US reports worst unemployment numbers as China says its economy contracted by 6.8 percent and Wuhan revises death toll.
The Chinese city of Wuhan has raised its number of coronavirus fatalities by 1,290 to 3,869, most of China's total. That brings the total fatalities in nationwide to at least 4,642. Wuhan also revised up its number of confirmed cases by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases. Almost 78,000 of the patients have already recovered.
US President Donald Trump has announced "a phased approach" to ease restrictions of movement on Americans, even as the coronavirus death toll in the country continues to rise nearing 35,000, and with cases soaring to 667,000 as of 01:00 GMT on Friday.
The US government reported 5.2 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the four-week total to 22 million - the worst stretch of US job losses on record. The losses translate to about one in seven American workers.
The number of infections from the disease, also known as COVID-19, has now reached 2,152,000 worldwide, with nearly 145,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally, prompting some governments, including that of the United Kingdom and Canada to extend the lockdown.
China reported on Friday that its economy shrank 6.8 percent during the first quarter of 2020 - the first ever slump in 44 years.
Here are the latest updates:
Friday, April 17
10:35 GMT - Spain's daily death toll from coronavirus rises to 585 on Friday
Spain's overnight death toll from coronavirus rose to 585, up from 551 on Thursday but still far off figures of over 900 registered during the peak of the outbreak in early April.
It was unclear why the difference in the government's death toll from Thursday and Friday did not reflect the overnight death rate.
The number of overall coronavirus cases rose to 188,068 on Friday from 182,816 on Thursday, a 2.9 percent increase.
10:06 GMT - Virus outbreak at Philippine jail fuels calls for prisoner releases
Eighteen guards and inmates at a jam-packed Philippine prison have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Friday, heightening fears of a rapid spread of the illness inside the country's jails.
Another 30 prisoners were showing symptoms inside the Quezon City Jail in the capital Manila - a facility so crowded that inmates take turns sleeping on staircases and open-air basketball courts.
The outbreak has fuelled calls from rights groups for the early release of prisoners charged with non-violent offences as well as the sick and elderly in an effort to ease congestion and lower the risk of transmission.
The Philippines has a steadily rising number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with 5,878 infections and 387 deaths to date.
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09:45 GMT - Eastern Europeans flown in for 'vital' jobs on UK, German farms
London, United Kingdom - Seasonal workers from Romania were flown into the United Kingdom on a special charter flight on Thursday evening to help fill a huge shortage of workers to pick fruits and vegetables on the country's farms.
A flight from Bucharest, operated by Air Charter Service (ACS), touched down at Stansted Airport near London at around 5pm, carrying 150 people from Romania, Glenn Phillips from ACS tells Al Jazeera. Workers were then taken by bus to farms in the Midlands and the South East.
Read more here.
09:10 GMT - Africa coronavirus cases could hit 10 million in six months: WHO
Coronavirus cases in Africa could surge from just thousands now to 10 million within three to six months, according to provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) official said.
But Michel Yao, head of emergency operations for WHO Africa, said on Thursday it was a tentative projection that could change. He noted worst-case predictions for the Ebola outbreak had not come true because people changed their behaviour in time.
Read more here.
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08:50 GMT - Russia registers new record number of COVID-19 cases
Russia announced a new record number of coronavirus cases as well as deaths caused by the infection.
A total of 4,069 new coronavirus cases were confirmed, bringing the tally to 32,007, the country’s emergency team said in a statement.
The death toll rose to 273, as 41 people died over the last 24 hours, the statement said.
08:20 GMT - Germany's coronavirus outbreak "manageable again" - health minister
The coronavirus outbreak in Germany has become manageable again as the number of patients who have made a recovery has been higher than the number of new infections every day this week, Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Germany would take small steps out of lockdown with the partial reopening of shops next week and schools from May 4.
"The outbreak has - as of today - become controllable and manageable again," Spahn told a news conference, adding that the health care system had "at no time been overwhelmed so far".
Earlier Spahn said a coronavirus contact tracing app will be ready for Germans to download and use on their smartphones in three to four weeks [File: Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu]
07:40 GMT - Pope prays for pregnant women during pandemic
Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for pregnant women as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Speaking to an audience of a few priests and nuns at morning mass in his residence at the Vatican, the Pope said "I would like us to pray for women who are expecting a baby", to give them "courage to carry these children" in a world that "will certainly be a different world."
The Pope has been conducting all his events within the Vatican walls as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the globe.
07:13 GMT - Almost 25,000 to be freed under Myanmar prisoner amnesty
Myanmar announced that it was releasing almost 25,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty marking this week's traditional New Year celebration.
The release for the Thingyan holiday was announced in a statement from President Win Myint's office. Mass amnesties on the holiday are not unusual, though the number this year was the highest in recent memory.
The president’s statement did not say if the release was related to calls to free them because of the hazard of contracting COVID-19 in the close quarters of prison.
Human rights groups estimate Myanmar’s overcrowded prisons hold 92,000 people, including those awaiting trial.
06:45 GMT - London mayor calls for compulsory face masks on transport
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on the British government to make face masks compulsory for people travelling around the capital or shopping.
The mayor said that evidence from around the world was that face coverings help stop the spread of the virus.
New York has ordered residents to wear masks or substitute face coverings when in any public situation that may not allow them to be at least six feet away from others.
"In those circumstances where its not possible for us to keep our social distance, think of public transport usage, think of when you're in a shop, we should be using non-medical facial coverings like bandandas, like scarves, like reusable masks," Khan told the BBC.
The United Kingdom's social distancing guidelines do not mention the wearing of face masks, but Khan said that should change [File: Jack Taylor/Getty]
06:23 GMT - Saudi Arabia faces coronavirus crisis from position of strength - minister
Saudi Arabia is facing the current global crisis from a position of strength, given its strong financial position and reserves, with relatively low government debt, its finance minister said, referring to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Mohammed al-Jadaan said in the virtual meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, held on Thursday, that the Saudi government's priorities are necessary resources for health care system, financial and economic support to those affected by coronavirus while taking into account the re-prioritization of spending under the current circumstances, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
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05:32 GMT - Pakistan gets $1.5bn loan from IMF
The International Monetary Fund has given Pakistan $1.5bn in emergency financing to help absorb some of the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government has been handing out roughly $70 to more than 10 million families hit hardest by the lockdown.
Pakistan has 7,025 confirmed coronavirus cases including 135 deaths, an increase of 11 in the last 24 hours.
The government of Pakistan has been handing out roughly $70 to more than 10 million families hit hardest by the lockdown [BK Bangash/AP]
05:01 GMT - New cases in South Korea down for fifth day
South Korea has reported 22 new cases of the coronavirus, the fifth day in a row its daily jump was in the 20s, with no fresh cases reported in the hardest-hit city of Daegu, where infections have waned in past weeks.
South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said on Friday that its national totals have reached 10,635 cases, with 230 reported deaths.
04:28 GMT - Myanmar to release 25,000 prisoners
Myanmar will release almost 25,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year, the president's office said on Friday, as the government also grapples with the spread of the coronavirus.
President Win Myint said 24,896 people jailed across the country, including 87 foreigners, would be freed unconditionally "to bring delights to the citizens of Myanmar and taking into consideration humanitarian concerns"
Concerns have been raised about the spread of the virus among prisoners in Myanmar jails.
04:00 GMT - China arrests hoarders of face masks
Chinese police have arrested 42 people for hoarding and driving up the price of the cloth material used to make face masks, as well as illegally producing shoddy and inferior material for resale.
The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Friday that a nationwide task force had been formed to crack down on crimes related to the production of masks.
The ministry statement said raids in the southern industrial hub of Guangdong and three other provinces in early and mid-March resulted in the breaking of 20 cases and the seizure of material worth almost $5 million.
China has become a major exporter of masks and the raw material for making them, and sought to tighten quality standards following complaints from some countries about inferior products.
China's Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on Friday that a nationwide task force had been formed to crack down on crimes related to the production of masks [Andy Wong/AP]
03:50 GMT - Singapore reports 728 new coronavirus cases
Singapore has reported 728 new coronavirus cases, a record daily high for a second straight day that was broadly expected amid increased testing at foreign workers' dormitories.
The health ministry said that foreign workers accounted for 90 percent of the new cases, with five new clusters reported in the crowded dormitories housing up to 20 men in each room with shared facilities. It said the sharp rise in cases pushed total infections past the 4,000 mark to 4,427.
03:05 GMT - UN warns coronavirus putting children in jeopardy
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is putting many of the world's children "in jeopardy" and is urging families everywhere and leaders at all levels to "protect our children."
Guterres said "children have so far been largely spared from the most severe symptoms of the disease."
But with a global recession gathering pace, he said, "there could be hundreds of thousands additional child deaths in 2020."
Manicurist Leticia Machado, 31, poses for a photo with 4 of her 7 children at her home in Rio de Janeiro during the coronavirus lockdown [Silvia Izquierdo/AP]
02:55 GMT - China reports more imported coronavirus cases
China's National Health Commission reported on Friday 26 new coronavirus cases, including 15 coming from abroad.
Beijing made the announcement as the country's bureau of statistics said that the COVID-19 pandemic has been the most difficult public health emergency since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
The news also comes as the government announced that the countries economy has shrank 6.8 percent during the first quarter of 2020 - the first ever economic contraction since 1976.
02:40 GMT - Australia may keep some coronavirus restrictions for a year
Australian public life could be constrained for another year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned on Friday, as the country's most populous state mulled sending children to school in shifts.
Morrison said some measures, like a rule requiring people to stand at least 1.5 metres apart, would likely remain for several months, given there was no guarantee a vaccine would be developed in that time.
"Social distancing is something we should get very used to," Morrison told radio station 3AW. "It could be a year, but I'm not speculating about that."
02:06 GMT - Japanese cabinet official tests positive of coronavirus
Japan's cabinet announced on Friday that another official had tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the third case among officials at the cabinet office.
The infected cabinet official in his 50s works at the cabinet's council for science, technology and innovation, but had no close contact with ministers around when he developed symptoms from April 10, an official at the cabinet office said. He was confirmed with the virus on April 16.
Two officials who worked with the man, and were within two metres, are staying at home but have not yet been tested, based on cabinet policy, according to the cabinet office.
As of Thursday, there were an estimated 9,000 infections in Japan and nearly 200 deaths.
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01:40 GMT - Xi, Putin discuss coronavirus response of China and Russia
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have spoken over phone to discuss the latest response of their countries against the coronavirus pandemic, the state-own Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
According to the report, Xi and Putin rejected the "politicisation of the pandemic", which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Xi was quoted as saying that Beijing is "confident" that under Putin's leadership, Russia will "stem the spread" of the disease. It has been reported in recent days that several Chinese nationals who returned to their country through the Russian border had tested positive of the coronavirus.
01:28 GMT - Guatemala: 44 deportees from US positive of coronavirus
At least 44 of the 76 Guatemalans deported on one flight from the United States this week have tested positive for coronavirus, a Guatemalan government official with knowledge of the situation said, amid rising rejection of deportees due to virus fears.
Later, Guatemala Foreign Affairs Minister Pedro Brolo told The Associated Press news agency that the government had again suspended deportation flights. He did not explain why, but said the move was temporary.
At least 76 Guatemalan citizens who were deported from the United States arrived in the capital on Monday [Moises Castillo/AP]
00:32 GMT - Trudeau says Canada's restrictions with US to remain
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the country's border restrictions with the US will remain in place "for a significant amount of time" as the two countries fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Washington and Ottawa agreed last month to clamp down on non-essential travel while allowing trade to continue across their long shared frontier.
"As we move forward, there will be special thought given to this relationship. But at the same time we know that there is a significant amount of time, still, before we can talk about loosening such restrictions," Trudeau told a daily briefing.
00:21 GMT - Balkan states agree to coordinate coronavirus response
Health ministers of the Western Balkan countries have agreed to facilitate any joint action in the fight against the coronavirus, according to the Kosovo Health Ministry.
A statement on Thursday said Kosovar Health Minister Arben Vitia had telephone calls with his colleagues in the region in which they agreed that “transport routes for goods, health personnel and medical equipment remain free."
All countries are in lockdown and only goods can cross their borders.
COVID-19 has infected 8,801 people and killed 233 in the six Western Balkan countries
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