HuffPost reporters around the world are tracking the pandemic and the measures being taken to flatten the curve of transmission.
Read the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic below. (To see the latest updates, you may need to refresh the page. All times are Eastern. For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here.)
Tokyo Olympics Chief Hints Games Could Be In Doubt Even In 2021 — 4/10/20, 8:34 a.m. ET
The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have been postponed an entire year, but even that timeframe could be in doubt, the head of the organizing committee suggested Friday.
“I don’t think anyone would be able to say if it is going to be possible to get it under control by next July or not,” Toshiro Muto, the Tokyo organizing committee’s CEO, told reporters at a remote news conference, The Associated Press reported. “We’re certainly are not in a position to give you a clear answer.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee postponed the games last month, giving a new start date of July 23, 2021, for the Olympics and Aug. 24, 2021, for the Paralympics.
But the COVID-19 outbreak has worsened in Japan since then. Abe declared a state of emergency earlier this week.
“All we can do is work hard to prepare for the games,” Muto said Friday. “We sincerely hope that come next year mankind will manage to overcome the coronavirus crisis.”
— Marina Fang
Boris Johnson Is ‘Not Out Of The Wood’ Yet, Says Father — 4/10/20, 4:40 a.m. ET
Boris Johnson’s father says the prime minister will need a period of rest after being moved from the intensive care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Stanley Johnson said the whole family was “amazingly grateful” for the efforts of the National Health Service and for the huge outpouring of support. However, he downplayed suggestions that his son would quickly return to work at Downing Street.
“This is pretty straightforward now. He must rest up. As I understand it, he has moved from the ICU into a recovery unit but I don’t think you can say this is out of the wood now,” Stanley Johnson told the BBC. “He has to take time. I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment.”
He also said his son’s illness had underlined just how serious the coronavirus outbreak was.
Read more on HuffPost U.K.
— Nadine White
Australia Cracks Down On Easter Travel — 4/10/20, 4:10 a.m. ET
Australia will deploy helicopters, set up police checkpoints and hand out hefty fines to deter people from breaking an Easter travel ban, officials warned Friday, in their toughest crackdown against the novel coronavirus.
With places of worship closed, bans on public gatherings of more than two people and nonessential travel limited to combat the spread of the virus, Australians were told to stay home this year or face dire consequences.
“Police will take action,” New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys told reporters, adding that police had issued almost 50 new fines for breaches of public health orders in the previous 24 hours.
Australia had 6,152 coronavirus infections by Friday, up 100 from the previous day, with 53 virus-related deaths.
Read more.
— Reuters
Yemen Announces Its First Case Of Coronavirus ― 4/10/20, 3:20 a.m. ET
Yemen authorities announced Friday that the country had its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus.
Even before the announcement, the U.N. had described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Since war erupted there in 2014, over 100,000 people have been killed. Many of the country’s citizenry are on the brink of starvation and more than half of Yemen’s health facilities have been destroyed or closed. A COVID-19 outbreak there could be devastating, according to The Associated Press.
― Jade Walker
New York State Has More Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Than Any Country ― 4/9/20, 10:28 p.m. ET
The state of New York now has more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any country.
New York had 161,799 confirmed cases as of Thursday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. After the United States, the country with the highest number of confirmed cases is Spain with 153,222 cases.
The increase in the number of virus patients hospitalized in New York has grown at a slower rate over the past two weeks, from over 20% a day at one point to just a 1% increase from Wednesday to Thursday.
But the number of New Yorkers dying of COVID-19 keeps growing, with the state recording another one-day high from Wednesday to Thursday with 799 deaths.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo stressed that social distancing and other guidelines must continue to be enforced so that the state can maintain its progress.
― Sanjana Karanth
Boris Johnson Released From Intensive Care — 4/9/20, 2:30 p.m. ET
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been released from intensive care into a hospital ward.
A spokesman for Johnson said: “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. … He is in extremely good spirits.”
Johnson has spent three nights in intensive care at London’s St. Thomas’ Hospital after he was admitted on Sunday night with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.
Read more.
— Rachel Wearmouth
For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here.
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