April 5, 2020
(Reuters) – Global cases of the new coronavirus have passed 1 million and more than 64,000 people have died, a Reuters tally showed on Sunday, in a pandemic that has hammered the world economy.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Reuters tally of reported cases and deaths.
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
* U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.
AMERICAS
* The United States enters one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis with the death toll exploding in New York, Michigan and Louisiana and some governors calling for a national order to stay at home.
* Over 321,000 people have tested positive and more than 9,100 have died in the United States, according to a Reuters tally.
* Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a constitutional amendment for a “war budget” to separate coronavirus-related spending from the government’s main budget and shield the economy as the country surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases.
EUROPE
* Italy’s health minister outlined plans for broader testing and beefed-up health services as part of a package of measures that would follow a future easing of the country’s lockdown.
* Britain will have to impose further restrictions on outdoor exercise if people flout lockdown rules, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
* Queen Elizabeth will call on Britons to take on the disruption caused by the outbreak with good-humored resolve when she makes an extremely rare address to rally the nation on Sunday.
* The rate of new infections and deaths in Spain slowed again as the country, one of the worst hit by the pandemic, began its fourth week under a near-total lockdown.
* Parisians have been warned not to succumb to the tempting sunny spring weather and to remain indoors. The coronavirus has killed 7,560 in France.
* Pope Francis marked a surreal Palm Sunday in an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, urging people living through the pandemic not to be so concerned with what they lack but how they can ease the suffering of others.
ASIA
* Mainland China reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, up from 19 a day earlier as the number of cases involving travelers from abroad as well as local transmissions increased, highlighting the difficulty in stamping out the outbreak.
* India is restricting the export of most diagnostic testing kits, as coronavirus cases topped 3,350 on Sunday. The country has imposed a three-week nationwide lockdown.
* Australian health officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the slowing spread of the coronavirus but warned social distancing restrictions are to stay in place for months.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* About 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa as the continent’s economies are projected to shrink this year due to the impact of the pandemic, according an African Union (AU) study.
* Dubai imposed a two-week lockdown and Saudi Arabia sealed off parts of the Red Sea city of Jeddah as Gulf states tightened measures in big cities to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
* Franciscan friars wearing surgical masks and gloves made house calls in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, delivering olive branches to Christians who are self-isolating.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Most Middle Eastern stock markets ended lower on Sunday, with Dubai leading the losses, on mounting fears of a deep recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.
* The Bank of England will not resort to irreversibly printing money in order to fund a surge in government spending as it tries to shield Britain’s economy, its governor Andrew Bailey said on Sunday.
* The job losses suffered in March as the U.S. economy shut down were widespread but still were disproportionately felt in a handful of employment sectors and by women, the young and the less educated.
SPORTS
* FIFA is getting ready to deal with complaints and appeals over wage cuts for players, producing guidelines for clubs and football bodies looking to cut costs during the stoppage caused by the pandemic, an internal document seen by Reuters showed.
(Compiled by Frances Kerry)
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