Coronavirus latest: at a glance - By The Guardian News

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:

Confirmed cases worldwide approach 3 million

Cases are nearing the 3 million mark, according to Johns Hopkins University, with 2,971,669 confirmed. At least 206,549 people have lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic, though the true toll is likely to be much higher due to underreporting and some countries not including deaths among those with underlying conditions in their tolls.

New Zealand prepares to move out of its strict lockdown measures

The government reported only one new confirmed case of Covid-19 and said it had eliminated the virus. At 11.59pm on Monday, New Zealand will lift its level-4 lockdown which has been in place for more than four weeks. Jacinda Ardern said the nation had “won the battle” against widespread community transmission.

More US states to end lockdown as economy crumbles

The US states Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee will join other states in the lifting of lockdown restrictions, as economists predict an unemployment rate of 16% or higher for the month of April. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said some regions of the state might qualify to open sooner, “with certain precautions”, such as upstate New York, as the daily death toll was markedly lower on Sunday than it was on Saturday.

The UK economy will take three years to recover from coronavirus

It will take the UK economy three years to fully recover from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to EY, a leading forecasting group. As the damage for jobs and growth unfolds, the EY Item Club said it would take until 2023 for the the economy to return to the level reached at the end of last year due to the depth of the crisis, Richard Partington reports.

British PM returns to Downing Street

Boris Johnson returned to Downing Street on Sunday night for the first time since he was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 on 6 April. The UK reported its lowest daily rise in the death toll since the end of March. The number of deaths in UK hospitals from the coronavirus has risen to 20,732 – an increase of 413 in the last 24 hours

Trump denies that he will fire his health chief

US President Donald Trump, who for a second day skipped the White House press briefing, took to Twitter to deny reports that he planned to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. He said Azar was doing “an excellent job!”. Trump also attacked the press, and was roundly mocked after tweeting about “Noble” prize for journalists, seeming to mean the Nobel prizes – which aren’t awarded in the field of journalism – or Pulitzers.

Lebanon’s roads are blocked in protest at dire economy

Demonstrators blocked roads through Lebanon late Sunday to protest the deteriorating economic situation, despite a lockdown and curfew imposed because of the coronavirus. Lebanon’s worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war is now compounded by the coronavirus lockdown. Poverty has risen to 45% of the population, according to official estimates. Its economy is forecast to contract 12% in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund.

A million Australians downloaded a coronavirus tracking app

Health Minister Greg Hunt said 1.13 million Australians downloaded the tracing app CovidSafe as of 6am (20.00 GMT) on Monday, nearly 4.5% of the country’s population. The app is designed to help medical workers and state governments trace close contacts of Covid-19 patients. Australia has been one of the most successful countries in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, recording just 83 deaths and 6,700 cases, due to border closures, movement restrictions and a stay-at-home policy. It has lowered its infection rate to currently around 1% from 25% in March.

European countries announce easing of lockdown measures

Italy recorded lowest daily deaths since mid-March and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the nation “if you love Italy, maintain distance” as he announced a plan that will see the country slowly ease lockdown measures from 4 May. The prime minister of France, Edouard Philippe, will on Tuesday present a national strategy for emerging from the coronavirus lockdown to the national assembly, and Spain partially relaxed its lockdown as its daily death toll dropped below 300 for the first time in weeks.

Egypt asks IMF for coronavirus bailout loan

gypt declared on Sunday that it had asked the International Monitory Fund (IMF) for financial assistance to deal with the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus. Neither Egypt nor the IMF specified the size of the one-year bailout loan.

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