Coronavirus: Germany draws up plans to end lockdown after April 19
Read the latest on the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world here
Iran supreme leader approves tapping sovereign wealth fund to fight coronavirus
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has approved the withdrawal of one billion euros from the country's sovereign wealth fund to help fight the coronavirus epidemic, President Hassan Rouhani's official website said on Monday.
Iran is the Middle Eastern country worst-affected so far by the coronavirus, with 3,739 deaths and 60,500 people infected as of Monday, official data showed.
Shut out of international capital markets and facing a further hit to its finances with the collapse in global oil prices coming on top of US sanctions, Iran is struggling to shield its economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
New York state virus toll tops 4,000 with 594 new deaths
The coronavirus death toll in New York state rose to 4,159, the governor said Sunday, up from 3,565 a day prior.
The spike by 594 deaths showed a slight decrease in the day-to-day number of lives lost compared to the previous day, AFP reported.
'Don't target doctors': Indian medics say coronavirus critics being muzzled
Indian authorities are facing growing complaints from doctors who say their criticism of the response to the coronavirus outbreak and a lack of protective gear is being muzzled.
The Resident Doctor's Association of New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which represents 2,500 doctors, wrote on Monday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the backlash against doctors.
The association's general secretary, Dr Srinivas Rajkumar, told Reuters at least 10 doctors had been threatened by police, transferred or forced to resign following their criticism.
White House considering US Treasury coronavirus bond: Kudlow
White House advisers have been discussing the possibility of a coronavirus-related US Treasury bond, President Donald Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Monday.
Kudlow said this is a time to sell bonds to raise cash for the coronavirus relief efforts and he thought a "war bond" was a great idea. "This would be a long-term investment into the future of American health, safety and the economy," he told CNBC in an interview. "From my standpoint, technical considerations aside, I think the concept is exactly right."
Migrant workers fear massive Singapore dormitory lockdown is coronavirus time bomb
Migrant workers living in vast Singapore dormitories cut off from the outside world due to the coronavirus outbreak fear their cramped and squalid quarters are fast becoming a hotbed for infection.
Singapore on Sunday said it had quarantined nearly 20,000 workers in two dormitories, made up of mainly Bangladeshi and other South Asian manual workers, after they were linked to at least 90 infections.
The government said the action was needed to prevent broader transmission in the city-state - which is closing schools and offices this week due to a spike in cases - and said it had taken measures to reduce worker interaction in the dormitories and ensure they received salary, meals and medical support.
Chinese masks, or 'blue gold', arrive for Swiss hospitals
A Boeing 747 landed in Geneva on Monday with 92 tonnes of protective medical equipment including masks made in China for distribution to 13 Swiss hospitals and pharmaceutical associations as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The flight contained 2.5 million surgical masks, 10 million gloves as well as goggles and thermometers worth more than 3 million Swiss francs ($3.1 million), and made by Sinopharm Group Co Ltd.
Another delivery arrived in Zurich on Sunday evening on a chartered Swiss airline flight from Shanghai carrying protective gowns for dozens of health care facilities. Further flights with additional equipment are planned.
Kenya halts movement in areas affected by the coronavirus
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday ordered a halt to all movement in parts of the country affected by the new coronavirus, including the capital Nairobi, a tightening of measures to stem the spread of the outbreak.
The order includes a ban on all entry into and exit out of the areas affected.
“The cessation of movement within the Nairobi metropolitan area shall be for an initial containment period of 21 days with effect from 7 p.m. Monday the 6th of April 2020, that is today,” Kenyatta said in a televised address.
Torn between duty and fear - an Italian doctor fights coronavirus
Cecilia Bartalena, a doctor treating coronavirus victims, lives in terror - torn between the oath she has taken to heal the sick and the fear that she might infect the people she loves.
The 35-year-old works long shifts on the front line at the Cisanello Hospital emergency ward in the Tuscan city of Pisa, famous for the 14th-century leaning tower which was completed about 25 years after the plague ravaged Europe.
She doesn't feel like a hero - although she appreciates why Italians have put her and her colleagues on that pedestal - and she is not afraid to say that she is, well, afraid.
Canada, US farms face crop losses due to foreign worker delays
Mandatory coronavirus quarantines of seasonal foreign workers in Canada could hurt that country’s fruit and vegetable output this year, and travel problems related to the pandemic could also leave US farmers with fewer workers than usual.
Foreign labor is critical to farm production in both countries, where domestic workers shun the hard physical labor and low pay.
In Canada, where farms rely on 60,000 temporary foreign workers, their arrivals are delayed by initial border restrictions and grounded flights. Once they arrive, the federal government requires them to be isolated for 14 days with pay, unable to work.
In the United States, nearly 250,000 foreign guest workers, mostly from Mexico, help harvest fruit and vegetables each year. The State Department is processing H-2A visas for farm workers with reduced staffing, though some companies are still having a hard time getting workers in on time.
US officials brace for 'peak death week' in coronavirus
US officials on Monday girded the country for a "peak death week" from the coronavirus pandemic as the accelerating American death toll closed the gap with Italy and Spain, the countries with the most fatalities to date.
"It's going to be the peak hospitalization, peak ICU week and unfortunately, peak death week," Admiral Brett Giroir, a physician and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.
Giroir raised particular alarm for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Detroit, and reinforced the messaging from US Surgeon General Jerome Adams who warned on Sunday that, "This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment."
GSK to partner with Vir for potential Covid-19 treatments, invest $250 million
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline will invest $250 million in Vir Biotechnology Inc and collaborate to develop potential treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the companies said on Monday.
Vir's shares jumped 35 percent before the bell, while GSK was up about 1 percent.
Drugmakers across the globe are rushing to develop a treatment or vaccine for the fast-spreading coronavirus that has killed over 68,400 people globally. There are currently no approved treatments for the disease.
English coronavirus death toll rises 403 to 4,897, health service says
England’s hospital death toll from the coronavirus rose by 403 to 4,897, the National Health Service said.
The health service said 15 of the 403 patients had no known underlying health conditions.
Standard Chartered unveils $50m global Covid-19 assistance fund
Standard Chartered PLC recently announced a set of global measures, including a $50 million global community assistance fund, to support those hit by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Of the $50 million, the British multinational banking and financial services company will immediately donate $25 million to support emergency relief in its hardest-hit markets.
China vows to strengthen coronavirus controls at land borders as cases rise
China will work to further prevent coronavirus cases imported through its land borders, the Chinese government said in a statement on Monday after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.
Germany draws up plans to end lockdown after April 19
Germany has drawn up a list of measures, including an obligation to wear masks in public, limits on public gatherings and the rapid tracing of infection chains, that officials think should allow life to return to normal after lockdown's scheduled end on April 19.
Vietnamese hat seller turns to homemade face shields in virus fight
For nearly three decades, Quach My Linh has sold hats at Ba Chieu market in Vietnam's bustling Ho Chi Minh City.
But following a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the 42-year-old vendor has turned to making plastic face shields for frontline medical workers instead.
"I was once a patient myself and I feel like my family owes doctors a lot", said Linh, who received hospital treatment a few years ago for a blood-related illness.
Swiss coronavirus deaths hit 584, positive tests rise to 21,652
The Swiss death toll from the novel coronavirus has risen to 584, the country’s public health agency said on Monday, from 559 people on Sunday.
The number of positive tests also increased to 21,652 from 21,100 on Sunday, it said.
Iran death toll from coronavirus outbreak reaches 3,739: health ministry
The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus outbreak has reached 3,739, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV on Monday.
The total number of people infected by coranavirus in the country has reached 60,500, he said.
Tesla engineers show ventilator prototype on YouTube
Engineers at Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) showed a prototype for a ventilator on Sunday evening in a video published on the company's YouTube channel, as hospitals around the country overwhelmed by coronavirus patients face device shortages.
The design for the ventilators relies heavily on Tesla car parts, one of the engineers said, enabling the company to redeploy existing stock and produce the devices quickly.
Testing times for India in race to head off coronavirus epidemic
India, like a lot of countries plunged into crisis by the pandemic, is struggling to ramp up testing for the coronavirus, but in few places would the odds of containing the disease appear so bleak should domestic transmission start to multiply.
Officials hope to be testing 20,000 people daily by the end of the week, four times the current rate.
Accused of 'piracy', US denies diverting masks bound for Germany
The United States had no knowledge of a shipment of face masks bound for Germany that officials in Berlin have accused it of diverting from an airport in Bangkok, a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Thailand said.
The comment came after Berlin Secretary of Interior Andreas Geisel said on Friday that an order of 200,000 masks bound for Germany had been "confiscated" in Bangkok and diverted to the United States, calling it an "act of modern piracy".
Swedish government seeks wider executive powers to fight virus
Sweden's government is seeking wider executive powers, including the right to shut airports and railway stations without parliament's approval, in its fight to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Sweden has so far taken a low-key approach to containing the virus. Unlike most of Europe, which is in virtual lockdown, Swedes can still go to the gym and eat at restaurants, while primary and secondary schools remain open.
Spain to widen coronavirus tests as hopes rise for easing lockdown
Spain said on Monday it plans to widen coronavirus testing to include people without symptoms as a first step towards slowly easing a lockdown in the nation with the second highest death toll from the global pandemic.
As with worst-hit Italy, Spain has seen the rate of new infections and deaths slow in recent days, giving cause for hope the peak has passed. On Sunday, it reported 674 fatalities in the previous 24 hours - a 6 percent increase in total, but half the pace of a week previously.
Malaysia reports 131 new coronavirus cases; 3,793 in total, with one new death
Malaysia on Monday reported 131 new coronavirus infections, raising the country’s total to 3,793 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia.
The Health Ministry has recorded 62 deaths, including one more reported as of noon Monday.
Iran will never ask US for coronavirus help: official
Iran will never ask the United States to help Tehran in its fight against the new coronavirus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday, adding that Washington should lift its "illegal" sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Austria plans to start reopening shops from next week
Austria plans to reopen smaller shops from next week in its first step to loosen a lockdown that has slowed the spread of the coronavirus, as long as the public continue to observe the lockdown broadly, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday.
Kurz told a news conference that since Austria had acted earlier than most countries, that gave it the ability to reopen shops sooner as well.
If all goes well, it will reopen non-essential shops of less than 400 square metres and DIY shops on April 14, followed by all shops and malls on May 1, he said.
Japan vows to fight 'biggest global crisis since WWII' with massive coronavirus stimulus package
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is to pledge to take "all steps" encompassing fiscal, monetary and tax policies to battle the deepening fallout from the coronavirus in a stimulus package to be approved on Tuesday, a draft document reviewed by Reuters showed.
Abe has pledged to craft an "unprecedented" stimulus package to respond to the global downturn inflicted by the pandemic, which would exceed the size of one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totalling 56 trillion yen ($514 billion) in size, with fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen.
Philippines reports 11 more deaths, 414 new coronavirus infections
The Philippines' Health Ministry on Monday reported 11 additional deaths and 414 new infections from of the coronavirus outbreak.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths in the Philippines had reached 163 and cases rose to 3,660, while 73 patients had recovered, Reuters reported
Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus cases
Indonesia on Monday confirmed 218 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily jump since the first cases were announced a month ago, taking the total number of infections to 2,491, a Health Ministry official said.
Achmad Yurianto, the official, said that 11 deaths had been recorded, taking the total to 209, while 192 people had recovered, Reuters reported.
Thailand reports 51 new coronavirus cases, three more deaths
Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday, according to a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infected patients or had activities with them, said the spokesman, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, Reuters reported.
More than half of the new cases were in Bangkok, he said.
Thailand has confirmed 2,220 cases and 26 fatalities since the outbreak emerged in the country in January.
Singapore unveils $3.5 bln in economic spending to combat coronavirus
Singapore announced S$5.1 billion ($3.55 billion) in additional economic spending such as wage support, waiver of levies and one-off payments to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is an unprecedented budget for extraordinary times," Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat told parliament on Monday, just over a week after the city-state unveiled more than $30 billion in new support measures as it braces for its worst recession, Reuters reported.
On Friday, Singapore said it will close schools and most workplaces for a month as part of stricter measures to curb a recent jump in coronavirus infections. Singapore has reported a total of 1,309 infections and six deaths from the coronavirus.
Heng said the new measures unveiled in the third budget will increase the total spending on coronavirus relief to S$59.9 bln or 12% of gross domestic product (GDP). He said Singapore will draw an additional S$4 billion from its past reserves to fund the new measures.
Heng said Singapore's overall budget deficit for financial year 2020 is expected to increase to S$44.3 billion, or 8.9% of GDP. ($1 = 1.4356 Singapore dollars)
Russia virus cases jump by almost 1,000 in 24 hours
Coronavirus case tally in Russia has risen to 6,343 in the last 24 hours, a record daily increase of 954.
Cases have been recorded widely, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 591 new cases, Al Jazeera reported.
At least 47 people have died across the country.
India virus deaths top 100, with highest single-day toll at 32
A total of 109 people have died of Covid-19 in India, with 32 fatalities and 693 fresh cases in the past 24 hours alone, government data released today showed.
The figures released by the Federal Health Ministry take the number of positive cases in India past the 4,000-mark to 4,067. India has registered an increase of 500-plus cases in the four days since Friday, Reuters reported.
Health Ministry officials said more than 1,000 cases were connected to a religious gathering organized by Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary movement in New Delhi, last month.
Iran's coronavirus cases nudge 60,000 as slowdown continues; Israel's tally crosses 8,000
Iran's COVID-19 cases rose by 2,483 to 58,226 on Sunday as the slowdown continued for five consecutive days in a row. Meanwhile, the tally of novel coronavirus infections in Israel surpassed 8,000.
The death toll from the viral respiratory disease in Iran rose by 151 to reach 3,603. So far, a total of 22,011 patients have recovered from the disease, while 4,057 remain in critical condition, XINHUA reported.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered the extension of a ban on all sports activities until April 18 in a bid to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
Bangladesh records highest single-day deaths from coronavirus, cases surpass 100
Bangladesh today confirmed four more deaths from the novel coronavirus in the country, raising the death toll to 13.
"29 more new coronavirus patients were found in last 24 hours, increasing the number of infected persons to 117," said Health Minister Zahid Malik today in a meeting in the capital, The Business Standard reported.
Japan to declare state of emergency for about a month: PM
Japan is to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus, the prime minister said, with the government preparing a stimulus package to soften the economic blow.
More than 3,500 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Japan and 85 have died - not a huge outbreak compared with some hot spots, but the numbers keep rising with particular alarm over the spread in Tokyo, which has more than 1,000 cases, including 83 new ones on Monday, Reuters reported.
Germany reports fourth straight drop in daily rate of new coronavirus infections
Germany's confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 3,677 in the past 24 hours to 95,391 on Monday, the fourth straight drop in the daily rate of new cases, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
The number of new cases was lower than the 5,936 new infections reported on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The reported death toll rose by 92 to 1,434.
France's death toll slows but coronavirus still hits hard
France's daily death toll from the novel coronavirus fell in the past 24 hours and admissions into intensive care also slowed, the health ministry said on Sunday, thanking citizens for largely respecting a lockdown to halt the spread of the virus.
The health ministry data showed that 357 people died from COVID-19 in hospitals, compared with 441 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total toll in hospitals to 5,889, Reuters reported.
It said that 2,189 people had died in nursing homes since March 1, taking France's total death toll to 8,078.
China sees rises in new coronavirus cases, asymptomatic patients
Mainland China reported 39 new coronavirus cases as of Sunday, up from 30 a day earlier, and the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak despite drastic containment efforts.
The National Health Commission said in a statement on Monday that 78 new asymptomatic cases had been identified as of the end of the day on Sunday, compared with 47 the day before, Reuters reported.
Imported cases and asymptomatic patients, who have the virus and can give it to others but show no symptoms, have become China's chief concern in recent weeks after draconian containment measures succeeded in slashing the infection rate.
Malta locks down migrants camp, puts 1,000 in quarantine after COVID cluster
Some 1,000 African migrants were placed under mandatory quarantine on Sunday after an outbreak of COVID-19 and their camp at Hal Far in the south of Malta was surrounded by police and army trucks to ensure compliance.
Health Minister Chris Fearne told reporters that eight cases had been confirmed in two days and a risk assessment showed the possibility that the disease had spread to a number of other migrants since people in the camp lived in close proximity, Reuters reported.
He said the eight confirmed cases had been placed in isolation. All other migrants in the camp will have to observe quarantine for 14 days.
He said arrangements had been made for medical care to be provided at the site. Army trucks have circled the camp and police have been deployed at and around the area.
Home Minister Byron Camilleri said quarantine would be enforced by the police as in all other cases in Malta. Anyone breaking quarantine is liable to a 3,000 euro ($3,240) fine.
Malta has reported 227 COVID cases but no fatalities.
Italy starts to look ahead to 'phase two' as COVID-19 death toll slows
Italy reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll for more than two weeks on Sunday as authorities began to look ahead to a second phase of the battle against the new coronavirus once the lockdown imposed almost a month ago is eventually eased.
The toll from the world's deadliest outbreak reached 15,887, almost a quarter of the global death total, but the rise of 525 from a day earlier was the smallest daily increase since March 19, while the number of patients in badly stretched intensive care units fell for a second day running, Reuters reported.
South Korea reports fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases
South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia's largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downward.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Monday there were 47 new infections as of midnight on Sunday compared with 81 recorded a day earlier, taking the national cumulative tally to 10,284, Reuters reported.
The death toll rose by three to 186, while another 135 people have recovered from the virus for a total of 6,598.
South Korea has largely managed to bring the epidemic under control for now, with around 100 or fewer new daily cases for the past month, but it was the first time the rate of daily cases dropped below 50 since 909 were reported on February 29.
But officials urged even greater vigilance, saying a large epidemic could reemerge at any time, with smaller outbreaks in churches, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as infections among travellers, continuing to arise.
A fall in daily demand for tests to some 6,000 from around 10,000 over the weekend contributed to the decline in numbers, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said.
US faces 'really bad' week as coronavirus deaths spike
The United States is entering what a senior official warned on Sunday would be the "hardest" week of the coronavirus crisis as the death toll mounted, but some saw glimmers of hope from a slight slowing of fatalities in hard-hit New York.
New York, the epicenter of the US coronavirus outbreak, reported on Sunday that for the first time in a week, deaths had fallen slightly from the day before. But there were still nearly 600 new fatalities and more than 7,300 new cases in the state, Reuters reported.
Louisiana has become a hot spot for the virus, reporting a jump in deaths to nearly 500 and more than 13,000 cases. The governor predicted the state would run out of ventilators by Thursday.
Spain's coronavirus death toll rises by 674 but pace slowing
The rate of new coronavirus infections and deaths in Spain slowed again on Sunday as the country, suffering from one of the world's worst outbreaks of the pandemic, began its fourth week under a near-total lockdown.
Deaths from the highly infectious COVID-19 respiratory disease rose to 12,418 on Saturday - the second highest worldwide after Italy. However, the toll of 674 people who died during the past 24 hours was down from Saturday's 809 and well below Thursday's daily record of 950, the Health Ministry said, Reuters reported.
18 doctors die of COVID-19 in Indonesia
The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) on Sunday reported that a total of 18 doctors, who had treated patients infected by the novel coronavirus, have died in the country.
The doctors had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and in the status of patients under surveillance of the virus, IDI's spokesman Halik Malik said, Xinhua reported.
The practitioners were believed to be infected while treating patients of COVID-19 in hospitals, he said.
'We'll meet again': Queen Elizabeth invokes WW2 spirit to defeat coronavirus
Queen Elizabeth told the British people on April 5 that they would overcome the coronavirus outbreak if they stayed resolute in the face of lockdown and self-isolation, invoking the spirit of World War Two in an extremely rare broadcast to the nation.
In what was only the fifth televised address of her 68-year reign, Elizabeth called upon Britons to show the resolve of their forbears and demonstrate they were as strong as generations of the past, Reuters reported.
"We will meet again", she pointedly said in a direct reference to the most famous British song from the war years of the 1940s, when she was a teenager. "Better days will return."
Boris Johnson hospitalised for tests after persistent coronavirus symptoms
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus, though Downing Street said he remained in charge of the government.
Johnson, who was isolating in Downing Street after testing positive last month, still had a high temperature and so his doctors felt he should go to an undisclosed hospital for tests in what the government said was a "precautionary step", Reuters reported.
Tiger at New York Zoo tests positive for coronavirus
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo's chief veterinarian said on Sunday.
Nadia, the 4-year-old Malayan tiger that tested positive, was screened for the COVID-19 disease after developing a dry cough along with three other tigers and three lions, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the zoo, said in a statement. All of the cats are expected to recover, it said, Reuters reported.
Mexico registers 2,143 coronavirus cases, 94 deaths
Mexico on Sunday had registered 2,143 cases of the novel coronavirus in the country, an increase of 253 cases from a day earlier, the health ministry said.
The number of deaths linked to the virus rose by 15 to 94, Reuters reported.
