Coronavirus toll in New York state passes 1,000: Live updates
US President Donald Trump has extended federal guidelines on social distancing until April 30 after a top health official warned more than 100,000 people could die from the coronavirus in the United States.
The announcement on Sunday evening came as the death toll in hard-hit New York state passed 1,000.
“The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Therefore, the next two weeks and during this period it’s very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines … We will be extending our guidelines to April 30th to slow the spread.”
The initial 15-day period had been due to expire on Monday.
The US has 139,000 confirmed infections from the coronavirus, more than any other country in the world, while more than 2,400 people have died from the respiratory illness caused by the pathogen.
Worldwide, the number of cases has reached more than 718,000. Some 149,000 people have recovered, and more than 33,000 have died.
Here are all the latest updates:
Monday, March 30
06:00 GMT – Guatemalan deported from US tests positive
A Guatemalan man who was deported from the US last week has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a spokeswoman for the Guatemalan health ministry.
The 29-year-old man was deported last Thursday on a flight chartered by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The flight, with at least 40 others on board, originated in Mesa, Arizona, according to the Guatemalan Migration Institute.
A curfew to combat the spread of the virus in Guatemala has been extended until April 12.
05:50 GMT – Nepal extends lockdown until April 7
The government of Nepal extended a nationwide lockdown put in place on March 23 by another week. International flights will also be banned until April 15.
The Himalayan country has recorded a total of five infections from the new coronavirus.
05:35 GMT – Japan to ‘ban all travellers from US, China, Europe’
All visitors from the United States, China, South Korea and most of Europe will be denied entry to Japan under new rules to curb coronavirus infections, according to the Asahi newspaper.
Citing government sources, Asahi said Japan’s foreign ministry is expected to also advise Japanese nationals to refrain from travelling to those countries.
05:00 GMT – India lockdown hits chronic patients hard
Strict restrictions on movement in India has hampered access to healthcare for people with chronic illnesses such as HIV, kidney and autoimmune diseases.
One 15-year-old HIV patient’s parents walked 32km to obtain her medication in New Delhi.
“We could quickly be facing a non-COVID humanitarian crisis if the government fails to act to restore health services, particularly for those with critical conditions that require sustained medication/treatment,” said Malini Aisola, public health activist and co-convenor of the All India Drug Action Network.
04:51 GMT – Australia tightens curbs on public gatherings
New rules limiting public gatherings to just two people in Australia will come into effect at midnight on Monday, with the states of New South Wales and Victoria introducing hefty fines for people violating those restrictions.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said members of the public should leave their house only to buy food, attend medical appointments and for exercise.
Skate parks, outdoor gyms and public playgrounds across the country, he said.
04:20 GMT – Fears of a second wave of infections in China
Concern of a second wave of infections is growing in China amid official pressure to resume normal life, according to Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu.
“In Wuhan, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus outbreak, some shops are open, and malls are starting to open their doors after two months. People who work in essential industries, such as the cement, steel and car industries, are also starting to go back to work,” Yu said from Beijing.
Our correspondent said officials are under “tremendous pressure to resume normal life” with President Xi Jinping travelling on Sunday to a port and an industrial park in eastern Zhejiang Province to inspect the resumption of work and production there.
“He wants to get the economy going after two months at a standstill. And because of this urgency to get things going, there are fears it may be too soon and could result in a second wave of infections,” she said. “Officials are also under pressure to keep numbers down, and that’s causing fears they may not be transparent when it comes to reporting new cases.”
03:15 GMT – Lockdown leaves migrant workers stranded in Thailand
When Thailand’s government started shutting down the country’s capital, Bangkok last week, tens of thousands of migrant labourers who were suddenly out of work, scrambled to return home to Myanmar.
But for Ma Moe Moe returning home is not an option. The 44-year-labourer was fired from her job at a silk garment factory recently, but she is hunkering down with her husband in Bangkok, saying she feared she might not be able to return to Thailand if she left.
“Because of getting fired from the factory, I am worried about bills because there is only one income source from my husband,” she told Al Jazeera. “Now that I have no job I feel depressed.”
Read more about the plight of Thailand’s migrant workers here.
02:45 GMT – Twitter removes Bolsonaro tweets on virus quarantine
Twitter took down two tweets from Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro after he cast doubt on quarantine measures aimed at containing the new coronavirus.
The far-right leader had posted several videos on Twitter on Sunday in which he mingled with supporters in the streets of Brazilian capital, Brasilia, defending their right to work and calling for a “return to normality”.
In one of the deleted videos, Bolsonaro also criticised isolation measures put in place by health authorities, saying: “The country is immune when 60 to 70 percent are infected”. He also said a treatment for the coronavirus had been found, without offering proof for the claim, according to Globo news website.
Twitter said the posts violated its rules.
02:00 GMT – Argentina extends quarantine
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez extended a nationwide quarantine until mid-April to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.
“We are going to extend the quarantine until the end of Easter. What do we aim to achieve? To keep the transmission of the virus under control,” he said in a televised message.
The mandatory measures were due to expire at the end of March. The lockdown will be lifted on April 12.
Argentina has 820 confirmed cases and 20 deaths from COVID-19.
01:40 GMT – South Korea reports 78 new cases; total at 9,661
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 78 new cases in South Korea on Monday, down from 105 confirmed infections a day earlier.
The figure brings South Korea’s total infections to 9,661.
The KCDC said the new cases marked the 18th consecutive day that new infections hovered about 100 or fewer additional cases.
01:30 GMT – Japanese comedian dies
Ken Shimura, one of Japan’s best-known comedians, died from COVID-19 at a hospital in Tokyo, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
He was 70 years old. Many fans took to social media to pay tribute.
00:50 GMT – Death toll in New York state surpasses 1,000
More than 1,000 people have died from the coronavirus outbreak in New York state, according to a tally by The Associated Press (AP) news agency.
On Sunday evening, New York City said its toll had risen to 776. The total number of statewide deaths is not expected to be released until Monday, but with at least 250 additional deaths recorded outside the city as of Sunday morning, the state’s total fatalities was at least 1,026, AP said.
00:30 GMT – China reports 31 new cases in mainland
The number of COVID-19 infections in China continues to slow with health authorities in Beijing reporting 31 new cases at the end of Sunday.
The figure includes one locally transmitted infection and marks a drop from the 45 cases reported a day earlier. There were no new cases for a sixth consecutive day in central Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak was first detected in December last year.
In mainland China, the total number of cases to date rose to 81,470 in the mainland, while the cumulative death toll increased to 3,304.
Al Jazeera
