health Organization, there should be responsibilities and obligations attached to that,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

“We’d like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses... I would hope that any other nation, be it China or anyone else, would share that objective.”

4.17am BST

And here’s South Korea’s response to the coronavirus pandemic explained in video form:

4.06am BST

Late last week millions of South Koreans queued patiently at polling stations to cast their votes for a new national assembly.

3.56am BST

Dave Lewins is a healthy, 60-year old helicopter pilot, who in March found himself in intensive care with Covid-19. He describes the experience and how it has changed his life:

3.49am BST

South Korea’s economy saw its worst performance in more than a decade in the first quarter as the coronavirus epidemic raged across the country, the central bank said Thursday, with officials warning of a bigger impact still to come, AFP reports.

The world’s 12th-largest economy endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China, although it appears to have largely been contained thanks to an extensive “trace, test and treat” programme.

3.38am BST

Staying in Asia Pacific for now: Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has announced that Australians have withdrawn a total of AU$3.8bn (US$2.4bn) from their superannuation (Australia’s compulsory retirement savings scheme).

The government has allowed early access to superannuation savings as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic. 456,000 people have applied for early access.

3.19am BST

The New Zealand government will spend NZ$50m (£25m) on ailing media businesses during the coronavirus-induced downturn.

News organisations have pleaded with Jacinda Ardern’s government for support over the past month, given the advertising streams that funded commercial operations have all but dried up.

3.13am BST

Donald Trump has rebuked a state governor and Republican ally over his decision to reopen bowling alleys, hair salons and other businesses on Friday “in violation” of the phased federal guidelines.

3.09am BST

Australian billionaire Kerry Stokes has been “exempted from [the country’s] strict quarantine rules after arriving in Perth from Aspen by private jet,” The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The exemption, granted by WA Police after advice from the State Health Incident Coordination Centre, meant Mr and Mrs Stokes could self-isolate in their Dalkeith home rather than be locked down in a hotel room like thousands of other West Australians returning from overseas.

@WAtoday scoop: Kerry Stokes exempted from strict WA quarantine rules after arriving in Perth from Aspen by private jet https://t.co/mpGlMkVH7G

3.03am BST

Australia has called on G20 nations to end wet wildlife markets over concerns they pose a threat to human health and agricultural markets, a move which could further strain ties with China after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.

The pandemic which originated in China was thought to have started in a wet market in the city of Wuhan. Wet markets are a key facet of China’s daily life, and not all sell wildlife.

China imposed a temporary ban on selling wildlife on 23 January and is now reviewing its legislation to restrict commercial wild animal trading on a permanent basis.

Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud said on Thursday he had asked government officials from the Group of 20 major economies to back a plan to end wet wildlife markets.

“There are risks with wildlife wet markets and they could be as big a risk to our agricultural industries as they can be to public health,” Littleproud told Australia’s Channel 7 television.

US officials have also called for wet wildlife markets across Asia to be closed.

2.55am BST

New Zealand Says It Has Recorded Two New Deaths Related To Covid-19, and three new cases.

The deaths announced today take the country’s total to 16.

Two of the three new cases are confirmed and one is probable. However there is no change in the overall total of confirmed and probable cases, the number remaining at 1451. This is because the ministry understands that the three cases linked to the Greg Mortimer Cruise Ship, reported on Wednesday, were tested in Uruguay. Therefore, the cases may have been reported by Uruguay to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The ministry is currently investigating this, as the cases would therefore be counted under Uruguay’s total rather than New Zealand’s.

2.43am BST

Fourteen more cases of coronavirus infections have been confirmed on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs at Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture, bringing the total to at least 48, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, 34 crew members on the Costa Atlantica had tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concerns about the impact on the local community.
Nagasaki prefecture will hold a press conference from 10:30am (01:30 GMT), according to NHK.

2.30am BST

The US government will assess whether the World Health Organization is being run the way that it should be, after President Donald Trump paused US funding to the global body, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Acting Administrator John Barsa said on Wednesday.

Reuters reports Washington will also use this pause to look for alternative partners outside the WHO to continue to carry out “important work” such as vaccines, to ensure it does not have a disruption in its aid efforts, said Barsa, who heads USAID, the key US government agency that administers foreign aid.

“The review is going to be all encompassing, get into all manners of management operation questions,” Barsa told a news conference at the State Department.

“There’s numerous questions in terms of the management of the WHO; how they have been operating holding member states accountable in their actions.”

“Is the management of the World Health Organization running it the way it should be run?,” was the question at the heart of Washington’s review, Barsa added.

Trump announced a halt to US funding for the Geneva-based WHO last week while Washington reviews the organization’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

2.15am BST

Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the US, federal officials said Wednesday.

The cats, which had mild respiratory illnesses and are expected to recover, are thought to have contracted the virus from people in their households or neighborhoods, the US Department of Agriculture and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

2.10am BST

China has reported ten new coronavirus cases today, six of which are imported infections, according to the People’s Daily.

There were 27 new asymptomatic cases, and no coronavirus-related deaths for the sixth day in a row.

On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland reported:

- No new #COVID19 deaths
- 4 new domestic cases and 6 more imported cases
- 27 asymptomatic cases
- 959 active cases in total, including 63 in critical condition pic.twitter.com/SD0QJLb98o

2.02am BST

Hayley Canal writes for the Guardian:

As international borders were shut and airlines stopped flying, I scrambled to get out of what may just be the safest place on earth at the moment – Samoa, one of the last countries without a case of coronavirus.

Fighting to come home to the US as the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent felt ironic from the start. The feeling has only grown stronger as I sit alone, writing these thoughts with a fever as the death toll from coronavirus in the US continues to climb.

1.56am BST

A federal appeals court has allowed Arkansas to enforce a ban on most surgical abortions, as part of a state directive aimed at postponing medical procedures not deemed urgent during the coronavirus outbreak.

The ruling from the eighth US circuit court of appeals in St Louis, Missouri, lifted a federal judge’s order which had allowed abortions to continue. The new ruling does not affect abortion induced through medication in the early stages of pregnancy, which is still allowed.

1.53am BST

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States strongly believes that China’s ruling communist party failed to report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner to the World Health Organization, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a State Department news conference, Pompeo also accused Beijing of failing to report human-to-human transmission of the virus “for a month until it was in every province inside of China.”

Citing WHO rules implemented in 2007, Pompeo said, “We strongly believe that the Chinese Community Party did not report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely fashion to the World Health Organization.” He said that even after Beijing notified the WHO of the outbreak “it did not share all of the information it had. Instead it covered up how dangerous the disease is.”

1.34am BST

The UK is embarking on a large-scale study of 300,000 people to find out what proportion of the population has already had the coronavirus and how many may have some immunity to it as a result.

Studies are being undertaken around the world to work out how widespread the infection is. So far, they have found the proportion of people with antibodies showing they have been infected is low. The World Health Organization said this week it appears that only around 2 to 3% of people in the general population have been infected – with or without symptoms.

1.20am BST

The world is on track for a recession of “unprecedented depth in the post-war period”, ratings agency Fitch says.

In a note issued on Thursday, Fitch chief economist Brian Coulton said the agency now expected world gross domestic product to tumble by 3.9% in 2020.

“This is twice as large as the decline anticipated in our early April GEO [global economic outlook] update and would be twice as severe as the 2009 recession,” he said.

Fitch said the slump implied a US$2.8tn fall in global income levels from last year. Coulton said unprecedented floods of cash pumped into the economy by governments “will serve to cushion the near-term shock”.

“But with job losses occurring on an extreme scale and intense pressures on small and medium-sized businesses, the path back to normality after the health crisis subsides is likely to be slow,” he said.

1.17am BST

Other things that happened in that White House press briefing include Trump saying he would hold Independence Day celebrations on the Washington Mall on July 4th this year, before comparing photographs of the crowd at his celebrations last year to Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s address at the Washington Mall in 1963, during the civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

On Trump’s crowds:

1.10am BST

Just to recap that appearance by the Director of the US Centers for Disease Control at today’s White House Press briefing:

Trump said Dr Robert Redfield, current Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was misquoted in the media.

1.01am BST

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be with you for the next few hours. A reminder that you can get in touch at any time on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

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