UK PM in hospital for Covid-19 symptoms – latest updates

Sunday, April 5, 2020

UK PM in hospital for Covid-19 symptoms

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to a hospital with the coronavirus.

Johnson's office says he is being admitted for tests because he still has symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

Downing Street said Sunday the hospitalisation is a "precautionary step" and he remains in charge of the government.

Johnson, 55, has been quarantined in his Downing St. residence since being diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 26.

France's death toll slows but coronavirus still hits hard

France's daily death toll from the novel coronavirus fell in the past 24 hours and admissions into intensive care also slowed, the health ministry said on Sunday, thanking citizens for largely respecting a lockdown to halt the spread of the virus.

The health ministry data showed that 357 people died from Covid-19 in hospitals, compared with 441 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total toll in hospitals to 5,889.

It said that 2,189 people had died in nursing homes since March 1, taking France's total death toll to 8,078.

"These data confirms that the epidemic is ongoing in the country, and continues to hit hard," the ministry said.

Italy reports 525 new coronavirus deaths

The death toll from the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 525 to 15,887, the lowest daily death toll in more than two weeks, while the number of patients in intensive care fell for the second day running, the Civil Protection department said on Sunday.

The total number of confirmed cases rose to 128,948 from 124,632 reported on Saturday, a lower increase than the day before which added to signs the epidemic has reached a plateau nearly a month after the government imposed a countrywide lockdown on March 9.

Of those originally infected nationwide, 21,815 were declared recovered on Sunday, compared with 20,996 a day earlier.

There were 3,977 people in intensive care, a fall of 17 from 3,994 on Friday, when officials reported the first drop in intensive care numbers since the outbreak of the epidemic in northern Italy on February 21.

Turkey records 73 new deaths

Turkey confirmed on Sunday that 73 more people died from the coronavirus in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 574.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged to 27,069 as 3,135 more people tested positive for the virus in a day, according to data Health Minister Fahrettin Koca shared on Twitter.

So far, a total of 1,042 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 1,381 patients are currently under intensive care units, the data shows.

Also, 20,065 tests were conducted on Sunday, and the number of overall tests carried out so far reached 181,445.

New York state toll tops 4,000 with 594 new deaths

The coronavirus death toll in New York state rose to 4,159, the governor said on Sunday, up from 3,565 a day prior.

The spike by 594 deaths showed a slight decrease in the day-to-day number of lives lost compared to the previous day.

It was the first time the day-over-day toll had dropped –– on Saturday it hit a record of 630 deaths in 24 hours –– but Governor Andrew Cuomo told journalists it was too early to tell whether that was a "blip."

The state has now reported 122,031 positive cases of Covid-19, which has much of the United States under stay-at-home orders.

Over 321,000 people have tested positive and more than 9,100 have died in the United States, according to a Reuters tally.

Canada coronavirus deaths jump 20 percent

The number of people killed by the coronavirus in Canada has jumped by just over 20 percent to 258 in a day, official data posted by the public health agency showed on Sunday.

By 11:05 eastern time (1505 GMT), the total number of those diagnosed with the coronavirus had risen by almost 12 percent to 14,426. 

The respective figures on Saturday were 214 deaths and 12,924 positive diagnoses.

Africa could lose 20 million jobs due to pandemic

About 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa as the continent's economies are projected to shrink this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an African Union study.

"Nearly 20 million jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors, are threatened with destruction on the continent if the situation continues," the AU said.

African governments could lose up to 20 to 30 percent of their fiscal revenue, estimated at 500 billion in 2019, it found.

Exports and imports are meanwhile projected to drop at least 35% from 2019 levels, incurring a loss in the value of trade of around $270 billion.

This at a time when the fight against the virus' spread will lead to an increase in public spending of at least $130 billion.

UK coronavirus death toll rises to 4,934

The United Kingdom's death toll from the coronavirus rose by 621 to 4,934 at 1600 GMT on April 4, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

As of 0800 GMT, a total of 195,524 people had been tested of which 47,806 tested positive, the ministry said. 

Ethiopia reports its first death of Covid-19 patient

Ethiopia has reported its first death of a Covid-19 patient, a 60-year old woman who was in treatment at a hospital in the capital since March 31, the Health Minister Lia Tadesse said on Sunday.

The Horn of Africa nation has a total of 43 confirmed cases of the disease, which is caused by the new coronavirus and has reported four recoveries. 

Coronavirus deaths in Netherlands rise by 115 to 1,766

The number of deaths caused by the new coronavirus in the Netherlands has increased by 115 to 1,766, health authorities said on Sunday.

Confirmed infections increased by 1,224 to 17,851, the Dutch Institute for Public Health said. 

Over 250,000 patients recover from coronavirus globally

More than 250,000 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus globally, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

China has the highest number of recovered people with 77,207.

Outside of China, the total number of recovered people is 38,080 in Spain, 26,400 in Germany, 20,996 in Italy, 19,736 in Iran, 15,574 in France, 15,021 in the US, 6,463 in South Korea, 6,415 in Switzerland, 1,005 in Malaysia, 215 in the UK, and 786 in Turkey, the university data showed.

Singapore quarantines 20,000 migrant workers

Singapore reported 120 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, by far its highest daily rise, and quarantined nearly 20,000 migrant workers in their dormitories.

Of Sunday's new cases, 116 were locally transmitted and many were linked to two dormitories that house migrant workers, who will now have to stay in their rooms for 14 days.

The number of new cases is a 60% increase over the 75 reported on Saturday, which was the previous biggest daily rise. Singapore has reported a total of 1,309 infections and six deaths from the novel coronavirus.

Tens of thousands of blue-collar foreign workers live within close quarters in various dormitories in the tiny Southeast Asian nation, an island city-state. They form a significant part of the labour force, working in sectors from construction to cleaning.

Spain sees third daily drop in deaths

Spain saw its third consecutive daily decline in the number of people dying from the coronavirus pandemic as the country recorded another 674 deaths, official figures showed.

The health ministry said the number, the lowest in 10 days, brought total deaths to 12,418 since the pandemic hit Spain.

The number of infections rose 4.8 percent to 130,759.

Iran's death toll reaches 3,603

The death toll in Iran from the outbreak of the new coronavirus has reached 3,603, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement broadcast live on state TV on Sunday.

One hundred and fifty-one people have died in the past twenty-four hours, he said.

The Islamic Republic, the Middle Eastern country worst-hit by the epidemic, now has a total of 58,226 infections, Jahanpur said.

Swiss death toll rises by 19 to 559, cases top 21,000

Switzerland's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen by 19 to 559, the health ministry said on Sunday.

The number of people testing positive increased to 21,100 from 20,278 on Saturday, it said.

Switzerland has tested more than 158,000 people for Covid-19.

South Sudan confirms first case of coronavirus

South Sudan has confirmed its first case of Covid-19, its vice president said on Sunday, becoming the latest African nation to report a case of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Riek Machar said a 29-year old patient arrived in the country from Ethiopia on February 28, and that she was being treated in isolation.

Cases on the rise in Africa

The number of coronavirus cases in Africa has risen to more than 8,500 with South Africa as the epicentre having 1,585 cases after 80 new cases were confirmed during the past 24 hours. 

At least 25 new deaths were recorded in Algeria in the past 24 hours to bring the number of deaths in the North African country to 130 of the total 383 in Africa. Algeria has announced that it will extend curfews to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) has classified Zimbabwe as one of the 18 countries in the world that will likely come out of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in a worse off situation. 

In Nigeria, a large number of residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Anambra States are refusing to stay at home in violation of the 14-day Coronavirus restrictions slammed on parts of the country by the government.

Tokyo sees highest single-day jump in cases

More than 130 people were newly infected with the novel coronavirus in Tokyo, Japan's NHK public broadcaster reported, citing officials from the metropolitan government.

It was the highest daily jump in confirmed cases so far, bringing the number of positive cases in the capital to more than 1,000, NHK said.

Tokyo's metropolitan government has strongly urged people to stay at home as the city of 13 million has seen an uptick in the number of cases in recent days.

Malaysia reports 179 new cases and four more deaths

Malaysia reported 179 new coronavirus cases, raising the cumulative total to 3,662 cases as Southeast Asia's third-largest economy grapples with the highest number of infections in the region.

The new cases include four deaths, raising the tally to 61 people who have died as of noon on Sunday, the health ministry said. 

Philippines records more deaths, 152 new infections

The Philippine health ministry reported 152 additional coronavirus infections and eight new deaths.

The positive cases in the Philippines totalled 3,246, as of 0800 GMT, while the death toll has risen to 152, it said in the daily bulletin. 

Morocco to release 5,654 prisoners

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has pardoned 5,654 prisoners and ordered measures to protect inmates from the coronavirus outbreak, the justice ministry said.

The north African country has confirmed as of Sunday morning 919 coronavirus cases, including 59 deaths.

Iran's Rouhani says low-risk economic activities to resume from April 11

Iran's president said "low-risk" economic activities would resume from April 11 in the Middle Eastern country worst-affected by the new coronavirus.

"Two-thirds of all Iranian government employees will work out of the office from Saturday ... the decision does not contradict stay at home advice by the health authorities," President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised meeting.

Thailand reports 102 new cases, three more deaths

Thailand reported 102 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths, the country's public health ministry said.

The latest numbers raised the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,169 cases. Twenty-three people have died in Thailand since the outbreak first emerged in January.

Mexico sees increase in coronavirus cases

The Mexican health ministry on Saturday registered 1,890 cases of the novel coronavirus in the country, an increase of 202 cases from a day earlier.

The number of deaths increased by 19 to 79.

"These people, unfortunately, had chronic diseases or were older," said Mexico's deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell of the people who died from the novel coronavirus.

Lopez-Gatell said Mexico is now paying the consequences for decades of poor eating habits that have led to high levels of obesity and health complications. 

Nearly 3,000 released from Sri Lanka prisons

Nearly 2900 prisoners have been released from overcrowded prisons in Sri Lanka as the Indian Ocean island nation has stepped up its efforts to contain the spreading of the new coronavirus.

Sri Lanka has been under a countrywide curfew since March 20. Five people have died due to the virus and the total number of confirmed cases have risen to 166.

Two inmates were killed and six others wounded last month when they scuffled with guards and some tried to escape during a protest against new strict measures to control the spread of the virus.

Panama's health ministry registers 1,801 cases

Panama's health ministry on Saturday registered 1,801 cases of the novel coronavirus in the Central American county, an increase of 128 cases from a day earlier. 

The number of deaths increased by five to 46. 

China reports 30 new coronavirus cases 

Mainland China reported 30 new virus cases, up from 19 a day earlier with an increase in both number of cases involving travellers from abroad as well as local transmissions.

The National Health Commission said in a statement that 25 of the cases reported on Saturday involved those who entered the country from abroad, compared with 18 such cases reported a day earlier.

The mainland has now reported a total of 81,669 cases, while the death toll has risen by three to 3,329.

New York gets planeload of ventilators with help from China

New York secured 1,000 ventilators from China on Saturday, and Oregon was sending a shipment of its own to battle the coronavirus pandemic at its US core, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

New York is the pandemic’s US epicentre, with over 113,700 confirmed cases as of Saturday morning.

More than 3,500 people statewide have died, and about 15,000 coronavirus patients are hospitalised. Over 4,100 are in intensive care — many, if not all, of them needing ventilators.