Coronavirus latest updates: Global cases pass 1.92 million; Trump threatens to withdraw funding from WHO again
Coronavirus latest: at a glance
A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak
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The global death toll neared 120,000 as cases passed 1.92 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University figures, 1,920,985 people worldwide are known to have been infected with coronavirus, though the total number of infections is likely higher. So far, 119,687 people have died in the pandemic.
France restrictions to ease in May
In a televised address, the French president said France would start returning to normal life on 11 May, if citizens were “civic, responsible and respected the rules” – and if the number of cases of coronavirus continued to drop. He said that only by respecting the confinement rules would the battle against Covid-19 be won.
Brace for ‘extraordinary’ crisis, says Putin
As Moscow tightened its lockdown measures, Russia reported its highest daily infection figures yet. Russia reported 2,558 new cases on Monday, bringing the overall nationwide tally to 18,328. Eighteen people diagnosed with the virus died overnight, pushing the death toll to 148. In a video conference with officials on Monday, Putin said the next weeks would be “decisive” for Russia’s fight against the virus as the situation “is changing practically every day, and unfortunately not for the better.”
China cases emerge on Russia border
China reported 89 new coronavirus cases on 13 April, down from 108 the previous day. China’s state broadcaster had reported earlier that 79 of the day’s imported cases were in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, which shares a border with Russia. Hubei province reported 0 new deaths and cases.
Trump threatens to withdraw funding from WHO again
In a bizarre and antagonistic press briefing that included the airing of a campaign-style video attacking the press and Trump announcing his authority over lockdown rules is “total”, the US president said he will also decide this week whether he plans to reopen the US by 1 May. Payments to individuals as part of the US economic stimulus package will be made by Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Hospitalisations in New York start to plateau
A glimmer of hope. Deaths and hospitalisations are falling in New York. “Yes, I think you can say the worst is over,” governor Andrew Cuomo said, announcing an alliance with six other governors in the region to explore how to lift restrictions. “If you do it wrong, it can backfire, and we’ve seen that with other places in the globe,” Cuomo said.
Japan reports 390 new cases
Monday’s new cases were lower than the 530 new cases reported by the health ministry on Sunday. The country’s total is 7,645. Japan was put under a state of emergency last week, but many people were still seen queuing up at grocery stores and crowding shopping arcades in parts of downtown Tokyo.
IMF to provide immediate debt relief to 25 countries
The debt relief will be made available under the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT). About $215 million of the total will be used for grants to the first 25 countries over the next six months, with extensions possible up to two years. The first countries that will receive debt service relief from the CCRT are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.
