Zimpapers Logo

Spain’s health ministry has announced 838 new coronavirus deaths, marking the country’s highest daily jump in fatalities and bringing its total to 6 528.

Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump backed away from imposing a quarantine in the New York area, instead directing that a “strong travel advisory” be issued for the region to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

The US now accounts for the highest number of coronavirus infections of any nation, recording more than 122 000 confirmed cases on Saturday. The death toll in the country surged past 2 000, more than double the figure two days ago.

Worldwide, the number of cases has reached more than 684 000. Some 145 000 people have recovered, while more than 32 000 have died.

More than 3.38 billion people worldwide have been asked or ordered to follow confinement measures in the fight against Covid-19, according to an AFP news agency database.

That represents around 43 percent of the total world population, which is 7.79 billion people according to a United Nations count in 2020.

The Chinese province Hubei and its capital city Wuhan, the first epicentre of the novel coronavirus, were the first to introduce confinement measures at the end of January. Military Emergency Unit members disinfect Nuevos Ministerios metro station during a partial lockdown as part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the spr

Syria’s Health Ministry reported its first death due to Covid-19. A woman died soon after she was admitted to a hospital where a test confirmed she had been infected with the novel coronavirus, the ministry added in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government banned movement between provinces, from late Tuesday until April 16, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

A Japan-bound plane caught fire on takeoff at Manila airport in the Philippines, killing all eight people on board, airport authorities said.

The Westwind aircraft was headed for Haneda airport on a medical evacuation mission carrying six Filipino crew members and two passengers, an American and a Canadian, authorities said without naming any of them. Firefighters rushed to the end of the runway where the aircraft was engulfed in flames, dousing it with chemical foam, an airport authority statement said. Most passenger aircraft at the airport have been grounded for weeks since the government put

Manila and the rest of the main Philippine island of Luzon on quarantine to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, killed himself apparently after becoming “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said yesterday. Schaefer (54) was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he died by suicide. “We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” Bouffier said.

Hesse is home to Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt. — AFP