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.
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 JHU 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.
It wasn’t immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the reported numbers. CNBC has reached out to Johns Hopkins University for comment. — Saheli Roy Choudhury, Will Feuer
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
7:50 am: Global cases cross 2 million
More than 2 million cases of coronavirus infection have been reported around the world and at least 119,483 people have died as a result, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has the highest number of cases at over 682,000 infections and more than 23,500 deaths.
In Europe, the numbers are as follows: Spain has more than 170,000 cases, Italy has over 159,500 cases, France with over 137,000 cases and Germany has more than 130,000 cases.
China’s reported cases stand at just over 83,200, according to JHU numbers. The virus was first reported in Wuhan late last year, the main city in Hubei province. Recently, Beijing lifted an 11-week lockdown on Wuhan. — 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
