17 April

Global: According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, more than 145,000 people have now lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic. The global case count passed 2.1 million on Friday, with 2,158,033 confirmed infections.

UN warns pandemic turning into a ‘child-rights crisis’. The social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is potentially catastrophic for millions of children, according to a UN report launched on Thursday.

Japan: Japan has expanded its state of emergency to cover the entire country. A third Japanese cabinet official has also tested positive for the virus.

US: US president Donald Trump has issued guidelines for reopening the country, with three phases each dependent on states meeting certain criteria. Trump says states who meet Phase 1 criteria can reopen on Friday 17 April, and that 29 states will reopen “relatively soon”.

Australia: Australian public life could be constrained for another year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned on Friday, as New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, mulled sending children to school in shifts.

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Singapore: Singapore has reported 728 new coronavirus cases, a record daily high for a second straight day. The result was broadly expected amid increased testing at foreign workers’ dormitories.

China: China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the three months of 2020, the country’s first such contraction on record and a stark sign of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The news comes as China’s National Health Commission reported on Friday 26 new coronavirus cases, including 15 coming from abroad.

UK: The UK government announces lockdown extension for three weeks. The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Boris Johnson as he recovers from Covid-19, confirmed the extension following advice from the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies.

New Zealand: New Zealand has recorded its lowest new coronavirus cases, with eight people found to be infected. This was after 4,241 tests were conducted in a single day, including at a random testing station set up outside a supermarket in the resort town of Queenstown.

South Korea: South Korea has reported 22 new cases of the coronavirus, the fifth day in a row its daily jump was in the 20s. However, there were no fresh cases reported in the hardest-hit city of Daegu, where infections have waned in past weeks.