France extends virus lockdown as death toll nears 15,000 – latest updates

Monday, April 13

France extends virus lockdown to May 11

France's lockdown to combat the coronavirus will last until May 11, when a progressive relaxation of the measures will begin if the outbreak has slowed, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

Borders with non-European countries would remain closed until further notice, Macron added.

His announcement came as the country's death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 14,967 from 14,393 a day earlier.

French public health authority said 6,821 patients were currently in intensive care units, down from 6,845 on Sunday.

Nigeria president extends virus lockdown in Lagos and Abuja

Nigeria will extend lockdowns in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states for an additional 14 days to combat the new coronavirus, President Muhammadu Buhari said in an address to the nation.

Initial 14-day lockdowns in the three areas began on March 30. 

There are currently 323 confirmed cases of the virus in Nigeria, 71 percent of them in Lagos and the capital territory of Abuja, and ten people have died from the virus.

When the lockdowns were announced on March 29, the nation had 97 confirmed cases.

Albania relaxes weekday curfew hours

Albania is relaxing a weekday curfew to allow shoppers longer to collect provisions, but is extending its weekend lockdown and launching police drones to deter rule-breakers as it moves to a second phase of tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

Each family will now have from 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for their designated shopper to spend 90 minutes visiting shops, banks and pharmacies once they receive permission via an app – four and a half hours longer than before.

But at weekends, the lockdown will be in force from Friday evening until Monday morning, rather than starting at Saturday lunchtime.

Since recording its first cases on March 9, 467 people in Albania have been confirmed as infected and 23 people have died.

Most of the 21 new cases detected in the past 24 hours were in the northern town of Shkoder.

Italy's daily coronavirus cases decline, deaths tolls top 20,000

Deaths from the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 566 on Monday, up from 431 the day before, but the number of new cases slowed to 3,153 from a previous 4,092.

The number of new cases was the lowest since April 7.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 rose to 20,465, the Civil Protection Agency said, the second-highest in the world after that of the United States.

The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 159,516, the third-highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.

There were 3,260 people in intensive care on Monday against 3,343 on Sunday — a tenth consecutive daily decline.

Of those originally infected, 35,435 were declared recovered against 34,211 a day earlier. 

Turkey sees 98 more deaths, toll rises to 1,296

Turkey confirmed 98 more deaths from the novel coronavirus in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 1,296.

The total number of registered coronavirus cases surged to 61,049 as 4,093 more people tested positive for the virus, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, sharing the ministry's link for daily updates of coronavirus figures.

So far, a total of 3,957 have recovered and been discharged from hospital, Koca said.

He also stressed that 34,456 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests hitting 410,556.

Turkey is currently treating 1,786 patients in intensive care units, according to the figures.

Canada coronavirus deaths rise to 734

The number of people killed by the coronavirus in Canada rose by almost 9 percent to 734 in a day, official data posted by the public health agency showed on Monday.

By 11 am eastern time (1500 GMT), the total number of those diagnosed with the coronavirus had risen to 24,804.

The respective figures at the same time on Sunday were 674 deaths and 23,719 positive diagnoses.

Singapore confirms 386 more cases

Singapore's Health Ministry confirmed 386 more cases of coronavirus infections in the city-state's biggest daily jump, taking its total to 2,918.

A large number of the new cases are linked to outbreaks in migrant workers' dormitories. 

New York governor says worst of pandemic 'is over'

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared that the "worst is over" in the state's coronavirus pandemic, as he reported that the death toll there had passed 10,000.

Cuomo said lower average hospitalisation rates and intubations suggested a "plateauing" of the epidemic and that he was working on a plan to gradually reopen the economy.

"I believe we can now start on the path to normalcy," Cuomo told reporters.

The governor announced that 671 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in America's hardest-hit state to 10,056.

It was the lowest single-day toll in New York since April 5. The highest of 799 was reported on Thursday of last week.

New York state quickly became the epicentre of the United States' outbreak and accounts for almost half of the country's 22,150 deaths, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

UK coronavirus death toll rises to 11,329

A total of 11,329 people have died in hospitals across the United Kingdom after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 717 in a day, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

The number of confirmed cases has risen by 4,342 to a national tally of 88,621.

The death toll was updated as of 1600 GMT (local time 5 pm) on Sunday, while the confirmed cases were updated as of 0800 GMT (9 am) on Monday.

British PM tests negative for Covid-19

Boris Johnson’s spokesman says the British prime minister is continuing his recovery from Covid-19 and, on the advice of his doctors, is “not immediately returning to work.”

Johnson was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday and then went to Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence, around 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the capital.

James Slack confirmed that Johnson has now tested negative for the coronavirus and denied that the government had downplayed the seriousness of Johnson’s condition.

Johnson was admitted to St Thomas’ on April 5 after his condition worsened and he was transferred the following day to its intensive care unit, where he received oxygen but was not put onto a ventilator.

He spent three nights there before moving back to a regular hospital ward. 

Coronavirus deaths in the Netherlands increase to 2,823

The number of people who have died from the novel coronavirus in the Netherlands has increased by 86 to 2,823, Dutch health authorities said.

The National Institute for Public Health said total confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 964 to 26,551. 

Malaysia reports 134 new coronavirus cases, one new death

Malaysian health authorities reported 134 new coronavirus cases, raising the cumulative total to 4,817 as Southeast Asia's third-largest economy sees a plateau in the number of new infections reported over the past 10 days.

The authorities also reported one new death, a participant at a religious gathering that was responsible for more than a third of the total confirmed cases in the country, bringing the total number of fatalities to 77.

Malaysia had the highest number of confirmed cases in the region until Monday, when the Philippines reported a cumulative total of 4,932 cases.

Spain daily death toll falls to 517

Spain's overnight death toll from the coronavirus fell to 517 on Monday from Sunday's 619, bringing the total death toll to 17,489, the Health Ministry said, adding that it was the smallest proportional daily increase since tracking began.

The ministry said in a statement that overall cases rose to169,496 from 166,019.

Vietnam's total coronavirus cases climb to 265

Vietnam's health ministry reported five more confirmed coronavirus cases, taking the country's tally to 265, with no deaths.

Nearly 122,000 coronavirus tests have been carried out in Vietnam, it said, and 72,500 people have been under quarantine.

Iran's coronavirus death toll rises to 4,585 

Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has risen to 4,585,  with 111 deaths overnight, a health ministry official tweeted, adding the total number of infected cases had reached 73,303 in the most-affected Middle Eastern country.

"Fortunately 45,983 of those infected with the virus have recovered ... There were 1,617 new infected cases in the past 24hours," tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran's health minister.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 3,877 of those infected with the new coronavirus were in critical condition

Philippines records 18 new coronavirus deaths, 284 more cases

The Philippine health ministry on Monday reported 18 new coronavirus deaths and 284 additional infections.

In a bulletin, the health ministry said total deaths have reached 315, while confirmed cases have increased to 4,932, adding 45 patients have recovered, bringing the total to 242.

Tokyo sees 91 new cases of coronavirus infections

Tokyo saw 91 new cases of coronavirus infections, Japan's media reported, as the tally of infections in the country's capital continues to rise.

Monday's figure showed a decrease in the rate of daily infections from Sunday, when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 166 new cases. Last week the city announced a state of emergency, requesting residents to stay indoors as much as possible.

Russia reports new record daily rise of coronavirus cases

Russia on Monday reported 2,558new cases of the novel coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 18,328.

Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said that 148people diagnosed with the virus have died so far, an overnight rise of 18.

Thailand reports 28 new coronavirus cases, two new deaths

Thailand reported 28 new coronavirus cases and two new deaths.

Of the new cases, 18 are linked to previous cases, 7 without connection to old cases, and three are Thai nationals who had travelled to South Sulawesi province, Indonesia for a religious gathering last month.

Majority of the new cases are in the capital Bangkok, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman of the government's Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,579 cases and 40 fatalities, while 1,288 patients have recovered and gone home.

Germany's coronavirus cases rise to 123,016

Germany's number of confirmed coronavirus infections has risen by 2,537 to 123,016, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

That was lower than a 2,821 increase reported on Sunday, and marked the third decline after four days of increases.

The reported death toll has risen by 126 to 2,799.

China reports 108 new coronavirus cases

Mainland China reported 108 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier and marking the highest number of daily infections in more than five weeks amid a continued rise in patients entering the country from overseas.

The National Health Commission said in a statement on Monday that the mainland reported 98 new imported cases, a record high and up from 97 a day earlier, and another 61 new asymptomatic patients.

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China now stands at 82,160, while the death toll rose by two to 3,341. 

US records 1,514 virus deaths in past 24 hours

The United States recorded 1,514 deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic over the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:30 pm Sunday (0030 GMT Monday).

The number of fatalities was lower than the previous day's toll of 1,920.

The outbreak has now claimed the lives of at least 22,020 people in the US, the most of any country.

The US also leads the world by far in the number of confirmed infections, with 555,313 by the Baltimore-based university's count.

442 new coronavirus cases in Mexico

Mexican health officials reported on Sunday 442 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 23 new deaths, bringing the country's total to 4,661 cases and 296 deaths.

However, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said last week the country might have 26,500 people infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Citing government models, Lopez-Gatell said many who are infected likely did not have symptoms or were not diagnosed.