Sorry, missed the 15th update... here's a new thread with the latest summary as usual from The Guardian and a couple of other sources.
In Singapore: From the Straits Times
- Confirmed cases worldwide top 2m. The latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the spread of the virus, put the confirmed global total of cases at 2,047,731. The researchers say at least 133,354 people have died since the start of the outbreak.
- The US reports more than 25,000 new cases. Washington’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 605,390 cases of coronavirus – an increase of 26,385 cases from its previous count – and said the number of deaths has risen by 2,330 to 24,582.
- US president Donald Trump says some states may reopen before 1 May. There were governors “champing at the bit†to reopen, he said. Trump also reiterated the decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization.
- The head of the WHO said on Wednesday he regrets US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull funding for the agency, but that now is the time for the world unite in its fight against the new coronavirus.
- New York residents will be required to wear face coverings when they are out in public and coming in close contact with other people, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. The order takes effect on Friday.
- G20 finance ministers agree to suspend poorer countries’ debt payments. The measure will be in effect from 1 May until the end of the year as they prepare for increased spending on healthcare systems.
- The UK hospital death toll rises by 761. The Department of Health and Social Care says a total of 12,868 people have now died in hospitals around the UK. The 761 new deaths announced on Wednesday represent a fall on the equivalent figure reported yesterday; 778. The figure is likely to rise once deaths in other settings are taken into account.
- New York City revises its death toll sharply upwards to more than 10,000 people. It added 3,778 people who were not tested but who are nevertheless presumed to have died from Covid-19.
- Italy reports 578 new deaths. The number of fatalities in Italy rises by 578 on Wednesday, 24 fewer than the increase seen on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 21,645.
- The European Union’s medicine regulator estimates it could take a year for a vaccine to be available for widespread use. The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has previously claimed a vaccine could be on the market “before autumnâ€.
- The 107th edition of the Tour de France is postponed until August.the world governing body, the UCI, says the opening stage will now start on 29 August and the finale will take place on 20 September. It was due to begin in Nice on 27 June and conclude in Paris on 19 July.
- Oil slumps despite production cuts. US oil prices tumble to 18-year lows of $19.20 (£15.33) a barrel and the benchmark price for Brent crude drop by 5% to $28 a barrel amid gloomy forecasts for demand during the pandemic.
- Canadian economy slides 9% in a month. Its statistics agency says the country’s economy suffered a decline of nearly 9% in March – the worst figure ever recorded.
- Three rounds of EU-UK Brexit talks are scheduled. Both sides say they remain committed to reviewing progress in June.
How bad is it really in the US/UK, in old age care homes? More in the NYTNew Covid-19 cases hit another daily high on Wednesday (April 15), with the Ministry of Health announcing 447 new cases.
This brings the country's total cases to 3,699 as of noon on Wednesday. There were 41 more cases discharged, bringing the total number of those recovered to 652.
There were another three new clusters at dormitories and new cases at nearly all existing dormitory clusters. The S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Singapore's largest cluster, added another 74 cases, bringing the total to 797.
A fourth new cluster was also announced on Wednesday - a building of shophouses located at 234 Balestier Road that is linked to foreign workers.
With Wednesday's cases, there are now at least 1,800 people linked to dormitories who have tested positive for the virus, or nearly half of all coronavirus cases in Singapore.
So far, 17 out of the 43 purpose-built dormitories here have been reported as virus clusters, with several other clusters linked to factory-converted dormitories.
By Monday, the police in a small New Jersey town had gotten an anonymous tip about a body being stored in a shed outside one of the state’s largest nursing homes.
When the police arrived, the corpse had been removed from the shed, but they discovered 17 bodies piled inside the nursing home in a small morgue intended to hold no more than four people.