Medical personnel carry an oxygen tank into Elmhurst Hospital Center's emergency room. Photo / AP
Medical personnel carry an oxygen tank into Elmhurst Hospital Center's emergency room. Photo / AP
United States
The United States' top infectious disease expert says the country could be allowed to reopen as early as next month but warned a second wave of the virus could still hit.
More than 1.78 million infections have been reported and 109,000 people have died worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US has the highest numbers, with over 530,000 confirmed cases.
About half of those deaths have occurred in the New York metropolitan area, but hospital admissions are slowing in the state and other indicators suggest that lockdowns and social distancing are "flattening the curve" of infections. Hard-hit New York State reported 783 more deaths, for a total of over 8600.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the daily number of deaths was "stabilising at a horrific rate" as the number of deaths topped 700 in New York for the sixth consecutive day.
"What do we do now? We stay the course," said Cuomo, who like other leaders has warned that relaxing restrictions too soon could enable the virus to come back with a vengeance.
US President Donald Trump announced plans to roll out "self-isolating" in mid March.
Speaking on CNN on Sunday, immunologist Anthony Fauci revealed that the government had been advised to impose social distancing measures in February.
"We look at it from a pure health standpoint," Dr Fauci said. "We make a recommendation, often the recommendation is taken, sometimes it's not.
Since the White House issued social distancing guidelines on March 16, much of the country has gone into lockdown, shuttering the economy and leading to unprecedented and potentially ruinous unemployment.
Fauci says there's no light switch that will be clicked to turn everything back on. Instead a "rolling re-entry" will be required based on the status of the new coronavirus pandemic in various parts of the country.
Fauci says those factors include the region of the country, the nature of the outbreak it already has experienced and the possible threat of an outbreak to come.
In some places, he said, that might occur as soon as May.
Medical personnel carry an oxygen tank into Elmhurst Hospital Center's emergency room. Photo / AP
Social distancing guidelines currently in place are set to expire April 30. Trump is eager to restart the economy, which has stalled because most Americans are under orders to "stay at home" to help slow the virus' spread.
But governors will have a lot to say about when to ease restrictions in their states, and the leaders of Maryland and New Jersey indicated Sunday that they are not likely to do so until widespread testing is available.
Meanwhile the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says an influx of tourists for Mardi Gras may be a reason why Louisiana experienced a higher rate of Covid-19 cases than other Southern states.
In a report posted Friday, the CDC says population density might play "a significant role in the acceleration of transmission" of the coronavirus. It said Louisiana experienced a "temporarily high" population density because of Carnival season visitors.
Louisiana reported 34 newly recorded coronavirus-related deaths Sunday, bringing the death toll in the state to 840.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has posted a video on Twitter in which he hails the staff in the National Health Service for saving his life when it could have "gone either way."
Johnson was dressed in a suit and looked and sounded assured in the video made after his discharge from St. Thomas' Hospital in London. He said he did not have the words to properly thank the staff at NHS for"saving my life."
He listed a number of the frontline staff who cared for him over a week at St. Thomas' Hospital in London but singled out two nurses who stood by his bedside for 48 hours "when things could have gone either way."
Boris Johnson has been discharged from hospital. Photo / AP
He said Jenny from New Zealand and Luis from Portugal were the reason "in the end my body did start to get enough oxygen."
Johnson said there are "hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who are acting with the same care and thought and precision as Jenny and Luis."
The 55-year-old Johnson was diagnosed with Covid-19 more than two weeks ago, becoming the first world leader confirmed to have the illness.
His coronavirus symptoms at first were said to have been mild, including a cough and a fever.
Johnson spent a week at St. Thomas', three days of which were in intensive care. He was given oxygen but was not put on a ventilator.
Health officials say 657 more people in England have died from the new coronavirus, raising the total UK deaths over 10,000.
The National Health Service figure does not include deaths in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. A figure for the whole UK will be released later.
It is hard to find the words to express my debt to the NHS for saving my life.
The efforts of millions of people across this country to stay home are worth it. Together we will overcome this challenge, as we have overcome so many challenges in the past. #StayHomeSaveLivespic.twitter.com/HK7Ch8BMB5
The 657 deaths come on top of the 9875 deaths of people with Covid-19 in British hospitals announced Saturday.
While the number of new cases and hospitalisations appears to have plateaued, deaths are still rising. Virus death tolls in Italy and Spain have been flattening off and there are growing fears that the UK will end up being the country with the most virus deaths in Europe.
Italy recorded the lowest number of new coronavirus deaths in three weeks, saying 431 people died in the past day to bring its total to 19,899.
It was the lowest day-to-day toll since March 19.
For the ninth day running, intensive care admissions were down and hospitalisations overall were down, relieving pressure on Italy's over-stressed health care system.
More than 4000 people tested positive as Italy began its fifth week under nationwide lockdown, continuing a general flattening in its infection curve.
But officials have noted that Italy has also increased its testing capacity in recent days, yielding more positive cases but allowing for more effective quarantine measures for people once they know they are infected.
Italy crossed the 1 million virus test mark on Sunday, doubling the number of tests since the end of March. Overall, 156,363 people have been confirmed as positive, though officials note that the true number of infected could be as much as 10 times that, particularly in hard-hit Lombardy.
Officials have also warned that the true number of dead from the virus pandemic is higher, given the hundreds of elderly who have died in nursing homes but were never tested.
France
The overall death toll in France from the coronavirus has risen to nearly 14,400, but for the fourth day in a row, slightly fewer people were admitted into intensive care — 35 fewer — giving health officials a reason to grasp for good news.
Sunday's statistics issued by the Health Ministry confirm the country is reaching a "very high plateau" and reflect initial signs that nearly four weeks of confinement and the "drastic reduction in contacts" are producing an effect, a statement said.
Strict confinement measures began March 17, were renewed once and are expected to be extended again, with a likely announcement to the nation Monday by President Emmanuel Macron.
Since March 1, hospitals and nursing homes have counted 14,393 deaths.
Of the 31,836 people currently hospitalised for COVID-19, more than 1600 were admitted in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
Still, with more than 6800 patients being treated in intensive care Sunday, that was 35 people fewer than a day earlier, a ray of hope for overworked health workers and authorities looking for small signs of change.
Since the start of the epidemic in France, more than 95,400 people have been infected.
Meanwhile, French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle returned to its base in the southern port of Toulon on Sunday after some 50 members of its crew and some aboard an escort frigate contracted the new coronavirus.
The French Defence Ministry says the entire crew of some 1700 sailors will be tested and confined for 14 days in various military quarters in the region. Same for air crews aboard the vessel and those on the frigate.
The ministry says the carrier cut short by about 10 days a nearly three-month mission in the central Mediterranean then in the Atlantic and North Sea.
The source of the infection was not immediately known.
A similar virus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt led to the firing of its captain, then the resignation earlier this month of the acting US Navy secretary.
Sri Lanka
Imposing a new regulation, the Sri Lanka government on Sunday ordered that the corpse of a person who has died or is suspected to have died of coronavirus should be cremated.
The order comes amid concerns raised by the ethnic minority Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka, saying the cremation of the dead body of a Muslim Covid-19 victim is against the Islamic practice of a burial.
A government decree issued on Sunday said that the corpse of a corona victim should be cremated "at the temperature of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius for a minimum period of 45 minutes to one hour for complete burning, for the purpose of prevention of any potential biological threat."
According to the new regulation, the body of the deceased will be handed over only to those involved in the cremation process, and the ashes of the deceased may be handed over to the next of kin at their request.
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So far, seven people have died of the virus while 140 are being treated at hospitals while 56 have recovered.
Two weeks ago, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem said that the second person to die in Sri Lanka infected by coronavirus was not allowed to be buried despite requests by family and political leaders. Hakeem however requested Muslims to be patient considering the extraordinary situation.
Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist nation with Muslims comprising about 7 percent of the population.
Spain
Spain has reported its lowest daily growth in confirmed coronavirus infections in three weeks as it prepares to loosen its strict lockdown measures and let some workers return to the job.
Spanish health authorities have reported 4167 confirmed new cases over the past 24 hours. The country's total is at 166,019, second only to the United States.
Deaths in Spain have reached a total of 16,972, with 619 new fatalities confirmed since Saturday. More than 60,000 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in Spain.
Soldiers arrive to sanitise a care home for the elderly where more than 198 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and eight people have died in Budapest, Hungary. Photo / AP
The country on Monday will allow workers in industry and construction to return to work after a two-week shutdown of economic activities other than health care and the food industry.
Those who can work from home are strongly encouraged by authorities to continue doing so. Retail shops will remain closed other than supermarkets, fruit stands, bakeries, butchers, newsstands and pharmacies.
Armenia
The Armenian Apostolic Church held Easter services without parishioners because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The service at church's seat of Echmiadzin Cathedral included displaying the Spear of Geghard, an important relic that is brought out in special cases such as the country being in danger.
The relic is said to be the tip of a lance used by a Roman soldier to prod Jesus Christ after his crucifixion to determine if he was dead. The service was broadcast on national television.
Greece
There were five more fatalities from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Greece, all men, raising the total to 98, authorities say.
There are now a total of 2114 confirmed cases of the disease, 33 added since Saturday afternoon.
There are 76 people hooked to ventilator machines, while 15 patients that had been in intensive care have recovered, authorities said.
The main concern of authorities remains individuals' attempts to flout strict quarantine measures, during the Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated next Sunday.
It is usually a time of mass exodus to the countryside and, just over 9 hours on Sunday, 38 people were stopped trying to leave cities and fined 300 euros each.
A related concern is church gatherings, now banned; on Sunday, Palm Sunday, the government asked for a prosecutor to indict two priests who provided communion to the faithful despite the ban.
One of them, in an Athens neighbourhood, was photographed from a nearby building secretly giving communion to faithful through the back door.
Bangladesh has recorded four deaths and 139 cases of the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Officials say the death toll is at 34, with 621 confirmed cases.
Almost half of the cases have been reported in the capital of Dhaka.
The country of 160 million people is expected to remain in a nationwide lockdown until April 25.
Turkey
Turkey saw a daily rise of 4789 coronavirus cases and 97 deaths on Sunday as a 48-hour lockdown in 31 cities approached its end.
"This struggle is won by staying at home, not in hospitals," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a statement. Turkey has now recorded 56,956 confirmed cases and 1198 fatalities since the outbreak emerged on March 11.
Mexico's stock market said Sunday that its president, Jaime Ruíz Sacristán, has died. While it did not give a cause of death, he was diagnosed with Covid-19 about a month ago.
Local news media reported that Ruiz Sacristán, 70, became ill after returning from Vail, Colorado, a vacation spot shared by more than a dozen of the earliest new coronavirus cases diagnosed in Mexico.
As of Sunday, Mexican authorities had confirmed 4219 cases of COVID-19 and 273 deaths, though they have acknowledged that the unrecorded infection numbers are far higher.
Australia
Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says the country is "in a good place" in its fight against the coronavirus as the death toll rose by three to 59.
Murphy says "there is no place in the world I would rather be than Australia at the moment."
Australia now has 6289 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.
Murphy says people in the community are still transmitting the virus so it is necessary to "keep our pressure on and make sure that we don't end up like countries in the world that you have all seen on the news."
He says the country is "in a good place ... but we have to maintain that good place."
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says it would be "very dangerous and unrealistic" to remove social distancing restrictions too soon.
He says those restrictions will stay in place across Australia "for as long as it takes" based on medical advice.
Vatican
Pope Francis is calling for solidarity the world over to confront the "epochal challenge" posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
He has urged political leaders in particular to give hope and opportunity to laid-off workers.
Francis made his traditional Easter address on Sunday and called for sanctions relief, debt forgiveness and cease-fires to calm conflicts and financial crises around the globe.
He has offered special prayers for the sick, the dead, the elderly, refugees and the poor. He also has offered thanks and encouragement to doctors and nurses who have worked "to the point of exhaustion and not infrequently at the expense of their own health."
Pastors wearing face masks while maintaining social distancing attend an Easter service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea. Photo / AP
Francis has urged the European Union to step up to the "epochal challenge" posed by Covid-19 and resist the tendency of selfishness and division. He recalled that Europe rose again after World War II "thanks to a concrete spirit of solidarity that enabled it to overcome the rivalries of the past."
He says "this is not a time for self-centeredness, because the challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons."
South Korea
Some South Korean churches have held their Easter services online amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Seoul's Yoido Full Gospel Church, one of the biggest churches in South Korea, delivered an online live streaming of its Easter service on Sunday.
A small number of masked followers attended the service broadcast via the church's website. They were seated notably apart from each other to abide by social distancing rules. Choir members also wore masks when they sang hymns.
Many South Korean churches have switched to online services to support government-led efforts to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. Local media reported some churches resumed offline services to mark Easter Sunday, raising worries about new infections.
South Korea has reported 32 additional cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, a continued downward trend in new infections in the country.
