Tag Archives: world cases

Factbox: Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

(Reuters) – Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.18 million globally and 147,265 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

– For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

– For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

AMERICAS

– The U.S. Secretary of State said nations should rethink adopting Huawei’s 5G networks in their telecommunications infrastructure, due to China’s role in the pandemic.

– Some Venezuelan public health workers told Reuters the nation’s rickety health care system is ill-prepared to confront the pandemic, with a nationwide testing program dependent on a single, overstretched Caracas lab.

– Honduras’ health minister said that a Cuban medical brigade would join local medics to fight the coronavirus.

– Mexico’s deputy health minister, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said the country might have as many as 55,951 people infected, twice the estimated number reported last week.

– Brazilian President Bolsonaro fired his health minister and again called for states to end stay-at-home orders. He also accused a house speaker of turning state governors against him and seeking to remove him from office.

EUROPE

– Britain was too slow to react on a number of fronts to the outbreak and 40,000 people could die, a leading public health professor told lawmakers on Friday, a day after the UK’s hospital death toll rose to 14,576.

– Switzerland urged residents against complacency as the country’s infection rate slows and lawmakers start relaxing restrictions.

– Germany’s health minister said the outbreak has become manageable again as the number of recovered patients has exceeded new infections every day this week.

– Moscow has more cases than state testing shows, private testing results among people without symptoms suggest.

ASIA-PACIFIC

– Nearly 1,300 people who died in the Chinese city of Wuhan, or half the total, were not counted in death tolls because of lapses, state media said on Friday, but Beijing dismissed claims that there had been any kind of cover-up.

– Singapore is assessing whether to place recovered migrant workers on cruise ships rather than back in dormitories that have become infection hotbeds, despite problems controlling onboard outbreaks encountered elsewhere.

– Japan said it hoped to start distributing relief payments next month, after extending a state of emergency nationwide.

– The number of infections in South Asia crossed 22,000 on Friday, driven by a rise in cases in India as the Maldives locked down its capital.

– Indonesia surpassed the Philippines on Friday as the country reporting the most infections in Southeast Asia.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

– The pandemic will likely kill at least 300,000 Africans and risks pushing 29 million into extreme poverty, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa said, calling for a $100 billion safety net for the continent.

– Iran paraded medical gear to mark its national Army Day as the country’s death toll rose to 4,958. A parliamentary report released earlier this week said the death toll might be almost double the figures announced by the health ministry, and the number of infections eight to 10 times more.

– Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti said that Muslim prayers during Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr feast should be performed at home if the outbreak continues.

– Israel is heading off shortages of disposable surgical masks by mass-producing washable versions sized to fit everyone from children to bearded men.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

– World stock markets made a super-charged sprint towards a second straight week of gains on Friday after President Donald Trump laid out plans to gradually reopen the coronavirus-hit U.S. economy following similar moves elsewhere. [MKTS/GLOB]

– Oil prices were mixed on Friday as news of Trump’s plans was quickly overshadowed by China’s worst quarterly economic contraction on record.

– The International Monetary Fund said the economic fallout of the pandemic, combined with other problems, meant Latin America and the Caribbean would likely see “no growth” in the decade from 2015 to 2025.

– Chile´s export-driven economy will see a painfully slow recovery after being battered by mass protests and the coronavirus crisis, market watchers said.

– It is unclear whether measures designed to support the euro zone economy will be sufficient, Germany’s Bundesbank head told Bloomberg, adding that expansionary monetary and fiscal policies would remain necessary for some time.

– The outbreak will not affect China’s current account in the medium-to-long term, the foreign exchange regulator said on Friday.

– Saudi Arabia is facing the crisis with strong financial reserves and relatively low government debt, its finance minister said.

– Fourteen Japanese companies have scrapped plans for initial public offerings this month, more than in the aftermath of the Sept 2001 attacks on the United States.

– Britain’s financial watchdog has proposed a repayment freeze for millions of consumers with auto finance contracts, goods bought on high-cost credit, and pawned belongings.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Arun Koyyur and Nick Macfie)

Factbox: Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

(Reuters) – Reported cases of the coronavirus crossed 2.07 million globally and more than 138,400 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Thursday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

AMERICAS

* U.S. President Donald Trump plans to announce new guidelines to reopen the economy on Thursday, despite concerns from health experts, governors and business leaders about a resurgence in cases without more testing and protocols in place.

* U.S. defense secretary said he believed China’s leaders have been misleading and opaque about the outbreak and does not trust that they are being truthful even now.

* Mexico’s government said its health experts have recommended the country extend its current measures until May 30.

* Mexico could force the closure of companies in non-essential sectors if they refuse to suspend operations during a state of emergency.

* Haiti will reopen its key textile industry next week.

* A two-month-old baby born to Warao indigenous refugees from Venezuela has tested positive, the mayor’s office in the Brazilian city of Manaus said.

EUROPE

* Europe is in eye of the storm, with the number of cases nearing a million, and should move with extreme caution when considering easing lockdowns, the WHO’s regional director said.

* Spain’s national death toll exceeded 19,000, but figures from the region of Catalonia indicated the real total could be several thousand higher.

* Britain’s outbreak is starting to peak but it is too early to lift the lockdown, its health minister said.

* Austria plans to test every retirement home resident as it expands efforts to measure the pandemic’s spread.

* Hungary is extending lockdown measures by one week from Saturday.

* The Swiss government will start a gradual relaxation of restrictions from April 27.

* A study of Dutch blood donors found that around 3% have developed antibodies against the virus, an indication of what percentage of the population may have already had the disease.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China reported fewer imported cases on Thursday, but said locally transmitted infections rose, with the capital Beijing seeing new local cases for the first time in more than three weeks.

* Japan’s prime minister expanded a state of emergency to include the entire country and said the government was considering cash payouts for all.

* South Korea’s ruling party won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections in a landslide victory propelled by successes in the country’s efforts to contain the virus.

* India charged a Muslim leader with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for holding a gathering last month that authorities say led to a big jump in infections.

* Malaysia approved the use of antigen rapid test kits from South Korea, as it looks to increase its testing among high-risk groups and in places where clusters are detected.

* Indonesia expects the number of cases to peak between May and June with around 95,000 infections, a government adviser said.

* Australia will retain curbs on public movement for at least four more weeks, its prime minister said, dashing speculation the sustained low growth in new cases could spur a quicker return to normal.

* China said the WHO has said there is no evidence that the virus was made in a lab, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Iran’s official death toll reached 4,869 on Thursday but a parliamentary report said the actual number could be much higher.

* Oman locked down a textile market in a town popular with tourists as the country reported more than 100 new infections to take its count above 1,000.

* Six Gulf Arab states approved Kuwait’s proposal for a common network for food supply safety.

* The Kingdom of Eswatini recorded its first death on Thursday.

* South Africa will allow mines to operate at a capacity of 50% during a nationwide lockdown.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Europe led world stock markets higher as tentative moves to reopen parts of the some of its larger economies and a bounce in oil offset some truly dismal global economic data.

* Hedge fund Elliott Management said global stocks could ultimately lose half of their value from February’s high, according to a letter sent to clients.

* The United States opposes creation of liquidity through issuance of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights as part of the response to the pandemic, U.S. treasury secretary said.

* The Federal Reserve’s program to back emergency government loans to small businesses is “fully operational,” the central bank said.

* Britain’s economy looks set for a record contraction after figures showed retail spending plunged by more than a quarter and one in four firms stopped trading temporarily.

* The Philippine central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year, bringing it to a record low of 2.75%.

* China has not seen large-scale exodus of foreign capital amid the outbreak, the commerce ministry said.

* Mexico’s president said the government would provide an additional one million loans to small businesses.

* Russia is set to spend more than 2 trillion roubles ($26.96 billion) on its anti-crisis programme.

(Compiled by Milla Nissi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

(Reuters) – Global cases of the new coronavirus have shot past 1 million with more than 54,000 fatalities, a Reuters tally showed on Friday, as death tolls soared in the United States and western Europe while the world economy nosedived.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

** Reported cases have surpassed 1.03 million globally and nearly 54,500 people have died, according to a Reuters tally.

** For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

** U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

EUROPE

** Spain overtook Italy for the first time for the number of confirmed cases, but the overnight death toll fell from the previous day.

** Hospitals in Catalonia, Spain’s second worst-hit region, are at “maximum stress”, the regional leader said.

** Switzerland’s government boosted its powers to force firms to make more critical medical supplies.

** Scientific advisers to the Italian government said a reliable antibody blood test to find out who has already had the virus would give a better picture of Italy’s epidemic and could possibly be identified within days.

** The southerly region of Chechnya became the first in Russia to introduce a night curfew.

** Cases in Ireland’s nursing homes have increased four-fold in the space of a week.

** Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, said on Friday he was remaining in isolation with mild symptoms, seven days after he was confirmed to be infected. Queen Elizabeth will make an extremely rare address to the nation on Sunday.

** A new hospital opened in London to provide thousands of extra beds, after being installed in a huge conference centre in just nine days. Britain’s health minister said the curve of deaths could peak on Easter Sunday.

** French high-school students have had their graduation exam, the “baccalaureat”, cancelled for first time since it was instituted two centuries ago under Napoleon.

** Poland is working on a smartphone app to help trace sufferers and mitigate the outbreak.

** Latvia reported its first death.

AMERICAS

** U.S. House Speaker Pelosi said that $350 billion in already-passed coronavirus spending was not enough for small businesses, and she wants more money in next bill being developed now in the Democrat-run House.

** New York state suffered its deadliest single day with 562 deaths, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

** New York City hospitals and morgues struggled to treat the severely ill and bury the dead, and San Francisco secured 4,500 rooms in its now-empty hotels for the homeless.

** Two Dutch ocean liners stuck at sea due to an onboard outbreak were allowed to dock in Florida.

** Canada has recorded almost 12,000 cases and the daily death toll jumped by almost 20%.

** Brazil faces a tense few weeks, with supplies of medical and protective equipment running low and shipments from China not expected to arrive for another month.

** Mexico’s deputy health minister said there were no plans for border closures, as Mexico’s death toll jumped to 50 from 37.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

** The top official in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, warned residents to stay vigilant and avoid going out, even as the latest data showed a decline in new cases in mainland China and no new infections in the city.

** Confusion reigned in some Hong Kong pubs and bars after authorities ordered a two-week closure, with many food outlets uncertain if the latest restrictions applied to them.

** The U.S. sounded the alarm about a surge in cases in Japan, adding to a chorus of prominent domestic voices who have called for more decisive action.

** Taiwan and the United States discussed how to get “closer coordination” between the island and the World Health Organization during the outbreak, drawing a rebuke from China.

** Kyrgyzstan reported its first death.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

** More than 2 million workers in Turkey have lost their jobs due to containment measures, the main opposition party said, as the government moved towards tightening curbs on movement.

** Israel locked down an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town badly affected by the virus.

** A United Nations official voiced concern over prisoners after reports of unrest in jails in countries including Iran, one of the worst hit in the world.

** Flight restrictions are hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms threatening to devastate more crops in eastern Africa, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said.

** Coronavirus has infected more than 3,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa and killed about 100, prompting some of the world’s poorest countries to shut land and sea borders.

** Norway called for more money to help the Palestinian Territories get through the pandemic.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

** Global stock markets sank following more signs that the COVID-19 pandemic would take a massive toll on economic growth, while oil prices continued to rally on hopes of a cut to global supply.

** The global recession that economists polled by Reuters say is under way due to the coronavirus pandemic will be deeper than thought a few weeks ago, although most are clinging to hopes of a swift rebound.

** The impact of the coronavirus, and for some the oil market crash, are putting at least half a dozen countries at risk of having their debt downgraded to a ‘junk’ rating.

** The U.S. economy shed 701,000 jobs in March, ending a historic 113 straight months of employment growth.

** The Swiss government is doubling the size of its emergency loan scheme to $41 billion after being flooded by requests for help from businesses.

** Sri Lanka’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rates by a further 25 basis points, its second such reduction in three weeks.

** The head of Britain’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders urged the government to support car suppliers, some of which were set to run out of money within weeks.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland and Milla Nissi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, William Maclean, Sriraj Kalluvila, Nick Macfie and Kevin Liffey)