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A woman walks past a mural paying tribute to nurses near a hospital in Dallas on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Coronavirus latest: Tokyo sees biggest daily jump in infections; Spain deaths rise for second day

  • India to narrow lockdown to outbreak hotspots; Boris Johnson ‘responding to treatment’ in intensive care
  • WHO denies being ‘China-centric’ after Trump comment; Malaysia’s recoveries top new cases
Tokyo recorded 144 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, its biggest daily jump since the start of the pandemic, public broadcaster NHK said, without citing sources on the first day of a state of emergency aimed at containing the outbreak.

Total infections in the Japanese capital stand at 1,339, NHK said, for an increase that would carry the nationwide tally beyond 4,600, including 98 deaths, based on numbers it published earlier in the day.

The number of infections is still far smaller than in many European countries and the United States, but a steady rise in some areas prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare the emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and five other hard-hit prefectures.

A day after it was announced, commuters heading to work packed into trains in Tokyo, with some expressing confusion over how best to restrict their movements.

“It’s unavoidable that people have to come out for work,” said Risa Tanaka, an office worker wearing a mask near the Shinjuku station, who said she usually tried to work at home, but had stepped out to deliver some documents.

Japan’s month-long virus emergency gives regional governors more power to press businesses to close, but will add to pains inflicted on the world’s third-largest economy from supply chain disruptions and travel bans.

With Tokyo’s governor Yuriko Koike expected to announce only on Friday what categories of businesses will have to shut, many shops and businesses have been left to decide on their own for now.

In most cases, Japanese authorities have no penalties to back calls for people to stay home and businesses to shut. Department stores, karaoke parlours and some non-essential businesses, such as coffee chain Starbucks, have already said they would close. The foreign ministry said it would monitor the temperatures of all visitors and block those with high fever.

Faulty antibody kits deal blow to Britain’s effort to speed up virus testing

Here are the developments:

Spain’s deaths rise for second day

Spain recorded on Wednesday a second successive daily rise in coronavirus-related deaths with 757 fatalities, lifting the total toll in Europe’s second-hardest-hit country after Italy by 5.5 per cent to 14,555.

The number of new infections rose by 4.4 per cent to 146,690, the health ministry said, as Spain has ramped up its testing for the disease.

The number of daily deaths, which peaked on Thursday at 950, rose for the first time on Tuesday after falling for four straight days.

But the rate of increase in both deaths and new infections on Wednesday was largely in line with that recorded the previous day, and half of what was recorded just a week ago.

“We have consolidated the slowdown in the spread of the virus,” Health Minister Salvador Illa tweeted after the latest figures were published.

The Spanish government on March 14 imposed one of the toughest lockdowns in Europe to curb the spread of the virus, with people allowed out of their homes only to work, buy food and seek medical care. Finance Minister Maria Jesus Montero said some social distancing measures could begin to be lifted after April 26, when the country’s state of emergency is set to expire.

The pandemic has stretched the country’s public healthcare system close to breaking point, with a shortage of intensive care beds and equipments, but in recent days hospitals have said the situation has improved.

China’s new cases double as imported infections surge

Mainland China’s new coronavirus cases doubled in 24 hours as the number of infected overseas travellers surged, and new asymptomatic infections more than quadrupled, pressuring authorities to tighten measures to stem local transmissions.

New confirmed cases rose to 62 on Tuesday from 32 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said, the highest since March 25. New imported infections accounted for 59 of the cases.

The number of new asymptomatic cases more than quadrupled to 137, the health authority said on Wednesday, with incoming travellers accounting for 102.

Chinese authorities do not count asymptomatic cases as part of its tally of confirmed coronavirus infections until patients show symptoms such as a fever or a cough.

To stem infections from outside its borders, China has slashed the number of international flights and denied entry to virtually all foreigners.

In Wuhan city, ground zero for mainland China’s outbreak, tens of thousands of people began returning to jobs in other parts of the country after an unprecedented two-month lockdown was lifted on Wednesday.

WHO denies being ‘China-centric’

World Health Organisation (WHO) officials on Wednesday denied that the body was “China-centric” and said that the acute phase of a pandemic was not the time to cut funding, after US President Donald Trump said he would put contributions on hold.

The United States is the top donor to the Geneva-based body, which Trump said had issued bad advice during the coronavirus outbreak.

America’s contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded US$400 million, almost double the second largest member state contribution. China, in contrast, contributed US$44 million.

“We are still in the acute phase of a pandemic so now is not the time to cut back on funding,” Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, told a virtual briefing in response to a question about Trump’s remarks.

Dr Bruce Aylward, senior advisor to the WHO chief, also defended the UN agency’s relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak which began in Wuhan.

“It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this,” he told reporters.

“This is what we did with every other hard hit country like Spain and had nothing to do with China specifically.”

He also defended WHO recommendations to keep borders open, saying that China had worked very hard to identify and detect early cases and their contacts and ensure they did not travel in order to contain the outbreak.

Trump had castigated the WHO on Twitter earlier in the day and issued a veiled threat against the 194-member agency.

“The W.H.O. really blew it,” Trump said in a Twitter post. “For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”

Singapore sees record spike of 142 new infections

Singapore’s Health Ministry confirmed 142 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday for a total of 1,623, the biggest daily increase yet, and said a seventh person had died after testing positive for the disease.

Forty of the new cases were linked to foreign worker dormitories. The city state has quarantined workers in three dormitories after they were linked to several cases of the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

The Lion City also reported on Wednesday that a 32-year-old male had died in his home after being diagnosed with the illness.

“Case 1604...had been swabbed... for Covid-19 on 7 April and was advised to stay at home, pending the test result. His chest X-ray indicated he did not have pneumonia. He passed away at his residence on April 8, and was confirmed to have Covid-19 infection after his demise,” the health ministry said in a statement, adding that investigations were continuing.

India mulls narrowing lockdown to virus hotspots

India is considering plans to seal off coronavirus hotspots in Delhi, Mumbai and parts of the south while easing curbs elsewhere as a way out of a three-week lockdown that has caused deep economic distress, officials said on Wednesday.

The sweeping lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people to prevent an epidemic of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, ends on April 14 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to take a decision this week on whether to extend it.

Scenes of poor migrant workers and their families walking long distances on empty highways to their homes in the countryside have increased the pressure on Modi to reopen parts of Asia’s third largest economy.

More than 80 per cent of the positive cases of the coronavirus have been traced to 62 districts, according to government data. These are concentrated in the western state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital Mumbai, Delhi and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala.

Many parts of the country have not reported a single case. Such a skewed geographical spread strengthens the case for a more targeted approach under which the affected area and its neighbouring district will be cordoned off, health officials said.

“To manage coronavirus, we are working on a cluster containment strategy,” said Health Ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal, leading the effort to tackle the outbreak.

Malaysia’s recoveries top new cases

For the second day this week, Malaysia’s reported recoveries from the new coronavirus have exceeded the number of new cases.

The Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that 166 coronavirus patients had been discharged from hospital over the 24 hours up to noon the same day.

The ministry stated that 156 new cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed over the same period.

Wednesday’s new recoveries take the total to 1,487 out of 4,119 cases confirmed since the first was announced on January 25. 236 recoveries were announced on Monday, which was a daily record.

However, Wednesday’s new cases mean Malaysia is the first country in Southeast Asia to report more than 4,000 coronavrus infections.

Sixty-five people have died in Malaysia after contracting Covid-19, according to Health Ministry figures. Malaysia’s rising recovery numbers come ahead of a Friday government decision on extending a month-long lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the pandemic.

“The Health Ministry needs another one to two days to study the data before presenting several proposals to cabinet, who will make the final decision,” said top health official Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Musician John Prine. File photo: Reuters

US country folk singer John Prine dies

Grammy-winning singer John Prine, who wrote his early songs in his head while delivering mail and later emerged from Chicago’s folk revival scene in the 1970s to become one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, died on Tuesday. He was 73.

Prine was hospitalised on March 26 suffering from symptoms of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, who was also his manager.

The New York Times reported that Prine’s death was caused by complications of Covid-19.

His early songwriting style earned comparisons with no less than folk great Bob Dylan, who later called Prine one of his favourites.

EU’s top scientist Mauro Ferrari quits over coronavirus response

Tougher rules for Jakarta

Indonesia has announced tighter social distancing measures in its capital Jakarta, including closing of offices and a ban on gathering of more than five people to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Operational hours of public transport services including railways, subway and city buses will be curtailed and users will need to follow distancing rules, Governor Anies Baswedan said late on Tuesday. The new set of rules, effective from Friday for 14 days, will be enforced strictly and the duration can be extended if needed, he said.

Jakarta is the epicentre of the virus outbreak in Indonesia with the city of about 10.5 million people accounting for almost 50 per cent of the nation’s total confirmed cases of 2,738. The capital has seen a surge in infections in recent weeks after reporting its first cases only in early March, prompting authorities to shutter schools, spas, restaurants and entertainment spots from the middle of last month.

The world’s fourth-most populous nation, along with India and the Philippines, could soon become the next Covid-19 hot spots given their large populations, weak health care infrastructure and social security net, according to Japanese financial services company Nomura Holdings.

South Korea imposes new travel restrictions

South Korea on Wednesday temporarily suspended visa-free entry and visa waiver programmes with countries imposing entry bans on its nationals.

The stringent measures came as imported coronavirus cases accounted for the bulk of new infections registered in the country on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said his government is planning to expand entry restrictions on foreigners travelling for reasons that are not essential and urgent.

“While maintaining the basis of openness, the government will strengthen [entry] restrictions in accordance with reciprocity,” Chung said at a pan-government meeting.

Citing quarantine authorities, Yonhap reported that 148 countries - including 41 European nations and 36 countries in Asia and the Pacific - have imposed entry bans on South Koreans over the coronavirus pandemic.

The government’s measures will be applied to 88 countries. South Korea, which did not initially impose entry bans on foreigners, has visa-free entry programs with 34 countries, including Germany and Canada, and holds visa waiver treaties with 54 nations, including France, Russia and Thailand

‘UK nowhere near lifting lockdown’

Britain is nowhere near lifting the lockdown measures it put in place to tackle the spread of the coronavirus as the peak is still more than a week away, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Wednesday.

When he announced the nationwide lockdown on March 23, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would be reviewed after three weeks.

Asked during an interview on BBC Radio whether the lockdown should be lifted next Monday, Khan said: “I think we are nowhere near lifting the lockdown.

“We think the peak, which is the worst part of the virus, is still probably a week and a half away,” he added.

Earlier, a record number of people in Britain were reported to have died from the coronavirus in 24 hours, denting hopes the spread of the disease is slowing, daily figures from the Department of Health and Social Care show.

A further 786 people died from the virus, the department said. In total, 55,242 people have tested positive for the disease in the UK.

The new figures come as Johnson battles the disease in the intensive care ward of a London hospital. “The prime minister remains clinically stable and is responding to treatment,” the premier’s spokesman James Slack said.

The country’s foreign minister Dominic Raab has been deputised in Johnson’s absence.

Meanwhile, another senior minister, Michael Gove, said he is self-isolating without symptoms, after a member of his household started to develop signs of the disease.

New York City’s virus deaths top toll for 9/11

New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus officially eclipsed the number of those killed at the World Trade Centre on 9/11, health officials said on Tuesday.

At least 3,202 people have died in New York from Covid-19, according to the count released by the city.

The deadliest terror attack on US soil killed 2,753 people in the city and 2,977 overall, when hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001.

New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths Tuesday, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. But in an encouraging sign, he reported that the average number of people newly hospitalised each day dropped over the past three days.

Iran’s death toll passes 4,000

Iran’s new coronavirus death toll has climbed to 4,003 with 121 more fatalities in the past 24 hours, a Health Ministry spokesman told state TV on Wednesday, adding that the total number of infections in the country has risen to 64,586.

“We had 1,997 new infected cases in the past 24 hours .... there are 3,956 infected people in critical conditions,” spokesman Kianush Jahanpur added.

South African minister who flouted lockdown sent on leave

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday placed on special leave a minister seen lunching at a friend’s house in violation of the coronavirus lockdown.

Ramaphosa has ordered a three-week national lockdown to try to brake the virus, which has infected 1,749 people, killing 13 of them, according to an official tally.

But a picture posted on Instagram on Sunday showed Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams having lunch with five other people at the home of a former deputy minister earlier that day.

“President Ramaphosa has placed the Minister on special leave for two months,” the presidency said in a statement.

Ramaphosa has “accepted the minister’s apology for the violation but was unmoved by mitigating factors she tendered,” it said.

Shortly after the president’s statement, the minister issued an apology.

“I regret the incident and I am deeply sorry for my actions,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams in a statement issued through her ministry. “I hope the president and South Africans will find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg

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