US Covid-19 death toll rises to 40,000 – latest updates

Sunday, April 19:

US death toll tops 40,000

The US death toll from the coronavirus rose to more than 40,000 on Sunday, the highest in the world and almost double the number of deaths in the next highest country Italy, according to a Reuters tally.

It took the United States 38 days after recording its first fatality on February 29 to reach 10,000 deaths on April 6, but only five more days to reach 20,000 dead, according to a Reuters tally. 

The United States' toll increased to 40,000 from 30,000 in four days after including untested but probable Covid-19 deaths reported by New York City.

The United States has by far the world's largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 744,000 infections.

Italy's toll rises to 23,660 with 433 new deaths

Italy reported 433 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, lower than the previous day, bringing the total number of fatalities to 23,660, as the death rate continues to slow down.

According to the latest data released by the Italian Civil Protection Department, current infections grew 0.4 percent from Saturday – lower than the previous day – to reach 108,257.

Recoveries have climbed to 47,055, while the number of intensive care patients has been dropping for more than two weeks, easing pressure on the country's struggling healthcare system.

The epicentre of the Italian outbreak remains the northern Lombardy region, which now counts 12,213 fatalities, more than half the total.

France records 395 new deaths

France reported 395 deaths from the new coronavirus in 24 hours as the number of new hospitalisations continued a slow decline.

The new deaths –– 227 in hospitals and 168 in nursing homes –– brought France's total epidemic death toll to 19,718, top health official Jerome Salomon told reporters.

A total of 30,610 people were being treated for a coronavirus infection in hospital, he said, 29 fewer overall than the day before as hospitalisations declined for the fifth day in a row.

Turkey records 127 deaths

Turkey confirmed 127 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus outbreak over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 2,017.

The total number of registered coronavirus cases in the country surged to 86,306 as 3,977 more people tested positive for the virus over the past day, country's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

So far, a total of 11,976 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus, with 1,523 discharged on Sunday alone, Koca added.

He also said 35,344 tests were conducted over the past day, with the total reaching 634,277.

Spain sees lowest daily increase in month

Spain's death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak rose by 410 on Sunday, the lowest daily increase in about a month in one of the world's hardest hit countries, prompting cautious optimism from the government that the figures are on a downward path.

The daily increase in deaths was the lowest since March 22. It is far below the highest daily increase - 950 deaths reported on April 2 - in a sign of a slowdown of the spread of the virus after Spain imposed a strict lockdown in mid-March.

The total number of deaths reached 20,453 on Sunday, the Health Ministry said. It is the third-highest toll worldwide after the United States and Italy.

UK reports new 596 deaths

Britain reported 596 deaths from Covid-19 in hospitals in its daily update, raising the country's total to more than 16,000 as a senior minister said the government's testing target remained 100,000 per day.

Britain has suffered the fifth-highest death toll from the pandemic which has been linked to almost 160,000 deaths worldwide.

Its hospital death toll stood at 16,060 as of 1600 GMT on Sunday, the health ministry said, after its smallest daily rise since data published on April 6.

Britain's outright total is higher, as its daily figures do not include deaths outside hospitals at homes and facilities such as nursing homes for the elderly.

Coronavirus cases in Chile top 10,000

Chile reported over 10,000 cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the third-highest tally in Latin America, as the disease continues to ravage the economy of the world's top copper producer.

Large swaths of Santiago, a city of 6 million, are under lockdown, and virtually all non-essential businesses have been closed for weeks.

Chile recorded its first coronavirus case on March 3 and took 23 days to reach 1,000 cases. It took only 13 more days to reach 5,000 cases on April 7, according to a Reuters tally. Chile has reported a total of 133 deaths, the health ministry said.

In Latin America, only Brazil and Peru have more cases.

Zimbabwe extends coronavirus lockdown

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended a lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus by two weeks, but will allow mining companies to get back to work.

Mnangagwa said the lockdown would continue because the country had not yet met conditions set down by the World Health Organization to lift the measures.

Three people have died from the virus out of the 25 confirmed infected in the southern African country, but health experts expect the figures to rise once authorities ramp up testing.

Canadian deaths rise by almost 12 percent in a day

The total number of people killed by the coronavirus in Canada rose by just under 12 percent to 1,506 in a day, official data posted by the public health agency showed.

In a statement posted shortly before 1500 GMT, it said 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.

Death toll rises to 1,135 in Switzerland

The Swiss death toll from the novel coronavirus has reached 1,135 people, the country's public health agency said, rising from 1,111 on Saturday.

The number of people showing positive tests for the disease increased to 27,740, it said, up from 27,404.

Dutch report lowest daily death rate since March 26

The number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus in the Netherlands has risen by 83, Dutch health authorities said, which was the smallest reported daily increase since March 26.

The total number of deaths among people known to have been infected with the coronavirus increased to 3,684, while the number of confirmed infections rose by 1,066 to 32,655.

Coronavirus expected to peak on May 3 in Hungary 

Experts expect the coronavirus epidemic to peak on May 3 in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a video posted on his official Facebook page.

Orban, who was visiting a hospital, said that by then Hungary would have 5,000 ventilators, up from just over 2,000 now.

He said the total would rise to 8,000 afterwards, which would be enough to treat all Covid-19 patients who need to be put on the machines.

G20 health ministers start virtual meeting on Covid-19

Health ministers from the Group of 20 major economies began a virtual meeting on Sunday to work on a joint response to the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabian state television reported.

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, a separate G20 statement said.

Saudi Arabia holds the G20 presidency. 

Iran's new coronavirus death toll rises to 5,118

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus has risen by 87 to 5,118, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV on Sunday.

The total number of infected cases in Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the outbreak, has reached 82,211, he said

Spain's death toll toll slows

Spain's death toll was 410 on Sunday, down from 565 on Saturday, the health ministry said, bringing the total to 20,453 deaths in one of the world's hardest-hit countries.

The number of overall Covid-19 cases went up from 195,944 on Sunday from 191,726 on Saturday, it added.

Indonesia confirms 6,575 cases in total

Indonesia reported 327 new cases on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 6,575.

Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto also reported 47 new deaths, taking the total to 582.

The figures come a day after the chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association said that the country's actual death toll could be nearly twice the official numbers.

In response, Yurianto told reporters in an online briefing on Sunday to "avoid the added psychological burden of untrue news".

Malaysia reports 5,389 cases

Malaysian health officials reported 84 new cases on Sunday, taking the country's total to 5,389.

The health ministry also reported 1 new death, bringing total fatalities to 89.

Philippines records 6,259 infections

The Philippines' health ministry on Sunday reported 12 new deaths and 172 new infections.

The Southeast Asian country now has a total of 6,259 confirmed cases and 409 deaths, it said in a bulletin.

It said 56 more patients have recovered, bringing the total to 572.

Saudi top religious authority recommends home prayers in Ramadan

Saudi Arabia's highest religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, urged Muslims worldwide to pray at home during Ramadan if their countries require social distancing to combat coronavirus, state news agency SPA reported on Sunday.

"Muslims shall avoid gatherings, because they are the main cause of the spread of infection...and shall remember that preserving the lives of people is a great act that brings them closer to God," it said in a statement.

Russia reports record daily rise in cases

Russia on Sunday reported a record rise of 6,060 new cases over the previous 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 42,853, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said.

The number of infections in Russia began rising sharply this month, although it had reported far fewer infections than many western European countries in the outbreak's early stages

Singapore reports 6,588 cases

Singapore's health ministry confirmed 596 new infections on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in the city-state to 6,588.

The vast majority of the new cases are migrant workers living in dormitories and 25 are permanent residents, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. 

Global recoveries exceed 600,000

Global recoveries surpassed 600,000 on Sunday, according to a running tally by global tracker Worldometre.

The data counted 600,296 recoveries as at 0700GMT, while the numbers of novel coronavirus cases and deaths from it stood at 2,333,164 and 160,799 respectively. 

Taiwan reports 22 new cases

Taiwan's government on Sunday reported 22 new cases, 21 of whom had been on a Taiwanese navy mission to the Pacific island state of Palau last month.

The new cases bring Taiwan's total to 420, six of whom have died.

Germany's cases rise to 139,897

Germany's confirmed cases have risen by 2,458 to 139,897, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

That was lower than a 3,609 increase reported on Saturday, when infections had been increasing for four days in a row.

The reported death toll has risen by 184 to 4,294, the Sunday tally showed.

That was down from a day-on-day increase shown on Saturday of 242, and 299 on Friday.

Thailand reports 32 new cases, no new deaths

Thailand on Sunday reported 32 new cases, bringing its total to 2,765, a senior official said.

Of the new cases, 28 were in the capital, Bangkok, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

No new fatalities were reported. Thailand has had 47 deaths from the coronavirus.

Director of Wuhan lab denies virus link

The director of a maximum-security laboratory in China's ground-zero city of Wuhan has rejected claims that it could be the source of the outbreak, calling it "impossible".

In an interview with state media published Saturday Yuan Zhiming, director of the laboratory, said that "there's no way this virus came from us".

None of his staff had been infected, he told the English-language state broadcaster CGTN, adding the "whole institute is carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus".

Global deaths exceed 160,000 

Global fatalities surpassed 160,000 Sunday, according to a running tally by global tracker Worldometre.

The data counted 160,759 deaths as at 0300GMT, while the numbers of cases and recoveries stand at 2,331,727 and 597,194 respectively. 

The US continues to be the worst-hit country in the world, with the highest numbers of infections and deaths. It recorded more than 738,913 cases and an excess of 39,015 fatalities. 

While Italy has the second-highest death toll with 23,227, Spain has the second highest cases with more than 194,416. 

Overall, the virus has spread to 210 countries and territories since it first emerged in China in December. 

Despite the rising number of cases, most who contract the virus suffer mild symptoms before making a recovery. 

China reports 16 new cases

China's National Health Commission reported 16 new cases on April 18, the lowest number since March 17 and down from 27 a day earlier, according to data published.

Of the new cases, 9 were imported infections, the lowest since March 13 and down from 17 a day earlier. The remaining 7 confirmed cases were locally transmitted, down from 10 the previous day.

Newly discovered asymptomatic cases were at 44, down from 54 a day earlier. Three of the new cases were imported, according to the health commission.

No new deaths were reported, it said.

South Korea reports single-digit new cases

South Korea reported single-digit new cases for the first time in two months with eight new daily cases, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

The nation's total tally is 10,661 cases and 234 deaths.

US records 1,891 deaths in past 24 hours

The death toll in the US climbed by 1,891 in the past 24 hours to reach 38,664, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The US has seen a total of 732,197 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the global health crisis, according to the Baltimore-based university.

It is the highest number of virus cases and deaths of any country in the world.

Mexico's registers 7,497 cases, 650 deaths

Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that Mexico has registered 7,497 confirmed cases and 650 deaths.

That is up from 6,875 cases and 546 deaths on Friday.

Coronavirus cases in Brazil rise to 36,599

Cases in Brazil rose by 2,917 to 36,599, the health ministry said.

Brazil has more cases than any other country in Latin America.

Deaths rose by 206 to 2,347, the ministry said.