(Bloomberg) —
Spain joined Italy and the U.S. in reporting more than 20,000 coronavirus deaths. U.K.’s daily deaths topped 800 for a third straight day.
Germany, Canada, France, the U.K., South Korea and eight other nations issued a joint statement on the “critical role” of the World Health Organization in tackling the outbreak days after U.S. President Donald Trump moved to suspend its funding.
Key Developments
Virus Tracker: Cases top 2.2 million; deaths exceed 156,000A wild ride for global supply chains captured in seven chartsMilan’s alarming virus trend threatens plan to restart ItalyRelief funds for freelancers, self-employees in limboVA hospitals as U.S. safety net being testedMore than half of British companies likely to apply for aid
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U.K. Deaths Over 800 for Third Day (9:06 a.m. NY)
The U.K. reported more than 800 deaths for the third day in a row. Fatalities rose by 888 to 15,464. The number of cases reached more than 114,000, the health ministry said on Saturday.
Netherlands Hospital Admissions Slow (8:07 a.m. NY)
The Netherlands reported 129 new hospital admissions, up just 1%, marking a record low since the daily statistic has been reported since late March. Total confirmed cases grew 4% to 31,589, in line with recent trends. Fatalities rose to 3,601, also in line.
General practitioners in the country will also be able to fill out short questionnaires about patients suspected of having the virus. The gathering of this information is intended to better map the spread of the virus in the country.
Portugal also reported a bigger number of new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, while the number of hospitalized patients fell. There were 663 new cases in a day, taking the total to 19,685, the government said on Saturday.
Amazon Uses Thermal Cameras for Fever Scans: Reuters (7:47 a.m. NY)
Amazon.com is using thermal cameras at its warehouses, Reuters reported, citing staff. The aim is to speed up temperature checks to find workers who might be infected with the coronavirus. The move comes after employees in more than 50 Amazon warehouses were reported to be infected with the virus, and unions called on Amazon to close buildings down.
Spanish Deaths Pass 20,000 (7:55 a.m. NY)
New coronavirus cases in Spain rose by 4,499 in the last 24 hours, pushing the total to 191,726 as the government reviews the way it reports its figures.
Authorities reported a total of 20,043 deaths from the illness since the outbreak started, with 565 people dying in the last 24 hours. That’s roughly in line with this week’s data, although the ministry hasn’t clarified discrepancies in the number of deaths reported yesterday. Spain is now the third country after Italy and the U.S. to suffer more than 20,000 deaths.
13 Nations Flag WHO’s ‘Critical Role’ (7 a.m. NY)
Germany, Canada, France, the U.K., South Korea and eight other nations issued a joint statement noting the “critical role” of the World Health Organization in tackling the virus outbreak.
The so-called Ministerial Coordination Group on COVID-19 said a “strong and coordinated global health response” is needed. The U.S. is not a member of the group. President Donald Trump has criticized the WHO and ordered a halt to contributions to the organization.
The 13 nations also agreed that emergency measures to tackle the virus “must be targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary.” They must not “create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains” and must comply with WTO rules.
Iran Deaths Pass 5,000 (5:37 p.m. HK)
Fatalities in Iran rose to 5,031 as the country’s daily death toll from the virus fell to the lowest in over a month with 73 deaths in the past 24 hours. Total known cases reached 80,868 with 1,374 new infections since Friday.
Iran is seeking $50 million from the World Bank to help it fight the pandemic, marking the first time since 2005 that the country has applied for such a loan from the Washington-based institution, a deputy health minister said on state TV. Iran has also requested a loan of 130 million euros ($141 million) from the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, of which it is the largest stakeholder after Saudi Arabia and Libya.
Nigerian Chief of Staff Dies (4:56 p.m. HK)
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff died on Friday after contracting the coronavirus in Germany. Abba Kyari, whose age wasn’t disclosed, was regarded as one of the most powerful politicians in the West African country and a strong supporter of state intervention in the economy.
Russia Reports Biggest Case Increase (4:35 p.m. HK)
Russia recorded its largest daily increase in coronavirus infections, with new cases rising by almost 5,000 in a single day.
New infections jumped by 4,785 to 36,793, the official Russian coronavirus information center reported on its website. Forty people died in the past day, including 21 in Moscow, bringing the number of fatalities to 313. The pace of new cases increased 17.6% after slowing to less than 15% in the previous two days.
Singapore, Japan Cases Climb (3:21 p.m. HK)
Singapore preliminarily reported a record 942 new virus cases, versus 623 the day before, the country’s health ministry said in a statement. Foreign workers living in dormitories account for the vast majority of the new infections, it said.
Separately, Tokyo found 181 new cases, TV Asahi reported. Cases in Japan exceed 10,000, NHK said.
German Cruise Ship Leaves Australia: AP (3 p.m. HK)
A German-operated cruise ship left Western Australia after three weeks, the Associated Press reported, adding that three people died on board of the virus during that time. About 79 crew and passengers aboard the Artania had tested positive.
The ship had been urged to leave Australian waters several week ago amid concerns that an outbreak on board could overwhelm already-strained local hospitals. Its operator Phoenix-Reisen GmbH had refused to do so so it can first determine whether any more people on board are infected, and wanted the vessel to be thoroughly cleaned, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on April 1.
Trump ‘Danger for Public Health,’ Merkel Partner Says (3 p.m. HK)
U.S. President Trump is “a danger for people’s health, not just in his own country,” according to the parliamentary leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner.
Trump “has done many things wrong and too late and is focusing only on his own performance,” Social Democrat caucus chief Rolf Muetzenich said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine. “If he withholds funding for the WHO, he only wants to distract attention from his own mistakes.”
German Infections Rise by Most in a Week (2:08 p.m. HK)
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased at a quicker rate for a third day and by the most in seven days as the nation prepares for a relaxation of some restrictions on public life.
There were 3,699 new infections in the 24 hours through Saturday, taking the total to 141,397, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The pace of increase in new cases had declined steadily for six days until Thursday from a peak of 5,633 on April 9.
The number of fatalities rose by 300 to 4,352, while 83,114 people have recovered from the disease, more than in any other country, including China where the outbreak originated.
Indonesia Tightens Restrictions (1:09 p.m. HK)
Indonesia has extended stricter social-distancing rules to millions of people living on the main island of Java, and in West Sumatra, as the nation strives to stem a spike in coronavirus cases.
Large-scale social restrictions will be put in place across five regions in West Java that collectively house almost 9 million people, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said. A similar order has been given for Tegal, a city in Central Java, and for the province of West Sumatra. Putranto noted a significant increase in the spread of Covid-19 cases in these areas.
There were 407 new infections in Indonesia on Friday, the biggest daily increase, taking total confirmed cases close to 6,000.
China Catering Industry One of Bigger Drags on Economy (12:50 p.m. HK)
China’s catering industry was one of the biggest drags on output in the first quarter, leading the world’s second-largest economy into its first contraction in decades as the coronavirus brought business to a near standstill.
The accommodation and catering industry fell 35.3% from a year earlier, reversing a 6.2% increase in the previous quarter, the statistics bureau said Saturday in a supplemental report on gross domestic product.
Read more here.
Indonesian Workers Plan Mass Rallies: Jakarta Post (10:10 a.m. HK)
Millions of workers in Indonesia are planning to break social distancing rules to stage rallies across the country on April 30 in protest over an overhaul of labor-market rules, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Labor unions say changes to the labor rules, contained in a so-called omnibus bill currently being considered by lawmakers, legitimize the exploitation of workers. President Joko Widodo had put the bill forward as an essential reform even before the virus hit as he sought to appease those who see the labor law and generous severance pay conditions as a major barrier to investment.
“The option is either to die from the coronavirus for joining a rally or die of starvation from having nothing to eat,” the paper cited Inter-Factory Laborers Federation chairwoman Jumisih as saying.
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