Summary

  • Number of Americans infected is more than 1,002,000 and some 56,700 people have died

  • President Trump scorns decision not to reconvene US House of Representatives

  • Vice-President Pence caught on film visiting hospital without a mask in defiance of guidelines

  • UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock says testing will be expanded to all care home residents and staff

  • Daily figures of deaths in care homes will be published from Wednesday

  • Canadian MPs hold first virtual sitting via videoconferencing platform Zoom

  • France's PM Edouard Philippe says 62,000 lives were saved in a single month during lockdown

  • French legislators approve measures to reopen shops from 11 May; masks must be worn in schools

  1. 'She tried to do her job and it killed her'published at 06:52 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Dr Lorna BreenImage source, Dr Lorna Breen/Facebook

    A top New York City doctor who was on the front line of the US fight against coronavirus has taken her own life.

    Dr Lorna Breen, who was a medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, was described as a "hero" for her work.

    The 49-year-old's father, Dr Philip Breen, told the New York Times, external: "She was truly in the trenches on the front line.

    "Make sure she's praised as a hero. She's a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died."

    He added: "She tried to do her job and it killed her."

    Read more here.

  2. UK to hold minute's silence for key workers who diedpublished at 06:47 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Photos of NHS staff and care workers

    A minute's silence will be held across the UK later to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus.

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to work on Monday, will join the tribute, which starts at 11:00 BST.

    More than 100 NHS and care staff have died with the virus, as have many transport and other key workers.

    NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said he hoped "the whole nation" would show how much their "contribution is remembered and appreciated".

    Chief nursing officer Ruth May added: "Every death is a tragedy but we feel the loss of fellow health and care workers particularly keenly."

    Read more here.

  3. Botswana extends lockdownpublished at 06:46 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    An empty bus station in GaboroneImage source, AFP

    Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has announced a one-week extension of the nationwide lockdown that was due to end on 30 April.

    Botswana has 22 confirmed cases of the virus and one death. It has been on a month-long lockdown.

  4. Germany's infection rate back on the risepublished at 06:42 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Virus testing site in GermanyImage source, Getty Images

    Last week, Germany was optimistic it was on the path out of lockdown. And a handful of measures were lifted, with small shops allowed to reopen and some students returning to class.

    But on Tuesday, officials warned the infection rate was increasing - and was now at 1 again.

    This means 10 infected people will infect another 10 people. Last week, the rate had dropped to 0.7, meaning ten infected would pass the virus to only seven people.

    In order to beat the pandemic, the infection rate has to be below 1.

    In the past day, Germany recorded 1,144 new infections and 163 new deaths.

  5. California urges people to stay off beachespublished at 06:36 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Califorina beachImage source, Reuters

    As beaches in Australia and New Zealand slowly open up again, California is threatening to step up its lockdown.

    Most beaches in California are closed because of the pandemic, but a handful of areas have allowed visitors - with certain restrictions.

    Over the weekend, many locals flocked to the beaches - raising alarm bells with officials who plan to lift gradually the stay-at-home orders.

    "The virus doesn't take the weekend off because it's a beautiful sunny day around our coasts," Governor Gavin Newsom said.

    He warned that such behaviour would threaten the plans to ease the lockdown.

    "The only thing that can stop that is more images like we saw this weekend."

  6. Sports round-up: Premier League eyes 8 Junepublished at 06:29 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Leicester City's King Power StadiumImage source, Getty Images
    • Plans to resume the Premier League season will step up this week in what has been labelled "Project Restart". Clubs' training grounds have already opened with a view to restarting the league on 8 June
    • The England and Wales Cricket Board should consider temporarily scrapping overseas players in the County Championship to cut costs, says former England captain Michael Vaughan
    • England's Ellis Genge says it is time to "shake up the rugby scene" after confirming plans to set up a new union, designed to provide elite players with improved commercial and legal advice. He feels players were "poorly advised" over measures taken by clubs as a result of Covid-19.
  7. What's the latest from the UK?published at 06:24 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    If you're just joining us, here are some of the biggest developments:

  8. In charts: UK cases and deathspublished at 06:12 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    The following bar charts show the number of confirmed cases in the UK, and the number of deaths in hospitals linked to Covid-19.

    The line on the bars shows the rolling seven-day average, which is heading downwards in both cases.

    Cases chart
    Deaths chart
  9. Are you drinking too much in lockdown?published at 06:03 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    We spoke to one woman who was furloughed from her job, who says she became concerned about her alcohol intake within just two weeks.

    Meg Payne, 23, said she found herself drinking on evenings she normally would not. To combat this, she developed a routine - watch what she has to say:

    Media caption,

    Coronavirus: 'Drinking more' during lockdown?

  10. More than 2,000 unreported deaths in Indonesia?published at 05:56 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Indonesian man wearing a face maskImage source, AFP

    Many countries in the developing world have low official infection rates or death tolls - but the actual numbers are believed to be much higher.

    Indonesia is case in point. Research by Reuters suggests more than 2,200 people in the country have died with virus symptoms but are not counted in the official statistics.

    Indonesia has fewer than 10,000 confirmed cases and 765 official deaths. The country's very low testing rate has observers worried that those tallies are significantly higher.

  11. Australia records only one case from unknown sourcepublished at 05:50 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Woman wears a mask in the deserted city centre of SydneyImage source, EPA

    In the past day, Australia recorded just one case of the virus from an unknown source, and 12 cases overall.

    Health Minister Greg Hunt described the single community transmission case as "perhaps the most important figure".

    "It means that as a country we are not just flattening the curve, but we are consolidating it, extending it and securing it," he said.

    Australia has recorded around 6,700 cases and 85 deaths. But only 100 cases have appeared in the past week amid extensive testing.

    With new, daily infections growing by less than 1% for a third consecutive week - compared to 25% increases a month ago - authorities have begun to relax some restrictions.

    The government has also urged citizens to download a tracing app. Already 2.4 million people had downloaded it since its release on Sunday.

  12. Bangladesh garment workers begin work againpublished at 05:37 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Thousands of textile workers returned to factories in Bangladesh on Monday. The country is still under lockdown, but some factories, including in the capital Dhaka, opened under pressure to complete outstanding export orders.

    With the garment sector badly hit by cancellations due to the pandemic, the country is expected to lose export revenue of about $6bn (£4.8bn).

    But the move to start production again has prompted fears of creating Covid-19 clusters. Bangladesh currently has more than 5,900 confirmed cases and 152 deaths.

    Here's more news from the rest of South Asia:

    • More than 50 police officers in Pakistan's Karachi have tested positive for the virus, external, a local report says. Cases in the country rose to more than 13,000 on Monday
    • Nepal's National Human Rights Commission has urged the government to conduct a survey of citizens stranded in foreign countries. The Himalayan nation also extended its lockdown to 7 May as cases crossed 50
    • More than 100 people stranded in India's Kerala and Tamil Nadu states returned to Sri Lanka via a special flight. Officials said more than 1,000 Sri Lankan students are studying across India and will be evacuated in phases

  13. Oil slumps as storage capacity fills uppublished at 05:25 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    WTI oil chart.

    Oil prices have slumped again, due to worries about limited capacity to store crude - and expectations that demand may only recover slowly.

    US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slumped by as much as 16% after plunging 25% on Monday. Brent crude was also lower but not by as much.

    Traders are concerned that there is nowhere to store all the oil that is not being used because of the drop in global economic activity.

  14. Trump is 'not happy with China'published at 05:22 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    US President Donald Trump has told reporters he is not happy with China, saying he thinks it could have stopped coronavirus at the source.

    "Nobody except one country can be held accountable for what happened," Trump said.

    China has repeatedly denied that it wasn't transparent about the outbreak in its early stages in December and January.

    Media caption,

    'We are not happy with China' - Trump

  15. Some 'return to normality' at Bondi Beachpublished at 05:14 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Frances Mao
    Sydney

    Swimmers dive into the water at Bondi BeachImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Bondi and other Sydney beaches were closed for more than five weeks

    As we reported earlier, people are able to now dive back into the surf at Sydney's Bondi Beach - and despite the grey weather today, hundreds returned.

    “It was great, a bit of return to normality,” said Eamonn Clarke, who had a quick dip in the ocean this morning. “Bondi without the beach doesn’t resemble anything like it should.”

    He told the BBC it’d been an “eerie” sight the past month seeing the vast stretch of sand and water every day with no one on it. Locals appeared happier this morning - there was “a positive vibe” around.

    Bondi and its neighbouring beaches were shut in early March when Australia’s numbers spiked, and the tourist hub emerged as a hotspot for new infections.

    However a month of strict social distancing rules has flattened the virus curve across the country.

    On Tuesday, council guards still patrolled the surf and people had to follow a red-tape marked path to the water before leaving through designated exits.

    No activities on the sand are allowed - and the beach will remain closed on weekends to avoid big crowds.

    Boys carry surfboards in a taped-off path across Bondi BeachImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Young surfers making the most of home-schooling's advantages

    Sign at Bondi Beach reads Swim and Go ExitImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Officials say they will close the beach again if it gets too crowded

  16. Hong Kong civil servants return to workpublished at 05:06 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Hong Kong skylineImage source, Reuters

    Hong Kong civil servants will gradually head back to work from Monday 4 May, the government said on Tuesday.

    For the second day, there were no new virus infections and the city is looking for a way out of the lockdown.

    Sports facilities, libraries and museums will open from Monday but the ban on meetings of more than four people will remain in place.

    As an international business and finance hub, Hong Kong has been severely hit by the economic fallout of the global pandemic, but has managed to contain the spread of the virus.

    Hong Kong has just over 1,000 confirmed cases and four fatalities linked to Covid-19.

  17. US pastor continues to hold in-person servicespublished at 04:55 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    The US federal advice is for people to stay at home - but some Christians feel this infringes on their right to worship together.

    Pastor Rich Vera, who heads a church in Florida, continues to hold in-person services for his congregation where he often lays hands on people to pray for them. Here's why he feels so strongly about this:

    Media caption,

    Coronavirus: Florida pastor continues in-person services

  18. Is Singapore on the brink of being 'overwhelmed'?published at 04:50 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Yvette Tan
    Singapore

    Once seen as a model of Covid-19 response, Singapore is now battling a second wave of the virus with over 14,000 cases in total. But the question being asked here is - is the government doing enough testing?

    The majority of Singapore's cases have been linked to migrant workers who live in cramped dormitories, shared by up to 17 people. Up to 12 dormitories have now been marked as isolation zones, and thousands of workers inside have been quarantined.

    But Alex Au of migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), said not enough testing was being done, adding that it was "unclear" who would get tested and who wouldn't.

    "We're hearing reports that workers who are running a fever are not seen by doctors for several hours or up to a day - they're just told to take paracetamol and monitor," he told the BBC.

    "In another case, a man who had a 39 degree fever had a doctor treating him. So who gets tested and who doesn't is very unclear.

    "I suspect it is an indication that maybe testing capacity is under strain, so they're picking and choosing who they test. I can't say for certain but I suspect we're on the brink of an overwhelmed healthcare system."

    Singapore's health minister said the rate of testing had not slowed down, and that around 3,000 workers a day were being tested.

    Gan Kim Yong said that 21,000 workers - or 1 in 15 - in dorms have already been tested.

    "This is far higher than the testing rates seen in other countries like Korea, which is one in 90, as well as other countries like the United States, United Kingdom, or even Hong Kong,” Mr Gan said.

  19. The 'mystery' of India's low Covid-19 death ratespublished at 04:42 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Soutik Biswas
    India Correspondent

    India covid-19 deathImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    More than 800 people with coronavirus have died in India

    The global media reports are a mixture of relief and bafflement.

    They talk about the "mystery behind India's lower death rates", external from the Covid-19 infection, and say that India is "bucking the coronavirus trend". One talks about the "Indian exception, external" as death rates in major Indian cities are lower compared to "global coronavirus hotspots".

    Nearly two months after its first recorded case, Covid-19 infections in the world's second most populous country have passed 27,000, with more than 800 deaths.

    Experts point to a few possibilities behind India's low death rate - an early yet grinding lockdown as well as a predominantly young population.

    Some have even suggested the presence of a less virulent strain - this claim is not backed by any evidence.

    But is India an outlier when it comes to novel coronavirus fatalities?

    Read the full piece here.

  20. What's the latest from India?published at 04:31 British Summer Time 28 April 2020

    Good morning to those tuning in from India. Here's what you need to know this morning: