Coronavirus global updates, 19 April: Protests across Brazil, US against lockdown measures

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Latest Updates: Hundreds of people in trucks, cars and motorcycles took the streets in Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia Saturday in an act to denounce lockdown measures already opposed by their president.




COVID-19 Global Latest Updates: Coronavirus induced fatalities in Europe crossed 100,000, nearly two thirds of the overall global death toll. Italy saw 3491 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours along with 480 deaths. The country still has the highest death toll in Europe with 23,227. As it approached the end of its sixth week of nationwide lockdown the number of cases stood at 176,000.

The United States on Sunday continued to top the list of the countries recording the most number of coronavirus deaths with its toll at 35,835, followed by Italy (23,227) at a distant second and Spain (20,639) third. New York’s daily toll of coronavirus deaths hit its lowest point in more than two weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, warning the state still isn’t ready to ease the restrictions.

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China reported 16 new confirmed cases till Saturday, the lowest number since 17 March and down from 27 a day earlier, according to data published by the country’s health commission on Sunday. For the first time since two months, South Korea reported a single digit daily rise in new coronavirus cases with just eight new infections. Of the new cases, five were imported from overseas, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The death toll rose to 234.

According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, at least 2.3 million people have been infected and 160,518 have died globally due to the pandemic so far.

Trump says China’s covid-19 death toll way ahead of the US

Expressing doubts over the official Chinese coronavirus figures, Trump Saturday said, “They are way ahead of us in terms of death. It’s not even close.” Addressing a news conference at the White House, he further added: “We are not number one; China is number one just so you understand.”

He claimed that the Chinese figures were “unrealistic”. “You know it, I know it and they know it, but you don’t want to report it. Why?” he asked. “You will have to explain that. Someday I will explain it.”

Trump warns China of retaliation over its handling of virus crisis

Trump also expressed disappointment over how China handled the coronavirus when it first emerged, warning it of  consequences if the nation was knowingly responsible for the spread of the pandemic.

“If they were knowingly responsible, yeah, then there should be consequences,” he told reporters at a White House news conference on Saturday. “You’re talking about, you know, potentially lives like nobody’s seen since 1917.

Spain to extend its nationwide lockdown till 9 May

Spain will extend its nationwide lockdown till May 9, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Saturday. The PM would ask parliament for a 15-day extension, but said the restrictions would be more flexible from 27 April.

The country is the second worst hit nation in Europe and has been under lockdown since 14 March. Till early Saturday, it recorded 20,043 deaths.

Canada and US to extend border restriction for another 30 days

Canada and the United States have agreed to extend border restrictions for another 30 days to help control the spread of coronavirus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday. Washington and Ottawa agreed last month to clamp down on non-essential travel while allowing trade to continue across their long shared frontier during the coronavirus outbreak.

20 people in Afghanistan’s presidential palace tested positive

 

About 20 people working in President Ashraf Ghani’s palace were tested positive for the coronavirus Saturday. “Twenty-odd people are infected with COVID-19 in the presidential palace. However, it is (being) kept under wraps to ensure no panic is caused,” a government official told AFP

However, there has been no indication that the president has been infected with the virus till now. Kabul’s lockdown was recently extended to an additional three weeks wherein all government offices remained shut. Afghanistan has officially reported only 933 cases of coronavirus, including 33 deaths.

Europe COVID-19 death toll tops 100,000

The coronavirus has killed more than 100,000 people in Europe, nearly two thirds of the overall global death toll, according to an AFP tally Saturday. With a total 100,501 deaths out of 1,136,672 infections, Europe is the hardest-hit continent by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 157,163 worldwide. The tallies are collated using date collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Confirmed cases in Japan cross 10,000

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Japan rose to 10,000 on Saturday, NHK public broadcaster said, just days after a state of emergency was extended to the entire nation in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appealed to people across the nation to stay at home.

Hundreds of Brazilian people protest in vehicles

Hundreds of people in trucks, cars and motorcycles took the streets in Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia Saturday in an act to denounce lockdown measures already opposed by their president. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staunchly opposed all measures recommended to counter the Covid-19 crisis including social distancing.

Brazil has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Latin America more than 36,500 and at least 2,347 deaths. That is a relatively low number in relation to the country’s population of 211 million, but the outbreak’s peak is expected in May.

Sri Lanka announces relaxations in curfew

The presidents office announced that curfew in 18 of the country’s 25 districts will be in force from only from 8 pm to 5 am every day starting Monday. The government has instructed that only one third of state workers should report to their offices in Colombo In other areas 50 percent of the state workers will be required to report to their offices. Sri Lanka has so far reported 248 COVID-19 patients with seven deaths while 86 have recovered.

Several protest in US against restrictions

Hundreds of people took to streets Saturday in cities across the United States against quarantine and stay at home measures taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

In New Hampshire, an estimated 400 people gathered, some by foot others in their cars expressing their resentment against quarantines and claiming that they were unnecessary since the state had relatively few COVID-19 cases. As of Friday morning, New Hampshire had reported 1,287 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 37 deaths. Similar protests were held in Maryland with 200 people and Texas with more than 250 people.

The largest protest against stay-at-home rules so far took place Wednesday in the Michigan capital of Lansing, where some 3,000 people demonstrated against confinement orders from Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

121 new virus deaths in Turkey as infection rate slows

Turkey’s health minister said Saturday that 121 more people have died of COVID-19, with total deaths standing at 1,890. Fahrettin Koca shared the figures on Twitter, saying 3,783 more people were infected with the coronavirus. The total number of confirmed infections is 82,329.

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