Coronavirus world live updates: 'Unimaginable' death toll in New York

New York's governor described coronavirus deaths in the city as unimaginable. More than 400,000 are now infected in the US. 

Another 1,000 New Yorkers died in the five boroughs from the coronavirus in the 36-hour period between Tuesday morning and Wednesday night, new city health data shows.

The city's death toll now stands at 4260, according to tallies released by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on Wednesday evening.

That’s a staggering 1058 more fatalities than were reported to the city DOHMH on Tuesday morning, when the tally stood at 3202.

Confirmed coronavirus cases also shot up by nearly 8000 since early Tuesday, brining the city’s total cases to 80,204. 

Queens has the most coronavirus cases at 26,204, following by Brooklyn at 21,580, the Bronx at 16,419, Manhattan at 10,862, and Staten Island at 5102.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "improving" after spending two nights in intensive care with the coronavirus.

Mr Johnson was said to be "sitting up in bed" and "improving" after spending two nights in intensive care with the coronavirus.

At a press conference on Wednesday night, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the PM was receiving "excellent care" and was "engaging positively with the clinical team".

"The prime minister is not only my colleague and my boss, but also my friend and my thoughts are with him and his family," he added.

It comes as England recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far on Wednesday, with another 828 deaths pushing Britain's total death toll past 7000.

RELATED: Follow more coronavirus news

More than 1.5 million cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed across 184 countries, and more than 83,000 people have died.

Follow our live, rolling coverage of the pandemic below.

Updates

10:45 am April 9, 2020

'Unimaginable': US virus horror

Deaths continue to spike in New York even as hospitalisations and ventilator usage have plateaued or declined over the past few days.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he didn’t know if the state would ever get back to no new cases.

Mr Cuomo, in reference to the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, told reporters Wednesday (US time), “I don’t know that we ever get back to zero” new COVID-19 cases.

Mr Cuomo said the rate of new COVID-19 infections requiring hospitalisation was on the decline and added that some hospitals in the state are releasing more patients than taking in new ones.

"If the hospitalisation rate continues decreasing, the system should stabilise over the next couple of weeks," the governor said.

Mr Cuomo said that the recent spike in deaths was due to a spike in hospitalisations “10 days ago or so.”

"The number of deaths will continue to rise as those hospitalised for a longer period of time pass away," Cuomo said.

“I went through 9/11 and I thought I would never see anything like that again,” the governor said. “This literally eclipses that… it’s almost unimaginable to me.”

Mr Cuomo ordered all flags on state property to be flown at half-mast to pay tribute to those lost to the virus.

With New York Post and Fox News

4:02 am April 9, 2020 Highlight

How are the global numbers looking?

More than 1,452,000 cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed across 184 countries, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Nearly 84,000 people have died globally and about 309,000 people have recovered.

The United States has reached more than 400,000 confirmed cases of the virus, which is more than the number of cases in Spain, Italy and France (the next highest three) combined.

Italy has the highest death toll at more than 17,000.

3:55 am April 9, 2020 Highlight

WHO chief snaps back at Trump

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) says he doesn't care about US President Donald Trump's sharp criticism and threats of funding cuts.

“Why would I care about being attacked when people are dying?” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus quipped at a press conference on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump accused the WHO of being “China-centric” and criticised its alleged missteps.

"The WHO really blew it … fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?" he tweeted

The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020

But Dr Tedros said the agency was made up of humans “who make mistakes", and said his key focus was saving lives, not playing politics.

“Please quarantine politicising COVID,” he said.

3:17 am April 9, 2020 Highlight

Boris Johnson 'improving' in hospital

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "sitting up in bed" and "improving" after spending two nights in intensive care with the coronavirus.

At a press conference on Wednesday night, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the PM was receiving "excellent care" and was "engaging positively with the clinical team".

"The prime minister is not only my colleague and my boss, but also my friend and my thoughts are with him and his family," he added.

Mr Johnson was diagnosed with the coronavirus last month. Picture: Twitter/Boris Johnson

Earlier, Downing Street said Mr Johnson was “responding to treatment” and remained in a stable condition.

A spokesperson said he was in "good spirits" at St Thomas’s Hospital in London and was receiving just the “standard oxygen treatment” and “breathing without any other assistance”.

Asked if anyone had been in contact with the prime minister, the spokesman said: “The PM is not working, he’s in intensive care, he has the ability to contact those that he needs to, he’s following the advice of his doctors at all times".

It comes as another 828 people died from the coronavirus in England on Wednesday – its deadliest day yet.

The victims included a 35-year-old with no underlying heath conditions, according to NHS England.

Britain's total death toll has now surpassed 7000.

– With wires

11:41 pm April 8, 2020 Highlight

WHO warns against relaxing lockdowns

An official from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned now is not the time to relax lockdowns and social distancing measures.

Some countries in Europe are considering easing their physical distancing measures after a decline in the rate of new coronavirus cases.

But Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said some countries were experiencing "a rapid increase in cases or a fresh surge" and called for continued vigilance.

“We still have a long way to go in the marathon and the progress we have made so far in fighting the virus is extremely fragile,” he said.

“To think we are coming close to an endpoint would be a dangerous thing to do. The virus leaves no room for error or complacency.”

Dr Kluge said any prospect of easing lockdown measures would require "very careful consideration,” such as considering if health systems are prepared.

“Many of us are looking forward to celebrating Easter with better weather but this is not the time to lower our guard,” he told a video news conference from Copenhagen.

“We must soldier on.”

10:36 pm April 8, 2020 Highlight

Spain's daily death toll rises again

Another 757 people have died from the coronavirus in Spain and 6,180 more cases have been confirmed.

Both figures are slightly higher than yesterday’s, when the numbers rose for the first time in five days.

It pushes Spain's total death toll past 14,500 and its total number of infections to nearly 147,000.

9:26 pm April 8, 2020 Highlight

Charlotte Figi dies from virus 'complications'

Charlotte Figi, the little girl whose battle with a rare form of epilepsy inspired the ‘Charlotte’s Web’ strain of non-psychoactive marijuana and offered hope for other sick children, has died from the coronavirus.

The 13-year-old from Colorado Springs in the United States died on Tuesday afternoon, her family said via their Realm of Caring Facebook page.

"It is with a heavy heart that we write to let you know that Charlotte Figi passed away this afternoon from COVID-19 complications," they said.

Charlotte was just three months old when she started having seizures from Dravet Syndrome, a catastrophic type of epilepsy.

At three years old, she had as many as 300 grand mal seizures a week, used a wheelchair, went into repeated cardiac arrest and could barely speak.

It was then that her mother began calling medical marijuana shops as a last resort.

Two years later, Charlotte was largely seizure-free and able to walk, talk and feed herself after taking oil infused with a special strain of non-psychoactive marijuana – dubbed ‘Charlotte’s Web’.

Her recovery inspired other families with seizure-stricken children, and eventually a medical marijuana movement that led to law changes across the globe.

However, some doctors warned there was no proof that Charlotte’s Web was effective, or even safe.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-theVRBI3W

"Charlotte's story directly impacted thousands of families across the globe and has changed the face of cannabis in many ways," her family wrote.

"Some journeys are long and bland and others are short and poignant and meant to revolutionise the world. Such was the path chosen by this little girl with a catastrophic form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome.

"Charlotte's mum, Paige, helped pave the path for thousands of sick children with little hope for a future. A life that created a revolutionary movement in legitimising cannabis as a therapeutic option.

"Your work is done Charlotte, the world is changed, and you can now rest knowing that you leave the world a better place …. thank you, Charlotte, for dedicating your life to the service of a greater good."