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Coronavirus latest: Over 90 countries request emergency funds

  • Global death toll exceeds 58,000 as the number of infections near 1.1 million  
  • German Chancellor Merkel says it is still too soon to lift social distancing restrictions
  • The death toll in Spain has risen by over 900 for a second straight day
  • The Communist Party boss in China's Wuhan says the risk of the virus resurgence in the city still high

Updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

21:36 The transport ministers of Germany, France, Italy and Spain have asked the EU to "quickly implement strong measures" to support the European transport sector during the coronavirus crisis. 

In a letter sent Friday to EU Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Valean, the ministers said the transport of goods into and within the EU must be secured to ensure the delivery of food and medicine.

20:58 Six severely ill Italian COVID-19 patients were flown to Germany from Bergamo in northern Italy, the German Air Force said Friday evening. 

The patients were transported to the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate for treatment. Germany has recently begun taking in patients from northern Italy, as the massive coronavirus outbreak in the region has overwhelmed hospitals.

19:45 In Austria, landlords can no longer evict tenants or end lease contracts, according to temporary measures passed in parliament on Friday.

The bill, aimed at curbing the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, postpones lawsuits against tenants unable to pay rent until the start of 2021.

The latest economic data in the country of 8.8 million people shows some 563,000 people are now unemployed, more than any time since the end of World War II.

19:30 After the US Navy fired Brett Crozier, the captain of the aircraft carrier "Theodore Roosevelt," a group of US senators formally demanded an investigation into the move.

Crozier was fired after sending out a strongly worded letter asking for thousands of sailors to be evacuated and stronger isolation measures to be imposed on the nuclear-powered warship after some of his sailors tested positive to the new coronavirus.

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," he wrote to his supervisors on Monday, in a letter that was soon leaked to the media.

The US Navy responded by relieving Crozier of command, with acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly saying Crozier "demonstrated extremely poor judgment" by copying too many people in the memo, increasing the risk it would find its way to the media. The sacking prompted intense backlash and videos of sailors cheering their former captain appeared on social media.

19:10 The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, issued a special message expressing "his closeness and affection to everyone" as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is a hard moment for all of us," he said in a video address on Friday. "For many, very hard. The pope knows it."

The 83-year-old spiritual leader urged people to be generous and reach out to those who are lonely, either by telephone or through social media. "Even if we are isolated, thought and spirit can go far with the creativity of love," he said.

With the Christian holiday of Easter next week, the pontiff is due to lead the rituals with no congregation present. The pontiff said belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ should provide "hope."

"It is the hope for better times, in which we can be better ourselves, finally freed from evil and from this pandemic," Francis said.

18:55 The Walt Disney Company has announced it was delaying the next Indiana Jones movie, originally set for July 2021, by another year.

In a major coronavirus-triggered reshuffle, the company said it was releasing the live-action remake of its animated hit "Mulan" in July, and superhero film "Black Widow," part of the Marvel cinematic universe, in November this year.

The fifth installment in the legendary Indiana Jones franchise is set to see the return of Harrison Ford, now 77, as the eponymous adventurer archaeologist. The most recent installment, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was released in 2008 and was a box office hit, but remains controversial among the fans of the franchise.

18:35 French authorities said 588 people died of the coronavirus in French hospitals on Thursday, bringing the total to 5,091. The number of confirmed cases in the nation's hospitals has now reached 64,338 compared to 59,105 on Wednesday.

France does not yet have a precise death toll for coronavirus patients who die outside medical facilities, such as nursing homes. However, the government estimates that the combined death toll — including both those who have died in and out of hospitals — has now reached 6,507.

18:15 Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus increased by 69 to 425 on Friday, while the number of confirmed infections rose by 2,786 to 20,921, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a mandatory confinement order for everyone aged 20 and under starting from midnight local time. Erdogan also said vehicles would no longer be able to leave or enter 31 towns and cities including Istanbul and Ankara for 15 days.

People aged 65 and over are already subject to mandatory confinement.

17:50 Over 90 countries have asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency financing, said IMF head Kristalina Georgieva.

She called on nations to prioritize funding their health expenses and make sure medical workers are paid.

"Never in the history of the IMF have we witnessed the world economy come to a standstill," Georgieva said on Friday. "We are now in recession. It is way worse than the global financial crisis," she added, referring to the financial meltdown triggered by the 2008 market crash.

17:30 US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron called on the United Nations to play a larger role in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the White House press office said.

The pair discussed efforts to step-up global cooperation and talked of "convening P5 leaders soon to increase UN cooperation on defeating the pandemic and ensuring international peace and security," the White House reported.

The P5, or permanent five members of the UN Security Council, are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The White House said, "President Trump conveyed that the US stands with the French people and expressed condolences for those who have lost their lives in France."

17:20 German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the European Union should activate the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund "with no senseless conditions" to support member states whose economies are worst impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

"There won't be any senseless conditions as there were sometimes in the past. No troika will come into the country to tell the government how to do politics. This is about support in the crisis," Scholz told the German media group Funke, referring to the so-called troika of international agencies that largely dictated terms to Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and especially Greece during those countries' bailouts.

Instead, "my suggestion is to use existing instruments quickly and effectively" with a three-pronged plan based on the ESM, the European Investment Bank and unemployment reinsurance at the EU level, Scholz added.

Germany hopes such a move would ease Italy's concerns that the ESM loan would burden it with requirements, including cutting public spending and reforming its economy.

17:10 Italy reported 766 new COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the country's pandemic death toll to nearly 15,000.

The figures were a grim reminder that even if the spread of the contagion has slowed down in recent days, the situation in the country remains serious.

Italy's death toll, currently the world's highest, now stands at 14,681. The total number of infections, including recoveries and deaths, reached 119,827, up 4% from Thursday.

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