Coronavirus live updates: South Korea cases top 10,000, Singapore reports fifth death

FAN Editor

Travelers wearing protective masks and suits walk through Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Monday, March 9, 2020.

SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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

  • Global cases: More than 1,011,000. 
  • Global deaths: At least 52,800. 
  • Top 5 countries: United States (242,182), Italy (115,242), Spain (112,065), Germany (84,788), and China (82,432). 

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 7:46 a.m. Beijing time.

All times below are in Beijing time.

12:26 pm: Prime Minister Modi addresses India as it remains under lockdown

Nine days into a total countrywide lockdown, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation.

He urged people to light candles, torches or mobile flashlights for nine minutes at 9 p.m. local time on Sunday, April 5 as a moment of national solidarity. “Let us resolve in our minds that we are not alone, that no one is alone,” he said to India’s 1.3 billion people.

He added that no one should gather anywhere while participating in the movement on Sunday.

“Please do not go out on to the roads, lanes or your localities, do it at the doorstep or balconies of your own homes,” he said. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

12:14 pm: Containment should be the ‘first priority’ of Indonesia’s government, says former finance minister

Getting the coronavirus outbreak under control should be the top priority the Indonesian government, says the country’s former finance minister. 

Indonesia has recorded 170 deaths related to COVID-19, the highest toll in Southeast Asia, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed cases in the country stand at 1,790 — fewer than Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, the data showed.

“It’s quite clear that getting outbreak under control should be the first priority of the government because containment of the virus will be the key of the recovery,” Muhamad Chatib Basri, chairman of think tank Mandiri Institute, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“That’s the reason why the government needs to act urgently, immediately,” said Basri, who was Indonesia’s finance minister from 2013 to 2014 under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. — Yen Nee Lee

11:33 am: Cases in South Korea top 10,000

South Korea reported 86 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s tally to 10,062 so far, according to the latest data by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The country had five more deaths, with total fatalities now standing at 174, said KCDC. — Yen Nee Lee

10:59 am: Singapore reports fifth death

Singapore’s health ministry said a fifth person has died from COVID-19 on April 3 at 1:55 a.m. local time. The patient was an 86-year-old woman who had no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.

She was admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases on March 31 and tested positive on the same day, the health ministry said. It wasn’t clear if the patient had any underlying conditions but the ministry said she “eventually succumbed to the infection.”

As of April 2, noon, Singapore reported 1,049 cases. Friday’s death brings the total number of fatalities to five in the city-state. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

10:07 am: Boeing to temporarily suspend Philadelphia area operations

Boeing said it is temporarily suspending production operations at its facilities in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, because of the coronavirus outbreak in the region.

The site includes manufacturing and production facilities for military rotorcraft such as the H-47 Chinook and V-22 Osprey for defense customers, Boeing said.

Operations will stop at end of day on Friday, April 3, and resume on April 20. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

10:01 am: China reports 31 new cases, most of them attributed to travelers from abroad

China’s National Health Commission said there were 31 new cases of infection in the country and 29 of them were attributed to travelers from abroad.

Separately, there were 60 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms. China started including asymptomatic cases in its daily reports starting April 1. 

Four people died in Hubei province, where the outbreak was first reported. Altogether, China said it has had 81,620 cases and 3,322 deaths. About 1,027 cases of asymptomatic infections are still under medical observation, according to the NHC. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

9:29 am: Miami mayor asks Trump to suspend flights from COVID-19 hotspots to Miami International Airport

Miami mayor Francis Suarez asked President Trump in a letter on Thursday to suspend flights to Miami International Airport from COVID-19 hotspots.

The letter didn’t specify what countries or states would qualify as hotspots, but the hardest-hit states include New York, New Jersey, California and Washington. 

In Florida, 9,008 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, 1,167 have been hospitalized and 144 have died, according to the state’s department of health. — Kif Leswing

9:18 am: China says it will hold a national day of mourning for coronavirus victims

China’s state council said the country will hold a national day of mourning for coronavirus victims on April 4.

Flags in the country and at Chinese foreign embassies and consulates will be at half-mast and from 10 a.m. local time, people will observe a 3-minute silence to remember those who died from COVID-19, the state council announced Friday.

To date, more than 3,300 people have died from the virus in China. — Saheli Roy Choudhury, Lilian Wu

8:49 am: The White House is watching these next coronavirus ‘hot spots’

Some 35% of all coronavirus tests administered in New York and New Jersey have been positive, indicating a serious outbreak in both states, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Deborah Birx said Thursday.

As states ramp up testing, U.S. officials are keeping a close watch on which areas of the country might follow New York — where 38% of the country’s more than 242,100 cases are concentrated. 

Birx said Louisiana concerns U.S. health officials as 26% of all tests come back positive. Michigan, Connecticut, Indiana, Georgia and Illinois all test positive about 15% of the time. — Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Dawn Kopecki

8:40 am: NYC Mayor de Blasio urges New Yorkers to cover face with scarves or bandanas while outside

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told New Yorkers to cover their faces when they go outside, even if it’s a homemade mask, reversing previous guidance advising only those who are sick to wear face masks.

“We’re advising New Yorkers to wear a face covering when you go outside and near other people,” de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday. “It can be a scarf, it can be something you create at home it can be a bandana.”

De Blasio cautioned residents against wearing surgical masks or other medical-grade masks, worrying that it would make the shortage for personal protective equipment in hospitals even worse. — Noah Higgins-Dunn, Kevin Breuninger

7:46 am: Germany overtakes China in reported number of cases 

The number of infections in Germany rose to 84,788, making it the fourth worst-affected country behind the U.S., Italy and Spain. Germany has overtaken China’s reported 82,432 cases.

At least 1,100 people have died in Germany but around 22,440 people have recovered from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Still, a greater percentage of people in the country have recovered compared to the U.S., Italy and Spain. 

China on Thursday denied that it hid the true number of its people who have been infected and killed by the virus outbreak. The country’s reported numbers have been under scrutiny, with some suggesting that the situation was more dire than Beijing was letting on. China described the accusations of concealment as a “despicable attempt to put political interests above human life.” — Saheli Roy Choudhury, Kevin Breuninger

7:30 am: More than 52,800 people worldwide have now died from COVID-19

The death toll from the fast-spreading coronavirus rose and at least 52,863 people have lost their lives to the disease, according to the latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University.

Italy accounted for the largest number of fatalities, with 13,915 dead. In Spain, 10,348 have died while France reported 5,398 deceased. 

The total number of infection cases around the world crossed 1 million overnight as the virus outbreak rapidly spread to Europe and the United States in March and is beginning to take a foothold among African countries. JHU data showed there were at least 1,011,490 reported instances of infection. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

All times below are in Eastern time.

6:48 pm: Job losses in March could be the worst in a decade, and that’s just the beginning

March’s employment report could show the most monthly job losses in a decade, but it’s only a fraction of the real hit to the workforce that came when many states issued stay-at-home orders late in the month.

Economists expect a consensus decline of 100,000 nonfarm payrolls, according to Refinitiv. But the survey for the report was done before many states began telling residents to stay home. For the final two weeks of the month, 10 million people sought unemployment benefits as businesses and schools closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 

A sad and tired healthcare worker is seen by the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, United States on April 1, 2020.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

“The main message is the labor market conditions started to slip in March, but obviously with the last two initial claims reports we’ve seen, we know April will be a disaster for labor markets,” said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays. “We still have two more weeks, and we’re probably looking at an unemployment rate of more than 10% in April.”

“The suddenness with which it all slipped off a cliff in two weeks is shocking,” Gapen said. “We now have stay-at-home orders in states that account for 82% of GDP.” — Patti Domm

6:24 pm: Paper stimulus checks could be delayed by up to 5 months

If you’re counting the days until you receive your stimulus money from the government, hold tight: It could take up to five months.

A House Ways and Means Committee memo obtained by NBC News outlined a potential timeline for how soon the money could go out.

For individuals who receive the funds via direct deposit, that money will start moving to them as soon as the week of April 13, according to the memo.

But for Americans who get paper checks by mail, the wait could be a lot longer – up to five months. — Lorie Konish

Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Trump says new mask guidelines will be out soon, global cases top 1 million

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