Coronavirus live news: Trump appears to back down on New York ‘quarantine’
President had triggered confusion and alarm, with New York governor responding that sealing off state would be ‘federal declaration of war’; meanwhile more than 10,000 have died in Italy. Follow the latest updates
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12.50am GMT
Australian authorities are giving an update of the situation there.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s daily rate of increase in cases had dropped from between 25-30% to 13-15%.
PM says Australia has a very high rate of testing per 100,000 head of population:
Australia 815
South Korea 753
UK 177
Canada 486
Austria 484
Media conf on @abcnews channel now
12.41am GMT
New Zealand, which is a few days into a lockdown lasting at least four weeks, has reported the first death attributed to Covid-19.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the West Coast woman was in her 70s, and was initially diagnosed with influenza. Because of this hospital staff were only wearing PPE suitable for a case of influenza, not Covid-19, and 21 people were now in self-isolation. Bloomfield said none of the staff were showing symptoms, and staffing at the hospital wouldn’t be affected because of the cancellation of all elective procedures.