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Summary
- The global death toll from coronavirus has passed 237,000. There are more than 3.3 million known cases of infection but more than 1 million people have recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally
- In Australia, the death toll stands at 93 and there are 6767 confirmed cases
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison says more Australians need to download the COVIDSafe app if they want an early mark on easing restrictions
- India's lockdown has been extended by another fortnight
- The European Commission has backed Australia's push for an inquiry into COVID-19
US regulator allows emergency use of drug to treat COVID-19 patients
By Pallavi Singhal
Good morning, this is Pallavi Singhal taking over the blog.
The US Food and Drug Administration has allowed emergency use of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug, to treat COVID-19 patients.
The regulator made the announcement on Friday, US local time, after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed the drug shortened recovery time for hospitalised COVID-19 patients by 31 per cent, or four days on average.
Global COVID-19 cases pass 3.3 million
By Latika Bourke
Good morning, if you are just joining us, here are the main developments from overnight:
- The number of coronavirus cases passed 3.3 million
- The head of the European Commission backed an inquiry into the pandemic
- The head of the World Health Organisation said it gave countries enough time to prepare amid criticism it was too slow to alert the world to the pandemic
- The White House said there is no pressure on intelligence agencies to support the unsubstantiated theory that coronavirus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology
- Domestic violence reports increased by 30 per cent in New York state in April
- The UK passed its goal of carrying out 100,000 tests per day
- The AFL could return to play in late June
Read more: Optimism grows for AFL as government flags looser restrictions
And that's it from me, I'm handing over to Pallavi Singhal in Sydney who will take you through the day's developments.
Wuhan lab intelligence 'an estimate': White House
By Latika Bourke
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has described intelligence as an "estimate" after defending Donald Trump's suggestion that he had seen information suggesting coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan.
Trump made the remarks during his news conference on Thursday night but did not provide any evidence to support his claim.
US intelligence agencies say the virus is not man-made but are not ruling out it emanating from the Wuhan Institute of Virology - possibly by accident.
Asked at her first briefing since taking on the job, McEnany said Trump's comments were not at odds with the agencies assessment.
"No-one is pressing the intelligence community to come to a determination," she said.
"It's in perfect concert with what the President said.
"Intelligence is just an estimate essentially and it's up to policymakers to decide what to do with that intelligence."
McEnany also hit out at the World Health Organisation for what she said was its China-bias, saying they put "political correctness first" in criticising travel bans implemented by countries including the US and Australia.
'World had enough time to intervene': WHO boss
By Latika Bourke
Back to the World Health Organisation news conference in Geneva, and Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has defended waiting until January 30 to declare a public health emergency.
WHO is under intense criticism over the timing of its warnings to the public, with critics including US President Donald Trump accusing the UN agency of aiding China's initial cover-up of the pandemic.
WHO's China representative has revealed officials observed that medics treating coronavirus patients had become infected - a sign of human-to-human transmission - on January 20 and January 21.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking in Geneva.Credit:AP
But Dr Tedros said when WHO's emergency committee met on January 22 and January 23 it was divided on whether to declare an emergency and asked for more information. At this time, there were just four cases abroad.
Tedros said he then travelled to Beijing, at personal risk and against warnings not to travel to the host country of the outbreak to meet the Chinese leadership.
He said by January 30, WHO's emergency committee recommended an emergency be declared.
"The number of cases we had outside China was only 82 cases and there was no deaths, meaning the world had enough time to intervene," he said.
"To declare a global emergency in that situation, I think, it says it all, it says it all."
Trump has halted funding for WHO but Tedros said the organisation is still working closely with the US and other countries that have expressed criticisms.
Thousands of deaths leads to morgue chaos in Brazil
By Latika Bourke
A grim story from Brazil:
In Brazil's bustling Amazon city of Manaus, so many people have died within days in the coronavirus pandemic that coffins had to be stacked on top of each other in long, hastily dug trenches in a city cemetery. Some despairing relatives reluctantly chose cremation for loved ones to avoid burying them in those common graves.
Now, with Brazil emerging as Latin America's coronavirus epicentre with more than 5900 deaths, even the coffins are running out in Manaus. The national funeral home association has pleaded for an urgent airlift of coffins from Sao Paulo, 2700 kilometres away, because Manaus has no paved roads connecting it to the rest of the country.
Read more: Coffins stacked in trenches, morgue chaos as coronavirus surges in Brazil
Domestic violence reports up 30 per cent in New York
By Latika Bourke
New York's COVID-19 death rate has dropped to 289, the first time since the end of March that the daily toll has been below 300.
The state has been the epicentre of the US outbreak which has claimed more than 63,000 lives across the country.
But the coronavirus restrictions, which have helped authorities to regain control over the virus are taking a huge toll, with the city that never sleeps in lockdown since March 20.
Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed the number of domestic violence incidents being reported had increased by 15 per cent in March and 30 per cent in April.
"That is a frightening rate and level of increase," Cuomo said.
He confirmed the state's schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year; the same announcement was made by Cuomo's Democratic rival mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this month.
But Cuomo said at the time that the mayor did not have the authority to issue such an edict.
France's infection rate spikes
By Latika Bourke
France's daily death toll continues to decline but the country's infection rate is rising.
The number of dead increased by 218 to 24,594 and the number of people in intensive care and hospital continued to fall. France has the fifth-highest death toll in the world after the United States, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain.
But the infection rate is on the rise which is cause of alarm if the trend continues.
Governments around the world are trying to find ways of lifting their lockdowns while keeping the infection rate, referred to as RO or R, below 1.
When R is 1, one person reinfects another, meaning the disease spreads too rapidly and risks overwhelming health services.
France's R was at 0.5 but has risen to 0.6 - 0.7.
Ireland lifting lockdown
By Latika Bourke
Ireland will begin lifting its lockdown restrictions from Tuesday.
Acting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told "cocooning" over 70s that they could leave their homes to go for a walk or a drive from Tuesday.
He extended the travel limit for exercise to five kilometres from two kilometres.
Varadkar said the economy will reopen in five stages between May 18 and August 10, with each stage dependent on the number of COVID-19 infections remaining under control.
Ireland has recorded 1232 coronavirus deaths since recording its first fatality on March 12. It has confirmed nearly 21,000 cases of infection amongst its population of around 5 million.
UK conducts record 122,000 COVID-19 tests in one day
By Latika Bourke
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced the government has beaten its goal of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests per day by the end of April.
Hancock said the UK carried out more than 122,000 tests on the final day of the month.
However, around 40,000 tests include tests mailed rather than processed. Neverthlesss, the figure represents a huge surge from the roughly 13,000 tests being carried out per day earlier this month.
Hancock announced the UK's death toll increased by 739 to 27,510 - the third-highest in the world.
Hancock said 18,000 contact tracers would be hired by mid-May to work in conjunction with a tracking app that is being developed.
The government said the app would be key to keeping the infection rate under control which would allow some resumption of regular life. The UK has been in lockdown since March 23.
WHO working with international agencies to identify virus' 'animal source'
By Latika Bourke
The head of the World Health Organisation says it will work to "identify the animal source" of the coronavirus with the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health and fellow UN-body, Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva, that WHO would work with the two bodies to "identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts."
WHO said this was best achieved through "scientific and collaborative field missions."
On Thursday, WHO's representative in China told Britain's Sky News that Chinese authorities had rebuffed WHO's repeated requests to take part in investigations.
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2020-05-01 20:38:00Z
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