Boris Johnson in intensive care over coronavirus: Live updates
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition has worsened since being hospitalised with persistent COVID-19 symptoms and he has been moved into intensive care, his Downing Street office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 death toll in the US has surpassed 10,000 from more than 356,000 coronavirus cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
Spain has reported more than 4,000 new cases of the coronavirus with over 600 new deaths on the fourth day the daily totals have declined.
The total number of deaths in Spain from COVID-19 on Monday passed 13,000 among more than 135,000 cases.More:
Globally, the death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new virus, has passed 73,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, while the number of infections rose above 1.3 million.
Here are the latest updates:
Monday, April 6
20:49 GMT - South Carolina governor orders residents to stay home
The governor of South Carolina ordered all residents of the state to stay at home except for essential outings to get groceries or exercise.South Carolina was one of the few US states remaining that had not issued such "stay at home" orders in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Henry McMaster issued the order on social media.
20:42 GMT - Egypt reports 149 new cases, its highest daily tally
Egypt reported 149 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily toll since confirming the first infection in February.The North African country, which also reported seven new fatalities, has so far recorded 1,322 cases including 85 deaths.
A total of 259 people had recovered from the fast-spreading disease and been released from hospitals as of Monday, Egypt's Health Ministry said in a statement.
20:22 GMT - Saudi Arabia imposes 24-hour virus curfew in five cities
Saudi Arabia extended the duration of daily curfews in four governorates and five cities, including the capital, to 24 hours to combat coronavirus as confirmed deaths from the disease hit 38.The kingdom imposed round-the-clock lockdowns on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf, the interior ministry said on Twitter.
The same measures were also imposed on the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, the ministry added.
20:16 GMT - Nigeria seeks $6.9bn to fund coronavirus fight
Nigeria is requesting $6.9bn from multilateral lenders to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Africa's biggest economy, the finance minister said on Monday.Read more here.
19:52 GMT - Pandemic protectionism: Nations hoard masks, ventilators, meds
A growing number of countries - US, Germany, India, China - are banning the export of critical equipment and medicines.Read more here.
19:23 GMT - Boris Johnson in intensive care, Raab to deputise
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition has worsened since being hospitalised with persistent COVID-19 symptoms and he has been moved into intensive care, his Downing Street office said in a statement on Monday."Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.
"The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary."
18:56 GMT- Israel declares coronavirus lockdown for Passover
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a national lockdown would begin on Tuesday and end on Friday to try to stem the spread of the new coronavirus during the Jewish holiday of Passover.In a televised address, he said travel restrictions would be tightened on Tuesday and that Israelis will be banned from leaving their homes on Wednesday evening, when families traditionally travel to festive Passover "seder" meals.
18:52 GMT - Denmark aims to reopen day cares, schools on April 15: PM
Denmark will reopen day cares and schools for children in first to fifth grade starting April 15, if the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths remain stable, the country's prime minister said."It will probably be a bit like walking the rope. If we stand still along the way we could fall and if we go too fast it can go wrong. Therefore, we must take one cautious step at a time," Mette Frederiksen told a media briefing.
17:30 GMT - US death toll surpasses 10,000
The death toll from the new coronavirus in the United States passed the 10,000 mark, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. There were 347,000 confirmed infections in the US.17:28 GMT - Masks should be prioritised for health workers: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern that the wearing of medical masks by the general public could exacerbate the shortage for health workers who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.Lockdowns in many places are proving effective in dampening the spread of the virus, but any lifting of restrictions requires a calibrated, step-wise approach based on data, it said.
"Masks alone cannot stop the pandemic, countries must continue to find, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Gheybresus told a news conference.
17:21 GMT - France's daily death toll speeds up
The number of people who died from coronavirus infections in French hospitals increased by 10 percent in the past day to a cumulative total of 6,494, Health minister Olivier Veran told a news conference.He added that including partial data about the number of people who have died in nursing homes, the total death toll from the disease rose to 8,911 from 8,078 on Sunday, which is also an increase of 10 percent.
In both cases, the rate of increase sped up again after several days of slowing.
17:18 GMT - Kuwait locks down two areas, extends curfew
Kuwait placed a full lockdown on two areas and extended its partial curfew by two hours to run from 5pm (14:00 GMT) till 6am effective on Monday until further notice, a statement from the cabinet said.It also extended a previously enacted suspension of work for all ministries and government institutions by two weeks until April 26 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
17:15 GMT - Turkey's death toll reaches 649 with 30,217 total cases
Turkey's death toll from the new coronavirus rose by 75 on Monday to total 649, and new confirmed cases rose by 3,148 to bring the country's total to 30,217, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.He said 21,400 tests for the COVID-19 disease had been performed in Turkey in the past 24 hours.
16:42 GMT - New York governor extends shutdown until April 29
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that recent data on the novel coronavirus including hospitalisations and deaths suggest the crisis may be hitting a plateau in the state.
Cuomo also told a news briefing that he was extending an order to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed for another two weeks until April 29.
Cuomo also told a news briefing that he was extending an order to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed for another two weeks until April 29.
16:40 GMT - Canada's Ontario says US blocked delivery of 3 million masks
The premier of Ontario, Canada's largest province, said the United States had blocked the delivery of three million face masks designed to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.Doug Ford told Global News the incident had happened over the weekend and described it as "absolutely unacceptable".
Read more here.
16:15 GMT - Italy's daily death toll rises to 636, new cases fall sharply
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 636 on Monday, more than 100 higher than the previous daily tally of 525, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the number of new cases fell sharply.The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 came to 16,523, the highest in the world.
The total number of confirmed cases increased by 3,599 to 132,547, the lowest daily rise since March 17, underscoring hopes that the illness might be on the retreat thanks to a nationwide lockdown introduced on March 9.
16:14 GMT - Italian post office enlists military police to deliver pensions
The Italian post office will deploy military police to deliver pensions to retired people in a new effort to reduce the contagion from the coronavirus outbreak, Poste Italiane said.The group signed an agreement with Italy's Carabinieri, which is part of the police but also has military duties, under which pensioners who are at least 75 years old can authorise officers to withdraw their pensions and deliver them the money.
The accord applies to 23,000 people in Italy and will be in place until the health emergency is over, Poste Italiane and the Carabinieri said in a joint statement.
16:07 GMT - The US's biggest bank is not cutting dividends yet: Chief
Big banks in the United Kingdom have scrapped payouts to shareholders this year. So have many European banks. But across the pond, the top boss of the biggest bank in the United States by assets is still thinking about it.JPMorgan Chase & Co's chief executive Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders published on Monday that he sees a "bad recession" in 2020, and that the bank could suspend its dividend payouts to shareholders if the coronavirus crisis deepens.
Read more here.
15:52 GMT - Iran supreme leader approves tapping sovereign wealth fund
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini 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.The money will be used for the health ministry and the unemployment insurance fund, the statement on the presidency website said.
15:47 GMT - Daily Mail publisher asks staff to accept shares in lieu of some pay
Daily Mail and General Trust's media unit has asked staff to take graduated pay cuts, with the difference made up in shares, to help weather the twin hit of less advertising revenue and lower circulation caused by the coronavirus crisis."This is an extremely difficult time for our industry," Jonathan Harmsworth, DMGT chairman and controlling shareholder, said in a letter to DMGT Media staff.
"With the world spiralling into recession, we have seen, and must expect, a significant decrease in advertising revenue; while the current restrictions have also caused a serious drop in circulation."
15:45 GMT - UK death toll increases by 439 to 5,373
The United Kingdom coronavirus death toll rose by 439 to 5,373 people as of 16:00 GMT on April 5, the health ministry said on Monday.As of 08:00 GMT on April 6, a total of 208,837 people had been tested of which 51,608 were positive, it said.
15:38 GMT - Sweden's central bank to offer loans directly to companies
Sweden's central bank will extend its loan programme to individual companies, it said, in a bid to reach businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.The Riksbank announced a loan scheme of 500 billion Swedish crowns ($49bn) last month, intended as a means to provide money to struggling businesses via the country's banks, but the uptake so far has been limited.
"To enable these changes, adjusted, more generous terms will be applied," the Riksbank said in a statement. "They also apply to the monetary policy counterparties that have already taken loans within the programme."
15:36 GMT - Singapore reports 66 new cases, total 1,375
Singapore's health ministry confirmed 66 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases in the city-state to 1,375.Only one was an imported case while the others were locally transmitted. Of the new cases, 35 were linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories.
Singapore said on Sunday 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.
15:14 GMT - Merkel: EU faces its biggest test with coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic is the European Union's biggest test, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding that it was important that the bloc emerges strong from the economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus."In my view, Europe, the European Union is facing the biggest test since its foundation," Merkel said. "We have a big health challenge that is impacting all member states, however differently."
15:12 GMT - Masters 2020 tournament postponed
The 2020 Masters Tournament has been provisionally rescheduled for November 12-15, Augusta National Golf Club has said.14:58 GMT - Epidemic under control in Norway: Health minister
The COVID-19 epidemic is under control in Norway, the Nordic country's health minister said, pointing to the low rate of transmission of the disease.A person carrying the novel coronavirus in Norway contaminates now on average 0.7 other individuals, Bent Hoie told a news conference. The government's goal was to limit the spread to a maximum of one other person.
The government will decide on Wednesday whether to extend ongoing restrictions, including the closures of schools and nurseries, beyond mid-April.
14:31 GMT - Dow surges almost 900 points
Wall Street's major stock indexes all rallied at the start of a new trading week on Monday, as investors took heart from a deceleration in coronavirus-related deaths and new cases in Europe, and a drop in virus-deaths in United States hot spot New York State.The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 892.02 points or 4.24 percent at 21,944.55. The S&P 500 index- a gauge for the performance of US retirement and college savings plans - opened up 3.90 percent while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished the session up 3.75 percent.
Read more here.
14:20 GMT - Golf-2020 Open Championship cancelled
The 149th Open Championship due to be played at Royal St George's from July 16-19 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, golf's governing body the R&A announced."The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic," it said in a statement. "The Championship will next be played at Royal St George's in 2021."
13:45 GMT - IMF encouraged by recovery in China
The International Monetary Fund cited limited but encouraging signs of recovery in China, the first country to suffer the full force of the COVID-19 pandemic, but said it could not rule out a resurgence of the pandemic in China and elsewhere.Top IMF economists said in a blog that the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus had pushed the world into a recession that would be worse than the global financial crisis, and called for a global, coordinated health and economic policy response.
"The economic damage is mounting across all countries, tracking the sharp rise in new infections and containment measures put in place by governments," the IMF experts wrote.
13:27 GMT - Boris Johnson: I'm in good spirits doing routine tests
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was undergoing routine tests for coronavirus symptoms but was in good spirits and in touch with his team."On the advice of my doctor, I went into hospital for some routine tests as I’m still experiencing coronavirus symptoms," Johnson said on Twitter.
"I’m in good spirits and keeping in touch with my team as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe."
