Confirmed worldwide Covid-19 death toll passes 100,000 – as it happened

That’s it from this blog. My colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe has just launched a new one where you can follow developments for the next 24 hours or so.

But to wrap up, here’s something mournful yet joyful to enjoy:

Argentina has extended its lockdown until 27 April – President Alberto Fernandez said in a televised address on Friday that the measure would be applied only in major cities.

Most of the population lives in metropolitan areas like Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba.

The nationwide lockdown was first mandated on March 20.

Donald Trump has announced a special council to convene to discuss reopening the US economy as it tries to emerge from the Covid-19 shock.

“This is beyond economic,” he told reporters at his daily briefing in Washington earlier. “I call it the ‘opening our country taskforce’ or ‘opening our country council’ so we don’t get it confused with Mike’s [Pence] taskforce, which has done so great.

“And we’re going to have the great business leaders, the great doctors, we’re going to have a group of people. We’ll probably do it by teleconference because we don’t really travelling in for their own purposes. I don’t think it would look good, also.”

Here’s the full story:

A very good piece from Guardian Australia reporter Ben Doherty about whether or not the government in Canberra can afford to risk relaxing controls as the curve continues to flatten.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/the-covid-19-exit-strategy-when-will-australia-know-the-coronavirus-battle-is-over

Panama has annouced it has another 222 cases. It now has 2,974 cases of coronavirus and 74 deaths.

The G20 meeting of the world’s most developed nations, being held by teleconference by hosts Saudi Arabia, has been struggling to broker an agreement about oil production.

But leaders have issued a rather vague statement saying that they will try to ensure that the energy sector makes a full contribution to helping the world economy recover from the coronavirus shock.

It said they would work on policy responses and ensure market stability, and also annouced a “short-term” policy group to monitor oil market response measures.

Two of the biggest oil producers – Saudi and Russia – ramped up output last month in a shock move that sent oil prices crashing. There has since been hope of production cuts to stabilise prices but a clash between Saudi Arabia and Mexico has scotched those hopes, for now.

Prices fell in trading on Friday and brent, the international crude benchmark, stands at $31.

Here’s a summary of the most recent news:

• The global death toll passes 100,000 people. According to researchers at John Hopkins University, at least 102,026 people have died as a result of the pandemic. The institution says at least 1,681,964 people have been infected, while 374,509 have recovered.
• Nearly 1,000 more people are confirmed dead in France. The French death toll passes 13,000, the health ministry director Jérôme Salomon said. A further 554 deaths were confirmed in French hospitals and 433 in care and retirement homes.
• Italy extends lockdown. Restrictions will remain in place in Italy for another three weeks, the country’s prime minister has said, although a few types of shop will be allowed to reopen from next Tuesday. Giuseppe Conte said: “This is a difficult but necessary decision for which I take all political responsibility.”
• Trump promises to listen to expert advice on reopening the economy. The US president says he is creating a second task force that will include a council tasked with deciding when to ease restrictions. But Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed the idea, insists he is not determined to reopen the economy if he is advised that to do so would endanger public health.
• Turkey puts in place a two-day lockdown in 31 provinces. The measures cover Istanbul, Ankara and other major cities, its interior ministry says, adding that the curbs will begin at midnight and end at the same time on Sunday. The country’s known death toll stands at 1,006 people.
• Liverpool legend, Kenny Dalglish, tests positive. The 69-year-old was in hospital for treatment on a separate infection.
• The UK is urged to investigate if and why black, Asian and minority ethnic people are more vulnerable. The head of the British Medical Association made the call after it emerged that the first 10 doctors in the UK named as having died from the virus were all BAME.

You can read a summary of the day’s earlier vents here.

The US has approved 661,000 loans to small businesses totalling $168bn (£134bn) under a programme to address the pandemic’s fallout, the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says.

A $2.3tn economic stimulus enacted last month allocated $349bn to loans to small businesses hurt by the crisis that can be turned into grants if they meet certain conditions.

Albert Chambers, a 99-year-old second world war veteran, has been discharged from hospital after recovering from Covid-19.

Chambers, who will be 100 in July, was wounded in the war and spent three years in a prison camp. He praised the treatment he had received from the NHS, saying: “It couldn’t have been better.”

0:35

In Washington, Trump has said that deciding whether to ease recommendations on social distancing might be one of the biggest decisions, if not the biggest one, he’ll have to make.

Pressed on whether the United States has enough medical equipment and whether Trump offers too rosy a picture at his briefings, the president said he believes the country has enough equipment and that he did not enjoy speaking at these press conferences.

The comments from the president came in response to a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta.

These are the saddest conferences I’ve ever had. I don’t like doing them. Why? Because I’m talking about death ... there’s no happy talk Jim. This is the real deal. And I’ve got to make the biggest decision of my life and I’ve only started thinking about that. This is by far the biggest decision of my life.

Trump went on to say the country has enough equipment.

“It’s not ‘no no no’ it’s yes yes yes,’” Trump said.

Yemen has confirmed its first case, its internationally recognised government has announced.

The case is a 73-year-old Yemeni national who works at the port of al-Shahr in Hadramawt province, Yemen’s minister of health Nasser Baoum has told the Associated Press. The man is in stable condition, the minister added, without providing further details.

The news is stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate the war-torn country’s already crippled health care system.

Yemen is a uniquely dangerous place for the virus to spread. Repeated bombings and ground fighting over five years of war have destroyed or closed more than half its health facilities. Deep poverty, dire water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have made the country a breeding ground for disease.

Health officials have dreaded the virus eventual appearance in the country. Altaf Musani, a representative of the World Health Organization in Yemen, said:

We have been saying since the declaration of the pandemic that the introduction of such a case in Yemen would be catastrophic.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared a ceasefire on Thursday on humanitarian grounds – partly, they claimed, to prevent the spread of the pandemic. However, fighting continued unabated on Friday, diminishing hopes of a truce that could open doors for peace talks.

10 Apr 202015.58 EDT

Tom Phillips

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro – already under fire for his cavalier reaction to the pandemic – has sparked further outrage by ignoring social distancing rules twice in the last 48 hours and being caught on camera shaking the hand of an elderly woman just seconds after wiping his nose with his wrist.

The nose-wipe handshake was caught on camera by one of Brazil’s major TV networks, Globo, and quickly went viral on social media.

Bolsonaro’s political foes and critics responded immediately. Humberto Costa, a leftwing senator, accused Brazil’s president of being “an ally of the virus” and “repeatedly committing crimes against public health”.

Another critic, the journalist William De Lucca, tweeted: “I think perhaps this is the best video showing how NOT to act during a pandemic”.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly attacked what he calls the media “hysteria” over coronavirus and thumbed his nose at his own health ministry’s social distancing guidelines on Thursday and Friday with high-profile trips to a bakery and a pharmacy. During both outings Bolsonaro was booed by detractors.

On Friday, Brazil’s coronavirus death toll rose to 1,057, up from 941 the previous day and nearly three times higher than last Friday’s figure.

Trump has said he plans to announce a second coronavirus task force, creating a council to focus on re-opening the country after the worst of the pandemic passes.

The council is expected to include the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and White House senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow, among others, a senior administration official said earlier in the week. Trump said on Friday that state governors will also serve on the council.

The UK’s health minister, Matt Hancock, has promised to ramp up tests and personal protective equipment for NHS staff:

1:40

Asked whether he would open up the US again next month if his advisers presented him with evidence that there would be a dramatic spike of coronavirus cases, Trump has said he wants to get it open as soon as possible. But he isn’t determined, the president said in response to a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta.

I do say this Jim: I want to get it open as soon as possible. I would love to open it. I’m not determined.

He said that he would unveil a new task force of council to advise him on dealing with coronavirus and when to reopen the country. He said he would discuss it more next week Trump said it would be bipartisan.

The one thing I didn’t ask: ‘Are you a Republican or Democrat?’ And I want their views on what they think.

Turkey is imposing a two-day lockdown in 31 provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara and other major cities, its Interior Ministry says, adding that the curbs will begin at midnight (TRT) and end at the same time on Sunday. The country’s known death toll stands at 1,006 people.

The Liverpool legend, Kenny Dalglish, has tested positive while in hospital for treatment for a different infection, his family have announced.

The 69-year-old was admitted to hospital on Wednesday for a course of intravenous antibiotics and, in line with current procedures, underwent a test for Covid-19 despite displaying no symptoms of the illness. The test was positive and Dalglish, who remains asymptomatic, will remain in hospital for further treatment.

In Washington, the US president Donald Trump has been pressed on whether he would heed the warnings of health officials, including some who advise him, as to whether the country could reopen by early May. Trump has reportedly been hoping to see that. At first he digressed.

I listen to them about everything. I have great respect for these people. All of them ... In fact I told Tony Fauci, why don’t you move to New York, run against AOC, you will win easily. I kid you know that.

Asked again, he didn’t budge.

I can only say this: I have tremendous respect for these doctors and we’ve done very well. I have great respect for these people. I’m never saying bad about these people.

And then pressed a third time Trump said:

I will certainly listen. I will certainly listen. There are two sides. Remember, I understand both sides of an argument very well.

It is enormously frustrating to see people ignoring physical distancing rules, England’s chief nursing officer has said.

Ruth May told a Downing Street briefing the best way to thank healthcare workers during the pandemic is to stay at home - especially during the Easter weekend.

I was only on the way here, going over Westminster Bridge, seeing a whole hoard of cyclists coming together. It is enormously frustrating. The reason that is frustrating is because there’s also still occasions where my colleagues are getting abuse from their neighbours for driving off to work ...

You may have seen some TV coverage this week about what’s happening in our hospitals. Dedicated, skilled, professional NHS staff calmly dealing with the mounting numbers of patients with coronavirus.

They are frank about the toll it takes, both physical and emotional. And of course nurses, healthcare assistants, midwives, and other NHS staff are now among the victims of this coronavirus.

Some have lost their lives. The NHS is a family and we feel their loss deeply.