Coronavirus live updates: Russia reports record daily rise in new cases; Spain lifts some restrictions

FAN Editor

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

  • Global cases: At least 1,846,680. 
  • Global deaths: At least 114,090.
  • Most cases reported: United States (555,313), Spain (166,831), Italy (156,363), France (133,670), Germany (127,854). 

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:05 a.m. Beijing time. 

All times below are in Beijing time.

6:11 pm: Spain reports 3,477 new coronavirus cases, 517 new deaths

Spain has reported 3,477 new coronavirus cases and a daily rise of 517 deaths Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 17,489, the country’s health ministry said. The number of daily deaths has fallen; the death toll the day before had been 619.

The total number of confirmed cases in Spain has now reached 169,496 (including deaths and recoveries). Spain has started to lift certain restrictions, re-opening some construction sites and factories Monday. — Holly Ellyatt

5:38 pm: Spain lifts some coronavirus lockdown measures; Italy records lowest daily deaths since March

5:10 pm: Indonesia reports 316 new coronavirus cases and 26 more deaths

Indonesia announced 316 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the tally of infections in the country to 4,557. That’s according to data provided by a health ministry official, Achmad Yurianto.

There were also 26 new coronavirus-related deaths reported Monday, taking the total number to 399. — Holly Ellyatt

4:35 pm: Russia reports record daily rise in new coronavirus infections

Russia reported 2,558 new infections on Monday, a record daily rise that brings the total number of infections to 18,328, the country’s coronavirus response center said. Russia has recorded 148 deaths from the virus so far. It says it has conducted 1.3 million tests. — Holly Ellyatt

A couple in face masks look at their mobile phone in a deserted Red Square during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Sergei Savostyanov

4:13 pm: Tokyo sees 91 new cases of coronavirus infections, Japanese media report

Tokyo saw 91 new cases of coronavirus infections on Monday, Japan’s media reported according to Reuters, as the number of infections in the country’s capital rises.

Monday’s tally showed a decline in the rate of daily infections from Sunday, however, when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 166 new cases. — Holly Ellyatt

1:55 pm: US GDP could fall as much as 40% in this quarter, says chief of the Atlantic Council

The gross domestic product in the U.S. could fall as much as 40% in the second quarter of 2020, and unemployment could spike to 30%, Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council told CNBC.

“The hit’s going to be extreme,” he said on “Capital Connection,” adding that there’s not been “such a sudden stop in the economy ever.”

“I think the Trump administration is throwing everything it can at it,” he said. “But ultimately, it’s going to be much better testing and a vaccine that’s going to bring the economic turnaround.” —Abigail Ng

1.38 pm: Trump’s tariffs on China could cost the US in its coronavirus fight

U.S. tariffs on imported medical equipment, particularly from China, have added to the struggle in America’s fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

The U.S. and China have been embroiled in an escalating tariff war since 2018. Across multiple rounds, tariffs were levied on essential medical supplies from China including medical protective clothing, personal protective equipment (PPE), CT systems and disposable medical headwear.

Without tariffs, the U.S. would be in “a better position in this bidding game” with so many countries scrambling to import critical medical products from China, Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC.

In a report published on March 13 by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the think tank found that $3.3 billion in imports of critical health-care products still face 7.5% tariffs, while $1.1 billion of imports which could potentially treat Covid-19 remained subjected to 25% tariffs — even after the Trump administration cut and suspended some tariffs temporarily. —Audrey Cher

12:45 pm: India plans to resume some manufacturing even as it mulls lockdown extension, Reuters reports

India is planning to restart some manufacturing activities after April 15 when its 21-day lockdown ends—even though the government is widely expected to extend movement restrictions till the end of the month, Reuters reported citing two government sources who asked not to be identified as the plans were still under discussion.

One of the sources told Reuters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed some ministries to come up with plans to restart some important industries to help the livelihoods of the poor. —Huileng Tan

12:25 pm: Germany reports 2,537 new cases and 126 deaths

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute on Monday reported 2,537 new cases of coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s total to 123,016. The rise in the number of cases was lower than a 2,821 increase on Sunday.

The death toll rose by 126 to reach a total of 2,799. —Huileng Tan

12:20 pm: Countries risk having second waves of outbreak, if they open up too early, says professor

With many affected countries under lockdown or stay-home measures, authorities are debating over when things can go back to normal.

But a professor at the University of Hong Kong warned that if countries open up too early, they risk experiencing a second major wave of infections.

“I think having timelines is going to be very challenging. No country is going to want to open up too early, and then be the first major country to have a big second wave,” Ben Cowling told CNBC.

This is because, even if they overcome their first wave, they will be susceptible to infections imported from other countries which are still into their first round of infections, or even going through a second wave, which could be starting now in China, Cowling said.

“It’s really going to be very difficult, I think testing is critical, but still need some social distancing in place. So it may not be a full opening up, even in June or July,” he said. — Weizhen Tan

11:48 am: Steps needed to ensure contact tracing tech isn’t a ‘mass invasion of privacy’ longterm

Apple and Google’s joint initiative to build a contact tracing platform looks promising, but steps have to be taken to prevent it from invading the privacy of users for the long term. That’s according to Josephine Wolff, an assistant professor of cybersecurity policy at Tufts University.

To combat the coronavirus outbreak, many countries are now relying on technology to identify people who might have been potentially exposed to an infected individual without knowing – a process known as contact tracing. The process includes collection of information that is deemed highly personal, like the location of every place an individual may have been to in recent weeks.

Wolff explained the purpose of collecting such information needs to be clear so that people can see the benefits outweigh the costs. At the moment, data is being shared for an important public health reason, she said. But worries remain that such technologies could potentially be used in other areas like law enforcement. 

“That’s going to be the really important question in sort of how do we limit this use of information so it doesn’t turn into a mass invasion of privacy long term,” she said – Saheli Roy Choudhury

10:45 am: South Korea reports 25 new cases, 3 deaths

South Korea reported 25 new cases and three more deaths as of Monday morning. That brings its total to 10,537 confirmed cases, and 217 fatalities, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, the country said 91 patients it thought had been cleared of the coronavirus had tested positive again. Officials said it was unclear why that had occurred, and investigations were underway. — Weizhen Tan

10:00 am: Italy begins to grapple with how to ease virus restrictions

With warmer weather beckoning, Italians are straining against a strict lockdown to halt the coronavirus that is just now showing signs of ebbing at the end of five weeks of mass isolation.

Italy was the first Western democracy to be hit by the virus, and it has suffered the most deaths of any nation: nearly 19,000. Now it is likely to set an example of how to lift broad restrictions that have imposed the harshest peacetime limits on personal freedom and shut down all nonessential industry.

A general view of a almost deserted street during coronavirus crisis on March 20, 2020 in Palermo, Italy.

Tullio Puglia

The official line is patience with measures that have shown success in slowing the virus spread, until there is a clear decline in the number of new cases. Still, officials have begun grappling with the question of how to manage social distancing on mass transit, re-open ordinary commerce and relaunch manufacturing without risking another peak.

The so-called Phase II is being described as a cautious reopening, as society continues to live alongside the virus until a vaccine can be developed, perhaps in 12 to 18 months. — AP

8:45 am: Mainland China reports 108 new cases

The number of new cases in mainland China ticked up again, past the 100-mark — and the highest in more than five weeks. The National Health Commission said the country had 108 new confirmed cases as of April 12, with 98 attributed to travelers from overseas.

It said there were two more deaths in the country. That brings the country’s total to 82,160 confirmed cases, and 3,341 fatalities. 

Separately, China reported 61 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms. That brings its number of asymptomatic cases currently under medical observation to 1,064, the NHC said. — Weizhen Tan

8:30 am: Singapore reports 233 new cases

Singapore reported 233 new cases as of noon on April 12, according to its health ministry. It said 167 of those cases have no links to known clusters or cases.

The Southeast Asian city-state had been praised for managing the coronavirus outbreak well as compared with other countries, and had kept daily numbers generally low — well below the 100 case-mark up until around March. But in recent weeks, Singapore has seen cases spike, with a record daily high of 287 cases reported last week.

Many recent cases have been attributed to outbreaks at several dormitories housing foreign workers. The country started shutting down schools, offices and shops last week. Those closures will last till the first week of May. — Weizhen Tan

8:25 am: Kia Motors wants to suspend three factories as outbreak hits exports

Kia Motors told its labor union that it wants to suspend operations at three of its factories in South Korea as the outbreak hits exports to Europe and the U.S., Reuters reported, citing a union official.

The operations would be suspended from April 23 to April 29, it said. Shares of Kia Motors fell 3.39% in the morning. — Weizhen Tan

8:15 am: Mexico reports 442 new cases

Mexico reported 442 new cases and 23 more deaths, its health ministry said, according to a Reuters report. That brings its total to 4,661 cases and 296 fatalities. — Weizhen Tan

All times below are in Eastern time.

5:22 pm: Robert Shiller warns pandemic of fear could tip economy into a depression

Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Shiller warns a pandemic of fear could tip the economy into an undeserved depression.

Shiller, an expert in how our emotions drive financial decisions, finds the sheer volume of chatter surrounding depression risks due to the coronavirus could severely hurt the economy.

“This isn’t the same story as the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted ten years. They didn’t have an unemployment rate under 12% until the decade was over,” the Yale University professor told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday. “It’s a popular narrative. But this is a pandemic. It shouldn’t last ten years. It should be over in one or two years.” —Stephanie Landsman

3:29 pm: Nursing home deaths in the US soar past 2,700

More than 2,700 deaths in the U.S. have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press.

The latest count of at least 2,755 deaths is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago. But the true toll among the 1 million mostly frail and elderly people who live in such facilities is likely much higher, experts say, because most state counts don’t include those who died without ever being tested for Covid-19.

Experts say the deaths may keep climbing because of chronic staffing shortages in nursing homes that have been made worse by the coronavirus crisis, a shortage of protective supplies and a continued lack of available testing. —Associated Press

1:13 pm: Italy’s daily death tally lowest since March 19

Deaths from the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 431, down from 619 the day before, and the number of new cases slowed to 4,092 from a previous 4,694. The tally of deaths was the lowest daily rise since March 19.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 rose to 19,899, the Civil Protection Agency said, the second highest in the world after that of the United States. The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 156,363, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain. — Reuters

Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Nursing homes see surge in deaths, Italy daily coronavirus death toll falls to lowest in weeks.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Countries facing pressure to loosen virus restrictions

MADRID — As the coronavirus pandemic throws millions out of work and devastates economies worldwide, governments are struggling with the dilemma between keeping people safe from a highly contagious virus and making sure they can still make a living. Workers in some nonessential industries were returning to their jobs Monday […]