Forty million Californians told to remain indoors as US sees cases rise to 14,500 and deaths to 205

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

The coronavirus pandemic continued to tighten its grip on the US on Friday, as China reported the second day in a row of no new domestic cases of the virus.

California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, expanded a “take shelter order to cover the entire state, ordering all residents to remain indoors and limit movements. The decision affects nearly 40 million people.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, Newsom acknowledged the severity of the order and urged Californians to band together. “This is not a permanent state, this is a moment in time,” he said.

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In a letter to President Donald Trump, Newsom estimated 25.5 million people in California, more than half the population, were likely to get the virus. The case rate is doubling every four days in some parts of the state, he said.

The governor has previously said the state might need about 20,000 hospital beds, a situation he hopes to address by renting two hospitals at each end of the state and docking a navy hospital ship near Los Angeles to help meet demand.

In San Francisco, authorities have spent a week preparing camper vans to isolate confirmed cases of Covid-19 who do not need hospitalisation but are unable to find shelter. The vehicles are to be placed around the city as required.

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The US has confirmed more than 14,500 cases of the virus, with 205 deaths. Worldwide, there have been more than 244,500 people confirmed to have Covid-19, with 10,030 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 86,000 people have recovered.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest California’s Orinda theatre puts out a message amid the ‘shelter-in-place’ order. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA

The developments in the US came as China’s national health commission said the 39 new cases it confirmed on Thursday were all imported, with 14 in Guangdong, eight in Shanghai, six in Beijing, three in Fujian, and one each in Tianjin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Gansu.

China is among a number of countries where stringent measures appear to have brought the virus under control, but where concerns are now mounting of a fresh wave brought in by travellers.

In other developments around the world:

In South America, Peru’s leaders announced on Thursday night the entire country would go into lockdown until the end of the month, in a bid to stop the spread of the virus, which has infected at least 128 people, three fatally.

Haiti has also closed its borders, and Chile has delayed a constitutional referendum.

Australia, which closed its borders to foreigners on Thursday, advised against non-essential domestic travel during the Easter holidays.

Chinese investigators have exonerated Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old doctor who was reprimanded after trying to raise the alarm about the virus in December. A report found police acted inappropriately and that Li was not seeking to disturb social order as he had been accused of. Li died in hospital in January after contracting the virus.

The head of the World Health Organization reiterated his warning for Africa to take urgent steps now while their case numbers are low. “The best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst and prepare today,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Infections continue to appear in passengers on cruise ships, with three people on the Ruby Princess, currently docked in Sydney, testing positive. Authorities fear the nearly 2,700 people onboard may not have known Covid-19 was present and have told all passengers to self-isolate.

In Brazil, hundreds of British, European, Australian and New Zealand citizens stranded on a cruise-liner in the port of Recife, will began flying home on Friday.

Passengers have been confined to their cabins for the past eight days after a 78-year-old passenger fell ill and later tested positive.

An official from the Japan Olympic Committee urged a delay of the Tokyo 2020 Games. “It should be postponed under the current situation where athletes can’t be well prepared,” Kaori Yamaguchi, a JOC executive board member, told the Nikkei daily. It comes as the Olympic flame arrives in Japan, where the deputy prime minister said on Thursday the games are “cursed” by world events every 40 years.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Ruby Princess sits docked at Circular Quay in Sydney. Thousands of passengers have been told to self-isolate after three cases of coronavirus were confirmed onboard. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

US Republicans have proposed giving each American $1,200 to help weather the economic impact of the virus. It is part of a $1tn package introduced by senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, and would also include relief for small businesses and their employees, steps to stabilise the economy and new support for healthcare professionals and coronavirus patients.

The US is among a number of countries stepping up their stimulus response as the world braces for a credit crunch which investors warned would make the 2008 global financial crisis look like “child’s play”. The Bank of England has cut rates to 0.1%, and European governments are rolling out packages worth €1.7tn.

In Europe the number of deaths in Italy has passed the total in China to make it the worst-affected country in the world with 3,405 fatalities compared with 3,245.

Southern and central Italy are braced for a “tsunami” of cases as the outbreak spreads from the badly hit northern regions. Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said on Thursday the total number of infections had risen to 41,035 from 35,713 – a near 15% increase.