E3: US reports more than 25,000 new cases – as it happened
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Related: Coronavirus live news: Trump casts doubt on China death toll as cases worldwide top 2 million
Some Canadian hospitals are collecting used N95 masks so that they can be decontaminated and worn again should new ones become impossible to find amid a global scramble for personal protective equipment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The issue has become more pressing in Canada after the United States blocked some exports of protective gear. On April 5, Canada’s chief medical officer, Theresa Tam, said hospitals should not throw away medical masks, including N95 respirators, because it may be possible to disinfect and re-use them.
The CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa is preparing to sterilize the masks with ultraviolet light for the CHEO pediatric health center.
US President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to use any authority necessary to keep highly sought-after medical supplies in the country, kicking off a diplomatic spat with Canada over N95 masks produced by 3M Co.
Canada’s deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, has characterized the market for medical equipment as “a Wild West,” and the government is encouraging more domestic production of medical supplies.
That press conference has now ended.
Meanwhile back at the White House, Trump says the WHO has “treated the US very badly for decades.”
Shortly afterwards he tells the press tomorrow will be a “big day” and leaves the podium.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday he regrets US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull funding for the agency, but that now is the time for the world unite in its fight against the new coronavirus.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference that the United States “has been a long-standing and generous friend of the WHO, and we hope it will continue to be so.”
“WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of US funding and we will work with partners to fill any gaps and ensure our work continues uninterrupted,” Tedros added.
Global health campaigner and donor Bill Gates tweeted that “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds ... The world needs WHO now more than ever.”
But Washington showed no sign of softening its stance, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed China’s top diplomat on the need for full transparency and information sharing to fight the pandemic.
Trump is asked why the US has 20% of the world’s deaths when it makes up just 4% of the global population.
“Does anybody really believe the deaths in China?” Trump responds.
Trump says he will execute constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress so he can make recess appointments to fill vacancies.
“If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” Trump said.
Trump is asked now why his name was added to the coronavirus relief checks
“I don’t know much about it he says,” but he understands it’s not delaying anything and “people will be very happy to get a big fat beautiful check with my name on it.”
Related: Donald Trump's name to be printed on Covid-19 stimulus cheques - report
A reminder amid the daily 'light at the end of the tunnel' briefing, nearly 2500 American deaths today, up from 2300 yesterday. https://t.co/GnZ9yXzeXl
US Vice President Mike Pence says new guidelines will be given to governors tomorrow and then released to the public. Some areas of the country will need continued mitigation while others will be given greater flexibility, he says.
Pence says people who have recovered from the virus have antibodies that can attack the virus and that the Mayo clinic is working to ensure patients will have access to these antibodies.
In other US news:
New York residents will be required to wear face coverings when they are out in public and coming in close contact with other people, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
The new outbreak-fighting mandate will require a mask or face covering on busy streets, subways, buses or any situation where people cannot maintain 6 feet of social distancing. The promised executive order from Cuomo echoes recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The order takes effect Friday, the governor said, and either a mask or a cloth covering such as a bandanna will work.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s Coronavirus Response Coordinator, is speaking now. She says there has been a decline in the rate of new cases.
There are nine states with fewer than 30 new cases per day.
Trump says we will have information tomorrow (Thursday) on which states will be reopening and when.
You can watch today’s White House press briefing live here:
Trump threatened to close both houses of Congress for “obstructing” his ability to appoint judges and other positions.
He claimed he has confirmed close to 250 judges through the Senate, but said there are 129 positions stuck in Congress that could be working on coronavirus solutions.
Trump has this morning reiterated the decision to halt funding to the WHO while an investigation is conducted into whether there was a “cover up”, Trump said, among other mistakes.
“I have a feeling they knew exactly what was going on”, he said. “The US government has put a hold on funding to the World Health Organization pending a review of the organization’s cover up and mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak”.
You can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan – questions, comments and news tips welcome.
Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. I’ll be bringing you the most important developments from the White House press conference, where Donald Trump has just said he believes some states will be able to open before 1 May.
There are governors “champing at the bit” to reopen, he said.
In opening remarks at his press briefing in Washington, the US president Donald Trump has said it is “clear our aggressive strategy is working”, citing numbers of new coronavirus cases in New York and Detroit falling.
Data suggests we have passed the peak in new cases.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, says he hopes the five permanent members of the UN security council can endorse the secretary general’s call for a ceasefire in all conflicts to tackle the pandemic in the coming days.
Macron, who has been pushing for more international cooperation in fighting the virus, said in an interview with French radio RFI that he is only waiting for agreement from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to hold the five-country video conference to discuss António Guterres’ call.
In England, the National Health Service (NHS) has generated 33,000 extra beds after giving unprecedented free rein to individual trusts to transform both their processes and infrastructure, healthcare chiefs have said.
A report from NHS Providers, a body representing more than 200 NHS trusts in England, said media focus on the new field hospitals ignored how much spare capacity had been created in hospitals in a matter of weeks.
Healthcare provision carries lots of risk so some level of regulation will always be necessary. But it’s amazing how much has been achieved how quickly with a significantly lighter, and more flexible, approach to regulation.
Drone footage from Ireland shows the streets of Dublin eerily empty after the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, announced lockdown restrictions would be extended for another three weeks.
The measures, which prevent people from leaving home in all but limited circumstances, were due to expire on Easter Sunday.
Venezuela’s government is employing harsher measures in one of Caracas’ largest barrios to ensure residents comply with a quarantine, as many poor Venezuelans continue to head outside in search of scarce food and water.
Over the past few days, local Socialist party councils have issued permits to thousands of families living in the Catia barrio that allow only one family member out at a time, and deployed a feared special police unit to enforce the measure, community leaders and residents told the Reuters news agency.
Public Health England has said it is working to support a nursing home where 24 residents have died; including eight who tested positive.
Staffordshire county council said a total of 18 residents and one staff member had tested positive at the area’s largest care home, Bradwell Hall Nursing Home in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Despite Brazil’s backlog of more than 90,000 specimens awaiting testing and a rising death toll, laboratories are idle due to a lack of materials, the agriculture ministry has said.
Brazil’s agriculture ministry has told Reuters that seven labs it had made available and that were cleared by the health regulator two weeks ago are still not being used for tests.
In the UK, a medical ventilator to help patients breathe has been granted regulatory approval, meaning hundreds could be rolled out to hospitals from next week.
Penlon’s ESO2 device, developed under the codename Project Oyster, will become the first model to get the green light from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with an announcement expected as soon as Thursday.
Related: Coronavirus ventilator wins UK approval in run-up to NHS rollout
Companies rescued by EU state share-buying programmes during the pandemic will be barred from paying executives bonuses, according to a leaked document from the European commission seen by the Guardian.
The restrictions, which would extend to a ban on dividend payments and share buybacks, could be imposed on companies where the government has taken an equity stake in order to keep the business afloat through the global pandemic.
Related: EU to bar executive bonuses for state-rescued firms
Ireland’s highest number of daily cases so far is due to increased testing and not as a result of the virus spreading more quickly among the population, the country’s chief medical officer has said.
Ireland’s total number of cases rose to 12,547, including 657 positive results processed domestically and 411 more that were mostly taken in March and were sent to a German laboratory to help clear a backlog.
The diplomatic spat between France and China is widening as French senators demand to know why the article that sparked it is still on the Chinese embassy’s website, despite Beijing’s envoy having been summoned by the French foreign minister.
The French language article is part of a series of posts and tweets by the embassy defending Beijing’s response to and criticising the West’s handling of the pandemic.
The French Armed Forces Ministry says 668 people have tested positive in the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle naval group; the majority of them on the carrier.
Washington’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 605,390 cases of coronavirus – an increase of 26,385 cases from its previous count – and said the number of deaths has risen by 2,330 to 24,582.
The CDC reported its tally of Covid-19 cases as of 4pm ET (9pm BST) on 14 April, compared with its count a day earlier. The figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
Here’s a summary of the latest news:
Campaigning groups and NGOs are beginning to issue their responses to the G20’s announcement that it would suspend poorer countries’ debt payments from 1 May until the end of the year.
It’s a positive step, they say. But overall they are not hugely impressed.
Suspending debt owed to rich countries is only one piece of the puzzle. Huge sums are owed by poor countries to rich private banks and investors in New York and London. They should be pushed to cancel debts by enforcement and not left to voluntary action. Other debt payments are owed to multilateral institutions including the IMF and World Bank, and these too should be cancelled for the year.
The IMF can sell some of its huge gold reserves that have risen in value by $20 billion in just the last three months —the windfall profits of that alone would more than cover multilateral debt payments owed this year by the poorest countries.
We’re pleased there is consensus that many developing countries should not being forced to service their debts this year. The coronavirus crisis would make this impossible. But what the G20 has offered falls well short of real debt cancellation. For a start, the G20’s moratorium means interest continues to accrue and debt would still need to be paid after 2020. This will create a new crisis-point for many countries which were already encumbered with debts run up since the 2008 financial crash.
Second, this cancellation, it seems, will come out of the money already designated for developing countries in aid money. So these countries are effectively paying for their own debt relief.
France has reported 1,438 more deaths from Covid-19, including 924 from care homes, bringing the total death toll from the coronavirus outbreak to 17,167.
At a daily briefing on the situation in France, Jérôme Salomon, the head of the health authority, also announced 2,632 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total tally of infections to 106,206 so far.
Belgium’s lockdown will remain almost unchanged until 3 May, after a warning the health system might not cope with a sudden end to restrictions, writes Jennifer Rankin in Brussels.
The prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, announced the decision following a recommendation from an expert group, who warned that ending the measures too quickly could overwhelm hospitals.
Accelerated by fears over Covid-19, migrant children have begun being evacuated from Greece, reports Helena Smith in Athens.
The first unaccompanied migrant children, forced to endure appalling conditions in overcrowded Aegean island camps, have been relocated to Luxembourg. The twelve youngsters flew out of Athens today in what is seen as a seminal moment for the resettlement of minors to other EU member states.
Health authorities in Iraq have reported 1,378 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday, and 77 deaths, according to a situation report by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Most of the country’s cases are concentrated in the capital, Baghdad, followed by Basrah and Kerbala. Curfews and movement restrictions across Iraq remain in place until 18 April, except for life-saving and humanitarian activities
For the time being, no cases have been identified affecting UNHCR persons of concern ... The widespread respect to the postponement of religious gatherings where millions of pilgrims were expected to assemble has helped contain the spread of the virus and has given the country a wider margin of time to stabilise the outbreak.
Sierra Leone had recorded two new cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday night, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 13.
“All cases are in the treatment facility and are in stable condition,” the country’s government said in a statement on Wednesday.
South Africa’s minister for health has announced seven more deaths from Covid-19 in the country. The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus so far detected is 2,506.
As at today the confirmed #COVID19 cases are 2506 and 7 new deaths
The grand duchy of Luxembourg has become the latest European country to order its citizens to wear face masks.
The grand duchy’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, said:
Mouth protection will be obligatory, whether it be a scarf, a bandana or a mask.
Belgium has extended its stay-at-home order until at least 3 May, and banned mass gatherings – concerts, festivals and sporting events – until the end of August, AFP reports.
Schools, bars and restaurants have been closed since mid-March, while the country’s per capita death rate has risen to among the highest in the world.
Riding high on an outpouring of global support, Tedros is now trolling Trump.
Solidarity.
Humanity.
While some people have lost their incomes entirely as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns around the world, others are doing just fine.
The Amazon CEO and entrepreneur, Jeff Bezos, has grown his vast fortune by a further $24bn so far during the coronavirus pandemic, a roughly 20% increase over the last four months to $138b, reports Kenya Evelyn in Washington.
Related: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos grows fortune by $24bn amid coronavirus pandemic
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says his government will widen the scope of eligibility for financial aid during the coronavirus pandemic, addressing mounting frustration that current guidelines penalize students, freelance and contract workers, writes Leyland Cecco in Toronto.
In his daily address Wednesday morning, Trudeau said that anyone making $1,000 or less per month would now be eligible for the ‘Canada Emergency Response Benefit’, which pays $2,000 CAD (1,400 USD) each month for four months. He said:
Maybe you’re a volunteer firefighter, or a contractor who can pick up some shifts, or you have a part-time job in a grocery store. Even if you’re still working, or you want to start working again, you probably need help making ends meet.
The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy rose by 578 on Wednesday, 24 less than on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 21,645, Angela Giuffrida reports.
The number of people who are currently infected rose by 1.1%, or 1,127, in a day, 525 more than on Tuesday. Italy’s civil protection authority said the number of intensive care beds in use continues to fall, with 1,000 fewer people in intensive care than two weeks ago.
G20 finance ministers have agreed to suspend poorer countries’ debt payments from 1 May until the end of the year, as they prepare for increased spending on healthcare systems during the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s according to a communiqué issued earlier today. The G20 said that it will be time-bound (so not quite a jubilee) and it also said that private creditors should match the terms. From the communiqué:
We support a time-bound suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance. We agreed on a coordinated approach with a common term sheet providing the key features for this debt service suspension initiative, which is also agreed by the Paris Club.[...]
We call on private creditors, working through the Institute of International Finance, to participate in the initiative on comparable terms.
Related: Oasis and Warehouse collapse into administration amid coronavirus shutdowns - business live
New York City has revised its Covid-19 death toll sharply upwards to more than 10,000 people, with the city now firmly established as being at the heart of the global coronavirus crisis, Oliver Milman reports from the Guardian’s US office.
The soaring death toll has been fueled by the adding of 3,778 people who weren’t tested for Covid-19 but are presumed to have died from it. Last week, Bill de Blasio, New York City’s mayor, admitted that the official death toll was probably too low as many people who died at home or in nursing homes weren’t included.
Behind every death is a friend, a family member, a loved one. We are focused on ensuring that every New Yorker who died because of Covid-19 gets counted.
Related: New York City coronavirus death toll jumps past 10,000 in revised count
Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s foreign minister, has announced that Finland will increase its support and funding for the World Health Organization, in response to Donald Trump’s decision to withhold funding from the US.
He writes:
[The] US decision to suspend @WHO funding is a big setback. Finland will continue its support and will increase its funding for the organisation this year. It is in these times that the WHO is most needed to defeat the coronavirus.
USA:n päätös keskeyttää @WHO:n rahoitus on iso takaisku. Suomi jatkaa tukeaan ja tulee lisäämään rahoitustaan järjestölle tänä vuonna. Juuri näinä aikoina WHO:ta tarvitaan kaikkein eniten koronaviruksen voittamiseksi.https://t.co/aagcbSAWVI
Refugees applying for asylum in Germany fear the government is failing to shield them from coronavirus as infections at one crowded reception centre have risen sharply in recent days, Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief, reports.
Confirmed cases of coronavirus at a facility in the south-western town of Ellwangen where refugees are accommodated while their asylum applications are processed had increased from seven to 251 in five days, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
Related: Refugees in German centre fear lack of protection as Covid-19 cases soar
The UK department of health has reported 761 new deaths from Covid-19, slightly down on the equivalent figure reported yesterday, 778.
It is worth noting that the UK, unlike countries elsewhere in Europe, does not include deaths outside of hospital in its daily statistics, so it cannot be handily compared with equivalent statistics published in, for example, France or Spain.
As of 9am 15 April, 398,916 tests have concluded, with 15,994 tests on 14 April.
313,769 people have been tested of which 98,476 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 14 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 12,868 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/Rm19fv4jv0
In a time of coronavirus, sometimes you have to make do with what is at hand, writes Kim Willsher, the Guardian’s Paris correspondent.
Faced with a shortage of sanitising gel for his workers, Burgundy vineyard owner Nicolas Rossignol, from Gevrey-Chambertin, drew off some of the “head” distillation from a batch of Marc de Bourgogne, a strong eau-de-vie made from grape skins and seeds after the juice has been extracted to make wine.
In the vines, it is one to a plot, or else we leave two or three rows between us (2 to 3m) if we have to work in the same place. In addition to tying up and fixing trellising, we are also starting to plow. I have two tractors, so each driver has their own.
Canada’s statistics agency has said the country’s economy suffered a decline of nearly 9% in March – the worst figure ever recorded – as the country battles the coronavirus, Leyland Cecco in Toronto reports.
In a “flash estimate” of the country’s GDP figures released Wednesday morning, Statistics Canada said it hoped to capture the scale and depth of disruption resulting from a lockdown of the nation’s economy. The agency said:
Even though the basis of calculation is different, in a relative sense, this would be the largest one-month decline in GDP, since the series started in 1961. Overall for the quarter, this flash estimate of GDP leads to an approximate decline of 2.6% for the first quarter of 2020.
Five more people have died from Covid-19 in Serbia in the past 24 hours, said health authorities as they reported 408 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, local news site Telegraf reports.
The death toll from Covid-19 is 99 in the central Balkan country, while the total number of cases of coronavirus recorded so far is 4,873. Health minister Zlatibor Lončar said 557 medical workers have been infected.
Andrea Bocelli’s Easter Sunday livestream from Milan Cathedral reached over 2.8 million peak concurrent viewers, making it one of the biggest musical live streamed performances of all time and the largest simultaneous audience for a classical music live stream in YouTube history, writes Guardian reporter Gregory Robinson.
Bocelli, who has seemingly become a YouTube superstar, sang a selection of carefully chosen and arranged pieces including Ave Maria and ended with a performance of Amazing Grace.
I am moved and delighted to have received such an overwhelming reaction, that has gone beyond our highest expectations. For an artist, yesterday’s event is the reason for the sacrifices of a lifetime; for a believer and a Catholic as I am, it was further confirmation of the benevolent smile with which the Heavenly Father looks to his children.
It was an immeasurable honour and privilege to lend my voice to the prayers of millions of people, gathered in a single embrace – a small, great miracle of which the whole world was the protagonist and which confirms my optimism about the future of our planet.
The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called for unity against the “common threat” posed by coronavirus, after Donald Trump announced he would withhold US funding.
In the opening statement of the WHO’s daily press conference Ghebreyesus reaffirmed the principles of the organisation’s founding ideals and constitution, “to protect and promote the health of the world’s people”.
The United States of America has been a longstanding and generous friend to WHO and we hope it will continue to be so. We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in the funding to WHO. With support from the people and government of the United States, WHO works to improve the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
… This is a time for all of us to be united in our struggle against our common threat. When we are divided the virus exploits the cracks between us.
This is part of the usual process put in place by our member states. No doubt areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn. But for now, our focus – my focus – is on fighting the virus … WHO is getting on with the job.
Since the beginning WHO has been fighting the pandemic with every ounce of our soul and our spirit. We will continue to do that until the end.
The World Health Organization’s daily coronavirus briefing is about to start.
We are expecting to hear director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus respond to Donald Trump’s decision last night to withdraw US funding from the UN health body, which has already been sharply criticised by world leaders, scientists and doctors.
Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.
This is indefensible decision, in midst of global pandemic. So many vulnerable populations rely on @WHO - deliberately undermining funding & trust now is shocking. Now is a time for global leadership & unity to save lives, not division and blame! https://t.co/nOknZnBqDd
The world is learning what Iran has known & experienced all along: US regime's bullying, threatening & vainglorious blathering isn’t just an addiction: it kills people.
Like "maximum pressure" against Iran, the shameful defunding WHO amid a pandemic will live in infamy.
The UK has said it will not follow the US in withholding funding for the World Health Organization, but the government’s spokesman refused to directly criticise the decision by Donald Trump to do so.
Asked in a daily briefing for journalists for the UK’s response to the president’s move, the spokesman said:
Our position is that the UK has no plans to stop funding the World Health Organisation which has an important role to play in leading the global health response. Coronavirus is a global challenge and it’s essential that countries work together to tackle this shared threat.
I can only set out the UK’s position, and that is that we have no plans to stop funding the World Health Organisation.
Related: UK coronavirus live: hospital death toll rises by 761 to reach 12,868
New measures are being implemented in South Africa to crackdown on disinformation spreading on social media about coronavirus, AFP reports.
A “hi-tech monitoring and evaluation process” is being rolled out to intercept misinformation about the virus and government responses to the outbreak, said a statement by the communications department.
We are stepping up our campaign against digital misinformation, particularly in relation to Covid-19 and related actions such as the national lockdown.
... We also need to remind South Africans that spreading fake news or disinformation about Covid-19 is a punishable offence. Arrests have already been made, and they will continue if people persist in spreading fake news.
One more person has died in Kenya after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total death toll from Covid-19 in the country to 10. So far, Kenya has reported 225 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
✔️12 people have fully recovered and been discharged
✔️53 total recoveries
✔️1 new fatality today
✔️10 total fatalities
✔️2366 people tested
✔️1911 released
✔️455 under follow up#KomeshaCorona update
#KomeshaCorona update by CS for Health, Mutahi Kagwe. pic.twitter.com/njZwPYqpEG
Orthodox Christians in North Macedonia and Serbia are preparing for an Easter weekend with closed churches, AFP reports.
The two Balkan nations introduced nationwide curfews in March to halt the spread of the Covid-19 disease – including a total weekend lockdown from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.
The latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University, which has tracked the spread of the virus during the pandemic, puts the confirmed global total of cases at 2,000,984.
In Hawaii, people who know how to sew are making face masks with the same colourful prints used for aloha shirts, known as Hawaiian shirts. Many of the masks are made from scraps of material or old aloha shirts from their homes.
Disposable surgical masks are in short supply, and people want to preserve whats available for nurses and doctors working with Covid-19 patients.
Its another way of really showing the love and aloha spirit for each other. Especially in these times right now, when we cant see our family, we cant see our friends, we cant see our co-workers.”
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio urged a cautious and deliberative approach to reviving the economy, saying that moving too quickly could create an opportunity for the coronavirus to resurface.
De Blasio said that some parts of Asia have experienced a resurgence of the virus after reopening. He told Fox and Friend after President Trump said he would work with governors on a plan to return things to normal nationwide by the end of the month or even sooner, AP reports.
We cannot allow that. We get one chance to get it right.
I think we have to be smart about doing it in stages, making sure that we can confirm that were containing the disease more and more, getting it back to where it was a month or two ago, before we start to open up a lot.
H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, has announced it has begun producing protective aprons at a supplier and would deliver 1m aprons to the Swedish healthcare system over the coming two weeks.
The company is one of a number of fashion retailers mobilising to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Millions of South Koreans wore masks and disposable gloves as they voted in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, the highest turnout in nearly three decades despite the coronavirus, reports Reuters
The government resisted calls to postpone the elections billed as a “midterm referendum on President Moon Jae-in”, who enters the final two years of his single five-year term in the midst of a historic public health crisis that is leading to a large effect on the economy.
Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran, has become the latest leading voice to condemn the US’s defunding of the World Health Organization (perhaps unsurprisingly).
Iran itself is battling the Middle East’s most deadly outbreak which has left over 4,700 dead and more than 76,300 infected.
The world is learning what Iran has known & experienced all along: US regime's bullying, threatening & vainglorious blathering isn’t just an addiction: it kills people.
Like "maximum pressure" against Iran, the shameful defunding WHO amid a pandemic will live in infamy.
Their suspected role in the first transmission of the coronavirus to humans, at the outset of the pandemic that has circled the world, has made so called “wet markets” a target for those looking for someone to blame.
Related: ‘Mixed with prejudice’: calls for ban on ‘wet’ markets misguided, experts argue
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 734 to 28,153, health authorities said on Wednesday, with 189 new deaths.
The total death toll in the country is 3,134, the Netherlands’ Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.
A former head of Britain’s spy agency, MI6, has accused China of concealing information about its coronavirus from the rest of the world.
Sir John Sawers, who ran MI6 between 2009 and 2014, was responding to Donald Trump’s decision to withhold US funding from the World Health Organisation, on the grounds it had “covered up” the spread of the Covid-19. He told the BBC it would be more appropriate to criticise Beijing. He said:
There is deep anger in America at what they see as having been inflicted on us all by China, and China is evading a good deal of responsibility for the origin of the virus, for failing to deal with it ... initially.
... Intelligence is about acquiring information which has been concealed from you by other states and other actors. Now, there was a brief period in December and January when the Chinese were indeed concealing this from the West.
The trends that are under way anyway, the growing dependence on technology, the weakening of international bodies like the United Nations, the shift of economic power to Asia - I think these are all going to move forward more rapidly now as in the context of this pandemic.
Drinking alcohol does NOT protect you from coronavirus, sadly.
#COVID19 Facts: Drinking alcohol DOES NOT protect you against COVID-19 and can be dangerous. https://t.co/OvWS5ZTi8Q pic.twitter.com/s2STqvhErp
Sweden has reported 170 more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total death toll from the coronavirus in the country to 1,203.
On Wednesday, the Nordic country passed the grim milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths, far exceeding the tolls of its nearest neighbours, as scientists continue to question the government’s light-touch approach to the pandemic, writes Jon Henley, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent.
Related: Critics question Swedish approach as coronavirus death toll reaches 1,000
Global oil prices have slumped as traders fear plans for the biggest production cuts in history will fail to offset the deepest fall in demand in 25 years, Jillian Ambrose, the Guardian’s energy correspondent, reports.
US oil prices tumbled to 18-year lows of $19.20 a barrel on Wednesday morning and the benchmark price for Brent crude dropped by 5% to $28 a barrel amid gloomy forecasts for demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
Even assuming that travel restrictions are eased in the second half of the year, we expect that global oil demand in 2020 will fall by 9.3m barrels a day versus 2019, erasing almost a decade of growth.
The singer Rita Wilson has claimed to have suffered “extreme side effects” after being treated with the experimental Covid-19 drug chloroquine in an Australian hospital, writes Guardian Australia reporter Naaman Zhou.
Wilson, who was touring Australia, and her husband, Tom Hanks, who was filming a Baz Luhrmann film about Elvis Presley, both tested positive for Covid-19 on 12 March while in Australia.
They gave me chloroquine. I know people have been talking about this drug. But I can only tell you that – I don’t know if the drug worked or if it was just time for the fever to break.
My fever did break but the chloroquine had such extreme side effects, I was completely nauseous, I had vertigo and my muscles felt very weak … I think people have to be very considerate about that drug.
WATCH: In her first interview since her COVID-19 diagnosis, @RitaWilson says she's feeling great — and giving back.
Wilson told @GayleKing about the story behind her #HipHopHooray remix benefiting @MusiCares, her journey to recovery, and her symptoms when she first got sick. pic.twitter.com/yF3IZrFjCS
Related: Rita Wilson tells of 'extreme side effects' of experimental Covid-19 drug chloroquine
Angela Merkel’s government is pushing to extend the “contact ban” introduced in Germany to slow down the spread of Covid-19 until 3 May, German media reported at lunchtime on Wednesday, writes Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief.
Under Germany’s federalised system the closure and reopening of schools and nurseries falls under the jurisdiction of the 16 Länder, meaning any concerted exit strategy from the lockdown will require cooperation from state premiers.
Here is a summary of the key headlines in world coronavirus news today.
The Tour de France has been postponed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, world governing body the UCI has announced, AFP reports.
The 107th edition of the race was due to begin in Nice on 27 June and conclude in Paris on 19 July, but the UCI on Wednesday issued new dates, with the opening stage on 29 August and the finale on 20 September.
Related: Tour de France rescheduled for 29 August start due to coronavirus
Here’s the World Health Organization’s latest breakdown on confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa.
South Africa has the most confirmed cases, followed by Egypt, then Algeria.
Number of #COVID19 cases on the African continent rise to over 15,900, with 3,084 recoveries and 520 deaths. View country figures & more with the WHO African Region COVID-19 Dashboard: https://t.co/V0fkK7WnuG pic.twitter.com/l7kfjqeovN
The death toll from coronavirus in Iran rose by 94 to 4,777 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour has said.
In a statement broadcast on state television, Jahanpour said that 1,512 new cases of infection have been detected since yesterday, bringing Iran’s cumulative total number of coronavirus cases to 76,389.
The European Union’s medicine regulator has estimated it could take one year before a coronavirus vaccine is available for widespread use.
“The European Medicines Agency estimates that it might take a year before a vaccine against Covid-19 is ready for approval and available in sufficient quantities to enable widespread and safe use,” reported the EU executive in a strategy paper published on Wednesday.
A lack of coordination in lifting restrictive measures risks having negative effects for all member states and creating political friction.
A call by NGOs for increased protection of domestic workers in Lebanon during the coronavirus crisis has cast a fresh spotlight on the predicament of migrant workers across the Middle East – many of whom are highly vulnerable to the pandemic, and without support, writes Martin Chulov, the Guardian’s Middle East editor.
In parts of the Levant, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, workers from south Asia and south-east Asia account for a large proportion of labor forces. Closed airports, bonded labour, or other forms of unbreakable employment contracts, and little access to funds, have made it close to impossible for those who want to leave to do so.
As one of the most marginalised groups in Lebanon, the government needs to clearly warn that it will prosecute employers who exploit or abuse migrant domestic workers. It should also ensure they are granted access to health care during the pandemic.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has slammed the US decision to withhold funding from the World Health Organization.
Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.
The Philippines reports 230 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, and 14 deaths.
In a bulletin, the health ministry said coronavirus deaths have reached 349 while total confirmed cases have increased to 5,453, keeping the Philippines as the country with the most infections in Southeast Asia, Reuters reports.
Update from @DOHgovph this 15 April:
There are 230 people newly confirmed with #COVID19PH. The total confirmed cases in the Philippines are now 5,453.
58 people with COVID-19 have reportedly recovered, bringing total recoveries to 353. pic.twitter.com/k4hMKeMBnL
14 people with #COVID19PH have died. The total COVID-19 related deaths are now 349.
We are extending our condolences to the family of the 14 people that have died from this disease.
Three new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Zambia, the country’s national public health institute reports, bringing the total so far in the country to 48. All the latest statistics from the country are in this Twitter thread.
Catch today's #COVID19 update on the @mohzambia facebook page https://t.co/Kyp3Wt1qBE
In the last 24hrs, #Zambia recorded 3 new confirmed cases of #COVID19 #StayHome #WashYourHands #SocialDistancing pic.twitter.com/5hsjL951EP
Two of the cases are female (aged 23 and 29) are contacts to the Makeni case; 3rd case is a 26yr old male who arrived from Poland on 12th April aboard Ethiopian Airlines
150 cases were conducted in the last 24hrs; cumulatively 1846 tests have been conducted. 2336 persons have completed the 14day quarantine period. 637 alerts have been investigated and verified as non-cases.
Activities in Kafue have been escalated with multisectoral teams deployed to conduct mass screening and testing; activities around the country also continue
More than half of the total confirmed cases of coronavirus so far have been in Europe, according to a tally kept by AFP.
The French news agency reports that as of 8.30am on Wednesday, Europe had at least 1,003,284 cases, including 84,465 deaths, making it the worst hit continent. Globally, 1,991,019 COVID-19 infections and 125,955 deaths have been registered.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas is the latest to join the chorus of criticism aimed at Donald Trump after the US president suspended payments to the World Health Organization. Maas wrote on Twitter:
Blaming others won’t help. The virus knows no borders ... One of the best investments is to strengthen the UN, above all the under-financed WHO... in the development and distribution of tests and vaccines.
Schuldzuweisungen helfen nicht. Das Virus kennt keine Grenzen. Wir müssen gegen #COVID19 eng zusammenarbeiten. Eine der besten Investitionen ist es, die @UN, allen voran die unterfinanzierte @WHO, zu stärken, z.B. bei der Entwicklung und Verteilung von Tests und Impfstoffen. https://t.co/ugVbnZFx7R
This is Damien Gayle taking control of the live blog now, with the latest updates from around the world, but particularly Europe, the Middle East and Africa. If you have any tips or suggestions for things we could be covering please email me at damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or send me a direct message via Twitter to @damiengayle.
Countries that ease restrictions imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus should wait at least two weeks to evaluate the impact of such changes before easing again, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
In its latest strategy update, the UN agency said the world stands at a “pivotal juncture” in the pandemic and that “speed, scale, and equity must be our guiding principles” when deciding what measures are necessary.
Amazon said on Wednesday it planned to appeal against a French court ruling limiting deliveries to essential goods in order allow for a deeper assessment of coronavirus risks at its sites in the country.
“We’re puzzled by the court ruling given the hard evidence brought forward regarding security measures put in place to protect our employees”, the US online retailing giant said in a statement.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has said Trump’s halting of funding to the World Health Organization is an “indefensible decision”.
On Twitter, Coveney said:
This is indefensible decision, in midst of global pandemic. So many vulnerable populations rely on WHO – deliberately undermining funding and trust now is shocking.
Now is a time for global leadership and unity to save lives, not division and blame!
This is indefensible decision, in midst of global pandemic. So many vulnerable populations rely on @WHO - deliberately undermining funding & trust now is shocking. Now is a time for global leadership & unity to save lives, not division and blame! https://t.co/nOknZnBqDd
Calls and messages to Italy’s biggest network of women’s shelters have surged during the coronavirus lockdown.
Between 2 March and 5 April, 2,867 women turned to centres operated by D.i.Re, the Women against Violence Network, 74.5% more than the monthly average registered during 2018.
The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Spain in 24 hours fell again on Wednesday to 523, from 567 reported the previous day, the country’s health ministry said.
The daily death toll brought the total number of fatalities to 18,579.
Germany will consider easing coronavirus-related restrictions on the retail sector from 20 April, according to several participants in a call held on Tuesday between the chancellery and state chancelleries.
They also told Reuters that the rules on social distancing and travel could be extended until 3 May.
At a press conference on the EU’s response to the coronavirus crisis, the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has outlined three criteria for lifting lockdown restrictions.
She said member states should consider infection rates, the capacity of healthcare systems and the level of testing available before lifting restrictions that could trigger a rise in cases.
European commission president Ursula von der Leyen outlines three criteria for lifting lockdown restrictions.
1. Epidemiological - is the virus diminishing?
2. Healthcare systems - hosp beds, equipment stocks and care in community
3. Large-scale testing to monitor virus.
China is trying to exploit the global crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak by wresting control of companies such as Imagination Technologies and changing the way the internet works, a senior British lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs select ommittee, told Sky:
We’re seeing quite a lot of action by the Chinese state, or state-owned companies, that seem to be exploiting this moment.
Companies like Imagination Technologies … it’s been facing a rather hostile change in management in the last few weeks, which happened to coincide not just with the Covid crisis but also the prime minist