Coronavirus: summary of Covid-19 news on Tuesday 24 March
Coronavirus live: latest Covid-19 updates - Tuesday 24 March
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 Wednesday on the postponement of the Olympics:See you in 2021. 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.
On Tuesday night both Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi donated €1 million each towards the fight against Coronavirus. The Man City manager is also helping in the search for a vaccine or medicine to impede the transmission rate. Messi has donated money to a hospital in Barcelona and one in Argentina where the virus hasn't has as much of an effect but where numbers are rising.
UK cases jump again
Another significant increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the UK, rising 1,427 from yesterday to stand at 8,077. In total 422 people have died of Covid-19 in the UK.
Ashley Young has offered his thoughts on the virus and how to avoid contracting it given that he is currently in the epicenter of the pandemic.
Coronavirus can present differently in patients and not everyone suffers in the same way once they have contracted the illness. The virus can live in the body for anywhere from 10 days to six weeks in more rare cases and it seems to have mutated from the original strand according to further research. John Wilson, the president of the Royal College of Doctors in Australia and a specialist in respiratory medicine has outlined four different groups to help us better understand the virus.
Death toll grows in Spain
Spain has now registered nearly 2,700 deaths from coronavirus, with 514 more in the past 24 hours, according to the Spanish health ministry. The country has nearly 40,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases, an increase of 6,584 on yesterday’s figure. 3,800 people have recovered, while 2,636 are in intensive care.
“This is a tough week”, said Fernando Simón, who is heading up the emergency response in Spain. “IT’s the week in which we need to work so that there isn’t excessive pressure on the healthcare system. It’s work we have to do together,” he stressed.
Worldwide coronavirus cases hit 400,000
The global coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of slowing down as worldwide confirmed cases reached 400,000 on Tuesday afternoon. In total more than 17,000 people have died from the disease.
LaLiga clubs have disinfected their facilities and made the dressing rooms more spacious to allow for social distancing as they eye a return to training.
Rihanna donates 5 million dollars in the fight against coronavirus
The 32-year-old singer made the donation through her 'Clara Lionel Foundation' having previously donated 700.000 dollars to ongoing Covid-19 work in her native Barbados.
India goes into lockdown for 21 days
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has announced a lockdown of the country of 1.3 billion people for 21 days to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Fortnite vs Covid19
Last weekend, a Fifa 20 initiative by Spanish You-Tuber Ibai Llamos (supported by LaLiga) saw 180,000 euro raised for Unicef in their bid to tackle the Covid-19 virus. After the success of Fifa 20, it's the turn of the equally popular videogame Fortnite with an initiative backed by Atletico Madrid defender Mario Hermoso,
Wuhan (China) lockdown restrictions to ease as of April 8th
The Chinese government said it would let healthy people leave the city of Wuhan (the origin of the Covid-19 virus) from April 8 as the country has reported several days without new domestic infections.
Romania, latest state to enforce strict lockdown
Romania will restrict movement during the day and completely ban people over the age of 65 from leaving their homes from Wednesday onward to slow the spread of coronavirus, President Klaus Iohannis said earlier today.
The European Union state, which has recorded 762 coronavirus infections and eight deaths, declared a state of emergency on March 16.
From Wednesday, people will be allowed to leave their homes only for work, with a signed note from their employers, and to buy groceries.
Everton fan Mark, who suffers from motor neurone disease, had the pleasure of sharing a conversation with manager Carlos Ancelotti over the phone...
Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus
Here's the full story on the news that the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until 2021:
Portugal death rate at 29
Portugal witnesses a 14.6% increase in positive cases with the fatality rate increasing from 23 to 29. There are now 2.362 positive cases confirmed in the country with 80% of these concentrated in both major cities, Lisbon and Porto.
Olympics postponed until 2021
Japanese president Shinzho Abe and International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach have agreed to postpone Tokyo 2020 until next year, it has been announced.
In a statement, the IOC said the Olympics "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021".
Dortmund fans raise 80,000 euro for local businesses affected by Covid-19
Borussia Dortmund launched a creative online initiative aiming to help local restaurants and businesses that had been forced to close as a precaution due to the Covid-19 virus.
Spain almost up to 40,000 coronavirus cases
Spain's healthy ministry has in the past hour released the country's latest coronavirus figures, which show that 39,673 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 since the pandemic began. That's an increase of nearly 5,000 on last night's total. In all, there have been 2,696 deaths.
Napoli postpone return to training
The Serie A had planned to get back out on the turf, but have decided against it as Italy continues to struggle with coronavirus pandemic.
Real Madrid make “major” Covid-19 donation
The president of Madrid’s regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has revealed that Real Madrid have made a “major donation” to the battle against the spread of the coronavirus.
“Thank you to Real Madrid for their hugely significant contribution to tackling the coronavirus and to saving lives,” Ayuso said on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
“Their president, Florentino Pérez, has confirmed to me that they will be making a major donation of healthcare materials.”
Ayuso herself is one of the over 12,000 people in the Spanish capital who have tested positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak began.
Australian A-League postpones games
The last of the high profile global leagues has decided to put a halt to activity. Games were being played behind closed doors but players and clubs were increasingly unhappy with the arrangement.
Football-wise, only the Nicaragua Primera and Burundi's Ligue A along with the Belarus Premier League are the only active domestic active competitions on the planet.
Mourinho was out doing his bit in the fight against coronavirus yesterday, helping the elderly in Enfield.
Po-c'mon, pal
A 77-year-old man who is among those in Spain to have been fined for breaking lockdown measures told police that he was, er, "Pokemon hunting".
Updated coronavirus figures
Here is a selection of this morning's latest coronavirus figures, courtesy of the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering:
Spain: 35,212 cases; 2316 deaths
UK: 6,726 cases; 336 deaths
US: 46,450 cases; 593 deaths
Italy: 63,927 cases; 6,077 deaths
China: 81,558 cases; 3,281 deaths
World: 382,644 cases; 16,587 deaths
UEFA confirm postponement of Champions & Europa League finals
European club competition finals postponed
On Monday, UEFA announced that the finals of the 2019/20 Champions League, Europa League and Women's Champions League were to be postponed, adding that "no decision has yet been made on rearranged dates".
"The working group, established last week as a result of the conference call among the stakeholders of European football, which was chaired by UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin, will analyse the options available," a statement said.
"The group has already begun its examination of the calendar. Announcements will be made in due course."
“They deserve that last medal”
Here is what’s on the AS front page this morning: “They deserve that last medal - a unique generation of Spanish athletes fear they'll miss out on their Olympic swansong if the Games are postponed until 2022.”
Veteran Spanish sports stars such as Pau Gasol and Rafa Nadal had been hoping to make one last Olympic appearance in Tokyo this summer, but the possibility of a two-year postponement could scupper those plans.
On Monday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound said that the 2020 Games, which were due to get going in July, will be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
UK now under lockdown
On Monday night, UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced measures ordering the country's citizens to stay at home in a bid to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The move, which took effect immediately, restricts people in Britain to leaving the house to shop for basic necessities, do exercise, or travel to and from essential work.
Here is a full rundown of what you can and can't do during the UK lockdown.
Nearly 400,000 Covid-19 cases worldwide
As of 22:00 CET last night, the latest coronavirus figures as published by the Spanish newspaper El País were:
Spain: 35,068 cases; 2,229 deaths
UK: 6,650 cases; 335 deaths
US: 46,371 cases; 610 deaths
Italy: 64,378 cases; 6,077 deaths
China: 81,773 cases; 3,283 deaths
World: 378,815 cases; 16,390 deaths
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus crisis - we'll endeavour to bring you the latest developments, both in Spain and across the world, as they happen throughout the day.