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This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.
- Global cases: More than 2.39 million
- Global deaths: More than 164,900
- Most cases reported: United States (755,533), Spain (196,664), Italy (178,972), France (154,097), and Germany (145,184).
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 7:41 a.m. Beijing time.
All times below are in Beijing time.
8:39 am: China reports 12 new cases, says no additional deaths
China’s National Health Commission said there were 12 new cases of infection, with eight of them attributed to travelers from overseas. No new deaths were reported but there were 49 additional cases of asymptomatic infection, where a person tested positive for the virus but did not show any of the usual symptoms associated with the illness.
There were at least 82,747 cases of infection on the Chinese mainland since the outbreak was first reported in the Hubei province late last year. While China says most of them have been cured, around 4,632 people have died. The death toll climbed last week after Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, revised its figures that raised the death toll by 50%. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
7:30 am: Singapore reports 596 new cases, pushing total numbers to over 6,000
Singapore reported 596 new cases of Covid-19 as of noon local time on April 19. Most of them are linked to infection clusters in dormitories that house foreign workers — typically men from other Asian countries who carry out labor-intensive construction jobs to support their families back home.
General view of the Toh Guan Dormitory, a purpose-built migrant workers dormitory that has been gazetted as an isolation area on April 19, 2020 in Singapore.
Ore Huiying | Getty Images
Sunday’s numbers brought the total cases in the city-state to 6,588, a sharp spike in infections from early March as more people, particularly those living in dormitories, have been tested in recent weeks. Almost all nonessential services in Singapore are temporarily closed while residents have been told to venture outside only for essential tasks, such as buying groceries.
The health ministry said 768 people have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals and community isolation facilities while 11 patients have died to-date. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
7:24 am: Global reported cases over 2.39 million, death toll rises to more than 164,000
The total number of infections worldwide has risen to 2,394,291 and at least 164,938 people have died from the disease, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has most number of reported infections, with 755,533 cases in the country, Hopkins data showed.
Spain, Italy, France, and Germany have each reported more than 145,000 cases each. Cases in the United Kingdom climbed to over 121,000 according to Hopkins, and more than 16,000 people there have died.
India, which is in an extended period of lockdown until May 3, has reported more than 17,600 cases and 559 deaths, Hopkins data showed. — Saheli Roy Choudhury
All times below are in Eastern time.
6:31 pm: US tops more than 750,000 cases as Trump says he will use DPA to increase medical swabs
The total number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. is currently at 755,533, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The virus has now killed more than 40,000 people in the U.S., nearly a quarter of all deaths from Covid-19 across the globe, according to JHU data.
New York, the current epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., is recording over 500 deaths a day. President Donald Trump said at a press conference that his administration is looking at helping rural hospitals which have been hurt very badly. He also said he was going to use the Defense Production Act to increase swab production at one facility amid coronavirus testing shortage. The president’s announcement comes after governors demanded federal help to ramp up testing across the U.S. — Riya Bhattacharjee, Noah Higgins-Dunn
4:24 pm: United selling and leasing back 22 planes in bid to conserve cash during coronavirus pandemic
United Airlines has struck a deal with an Asian aircraft leasing firm to sell and then lease back 22 aircraft. Neither United nor the Bank of China Aviation revealed the financial terms of the deal announced Sunday morning.
The move will help United conserve cash and give its balance sheet greater flexibility as it faces mounting losses due to coronavirus causing a global plunge in airline travel.
Earlier this week, United CEO Oscar Munoz said business has essentially dropped to zero. “We expect to fly fewer people during the entire month of May than we did on a single day in May 2019,” Munoz wrote in a note to employees outlining plans to cut its schedule by 90% in May. — Phil LeBeau
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: US death toll surpasses 40,000 as cases hit 750,000
