Global confirmed Covid-19 cases top 400,000 – as it happened

That’s it for this live blog. Follow me, Helen Sullivan, to the link below for the latest coronavirus pandemic news:

New Zealand has declared a national state of emergency, Reuters reports. More on this soon.

The New York Times editorial board says “It’s time for a national lockdown” in the US.

In an op-ed titled “Coronavirus Is Advancing. All Americans Need to Shelter in Place,”

The board – made up of opinion journalists – write:

We are not suggesting that Mr. Trump has the authority to order a national lockdown, much less advocating that he attempt to enforce one. Instead, we are urging him to use the bully pulpit to put pressure on, and provide political cover for, governors to take the hard steps that are needed.

As the president’s own health advisers warn, the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to come. The nation’s slow and spotty response has allowed the virus to spread to every state. Modelingby researchers at the Imperial College London indicates that upward of two million lives could be lost to the pandemic unless America somehow manages to “flatten the curve.”

Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. If you have any tips, news you think we need to know or something funny to share, get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Here’s a summary of the latest news:

• The global number of cases reached 417,582. According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking the pandemic, 18,612 people have died and 107,247 people have recovered.
• France confirmed it has seen more than 22,000 cases. The director general of the country’s health service, Jérôme Salomon, said the pandemic was now across France and “rapidly getting worse”.
• Trump insisted on an easing of restrictions by Easter. Despite much of the rest of the world choosing to accelerate restrictions designed to control the virus’ spread and the World Health Organization warning the US is in grave danger of a rapid escalation in the severity of its situation, Donald Trump has claimed the nation is nearing the end of the fight against then virus.
• The Australian market opened up almost 6%. The news followed the extraordinary gains of as much as 11% on US markets. While some analysts put the US market’s increase down to hopes a long-awaited stimulus package was close to being approved by congress, another explanation is that traders have reacted with glee to talk from Donald Trump that he might soon lift coronavirus restrictions.
• European countries tried to mitigate the economic damage. A series of measures was approved in the Czech Republic, Romania and Norway.
• There was speculation over the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s diagnosis. Brazilian media reported that two names were scrubbed from a list of patients handed over by the hospital where he was tested, leading some to speculate he and his wife contracted the virus and were treated in secrecy.

And you can read a summary of day’s earlier events here.

Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus increased by seven to 44 on Tuesday as the number of confirmed cases rose by 343 to 1,872, health minister Fahrettin Koca said.

He said on Twitter that 3,952 tests had been conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests carried out in Turkey to around 28,000.

24 Mar 202019.46 EDT

Ben Butler

The Australian market rose 5.81% at the opening bell on Wednesday, following extraordinary gains of as much as 11% on US markets overnight.

View image in fullscreen

With markets extremely volatile, it’s become something of mug’s game to try to explain the latest gyrations. While some analysts put the US market’s increase down to hopes a long-awaited stimulus package was close to being approved by congress, a more likely - if grimmer - explanation is that traders have reacted with glee to talk from Donald Trump that he might soon lift coronavirus restrictions.
This would cost many lives but get cash moving in the economy again.

On the Australian bourse, the biggest gainer at the open was debt collector Credit Corp, which was up 39% - a second day of big gains - and the biggest loser was funeral home operator Invocare, which told the market it would be hit by new restrictions limiting the number of people at funerals to 10.

California scrambles to avoid Covid-19’s worst case scenario: ‘It will take a heroic effort’

Leaders in California are scrambling to prepare the state amid a shortage of hospital beds, limited access to masks and ventilators and a patchwork approach to testing, as a surge of cases in New York provides a warning of how quickly the coronavirus crisis could spiral out of control.

A statewide stay-at-home order took effect Friday, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was readying the state for a 90-day surge in cases, a demand that would require adding 50,000 hospital beds to the state’s portfolio. Tuesday saw the death of a patient under the age of 18 in Los Angeles, who is believed to be the nation’s first child death from the virus.

New York is reporting more cases — it’s also testing more.

Today’s briefing made clear that New York is now being treated as a hot zone. The state reported 25,665 cases of Covid-19, as of. this morning, with 210 deaths. Nearly 15,000 cases were concentrated in New York City.

New York is also testing residents more often.

In Washington, both Trump and Pence indicated in that press briefing that the Defence Production Act (DPA) would not be invoked to compel private companies to produce masks, ventilators and other vital supplies.

But their comments appeared to contradict what Peter Gaynor, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said earlier today. This morning, Gaynor told CNN that his agency was “going to use the DPA for the first time today”.

A FEMA spokesperson said minutes later that the act had indeed not been needed.

Last week, Trump issued an executive order invoking that the 1950 law, so the government could ask companies to prioritize the production of crucial medical supplies. Ever since, the administration has undermined the need for such measures arguing that companies are voluntarily stepping up to make necessary products, and ordering companies do this work would have amounted to socialism.

In Washington, the White House has issued new guidance for people who have already left New York to self-quarantine for two weeks. The vice-president, Mike Pence, said:

We are asking anyone who has traveled out of the New York City metropolitan area to anywhere else in the country to self-isolate for 14 days. We have to deal with the New York City metropolitan area as a high-risk area.

Antony Fauci emphasised that one out of every 1,000 New Yorkers may be infected.

In the UK, Birmingham’s NEC has said it “stands ready” and is “well equipped” should the centre be considered as a suitable location for a temporary hospital. A spokeswoman has said:

As a cornerstone of the local community, we are committed to playing our part in ensuring the health and wellbeing of everyone in our area.

As such, we stand ready and willing to help our emergency services - especially at a time like this.

The NEC is well equipped to be used as a support base if such need arises so please be assured, that if we are requested to do so, we can action this with immediate effect.

We are and have been in constant communication with the local NHS trust, police and fire service, and the services are fully aware of the capabilities of the venue. We will do our utmost to support the effort in combating the virus.

Back in the UK, the Metropolitan police have released footage of officers clearing sunbathers from Shepherd’s Bush Green, in west London, on the first day of the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown. “Can you all go home please,” one officer can be heard saying. “It’s not a holiday, it’s a lockdown.”

Under tough new measures announced by the prime minister Boris Johnson, people are allowed to leave their homes only to exercise once a day, to travel to and from “absolutely necessary” work, and to shop for essential items.

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Trump evaded a question about why he’s fixated on easing back distancing measures by Easter. “I just thought it was a beautiful time” he said. But he said he’ll “be guided very much by Dr Fauci” and Dr Deborah Birx. “Maybe we do sections of the country,” Trump said.

Fauci said timeline of when the US should ease physical distancing measures is “really very flexible”. He said people “can look at a date but you have to be very flexible”. Fauci once again emphasised the need for data to inform public health policies.

Anthony Fauci, who has resurfaced for this briefing, addressed the crisis. He emphasised the need to test more widely, to gather more data that can inform public health officials as they develop policies.

“The idea about self-isolating for two weeks will be very important,” Fauci said, especially for New Yorkers living in the most severely impacted areas in the country.

Fauci did not address how realistic Trump’s wish to scale back physical-distancing measures by Easter was. Instead, he obliquely referenced the importance of testing and gathering data.

Trump has moved on to talking about immigration. “This experience shows how important borders are,” he has said, referencing his exclusionary immigration policies. He also said that the US should “never be reliant on a foreign country” and that his wish for America is for it to be a “self-reliant nation” that is “dependant on no one”.

Despite Trump’s claim, experts at the World Health Organization have said the US risks becoming the next centre of the coronavirus outbreak as the country is seeing a “very large acceleration” in cases.

Trump has claimed the US is already beginning to “see the light at the end of the tunnel”, even though Covid-19 is still spreading throughout the nation.

He also reiterated his hesitation to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase production of crucial medical supplies, saying some businesses are already beginning to do so.