Countries urge citizens to return home and long trials put on hold in UK over Covid-19 – as it happened

We’ve launched a new blog where we’ll be bringing you the latest global developments in the coronavirus pandemic. We will now be closing this one.

You can find it here:

Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry has announced the suspension of all short-stay visa exemptions and visas on arrival for 30 days. The measure takes effect this Friday, 20 March.

The government has advised citizens to return home from abroad as soon as possible.

18 Mar 202020.01 EDT

Uki Goñi

Argentina registered its highest single-day rise in reported coronavirus cases so far Tuesday, with 14 new cases – 12 corresponding to recent arrivals from abroad – bringing the total to 79. Two deaths have been reported so far.

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Grappling to deal with the crisis, Argentina has gone into full lockdown, leaving thousands of Argentinians stranded abroad. The latest estimate is that there are 30,000 nationals struggling to return to the country due to the suspension of incoming flights. Authorities are negotiating special flights with international carriers and putting the national carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas into high gear.

Authorities are also working to stem the sudden flow of thousands of people to Argentina’s Atlantic beach resorts. The announcement of paid work leave for persons over 60 and permission for others to work from home has apparently been taken by many as an extension of the southern hemisphere summer holidays.

“We don’t want you to come, there’s an international situation and the protocols for isolation and quarantine have to be respected,” tweeted the mayor of Pinamar, a major beach resort.

Highway controls and the cancellation of all long-distance flights, trains and buses will start Friday, as Argentina heads for a long weekend.

A bit more on the first case in The Gambia now:

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In a televised statement, Health Minister Ahmadou Lamin Samateh said officials in the tiny West African state had confirmed an infection in a young woman who had recently travelled from the United Kingdom.

She went into self-isolation after feeling feverish, before being confirmed as a positive case.

“All passengers who came in the same flight or in contact with the confirmed case will be traced and undergo isolation,” the minister said.

Samateh’s announcement came straight on the heels of a televised statement from President Adama Barrow, who announced anti-virus measures on Tuesday before The Gambia had a single confirmed case.

The president announced a ban on public gatherings and the closure of schools for three weeks from Wednesday.

Travellers from affected countries will also be isolated for two weeks, the president said.

Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now, taking over from my colleague Kevin Rawlinson.

As we continue to report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re looking for stories of how this unprecedented crisis has affected couples, families, friends and communities.

If you’ve been separated from a loved one by lockdowns, have had to cancel your wedding or miss an important family event, we’d like to hear from you. We’re always interested in hearing what you may have done in response, too, or how you and your loved ones (and neighbours) are supporting each other in these trying times.

Please do include photographs if you can and are happy for us to use them.

Send me a message on Twitter @helenrsullivan, tag me in a tweet of your own (if you’re happy for us to include it in the blog), or email me: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.

The UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is giving the go-ahead for a temporary relaxation of drivers’ hours rules amid the coronavirus outbreak.

17 Mar 202019.42 EDT

Calla Wahlquist

Still in Australia:

Victorian state police have warned drivers that they can lose their licence or be fined if they refuse a breath test over coronavirus fears.

Queensland police announced on Monday that it had immediately and until further notice suspended “static” roadside breath and drug tests — that’s when you round a corner and suddenly find yourself in a queue of cars being tested — to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Random single-car breath and drug tests will continue.

Victoria has taken the same approach — suspended the use of the big drug/0.05 bus but continued to do single car stops.

And in a statement on Wednesday, Victoria Police said drivers could not refuse a breath test out of coronavirus fears.

Here’s a summary of the latest news:

• Criminal trials are to be halted in England and Wales, the lord chief justice announced. Lord Burnett said no new trial should start in any crown court unless it is expected to last for three days or fewer. Any longer cases due to start before the end of April are to be postponed.
• Australians were told to expect at least six months of severe disruption. The prime minister and chief medical officer delivered a series of new restrictions, saying Australians should avoid international travel and groups of more than 100 people, as well as other measures.
• The virus reached every US state as West Virginia became the last to diagnose a case. All 50 states in the union now have at least one confirmed case. The USA has seen 93 deaths as a result of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
• English Heritage closed off sites. The guardian of some of England’s most cherished treasures, such as Stonehenge, announced that all staffed sites were closing. Unstaffed ones were to remain open, however.
• Pubs and restaurants to be allowed to operate as takeaways in a bid to save businesses from collapse. Ministers announced a plan to relax planning rules amid concerns many will struggle to survive the near-lockdown conditions being encouraged by the government.

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

17 Mar 202019.24 EDT

Ben Butler

The Australian market slipped back 1.85% at the opening bell after the country’s government announced a relief package for airlines and amid increasingly gloomy economic forecasts.

Flag carrier Qantas plunged 7.34% while challenger airline Virgin Australia, which had been the focus of market speculation about its financial viability, soared 12.7%. Regional airline Rex, which this morning revealed its own financial weakness, dived 6%.

In a report, ratings agency S&P said that “the 2020 global recession is here and now”, slashing growth forecasts for economies around the world.

Before the exchange opened, more companies revealed the damage they were taking from the virus outbreak.

Air New Zealand shares have been suspended until at least Friday while the company works out the hit it will take from sweeping Kiwi travel bans.

The Australian government gave that country’s airlines a package of tax and service charge cuts worth $715m this morning amid widespread uncertainty about their ability to continue given travel bans and the end of corporate travel. Rex said that without help it would close in six months. It published a wish-list of relief that on first glance looks very similar to the government package.

SkyCity, which operates casinos in New Zealand and Adelaide, said poker machine revenue was down 14% and revenue from table games had plunged 43%.

Poker machine maker Aristocrat and private hospital operator Ramsay withdrew profit guidance.

West Virginia has become the last of the 50 US states to report a positive case of new coronavirus, meaning the pandemic has now touched every part of the world’s richest and most powerful nation.