26th April 2020 – (Hong Kong) Total worldwide COVID-19 cases have reached 2,867,984 with 200,430 deaths as of 12am today. The World Health Organization is warning that people who have had coronavirus are not necessarily immune by the presence of antibodies from getting the virus again.
Europe
UK hospital deaths rise by 813, taking total to 20,319. In total, 148,377 people in the country have tested positive for COVID-19. The British government has denied media reports in the United Kingdom that two of the prime minister’s most influential political advisors are sitting on a key scientific committee advising it on COVID-19.
The United Kingdom will host a summit on June 4 to encourage the international community to “come together” to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Low cost airline Wizz Air has said it would restart some flights from London’s Luton Airport on 1st May, becoming one of the first European carriers to begin to restore services which have been grounded during the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s delayed London Marathon may now be restricted to elite runners only, race organiser Hugh Brasher has said.
The number of daily deaths in Spain increased by 378, according to Fernando Simon, Spain’s director of health emergencies. This is the third continuous day the number of daily deaths has stayed under 400, Simon said. There has been at least 22,902 deaths due to the virus in Spain, he said.
Spain’s football league had told its clubs on Friday it will delay testing of all its professional football players for COVID-19 “because the resumption of training sessions is going to be delayed.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,055 to reach 152,438.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands have risen by 655 to 37,190, health authorities said, with 120 new deaths.
Slovak authorities have lifted a quarantine on one of five Roma settlements locked down in early April to prevent the spread of coronavirus from the communities, chief public health officer Jan Mikas said on Saturday.
Air France KLM Chief Executive Ben Smith was quoted as saying that voluntary redundancies would be part of the airline’s initial cost-cutting plans, and that costs at its ‘HOP’ arm were not viable as things stood.
Poland plans to reopen outdoor sports areas on 4th May and will allow top league football matches to be played at the end of next month, as part of an easing of restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Hundreds of people who live in Poland and work in Germany protested on Friday evening in the southwestern Polish border town of Zgorzelec against a mandatory coronavirus quarantine for those who cross the border.
U.S. and Canada
There are at least 929,841 cases of coronavirus and 52,843 deaths in the US.
There has been a concerted effort among aides and allies to get President Donald Trump to stop conducting the daily coronavirus briefings, multiple sources tell CNN.
Former Secretary of State of the United States Madeleine Albright said world’s countries, including the U.S., need to unite not divide in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaned into the necessity for the US to reopen for the sake of the economy in a radio interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro Friday night.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the New York state is currently testing an average of about 20,000 people per day. This includes both diagnostic and antibody tests. The number of hospitalizations across New York, the state hit the hardest by the pandemic, continue to fall. Cuomo said to increase the capacity of labs, the state needs more collection mechanisms, and he will sign an executive order to authorize all independent pharmacist in the state to be collection sites for testing
People in the US state of Georgia can now get their nails done, their hair cut even get a tattoo or a massage after just three weeks of a state-wide stay-at-home order.
The US Treasury Department has disbursed $9.5bn in additional funds from the Payroll Support Program to US air carriers, bringing to US$12.4bn the amount of funds provided to the sector hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the department said.
Beaches in Los Angeles and San Diego counties will remain closed this weekend to slow the spread of the coronavirus as a heatwave brings record warm temperatures to Southern California.
China and Hong Kong
China has reported no new deaths from the coronavirus in the last ten days, as attention has turned to northern provinces bordering Russia. The vast majority of new cases in the country have been imported, according to health authorities.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has frozen global travel and hit the travel industry hard, data from home-sharing startup Airbnb Inc shows the number of domestic bookings in China for the first half of April were up more than 200 per cent compared with the same period in March.
A plane carrying medical supplies took off at 8:34 p.m., local time, Friday, and left Wuhan, a central Chinese city once hardest hit by COVID-19, for New York.
HK government is arranging for charter flights to evacuate over 7,000 Hong Kong residents stranded in India and Pakistan. Only 2 new COVID-19 cases reported in Hong Kong today, the total tally stands at 1,038.
Elsewhere in the world
The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 5,966 over the past 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 74,588, the country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said.
Several people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in an orphanage for 170 children with developmental disabilities in Belarus.
The Turkish government’s steps to support the economy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic have reached a value of 200 billion lira (US$28.7 billion), Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Saturday.
The government of India’s most populated state, Uttar Pradesh, has announced a ban on gatherings until 30th June. Some stores will be allowed to resume trading despite the nationwide lockdown in India. Pakistan will remain in a nationwide lockdown until 9th May to curb the spread of coronavirus, Planning Minister Asad Umar announced. Dozens of Pakistani doctors and nurses have launched a hunger strike demanding adequate protective equipment for frontline staff treating COVID-19 patients, the lead organiser of the protest said on Saturday.
Sri Lanka has reimposed a countrywide 24-hour curfew after a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, most of them navy sailors who were searching for those evading quarantine.
Serbia sent four planes carrying medical equipment including gloves, masks and protective suits to Italy on Saturday as a donation to help the EU member state tackle the spread of COVID-19.
Tajikistan is closing schools for two weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and temporarily banning exports of grains and pulses to ensure sufficient supplies at home, the Central Asian nation’s government said on Saturday.
Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has risen by 76 to reach a total of 5,650, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV. The total number of people diagnosed with the disease is 89,328, of whom 3,096 are in a critical condition, he added.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it would extend its suspension of scheduled passenger flights until at least 16th May due to the coronavirus outbreak.
A police officer in Somalia’s capital has been arrested in the fatal shooting of at least one civilian while enforcing coronavirus restrictions, officer Ahmed Muse said.
A key government official in charge of Japan’s economic response to the coronavirus outbreak called off his public appearances to work from home after it was discovered that he had been in contact with a member of staff who tested for the coronavirus. Tokyo has reported 103 new cases of coronavirus infections, Kyodo news reported, amid concerns that the start of a holiday season could lead to an increase in infections. Nearly 60 new cases of coronavirus infections were confirmed among crew members of an Italian cruise ship, Costa Atlantica docked in Japan, domestic media reported on Saturday.
Africa’s coronavirus cases have surged 43 percent in the past week but its countries are dangerously behind in the global race for scarce medical equipment. Ten nations have no ventilators at all.
The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is defying the coronavirus-led shutdown of global sport by scheduling their Women’s Super League cricket final and streaming it on social media on Saturday, Reuters news agency reported.
South Africa plans to reopen its agriculture sector and allow some manufacturing and retail to resume as the country balances the need to restart economic output and curb the spread of the new coronavirus, trade minister Ebrahim Patel said. South Africans will have to wear face masks from May 1 when COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will begin to ease.
Singapore reported 618 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the national total to 12,693. Seven cases are permanent resident holders in Singapore and not linked to the dormitories. Malaysia has reported 51 new coronavirus infections and two deaths. The Philippines’ health ministry has reported 17 new coronavirus deaths and 102 additional infections. Thailand reported 53 new COVID-19 cases and the death of a 48-year-old Thai man who was infected with the virus along with four other family members.
Seven Singapore residents arrived in Singapore on Saturday afternoon after they were repatriated from the city of Nadi in Fiji. Their flight transited through Tokyo.
Indonesia has reported 396 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number to 8,607, data provided by health ministry official Achmad Yurianto showed.
