Coronavirus latest: Italy reports lowest daily death toll since beginning of lockdown

March 3, 2020. People applaud from their window in Rome to celebrate the easing of the lockdown restrictions scheduled for the following day. - Copyright ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP

By Luke Hurst & Alessio Dell'Anna

Published on 02/05/2020 - 8:39 GMT+2 •Updated 04/05/2020 - 18:14 GMT+2

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Coronavirus - latest summary

Follow the latest updates in our blog below.

Live ended

03/05/2020 - 23:44 GMT+2

Thanks for following our live blog today. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more news on the Covid-19 pandemic. (Alessio)

03/05/2020 - 18:38 GMT+2

Italy reports lowest daily Covid-19 death toll since beginning of lockdown

Italy's authorities reported 174 people have died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily death toll since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown on March 9, which is set to be eased from tomorrow.

Italy is Europe's worst hit country in terms of coronavirus-related deaths.

03/05/2020 - 17:51 GMT+2

UK reports 315 more coronavirus-related deaths as total passes 28,446

The United Kingdom recorded an additional 315 deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, Minister of State Michael Gove said, bringing the total death toll to 28,446 in the country. In Europe, only Italy recorded a higher death toll, with over 28,700 casualties.

03/05/2020 - 16:47 GMT+2

Boris Johnson reveals "contigency plans" in case he died

In an interview with British newspaper The Sun On Sunday, UK prime minister Boris Johnson said doctors had "contingency plans" ready in case he died while in intensive care after contracting coronavirus.

"It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it," he told the newspaper, speaking for the first time in detail about his illness. "They had a strategy to deal with a death of Stalin-type scenario...The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong".

Johnson, 55, spent three days on oxygen assistance in intensive care while being treated for COVID-19.

Read the full story here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/03/uk-pm-says-contingency-plans-for-his-death-were-ready-as-he-recalls-coronavirus-ordeal

03/05/2020 - 16:19 GMT+2

Russia records sharp increase in new virus cases

Russia announced 10,633 new coronavirus cases today, nearly double the new cases reported a week ago.

More than half of Russia's new cases were in Moscow, where concerns are rising on whether the capital's medical facilities will be overwhelmed.

The country has so far reported more than 124,000 cases and over 1,200 coronavirus-related deaths.

03/05/2020 - 16:13 GMT+2

Pompeo: Significant evidence coronavirus comes from laboratory in Wuhan

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was "significant evidence" that coronavirus originated from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the first epicentre of the pandemic.

Pompeo made this statement on ABC, declining to comment on whether he thought the virus had been intentionally released by Beijing.

03/05/2020 - 15:14 GMT+2

'He strangled me in front of my child'

Before the COVID-19 quarantine there was already a severe shortage of centres and refuges for women in need of an escape from domestic violence. But the pandemic has only made things worse there.

In April, La Strada-Ukraine, a phone line for victims, received 2,754 calls on domestic violence, compared to approximately 1,590 in March.

The quarantine started on 12 March, and they had 1,273 calls in February and 1,203 in January. Euronews spoke to one victim who was lucky to escape from her abusive husband alive.

Watch in the video player below. Full story here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/03/he-strangled-me-in-front-of-my-child-quarantine-compounds-ukraine-s-domestic-violence-pro

03/05/2020 - 15:07 GMT+2

Rolls-Royce plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs

British firm Rolls-Royce is planning to cut up to 8,000 jobs in the wake of the collapse of air traffic.

"The impact of Covid-19 is unprecedented. We have taken swift action to increase our cash flow, drastically reduce our expenses (...). But we will need to go further," a group spokesman said, adding that discussions were under way with the unions and that decisions on jobs should be announced by the end of May.

The famous car maker is a crucial manufacturer of aircraft engines.

03/05/2020 - 14:48 GMT+2

Spain records lowest daily deaths in seven weeks

Spain recorded 164 deaths in 24 hours on Sunday, the lowest daily figure for almost seven weeks.

The figures come out a day after a relaxation of confinement measures in a country that enforced some of the stricted in Europe as it tried to deal with the spiralling outbreak.

Ministry of Health figures show the total number of deaths due to the pandemic is now 25,264, making Spain the fourth in the world for deaths after the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The number of deaths in the last 24 hours is the lowest since March 18, when 107 deaths were recorded.

But this figure should be interpreted with "caution" because the transmission of death figures by hospitals is traditionally slower during long weekends such as the one on 1 May, warned the director of the Health Alert Centre, Fernando Simon.

"The figures are very good and confirm the trend observed. We have to see if they are confirmed in the coming days," he said at a press conference.

03/05/2020 - 11:40 GMT+2

What does France's health emergency extension mean?

France has extended its state of health emergency, even as it prepares to loosen some of its coronavirus lockdown measures on May 11.

The state of emergency, initially declared on March 22, will have new measures, to be announced on Monday, the health and interior ministers said.

However, as of May 11, shops are still scheduled to reopenand people will finally be allowed out of their homes without having to carry a self-certification.

Read the full story here: https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/02/what-does-france-s-covid-19-health-emergency-extension-mean

03/05/2020 - 8:38 GMT+2

EU leaders pledge to raise billions

EU leaders have pledged to raise billions of euros to go towards the global fight against coronavirus.

Saying they are supporting the World Health Organization’s call for joint action, the leaders announced the launch of an Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a “global cooperation platform to accelerate and scale-up research, development, access and equitable distribution of the vaccine and other life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics treatments.”

On Monday 4 May they plan to raise an initial 7.5 billion euros in an online pledging conference - funds that are only the start of what is needed to take on COVID-19, they said.

In a statement, the leaders wrote: “If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be an unique global public good of the 21st century. Together with our partners, we commit to making it available, accessible and affordable to all.”

Signatories were: Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy; Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany; Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway.

03/05/2020 - 7:59 GMT+2

Boris Johnson gives interview on COVID-19 ordeal

The UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson has told a newspaper how he was given “litres and litres of oxygen” to keep him alive, as he was treated in intensive care for COVID-19.

In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, Johnson revealed there were “contingency plans in place” for if he didn’t recover from the disease.

“The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong,” he said.

“It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent. I remember feeling frustrated. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting better.

“But the bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe.

“That was when it got a bit . . . they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally."

In a roller coaster couple of weeks, the prime minister recovered enough to witness the birth of another child. He is now back at work.

Read the interview here.

02/05/2020 - 17:48 GMT+2

Death toll in the UK passes 28,000

The UK recorded 621 new Covid-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to over 28,000 in the country, Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick announced.

The number of infections in the UK has now gone over 182,200, with 4,806 new cases.

The UK is now the third hardest-hit country in the world in terms of coronavirus-related deaths, behind the United States and Italy.

02/05/2020 - 15:11 GMT+2

Spain introducing mandatory face-mask on public transport from Monday

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has announced today that from Monday wearing a face-mask on public transport will be compulsory.

The measure aims at preventing another contagion spike as the country begins its gradual deconfinement.

The government will also distribute 6 million masks across the country on Monday.

02/05/2020 - 15:03 GMT+2

Mick Jagger and Will Smith to take part in fundraising online show for India

Rock legend Mick Jagger and American actor Will Smith are among the international and Bollywood stars that will take part in a four-hour online show on Sunday that will raise funds for the fight against Covid-19 in India.

The captain of India's national cricket team Virat Kohli, the actors Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan are among the Indian stars who will perform or read messages from home.

02/05/2020 - 14:27 GMT+2

Italy confiscates 300,000 illegal face-maks

Italy's authorities said today they seized a huge load of illegal PPE near Varese, northern Italy.

The country's police force Guardia di Finanza confiscated over 300,000 face-masks. They were all made in China and had counterfeit CE marking.

The equipment did not meet the country's health standards.

Three businessmen have been charged over "commercial fraud".

Italy's authorities also seized 24,000 illegal face-maks and 5,000 medicines during a police operation in Napoli, southern Italy, on April 24.

Police said masks and medicines did not match the Italian Medicine Agency (AIFA) safety standards.

A 39-year-old man has been charged with unauthorised medicine trade and over "receiving stolen goods."

02/05/2020 - 13:48 GMT+2

Russia reports record daily coronavirus infections

Russia has registered nearly 10,000 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, a sad contamination record per single day in the country.

So far Russia has recorded a total of 124,000 infections with more than 1,200 deaths.

Moscow has been reported as the epicentre of the Covid-19 cases in the country.

The city's mayor Sergey Sobyanin said that 'the threat continues to grow', whilst the city announced today that it doubled the numbers of its Covid-19 tests conducted per day.

02/05/2020 - 11:53 GMT+2

More than 1.5 million cases in Europe officially confirmed

More than one and a half million cases of coronavirus have been officially diagnosed in Europe, a little less than half of the world total.

With at least 1,506,853 cases and 140,260 deaths, Europe is the continent most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 3,350,224 cases and 238,334 deaths have been recorded worldwide.

Spain (215,216 cases, 24,824 deaths), Italy (207,428, 28,236), the United Kingdom (177,454, 27,510), France (167,346, 24,594) and Germany (161,703, 6,575) are the five European countries with officially more than 150,000 cases on their territory, while Russia (124,054, 1,222) is currently recording the highest number of new cases on a daily basis.

This number of diagnosed cases, however, reflects only a fraction of the actual number of infections, as many countries now test only those cases requiring hospital care.

02/05/2020 - 9:31 GMT+2

First taste of freedom after weeks of lockdown in Spain

People in Spain have this morning been able to leave their homes for exercise for the first time since late March.

People line the beach front in Barcelona after weeks of being stuck inside

With cases skyrocketing by the end of March, and health systems becoming overloaded, the country enforced a strict lockdown on March 28, banning all non-essential activity. From today, people older than 14 are able to leave their homes for reasons other than shopping for food or getting medical assistance.

This includes going for a run, a walk, or taking a bike ride.

02/05/2020 - 9:22 GMT+2

US approves use of ebola drug for treating COVID-19

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for the treatment of COVID-19, which was originally developed to treat ebola.

The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug, remdesivir, shortened the time to recovery by 31%, or about four days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The study of 1,063 patients is the largest and most strict test of the drug and included a comparison group.

However, the full results of the trial have not been published, which has led to criticism from the scientific community who are waiting for the study to be evaluated and published by a medical journal.

The results suggest that remdesivir reduces the risk of death, but this data is considered less reliable because it is below the level of statistical significance. 8% of patients treated, compared to 11.6% in the control group, died in this trial.

02/05/2020 - 8:56 GMT+2

Ireland extends restrictions

Ireland’s Taoiseach announced an extension of the country’s coronavirus restrictions to May 18 on Friday. “We need two more weeks of tight restrictions to weaken the virus further,” Leo Varadkar said.

However, he said people over 70 years old who have been told to stay home, or “cocoon” can start going outside their homes starting from Tuesday, as long as they avoid all contact with people.

The 2-kilometer limit that people are allowed to exercise outside their homes will also be extended to 5 kilometers.

Varadhar said that starting May 18, the country plans to reopen the economy in five stages, should the virus stay under control, with the last stage planned for August. Schools will not reopen before the start of the September school year however.

02/05/2020 - 8:37 GMT+2

Three people at FC Cologne test positive

Three people at Bundesliga club FC Cologne tested positive for coronavirus, and have been placed in quarantine, the club announced.

In a statement on its website, the club said the entire team, coaching staff and backroom staff had been tested on Thursday, and three tested positive, despite being symptom free. They will stay at home in quarantine for 14 days, and will not be named, the club added. The team intends to continue training.

Bundesliga clubs have declared they are ready to continue the seaosn as early as May 9, and resumed training with players in small groups in April. A decision on whether the league will continue has been pushed back to May 6.

02/05/2020 - 8:15 GMT+2

Good morning, I'm Luke Hurst and I'll be bringing you the latest coronavirus updates.

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