Coronavirus: summary of Covid-19 news on Sunday 22 March
Coronavirus latest news: 22/03/2020
Coronavirus live: latest news and updates on Covid-19 pandemic
Monday 23 March
Follow all the latest news as we continue to follow developments...
That's all for our live coverage of the latest coronavirus news for the day. Thanks for following. We'll leave you with our front page for Monday, Tokyo 2020 looking at new dates. Stay safe and we'll be back with a new live blog early on so you can stay up to date with all the latest news.
LaLiga Santander FIFA 20 challenge
Real Madrid win LaLiga Santander FIFA 20 challenge
And over €140,000 raised for the fight against coronavirus.
Trump announces deployment of National Guard
US president Donald Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard to New York, California and Washington as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread in the country. New York state along reported another 5,429 cases in the past 24 hours. The president said the three states in question had been "badly hit" by the coronavirus and the National Guard would be at the disposition of the governors of each state. Trump also confirmed he has approved major disaster declarations for New York and Washington, with a declaration for California to be approved "very quickly".
Italy bans any movement inside country
Italy has tightened yet further its measures against the coronavirus, banning any movement inside the country after a weekend which saw 1,400 die of the disease, with 651 dying on Sunday alone. Italy passed China's death toll last week despite having fewer overall confirmed infections. More than 5,500 Italians are testing positive daily at the moment.
A limited number of businesses are allowed to remain open under the new rules, including supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, and post offices. Italians are now banned from moving across municipalities other than for “non-deferrable and proven business or health reasons or other urgent matters".
US Olympic and Paralympic Committee issue statement following earlier IOC decision on making a call on Tokyo 2020 in a four week window.
The Belarus Premier League is the only active European football league with games taking place at present (with fans in the stadiums too).
Head of Belarus FA Vladimir Bazanov defends new season starting this weekend: "Why should it not start, there is no critical situation"
German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg set to resume training on Monday in 'small groups' according to an official communique issued on Sunday.
People in Madrid and the rest of the country have to stay in doors. A 77-year-old man today in the Spanish capital was fined for being out after he claimed he was 'hunting for Pokemon' : /
A badly needed 'good news' story on this Sunday night....
Valencia based journalist Kike Mateu contracted the Covid-19 when covering the team in Milan for the Champions League Round of 16 game against Atalanta. After 25 days in hospital, Mateu has now been given the all-clear and is at home. He promises to use his experience in helping others who may contract the virus.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been ordered to spend time in quarantine after a doctor who gave her a vaccine subsequently tested positive for coronavirus
Latest on Tokyo 2020. The IOC met this morning and will consider three scenarios in the next four weeks.
The LaLiga Santander FIFA 20 challenge is underway with the first quarter final taking place between Leganes and Athletic. Follow the action live here.
This great initiative from You-Tuber Ibai Llanos has been supported by all LaLiga clubs and has already raised over 100,000 euro in the battle against Covid-19
"Life shouldn't feel normal right now, so if your life still feels entirely normal, ask yourself if you are doing the right things"
(Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon)
Another stellar graph from John Burn-Murdoch showing the effect the virus has had on traffic in major cities.
LaLiga's FIFA Challenge 2020 continues tonight with the quarter-finals. Lucas Perez remains the favourite to win it all but Borja Iglesias is red hot too. If that's not your thing then fair enough but it's surprisingly fun and a good chance to practice your Spanish too. The commentators interview the players after the game and have a brief chat about the crazy situation we are living through.
Some incredibly interesting graphs by John Burn-Murdoch during the current crisis. This one shows how US box office revenues are down almost 75% year-on-year.
"I have never experienced anything like it. It's titanic"
The newspaper El País has been talking to workers in Spain's intensive care units, which now hold over 1,700 coronavirus sufferers in a critical condition. "The work is immense, draining, stressful," the head of an ICU unit in Málaga said. "You are in a gown, with a face mask and cap, you can’t breathe and your glasses fog up. I have never experienced anything like it. It’s titanic."
Jovic Sr: "If he has to go to prison, let him go to prison"
Luka Jovic's father also addressed talk of his son facing criminal charges in Serbia for allegedly flouting self-isolation rules in the country. "If he has to go to prison, let him go to prison," Milan Jovic said.
"If he’s guilty of wrongdoing, then I’m completely in agreement [...]. I support the decision - but only if he was in the wrong. He came to Belgrade and shut himself in his apartment straight away. The photos showing him [out] having fun are from Spain and were taken months ago.”
Jovic father defends son over Serbia return
Milan Jovic, the father of Real Madrid player Luka Jovic, has defended the 22-year-old over his much-criticised decision to break Los Blancos' coronavirus quarantine and fly back to his native Serbia.
Speaking to Puls Online, Jovic Sr said: “He had two tests and both came back negative. However, there was a misunderstanding and he didn’t realise that he still couldn’t leave the country. He thought that he could after his negative tests.”
You can read the full story here.
He also urges people not to leave their houses every day to do their shopping.
Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, says the elderly will have medical supplies delivered to their houses in an effort to stop them leaving their houses and exposing themselves to the threat of becoming infected by coronavirus.
This photo has been made available by Madrid's regional government, Comunidad de Madrid, shows a general view of the temporary hospital set up at a pavilion in IFEMA convention and exhibition centre in Madrid. There are currently 1,000 extra beds set up and Spain are planning to create 5,000 by the end of next week.
Spain at “crucial juncture” in Covid-19 battle
Fernando Simón, the director of Spain’s emergency health services, has spoken to the media this lunchtime after it emerged that the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is to extend the nationwide state of emergency by another 15 days, until mid-April.
Telling reporters that Spain now finds itself at a “crucial juncture” in its fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Simón said: “The overall trend offers a little bit of hope, as we can see a light stabilisation of the figures [of those infected by Covid-19]”.
At the latest count, there were 28,572 registered cases of coronavirus in Spain, with 1,720 deaths.
Almería owner, Turki Al Shikh, has donated €300,000 for food for people in need, €200,000 for public health and €100,000 for people who have lost their jobs and another €100,000 for volunteers.
LaLiga Santander FIFA 20 challenge
LaLiga Santander FIFA 20 challenge live, Sunday 22 March
The grand finale is on this evening, starting with the quarter-finals at 18:30. Final is at 21:30. All proceeds go to the fight against coronavirus, so tune in and donate!
Spain extends state of emergency
The Spanish government has decided to extend the state of emergency in the country by a further 15 days, president Pedro Sánchez confirmed this morning. This will mean the country being on lock-down until past Easter Sunday on 12 April. In a televised address to the nation on Saturday night Sánchez said "we're at a critical moment and very tough days are coming".
Javier Pastore has said that he doubts the Serie A season will be concluded without pushing the start of the 2020-21 campaign back.
Nigeria reports chloroquine poisonings
Bloomberg is reporting that Nigeria has seen two cases of chloroquine poisoning after US President Donald Trump said the anti-malaria drug was looking good as a treatment for coronavirus.
Two people were hospitalized in Nigeria's largest city Lagos for chloroquine overdoses, Oreoluwa Finnih, senior health assistant to the governor of Lagos, said in an interview.
Trump said on Thursday that chloroquine and the related compound hydroxychloroquine had shown promise in being able to treat Covid-19
Trump said on Twitter on Saturday that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin “taken together” could be “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.” He urged they “be put in use IMMEDIATELY.”
Chloroquine, while in general safe at recommended doses is extremely dangerous in overdose. Symptoms include headache, drowsiness, visual disturbances, nausea and vomiting, cardiovascular collapse, seizures, and sudden respiratory and cardiac arrest.
Coronavirus Ronaldo: Juve star to buy materials to fight Covid-19
Cristiano Ronaldo is among a number of players and other footbal figures to be joining the fight against Covid-19 by buying medical supplies for the emergency services.
Coronavirus: Ex-Real Madrid president Sanz dies of Covid-19
Among those to lose their lives during the crisis in Spain is former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz.
The latest available figures from Spain show 25,496 total cases to date, with 1,381 fatalities. Thanks to the valiant efforts of the emergency services, 2,125 have recovered fully from the virus in the last 24 hours.
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, where we'll keep you up to date with everything that's going on in Spain and globally as the world attempts to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.