MONTREAL (Reuters) – The major Canadian province of Quebec, among the worst hit by the coronavirus, started gradually restarting its economy on Monday while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained his cautious stance. Quebec is allowing stores with an outside... More »
ROME/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Italy and the United States were among a slew of countries easing lockdown restrictions on Monday to resurrect economies, but officials cautioned against moving too swiftly as global deaths from the coronavirus neared a quarter of a... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A French hospital which has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases. Yves Cohen, head of resusci... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s coronavirus death toll is much higher than reported, statistics bureau ISTAT said on Monday in an analysis pointing to thousands of fatalities that have never been officially attributed to COVID-19. In its first report of the epidemic’... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Hairdressers, ironmongers and florists opened for business with restrictions on Monday as Spain began a four-phase plan to reopen by end-June, while the 24-hour death tally from the coronavirus pandemic stayed under 200 for the second day in... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Germany could only allow coronavirus antibody tests to help determine how freely people can move once it has advice from its ethics council, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, after securing millions of the tests from Swiss drugmaker Roche. Ge... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said bipartisan discussions are underway over whether more U.S. government relief funding is needed amid the nation’s novel coronavirus outbreak, but that President Donald Trump is focused on t... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 199 on Monday to 40,770, with 26 new deaths, health authorities said. Total deaths in the country rose to 5,082, the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) said in its ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – More than 10 times as many people in Germany have likely been infected with the coronavirus than the number of confirmed cases, researchers from the University of Bonn have concluded from a field trial in one of the worst hit towns. The p... More »
LAGOS (Reuters) – Two dozen Lagos healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks rushed outside the isolation tents and, making sure to keep six feet apart on the bright green grass, danced and swayed as a saxophone and trumpet struck up the band. Inside the tent... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Russia and China are taking advantage of the coronavirus emergency to put their interests forward in Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday, describing Chinese efforts to promote Huawei mobile phone network equipment as malig... More »
SUKOHARJO, Indonesia (Reuters) – Volunteers clad as Superman and Spider-Man sprayed disinfectant against the coronavirus on Indonesia’s island of Java, flanking a colleague wearing the winged helmet of local superhero Gatotkaca who shouted, “Wear masks, wash h... More »
(Reuters) – Britain’s four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome is unsure if the organisers can fully prevent large crowds from gathering at the race that was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tour, scheduled to start on June 27, was pushed ba... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s state-supported “StopCOVID” contact-tracing app should enter its testing phase in the week of May 11 when the country starts to unwind its lockdown, a government minister said on Sunday. Minister for Digital Affairs Cedric O, a membe... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The number of people who have died in France after contracting the new coronavirus rose on Sunday by 135 to 24,895, the health ministry said. The number of people treated in hospital for the coronavirus and the number of people in intensive c... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said on Friday, calling it “counterproductive” to h... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top Republicans in the U.S. Congress displayed a united front on Friday in their drive for coronavirus-related liability protections for businesses, saying such measures will be crucial to talks about future relief legislation. Senat... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would like to address the ballooning national debt if he wins re-election in November, but did not provide details on how he would do so. Asked if he had a debt reduction plan, Trump told con... More »
(Reuters) – Moderna Inc and Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group AG said on Friday they would accelerate the manufacturing of the U.S. drug developer’s potential coronavirus vaccine. The announcement comes at a time when drugmakers are pausing clinical trials ... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Researchers in Switzerland have been able to detect the new corovarirus at even low concentrations in wastewater, offering a potential early warning system for flareups in infections as countries emerge from emergency lockdowns. Should the s... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 60,000 on Wednesday and the outbreak will soon be deadlier than any flu season since 1967, according to a Reuters tally. America’s worst flu season in recent years was in 2017-2018 when more than 61,000... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson returns to work on Monday to the biggest dilemma of his premiership: how to lift the coronavirus lockdown that is destroying swathes of the British economy without triggering a deadly second wave of the outbreak.... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Researchers at a Hong Kong university say they have developed an antiviral coating which could provide 90 days of “significant” protection against bacteria and viruses such as the one causing COVID-19. The coating, called MAP-1, took 10 y... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Healthcare and clinical diagnostics company Novacyt has signed a supply contract with the UK’s Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) for its product aimed at testing for the presence of the coronavirus, the company said on Monday. Under t... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Nearly two million Australians rushed to download an app designed to help medical workers and state governments trace close contacts of COVID-19 patients, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s approval rating soared on his pandemic response. Au... More »
(This April 26 story has been refiled to correct spelling of commerce ministry official’s first name in paragraph four) BEIJING (Reuters) – China is dropping a requirement that a number of key virus care products get domestic regulatory approval before export,... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand on Monday reported nine new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the country’s totals to 2,931 cases and 52 fatalities. It is the first time since the outbreak started in January that there have been no new local transmissions... More »
(Reuters) – More than 2.97 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 205,948 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Monday. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * For an interactive graphic tracking the global ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the global coronavirus pandemic began, now has no remaining cases in its hospitals, a health official told reporters on Sunday. The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is continuing to test whether antibody tests can be used in the fight against the novel coronavirus and is hopeful they will work, junior health minister Edward Argar said on Monday. “Tests continue to be tested, the sign at the mome... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian government launched a controversial coronavirus tracing app on Sunday and promised to legislate privacy protections around it as authorities try to get the country and the economy back onto more normal footing. Australia an... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration is considering replacing its secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, because of early missteps in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal and Politico reported ... More »
MILTON KEYNES, England (Reuters) – A fleet of robots on wheels that deliver shopping in the English town of Milton Keynes have seen their popularity surge as residents are stuck indoors due to the coronavirus lockdown. The robots, which come up roughly to an a... More »
(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday pointed to research showing that strains of the novel coronavirus entered his state from Europe, not China, and said that travel bans enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump were too late to halt its spread. ... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 865,585 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 37,144 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2,437 to 48,816. The CDC reported its tal... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Banksy’s “Girl with a Pierced Eardrum” has been updated for the coronavirus era with the addition of a blue surgical face mask. The mural, a take on Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” but with a security alarm replac... More »
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s National Ballet, the former Soviet country’s famous folk dance ensemble, started giving lessons online after the group’s popular dance schools closed their doors due to the coronavirus. Around 5,000 kids and teenagers, who used to... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Tennis great Billie Jean King says the financial fallout from the coronavirus shutdown has exposed the unfairness of the sport and that it is important for the top players to lead the cause for change. The tennis season was suspended in Marc... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A northwestern province on the frontline of China’s coronavirus battle reported on Tuesday its first cases in nearly three weeks, all involving travellers from overseas, as imported infections started to level off elsewhere. The pr... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is in talks with some countries to establish fast-track procedures to allow travel by business and technical personnel to ensure the smooth operation of global supply chains, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Foreign ministry spok... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday he will suspend all immigration into the United States temporarily through an executive order in response to the coronavirus outbreak and to protect American jobs. The move, which the Republican pres... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The oil price will stay low for some time as supply exceeds demand and the current situation on global oil markets is reminiscent of the 1980s oil glut, former BP boss John Browne said on Tuesday. “The prices will be very low and I think the... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese police have reported that 11 people whose deaths were deemed to be unnatural in the past month subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus, media said on Tuesday. Japan, with more than 260 virus-related deaths according to p... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean exports plunged nearly 27% in the first 20 days of April as the coronavirus health crisis paralyzed global manufacturing activity and crushed consumer demand. The worst may be yet to come with many of the country’s top trading pa... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that any lifting of lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus must be gradual, and if restrictions were to be relaxed too soon, there would be a resurgence of infections. Lockdo... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it was concerned about the increasing number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Japan. But Japan is not yet in the stage of a large-scale community outbreak, Takeshi Kasai, WHO Re... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand recorded 19 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a senior health official said, the lowest daily tally in more than a month. A 50-year-old taxi driver accounted for the latest death, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the gov... More »
(Reuters) – Six-times Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady was told to leave a Tampa park that had been closed as part of measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the city’s mayor said on Monday. Brady was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has not agreed to shoulder the additional costs for the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday, after Kyodo News reported Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had committed to cover the costs. “It... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress on Monday inched toward a $450 billion deal to help small businesses and hospitals hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying negotiators had come to terms on the ‘principles’ of the packag... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday Republican and Democratic negotiators have come to terms on the “principles” of the next coronavirus relief package, which is expected to focus on more aid for small businesses and be taken ... More »
(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday he understood why some people were protesting against the lockdowns imposed to stem the coronavirus outbreak, but said restrictions must be lifted in a way that prevented further outbreaks. He spoke aft... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was working with state governors to make sure they had the resources needed to ramp up coronavirus testing and added that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo would visit the White House to discuss... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he hoped negotiators in Congress would reach a deal to provide more aid for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, with a vote possible in the Senate on Tuesday. “We hope to have an ... More »
(Reuters) – Two young girls in Italy took their tennis games to a higher level despite a nation-wide coronavirus lockdown as they staged a remarkable rally from the rooftops of neighbouring buildings. The girls in the Ligurian town of Finale Ligure coolly mana... More »
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – British actor and filmmaker Idris Elba launched a new United Nations fund on Monday to help farmers in poorer nations, calling on richer economies to provide aid to prevent “needless hunger and suffering” stemming from ... More »
(Reuters) – When stay-at-home orders sparked by the coronavirus forced him to find new ways to reach young voters ahead of the November U.S. election, Felix Clarke turned to an online computer game. The New Hampshire college student logged in to Minecraft, dre... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Street-artist Banksy has followed official advice to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis by creating a new artwork in his bathroom that shows his trademark stencilled rats running amok around the sink and toilet. The elusive artist po... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Wearing white face paint, stripy top and bright red spectacle frames, Ahmed Naser stands in a street in Cairo distributing face masks and health advice to passing children. The 22-year-old engineering student has been entertaining youngsters ... More »
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Gerson Monje holds up his cellphone to proudly show off his online sex shop. A red banner reading “sold out!” is plastered across half of the products. While most Colombian businesses suffer during a five-week lockdown meant to curb the spre... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s finance minister has told colleagues the economy could shrink by up to 30% this quarter because of the coronavirus lockdown, a newspaper reported, as the soaring death toll gave little hope restrictions would soon be lifted. The nu... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spaniards at the country’s main transport hubs were handed face masks on a rainy Monday morning as the government relaxed some of the tough lockdown measures designed to rein in the coronavirus health crisis which has claimed nearly 17,000 l... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Some of Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores have taken a novel approach to social distancing by hanging plastic sheets from the ceiling to provide a barrier between customers and staff at the cash register during the coronavirus pandemic. P... More »
SUIFENHE, China (Reuters) – China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks – with more than 90% involving people coming fro... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has reduced the number of people crossing its borders by 90% as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, an immigration official said on Monday. Speaking at a briefing, Liu Haitao, an official with the Na... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Monday 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 ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday there was no discrimination against “African brothers” in the country and rejected U.S. accusations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou as an attempt to harm Beijing’s relations with African nations. Foreign minist... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Senior politicians in Germany have begun debating a potential easing of restrictions imposed over the coronavirus epidemic ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday. On Monday, Merkel and premiers of Germany’s 16 state... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Minimal oil price gains on Monday show record output cuts by giant producers will still leave them with a mountain to climb to restore market balance, industry watchers said, with the coronavirus pandemic decimating demand just as stocks ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Narita Airport has prepared an impromptu hotel of cardboard beds and quilts in its baggage-claim area for passengers from overseas who might have to stay there while awaiting the results of tests for the novel coronavirus. Though flig... More »
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Vietnam... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – The baseball and soccer seasons got underway behind closed doors in Taiwan at the weekend, providing rare live action for fans at home at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down most professional sport around the globe. Taiwan has be... More »
SEOUL (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 on Monday. Trump made the request for te... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore is preparing to house hundreds of foreign workers in accommodation vessels typically used for offshore and marine industry staff as it races to find alternatives to dormitories where the novel coronavirus has been spreading rapi... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand reported 28 new coronavirus cases and 2 new deaths on Monday. Of the new cases, 18 are linked to previous cases, 7 without connection to old cases, and 3 are Thai nationals who had traveled to South Sulawesi province, Indonesia for... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) chief Steve Dainton has suggested the sport’s annual individual world championships be scrapped, with champions instead decided by the winners of the new “Grand Smash” mega tournaments. The world ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) told its labour union in South Korea that it wants to suspend operations at three of its domestic factories as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on exports to Europe and the United States, a union official said on Mo... More »
(Reuters) – The technology arm of Britain’s National Health Service has been working on a mobile phone app with Alphabet Inc’s Google and iPhone maker Apple that the government hopes will help in ending the coronavirus lockdown, the Sunday Times newspaper repo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The two top Republicans in the U.S. Congress vowed on Saturday to oppose Democrats’ demands to match a $250 billion proposal to aid small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic with the same amount for hospitals and state and local g... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and congressional leaders will hold bipartisan negotiations on a new coronavirus-response bill with the goal of reaching a deal by early next week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Fri... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will soon be announcing a second coronavirus task force, creating a council to focus on re-opening the country after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic passes. “We will be announcing tha... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican and Democratic U.S. senators will introduce legislation on Friday seeking to reaffirm the country’s commitment to global health amid the coronavirus crisis, including reestablishing a panel – similar to one disbanded by Presid... More »
GLAND, Switzerland (Reuters) – Street artist David Perez has found his own way to pay tribute in Switzerland to the people he regards as the unsung heroes of the coronavirus crisis. Perez, 35, has adorned a pedestrian underpass in the town of Gland with a port... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone fell to an all-time low in April and the bloc’s economy is in deep recession due to the coronavirus, which is “holding the world economy in a stranglehold”, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the e... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese social media celebrity Pikotaro returned as a leading twitter trend in Japan with a coronavirus hand washing song that repurposes his signature Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP) to Pray-for-People-and-Peace. The video was among the top ... More »
(Reuters) – European shares rebounded on Monday as a slowdown in coronavirus deaths raised hopes that nationwide lockdowns were starting to show results, while Rolls Royce soared after becoming the latest multinational firm to raise cash to weather an economic... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus, media reported, with the government preparing a stimulus package to soften the blow on an economy already struggling to avoid a recession. More than... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus, giving governors stronger legal authority to urge people to stay home and businesses to close, media reported on Monday. In contrast to stringe... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government’s advisory panel on the new coronavirus outbreak will meet on Monday at 0500 GMT in preparation for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency, the Nikkei business daily reported. Source: https://www.reu... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Mainland China reported 39 new coronavirus cases as of Sunday, up from 30 a day earlier, and the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak despite drastic containment efforts. The ... More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech Republic reported its slowest daily percentage rise in confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, as the country entered fourth week of restrictions on business and movement. The country had 4,591 cases as of Sunday midnight, up 2.6% f... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur is holed up in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic and says she is contemplating taking up dancing to remain fit as the tennis world finds innovative ways to deal with the lockdown. The 25-year-old became... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – 1/LOOKING TO CHINA The world’s biggest economy won’t be open for business by Easter, as U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped, but the second biggest economy may come close. How China fares offers a guide to other countries when their corona... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s coronavirus case tally has risen to 6,343 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase of 954, the country’s crisis response centre said on Monday. Cases have been recorded widely, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak w... More »
MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Carnival Corp’s (CCL.N) troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner, the biggest single source of coronavirus infections in Australia, docked south of Sydney on Monday to get help for sick crew members requiring urgent medical treatment. T... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland faces a shortage of the raw material needed to make disinfectant to tackle the coronavirus pandemic after the country abandoned its emergency reserve of 10,000 tonnes of ethanol two years ago, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – It took Silvia Bertuletti 11 days of frantic phone calls to persuade a doctor to visit her 78-year-old father Alessandro, who was gripped by fever and struggling for breath. When an on-call physician did go to her house near Bergamo, at the e... More »
(Reuters) – A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo’s chief veterinarian said on Sunday. Nadia... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday, according to a spokesman for the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration. Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infecte... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia’s largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downward. The Korea Centers for Disease Control ... More »
