'I owe them my life' – Boris Johnson pays tribute to NHS staff – as it happened

I’m wrapping up the blog now. Thanks for following.

My colleague Helen Davidson has already begun a new one and you can follow all the developments with her right here.

Saudi Arabia has extended its curfew “until further notice”, the state new agency said early on Sunday morning.

King Salman has previously ordered a curfew that took effect on 23 March, from 7pm to 6 am for 21 days, to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

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Last week Saudi Arabia placed its capital Riyadh and other big cities under a 24-hour curfew, locking down much of the population to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

A decision is expected soon on whether the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca will be cancelled.

Thanks Molly. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be blogging for a short time before we close this blog and start a new one.

More than 1,000 Australians are starting to arrive back home today after being left stranded in various parts of South America.

Here are some of them getting off a plane at Melbourne airport as they begin two weeks quarantine.

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12 Apr 202019.14 EDT

Summary of recent events

Molly Blackall

I’m going to be handing over to my colleagues in Australia, but here’s a summary of key events before I go.

Thank you all for joining me over the past few hours. I hope that you are well and able to stay safe, wherever you are in the world.

• The global death toll has reached 108,281, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker.
• For the first time in history, all 50 US states are now under disaster declarations, after Wyoming became the final state to announce.
• Pope Francis has urged people not to “yield to fear” at his Easter address. The event was scaled back due to coronavirus, with just two dozen attendees, a smaller choir, and no processions or baptisms.
• British prime minister Boris Johnson has said he owes his life to the NHS. He has been in hospital since Sunday night, and had spent three nights in intensive care.
• British opposition parties and senior Conservatives have united in calling on the British government to reopen Parliament.
• Seven African states have called on authorities to explain allegations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou city. Many report having been evicted, tested for coronavirus several times without being given results and being shunned and discriminated against in public.
• The Kremlin have warned that Moscow’s hospitals are under strain after a “huge influx” of coronavirus cases.
• The World Health Organization have warned that Belarus must take further action to combat coronavirus, as they enter a new phase of infection. Belarus are still hosting football games, and their President, Alexander Lukashenko, has downplayed restrictive measures. In recent weeks, he has said that drinking vodka and bathing in saunas could help fight the virus.

Every night in New York, residents clap for essential workers at 7pm.

Journalist Sophie Friedman shared this wonderful video of her neighbour in East Village, who stands on the roof every evening to play the bagpipes as part of the daily display of gratitude.

This video is a lovely moment of light in these difficult times - I hope it makes you smile, as it did for me.

“The highlight of the day for me and my neighbors in the East Village is the 7pm clap for essential workers. Several dozen of us go up onto our rooftops and just go wild: shaking tambourines, clapping, whooping, and banging on pots and pants, waving to each other, thanking essential workers for putting themselves on the line,” said Friedman.

“My neighbor directly across the street comes up to his roof right at 6:59 and then starts playing his bagpipes. This encouraged someone on my side of the street to start playing drums in tune with the bagpiper. This is the only time of the day most of us go outside and see other people, and the rooftop clapping has engendered a real sense of camaraderie.”

New York is the worst hit state in the US, which now has both the highest death toll and the highest number of cases of coronavirus in the world.

The chair of the Parliamentary group on immigration detention in the UK has called for all detainees to be temporarily released after a rise in Covid-19 cases in removal centres.

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on immigration detention, asked the Home Secretary to immediately release all detainees due to the ongoing pandemic.

It comes after a case of Covid-19 was confirmed at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) close to Gatwick airport on April 7, Ms Thewliss said in a letter.

This was the second case brought to the attention of the APPG following the first confirmed case at Yarl’s Wood IRC on March 22. However, a High Court case brought by charity Detention Action last month heard there may be at least two further cases.

SNP MP Ms Thewliss called the newest case “entirely avoidable” and expressed her concern, particularly for detainees with pre-existing conditions. In a letter to the Home Secretary, Ms Thewliss wrote: “The confirmation of a new coronavirus case at Brook House demonstrates the danger detainees are continuing to be put in.

“Now more than ever, protection must be prioritised over immigration targets. IRCs are high risk for clusters of Covid-19 with staff providing a conduit for infection to and from the community.”

“The continued spread of the virus clearly highlights the very real risk of uncontrolled outbreaks at IRCs.”

The U.S. Air Force Air Thunderbirds conducted a flyover in celebration of frontline workers, flying past all the major hospitals throughout the Las Vegas valley.

Brig. Gen. Robert Novotny said: “We were looking at how we could continue to fly and also give back to the community with a salute to the real heroes out there on the front lines who are keeping us safe from the virus.”

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JPMorgan Chase & Co, one of the US’ largest mortgage lenders, is raising borrowing standards this week for most new home loans, as it tries to mitigate lending risk caused by coronavirus.

From Tuesday, customers applying for a new mortgage will need a credit score of at least 700, and will be required to make a down payment equal to 20% of the home’s value.

“Due to the economic uncertainty, we are making temporary changes that will allow us to more closely focus on serving our existing customers,” Amy Bonitatibus, chief marketing officer for JPMorgan Chase’s home lending business, told Reuters.

The changes will enable JPMorgan to reduce its exposure to borrowers who unexpectedly lose their job, suffer a decline in wages, or whose homes lose value.

The bank said the change will also free up staff to handle a surge in mortgage refinance requests, which are taking longer to process due to staff working from home and non-essential businesses being closed.

Thank you again to everyone sending tips and pointers. If you spot something which might be of interest, you can drop me a message on Twitter @mollyblackall.

A very powerful photograph of a quarantine patrol in El Salvador.

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Department store chain Macy’s has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to explore new options for improving its finances, as sales plunge due to coronavirus.

Macy’s has asked its advisers to help manage its liabilities and explore options that could include new financing, sources told Reuters news agency, adding that no debt restructuring is imminent.

A spokeswoman for Macy’s said in a statement that the company is “exploring numerous options to strengthen our capital structure,” adding that it maintains relationships with a range of advisers.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has thanked NHS staff at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London for saving his life while he underwent treatment in intensive care for coronavirus, PA news agency are reporting.

Issuing a short statement as he continues his recovery, Johnson said: “I can’t thank them enough. I owe them my life.”

Johnson is spending his seventh night in hospital after being admitted last Sunday. He has spent three nights in intensive care and received non-intrusive oxygen supplies.

You can read more about the British prime minister’s time in hospital here:

Brazil’s deficit is fast approaching 500 billion reais ($96 billion), 7% of gross domestic product, compared to 61 billion reais, or 0.9% of GDP last year.

This figure does not include the state aid proposal of up to 222 billion reais to tackle coronavirus, the economy ministry said on Saturday.

“It is important that any new fiscal impact be discussed carefully to avoid an excessive growth of the primary deficit and public debt of the public sector beyond what is strictly necessary to reduce the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus crisis,” the ministry said in a statement.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has balked at social distancing measures imposed by state governors and even his own health officials.

He wants to see the economy re-started, arguing that extended shutdowns pose a greater risk than a disease he calls a “little cold.”

A British critical care nurse has warned that frontline health staff are “dehydrated” because they are skipping drinks in order not to waste personal protective equipment (PPE).

The nurse, who asked to remain anonymous, said staff felt they were being “lied to” about masks, and the situation was being handled “horrendously”.

The health worker, from the North of England, hit back at suggestions staff were wasting equipment and said those working on her ward were afraid to take off their masks to drink, as this means they have to be thrown away, raising the risk of dehydration.

She told the PA news agency: “We are being lied to about what masks we do and don’t have, and they’re hiding ones we are running out of.”

She said: “We can’t eat or drink enough because we can’t have water or snacks in the area and can’t take masks off.

“And we’re too scared to drink too much when we’re out because if we need to go to the toilet then it means taking it all off again and wasting it, so we are all horribly dehydrated.”

The Government is facing a backlash after Health Secretary Matt Hancock called PPE a “precious resource” and said it was important that healthcare workers use the “right amount”.

Pope Francis urged people to “not yield to fear” and focused on a “message of hope” as he led an Easter eve mass in an empty St Peter’s Basilica tonight, reported Reuters, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The vigil, which normally takes place in a church packed with about 10,000 people, was attended by only about two dozen, including a few altar servers and a smaller-than-usual choir.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, it was scaled back to eliminate several traditional features, such as the baptism of adult converts and a long procession up the main aisle of the church.

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Senior health officials in the UK are facing demands to reveal how much has been spent on millions of inaccurate coronavirus antibody tests, after it emerged that payments had been guaranteed even if the kits failed to work. Read the full story here:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election rival Benny Gantz has asked for additional time to try to form a government with the long-time leader, to end more than a year of political deadlock.

A 28-day mandate to put together a governing coalition, following an inconclusive March 2 election, expires on April 14.

Gantz, an ex-armed forces chief who heads the centrist Blue and White party, asked President Reuven Rivlin for a 14-day extension to the mandate.

Gantz had run on a promise not to serve in a government with Netanyahu, citing the prime minister’s indictment on corruption charges. Netanyahu denies those charges. But in a reversal that dismayed many of his supporters, Gantz said the coronavirus crisis had made a national emergency government with Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party an imperative.

“The political, health and social crisis have brought me to the decision that even at a heavy political and personal price, I will do all I can to establish a government with the Likud,” Gantz wrote in a letter to the president, published by his party.

Rivlin gave no immediate word on whether he would grant more time to Gantz, who in his letter said the two political rivals appeared close to a final agreement.

Opposition parties across the UK, alongside senior Conservatives, have united to demand that parliament be recalled.

In a letter to the Leader of the Commons, newly elected Labour leader Keir Starmer demanded urgent talks with the Speaker, saying there was no substitute for parliamentary scrutiny” particularly “at this time of national crisis”.

You can read the full report from my colleagues here:

Illinois has reported 81 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the state’s total to 677.