This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. All times below are in Beijing time. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.
- Global cases: More than 1.9 million
- Global deaths: At least 119,588
- Most cases reported: United States (581,679), Spain (170,099), Italy (159,516), France (137,877), Germany (130,072)
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 9:25 a.m. Beijing time.
1:44 pm: Confirmed cases in Thailand rise by 34 to 2,613
Thailand reported another 34 cases of the coronavirus, bringing its tally to 2,613 since the outbreak, according to latest data by the Ministry of Public Health.
There was one more death relating to Covid-19, with the country’s total fatalities now standing at 41, the data showed.
The Thai government canceled the national holiday to celebrate its traditional new year, or Songkran festival, during April 13-15 to keep people at home. Thai people usually celebrate the festival by gathering in large crowds on the streets for a water fight. — Yen Nee Lee
1:15 pm: India extends lockdown until May 3
India’s coronavirus lockdown has been extended until May 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an address to the nation. The initial 21-day lockdown was due to end on Tuesday.
Modi explained that the lockdown, as well as other social distancing measures, have benefited the country despite the economic costs incurred. India needs to curb the spread of the virus and take stricter measures to prevent new hot spots from emerging, the prime minister said, according to a CNBC translation of his remarks in Hindi. (See 11:23 am update) — Saheli Roy Choudhury
People strand the White Round mark area and bay the Vegetables during the first day of a 21-day government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Kolkata on March 25, 2020.
Debajyoti Chakraborty | NurPhoto | Getty Images
12:57 pm: Germany reports 2,082 new cases, 170 more deaths
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany jumped by 2,082 to a total of 125,098, according to the latest data by Robert Koch Institute, a federal government agency responsible for disease monitoring and prevention.
Total fatalities in Germany rose 170 to 2,969 since the outbreak, the data showed. — Yen Nee Lee
12:33 pm: Beijing may be using the pandemic to advance its interests in the South China Sea
While the coronavirus pandemic has stalled much of the world’s activity, China has kept up its aggression in the disputed South China Sea — actions that analysts said could deepen the mistrust between Washington and Beijing.
The sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese surveillance vessel earlier this month once again brought into the spotlight Beijing’s multi-year assertions in the South China Sea, in which it claims nearly the entire waterway.
“Fundamentally, China has not let the Covid-19 outbreak dampen its pursuit of foreign policy issues. In addition to the South China Sea, Beijing has also authorized air force flights around Taiwan in the past month,” Kelsey Broderick, China analyst at consultancy Eurasia Group told CNBC. — Yen Nee Lee
11:23 am: India’s Modi to address the nation
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the nation at 10 a.m. local time, according to the country’s Press Information Bureau.
Though no information was posted about what Modi’s address is going to be, there is some speculation that he might formally announce the extension of a nationwide lockdown till the end of the month. The initial 21-day lockdown period ends today.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted about the possible extension on Saturday. Though Modi has not yet formally announced the decision, a recent summary of one of his meetings with all the state chief ministers indicated there was consensus for an extension. “The Chief Ministers suggested that Lockdown should be extended by two weeks,” the summary posted by his office said.
As of 8 a.m. local time, the health ministry reported 10,363 cases of infections; 339 people were reported to have died and 1,035 have been cured and discharged. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
10:44 am: South Korea to submit supplementary budget plan
South Korea President Moon Jae-in said his government will submit a supplementary budget plan to parliament soon, Reuters reported. He reportedly stressed the need to prepare more measures to support the country’s jobs market and companies that are getting hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moon said the government has decided to provide emergency cash payments for the first time in its constitutional history and that the economic crisis in South Korea is starting, according to the news wire.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 27 new cases and five additional deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to 10,564 and fatalities to 222. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
9:57 am: Virgin Australia shares enter a trading halt
Virgin Australia shares entered a trading halt on Tuesday. The company cited ongoing discussions about financial assistance and restructuring alternatives to combat the financial impact of Covid-19.
Last month, the company confirmed it requested financial support worth 1.4 billion Australian dollars (nearly $900 million) from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government.
Reuters reported Virgin remains in talks with the Australian government about various aid options and has hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey to advise the airline on a potential debt restructuring.
The halt will remain in place until either the company makes an announcement or Thursday, April 16, whichever is earlier, Virgin said. Its shares are tightly controlled by a group of foreign airlines that include Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways, according to Reuters. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
9:25 am: Revised Johns Hopkins University data brings confirmed global cases back below 2 million
Revised data from Johns Hopkins University showed global infection cases below 2 million again. At 9:25 a.m. Beijing time, there were 1,918,855 cases and 119,588 deaths reported.
As of 9:25 a.m. Beijing time, the number of confirmed U.S. cases shown on the site stood at 581,679, an apparent revision of a total that exceeded 600,000 at 7:50 a.m. Beijing time.
When contacted by CNBC, a representative from Hopkins said: “At around the time you saw the 2 million mark the team found an anomaly in Florida data for Okaloosa that drove a spike from 19,985 to 123,019. It has since been corrected.” — Saheli Roy Choudhury, Will Feuer
Clarification: The earlier, incorrect information from Hopkins which overstated the global death toll has been removed from this live blog.
9:22 am: Los Angeles County to distribute debit cards as government aid ‘isn’t enough’
Los Angeles County mayor Eric Garcetti said the county will open applications for residents to receive debit cards as financial assistance for low-income residents. It hopes to distribute to qualifying residents in one week. “What’s coming from Washington isn’t enough,” Garcetti said Monday.
The county has already issued grocery gift cards from its “Mayor’s Fund” which had help from private donations including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. But, those ran out within four days, Garcetti said, adding that he expects the same to happen with the next batch of cards.
Los Angeles County has the highest death rate in the state with 40% of California’s Covid-19-positive cases, Garcetti said. The county expects the death rate to peak on Sunday, April 19th, granted residents abide by sheltering restrictions. — Jennifer Elias
8:25 am: China reports 89 new cases, says there’s been no additional deaths recorded
China’s National Health Commission said on April 13 there were 89 new cases of coronavirus infection, mostly travelers from overseas. Most of the travelers are likely Chinese nationals, since China closed its borders to most foreigners late last month. The official report did not specify nationalities.
No additional virus-related deaths were reported and there were 54 instances of asymptomatic infection, where a person tested positive for the coronavirus but did not display any of the usual symptoms associated with it.
China says it has had 82,249 confirmed cases and 3,341 deaths since the outbreak started. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
7:32 am: Singapore records its biggest single-day jump in cases
Singapore reported 386 new cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of noon local time on April 13. Most of them are linked to infection clusters in dormitories that house foreign workers.
The inhabitants of those dormitories are typically men from other Asian countries who carry out labor-intensive construction jobs in order to support their families back home.
Last week, Singapore announced an inter-agency task force whose goal is to contain the outbreak in the dormitories, which has worsened recently.
Foreign workers are seen at the corridor of the S11 Dormitory at Punggol on April 6, 2020 in Singapore. S11 Dormitory is one of several dormitories in the city-state suffering from a Covid-19 outbreak.
Suhaimi Abdullah | Getty Images
Monday’s numbers brought the total cases in the city-state to 2,918, while nine people have succumbed to the illness. The daily reported infections have gone up exponentially since March, first due to a growing number of imported cases and then because of the outbreak in the dormitories.
The health ministry said to-date 586 people have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals and community isolation facilities. — Saheli Roy Choudhury, Ted Kemp
All times below are in Eastern time.
6:52 pm: Fauci walks back comment that earlier coronavirus social distancing would have saved lives
White House health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci walked back his recent comments about the initial U.S. response to the coronavirus, saying he used “the wrong choice of words” a day earlier when describing “pushback about shutting things down.”
Fauci’s comments from a CNN interview Sunday – in which he said that more lives “obviously” could have been saved if the U.S. made earlier efforts to contain the virus – were seen by some as a critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis.
Trump later that evening retweeted a call to “#FireFauci.” A White House spokesman said Monday that the president “is not firing Dr. Fauci,” who “has been and remains a trusted adviser to President Trump.”
Fauci on Monday evening defended his comments, and Trump’s record on the coronavirus, while standing next to the president at the White House’s daily briefing on the disease. — Kevin Breuninger
6:30 pm: Trump says there’s ‘clear evidence’ coronavirus mitigation is working in US as growth in new cases stabilizes
US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 13, 2020, in Washington, DC.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said growth in new coronavirus infections stabilized and new hospitalizations in hot spots like New York slowed over the weekend, providing “clear evidence that our aggressive strategy to combat the virus is working.”
“Over the weekend, the number of daily new infections remained flat, nationwide flat,” Trump said at a White House press conference with the coronavirus task force on Monday. “Hospitalizations are slowing in hot spots like New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Louisiana. This is clear evidence that our aggressive strategy to combat the virus is working and that Americans are following the guidelines.” — William Feuer
5:45 pm: Pope Francis: ‘This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage’
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic Pope Francis says it might be time for some sort of universal basic income.
“This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage” to “acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks” and to “achieve the ideal … of no worker without rights,” Pope Francis said in a letter to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, an organization representing global grassroots organizations, published on Sunday via the Vatican.
The Pope acknowledged that for many workers, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns are making it difficult, if not impossible, for people to earn money.
“Many of you live from day to day, without any type of legal guarantee to protect you,” Pope Francis says in the letter. “Street vendors, recyclers, carnies, small farmers, construction workers, dressmakers, the different kinds of caregivers: you who are informal, working on your own or in the grassroots economy, you have no steady income to get you through this hard time … and the lockdowns are becoming unbearable.” — Catherine Clifford
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Three West Coast states announce pact on reopening economy
