Coronavirus deaths slow in Italy, France: Live updates | News

These are the latest updates:

• China has reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases – 108 – in nearly six weeks.

• The death rate in Italy and France – two of the countries worst-affected by the coronavirus – appears to be slowing down.

• Japan’s Hokkaido island declared a second state of emergency.

• Confirmed cases in Germany have risen by 2,537 with 126 new deaths.

• French President Emmanuel Macron is due to address the nation for a third time later on Monday but is expected to stress the need for the lockdown to continue.

• Globally, more than 114,000 people have died from the new coronavirus, while nearly 434,000 have recovered, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Monday, April 13

07:55 GMT – Russia reports new record daily rise of virus cases

Russia reported 2,558 new cases of the novel coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 18,328.

Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said that 148 people diagnosed with the virus have died so far, an overnight rise of 18.

07:34 GMT – China rejects discrimination claims against Africans

China said there was no discrimination against “African brothers” in the country and rejected US accusations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou as an attempt to harm Beijing’s relations with African nations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the comments during a daily briefing in response to accusations from the US government that authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are taking measures targeting Africans in the city.

Read more here. 

07:10 GMT – 3.7 million Kazakhs seek state aid over coronavirus emergency

Some 3.7 million Kazakhs, or 20% of the oil-exporting Central Asian nation’s population, have applied for financial aid offered by the government because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet said.

Out of those applications, about 1.8 million have already been approved, labour minister Birzhan Nurymbetov told a news briefing.

The Nur-Sultan government has offered to pay 42,500 tenge (about $100) per month to every citizen who loses their source of income during the emergency period, which began on March 16 and is expected to last at least until the end of April.

More:

06:40 GMT – S Korea to ship 600,000 testing kits to US: Reuters

South Korea plans to send 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States on Tuesday in the first such shipment following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official told Reuters news agency.

Trump made the request for testing kits in a telephone call on March 25 with President Moon Jae-in, as the United States was grappling with fast-growing outbreaks in many states.

A US Federal Emergency Management Agency cargo plane carrying the equipment is scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm (13:30 GMT) on Tuesday, the official said on condition of anonymity due to the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.

06:30 GMT – Germany’s cases rise by 2,537 with 126 new deaths

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Germany has risen by 2,537 to 123,016, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. 

That was lower than a 2,821 increase reported on Sunday, and marked the third decline after four days of increases.

The reported death toll has risen by 126 to 2,799.

Hello, this is Saba Aziz in Doha. I’m taking over this blog from my colleague Kate Mayberry. 

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05:30 GMT –

I’m handing over this blog to my colleagues in Doha.

A summary of this morning’s major developments:

• President Emmanuel Macron is due to address France later on Monday, but is expected to tell the French that a nationwide lockdown must remain in force.
• Australia and New Zealand seem to be “flattening the curve” but both countries say it is too soon to ease their lockdowns.
• China and South Korea continue to report more cases of coronavirus in people arriving from overseas.
• AP is reporting there have been at least 3,300 deaths in care homes across the United States.

05:15 GMT – Malaysia trade ministry website crashes as businesses apply to operate

The website of Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Ministry was inaccessible on Monday as businesses rushed to apply for permission to operate during the third phase of the country’s lockdown.

Companies were told they had to apply online and that applications would be open from 9am (01:00 GMT).

Malaysia has said more industries can operate in the next two weeks of the shutdown providing they adhere to distancing and health control guidelines.

Hi, due to heavy traffic, the MITI Portal shows temporarily inaccessible. More than 100k companies have applied so far in the system. Please keep trying and the server will direct when a slot is available. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. Thank you.

— MITI Malaysia (@MITIMalaysia) April 13, 2020

04:35 GMT – Asian leaders to hold virtual summit on COVID-19 outbreak

The leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet their counterparts in China, Japan and South Korea on Tuesday for a virtual summit on COVID-19.

The summit, led by Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, will discuss “ways and means of cooperation in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic”, a statement from Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will also attend.

The ASEAN countries will first meet separately.

04:20 GMT – Australia, New Zealand say too soon to ease restrictions

Officials in New Zealand and Australia say they are not prepared to start easing social distancing rules or reopening their economies yet, even as the rate of new coronavirus cases slows.

New Zealand recorded its fifth death from the coronavirus on Monday, while new confirmed cases rose only by 15.

In Australia, the number of new confirmed cases rose by 33, the slowest rate in a month. The country has recorded 61 deaths. Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was too soon to relax restrictions.

“Now is the time to stay the course, to continue with these, self-isolation and social distancing,” Hunt said in a televised briefing. “These are producing real reductions in the rate of growth.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a decision on whether to extend the nationwide shutdown and state of national emergency declared in late March, will be made on April 20.

“Our number of cases may be small, but that doesn’t mean we have yet been successful in hunting this virus down,” Ardern said. 

03:30 GMT – Macron expected to tell France lockdown must continue

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to warn France later on Monday that ts lockdown to combat the coronavirus must go on for several more weeks at least.

Macron is due to give this third prime-time televised address to the nation on the epidemic from the Elysee Palace just after 8pm (18:00 GMT).

The country has been under lockdown since March 17, and there are now signs the outbreak is beginning to stabilise.

Some 315 deaths were reported on Sunday, compared with 345 the previous day. Altogether, 14,393 people have died, according to the health ministry.

03:20 GMT – Japan’s Hokkaido declares second state of emergency

Hokkaido, in northern Japan, has declared a state of emergency for a second time, after seeing double-digit increases in confirmed coronavirus cases for five consecutive days.

Hokkaido lifted its previous emergency on March 19.

Hokkaido declares new state of emergency amid ‘second wave’ of coronavirus infections https://t.co/g92lcIkQoH

— The Japan Times (@japantimes) April 13, 2020

03:10 GMT – Shinzo Abe under fire over ‘Stay Home’ tweet

A “stay home” message tweeted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has drawn angry reactions on social media with some accusing him of being insensitive to people who cannot rest at home because the government’s social distancing measures do not come with compensation. 

The offending tweet showed Abe on his sofa at home, cuddling his dog, reading a book and – looking rather bored – using the remote control for the television.

友達と会えない。飲み会もできない。
ただ、皆さんのこうした行動によって、多くの命が確実に救われています。そして、今この瞬間も、過酷を極める現場で奮闘して下さっている、医療従事者の皆さんの負担の軽減につながります。お一人お一人のご協力に、心より感謝申し上げます。 pic.twitter.com/VEq1P7EvnL

— 安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) April 12, 2020

Abe declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures last Tuesday, asking people to stay home and reduce human interactions by as much as 80 percent, but many people continue to go to work because their employers have yet to adopt home-working.

01:40 GMT – South Korea reports 25 new cases

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says South Korea confirmed 25 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, down from 32 the day before. 

The country had a peak of 909 cases on February 29, but has brought that down through aggressive testing, isolation and contact tracing.

00:40 GMT – China grapples with more imported cases of coronavirus

China has just released its latest coronavirus update.

The National Health Commission says there were 108 new cases of the virus at the end of April 12, and that all but 10 of those cases were imported from outside the country. There were no new cases reported in Hubei, where the outbreak first began late last year, but there were two more deaths.

00:15 GMT – Care home deaths in US probably exceed 3,300: AP

The Associated Press news agency estimates more than 3,300 deaths in the US can be linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing and care homes.

Based on media reports and state health department updates, AP says there have been at least 3,323 deaths, an increase of 450 in 10 days.

About one million, mostly elderly, Americans live in care homes.

00:00 GMT – Erdogan rejects minister’s resignation over weekend curfew

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the resignation of his interior minister, who had said he would quit after a much-criticised weekend curfew to tackle the coronavirus outbreak which caught millions of people by surprise.

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I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read all the updates from April 12 here.