While a number of countries are preparing to start easing their coronavirus lockdowns, the UK is set to announce an extension of its containment measures
As of Saturday, April 18, the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded globally is more than 2.1 million, with more than 153,000 deaths.
Europe has had more than 980,000 cases, with more than 95,000 deaths occurred.
Today, some good news came from France, where the number of patients in intensive care kept dropping as well as the number of overall virus hospitalisations.
The UK has announced is due to receive 84 tons of PPE from Turkey, amid a reported shortage in basic protective equipment. The country has also pledged another £1.6 billion of funds to local councils to fight the COVID-19 emergency.
Spain has ruled out it will end lockdown anytime soon. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has demanded an extension until May 9. New infections rose by nearly 4,500 and the death toll rose by 565 in the past 24 hours.
Italy has reported almost 3,500 new cases today. The country - which has suffered the highest number of deaths in Europe so far - is approaching the beginning of its seventh week of nationwide lockdown, with people allowed out of their homes only for essential work or buying food and tending to family members.
Other key developments:
The US unveiled guidelines to reopen the economy in areas where there is low transmission.
Air pollution in European cities has plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Kingdom has extended its lockdown measures for at least three more weeks.
Brazil's health minister says he has been fired by President Jair Bolsonaro.
Research in five EU countries shows that up to 57% of deaths due to coronavirus are in care homes.
There has been global alarm at Donald Trump's decision to stop funding the WHO.
French president Macron calls for testing of controversial malaria drug therapy, hailing scientist behind the idea.
Follow all the day's coronavirus updates in our live blog below.
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France's number of patients in intensive care keeps dropping
Spain may extend lockdown till May 9
Spain's PM Pedro Sanchez said in a press conference he asked to extend the lockdown until May 9. He added that 'there is more effort needed to reach phase two' of the emergency.
More PPE arriving to Britain next week to ease shortage issues
British authorities reported 888 more coronavirus-related hospital deaths on Saturday, bringing the total to 15,464. The latest daily figure from the health department is 41 higher than the previous day's 847 deaths. Britain posted a record high daily death toll of 980 a week ago.
Italy's daily coronavirus cases at nearly 3,500
The Health Ministry said there were 3,491 new coronavirus cases, nearly identical to the previous day increase in confirmed infections. There were 482 more deaths, raising the overall official toll to 23,227 in Italy, which has Europe's highest number of deaths.
The country is approaching the end of its sixth week of nationwide lockdown, with people allowed out of their homes only for essential work or buying food and tending to family members. Overall, Italy has nearly 176,000 confirmed cases.
Today, the Italian Air Force tweeted a video showing a new medical facility for coronavirus patients near Turin that it helped to build along with the country's Crisis Unit.
Portugal officially extends lockdown until May, PM hopes for gradual return to normal life
"The next 15 days are decisive for us to learn to live safely with the virus, so that May is the month in which we can gradually and progressively return to live more normally," he said.
The country has 18,841 confirmed cases and 629 deaths.
Air pollution plummets in European cities
Air pollution has plummeted by more than 45% compared to 2019 values in some European cities as coronavirus restriction measures have kept people home.
Paris, for instance, saw nitrogen dioxide levels drop by 54%, according to research that was released by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).
Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/air-pollution-plummets-by-more-than-45-in-major-european-cities
US President Donald Trump prepares to unveil national guidelines on relaxing social distancing measures
The new guidelines are expected to allow restrictions to ease in areas with low transmission of COVID-19 while keeping them in place in harder-hit areas, the AP reported.
Trump briefed US state governors on the plan, saying they were going to be responsible for deciding when it is safe to lift restrictions in their states.
“You’re going to call your own shots,” Trump told governors, according to an audio recording obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re going to be standing along side of you.”
Brazil's Bolsonaro fires health minister amid coronavirus pandemic
Health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta had encouraged distancing measures to curb the outbreak as Bolsonaro downplayed the virus, calling it a "little flu".
"I want to thank you for the opportunity given to me, to be the manager of our [ministry], to set up the project to improve the health of Brazilians and to plan to face the coronavirus pandemic, a great challenge that our health system is facing," Mandetta tweeted on Thursday evening.
Research in five EU countries shows that up to 57% of deaths due to coronavirus are in care homes
There are a high percentage of coronavirus deaths in care homes, they found, with a range of figures in the countries from 42% of total coronavirus deaths to 57%.
They expect the figures will be similar in other countries for which there isn't testing in care homes.
Macron calls for European solidarity on the question of common debt, in FT interview
Emmanuel Macron called on European solidarity, stating that countries like Greece, Spain and Italy would not be able to "absorb the shock" of the pandemic.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the French president said that if Europe did not work together, "the populists will win".
He said the failure to agree on mutualising debt could bring about the collapse of the eurozone and European Union, adding that you can't have a "single market where some are sacrificed".
Mutualising debt has long been seen as taboo with countries such as Germany and the Netherlands opposing the idea.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after leaders failed to agree on the question of mutualised debt that the future of the European project was at stake.
Many politicians in the European Parliament are insisting that EU countries reconsider 'corona bonds' which have been re-labelled 'recovery bonds'.
"It is the moment to renovate our economy so that it will respect more the environment and the natural resources, as well as to make it more digital. To mutualise part of the debt of our countries, as we are proposing, with the issuing of the recovery bonds," said the head of the Socialist group Iratxe Garcia (MEP, Spain).
'There is light at the end of the tunnel,' Raab says
"There is light at the end of the tunnel. But we're now at both a delicate and a dangerous stage in this pandemic. If we rush to relax the measures that we have in place, we would risk wasting all the sacrifices and all the progress that has been made," said foreign secretary Dominic Raab at the UK government's daily press briefing.
Watch the full Euronews Tonight report:
Hospitalisations continue to decrease in France
There were 31,305 people in hospital, down 474 from the previous day. There are 6,248 people in intensive care, a number that has decreased since last week.
New York State extends lockdown to mid-May
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo extended stay-at-home restrictions until May 15 as New York City gets ready to use 11,000 empty hotel rooms for coronavirus quarantiners.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city is grappling with a projected €7 billion loss in tax revenue because of the crisis.
UK food firm charters plane to fly in Romanians to help with harvest
A food producer has chartered a flight to fly 150 Romanians into the UK on Thursday to help pick fruit and vegetables.
Farmers across Europe have complained of having to either throw away their harvests or leave it to rot in the field because of the coronavirus lockdowns.
The social distancing measures have meant losing their normal clients, like restaurants who have closed down, or not having seasonal workers to harvest their crops.
Air Charter Services told Euronews on Thursday that it has flown 2,000 eastern European harvesters across Europe since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/uk-food-firm-charters-plane-to-fly-in-romanians-to-help-with-harvest
Italy records 525 daily deaths
Italy recorded 1,189 more confirmed people infected with COVID-19 and 525 deaths in 24 hours, the Civil Protection Authority said.
There are nearly 169,000 cases in the country and there have been more than 22,000 deaths.
Meanwhile, there are 26,893 hospitalised patients with symptoms, 2,936 in intensive care, while 76,778 in home isolation, the health ministry said.
There were fewer hospitalisations than the previous day.
Swedish government granted special powers to curb coronavirus outbreak
Swedish MPs gave the government extra powers to curb the COVID-19 epidemic in the country.
The government will be able to approve bills related to the health emergency - for examples closing businesses and schools - without having to go through parliament first.
These new temporary powers were approved by parliament on Thursday (April 16) and will be in place from Saturday, April 18, until June 30.
The government has been criticised over their measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak which has killed at least 1,200 in the country.
Cafes, bars, restaurants and schools are still open in Sweden, as well as hair salons and gyms, and people are still allowed to exercise outdoors.
Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/16/sweden-under-fire-for-covid-19-containment-as-deaths-hit-record-high
UK extends coronavirus lockdown measures for at least the next three weeks
Any change in the social distancing measures would "threaten a second peak of the virus" and result in more deaths, said foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the prime minister as he recovers from coronavirus.
"We've sacrificed far too much to ease up now," he said, adding that there is "light at the end of the tunnel".
Raab said that lifting the restrictions would damage both public health and the economy.
Facebook to show debunked COVID-19 myths to users who have liked fake news on virus
Coronavirus tracking apps must be 'voluntary' and 'time-limited', EU insists
74m at risk of COVID-19 contagion in Middle East
Switzerland to start gradually lifting lockdown measures on April 27
New unemployment claims in the US reached 5.25 million last week
EU Commission President offers 'heartfelt apology' to Italy
Tourism 'hardest-hit' sector by COVID-19
Several European countries are particularly reliant on tourism. Italy, Spain and France — the three member states most heavily impacted by COVID-19 — together accounted for half of the total nights spent by non-residents in the EU in 2018, according to Eurostat.
They're also at the top of the EU's league table when it comes to the number of enterprises in tourism industries and are home, with Germany, to more than half of the bloc's tourism-reliant businesses.
EU increases advance payments for farmers
- advances of payments have been increased to from 50% to 70% for direct payments and from 75% to 85% for rural development payments;
- the number of physical on-the-spot checks has been reduced to minimise physical contact between farmers and the inspectors carrying out the checks.
551 new deaths in Spain
Men 'twice as likely' to die for COVID-19 than women: ONS
- Males had a significantly higher rate of death due to COVID-19; the rate was double that of females;
- The rate of death due to COVID-19 increased significantly in each age group but one in five deaths were in age group 80 to 84 years;
- More than one in 10 deaths (14%) involved patients with pre-existing ischaemic heart disease.
German COVID-19 deaths pass 3,500
Belgium reports 417 new deaths
Europe 'in the eye of the storm' - WHO Europe
- there is evidence showing COVID-19 transmission is controlled
- public health and health system capacities are in place to identify, isolate, test, trace contacts and quarantine them
- outbreak risks are minimized in high-vulnerability settings – particularly in elderly homes, mental health facilities and people residing in crowded places
- workplace preventive measures are established – with physical distancing, handwashing facilities, respiratory etiquette in place
- that importation risks can be managed
- communities have a voice, are aware, engaged and participate in the transition
Street artist Banksy 'working from home' too
Germany to ease lockdown
UK govenment set to announce extension of lockdown
Russia reports 34 more deaths
Macron calls for testing of controversial anti-malarial drugs for treating COVID-19
China reports new cases
Three were recorded in the capital Beijing, which has been enforcing strict quarantine and social distancing measures. Four others were reported in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, where authorities have been rushing to stem a new flare-up among Chinese citizens crossing the border from Russia.
War veteran, 99, raises £12,000,000 for the NHS
