Coronavirus latest: Trump threatens China tariffs; Singapore cases cross 17,000; Russian PM Mishustin infected

The American leader’s latest diatribe comes as bleak new figures underscore the worldwide economic pain inflicted by the coronavirus: the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits has climbed past a staggering 30 million, while Europe’s economies are in an epic slide.

The statistics are likely to turn up the pressure on politicians to ease the lockdowns that have closed factories and other businesses.

In the US, the government reported that 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for jobless benefits last week, raising the total to more than 30 million in the six weeks since the outbreak took hold. The lay-offs amount to one in six American workers and encompass more people than the entire population of Texas.

Some economists say that when the US unemployment rate for April comes out next week, it could be as high as 20 per cent – a figure not seen since the Depression of the 1930s, when joblessness peaked at 25 per cent.

There was grim new data across Europe, too, where more than 130,000 people with the virus have died. The economy in the 19 countries using the euro shrank 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year, the biggest contraction since the euro zone countries began keeping joint statistics in 1995.