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Global cases pass 500,000 – as it happened

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Spain death toll passes 4,000; IMF urges G20 to double emergency funding; US now has more cases than any other country. This blog is now closed

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(now and earlier); Sam Gelder, , and
Thu 26 Mar 2020 20.14 EDTFirst published on Wed 25 Mar 2020 20.23 EDT
Key events
Ambulances stand by to load patients affected with Covid-19 aboard a medicalised TGV train in Strasbourg
Ambulances stand by to load patients affected with Covid-19 aboard a medicalised TGV train in Strasbourg Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images
Ambulances stand by to load patients affected with Covid-19 aboard a medicalised TGV train in Strasbourg Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images

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Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. Here is a summary of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic.

Seen anything you think we may have missed? Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

  • The US now has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world. Johns Hopkins University suggests the US now has more suspected and confirmed cases of Covid-19 than China with 82,404 reported in the US and 81,782 in China. Italy is third with 80,589.
  • The global number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has passed the half a million mark, according to the latest figures on the Johns Hopkins University global dashboard. The latest number of confirmed cases worldwide is 529,093.
  • Leaders of the G20 industrialised nations committed to do “whatever it takes” to minimise the social and economic damage of the world-wide pandemic. But a largely unspecific and uncontroversial joint communique set no specific commitments such as deferring debt repayment to the world’s poorest countries, as sought by the World Bank and the IMF.
  • China has announced it will close its borders to foreign nationals from this weekend. Other measures include restricting foreign airlines to a single route, with no more than one weekly flight. Each Chinese airline is permitted one route to any specific country with no more than one flight a week.
  • Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, called on governments around the world to work together to create a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it available to anyone who needs it.
  • The International Monetary Fund on Thursday asked G20 leaders to back a doubling of its emergency financing capacity to strengthen its response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic that is set to cause a global recession in 2020.
  • France began evacuating coronavirus patients from Alsace using a special high-speed train. About 20 patients were taken from Strasbourg to hospitals in the Pays-de-la-Loire and other regions. The move is aimed at relieving pressure on hospitals overwhelmed in Alsace.
  • The WHO said it sees ‘encouraging signs’ in Europe. The World Health Organiszation says it is encouraged by the lower rate of new infection in Italy.
  • A slower rise in deaths was reported in Spain. Spain has announced anothera further 655 coronavirus fatalities, taking the country’s total to more than 4,000. As the increase is below the daily rise recorded on Wednesday it offers support to government claims that the rise is deaths in Spain is stabilising.
  • India announced a stimulus package. India has announced a 1.7tn-rupee (£18.9bn) economic stimulus plan to millions of people, affected by a nationwide lockdown.
  • Iran posted a record rise in cases. The health ministry confirmed another 157 deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking Iran’s total to 2,234 fatalities. A record 2,389 new cases had been recorded over the same period. Five days ago, the numbers being infected daily was below 900.
  • The UK recorded its biggest daily rise in deaths. The number of people who have died from coronavirus in UK hospitals has risen by 115 in a single day to 578, as of 5pm on Thursday. It is the biggest daily rise in deaths across the country since the outbreak began.
  • Moscow shut down as Russia banned flights. Moscow announced it would close restaurants, bars, parks, and shops other than grocery stores and pharmacies. It came as Russia posted record growth for confirmed coronavirus cases for the second day in a row.
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One million home testing kits for coronavirus could be sent out across the UK in a matter of weeks, according to public health officials.

Public Health England (PHE) appeared to provide hope that the UK lockdown could be scaled back after announcing that testing kits were being assessed for household use.

People are currently having to obey strict rules about remaining indoors in a bid to stall the spread of coronavirus.

But testing kits could allow those who have had the deadly virus to return to their normal routines because health experts believe there is a period of immunity after having contracted the disease.

Prof Yvonne Doyle said immunity was thought to be at its “strongest” for 28 days after fighting off the disease, but the period of protection could be longer.

Australian federal and state leaders will meet on Friday amid growing expectations the largest states could enforce a wide-ranging lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Further fiscal support measures are also expected to be discussed in the meeting of the prime minister, state premiers and chief ministers, according to local media.

Australia will also charter commercial flights to bring home hundreds of its citizens stranded in South America, foreign minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

The number of coronavirus cases in Australia approached 3,000 from less than 100 at the start of March, according to health authorities, raising fears about a wider spread in the community.

Although well below levels elsewhere in the world, the pace of Australia’s infections is picking up speed, raising fears the country’s hospitals will soon be overwhelmed.

New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, recorded a jump of 186 Covid-19 cases overnight, taking the total to 1,405.

Health authorities are particularly concerned about the 145 cases which were acquired from an “undeterminable source.”

NSW has tightened restrictions on people movement and is enforcing self isolation. But NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned further mobility restrictions were on the cards.

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, dressed in military clothing, talks to soldiers in Soweto as they get ready to maintain public order during the national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

South Africa came under a nationwide military-patrolled lockdown on Friday, joining other African countries imposing strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus across the continent.

Some 57 million people are to be restricted to their homes during South Africa’s three-week total lockdown which began at midnight.

Kenya, Rwanda and Mali are some of the African countries that have imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has been confirmed to have infected 3,203 people and killed 87.

Although Africa’s toll is far lower than in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, health experts say the world’s poorest continent is especially vulnerable and the figures likely fall far short of the reality.

Donning camouflage uniform complete with a cap, president Cyril Ramaphosa saw off soldiers before they deployed from a military base in Soweto township outside economic hub Johannesburg.

“I send you out to go and defend our people against coronavirus,” Ramaphosa said.

“This is unprecedented, not only in our democracy but also in the history of our country, that we will have a lockdown for 21 days to go out and wage war against an invisible enemy coronavirus,” he said.

During South Africa’s shutdown there will be no jogging, dog-walking or sale of alcohol across the country, which so far has the highest number of detected infections in sub-Saharan Africa at 927, with Ramaphosa projecting it could reach 1,500 “within a few days”.

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Donald Trump said he will speak by phone with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday as the US overtook China as the country with the most coronavirus cases.

With 82,404 cases of infection, the US has now surpassed virus hotspots China and Italy, according to a tracker run by Johns Hopkins University.

However Trump cast doubt on this in a press conference, saying: “You don’t know what the numbers are in China.”

Trump said he and Xi would be discussing the global pandemic and insisted they have a “very good relationship.”

Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament plenary session in Brussels. Photograph: Isopix/REX/Shutterstock

European Union lawmakers approved on Thursday emergency funds to cushion the bloc’s economic slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and shore up battered airlines by preserving their landing slots.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) gave near unanimous support for three sets of proposals at the conclusion of a session that spanned more than 12 hours.

It was the parliament’s first ever remote vote following the suspension of meetings due to the risk of coronavirus transmission. Only a handful of lawmakers gathered in the Brussels plenary chamber with the most of the 688 participating MEPs scattered under lockdown across Europe.

“From one day to the next, our lifestyles changed. Our streets emptied. Our doors closed. And we moved from a daily routine to the fight of our lives,” the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, told the gathering.

Wearing white, latex protective gloves, she called on the chamber to vote into law a special 37-billion-euro fund to allow the 27 member states to spend more to prop up their economies.

The legislation will also allow an existing natural disaster fund to support strained public health services across the EU.

The assembly also supported the suspension of a rule that strips airlines of their landing slots if they do not run most of their scheduled services - to ease an industry crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prince of Wales has been seen for the first time since testing positive for coronavirus.

Clarence House posted a video in their Instagram Stories of heir to throne Charles joining in with the round of applause for the NHS from Birkhall in Scotland.

The prince, who appeared to be indoors, clapped along. There was also footage of Camilla, who is isolating from Charles because she does not have the Covid-19 illness, clapping separately as she looked out of an open window.

The West Midlands has seen another sharp rise in the number of coronavirus-related deaths after emerging as a UK hotspot for transmissions of the virus earlier this week.

Of the 115 new deaths reported across the UK in the latest update on Thursday, 40 were in the West Midlands. Eighteen people who died were being treated by the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust, which has recorded the highest coronavirus death toll for any trust in the UK for the second time.

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Police in the US are taking a lead role in enforcing social distancing, Associated Press reports.

Officers in Lakewood, New Jersey, broke up a wedding being held in violation of a ban on large gatherings.

In New York City, police have been dismantling basketball hoops to prevent people from gathering in parks and playing.

And in Austin, Texas, officers are encouraging people to call a hotline to report violators of the city’s orders for people to stay home.

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