Coronavirus summary: deaths and cases - 8 May
Coronavirus live US updates: cases, deaths and news - 8/9 May
Global totals and country news
Confirmed worldwide cases: 3.8 million +
Confirmed worldwide deaths: 270,000 +
(source Johns Hopkins University)
That's about all we have time for Friday. We have a new live blog for Saturday 9 May up and running where you can find all of the latest news and situation concerning the Covid-19 pandemic from around the world.
We'll take a short pause from today's global Covid-19 updates and breaking news but be back with you in a matter of hours for more coronavirus news from around the world.
South Korea tracks new coronavirus outbreak in Seoul nightclubs
South Korean health authorities are investigating a small but growing cluster of coronavirus cases linked to a handful of Seoul nightclubs, at a time when the country is moving to less restrictive social distancing measures.
At least 15 cases have been identified with connections to clubs in Itaewon, a neighbourhood popular with Koreans and foreigners in the capital, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Friday.
South Korea has reported only a handful of cases in recent days, the majority of them in people arriving from overseas.
But, the nightclub infections, while still limited, are expected to increase.
Russia's 'delayed epidemic'
Russia has registered more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the sixth day in a row, after emerging as a new hotspot of the pandemic with a total number of confirmed infections to 187,859.
The country also recorded 98 new deaths from the virus, for a total of 1,723, and while some officials are considering softening the current lockdown, the WHO warned Russia is going through a “delayed epidemic.”
Brazil fatalities on the rise
751 people have died from the Covid-19 virus over the past 24 hours with the period being the first day that more than 700 deaths have been recorded.
A total of 9,897 individuals have now lost their lives at the hands of the virus in Brazil
AS front cover (Saturday 9 May)
The front cover of tomorrow's paper features the positive (Atleti player Lodi, who tested positive for Covid-19) and negative, Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic who will miss roughly a month of action with a heel fracture.
Madrid and Barcelona to remain at 'stage 0'
Both Madrid and Barcelona will not move on to the next stage of Spain’s exit from lockdown, Spanish Health Emergency Coordinator Fernando Simon confirmed on Friday evening.
The Spanish government is conducting a four stage end to lockdown, with an easing of restrictions contingent on the measures like the rate of infection in each region.
Queen issues VE 75th anniversary message with nod to current pandemic
"Never give up, never despair - that was the message of VE Day"
France daily toll increases
The coronavirus death toll in France has risen by 243, to 26,230. Friday’s daily death toll marks an increase on Thursday’s, which was 178.
626 deaths in UK taking overall toll past 31,000
UK reports 4,649 new cases of coronavirus and 626 new deaths. Total of 211,364 cases and 31,241 deaths.
Danish lockdown relaxation continues
Denmark will allow shopping centres to reopen from 11 May, while restaurants, places of worship and schools for 11- to 15-year-olds would resume a week later. Bars, nightclubs and smaller concert venues will have to wait until sometime in August to reopen.
Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi releases lockdown inspired album
Legendary composer Ludovico Einaudi, released today a new project titled "12 Songs From Home", featuring a collection of twelve songs he recorded on his iPhone from lockdown at his Italian home. The album can be streamed from all leading popular music sites.
Madrid’s request for looser lockdown gets rejected
“The government acknowledges Madrid’s healthcare assistance capacity, but it is opting to wait until its primary care detection system is more robust before transitioning to another phase," sources told El País as Madrid's request to loosen restrictions and start opening back up the economy is rejected.
Italy's death toll surpasses 30,000 and they overtake the UK in number of deaths. Spain just behind them with just over 26,000.
FIFA approves five substitutions and squads of 23
Laws of football temporarily changed
With a raft of games expected to be played to try and finish the 2019/20 season, the laws of the game have been temporarily altered to allow for up to five substitutions.
Early glacial covering in Austria
With its season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, one of Austria's most popular glacial ski resorts covered its glacier in protective fabric earlier than usual this year to help preserve it for a still uncertain reopening.
In a normal year, Austrian ski resorts stay open until April, by which time much of their snow has melted in the spring sunshine, making skiing less than ideal. On glaciers, however, snow survives much longer, so resorts built on them stay open longer, sometimes all year. The temperature in the eastern Alps is rising even faster than the global average, and its glaciers are shrinking. It has therefore become a habit at many glacial resorts to cover the part of their ice mass most heavily used for pistes and lifts, to shield it from the intense mountain sun.
Health worker models
Neapolitan artisan Genny Di Virgilio shows figurines depicting an Italian doctor and an Italian nurse who will be featured in the traditional Neapolitan Presepio (crib) at San Gregorio Armeno street in Naples.
The Italian government is gradually lifting the lockdown restrictions that were implemented to stem the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus. (EFE/EPA/CIRO FUSCO)
Vaccine in the spotlight
As the world waits for a Covid-19 vaccine, some doctors and scientists have been looking for other methods of slowing its spread or eradicating it.
One of them is Fred Maxik, a former NASA scientist and the founder and chief scientific officer of Healthe. His company has developed what it claims is the first-ever human-safe Far-UVC technology to combat coronavirus. Read more
No monkey business in Thailand
The drop in tourism has had a huge impact on the economies of cities and countries around the world, including Lopburi.
France look for EU recovery fund
Paris has proposed that the European Commission issues bonds to finance a recovery fund for the European Union worth 1-2% of GNI per year, or some 150-300 billion euros, in 2021-23, according to a French proposal seen by Reuters.
The proposal comes as the EU debates how to kickstart growth after the coronavirus slump. The bloc's executive Commission is due to make a formal proposal in the week starting 18 May of a new joint budget for all the 27 member states (MFF) for 2021-27 and an accompanying Recovery Fund.
'Loans to member states could help closing the gap, but need to remain a top-up to grants. To ensure maximum added value, such loans should have a grace period, very long maturity and low interest rate ... It is also essential that this fund be set-up as soon as possible, possibly before the entry into force of the next MFF.'
Irish jobless claims hit record high
Ireland's unemployment rate rose to 28.2% at the end of April including those receiving emergency coronavirus jobless benefit, the highest on record and up from just 4.8% before the crisis two months ago, the state's statistics office said on Friday.
The new Covid-19 Adjusted Unemployment rate increased from 15.5% in March after the number of people claiming the higher emergency payment more than doubled to 602,107, on top of the 216,900 on regular jobless benefits. Excluding the emergency coronavirus payment, the unemployment rate stood at 5.4%.
The adjusted unemployment rate does not include 427,400 more workers on a wage subsidy scheme for impacted companies, where the state agreed in March to pay 70% of wages up to a maximum of 410 euros a week for an initial 12-week period. (Reuters)
More stimulus for Japan?
Japan will look into additional steps to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, its economy minister said on Friday, via Reuters, signalling that more stimulus measures could be forthcoming as the country sinks into deep recession.
Japan compiled a record $1.1 trillion economic stimulus package in April that focused on cash payouts to households and loans to small businesses hurt by the pandemic.
Ruling coalition lawmakers are ramping up calls for more assistance, as the government's decision on Monday to extend a state of emergency through May heightens the chance of more bankruptcies and job losses.
Victory in Europe 75
Pipe major Andy Reid of The Scots Guards plays his pipes on the cliffs of Dover as two Spitfires from the battle of Britain memorial flight fly over him during a posed picture to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE day on 6 May 2020. (Photo by Richard Pohle - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Covidiots in sport and on the balconies
Covidiots in a time of pandemic
Alfredo Relaño takes a look at fools behaving stupidly during #coronavirus lockdown, including Mou and Salomón Kalou.
Covid-19's race discrimination
A study in the UK suggests black people are twice as likely to die after contracting the coronavirus as white people.
Contact tracing app concerns
With little evidence to show how effective such apps are and growing privacy concerns, there’s a risk they could do more harm than good. Wired looks into our potential future...
Five players in Spain test positive for coronavirus
Football in Spain
And not all tests have been completed yet...
NHS respect
Detailed view of the outside of Queens College School, in Taunton, England as it is lit up blue as a mark of respect to the NHS.
The UK is continuing with quarantine measures intended to curb the spread of Covid-19, but as the infection rate is falling government officials are discussing the terms under which it would ease the lockdown. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Test kit support for Pacific islands
Australia will provide Pacific island nations new rapid diagnostic Covid-19 kits in a joint initiative with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States and New Zealand, the Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, said.
The first kits arrived in Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Nauru and supplies will reach a further nine Pacific island countries in the next two weeks. The equipment was procured and delivered with support from Australia, Payne added. Many Pacific Island countries have not had in-country capacity to test for the novel coronavirus which emerged from China late last year, and have had to send specimens overseas, including to Australia.
The kits will allow the WHO to work with Pacific health departments to achieve faster and more effective testing, with results expected in less than an hour, the Australian government said. (Reuters)
Financial Times daily thread
John Burn-Murdoch's daily look at how coronavirus is impacting around the world. If new to this, read further down the thread for explanations and rationale.
Coronavirus live coverage: welcome
Hello and welcome to our daily live blog on the global coronavirus pandemic, which has now registered over 3.8 million confirmed cases worldwide.
We'll endeavour to bring you the latest developments and statistics as they emerge throughout the course of the day.