Reality Check

In his daily press conference earlier on Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state had conducted proportionally more coronavirus tests than South Korea.

That is not correct.

The latest state data shows 138,376 people have been tested in New York, that's almost one in every 140.It is far more than any other state in the United States, but not quite as many as South Korea, as claimed by Mr Cuomo.South Korea has tested around one in every 136 people, according to the latest figures provided by its government., external

Image source, Getty Images

Four elderly passengers have died of coronavirus on a cruise ship docked off the coast of Panama.

The MS Zaandam has been denied entry to several South American ports.

In a statement, cruise operator Holland America confirmed four people had passed away.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time," the company said.

A total of 53 guests (4%) and 85 crew (14%) have reported to the ship's medical centre with flu-like symptoms, the company said.

There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board.

Rose and Rich Harper, from Portland, Dorset, told the BBC the had been confined for several days.

"On Wednesday it was our first day out. We were allowed out of the cabin on to the deck for just 30 minutes.

"Everything is like Groundhog Day at the moment.

Read more from aboard the ship here.

Image source, AFP

• South Africa started a three-week lockdown with the army and police officers patrolling the streets. Videos circulating on social media show officers at times using force to get people to toe the line
• Zimbabwe is allowing people to use US dollars again, reversing last year's ban on foreign currencies - a move aimed at supporting the already struggling economy. The country is to begin a lockdown on Monday

• The president of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has recalled disease control experts from overseas and announced new restrictions, including on shipping, and extra funding for Lagos state, which has registered 44 of Nigeria's 65 cases of coronavirus
• A couple in Tanzania have been arrested for spreading false information - the pair were allegedly heard on a bus saying that coronavirus was a hoax.
• Kinshasa - the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo - will start a three-week lockdown on Saturday. Residents will have to stay at home for four days and then be allowed to stock up on food on the following two days.

• And the BBC has launched a Africa coronavirus live tracker, which shows that there are so far 3,450 confirmed cases on the continent.

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has spoken to Boris Johnson on the phone after the UK prime minister tested positive for coronavirus overnight.

The White House said Mr Trump thanked the PM for his close friendship and wished him a speedy recovery.

Downing Street said the pair "agreed to work together closely, along with the G7, the G20, and other international partners, to defeat the coronavirus pandemic".

Sonja Reinert, a nurse in a maternity ward at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, made an emotional plea on her Facebook page, calling for people to look around for any masks they may have at home.

She also said that people had been stealing hand sanitizers from the hospital and staff were no longer able to leave them around patients' rooms.

"We need them. We don't have a lot. If you have face masks, any kind of face mask is better than nothing."

The hospital is holding a donation drive, external to collect protective gear for medical workers.

At least 56 people have died from coronavirus in Georgia.

Jonathan Blake
BBC political correspondent

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove was quizzed at the No10 briefing on whether the government was following its own advice on testing.

While there were few specifics from Mr Gove it was an attempt to remind people the virus is present everywhere - including now, as we have seen, at the heart of the government.

There was no talk of a routine testing programme for ministers and officials, but interestingly he did say - as did deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries - that if someone was part of the “central effort” in terms of the government's response, and they were displaying symptoms, they would be tested. An ordinary member of the public would only be required to self-isolate in those circumstances

But I wouldn't be surprised if the guidelines are enforced even more stringently within government than they have been.

• There are now more than 10,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a tally based on data by Johns Hopkins University
• Brazil is the region’s worst-affected country, with 2,915 confirmed cases and 77 deaths as of Thursday, according to the country’s health ministry. States and cities across the country have imposed strict measures to limit people’s movements in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. But there has been a call for demonstrations on Saturday in favour of the loosening of the restrictions in Brazil. It's worth noting that people are being urged to join a motorcade and not a march to avoid being close to others
• The governments in Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru have announced plans to try to limit the impact of the crisis on their economies
• Venezuela reported its first death on Thursday - a 47-year-old man with pre-existing lung disease, according to the government. There are fears the country’s health system, already in a precarious state amid years of economic and political turmoil, could collapse if the number of cases rises

Image source, Getty Images

Here's little more on the financial stimulus package passed by the US House of Representatives.

The bill, which is now awaiting President Trump's signature, seeks to deliver direct $1,200 payments to every single American earning less than $75,000 per year and $500 to the parents of every child.

It also gives money to directly to state governments, and bolsters the unemployment benefits programme.

Under the law, jobless benefits will be extended to those not normally covered, such as freelancers and workers in the gig economy.

The bill also offers loans and tax breaks to companies that are facing extinction as one in every four Americans is ordered to remain at home and only go outside for essential needs.

“Today we’ve all acknowledged our nation faces an economic and health emergency of historic proportions,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the chamber passed the largest spending bill in US history.

The vote was nearly delayed by one lawmaker who wanted lawmakers back to Washington for an in-person vote.

After Trump called for the Kentucky congressman's removal from the Republican Party, of which they are both members, the congressman relented and allowed for a so-called voice vote, which allowed lawmakers to vote from home.

An 18-year-old Canadian McDonald's employee has been arrested for allegedly lying about having Covid-19 to get out of work.

Police in Hamilton, Ontario, charged the woman with fraud after she allegedly faked a doctor's note saying she had coronavirus.

Investigators say that after she gave the note to her supervisor on 19 March, the restaurant had to close down for a few days to be professionally sanitised.

Her co-workers also had to self-isolate.

But she wasn't the only person accused of using coronavirus to defraud people. On Wednesday Toronto police arrested a man for trying to bring 25 fake coronavirus test kits into the US.

They allege he had already shipped several parcels of fake test kits across the border.

Both suspects are expected to appear in court in May.

Talks between the UK and the EU on a post-Brexit trade deal will go ahead as planned next week, despite the chief negotiator on each side being diagnosed with coronavirus.

The UK's negotiator David Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier are in self-isolation after positive tests for the virus.

UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove will meet EU officials via video link in the first meeting on Monday.

Despite much of Europe being in lockdown because of the pandemic, Downing Street insists there will be "no change" to its timetable for getting a trade deal done.

Under the terms of its withdrawal agreement, the UK has until the end of the year - during which it will continue to follow most Brussels rules - to reach a deal. The UK has ruled out any deadline extension.

Image source, Getty Images

Countries around the world are imposing further severe restrictions on their populations in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.

• China, where the Covid-19 outbreak started, has banned all foreign visitors, concerned that nearly all its new cases of the virus have come from abroad.
• India has suspended all visas for foreigners until mid-April and Japan has banned entry to certain categories of Chinese nationals and non-nationals who have been in Iran, South Korea or Italy in the past two weeks.
• Australia and New Zealand have banned entry to all foreigners, with Australia telling all citizens and residents who return to the country they must go into quarantine for two weeks., external
• The EU sealed its external borders on 18 March to anyone from outside the bloc for at least 30 days.

Click here for more from our Reality Check team on how the world is responding to the coronavirus crisis.

• South Korean authorities have been pleading with the public to stay indoors after 91 new cases were recorded, bring the country's total to 9,332. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told reporters he understood that as the spring came it was hard to not go outside, but suggested it was better to "work harder to end the current pain then to suffer it for a long time"
• Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced he is forming a youth brigade called Corona Relief Tigers, who will distribute food to people confined to their homes, according to local newspaper Dawn, external
• Residents in Japan's capital Tokyo have been asked to stay at home for the weekend, leading to long queues in the supermarkets as people stocked up. The city's governor Yuriko Koike has warned Tokyo is on the verge of an explosion in cases
• Millions of factory workers in Bangladesh are at risk of going hungry after fashion retailers in Europe and the US cancelled their orders, the head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said. Rubana Huq called on companies to work with them during the coronavirus outbreak

Let's summarise what we heard in today's UK government briefing.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove alongside NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries confirmed:

• PM Boris Johnson is still leading the UK's efforts to tackle the virus despite testing positive
• UK infections are now doubling roughly every three to four days
• An alliance between government, research institutes and universities will provide more coronavirus tests for frontline workers - beginning this weekend
• 33,000 hospital beds have now been freed up - or created in field hospitals - to treat patients
• cancer patients will be able to continue their treatment at private hospitals

Mr Gove also suggested that "members of the central effort to defeat the virus" will receive testing as appropriate, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock were tested, despite only having mild symptoms.

The US House of Representatives has passed the largest ever fiscal stimulus bill in history to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus.

The bill, allowing for $2 trillion (£1.7tr) in funding, has already been approved by the Senate and now goes to President Trump to sign into law.

One of its provisions is to send $1,200 cheques to most adult Americans.

A little earlier we brought you the news that Italy had recorded its biggest rise in its daily death toll so far - with more than 900 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.

There is a small glimmer of hope among the shocking statistics, however - the number of new infections (4,401) was lower than the figure recorded on Thursday (4,492).

The Civil Protection Agency also reported that 10,950 people had fully recovered on Friday, compared to 10,361 the day before.

A total of 9,134 people have died in Italy from the coronavirus - highest death toll in the world.

Asked whether the government will publish data on the effectiveness of the lockdown measures, Mr Gove says that, at every stage, the government has followed the scientific and medical advice it has been given.

He says that since stricter measures were introduced on Monday there has been a "dramatic decline" in the use of public transport and a decline in footfall in public places.

That data will be shared, he adds, so people can see the government is doing everything it can and how successful the measures have been.

Dr Jenny Harries says that the government has taken measures which evidence shows have the greatest impact.

Asked about the decision by some NHS trusts to pause cancer treatment, Simon Stevens tells the No10 briefing that a deal with private hospitals means that there is the option to treat patients - such as those receiving cancer care - away from busy NHS facilities that are handling coronavirus cases.

Image source, Reuters

Briefly away from the UK government news conference, Canada's prime minister is urging US President Donald Trump not to militarize the border.

“Canada and the Americans share the longest unmilitarized border in the world, and it remains in our interest to continue it that way," Justin Trudeau said Friday during his daily press briefing.

He is remaining in self-isolation on the advice of doctors, since his wife was diagnosed with coronavirus, external. He would not say when he would end self-isolation, noting that all Canadians are being encouraged to work from home.

Media reports surfaced late Thursday evening that the US government was thinking of sending troops to its northern border.

In his Thursday briefing, Mr Trump seemed unsure if there were troops on the Canada border already, or if they were coming.

The US president has said the US will send the military to guard the Mexico border.

“I guess it's equal justice to a certain extent,” he said. “We have a lot of things coming in from Canada, we have trade, some illegal trade, that we don't like.”

Michael Gove is now asked what will happen if the prime minister is no longer able to carry out his duties.

He doesn't answer the question directly, insisting that Boris Johnson continues to lead the government's response.

He says the PM was central to the new testing initiative that has just been announced, "marshalling the resources" of the NHS, the private sector and business.

Dr Harries and Mr Stevens then talk about the criteria for the testing of NHS staff. The NHS boss says that those working in intensive and critical care, including doctors and nurses, will be prioritised.