Due to the coronavirus outbreak, cadets put on face masks due after the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Saturday, April 18, 2020, at Air Force Academy, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Coronavirus global updates Highlights: The United States on Sunday continued to top the list of the countries recording the most number of coronavirus deaths with its toll at 35,835, followed by Italy (23,227) at a distant second and Spain (20,639) third. According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, at least 2.3 million people have been infected and 160,518 have died globally due to the pandemic so far.
A total of 100,501 deaths out of 1,136,672 infections in Europe has made it the continent hit hardest by COVID-19, according to an AFP tally. In France, 642 people died in last 24 hours taking the country’s toll to 19,323. However, the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals fell by 551 to 30,639. The numbers in intensive care meanwhile fell by 194 to 5,833. In Afghanistan, about 20 workers in President Ashraf Ghani’s palace have tested positive for the virus, two officials told AFP on Saturday. However, there has been no indication of the president himself being contracted the disease.
Meanwhile, with explicit encouragement of President Donald Trump, hundreds of people on Saturday were out on streets across America against coronavirus-related restrictions rules —— as resentment against prolonged confinement grew. Trump has also warned China of consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Two Republican lawmakers have urged him to call his counterpart Xi Jinping to immediately close wet markets in China.
Meanwhile in India, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed 15,000 on Sunday and stood at 15,712 while the death count rose to 507.
People gather during the Utah Business Revival rally, calling for Utah's economy to be re-opened, Saturday, April 18, 2020, in Salt Lake City. Utah will aim to reopen restaurants and gyms and resume elective surgeries in early May under a plan unveiled Friday by Gov. Gary Herbert to gradually reopen the economy that has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The coronavirus situation in France is improving "slowly but surely" and shortages of protective gear such as face masks are easing, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Sunday, although he warned that the crisis was far from over. France - which has recorded close to 20,000 deaths as a result of the pandemic and has the fourth-highest toll in the world - has been in virtual lockdown for nearly five weeks and is due to start lifting some confinement measures from May 11. Philippe told a news conference that falls in the number of people in intensive care were one of the encouraging signals that pressures on hospitals were easing. But he shut down any expectations that the gradual exit from confinement in May, due to start with the reopening of schools, would allow people to move around or interact as before, especially as a vaccine against the virus was still far off."It won't be a return to normal life," Philippe said, adding that as France introduces more testing, people with coronavirus would have to remain isolated at home or in hotels laid on by the government. (Reuters)
The number of people with the new coronavirus in Canada is trending in the right direction but strict physical distancing will need to stay in place, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday. The remarks by Trudeau were some of his most upbeat since the crisis began in March. The total number of people killed by the coronavirus in Canada rose by just under 12% to 1,506 in a day, official data showed on Sunday. The figure for those diagnosed with the coronavirus had climbed to 33,922. The respective figures on Saturday were 1,346 deaths and 32,412 positive diagnoses. As many countries have done during the pandemic, authorities across Canada ordered the closure of non-essential businesses, throwing millions out of work, and urged people to stay at home. (Reuters)
Health ministers from the Group of 20 major economies held a virtual meeting on Sunday to work on a joint response to the coronavirus pandemic and will issue a statement, the G20 said in a separate statement.It said a planned virtual news conference was cancelled as the health minister of Saudi Arabia, the current G20 chair, had to attend "an urgent COVID-19 KSA (Saudi) taskforce meeting".The Saudi minister had delivered the opening remarks of the meeting, according to a video provided to media.Member countries will be joined by leaders from Spain, Singapore, Jordan and Switzerland as well as international and regional organisations including the World Health Organization and the World Bank, an earlier G20 statement said. (Reuters)
The coronavirus death toll in New York dropped again, a sign that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday means the state is "on the other side of the plateau" and that ongoing social distancing practices are working to stem the spread of the virus. Cuomo said 507 people died on Saturday, down 43 from the previous day. Hospitalizations and other medical indicators are trending downward.
But Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio maintained their warnings that people in New York City and the rest of the state need to stay vigilant to curb the spread of the virus. "We showed that we can control the beast and when you close down, you can actually slow that infection rate, but this is only halftime," Cuomo said Sunday at a briefing. "We still have to make sure that we keep that beast under control, we keep that infection rate down, we keep that hospitalization rate down as we all get very eager to get on with life and move on," he added.
Pakistan on Sunday reported 733 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of the COVID-19 patients to 8,212 in the country, officials said. According to officials, worst-hit Punjab province reported 3,686 cases, Sindh 2,537, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,137, Balochistan 376, Gilgit-Baltistan 257, Islamabad 171 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 48, taking the overall tally to 8,212. The death toll due to the coronavirus has risen to 167, with Sindh recording its highest number of eight fatalities in a single day, PTI reported.
The European Center for Disease Control says the continent now has more than 1 million confirmed cases and almost 100,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. According to a tally posted on the ECDC website Sunday, Spain had the most cases in the region with 191,726, followed by Italy, Germany, Britain and France. It listed Italy as having the most deaths in Europe, with 23,227, followed by Spain, France, Britain and Belgium. According to the tally, Europe accounts for almost half the global case load and more than half the total deaths. (AP)
North Korea on Sunday dismissed as ungrounded President Donald Trump's comment that he recently received a nice note from the North's leader, Kim Jong Un. Trump said during a press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic Saturday that I received a nice note from him recently. It was a nice note. I think we're doing fine. Trump also defended now-stalled nuclear diplomacy with Kim, saying the US would have been at war with North Korea if he had not been elected. The North's Foreign Ministry said there was no letter addressed to Trump recently by the supreme leadership, a reference to Kim. It said it would examine why the US leadership released the ungrounded story to the media. (AP)
Passengers on a luxury liner's around-the-world cruise, begun before the globe was gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, are finally approaching the end of their odyssey after 15 weeks at sea. The ship, the Costa Deliziosa, was heading Sunday toward a port in Spain before ending its journey in Italy both countries devastated by the coronavirus outbreak. Costa Crociere, an Italian cruise company, said that the Deliziosa, which set sail from Venice in early January with 1,831 passengers, had no cases of COVID-19 aboard. The Deliziosa, a nearly 300-meter (1,000-foot) vessel, will disembark 168 Spanish passengers on Monday at Barcelona's port. Then the Deliziosa will head to its final destination, Genoa, Italy, where it is expected to let off the remaining passengers, Italians and those of other nationalities, on Wednesday. (AP)
Spain has reported its lowest daily death total for confirmed coronavirus victims in nearly a month as the country contains a savage outbreak that has killed more than 20,000 people there. Spanish health officials said Sunday another 410 people have died in the last 24 hours. That is the lowest daily death toll since March 22. It takes the total to 20,453 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. Spain also reported 4,218 confirmed new cases, pushing the total to 195,944 second only to the United States.
Pope Francis is urging the faithful to use the coronavirus pandemic's time of trial to prepare for a future where inequalities are abolished and the poorest are no longer left behind. This is not some ideology, Francis said. It is Christianity. Francis traveled a few blocks outside the Vatican walls on Sunday to celebrate Mass at a nearby church to mark a special feast day dedicated to mercy. Only a few priests were in the pews given Italy's strict virus lockdown.
While people infected with the coronavirus often experience mild or moderate symptoms, possible complications like pneumonia can put their lives at risk. In his homily, Francis said the grave, global toll of the pandemic has reminded the world that there are no borders between those who suffer, no differences in nationalities among those who are struck or spared.
China has classified the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan as a low-risk area, days after it revised the city's death toll by 50 per cent, even as 16 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the country, health officials said on Sunday. According to the risk criteria defined in a guideline issued by China's State Council, cities, counties and districts with no newly confirmed cases in the last 14 days are categorised as low-risk areas. Those with fewer than 50 cases or those with over 50 but without a concentrated outbreak are classified as mid-risk areas, and those with over 50 cases as well as a concentrated outbreak are classified as high-risk areas. China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday that 16 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Saturday, with nine imported cases and seven local transmissions. The death toll remained at 4,632 as no new fatalities were reported on Saturday, it said. Read more here
South Korea reported just eight more cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, the first time a daily increase has dropped to single digits in about two months. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the additional figures raised the country’s total to 10,661, including 234 deaths. It said 8,042 people have recovered and been released from quarantine and 12,243 others were undergoing tests to determine whether they had contracted the virus.
“We must not loosen our guard until the last confirmed patient is recovered.” President Moon Jae-in said.
South Korea’s caseload has been waning in recent weeks since it recorded hundreds of new cases every day between late February and early March, mostly in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas.
Figures from France's military leadership show more than half the sailors aboard the country's flagship aircraft carrier contracted the new virus as the ship traveled through the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A navy official says 1,046 of the 1,760 people aboard the Charles de Gaulle tested positive for the virus. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Christophe Prazuck attributed the quick spread to the great population density aboard the ship. Speaking Saturday evening to Europe-1 radio, Prazuck said virus protection measures weren't followed properly, which did not allow us to detect the beginning of the epidemic, and therefore to contain it. The ship is undergoing a lengthy disinfection process since returning to its home base in Toulon last week.
With more time in their hands than they are used to thanks to the coronavirus lockdown, people around the world are showcasing their creative side to fight boredom. Recently, a video of a man in Mizoram giving a glimpse of his dancing skills during a cyclonic storm in the state has gone viral. In the video, Jeremy l Ralte can be seen doing a live performance on Michael Jackson’s song ‘Earth’ from his popular album “Thriller”. “2020 ain’t got nothin’ on us!! Stay Strong people. Remember me, even in your worst weathers,” Ralte wrote while sharing the video. Read more here
People of Cambridgeshire in England were in for a surprise when they spotted what appeared to be a ‘burning object’ spiralling through the skies. After images of the red flaming object went viral on the internet, the mysterious phenomenon prompted several speculations, from meteor showers to even an UFO. Watch the video here
As many as 7,000 more Britons will return home from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as the UK government has announced to operate 31 more charter flights over the next week to repatriate its citizens stranded in the coronavirus lockdown across South Asia, PTI reported. The flights, scheduled between April 20 and 27, include 17 from India, 10 from Pakistan and four from Bangladesh. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that 7,000 more people will be able to get home from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, after 31 more charter flights have been announced from the region over the next week. "Our special charter deal with the airlines has enabled us to return thousands more. Now, I can announce the next 31 flights from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which will get 7,000 more Brits safely back home," said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
In Brazil, Bolsonaro supporters protest against restriction measures
Secretary-General of the UN António Guterres warns against misinformation regarding COVID-19
Few cafes and restaurants in South Korea bustled with customers on Saturday despite government pleas to remain indoors and maintain social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump has cast doubt on the accuracy of China’s official coronavirus death toll, terming it “unrealistic” and claiming that the actual number was “way ahead” of the US’ which is not the world’s “number one” country in terms of COVID-19 fatalities. Trump’s comments have come two days after another 1,300 fatalities were added to the official count in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started in November last year. The revision puts China’s overall death toll to more than 4,600. “We are not number one; China is number one just so you understand,” Trump told reporters at a White House news conference on Saturday. The president asserted that the actual number was much more than the official Chinese death toll figures, which he said were “unrealistic”. “You know it, I know it and they know it, but you don’t want to report it. Why? You will have to explain that. Someday I will explain it,” he said.