We’ve launched a new global coronavirus liveblog at the link below where I’ll be bringing you rolling coverage throughout the day:
Italian death toll passes 20,000; more than 1.87m Covid-19 cases reported worldwide – as it happened
Spain records another drop in daily death toll; Singapore sees biggest daily jump in infections; China reports highest daily cases in over five weeks. This blog is now closed
Mon 13 Apr 2020 20.02 EDT
First published on Sun 12 Apr 2020 20.16 EDT- 42 dead in coronavirus outbreak at Virginia nursing home, more expected
- France sets date for easing of lockdown
- French president makes address to nation on virus
- Summary
- New York coronavirus death toll surpasses 10,000
- Italy death toll passes 20,000
- Singapore records biggest daily jump in infections
- German experts recommend easing of restrictions
- UK hospital deaths top 11,000
- Belgium records 303 new Covid-19 deaths
- Spain sees another fall in daily death toll
- Major oil-producing nations agree historic 10% cut in output
- Iran's death toll rises to 4,585 – up by 111
- A summary of the news
- Summary of the latest global updates
- Summary
- Alabama cannot block abortions during coronavirus crisis, judge rules
- Third day of lower cases in Germany
- Macron set to warn France virus lockdown must go on
- Spain readies to reopen some factories
- Summary
- Erdogan refuses minister’s resignation over Turkey lockdown chaos
- Market reaction to OPEC output cut
- China reports highest daily infections in five weeks
- Top oil producers agree on ‘historic’ cuts to boost prices
- France to isolate 1,900 sailors after virus-hit naval ship docks
- Summary
Live feed
- 42 dead in coronavirus outbreak at Virginia nursing home, more expected
- France sets date for easing of lockdown
- French president makes address to nation on virus
- Summary
- New York coronavirus death toll surpasses 10,000
- Italy death toll passes 20,000
- Singapore records biggest daily jump in infections
- German experts recommend easing of restrictions
- UK hospital deaths top 11,000
- Belgium records 303 new Covid-19 deaths
- Spain sees another fall in daily death toll
- Major oil-producing nations agree historic 10% cut in output
- Iran's death toll rises to 4,585 – up by 111
- A summary of the news
- Summary of the latest global updates
- Summary
- Alabama cannot block abortions during coronavirus crisis, judge rules
- Third day of lower cases in Germany
- Macron set to warn France virus lockdown must go on
- Spain readies to reopen some factories
- Summary
- Erdogan refuses minister’s resignation over Turkey lockdown chaos
- Market reaction to OPEC output cut
- China reports highest daily infections in five weeks
- Top oil producers agree on ‘historic’ cuts to boost prices
- France to isolate 1,900 sailors after virus-hit naval ship docks
- Summary
Dr. Fauci opens by saying he does not claim to know anything about economics. “But the one thing we do know as health experts is... some people think it will be like a light switch on and off. But it won’t be.”
Each state is different, he says. There will be a “rolling re-entry,” says Dr. Fauci. “It’s not one size fits all.”
“The president will get a lot of input from a lot of others but we’ll give an honest public health recommendation.” He leaves the podium.
President Trump has left the briefing room, leaving the public health experts to answer questions. We’ll have more on updates from Dr Anthony Fauci shortly
But first, let’s revisit that campaign-ad style video that Trump played earlier today. As ABC’s Will Steakin demonstrates — it’s almost identical to a campaign ad from a few weeks ago.
The White House Press briefing continues live:
42 dead in coronavirus outbreak at Virginia nursing home, more expected
As Trump continues to boast of his success in managing the coronavirus pandemic in the US – the epicentre of the crisis worldwide, with 400,000 more confirmed cases than Spain, the next worst-affected country – 42 residents of a Virginia nursing home near Richmond have died from the Covid-19 disease pandemic in one of the worst clusters of the new coronavirus in the United States, and officials expect more deaths to come.
At least 127 elderly people out of the 163 residents of the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Henrico County have tested positive for the new coronavirus in recent weeks, said its medical director Dr. James Wright. News reports say the latest two people died in the last three days.
“It’s been tough,” Wright, 56, said in an interview with Reuters. “We were surprised by how quickly this went through,” he said.
Wright told media at a recent news conference: “It’s a battle that at times we feel like we’re losing. It’s a battle that we have to fight every day and night, seven days a week.”
At least 35 members of Canterbury’s staff have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday, but Wright said he did not know how many have fallen ill.
But he said the virus has exacerbated an existing staffing shortage, with some staffers refusing to come to work for fear of getting ill.
“We did the best we could,” he said.
President Donald Trump has said repeatedly during this briefing that his administration was close to completing a plan to re-open the US economy, which has been largely shut down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Trump noted that the number of deaths from the virus in the United States had begun to plateau, indicating that “social distancing” efforts had succeeded.
State governors, meanwhile, appear to be discussing plans to resume economic activity without seeking input from the Trump administration.
Nine states on the US East and West coasts said on Monday they had begun planning for the slow reopening of their economies and lifting of strict stay-at-home orders.
Pressed on the question of whether governors or the federal government would make the decision to re-open schools and closed businesses, the president said that he had ultimate authority.
“The president of the United States calls the shots,” Trump said. “That being said, we’re going to work with the states.”
Meanwhile on CNN:
The president said that he’ll decide by the end of the week whether the US will continue to fund the World Health Organization (WHO). The international body has been a frequent scapegoat for Trump, who blames WHO officials for the severity of the pandemic.
He also referred to the WHO and the World Trade Organization as the Bobbsey Twins, characters from children’s books first published in 1904.
Read more here on why WHO’s responsibility far outweighs its power and capacity:
Vice President Mike Pence is speaking now:
As Steve Mnuchin leaves the podium Trump says “Phase 4 Steve, Phase 4, come on Steve,” referring to the Phase 4 bill of the economic stimulus package, which Mnuchin is leaving the press briefing to negotiate.
You can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan. Thanks to those who have sent news and tips today so far – they’ve been helpful.
Trump says we’ll know “in the next few days” whether he wants to reopen the country on 1 May.
The US has 577,307 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 23,232 people have died.
Trump is asked whether he will assure people that he will take the advice of health exerts. He says he absolutely will. Asked whether he would ever go against their advice he says, “I don’t think it would be very likely because I think we’ll be on the same page.”