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The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus has hit almost 154,000 worldwide, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, while Reuters news agency reported that the total number of infections in the United States has hit 700,000, up more than 30,000 from the previous day with few states still not reporting. The number of US deaths is hovering around 37,000.
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Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has accused US President Donald Trump of "fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies" after the latter urged supporters to "LIBERATE" three states led by Democratic governors.
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The British government was too slow to react on several fronts to the novel coronavirus outbreak that could cause the deaths of 40,000 people in the United Kingdom, a leading public health professor told lawmakers on Friday.
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Saudi Arabia's grand mufti has said Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr prayers could take place at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are the latest updates:
Saturday, April 18
10:20 GMT - Guatemala: Many migrants on US deportation flight infected
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has suspended all flights of deportees from the United States after a large number of migrants who were flown back this week were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus.
Giammattei said on Friday that 12 randomly selected people from the Monday deportation flight had tested positive for coronavirus when examined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after their arrival. He suggested more on the flight had tested positive as well.
The flight has been at the centre of a political storm since Guatemalan Health Minister Hugo Monroy this week said up to 75 percent of passengers on a deportation flight in March had been infected with the virus.
Read more here.
Government officials stand next to a plane carrying migrants deported from the US at La Aurora International airport, in Guatemala City [File: Luis Echeverria/Reuters]
10:10 GMT - Spanish death toll may be much higher than officially reported
Fears of an underestimation of Spain's coronavirus death toll have risen sharply this week, amid emerging evidence that mortality rates could be much higher than anticipated.
As of Thursday, Spain already had the greatest total of confirmed coronavirus infections in Europe, with 188,068. It also had Europe's second-highest death toll, after Italy, with 19,478 fatalities.
But while Spain's central government has previously defended its criteria for its published figures as following World Health Organization guidelines, for days multiple media reports - as well as the opposition - have suggested that the real toll is more severe.
Read more here.
A woman waves a Spanish flag from the window of her house in support of healthcare workers, during lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic in Ronda, southern Spain [Jon Nazca/Reuters]
10:00 GMT - Iran's total death toll rises to 5,031
Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has risen by 73 in the previous 24 hours to reach 5,031 on Saturday, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour has said.
The number of death recorded daily is one of the lowest in recent days, he said. The total number of people diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease caused by the new virus reached 80,868, he said.
A parliamentary report released earlier this week said the coronavirus death toll might be almost double the figures announced by the health ministry, and the number of infections eight to 10 times more.
09:40 GMT - Queen Elizabeth cancels gun salutes for her birthday
Britain's Queen Elizabeth has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark her birthday on Tuesday, ITV reporter Chris Ship said on Twitter, adding that it would be the first such request had been made in her 68-year reign.
09:20 GMT - Malaysia reports 54 new cases, 2 new deaths
Malaysian health officials have reported 54 new coronavirus cases, the lowest daily increase since the government imposed curbs on movement and business on March 18, taking the cumulative total to 5,305.
The health ministry also reported 2 new deaths, bringing total fatalities to 88.
More:
09:00 GMT - Indonesia reports 325 new cases
Indonesia has reported 325 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections in the world's fourth most populous country to 6,248.
Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto also reported 15 new deaths, taking the total to 535.
On Friday, Indonesia surpassed Philippines to become the country with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia. It has the most number of deaths in Asia outside of China.
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08:40 GMT - Taiwan to quarantine 700 navy sailors
Taiwan will put 700 navy sailors into quarantine after three cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed among sailors who had been on a goodwill mission to the Pacific island state of Palau, the government has said.
Three Taiwan navy vessels visited Palau - one of only 15 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan - in the middle of March, before returning to Taiwan a month later, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters.
The three confirmed cases had all shared quarters on the same ship, but all 700 sailors on all three ships were being re-called and would be put into quarantine, he said.
The president of Palau, Tommy Remengesau, told Reuters news agency in an interview on Wednesday that his country of 20,000 people had not had a single case of the coronavirus and he was going to shut it off from the outside world to keep the virus out.
08:20 GMT - Russia says death toll rises to 313
Russia has said its death toll from the novel coronavirus had risen to 313, an overnight increase of 40, as it posted a new record daily jump in new cases.
The authorities reported 4,785 new cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 36,793.
Moscow, which became the epicentre of Russia's coronavirus outbreak and was also the first region in the country to introduce a lockdown, recorded 2,649 new cases, and 21 new deaths, the Russian coronavirus crisis response centre said.
Coronavirus infections in Russia began rising sharply this month, although it had reported far fewer infections than many western European countries in the outbreak's early stages.
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08:00 GMT - Philippines records 10 new deaths, 209 more cases
The Philippines' health ministry has reported 10 new coronavirus deaths and 209 additional infections.
In a bulletin, the health ministry said total infections have risen to 6,087, while deaths have reached 397.It added that 29 more patients have recovered, bringing the total to 516
07:40 GMT - Singapore reports 942 new cases in biggest daily jump
Singapore's health ministry has confirmed 942 new coronavirus infections, a new daily record, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the city-state to 5,992.
The vast majority of the new cases are of "work permit" holders living in foreign worker dormitories, the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
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07:20 GMT - Confirmed Japan cases hit 10,000
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Japan has risen to 10,000, NHK public broadcaster has said, just days after a state of emergency was extended to the entire nation in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday appealed to the nation to stay indoors as new cases hit a record in the capital of Tokyo and fears medical services could fail in rural areas that are home to many elderly prompted the expansion of the state of emergency from an original seven areas.
Just over 200 people have died from the virus in Japan, but Tokyo remains the hardest-hit area, reporting 201 new infections on Friday alone - a new record. Tokyo reported 181 new cases on Saturday, NHK reported.
07:00 GMT - US senator tells VP failed testing is 'dereliction of duty'
Frustration boiled over into anger on a private call with Vice President Mike Pence as Democratic senators questioned administration officials about coronavirus testing plans but left without adequate answers, according to reports.
At one point in the Friday call, Maine Senator Angus King, an independent and former governor, told Pence the administration's failure to develop an adequate national testing regime is a “dereliction of duty,” a person who joined the hour-long call but was unauthorised to discuss it told the Associated Press News agency.
“I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life,” King told the administration officials, the person said.
The plea for more testing before implementing President Donald Trump's new guidelines to ease stay-home restrictions is a top priority for Democrats. They are heeding the warnings of health officials worried the virus will simply boomerang into prolonged national crisis.
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06:20 GMT - China mandates tests for key public workers leaving Wuhan
China ordered on Saturday that anyone in Wuhan working in certain service-related jobs must take a coronavirus test if they want to leave the city.
The order comes after the central city, where the coronavirus emerged late last year, lifted a 70-day lockdown that all but ended the epidemic there.
People in Wuhan work in nursing, education, security and other sectors with high exposure to the public must take a nucleic acid test before leaving, the National Health Commission said in an order.
The government of Hubei province, of which Wuhan is capital, will pay for the tests, the commission said.
Since the city relaxed its lockdown restrictions people who arrived in there before Chinese New Year, when the virus was peaking in China, are allowed to go back to their homes.
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06:00 GMT - Australia sees 3 new deaths as govt urges app installation
Australia's coronavirus-related death toll rose by three to a total of 68 on Saturday, health data showed, with the government stepping up its calls for people to sign up for a controversial movement-tracking mobile phone app.
Australia and neighbouring New Zealand have shown early success in potentially stopping Covid-19 after closing their early and imposing strict curbs on public movement. Australia recorded 36 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 6,533 cases, according to the health ministry data.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday that downloading a movement-tracking up, which would enable the government to detect potential new outbreaks and which has been criticised as invasion of privacy, would not be mandatory.
A worker cleans the mostly deserted waterfront area of the Sydney Opera House [Loren Elliott/Reuters]
05:40 GMT - Trump accused of 'fomenting rebellion' after 'LIBERATE' tweets
Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Friday accused Donald Trump of "fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies" after the United States president urged supporters to "LIBERATE" three states led by Democratic governors.
"The president's statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19," Inslee said in a series of tweets on Friday afternoon.
Inslee's tweets came after Trump apparently encouraged the growing protests against the stay-at-home restrictions aimed at stopping the coronavirus.
Read more here.
LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020
05:20 GMT - Thailand reports 33 new cases, no new deaths
Thailand has reported 33 new coronavirus infections, bringing the nation's total to 2,733 cases, a senior official has said.
Eleven of the new cases were in Bangkok and had a history of going to public areas, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
No new deaths were reported and 1,787 people have recovered, he said.
Thailand has reported 47 fatalities since the outbreak escalated in January.
Hello, this is Joseph Stepansky in Doha taking over from my colleague Ted Regencia.
04:55 GMT - Germany's coronavirus cases rise by 3,609 to 137,439: RKI
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases have risen by 3,609 to 137,439, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday, marking a fourth straight day of a spike in new infections.
The death toll has risen by 242 to 4,110, the tally showed.
04:05 GMT - South Korea shows lowest daily jump in virus cases since February 20
South Korea has reported 18 new cases of the coronavirus, its lowest daily jump since February 20, continuing a downward trend as officials discuss more sustainable forms of social distancing that allows for some communal and economic activity.
Figures released by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday brought national totals to 10,653 cases and 232 virus-related deaths, the Associated Press news agency repoted.
At least 993 of overall infections have been linked to arrivals from overseas.
03:33 GMT - Japan to expand testing amid rising infections
Japan, alarmed by rising coronavirus deaths and the spectre of the collapse of the medical system, is scrambling to expand testing with drive-through facilities and general practitioners helping to collect samples, according to Reuters.
The decision to expand testing came as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week expanded a state of emergency, originally issued for Tokyo and six other areas, to the entire country, and warned of the growing burden on health facilities
Japan conducted about 52,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in March, or just 16 percent of the number carried out in South Korea, according to data from Oxford University.
03:01 GMT - China reports new cases coming from Russia
China has reported 27 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as it tries to stem an upsurge in infections in a northeastern province bordering Russia.
Twenty of the new cases were in Heilongjiang province, including 13 Chinese nationals who had returned recently from Russia. The land border with Russia has been closed.
The confirmed cases brought the total to 82719, of which 77,029 have recovered. Meanwhile, China's official death toll rose sharply to 4,632, reflecting a major upwards revision the previous day by authorities in Wuhan, the nation’s hardest-hit city.
02:35 GMT - Indonesia records highest number of cases, deaths in Southeast Asia
From zero reported infections and fatalities in January and February, Indonesia now has the highest number of cases and deaths in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia has reported nearly 6,000 cases surpassing the Philippines. The death toll in Indonesia as of Friday was 520.
People wears face masks as they practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus at a supermarket in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Friday [Achmad Ibrahim/AP]
02:28 GMT - Canada requires air passengers to wear masks to curb coronavirus
Canada's transport agency has announced that all airline passengers would be required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering during travel to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The regulator said travellers must cover their mouth and nose during the boarding process and flights. The rule goes into effect on Monday.
Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, had previously recommended that customers wear a face-covering over their mouth and noses while onboard its flights.
02:00 GMT - Many migrants on US deportation flight had coronavirus - Guatemalan president
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has announced that a large number of the migrants on a deportation flight from the United States to Guatemala earlier this week were infected with the novel coronavirus.
Earlier, it was reported that at least 44 of the 77 Guatemalans deported on Monday were infected with the coronavirus.
01:21 GMT - Trump wants to return to campaign trail
US President Donald Trump says he remains hopeful that he will be able to resume campaign rallies ahead of the November election.
Trump said that he does not want social distancing at his rallies, which typically draw big crowds, because doesn't want attendees to miss the "flavour" of the experience. Trump stopped holding his big stadium rallies in early March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president predicted that when the rallies resume they'll be "bigger than ever." He plans to travel to the US Military Academy in New York next month to deliver the commencement ceremony.
00:40 GMT - Nigerian president's chief of staff dies from coronavirus
Abba Kyari (standing) served as the chief of staff of Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari (seated) since 2015 until his death on Friday [File: Aghaeze/Nigeria State House via AFP]
The Nigerian president's chief of staff, Abba Kyari, died on Friday after contracting the new coronavirus, two presidency spokesmen said on Twitter.
Kyari, who was in his 70s and had underlying health problems including diabetes, was the top official aide to 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari and one of the most powerful men in the country, Reuters news agency reported.
"The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari," said presidency spokesman Garba Shehu in a tweet, using an honorific title for Kyari.
Kyari's was the highest-profile death due to the disease in the West African country, which has 493 confirmed cases and 17 deaths, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Read more here.
Mexico has declared a mandatory use of face masks= inside trains and subway stations, as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease [Edgard Garrido/Reuters]
00:18 GMT - Mexico reports 570 new coronavirus cases, 60 new deaths
Mexican health officials have reported 578 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 60 new deaths, bringing the country's total to 6,875 cases and 546 deaths.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Thursday the country might have nearly 56,000 people infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus.
Citing government models, Lopez-Gatell has said many who are infected likely did not have symptoms or were not diagnosed.
00:10 GMT - Mexico: Trump promised to sell 1,000 ventilators
Mexico's president says that United States President Donald Trump has promised Mexico will be able to buy 1,000 ventilators and other intensive-therapy equipment used in treating severe cases of COVID-19.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he spoke with Trump about Mexico's request to purchase the machines, relatively few of which are available in Mexico.
Lopez Obrador said on Twitter that Trump "guaranteed me that by the end of this month" Mexico could buy 1,000 ventilators and possibly more.
Lopez Obrador calls it a "new gesture of solidarity with Mexico". He says he suggested a meeting with Trump in June or July to personally express the country's appreciation.
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Hello, I'm Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with Al Jazeera's continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. You can find all the updates from yesterday, April 17, here.
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