Global coronavirus death toll passes 100,000

Things were already tense at a prison in Lansing, Kansas.

A dozen inmates and 14 staffers got sick from Covid-19, and officials gave out cloth masks to try and stop the infection from spreading further.

Then, on Thursday, some of the prisoners began to set fires and smash windows. The uprising lasted several hours, and it is not clear why it started. No-one was badly hurt during the melee, and the facilities were locked down again by early the following day.

The violence at the prison - which houses about 150 inmates - is the latest sign that people in confinement are becoming increasingly desperate. Hundreds of people have been infected in US prisons and jails, according to data compiled by the New York Times, and more than two dozen have died.

Prisoners try to protect themselves against the disease as best they can. In some places, such as in Lansing, they have begun to express their rage in a violent manner.

Dr David Wrigley, the Vice-Chairman of the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), has criticised the health secretary’s comments that there had been a “Herculean effort” to provide the NHS with protective equipment.

He said that doctors “are not getting the PPE that they need”.

“We’ve heard from two parts of England where there is insufficient PPE being provided for doctors on the front line. It’s forcing them into impossible situations and it’s putting their lives at risk,” he told the BBC.

He added that it was a “shocking indictment” that staff working in some intensive care units did not have the correct face masks.

And he said the BMA “know now at least 11 doctors have died in the fight” against the virus.

A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, transit policy of having all bus passengers wear masks in order to protect employees was shortlived thanks to a couple of videos.

In one clip, a man tells passengers without masks they must exit the bus - though he does not have a mask on himself. In another, police are seen dragging a man off. The footage was shared on Twitter, prompting questions from locals about what exactly the policy was.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has now told the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper it will no longer enforce the mask mandate, which began on Thursday.

The UK is experiencing warm weather across the Easter weekend but people are being urged to stay at home to reduce transmission of coronavirus.

Seen from above, many areas in the UK that are normally crowded during sunny weather seem significantly emptier than they would otherwise be, suggesting people are following the government advice.

Hidden behind protective masks, medics' faces are likely to remain unknown to most of the patients they treat.

That’s a problem for nurses and doctors seeking to comfort their patients with a reassuring smile.

But medical staff in the US have found a novel solution - they’ve been attaching photos of their smiling faces to their protective clothing.

Respiratory therapist Robertino Rodriguez has been using the technique while treating coronavirus patients at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.

In an Instagram post, he said he “felt bad for my patients in ER when I would come in the room with my face covered”.

Other medical workers have emulated his technique, sending him pictures of themselves doing so.

The trend appears to be catching on in the US, where a similar initiative has been developed at a drive-through Covid-19 testing site run by Stanford University’s medical department.

The BBC has donated working ventilators from the set of medical drama Holby City.

The corporation said they were delivered to Nightingale Hospital, a new medical facility in London set up to treat coronavirus patients.

It was not immediately clear how many ventilators were donated, or why working medical equipment was used for the filming of Holby City.

Anthony AlmojeraCopyright: Anthony Almojera

Anthony Almojera, a senior paramedic in New York City, has written a diary for the BBC of one day in his working life. He says that day - last Sunday - was the worst in his 17-year career.

We arrive at a house and I put on my mask, gown and gloves.

We find a man. His family says he has had a fever and cough for five days. We start CPR and I watch the medics pass a tube down his throat to breathe for him.

We work on him for about 30 minutes before we pronounce him dead. I make sure the crews are OK and get back in my truck - decontaminating everything first. I hit the button to go available.

Twenty minutes later, I get another cardiac arrest. Same symptoms, same procedures, same results.

We hit the button, get another one.

Hit the button after that, get another one.

There's only one patient we've seen so far who I feel wasn't Covid-19 and that's because it was a suicide. Imagine: I was there and my brain felt relief. This person's dead and it's a suicide. I felt relief that it was a regular job.

It is now around 11:00 and I've done about six cardiac arrests.

In normal times, a medic gets two or three in a week, maybe. You can have a busy day sometimes, but never this. Never this.

Read more of Anthony's account here

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Apple and Google are jointly developing technology to alert people if they've recently come into contact with others infected with coronavirus.

Their plan is to initially help contact-tracing apps from public health authorities to run efficiently. Ultimately, they plan to develop a separate "Bluetooth-based contract tracking platform" to gather extensive data which apps from public health authorities can access.

The two companies believe their approach addresses privacy concerns. People using the service will do so voluntarily, and no GPS location data or personal information will be recorded.

Read more here.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Turkey has imposed a two-day curfew in 31 of its largest cities as it attempts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The country’s interior minister said all residents in those cities, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul, will be required to stay at home from midnight on Friday.

Warm and sunny weather has been forecast for much of the country over the weekend, prompting concern social-distancing rules may be flouted.

Turkey’s coronavirus death toll jumped by 98 on Friday, with the total now at 1,006.

Its total number of confirmed cases is now 47,029, a rise of 4,747 in 24 hours.

EPACopyright: EPA

Aid agencies have expressed alarm after the first virus case was confirmed in Yemen, where years of civil war have devastated health systems.

Oxfam said it was a “devastating blow”, while the International Rescue Committee called it a “nightmare scenario”.

Yemen is suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis and millions are reliant on food aid.

Diseases including cholera, dengue and malaria are rife and only half of hospitals are fully functional.

News of the first Covid-19 case came a day after the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen began a ceasefire, saying it wanted to help stop coronavirus spread and support UN peace efforts.

Read more here.

Today's press conference from President Donald Trump and the White House coronavirus task force has finished.

Here's what was said:

• President Trump believes the US will see fewer than 100,000 deaths, adding that original estimates suggested that 2.2 million could have died in a worst-case scenario. He praised Americans, saying "nobody thought the American people could be so disciplined"
• He said more than 2m coronavirus tests have been completed, with around 100,000 happening each day. He said the US was "leading the world" in testing
• Deborah Birx, who is part of the coronavirus task force, said the US "has not reached the peak" despite hospitalisations declining in New York
• Dr Jerome Adams, the US Surgeon General, said coronavirus has disproportionately affected people of colour. He said that "black boys are three times as likely to die of asthma" as white children, and took the inhaler from his pocket to show he still considers it a risk
• Trump said some states "do not need testing", giving Iowa as an example, because their populations are widely dispersed across large areas
• Trump wants to reopen the US as soon as possible, but accepts that "the facts will determine" when it happens
• Earlier he praised people working on the front lines, specifically those who work in grocery stores, saying he wanted to "thank them and shout out to them"
• Asked about churches being open, Vice-President Mike Pence said he thought all places of worship should "heed the guidelines issued" and added: "Jesus says where two or more are gathered, there he is also, you can worship... and you'll be serving the nation"
• Trump spoke about coronavirus as “a brilliant enemy”, calling it “genius” and adding it was “hidden, but very smart”

Channel 4 PublicityCopyright: Channel 4 Publicity

Fans of Friends will have to wait a little longer for the highly anticipated reunion episode as it has been postponed due to the impact of coronavirus on TV production.

The show had been due to launch with the HBO Max streaming service in May, but filming has not been able to take place.

It is not yet clear when the episode will be filmed. Rumours of a reunion were confirmed by the cast in February.

Friends aired from 1994 until 2004. The final show was watched by 52.5 million viewers in the US, making it the most watched TV episode of the 2000s.

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US President Donald Trump said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approval rating "must be about 300%".

Johnson tested positive for coronavirus on 27 March and has been in hospital since Sunday, including four days in intensive care.

He had been leading the UK's response to the coronavirus but some have criticised his handling of the crisis.

Trump said he had called Johnson's "group" to wish him well but had not spoken to the Prime Minister.

"His approval rating must be about 300%," Trump added.

"He is a great guy.

"He was a great guy before and people see what he has been through. What he has been through has been incredible."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The situation in Romania's hospitals is under control despite localised problems caused by the spread of coronavirus, a government official has told the BBC.

The country has struggled to contain the spread of the virus, not helped by the return of 250,000 Romanians from jobs elsewhere in Europe during March.

Almost 5,500 people have tested positive, 257 have died, and a similar number of new infections were reported in the last 24 hours.

In the north-eastern city of Suceava, the hospital became the centre of contagion, with 182 medical staff infected.

Elsewhere in the western city of Timisoara, 10 newborn babies tested positive for the virus, despite none of their mothers having the disease. Of those babies, seven have since tested negative.

A criminal investigation has been launched, the director of the public health authority fired, and the hospital re-organised.

Romanian government spokesman Andi Munciu told the BBC such cases were not a reflection of the "generalised situation" in the country.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Social media companies are struggling to contain a wave of coronavirus misinformation. Into the breach have stepped volunteers who are fighting to stop rumours, bad advice and conspiracy theories from going viral.

Rachael Hogg is currently juggling her busy job as a project manager and teaching her nine-year-old from her home in the market town of Morpeth, about 15 miles north of Newcastle.

But if that wasn't enough, each day she's also deleting as many as 50 misleading posts about coronavirus from the local Facebook group she runs.

See here for more on the people fighting fake news from home.

President Trump said he wants to reopen the country "as soon as possible" but "facts will determine" when he does so.

Current restrictions in the US are set to end on 30 April.

Asked if he was overly determined to reopening the country on that date, Trump said: "I would love to open, I've not determined anything. The facts will determine what I do."

He said he will announce a new council on Tuesday, made up of doctors and businessmen tasked with discussing when the country could reopen.

Trump named the council the "opening our country council".

"We are going to have great business leaders and doctors," he said.

"We will be announcing names on Tuesday and that will play a role [in deciding when the country can reopen].

"I want to get open as soon as possible. This country is meant to be open and vibrant."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has extended Italy’s nationwide lockdown until 3 May.

The first nationwide lockdown was imposed on 9 March until 3 April but was later extended to 13 April.

The tight lockdown in Italy appears to be working. Its latest 24-hour death toll is 570, continuing a declining trend.

But Italy still has the world's highest overall death toll, which currently stands at 18,849.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Liverpool and Scotland football legend Sir Kenny Dalglish has tested positive for coronavirus and is in hospital but showing no symptoms.

The 69-year-old was admitted to hospital on Wednesday for treatment of an infection and tested positive for Covid-19 after a routine test.

His family said in a statement "he looks forward to being home soon".

Dalglish played over 500 games for Liverpool and also managed the club on two occasions. He also won more than 100 caps for Scotland.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Many Christians in Africa usually attend services on Good Friday, but this Easter, like elsewhere in the world, most churches were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

As several countries on the continent extend restrictions, these are the main developments:

• In South Africa the decision to extend the lockdown until the end of April has been met with dismay by some, with the main opposition Democratic Alliance party warning it would create “an economic disaster”. But President Cyril Ramaphosa said there was clear evidence the restriction was already limiting the spread of Covid-19
• In Kenya several people have been injured following a stampede in a queue for food aid in Kibera, a slum in the capital, Nairobi. Many people are desperate for help having been forbidden from going to work because of coronavirus restrictions
• One of the main hospitals in Libya’s capital, Tripoli - used to treat coronavirus patients - is suspending its activities because of being repeatedly targeted in bombardments. Fighting in the city has intensified in recent weeks despite hopes for a ceasefire to deal with the pandemic
• Several MPs in Botswana have been moved to a supervised quarantine facility after they were caught in shopping in a supermarket. On Thursday, all parliamentarians were asked to quarantine in their homes for 14 days after a health worker who had been screening them for the coronavirus herself tested positive
• Health workers in Lagos state, the economic hub of Nigeria, have started house-to-house screenings. The idea is to scout for those who potentially have coronavirus and prioritise them for testing. A similar scheme has been carried out in Cameroon’s largest city Douala.