Both the United Kingdom and the United States have recorded their deadliest days of the coronavirus pandemic so far.
In the UK, another 708 deaths were reported on Saturday as people were told to stay inside despite warm, sunny weather. The youngest victim was a five-year-old child.
In the US, more than 1300 people died in just one day, raising its total death toll to 7163. More than 30,000 new cases were also confirmed for the first time, pushing its total number of infections above 273,000.
Meanwhile Europe's strict lockdown measures appear to be taking effect, with promising new figures coming out of Spain and Italy.
More than one million cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed across 181 countries and more than 60,000 people have died.
Follow our live, rolling coverage of the pandemic below.
Live Updates
Singer hospitalised after being diagnosed with virus
British singer and pop icon Marianne Faithfull has been admitted to hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Faithfull, 73, said through her representatives she was admitted to a London hospital. A statement confirmed she has COVID-19 in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“She is stable and responding to treatment. We all wish her well and a full and speedy recovery," a representative for Faithfull said.
“She is stable and responding to treatment,” music industry publicists Republic Media tweeted.
“We wish her well and a full and speedy recovery.”
Faithfull has previously revealed that she is living with Hepatitis C. She was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2006, which she recovered from.
UK prison guards die from COVID-19
Two prison guards who became infected with coronavirus have passed away in the UK.
The deaths come as more than a dozen guards and 90 prisoners are diagnosed with the virus and thousands of staff are self isolating.
The two guards who both worked at Pentonville Prison in Islington in north London, are the first prison officers to have been killed by coronavirus in the UK, according to the Guardian.
Mark Fairfurst, National Chair of the Prison Officer's Association said 7900 staff are now self-isolating, including support staff, officers and governors. A further 15 staff have been diagnosed with the virus.
Mr Fairhurst also said a total of 90 prisoners have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and a further 1200 prisoners are self isolating.
Five-year-old child among latest virus deaths
A mural thanks the NHS workers in the UK. Picture: Oli Scarff/AFP
A five-year-old child who contracted coronavirus has died in the UK.
The child's death was announced among 708 new deaths in the UK announced on Saturday, the biggest rise since the outbreak began. The hundreds of deaths took the death toll in the country to 4313.
The child died in hospital after being infected with the virus, according to Reuters.
The British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove offered his thoughts to the child's family.
Hundreds of Australians reportedly stranded in Cambodia
A large group of more than 300 Australians are seeking assistance from the Australian government as they try to leave Cambodia, according to reports.
The group have asked the Australian embassy to assist them out of the country, according to a report from SBS. In Cambodia, a lockdown is currently being enforced by the military in the country has been compared to "martial law" by Amnesty International.
The country is preparing to go into a state of emergency as it responds to the coronavirus pandemic.
"These unprecedented powers are wildly disproportionate and threaten to permanently undercut the human rights of everyone in Cambodia,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director.
The more than 300 Australians in the country have reportedly found it difficult to leave in recent weeks, as there are no direct flights from the country to Australia.
Among those trapped in the country are a family of nine, and another family travelling with elderly parents.
Italian regions institutes masks as deaths top 15,000
A virus ravaged region of Italy is now ordering all residents to wear masks when they go outside in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus.
In Italy, more than 124,000 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Devastatingly, more than 15,000 people have been killed by the virus in the country. Just under 21,000 people have recovered in the country.
Italy’s Lombardy region is now requiring residents to wear a mask when they leave their homes, in a new ordinance that's been handed out in other parts of the country.
It mirrors similar ordinances in recent days from two other northern regions, hard-hit Veneto and Alto Adige, which require protective masks for residents particularly if shopping in stores and markets.
While all of Italy is under a nationwide lockdown, Lombardy has passed particularly tight restrictions on movement and business operations in an effort to curb infections in the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak.
The new ordinance extends those tight restrictions to mid-April but makes a new exception to the shutdown for stationary stores to reopen to let students buy school supplies.
–with wires
Donald Trump speaks on shutdowns
The US President Donald Trump has cited the US Constitution while defending outlier states who refuse to implement shutdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The President said he felt there were a number of variables from state to state, saying some areas of the US had a mitigated risk because they were less populous.
Some of those states include Missouri, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Iowa. The states have come under increasing scrutiny for their decision not to implement wide stay-at-home orders as the situation becomes difficult to manage in states like New York and California.
However, Trump repeated comments he's previously made about reopening the country at some stage. “We’ve got to get this country open,” Mr Trump said. “This country was not designed to be closed.”
He repeated the sentiments again later in the briefing saying: "We've got to get back, and get back soon".
“It’s just an incredible situation. There’s never been anything like this," Trump said opening the briefing.
The federal government is currently working to build temporary field hospitals in New York, Texas and Louisiana to assist with the skyrocketing number of cases across the country.
“This will be probably the toughest week, between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately.
“But a lot less death than if this wasn’t done, but there will be death. We’re looking for an obvious focus and the hardest-hit regions.
“Some of them are obvious and some are not so obvious. They spring up, they hit you like you got hit by a club. An area that wasn’t at all bothered – you look at what’s going on in New Jersey, the governor is doing an excellent job by the way – but how that sprang up.
“Every decision we’re making is made to save lives. It’s really our sole consideration. We want to save lives.
"We want as few lives lost as possible.”
US death toll exceeds 1300 in a single day
The United States registered the record highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day after more than 1300 people died in a 24 hour period.
The previous record was set in Italy on March 27, when it reported 969 deaths over a single day. The US recorded 1,399 deaths on Saturday, according to AAP.
Across the US, more than 8100 people have now been killed by the coronavirus.
The number of total deaths rose in New York State to 3565 on Saturday, the governor said, up from 2935 the previous day, the largest 24-hour jump recorded there.
The state has now recorded 113,704 positive cases — 63,306 in New York City, where 2,624 have died — just 6,000 short of hard-hit Italy’s total number of cases.
In his daily briefing Governor Andrew Cuomo said infections could peak in the state in anywhere from four to 14 days, an ever-moving target that will test the already taxed health system’s capacity to handle a significant influx of sick patients.
“Part of me would like to be at the apex and just let’s do it. But there’s part of me that says it’s good that we’re not at the apex because we’re not yet ready,” the governor said.
He added that the federal government will now staff and equip the overflow hospital at Manhattan’s Javits Center for treatment of those infected with coronavirus. The facility can take a total 2,500 patients.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has topped 300,000. To date, there have been more than 8,100 deaths in the US, Johns Hopkins University reported on Saturday.
The Baltimore-based university, which has been keeping a running tally of global coronavirus numbers, said there are at least 300,915 confirmed virus cases in the US and there have been 8,162 deaths.
–with wires
German arrested for 'trying to organise virus protest'
German police have arrested a man accused of trying to organise a protest against the country's current coronavirus restrictions.
The man from the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg had committed a crime by calling for people to gather together in public, a police spokesman said on Saturday.
Without the regulations, the peaceful protest march would not have been a problem, the spokesman said.
Policewomen on horses remind people that it is forbidden to sit outside at a park in Hamburg, Germany. Picture: Markus Scholz/dpa/AP
According to investigators, the 32-year-old man had wanted to anonymously organise a protest march via an internet portal two weeks ago. He had asked potential participants to bring children to protect themselves from the police.
Numerous people who read the message informed the police.
The man was released after being temporarily detained.
Crowds of people are prohibited in public places in Baden-Wuerttemberg with no more than two people who are not members of the same family allowed to meet.
While gatherings of smaller groups are merely an offence under the current ordinance, groups of more than 15 people are a crime, according to the police spokesman.
– AAP
UK and US record deadliest days
Another 708 people have died of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom – it's largest daily death toll since the pandemic began.
It brings Britain's total number of deaths to 4,353, with more than 41,000 cases confirmed across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The youngest victim announced on Saturday was just five years old, according to NHS England.
The child is now believed to be the youngest coronavirus death in Europe after a 12-year-old girl passed away in Belgium earlier this week.
Britain's death toll has been steadily increasing at more than 500 deaths a day this week and the country is bracing for an expected peak in the next week to 10 days.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is in self-isolation after developing mild symptoms of the disease, ordered a three-week lockdown of the country on March 23 to try to cut infections.
But there has been concern that warmer weather forecast for this weekend could tempt people from their homes to green spaces and public parks.
“I just urge you not to do that,” Johnson said in a video message on Friday.
“Please, please stick with the guidance now.”
People could be seen exercising at Greenwich Park in south London on Saturday. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP
Health Secretary Matt Hancock also warned against any relaxation in social distancing. “If we do, people will die,” he told a daily briefing on the government’s response on Friday.
Meanwhile the United States' death toll has risen to more than 7,163 after another 1000 deaths were reported.
More than 30,000 new cases were also confirmed for the first time.
– With wires
How are the global numbers looking?
The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has just reached 60,000, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
There have now been more than 1,100,000 cases confirmed across the world, with 181 countries affected.
The highest numbers of cases have been reported in the United States (278,000+), Spain (124,000+), Italy (119,000+), Germany (91,000+) and France (83,000+).
The highest numbers of deaths have been reported in Italy (14,000+), Spain (11,000+), France (6000+), United Kingdom (3000+) and Iran (3000+).
Police are investigating a high-profile woman after it was claimed she was drugging her infant daughter while documenting the girl’s declining health on social media.
Australia’s medicines watchdog says parents should immediately stop giving a popular medicine to kids under the age of six, warning of potential ‘psychiatric’ side effects.
