Spain coronavirus death toll passes 10,000: Live updates

For the second day, Spain has recorded its highest daily death toll as infections globally rise to over 938,000.

The coronavirus pandemic death toll in Spain passed 10,000 on Thursday, as the hard-hit country reported its highest number of deaths in a single day since the outbreak began, with the total rising by 950 to 10,003 among 110,238 infections. 

The new numbers come a day after the United Kingdom and the United States also reported their highest number of deaths in a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US recorded 884 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. It has also confirmed more than 213,000 cases of the disease.

In the UK, a further 563 people died from COVID-19, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described on Wednesday as a "sad, sad day".

Globally, over 938,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, and some 194,400 have recovered. Nearly 47,200 people have died from the disease, which was first discovered in China late last year.

12:15 GMT - Saudi Arabia imposes 24-hour curfew in Mecca and Medina

Saudi Arabia has imposed a 24-hour curfew in Mecca and Medina, the interior ministry said, extending measures taken to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 1,700 people and killed 16.

The interior ministry said in a statement there were some exceptions, including for essential workers and in order for residents to buy food and access medical care. The curfew had previously been from 1500 to 0600. 

12:10 GMT - Deaths in Netherlands increase to 1,339

The number of deaths caused by an infection with the new coronavirus in the Netherlands has increased by 166 to 1,339, health authorities have said. 

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the country increased by 8 percent to 14,697, the Dutch Institute for Public Health said.

12:00 GMT - Israel's health minister gets coronavirus; top officials isolate

Coronavirus has forced more top Israeli officials into isolation after the country's health minister, who has had frequent contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tested positive, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife, who also contracted the virus, are in isolation but said they feel well and are being treated, a ministry statement said.

Shortly after the announcement, the prime minister's office said Netanyahu returned to self-quarantine because of his contact with Litzman.

11:45 GMT - Public anger grows as Bosnian mother denied test dies

Advija Kanlic, a 52-year-old woman from the Sarajevo suburb of Hrasnica, had serious symptoms of coronavirus infection for more than a week, including high fever - at one point reaching 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) - and shortness of breath.

For six days, her children asked the health service for a coronavirus test, but their requests were routinely rejected. The reason given? Their mother had not been abroad in countries with serious outbreaks, such as Italy.

"The only question that they asked was whether we had been abroad, and that was that," Advija's daughter Ehlimana, 25, told Al Jazeera.

It was not until after she died, Ehlimana said, that authorities finally conducted a COVID-19 test and confirmed in the evening that she had indeed been infected with the coronavirus.

Officials make preparations at Bjelave Student Hostel for people coming from Italy as a preventive measure against coronavirus in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina [Samir Jordamovic/Anadolu Agency]

11:35 GMT - LATAM Airlines to cut all but 5 percent of flights in April

LATAM Airlines, South America's largest carrier, will only operate 5 percent of its regularly scheduled passenger flights in April due to the coronavirus crisis, the company has said.

The airline said it will keep 39 domestic routes in Brazil, 13 in Chile and 4 international routes. LATAM had previously said it would cut 70 percent of its flights. 

11:30 GMT - British ventilator consortium targeting 1,500 units per week

 A consortium of British engineers, aerospace and Formula One companies are hoping to produce at least 1,500 ventilators a week within a matter of weeks.

Companies including Airbus, Ford, Rolls-Royce and BAE have come together with seven Formula One teams to ramp up production of two existing ventilators made by Penlon and Smiths Group in Britain.

The companies answered a call by Prime Minister Boris Johnson for industry to help build life-saving equipment ahead of the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

11:20 GMT - Switzerland death toll rises to 432

The Swiss death toll from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to 432, the country's public health agency has said, from 378 people on Wednesday.

The number of positive tests increased to 18,267 from 17,139, it said.

11:10 GMT - Zambia records first death

Zambia has recorded its first death from coronavirus, and the number of confirmed cases has risen by three to 39, Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya has said.

Chilufya said the three new cases had all got the virus from people who had travelled abroad. 

11:00 GMT - EU executive chief concerned Hungary emergency measures go too far

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed concern that coronavirus restriction measures taken by Hungary went too far and insisted they should be limited in time and subject to scrutiny. 

Hungary's parliament on Monday granted Prime Minister Viktor Orban an open-ended right to rule by decree and introduced jail sentences for anyone hindering measures to curb the spread of the virus or spreading false information about the pandemic. 

"I am concerned that certain measures go too far and I am particularly concerned about the situation in Hungary," von der Leyen told a news conference on Thursday.

"These emergency measures have to be limited to what is necessary, they have to be strictly proportionate because they have to be adequate in this situation, they should not last indefinitely and very importantly they should be subject to regular scrutiny," she continued. 

10:45 GMT - India's toaster-sized ventilator to help in pandemic fight

Light, portable and easy to use, a small ventilator originally created by an Indian robot scientist and a neurosurgeon is offering hope in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Because it doesn't need much power to run, and can be set up anywhere, the AgVa portable ventilator is allowing less-critical patients to be moved back home.

As the coronavirus toll rises in India, production of AgVa's ventilator shot up from 500 a month to 20,000. 

10:25 GMT - India races to find 9,000 exposed residents

Indian officials are racing to track down some 9,000 people exposed to the country's biggest infection cluster, linked to a Muslim missionary group's gathering in the capital last month.

The number of cases jumped by more than half to 1,965 on Wednesday, fuelled by infections among people who either attended prayers and lectures at the Tablighi Jamaat's headquarters in a densely packed Delhi neighbourhood or came into contact with attendees later.

A government official said about 9,000 people linked to the Delhi cluster were unaccounted for, of which 2,000 were identified as Tablighi Jamaat officials and the rest as primary contacts.

"This has emerged as a critical node in our fight against the coronavirus, we need these people to come forward, so we can quarantine them," the official leading the operation to trace potential virus carriers told Reuters news agency, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

10:15 GMT - India turns trains into isolation wards

India has begun converting trains and stadiums into isolation wards to deal with an anticipated surge in coronavirus cases.

Indian Railways on Wednesday said work had begun on modifying 20,000 carriages into medical facilities, with each carriage containing 16 beds.

This means that a total of 320,000 patients could be cared for in the "quarantine coaches", a statement from the railways said.

10:10 GMT - Irish restrictions may go beyond April 12

The highly restrictive measures Ireland put in place last week to slow the spread of coronavirus may well be extended beyond the initial deadline of April 12, Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney has said.

Ireland's prime minister significantly ramped up restrictions last Friday when he ordered citizens to stay home and only leave to buy groceries, for brief individual physical exercise or make absolutely essential family visits.

"I think people do need to realise that these restrictions may go on for some time. We've set an initial period, but I think it may well be that we will need to go beyond that initial deadline, but again that will be a decision taken with the best public health advice," Coveney told a news conference.

10:05 GMT - Zoom pulls in more than 200 million daily users during worldwide lockdowns

Zoom's daily users ballooned to more than 200 million in March from a previous maximum total of 10 million, the video conferencing app's boss Eric Yuan has said, as the company fought to dispel concerns over privacy and "Zoombombing". 

The use of Zoom and other digital communications have soared, with political parties, companies, schools, and millions across the world working from home after lockdowns were enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

09:45 GMT - Spain's coronavirus death toll passes 10,000

Spain's coronavirus death toll has risen to 10,003 from 9,053, according to the country's health officials, the highest daily toll since the outbreak began. 

Meanwhile, the number of infections rose to 110,238, up from 102,136 the previous day. 

Despite the new figure, Health Minister Salvador Illa insisted there was reason for optimism, saying that "the data shows that the curve has stabilised - we have reached the highest point and things are slowing down." 

09:35 GMT - Belgium death toll tops 1,000

Coronavirus deaths in Belgium increased sharply and passed the 1,000 mark, health officials said. 

The official toll in the country of 11.4 million has doubled in the space of three days, in part because figures have been updated with a backlog of fatalities from retirement homes.

There have now been 1,001 deaths and 15,348 recorded cases since the outbreak started, officials told a daily news conference.

09:30 GMT - Emirates to operate flights to repatriate visitors, ex-pats

Emirates has received approval from UAE authorities to operate a number of outbound passenger flights starting April 6 to repatriate visitors and residents who wish to return to their home countries, the company's chairman said in a tweet on Thursday.

One of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, Emirates looks to resume flights gradually in line with the lifting of travel and operational restrictions, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.