Coronavirus latest updates: Confirmed cases near 1.8 million; Pope urges world not to yield to fear
Coronavirus latest: at a glance
A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak
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Confirmed cases near 1.8 million
Statistics provided by the Johns Hopkins University
Covid-19 tracker show that there were 1,777,666 confirmed cases around the
world, with 108,867 deaths. The worst affected countries were the US (529,951
cases, 20,608 deaths), Spain (163,027 and 16,606 ), Italy (152,271 and 19,468),
France (130,730 and 13,832) and Germany (125,452 and 2,871).
Trump to decide on ending restrictions ‘reasonably soon’
Donald Trump has said that reopening parts of the US for
working life will be one of the toughest decisions he ever makes, and he’ll be
making it “reasonably soon”. Speaking on Fox News, Trump said: “I think it’s
going to be the toughest decision I ever made and hopefully the most difficult
I will ever have to make. I hope I’m going to make the right decision. I will
be basing it on a lot of very smart people, a lot of professionals, doctors and
business leaders. There are a lot of things that go into a decision like that.
And it’s going to be based on a lot of facts and instincts.”
Pope urges world not to yield to fear
“Easter offers a message of hope in people’s darkest
hour,” Pope Francis said at a late-night vigil Mass in an empty St Peters
Basilica on Saturday. “Do not be afraid, do not yield to fear: this is the
message of hope,” said the Pope. The Pope was preparing to break with centuries
of tradition and livestream his Easter Sunday mass to allow the world’s 1.3
billion Catholics celebrate their holiest holiday.
Moscow hospitals under stress as Russia’s toll grows
Elderly may need to isolate for whole year: EU chief
Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end
of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen
has said. “Without a vaccine, we have to limit as much as possible contact with
the elderly,” she told the Germany daily Bild. “I know it’s difficult and that
isolation is a burden, but it is a question of life or death, we have to remain
disciplined and patient.”
Warning on China’s ‘debtbook diplomacy’
As the coronavirus pandemic causes global economic
devastation, China could take control of debt-struck nations’ assets at an accelerated
rate, or it could boost its soft diplomacy by forgiving debt. The choice has
been laid out by the authors of a Harvard report on a Chinese tactic dubbed
“debtbook diplomacy”, and comes amid calls for G20 nations to endorse a
year-long debt moratorium for the poorest countries.
China reports 99 new cases, no deaths
Mainland China has reported 99 new cases on Saturday, of
which all but two were imported. The country’s national health commission said
no one had died from the virus on Saturday. The two local cases were in
Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province, which borders Russia. Of the 97
imported cases recorded, 43 were in the city of Shanghai. There were no new
cases reported in Hubei, the province where the outbreak began.
Covid-19 like a ‘ninja’: researchers
A world-first Hong Kong University study has found the
coronavirus that causes Covid-19 reproduces three as fast as the virus behind
Sars. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the study on
infected lung tissue donated by coronavirus patients discovered that Sars-CoV-2
could replicate about 100 times within 48 hours, compared to the Sars virus
peaking at about 10-20. The new virus also induced slower immune and
inflammatory responses, it said. “The virus is like a ninja, replicating inside
the body with lower interferons and inflammatory response,” said researcher
Jasper Chan Fok-woo.
Mother of Assange’s children appeals for his release
The partner of Julian Assange has pleaded for him to be
released from prison on bail over fears he could contract Covid-19. Stella
Moris, who also revealed the couple have two children, aged one and three, said
Assange had been in poor health for months and there were now genuine fears
that the coronavirus was spreading the London’s Belmarsh prison where he is
being held, awaiting an extradition hearing. One prisoner has died and a number
of prison officers are off sick with suspected Covid-19, Assange’s friends have
claimed.
