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Coronavirus - latest summary
Greek island migrant camps 'not prepared for COVID-19': Human Rights Watch
Italy records decrease in active coronavirus cases for the second day in a row
UK parliament holds a mostly virtual Prime Minister's Questions
'We all sink or we all float': Spain wants EU to unite behind €1.5 trillion COVID-19 recovery fund
Donald Trump signs temporary suspension of immigration to the US
Follow our live blog below for all the latest updates
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That wraps up our live blog for today. Take care, and we will see you here tomorrow for all the latest developments.
Unrest in Paris suburbs as police accused of heavy-handedness
For a fourth consecutive night on Tuesday, residents clashed with police while cars and rubbish bins were set on fire. People livng under lockdown were protesting over what they call heavy-handed tactics on the part of the police.
They say authorities have taken advantage of their special mandate to enforce restrictions and police have harassed, humiliated and even abused them.
The sale of fireworks has been temporarily banned after demonstrators launched some at police.
Manufacturers join the fight against COVID-19
Governments are having to find innovative ways to supply the equipment health workers need in the battle against coronavirus. In France, some companies that manufacture materials for cars, the air industry or clothes, are joining in the effort and have turned their machines to creating face masks that meet medical standards.
Watch Guillaume Petit's report below.
Greek island migrant camps 'not prepared for COVID-19'
Human Rights Watch is calling on Greek authorities to do more to protect people most at risk of contracting the new coronavirus in the country’s overcrowded migrant camps.
"While the Greek government is working to stop the spread of the virus, the images of the squalid conditions in camps on the islands make clear that it’s not complying with minimum preventive and protective measures against COVID-19 there," Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The warning comes after Greek authorities announced on Tuesday (April 21) that 150 people tested positive at a locked-down migrant hotel in the country’s south.
UK deaths much higher than reported total
The UK government has officially registered more than 18,000 deaths related to coronavirus - but these are deaths in hospital, and do not factor in deaths in carehomes, or the community.
The government has come in for widespread criticism for its response to the crisis, particularly on getting protective equipment to health workers, and its testing numbers.
Spain looks to ease restrictions from mid-May
Spain’s prime minister has indicated the country, hit hard by COVID-19, will gradually ease its lockdown restrictions from mid-May.
A strict lockdown was imposed on March 14, just before coronavirus cases began to overwhelm the country’s health system. Pedro Sanchez, in a sparsely attended parliamentary session, said “the containment will only be lifted when we are prepared for it because we are not going to run any risk”. But he suggested it could be the second half of May.
Spain recorded 435 new deaths on Wednesday, a slight rise for the second day in a row, bringing total deaths to 21,717. Spain has suffered the most deaths in the world after the US and Italy.
There have been signs of improvement in Spain, which saw its peak of deaths on 2 April, with hospitals no longer saturated and the closure of a morgue in the ice rink of a Madrid shopping centre, where more than a thousand corpses had been stored.
Earth Day turns 50 - and goes digital amid lockdown
On April 22, 1970, 20 million people across the United States took to the streets as university and school students joined to demand greater protection for the environment.
It marked the first Earth Day, an event that five decades on is observed by over one billion people across 190 countries.
This year, due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures, the event is going digital with a 72-hour long livestream and online messages from Pope Francis, Al Gore, Andrea Bocelli, and others.
Read our full story here:
Earth Day at 50: 'No country is getting it right,' activists say
euronewsEnvironmentalists will come together today to demand greater action to protect the planet.Italy death toll tops 25,000 - but more people are getting better
Wednesday's figures from Italy showed 437 new deaths over 24 hours, bringing the total to 25,085.
However, the number of patients declined for the third consecutive day. The figure fell by 10 to a total of 107,699. There are 2,384 in intensive care -- 87 fewer than the previous day -- this total is the lowest since March 18.
Italy's government is planning to activate "phase 2", easing drastic lockdown restrictions in place since March 9, and which are due to run until May 3.
Earlier figures from Spain also saw numbers stabilising, with 435 more deaths in 24 hours.
More than 21,000 deaths in France
Latest coronavirus figures from French health authorities show there have been 21,340 deaths overall. The number rose by 544 over the past 24 hours.
Health chief Jérôme Salomon said the number of people admitted to hospital and intensive care continued to decline slowly, but "the epidemic massive and severe".
Pandemic 'still in early stages' in parts of the world
More from the latest briefing from the World Health Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the virus "remains extremely dangerous" and many of the world's population were still susceptible to the disease.
He especially cautioned countries in Africa, Central and South America and Eastern Europe, many of which "are still in the early stages of their epidemics" and reporting "worrying upward trends."
While acknowledging "stay-at-home orders and other physical distancing measures have successfully suppressed transmission" in some nations, Tedros cautioned the risk of resurgence remains high, even in nations that have successfully flattened their infection rates. (AP)
Virus will 'not disappear soon' - UK chief medical adviser
The UK briefing also brought a frank assessment from the Chief Medical Adviser Chris Whitty, who warned people would have to learn to live with coronavirus for some time. It will not be "eradicated or disappear" any time soon, he said.
He said while UK deaths were "flattening off", people should not expect a sudden decline, and thought the number of deaths in care homes had been underestimated.
UK 'not out of the woods yet' - Foreign Secretary
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has told the daily government COVID-19 briefing: "We are making progress but we are not out of the woods yet."
He warned against easing lockdown restrictions too soon, saying that would bring a danger of a second spike in the virus and a second lockdown, further jeopardising health and the economy.
Earlier in Parliament, Raab -- deputising for Boris Johnson who is recovering from the coronavirus -- admitted the government had to "strive harder" to secure more supplies of personal protective gear (PPE) for health workers, in the face of a large shortage. But he denied the response to the pandemic had been too slow.
The foreign secretary said he was "on the phone every day" in the pursuit of new supplies, citing a planeload of medical gear that arrived from Turkey on Wednesday morning.
The number of deaths from coronavirus in UK hospitals has risen to 18,100. More than 133,000 people have tested positive for the virus.
Lifting restrictions not 'one size fits all'
Countries lifting restrictions is “not a one size fits all” situation, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Technical Lead said.
Countries need to look individually at what can be lifted and when, she added. Countries need to consider where the virus is, how far it has been transmitted, and if it is controlled.
'We have a long way to go' - WHO
In his opening remarks, the WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned complacency is "one of the greatest dangers we face", as he said "we have a long way to go".
"Make no mistake. We have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time. There is no question that stay at home orders have successfully suppressed transmission in many countries. But this virus remains extremely dangerous. Most of the world’s population remains susceptible."
WHO live briefing
We are expecting the live World Health Organization briefing to begin shortly - follow along live in the video player at the top of this article.
The WHO's Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus should be leading the briefing, on a day when global cases of coronavirus passed the 2.5 million mark.
UK hospital deaths up by 759
The UK has recorded 759 new deaths in hospital, bringing the total coronavirus death toll in the country to 18,100, according to the health ministry.
A total of 133,495 people have tested positive in the country, which is currently facing the "peak" of the epidemic, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Sweden in the spotlight
One country that has gone against the grain in its response to the outbreak is Sweden. Instead of locking down to avoid spreading coronavirus through the population, the country has asked for people to abide by voluntary measures, while keeping the economy - and schools - open.
In Fact the country's public health agency has now said each day the prospect of a lockdown is less likely, with the thinking being that people are more likely to follow measures voluntarily for a longer time. There are citics of this approach, in a country that has seen 15,322 confirmed cases, and 1,765 deaths so far.
We take a look at the arguments for and against, here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/22/sweden-s-coronavirus-strategy-right-or-wrong
Belgium considers its options for easing restrictions
A panel has made recommendations for the easing of Belgium's coronavirus restrictions, ahead of an announcement from the Prime Minister of Friday.
The panel's ideas include allowing some non-essential businesses to reopen on 4 May, a partial return to school, and allowing a weekly meeting of a maximum of 10 people. However people would need to choose their gang carefully - it would need to be the same 10 each time, according to a report in thebulletin.be.
Renault resumes manufacturing
Carmaker Renault has restarting production in France, which was halted on March 16.
"The resumption will be extremely gradual, with a limited workforce, which will gradually increase," said Tristan Lormeau, the director of human resources, in a conference call with journalists. He said the gradual resumption was in order to ensure necessary health and safety protocols were followed.
Donald Trump to sign immigration order today
US President Donald Trump has said he will sign an executive order today for what he described as a "temporary suspension of immigration" into the country. But he said it will apply only to those seeking permanent residency and not temporary workers.
UK government "slow" in its coronavirus response
In the first almost-virtual Prime Minister's Questions, the new leader of the opposition accused the UK government of being slow in its response to the coronavirus crisis.
Facing Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, with Boris Johnson still recovering from COVID-19, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "There is a pattern emerging here. We were slow into lockdown. Slow on testing. Slow on protective equipment. And now slow to take up these offers from British firms."
Raab dismissed the claim, saying the government had "followed the science".
The session comes amid controversy over the government's handling of the pandemic, and acute problems with the supply of essential protective medical equipment.
Read the full story here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/22/watch-live-uk-parliament-holds-virtual-prime-minister-s-questions
Poland exceeds 10,000 confirmed cases
Poland has now seen more than 10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, as well as 404 deaths related to COVID-19.
The country is slowly easing restrictions on public life ahead of a presidential election set for May 10.
UK kicks off almost virtual Prime Minister's Questions
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is standing in for Boris Johnson, still recovering from coronavirus, as Prime Minister's Questions returns to Parliament for the first day of an almost "virtual" Parliament.
It is also the first PMQs for Labour's new leader, Keir Starmer. Watch live here in our article: https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/22/watch-live-uk-parliament-holds-virtual-prime-minister-s-questions
Global cases of coronavirus pass 2.5 million
This chart shows how global cases have now passed 2.5 million, with around 177,000 COVID-19 deaths.
European Parliament to distribute 500 free meals a day to people in need in Strasbourg
From next week, the European parliament will distribute 500 free meals a day to people in need in Strasbourg, the EU institution in partnership with the Bas-Rhin department announced on Wednesday.
The meals will be distributed in priority to single-parent households and to young people and will be handed out every day until the end of July.
The European parliament will be working in partnership with the Red Cross to oversee the initiative.
Meals will be prepared with local ingredients by catering company Eurest, which works with the EU parliament, and will be distributed in "places of public life". Precise locations remain undisclosed so far.
Amind the COVID-19 pandemic, the European parliament "must more than ever be the Parliament of the people" and fight for "a stronger, more European response", the vice-president of the EU institution, Portuguese Socialist Silva Pereira, said.
The European parliament will also open a coronavirus testing centre in May, which according to Dr Laure Pain, of the Great East regional Health agency, will have a hosting capacity of 2,500 people per day.
David Sassoli, the EU parliament's president, offered a few days ago to provide space within some parliamentary buildings to the Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxemburg authorities, as well as vehicles if needed.
The European parliament usually meets in a plenary in Strasbourg once a month, but due to the coronavirus pandemic is not scheduled to meet in Alsace until September.
Third night of violence over lockdown policing in Paris suburbs
For the third consecutive night, unrest spread across Paris's northern suburbs on Tuesday, with violent stand offs between police and locals.
Residents say police have been heavy-handed in their enforcement of France's lockdown measures.
"You can see the rest of the trash cans and vehicles that protesters set alight," Euronews' France correspondent Annelise Borges, speaking from Villeneuve-la-Garenne in north-west Paris, said.
"Police were shot with fireworks and responded with tear gas and rubber bullets."
Tensions were exacerbated on Saturday night, when a 30-year-old resident riding a motorcycle crashed into an unmarked police car, Borges reported. Posting videos of the incident on social media, residents said the police had opened the car's door on purpose to hurt to motorcyclist.
"They say this is a show of the harassment they have victims of for the last few weeks, during which police have been taken advantage of their mandates to keep the streets clear to abuse and sometimes even beat residents of these poor districts," Borges said.
The Paris Police Prefecture has now put a temporary ban on the sale of fireworks. In one district, a primary school was set alight.
Spain records 435 new deaths in one day, a death toll increase for second day in a row
Spain has recorded 435 new deaths in one day due to the novel coronavirus, the Spanish government said on Wednesday.
This marks a slight death toll increase for the second day in a row.
In total, 21,717 people have died of COVID-19 in Spain and the country has over 208,000 confirmed cases. Spain is the third hardest-hit country in the world, behind the United States and Italy.
The strict Spanish lockdown will be extended until 9 May.
Russian web giant Yandex launches free coronavirus testing service in Moscow
Russia's web giant Yandex has launched a free coronavirus testing service for locals in Moscow, the hardest-hit Russian city amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yandex, a Russian search engine that also provides other web services, has launched the initiative through the "alliance against coronavirus", a project rallying digital companies and manufacturers.
The service, which has been offering free home testing for people over 65 since March, is now opened to all.
"It's important that people who continue to work can get tested, even if they can't afford a test in a laboratory," Yandex spokesperson Sana Paritova told the AFP.
Thousands of people benefit from the service every day, according to Yandex.
The service is funded by Yandex and private donations from individuals and companies.
In the last two weeks, Russia's number of confirmed coronavirus cases has increased significantly, with 57,999 cases and 513 deaths reported on Wednesday.
The country has one of the world's highest testing rate, with 2,2 million tests taken since the start of the pandemic, according to official figures.
The reliability of the tests has however been questioned, especially in the early days of the pandemic.
"For a period of time the tests were not of very good quality," the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobianine, said on Monday. "Now, the quality has increased and so has the use of the tests. Naturally, the detection rate has increased, too."
France emergency loans to the private sector totals €40 billion euros
The French state has loaned a total of almost €40 billion to the private sector to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, the director-general of the Bpifrance investment bank, Nicolas Dufourcq, said on Wednesday.
"We're not far from the €40 billion mark," Dufourcq said on RTL radio.
He added that 251,000 loans had been allocated to companies, for an average amount of €140,000.
Half of French private sector employees have been furloughed due to coronavirus
Over 10 million French salaried workers have been furloughed due to the slowing of the country's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, the French Labour minister Muriel Pénicaud said on Wednesday.
"This morning, in France, there are 10,2 million workers whose salary is paid by the state, by the Labour ministry," Pénicaud told the BFM Business TV channel, adding that the number is "considerable".
This is over half of French employees in the private sector, Pénicaud said, in 820,000 companies, or 6 companies out of 10.
Lebanon reports first case of coronavirus in Palestinian refugee camp
A first coronavirus case in a Palestinian refugee camp has been reported by Lebanon, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The case was detected in a camp in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon, the UN said.
The patient, a female Palestinian refugee who took shelter in Lebanon after fleeing warring Syria, will be sent to hospital in Beirut. Her treatment will be covered by UNRWA, the agency said.
The refugee camp where she was living was put on lockdown on Tuesday night by Palestinian groups in charge of its security, in coordination with Lebanese authorities.
Lebanon has so far reported 677 coronavirus cases and 21 deaths. The country hosts over 174,000 Palestinian refugees and 1,5 million Syrian refugees.
Fresh air, cleaner rivers in India during the coronavirus lockdown
India's lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak has led to cleaner air in the country that counts six out of 10 of the world's most polluted cities.
"It is a hell of a change,'' said Kunal Chopra, who suffers from chronic bronchitis and whose morning walks no longer begin with a shot from an inhaler. "The air is much fresher and my breathing problems have gone down.''
India has the highest pollution-related death toll in the world with more than 2 million people every year, according to a 2019 report by the Global Alliance of Health and Pollution.
On 25 March, the first day of the Indian lockdown, nitrogen dioxide (which comes from burning fossil fuels) dropped by 15%, according to air pollution data analysed by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
"These are extraordinary times,'' said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at the Center for Science and Environment, a research and advocacy organisation in New Delhi.
She said less vehicles on the road, construction activity, and factories shutting down led to a drop in air pollutants.
"People are more vulnerable during a pandemic in areas with high pollution,'' she said.
"Our lungs and hearts are already compromised, and we cannot fight the virus.''
There have been nearly 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 600 deaths in India.
The strict lockdown measures that are set to be lifted on May 3 also have had an effect on India's rivers.
A few weeks into the lockdown, social media users enthusiastically shared pictures of pristine clear waters of the Ganges, India's longest river considered holy by Hindus.
The water had even become fit for bathing in some areas, according to India's pollution monitoring body which cited real-time monitors placed along the 2,575-kilometer-long river.
Egypt sends aid to US amid COVID-19 pandemic
Egypt sent aid to the US on Tuesday, to assist the country in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
In a video shared by the Egyptian president's office, boxes reading "To the Egyptian people to the American people" in English and Arabic were loaded aboard a military cargo plane.
The plane landed at the Andrews military base near Washington, US officials said. It transported 200,000 face masks and 48,000 shoe protections, among other things.
The US ambassador to Egypt, Jonathan Cohen, thanked the Egyptian authorities for their "generous" delivery.
This is an inversion of roles for the two countries, as Egypt is a beneficiary of US aid and a long-time US ally.
US military aid to Egypt amounts to $1,3 billion per year.
About 250 people have died in Egypt for 3,300 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization. In the US, the country with the world's highest death toll, 45,000 people have died of COVID-19.
Istanbul's Great Mosque turned into temporary food bank during COVID-19
The Great Mosque in Istanbul has been turned into a food bank to help the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located in Istanbul's Sariyer district, the Dedeman mosque, closed like all places of worship in Turkey, has been transformed into a food bank with the help of its young imam, Abdulsamet Cakir.
"After prayers were suspended, I had the idea of reviving the mosque by allowing well-off people to help the ones in need," Cakir, 33, told the AFP.
Shelves usually reserved for the faithfuls' shoes are full of packets of pasta, biscuits and bottles of olive oil.
Posters on the mosque's windows call for those who can to drop non-perishable food items and for those in need to come and help themselves.
Cakir said the initiative was inspired by the "sadaka tasi" tradition, a stone with a hole in it that contained charity items for the poor.
Over 2,200 people have died due to the pandemic of COVID-19 in Turkey, which counts over 95,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Half of the cases are in Istanbul.
US records 2,751 new deaths in one day, one of its highest death tolls since the start of the pandemic
The United States reported 2,751 new deaths due to the novel coronavirus in one day on Tuesday, according to a count kept by the John Hopskins University.
This is one of the country's highest death tolls since the start of the pandemic.
On Monday, the daily US death toll had reached 1,400 deaths.
Since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the US has recorded 44,845 deaths due to the coronavirus, with 800,000 confirmed cases.
Coronavirus pandemic risks causing a "humanitarian catastrophe", UN warns
The coronavirus pandemic could cause a "humanitarian catastrophe", the United Nations' World Food Programme warned on Tuesday.
The number of people suffering from hunger worldwide risks doubling due to the economic impacts of the global pandemic.
"The number of people severely suffering from hunger could double due to the pandemic of COVID-19 and reach over 250 million people by the end of 2020," the World Food Programme said.
Good morning, I'm Pauline and I'll be keeping you up to date with the latest updates throughout the day.
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