The number of people across the world infected with the coronavirus topped 1.6 million on Friday with more than 95,000 fatalities.
As cases surge in the U.S., joblessness has risen to around one-in-ten Americans out of the work, even as the U.S. government commits billions of dollars of stimulus.
In Europe, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in hospital with coronavirus, left the intensive care unit on Thursday.
Johnson "has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery", Downing Street said in a statement.
"He is in extremely good spirits," his office added.
Spain recorded 683 deaths in 24 hours on Thursday compared to 757 yesterday, a slight drop that has renewed hope that the epidemic is levelling off.
The number of newly confirmed cases also dropped from 6,180 yesterday to 5,756 today.
Spain has had 152,446 cases and more than 15,000 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.
Italy has also seen its daily death toll fall after putting in place a country-wide lockdown in early March.
France and the UK are preparing to extend their lockdown deadlines beyond next week as COVID-19 deaths continue to mount.
There have been 12,210 deaths recorded in France since the beginning of the epidemic, up 1,341 from the number announced the previous day.
There were 424 deaths in 24 hours in hospitals, but after a reporting delay, the government announced more than 900 additional deaths in care and nursing homes since the beginning of the epidemic.
At least 8,044 people have died of COVID-19 in hospitals and another 4,066 have died in care and nursing homes, director general of health Jérôme Salomon said at a press briefing.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to discuss the extension in a television address on Monday, the Elysée Palace has said.
Italy recorded increases in their daily death toll and new cases on Thursday.
At least 610 people died in 24 hours and the country recorded 4,204 new infections of COVID-19. Yesterday there were 540 deaths and 3,836 new cases.
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UK PM British Johnson has left intensive care
The British Prime minister Boris Johnson, in hospital with coronavirus, has left the intensive care unit, his office said on Thursday evening.
"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," Downing Street said in a statement.
"He is in extremely good spirits."
Germany flies in seasonal farm workers amid coronavirus measures
Two planes carrying Eastern European farm workers arrived Thursday in Germany as an ambitious government program to import thousands of seasonal agricultural workers got underway amid strict precautions to protect both the laborers and the country from the new coronavirus.The flights to Berlin and Düsseldorf were arranged to address a massive labor shortage created when Germany banned most foreign travelers from entering the country last month in response to the virus outbreak.Seasonal workers caught up in the ban were not available to pick asparagus, which has already sprouted in Germany, and to plant other crops in the fields where some 300,000 such workers were employed last year.Most came from Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Hungary, where wages are much lower than in Germany.
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Total death toll increases in France as more nursing home numbers released
There have been 12,210 deaths recorded in France since the beginning of the epidemic, up 1,341 from the number announced the previous day.
There were 424 deaths in 24 hours in hospitals, but after a reporting delay, the government announced more than 900 additional deaths in care and nursing homes since the beginning of the epidemic.
At least 8,044 people have died of COVID-19 in hospitals and another 4,066 have died in care and nursing homes, director general of health Jérôme Salomon said at a press briefing.
There are still more than 7,000 people in intensive care, a number much higher than the 5,000 intensive care beds capacity the country had at the beginning of the epidemic.
"The lockdown measures have begun to bring positive results," Salomon said.
Most people who are in intensive care units have underlying conditions, he added.
Two new high speed trains will move patients from the Paris region of France to the southwest to take pressure off of the Île-de-France area.
Slight rise in Italian daily death toll as 610 die in 24 hours
Italy recorded increases in their daily death toll and new cases on Thursday.
At least 610 people died in 24 hours and the country recorded 4,204 new infections of COVID-19. Yesterday there were 540 deaths and 3,836 new cases.
There are 28,399 patients hospitalised with COVID-19 symptoms and another 3,605 in intensive care, the countrys civil protection authority said. This is slightly lower than the previous day.
Boris Johnson still in intensive care; 881 more people have died in the UK
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still in intensive care but is taking "positive" steps forward and in "good spirits," said foreign secretary Dominic Raab who is deputising for Johnson.
Nearly 8,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the UK, he said, an increase of 881 deaths from the previous day.
More than 240,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the UK and more than 65,000 are positive for coronavirus.
He said it was too early to lift the lockdown measures in place and gave a speech in front of a "Stay Home This Easter" sign.
SOURCE: Euronews
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/15680
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