Coronavirus live news: IMF warns of further drop in global growth

A major operation to repatriate thousands of Indian nationals who are stranded overseas is underway, with more than 60 flights due to bring people back from 12 countries over the next week.

In the early hours of Saturday, returnees arrived from UAE, while on Friday, hundreds of people were brought back from Bahrain, Singapore, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, the Indian Express newspaper reported. A naval ship has also set sail, repatriating nearly 700 Indian citizens stuck in the Maldives.

About 15,000 Indians are due to return on Air India flights, though this figure is expected to increase significantly over the coming weeks and months. Embassies abroad have received hundreds of thousands of applications from Indian nationals who want to travel home.

India, which faced strict lockdowns for weeks, has recorded about 60,000 coronavirus cases. All returnees will be required to undergo quarantine for 14 days on arrival.

Here is the Guardian’s latest summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak:

Egypt’s president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday approved amendments to the country’s state of emergency that grant him and security agencies additional powers, which the government says are needed to combat the coronavirus outbreak, Associated Press reports.

An international rights group condemned the amendments, saying the government has used the global pandemic to expand, not reform, Egypts abusive Emergency Law.

The new amendments allow the president to to take measures to contain the virus, such as suspending classes at schools and universities and quarantining those returning from abroad. But they also include expanded powers to ban public and private meetings, protests, celebrations and other forms of assembly.

The government has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since 2013, when el-Sissi rose to power, and unauthorized protests have been banned for years.

The amendments allow military prosecutors to investigate incidents when army officers are tasked with law enforcement or when the president orders it. The country’s chief civilian prosecutor would have the final decision on whether to bring matters to trial. The amended law would also allow the president to postpone taxes and utility payments as well as provide economic support for affected sectors.

Parliament, which is packed with el-Sissi supporters, approved the measure last month.

Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017, and the government extended it late last month for another three months. The law was originally passed to give the president broader powers to combat terrorism and drug trafficking.

The government said the amendments were needed to address a legal vacuum revealed by the coronavirus outbreak. Egypt, with a population of 100 million, has reported at least 504 deaths among around 8,500 confirmed cases.

Russia marks 75 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Saturday, but the coronavirus outbreak has forced it to scale back celebrations, Reuters reports.

With coronavirus infections rising, President Vladimir Putin last month postponed the highlight of Victory Day celebrations, a massive parade on Red Square that showcases Moscow’s most sophisticated military hardware, to an unspecified date.

In previous years, Putin basked in national pride as he watched Russian tanks rumble across the square with world leaders by his side. But a recent poll gave him his lowest approval rating in more than two decades and the country’s economy is slipping into a deep downturn.

Putin has described Victory Day celebrations as sacred to Russians but said a big public event was too risky during the pandemic. As of Friday, Russia had reported 187,859 coronavirus cases and 1,723 deaths.

In a slimmed-down celebration, Putin will lay flowers at the Eternal Flame war memorial outside the Kremlin walls and deliver a speech. Fireworks will be let off across Russia as much of the country remains in lockdown, and the Russian air force will carry out fly-pasts over more than 47 cities, as well as at its military base in Syria, with a full array of jets and helicopters.

Public processions commemorating Soviet participants in the war that are normally held on May 9 have been moved online, with people uploading pictures of family members and telling their war stories.

Thailand reported four new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing its total number of recorded infections to 3,004. One new death was also confirmed, which means there have been a total of 56 fatalities.

Thailand begun easing its lockdown measures on Sunday, when it allowed some businesses, including barber shops, pet groomers and outdoor markets, to reopen. A ban on alcohol sales has also been lifted, though a 10pm curfew remains in place.

The US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn will spend the next couple of weeks in self-quarantine, after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Hahn immediately took a diagnostic test and was tested negative himself for the novel coronavirus, FDA told Reuters.

Politico reported earlier that it was Katie Miller, US Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, whom Hahn had come into contact with. The FDA did not confirm this.

Miller, also the wife of one ofTrump’s senior advisers, tested positive on Friday, raising alarm about the virus’ potential spread within the White House’s innermost circle.

Donald Trump has said coronavirus will “go away without a vaccine” and is expecting 95,000 or more deaths in the US, as Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus, reports Alison Rourke in our latest global report on the coronavirus pandemic.

The president’s comments, at an event with Republican lawmakers, capped a horror week in the US, in which it was revealed unemployment had risen to 14.7%, up from 3.5% in February, with 20 million people losing their jobs in April.

The news that Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller had Covid-19, having recently tested negative, again brought the danger of the virus to the White House inner circle. Katie Miller is married to the White House immigration adviser and speech writer Stephen Miller. On Thursday one of Trump’s personal valets tested positive to the virus.

Malaysians will find out early next week if restrictions imposed across the country on March 18 will be further extended, the Malaysian Star newspaper has reported.

Many are hoping the movement controls will be lifted when the current quarantine phase ends on 12 May. Most businesses have now begun operating, after curbs were eased to reduce pressures on the economy.

On Friday, Malaysia reported 68 more Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of Covid-19 infections in the country to 6,535. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the number of sporadic cases has declined over the last three weeks.

China reported one new coronavirus case on Friday, unchanged from the day before, data from the national health authority showed on Saturday. The case was linked to foreign travel, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

The commission also reported 15 new asymptomatic cases for Friday, versus 16 the previous day. China’s total number of coronavirus cases now stands at 82,887, while the death toll from Covid-19, the disease it causes, remained unchanged at 4,633, the national health authority said.

Roy Horn, of the double act Siegfried and Roy, has died after contracting Covid-19, according to US media reports. He died in Las Vegas on Friday, aged 75.

The duo’s performances – in which the illusionists would ride on elephants, cavort with tigers and make animals disappear – became one of Las Vegas’s biggest attractions.

In 2003, Horn was left in critical condition after being mauled by an albino tiger during their stage act. He eventually recovered and was able to return to the stage.

The cause of his death was complications from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Horn’s publicist, Dave Kirvin told New York Times.

The US issued a new rule on Friday tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists, saying it was in response to the treatment of US journalists in China.

The United States and China have been engaged in a series of retaliatory actions involving journalists in recent months. In March, China expelled American journalists from three US newspapers, a month after the United States said it would begin to treat five Chinese state-run media entities with US operations the same as foreign embassies. One day after the US verdict on the state-run entities, Beijing expelled three Wall Street Journal correspondents, two Americans and an Australian, following the publication of an opinion column that China denounced as racist.

In issuing the new regulation on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security cited what it called China’s “suppression of independent journalism.”

The regulation, which will take effect on Monday, will limit visas for Chinese reporters to a 90-day period, with the option for extension. Such visas are typically open-ended and do not need to be extended unless the employee moves to a different company or medium.

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that he aims to present plans next week to reopen the economy, as key sectors like carmaking look to begin business again after over a month of quarantine measures.

“They’re going to present me with an initial proposal on Monday,” Lopez Obrador told reporters during a regular news conference. “And we want to announce it to you and to the Mexican public on Wednesday or Thursday.”

The government has been under pressure at home and abroad to set out plans for a return to normal as it battles the pandemic that has killed nearly 3,000 people in the country.

One sector facing heavy pressure is the automotive industry, which is the backbone of Mexico’s manufacturing sector and closely integrated with the rest of North
America.

This week, General Motors Co, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) and Ford Motor Co said they were targeting resuming production in North America on May 18, but suppliers would need time to prepare. Industry sources say May 18 is also seen as the tentative date for reopening the sector in Mexico, provided it gets a green light from Lopez Obrador.

The leaders of US congressional foreign affairs committees have written to more than 50 countries asking them to support Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO), Reuters has reported.

Taiwan is excluded from the WHO due to diplomatic pressure from China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

“As the world works to combat the spread of the Covid-19, a novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, it has never been more important to ensure all countries prioritize global health and safety over politics,” said the lawmakers’ letter, sent on Friday, and seen by Reuters.

Washington’s growing support for Taiwan comes as tensions between China and the US over the origin of the coronavirus continue to escalate.

The Trump administration has accused China of making the pandemic worse by hiding information. Last month, Trump announced that he was suspending aid to the WHO, accusing it of being “China-centric” and promoting China’s “disinformation” about the outbreak, assertions the WHO denies.

Argentina will extend a quarantine covering its capital Buenos Aires but relax restrictions in the rest of the country, President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday.

The national quarantine began on March 20 and will be extended in the capital until May 24. Until Friday, the country had registered 5,611 confirmed cases of the virus and 293 deaths.

The head of the International Monetary Fund on Friday signaled a possible downward revision of global economic forecasts, and warned the United States and China against rekindling a trade war that could weaken a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, told an online event hosted by the European University Institute that recent economic data for many countries was coming in below the fund’s already pessimistic forecast for a 3% contraction in 2020, Reuters reports.

“With no immediate medical solutions, more adverse scenarios might unfortunately materialize for some economies,” Georgieva said. “It is the unknown about the behavior of this virus that is clouding the horizon for projections.”

The IMF’s April projection for a 3% contraction the global economy would mark the steepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The IMF forecast a partial rebound would follow in 2021, but warned that outcomes could be far worse, depending on the course of the pandemic.

President Donald Trump has threatened to punish China for its handling of the virus by imposing new tariffs, and on Friday suggested he could end a Phase 1 US-China trade deal.

On Friday, Georgieva warned that a retreat into protectionism could weaken the prospects for a global recovery at a critical juncture. “It is hugely important for us to resist what may be a natural tendency to retreat behind our borders,” she said.

Hello this is Rebecca Ratcliffe, bringing you the latest global coronavirus updates.

Global reported cases of coronavirus stand at 3,932,896, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, approaching the grim 4 million milestone. Across the world, 274,422 deaths have been registered, with the US on top with 77,126. The UK has recorded the second highest fatalities, with 31,315, followed by Italy on 30,201.

Here are a summary of the top news lines so far:

• US unemployment has hit 14.7%, as 20 million Americans lost their jobs in April. This is up from 4.4% in March.
• Donald Trump has said that coronavirus is “going to go away without a vaccine”, but warned there could be “flare ups” next year. It comes as Mike Pence’s press secretary, who is married to one of Donald Trump’s senior advisers, has tested positive for coronavirus.
• The US accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false narratives about the coronavirus, ratcheting up a war of words over the origin of the pandemic.
• Russia on Friday registered more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the sixth day in a row, after emerging as a new hotspot of the pandemic.
• Madrid and Barcelona will not progress to the next phase of Spain’s exit from lockdown, after failing to meet the Spanish government’s criteria for an easing of restrictions.
• Local authorities in the German state North Rhine-Westphalia are set to reimpose some lockdown measures after seeing a rise in new coronavirus cases.
• Bogota will lift restrictions which required men and women to shop on separate days, the city’s mayor has said. The rules, which have been in place for nearly a month, will end on Monday.

If you think we’ve missed a story or want to draw our attention to something please do get in touch. My email is rebecca.ratcliffe@theguardian.com and I’m @rebeccarat on Twitter.