Cyprus Mail 13 April 2020 - Reuters News Service
As of 6.00am today more than 1,857,115 people have been infected across the world and over 114,330 have died but at the same time 428,333 people have recovered.
The USA is now the country with the most infected cases (560,433) ahead of Spain (166831) who overtook Italy (156,363) last week. France and Germany follow with 132,590 and 127,854 cases respectively
Confirmed deaths by country:
USA: 22,115
Italy: 19,899
Spain: 17,209
France: 14,393
UK: 10,612
USA: 22,115
Italy: 19,899
Spain: 17,209
France: 14,393
UK: 10,612
All the latest news in brief as it happens
11.22 Philippines records 18 new coronavirus deaths, 284 more cases
The Philippine health ministry on Monday reported 18 new coronavirus deaths and 284 additional infections.
In a bulletin, the health ministry said total deaths have reached 315, while confirmed cases have increased to 4,932, adding 45 patients have recovered, bringing the total to 242.
South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks.
South Korea reported only 25 new cases overall on Monday, but the rise in “reactivated” patients has raised concerns as the country seeks to stamp out infections.
11.15 Number of people crossing China borders cut 90% as part of virus efforts – official
China has reduced the number of people crossing its borders by 90% as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, an immigration official said on Monday.
Speaking at a briefing, Liu Haitao, an official with the National Immigration Administration, said the number of cases was still on the rise in the countries along China’s borders.
11.10 Tokyo sees 91 new cases of coronavirus infections – Japan media
Tokyo saw 91 new cases of coronavirus infections on Monday, Japan’s media reported, as the tally of infections in the country’s capital continues to rise.
Monday’s figure showed a decrease in the rate of daily infections from Sunday, when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 166 new cases. Last week the city announced a state of emergency, requesting residents to stay indoors as much as possible.
10.53 Russia reports new record daily rise of coronavirus cases
Russia on Monday reported 2,558 new cases of the novel coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 18,328.
Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said that 148 people diagnosed with the virus have died so far, an overnight rise of 18.
10.25 China stocks end lower as new coronavirus cases near six-week high
Stocks ended lower on Monday in China, as the country’s new daily coronavirus cases approached a near six-week high.
** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.49% at 2,783.05.
** The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.42%, with its financial sector sub-index losing 0.62%, consumer staples decliningg 0.82%, while real estate rose 0.53% and healthcare gained 0.43%.
** The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.8% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was 1.375% weaker.
** China’s northeast Heilongjiang province which borders Russia has become the new battleground against the coronavirus as authorities reported the highest number of new daily cases in nearly six weeks, driven by infected travellers from overseas.
10.06 One in five Kazakhs seek state aid over coronavirus emergency
Some 3.7 million Kazakhs, or 20% of the oil-exporting Central Asian nation’s population, have applied for financial aid offered by the government because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet said on Monday.
Out of those applications, about 1.8 million have already been approved, labour minister Birzhan Nurymbetov told a briefing.
The Nur-Sultan government has offered to pay 42,500 tenge (about $100) per month to every citizen who loses their source of income during the emergency period, which began on March 16 and is expected to last at least until the end of April.
9.44 S.Korea to ship 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to U.S
South Korea plans to send 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States on Tuesday in the first such shipment following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official told Reuters on Monday.
Trump made the request for testing kits in a telephone call on March 25 with President Moon Jae-in, as the United States was grappling with fast-growing outbreaks in many states.
A U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency cargo plane carrying the equipment is scheduled to leave at 10:30 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Tuesday, the official said on condition of anonymity due to the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
9.40 Singapore readies ‘floating hotels’ for workers as coronavirus spreads
Singapore is preparing to house hundreds of foreign workers in accommodation vessels typically used for offshore and marine industry staff as it races to find alternatives to dormitories where the novel coronavirus has been spreading rapidly.
Tens of thousands of migrant workers, many from South Asia, live in cramped dormitories across Singapore, which have become the biggest source of coronavirus infections in recent days.
09.10 Amazon stops accepting new online grocery customers
Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.
Many shoppers recently seeking to purchase groceries from the Seattle-based e-commerce company found they could not place orders due to a lack of available delivery slots. Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a wait list starting Monday while working on adding capacity each week.
08.57 Thailand reports 28 new coronavirus cases, 2 new deaths
Thailand reported 28 new coronavirus cases and 2 new deaths on Monday.
Of the new cases, 18 are linked to previous cases, 7 without connection to old cases, and 3 are Thai nationals who had traveled to South Sulawesi province, Indonesia for a religious gathering last month.
Majority of the new cases are in the capital Bangkok, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman of the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
08.45 Japan’s Narita Airport offers cardboard beds for travellers awaiting coronavirus all-clear
Japan’s Narita Airport has prepared an impromptu hotel of cardboard beds and quilts in its baggage-claim area for passengers from overseas who might have to stay there while awaiting the results of tests for the novel coronavirus.
Though flights at Narita are down so sharply that the airport has closed one of its runways, planes are still landing with passengers arriving from countries including the United States and Italy who are required to undergo tests for the virus before they can head home.
07.58 China stocks slip as new coronavirus cases near six-week high
China stocks dipped on Monday, as the country’s new daily coronavirus cases approached a near six-week high.
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.33% at 2,787.28 points.
** China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.25%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.54%, the consumer staples sector down 0.6%, the real estate index up 0.27% and the healthcare sub-index up 0.71%.
** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.56% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.24%.
07.26 Germany’s coronavirus cases rise by 2,537, deaths by 126 – RKI
Germany’s number of confirmed coronavirus infections has risen by 2,537 to 123,016, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.
That was lower than a 2,821 increase reported on Sunday, and marked the third decline after four days of increases.
The reported death toll has risen by 126 to 2,799.
06.37 China’s new coronavirus cases near 6-week high
China’s northeast Heilongjiang province which borders Russia has become the new battleground against the coronavirus as authorities reported the highest number of new daily cases in nearly six weeks, driven by infected travellers from overseas.
China fears a rise in imported cases could spark a second wave of COVID-19 and push the country back into a state of near paralysis.
A total of 108 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier and marking the highest number of cases since 143 infections were reported on March 5.
05.21 El Salvador’s congress extends national coronavirus emergency law
El Salvador’s congress on Sunday extended a national emergency law that allows the government to prolong certain health measures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Central American country.
The extension will give lawmakers an additional four days, during which they said they would seek to work with the government of President Nayib Bukele and address issues related to the economy, health and human rights.
04.46 Argentina’s Fernandez extends coronavirus lockdown through April 26
Argentina will extend until April 27 the lockdown it imposed last month to control the spread of the coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez said in a televised address on Friday, adding that the measure would be applied only in major cities.
Most Argentines live in metropolitan areas like Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba. The country has wide expanses of sparsely populated agricultural area including the Pampas farm belt, which has made Argentina a top world food exporter.
03.19 Health ministry reports 442 new cases of coronavirus in Mexico, 23 new deaths
Mexican health officials reported on Sunday 442 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 23 new deaths, bringing the country’s total to 4,661 cases and 296 deaths.
However, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said last week the country might have 26,500 people infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus.
03.04 Brazil deficit jumps to 7% of GDP as coronavirus deaths mount
Brazil’s 2020 deficit is approaching 500 billion reais ($96 billion), or 7% of gross domestic product, even before a state aid proposal of up to 222 billion reais to tackle the coronavirus is factored in, the economy ministry said on Saturday.
In 2019, the deficit was 61 billion reais, or 0.9% of GDP, the ministry said.
02.56 Kia Motors wants to suspend 3 S.Korean factories as virus hits exports – union
Kia Motors told its labour union in South Korea that it wants to suspend operations at three of its factories in the country as the coronavirus oubreak weighs on exports to Europe and the United States, a union official said on Monday.
The union has not decided whether to accept the plan because of negotiations over pay, he said, without elaborating. The operations would be suspended from April 23 to April 29.
02.46 UK finance minister says GDP may fall by up to 30%
Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) could fall by up to 30% between April and June, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak told his colleagues as members of the cabinet call for easing lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Times reported.
Sunak discussed the possibility of a 25% to 30% fall in GDP in the second quarter, the newspaper reported, adding that ten ministers were pressing for the lockdown to be eased next month.
00.50 Ecuador president slashes cabinet members’ salaries in pandemic response
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno and his cabinet members took 50% pay cuts among measures he announced on Friday to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic that has dealt a heavy blow to the Andean nation’s economy.
The salary reductions will also affect state officials including lawmakers in the National Assembly, who have heavily criticized Moreno’s plans to increase taxes to shore up government finances amid the pandemic.
00.05 Erdogan rejects Turkish interior minister’s resignation
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has not accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, the Turkish presidency said on Sunday.
“The resignation of our interior minister has not been accepted by the president, he will continue his duty,” the presidency’s communications directorate said. Soylu earlier said he was resigning after criticism of a weekend lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
What happened on Sunday
EUROPE
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left hospital and thanked staff for saving his life from COVID-19, but his government was forced to defend its response to the pandemic as the national death toll passed 10,000.
- Pope Francis called for global solidarity in fighting the pandemic and its economic fallout, urging the relaxation of international sanctions, debt relief for poor nations and ceasefires in all conflicts.
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said any further loosening of the country’s lockdown restrictions would depend on more progress in the fight against the coronavirus, a day before some companies plan to reopen their doors.
- The death toll in France rose at a slightly slower pace on Sunday than a day earlier, the French public health authority said, adding that the lockdown was producing its first effects.
- Russia on Sunday reported 2,186 new cases, the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak. The number of cases reached 15,770 as of April 12, while deaths rose to 130.
AMERICAS
- Total number of infections in the United States exceeded 550,000 and deaths 22000, as of 0200 GMT on April 13, according to a Reuters tally.
- Americans spent Easter Sunday on lockdown as the U.S. toll from the pandemic surpassed 21,300 deaths and more than half a million confirmed cases.
- The United States needs to ramp up testing for the coronavirus as the White House considers when and how to lift stay-at-home restrictions and lockdowns, U.S. health experts said.
- Mexico reported on Sunday 442 fresh cases and 23 new deaths, bringing the country’s total to 4,661 cases and 296 deaths.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
- Chinese cities near the border with Russia said they would tighten border controls and quarantine measures on arrivals from abroad after the number of imported cases of COVID-19 hit a record high.
- Indonesia imposed curbs on public transport ahead of the annual exodus to home villages that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month, seeking to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the world’s fourth most populous country.
- India said its hospital network is adequately prepared to tackle the spread of the virus, with over 100,000 beds ready to cater to a potential surge in patient numbers.
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prompted an angry response from some Twitter users after sharing a video of himself lounging on a sofa with his dog, drinking tea and reading, along with a message telling people to stay at home.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
- A former Israeli chief rabbi died after contracting the coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in what is the country’s highest-profile death from the pandemic
- Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun moving back to their homes in war-torn Idlib province despite the risk of renewed conflict, some driven by fear that the coronavirus could wreak havoc on crowded camps near the Turkish border.
- African ambassadors in China have written to the country’s foreign minister over what they call discrimination against Africans as the country seeks to prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus.
- South Africa, which banned the sale of all alcohol and cigarettes under a lockdown that triggered a wave of lootings of liquor shops, said on Sunday it had caught police officers who were complicit in illegal alcohol sales.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
- Global shares fell as investors braced for more signs of economic damage from the pandemic, although a landmark deal by OPEC and its allies to slash output helped oil prices climb in volatile trade.
- The U.S. economic recovery will likely be a “long, hard road” in which some parts of the economy will periodically shut down and restart, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said on Sunday.
- South Korean exports for the first 10 days of April tumbled as COVID-19 upended global supply chains and knocked demand. Asia’s fourth-largest economy is considered a bellwether for world trade.
- Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving “perilously close to the edge” in supplies for grocers.
- India and other South Asian countries are likely to record their worst growth performance in four decades this year due to the pandemic, the World Bank said.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest lender in the United States by assets, is raising borrowing standards this week for most new home loans as the bank moves to mitigate lending risk stemming from the coronavirus disruption.
