by Summary for Tuesday, 7th April
Here's what you've missed last night and what's been happening in Asia this morning so far.
For the next month, Singapore will be under its own version of a lockdown, which it calls a "circuit breaker". Everyone has to stay at home, with some exceptions for those in essential services. Businesses whose employees can't work from home have to shut. This means most shops are closed, though supermarkets, banks, pet stores, and hairdressers (yes, they're considered essential here, for a basic cut) remain open. Food establishments are also open but only for takeaways and deliveries. And from tomorrow, all schools will be shut as well.
Singaporeans have been told to remain indoors except to buy food or exercise; to keep 1m apart when outside; and to avoid meeting anyone outside of their household.
The consequences of not obeying the rules can be harsh: you could be prosecuted under the city-state's strict Infectious Diseases Act and face up to six months in jail and/or fined S$10,000 (£5,700, US$7,000).
Oxfam and ActionAid International are among the charities that have called for debt relief which would free up more than $25bn (£20bn) this year.
"Developing countries are being hit by an unprecedented economic shock, and at the same time face an urgent health emergency," said Sarah-Jayne Clifton, director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign.
Calculations show that 69 of the world's poorest countries are due to pay $19.5bn to other governments and multilateral institutions, and $6bn to external private lenders this year.
Read more on this here.
While the deaths have been in the single digit range for some days - and there are ongoing questions about the validity of China's data - it's a symbolic moment to have a zero in that category.
The good news comes just a day before Wuhan - which was the centre of China's outbreak - will further ease its lockdown measures. People will be allowed to leave the city for the first time since it was locked down on 23 January.
China's apparent defeat of the virus is a welcome headline for authorities. It comes just as the US has more than 10,000 overall death and the highest daily death toll from any country battling the virus.
Beijing has for the past weeks been offering and sending help to other countries in Asia and Europe that are still battling their own virus crises.
In terms of new infections, China has reported 32 new cases for the past day - all of which it says were imported by people coming in from abroad.
after 14 April.
The government has quarantined more than 20,000 members of the Islamic preaching group, Tablighi Jamaat
. The organisation has dominated news here after a weeks-long event set off massive Covid-19 clusters.
. The 93-year-old man and 88-year-old woman have told local media that they feel "blessed" to be able to celebrate another Easter.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent the night in intensive care, after his condition worsened.
The 55-year-old, who caught the virus more than a week ago, will now be closer to a ventilator - which takes over the body's breathing process. However, he is not currently known to be on one.
Downing Street said he was receiving "excellent care".
Elsewhere in the UK, thousands of people have been missed off the government's high risk list for Covid-19 despite meeting the criteria.
Among them have been transplant patients, people with asthma and some with rare lung diseases.
The first day with zero new reported coronavirus deaths since the National Health Commission started publishing daily figures is no doubt a cause for hope in China and even across the world.
In a way it doesn’t matter if the figure is real. There has been much debate about the veracity of this country’s coronavirus statistics. Even if the overall number of infections and deaths is under-reported, the trend seems instructive.
Why? Because the trend matches reality in so many ways.
Interestingly, China’s Communist Party-controlled media is not reporting the first 24 hours without fatalities with any great fanfare. The subject isn’t even a key trending subject on Chinese social media platforms.
It was the same when we had the first day with no new homegrown infections. This either means Chinese media outlets know too well that there are flaws in the accounting here or, more likely, that the Party knows there are flaws in its accounting so it’s ordered a cautious presentation. Either way, in the end, it’s probably neither here nor there.
Look at the trend. In the trend there is good news.
Early trends are looking good here, where due to a quarantine on travellers and strict social distancing laws, infection rates have been steadily declining.
There are more than 5,800 cases but fewer than 100 people in intensive care. Australia also has ready resources to suppress any future outbreaks.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was in a position "other nations would be jealous of" and would be able to make it through the projected six-month pandemic period, if citizens stuck to the rules.
"We are flattening the curve," chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy said.
"We are on a life raft and we now have to chart the course for where we take that life raft."
In Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, more than 50 staff members have tested positive. And in Jaslok Hospital, a well-known private hospital in the city, more than 10 nurses tested positive on Monday.
A renowned state hospital in Delhi known for specialising in cancer treatment has been closed after 18 healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors, were confirmed to have coronavirus.
At least 50 other staff members at the Delhi State Cancer Institute have been asked to self-quarantine.
The news has been met with concern in India, where there are already fears over a fragmented healthcare system that may not have enough doctors, beds or ventilators to handle a full-blown pandemic.
A level four lockdown - the highest level - has been in place in New Zealand for almost two weeks.
All schools and non-essential services have been closed and five million people told not to leave their house unless necessary.
There have been 1,160 confirmed cases, with one death.
"I have decided that a situation gravely affecting people's life and the economy has occurred," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday. "This evening, I plan to call a government headquarters meeting and declare a state of emergency."
It's thought the measure will kick in at midnight and give local governors the power to ask people to stay at home and close businesses.
Seven regions will be affected: Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, the western hub of Osaka and nearby Hyogo, as well as the southwestern region of Fukuoka
Charity Sue Ryder said it was facing a £12m gap in funds over the next three months while Marie Curie said it would need £30m to keep services running over the same period.
"We have been calling on the government to support us but no funding has materialised," said the chief executive of Sue Ryder, Heidi Travis.
Read more on the struggle hospices are facing here.
On 31 March, Asia's biggest onion market fell silent.
The market in the western state of Maharashtra usually thrums with farmers and traders. But the mostly migrant men and women who unload, load and grade onions - an essential part of the diet of millions of Indians - are missing.
The market in Lasangaon accounts for a third of India's onion produce - and it managed to stumble along for nearly a week after India imposed a harsh 21-day lockdown last month.
Farmers were still able to go to their fields and pluck onions after the government made it clear that agriculture was an essential service. And a few workers had stayed back to keep the Lasangaon market running.
But then came a news report that one person had tested positive for Covid-19 in the neighbourhood, and panic set in.
"First the trucks stopped coming. Then some labourers fled. Then came the news about the virus patient. The rest of the workers fled," Manoj Jain, an onion trader told me.
Read the full story here
So what is intensive care?
ICUs are specialist wards set up to provide treatment and close monitoring for patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital.
They have fewer patients and more staffing to provide one-on-one care when it's needed and they are also kitted out with sophisticated monitoring equipment.
Read our full explainer on what ICUs are here
Earlier today four "sweeper flights", from islands identified by the embassy as having high concentrations of stranded UK nationals, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport for the connecting flight to the UK.
Joe Caswell, a 24-year-old graduate from Wirral, who had been stranded in Siargao, said he nearly didn’t make the flight home today because soldiers at a quarantine checkpoint demanded a paper copy of his ticket.
"It was an extremely strange and stressful situation," he said. "But after half an hour of talking we were able to get through. I’m relieved to be going back to see family and friends."
The British embassy says it will now look at ways of helping other stranded Britons in less accessible parts of the country’s archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.
"At a time when we are asking New Zealanders to make historic sacrifices I've let the team down. I've been an idiot," he said.
His resignation was rejected, but he has been been demoted in cabinet rankings and also lost a secondary position of associate finance minister.
Read more on Mr Clark here.
f you didn't know much about him before this, here are some key points on the man deputising for Boris Johnson:
Read our full profile here.
This is the life for many of the more than 200,000 migrant workers - mostly from South Asia - who live and work in Singapore, building the country’s gleaming skyscrapers and swanky malls. They’re also employed in some vital services, like fixing problems on the country’s public transport system or in the electricity grid.
The coronavirus has brought that inequality to the surface. Dozens of workers have contracted the virus, and three separate dormitories have effectively been quarantined into red zones, with thousands of people inside. None of them can go out for 14 days.
But the worry is that now these dorms are sealed off to the world, the virus will spread even further inside - becoming, in essence a far less comfortable and glamorous version of the Diamond Princess in Japan, which was dubbed a floating petri dish. The virus spread rampantly amongst people quarantined in that cruise ship as well as others.
The measures to gazette these dorms comes against the backdrop of rising local infections - a second wave that the government is grappling with.
Today marks the beginning of a month-long shutdown which will see workplaces and schools closed, which officials hope will slow the spread. But the number of infected migrant workers grows every day.
The ministry said in addition to supplying neighbouring countries, India would also give it to other nations "badly affected by the pandemic".
On Monday, Donald Trump said the US could "retaliate" if India didn't release stocks of the drug, which he has called a "game-changer" in the fight against Covid-19.
Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to Chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs.
But it remains unclear whether the drug can actually work against coronavirus. Many virologists and infectious disease experts have cautioned that the excitement over hydroxychloroquine is premature and the drug has not been properly tested.
The small, state-of-the-art liner had left for a trip to Antarctica on 15 March. But during the trip passengers and crew began showing symptoms. Six seriously ill have been taken on land in Uruguay for treatment while the rest remain on board.
The country is in talks with Australia to allow those who are healthy to fly home. Passengers are mostly from Australia, the UK and New Zealand.
Cruise operator Aurora said it had begun the "extraordinarily complicated" task of repatriating passengers, as most airlines had stopped flying "and access to charter planes is difficult".
In a press briefing on Monday, Trump said he had asked "two of the leading companies, brilliant companies... to contact London immediately".
He did not give the names of the companies or say what treatment methods were being considered. Johnson is being treated in the ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
"We've contacted all of Boris's doctors and we'll see what is going to take placem," Trump said.
across the country after four more people died on Monday
With more than 150 cases in Sri Lanka, it looks as though officials are likely to extend the rigid lockdowncurrently in place across the country
Similarly, the lockdown in Nepal will be extended to 15 April
after three new cases were confirmed over the weekend, taking the tally to nine.
According to eyewitness accounts, police used batons to prevent the doctors' march towards a venue where the provincial cabinet was holding a meeting. The doctors have been critical of the provincial health ministry for failing to ensure safety of medical workers despite promises.
The government says it has provided masks and kits to staff who handle coronavirus patients, but medical workers say they are all at risk, as they have to deal with patients who may be infected but not yet tested.
They point out that more than a dozen doctors who have so far tested positive for coronavirus in the Balochistan region, of which Quetta is the capital, were not working with coronavirus patients.
Doctors and nurses in several parts of the country, including the capital Islamabad, have gone on strike several times over the last couple of weeks to register their concerns over lack of safety kits for hospital staff.
These concerns were triggered by the infection and death in late March of a doctor in Gigit-Baltistan region who had been screening returning pilgrims from Iran.
Hours after the arrests in Quetta, another doctor who recently tested positive for coronavirus died in a Karachi hospital. He is the third doctor to have died of the infection in Pakistan so far.
Ramadan is typically such a festive month in Indonesia, where about 85% of the more than 260 million-strong population are Muslims. At dawn, some people take to the roads to give early meals, or sahoor, to the poor, and at dusk people break the fast together at restaurants or mosques. Street vendors line up on the roads, selling light meals such as dates or banana in coconut milk. At night, people go to the mosques for tarawih, Koran reading, or donating zakat or alms.
On Eid day, which falls at the end of May, football fields, parking lots, and neighborhood alleys are used to host mass prayers, where many don their new clothes and prayer dresses. Eid shopping is also important for the economy - last year, domestic consumption during Ramadan boosted Indonesia’s GDP growth in the second quarter to 5.17%.
Ramadan this time will be vastly different. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry of religious affairs has issued a circular letter urging Muslims to practice prayers, fast breaking, and Koran reading in their homes. It also asks Muslims to carry out online the country’s own halal bi-halal tradition, or social gathering after Eid, to ask forgiveness from friends and families.
Welcome to our live coverage
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic.Here's what you've missed last night and what's been happening in Asia this morning so far.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care in a London hospital after his coronavirus infection worsened.
- Japan is expected to declare a state of emergency, possibly as early as today.
- China says it has recorded no deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, that's the first time since the outbreak peaked in the country where the pandemic started.
- Indonesia has seen ever bigger daily infection numbers over the past days with at least 24 doctors among the 209 dead.
- The US has seen 1,150 deaths in the past day, more than any other country
Singapore's 'circuit breaker' measures begin
It's quiet on the streets of Singapore, where new social distancing measures kick in today. The country has seen a sharp uptick in infections in recent days.For the next month, Singapore will be under its own version of a lockdown, which it calls a "circuit breaker". Everyone has to stay at home, with some exceptions for those in essential services. Businesses whose employees can't work from home have to shut. This means most shops are closed, though supermarkets, banks, pet stores, and hairdressers (yes, they're considered essential here, for a basic cut) remain open. Food establishments are also open but only for takeaways and deliveries. And from tomorrow, all schools will be shut as well.
Singaporeans have been told to remain indoors except to buy food or exercise; to keep 1m apart when outside; and to avoid meeting anyone outside of their household.
The consequences of not obeying the rules can be harsh: you could be prosecuted under the city-state's strict Infectious Diseases Act and face up to six months in jail and/or fined S$10,000 (£5,700, US$7,000).
World's poorest countries 'should get debt relief'
The world's poorest countries should not have to pay their debts at a time where they're struggling to deal with a virus outbreak, say major charity organisations.Oxfam and ActionAid International are among the charities that have called for debt relief which would free up more than $25bn (£20bn) this year.
"Developing countries are being hit by an unprecedented economic shock, and at the same time face an urgent health emergency," said Sarah-Jayne Clifton, director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign.
Calculations show that 69 of the world's poorest countries are due to pay $19.5bn to other governments and multilateral institutions, and $6bn to external private lenders this year.
Read more on this here.
China reports zero new deaths
China says it has recorded not a single coronavirus death in the past day.While the deaths have been in the single digit range for some days - and there are ongoing questions about the validity of China's data - it's a symbolic moment to have a zero in that category.
The good news comes just a day before Wuhan - which was the centre of China's outbreak - will further ease its lockdown measures. People will be allowed to leave the city for the first time since it was locked down on 23 January.
China's apparent defeat of the virus is a welcome headline for authorities. It comes just as the US has more than 10,000 overall death and the highest daily death toll from any country battling the virus.
Beijing has for the past weeks been offering and sending help to other countries in Asia and Europe that are still battling their own virus crises.
In terms of new infections, China has reported 32 new cases for the past day - all of which it says were imported by people coming in from abroad.
What's the latest from India?
- Good morning to those joining us from India. It’s a bright, nearly cloudless morning in Delhi and we’re about a week away from the end of a 21-day lockdown - we hope.
Here’s what you need to know about India this morning: - A group of ministers are set to meet today to discuss whether the lockdown should be extended.
- Meanwhile, at least seven states - which are home to almost one-third of overall cases in India - have indicated that they would continue to have restrictions in place
- India reported its biggest spike in deaths - 32 - in a single day on Monday after 693 fresh cases took the total number to more than 4,000 cases.
- And to end on a positive note, the country's oldest couple to beat coronavirus have returned home
. The 93-year-old man and 88-year-old woman have told local media that they feel "blessed" to be able to celebrate another Easter.
UK PM Johnson remains in intensive care
In the UK, there's only one thing dominating the news headlines this morning.Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent the night in intensive care, after his condition worsened.
The 55-year-old, who caught the virus more than a week ago, will now be closer to a ventilator - which takes over the body's breathing process. However, he is not currently known to be on one.
Downing Street said he was receiving "excellent care".
Elsewhere in the UK, thousands of people have been missed off the government's high risk list for Covid-19 despite meeting the criteria.
Among them have been transplant patients, people with asthma and some with rare lung diseases.
'Even if you doubt China's data, it's good news'
Stephen McDonell - BBC News, BeijingThe first day with zero new reported coronavirus deaths since the National Health Commission started publishing daily figures is no doubt a cause for hope in China and even across the world.
In a way it doesn’t matter if the figure is real. There has been much debate about the veracity of this country’s coronavirus statistics. Even if the overall number of infections and deaths is under-reported, the trend seems instructive.
Why? Because the trend matches reality in so many ways.
Interestingly, China’s Communist Party-controlled media is not reporting the first 24 hours without fatalities with any great fanfare. The subject isn’t even a key trending subject on Chinese social media platforms.
It was the same when we had the first day with no new homegrown infections. This either means Chinese media outlets know too well that there are flaws in the accounting here or, more likely, that the Party knows there are flaws in its accounting so it’s ordered a cautious presentation. Either way, in the end, it’s probably neither here nor there.
Look at the trend. In the trend there is good news.
Australia: 'We are flattening the curve'
The Australian government has just given a comprehensive update on the virus situation.Early trends are looking good here, where due to a quarantine on travellers and strict social distancing laws, infection rates have been steadily declining.
There are more than 5,800 cases but fewer than 100 people in intensive care. Australia also has ready resources to suppress any future outbreaks.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was in a position "other nations would be jealous of" and would be able to make it through the projected six-month pandemic period, if citizens stuck to the rules.
"We are flattening the curve," chief medical officer Dr Brendan Murphy said.
"We are on a life raft and we now have to chart the course for where we take that life raft."
India hospitals shut down after staff test positive
Three hospitals in two of India's largest cities - the capital, Delhi, and Mumbai - have been shut after staff tested positive for Covid-19. No-one can go in or leave, and staff can only go home once they've tested negativeIn Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, more than 50 staff members have tested positive. And in Jaslok Hospital, a well-known private hospital in the city, more than 10 nurses tested positive on Monday.
A renowned state hospital in Delhi known for specialising in cancer treatment has been closed after 18 healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors, were confirmed to have coronavirus.
At least 50 other staff members at the Delhi State Cancer Institute have been asked to self-quarantine.
The news has been met with concern in India, where there are already fears over a fragmented healthcare system that may not have enough doctors, beds or ventilators to handle a full-blown pandemic.
NZ virus cases 'on track'
There was a positive tone from New Zealand earlier day, which appears to be "on track", its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said. The country has just recorded its lowest number of cases in two weeks, at 54.A level four lockdown - the highest level - has been in place in New Zealand for almost two weeks.
All schools and non-essential services have been closed and five million people told not to leave their house unless necessary.
There have been 1,160 confirmed cases, with one death.
Japan to declare state of emergency
Japan is bracing itself for a state of emergency to be put in place for its big cities, like Tokyo and Osaka."I have decided that a situation gravely affecting people's life and the economy has occurred," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday. "This evening, I plan to call a government headquarters meeting and declare a state of emergency."
It's thought the measure will kick in at midnight and give local governors the power to ask people to stay at home and close businesses.
Seven regions will be affected: Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, the western hub of Osaka and nearby Hyogo, as well as the southwestern region of Fukuoka
UK hospices could close
Hospices in the UK could close as they "cannot wait any longer" for emergency funding.Charity Sue Ryder said it was facing a £12m gap in funds over the next three months while Marie Curie said it would need £30m to keep services running over the same period.
"We have been calling on the government to support us but no funding has materialised," said the chief executive of Sue Ryder, Heidi Travis.
Read more on the struggle hospices are facing here.
Fears over food shortages in India
Soutik Biswas - India CorrespondentOn 31 March, Asia's biggest onion market fell silent.
The market in the western state of Maharashtra usually thrums with farmers and traders. But the mostly migrant men and women who unload, load and grade onions - an essential part of the diet of millions of Indians - are missing.
The market in Lasangaon accounts for a third of India's onion produce - and it managed to stumble along for nearly a week after India imposed a harsh 21-day lockdown last month.
Farmers were still able to go to their fields and pluck onions after the government made it clear that agriculture was an essential service. And a few workers had stayed back to keep the Lasangaon market running.
But then came a news report that one person had tested positive for Covid-19 in the neighbourhood, and panic set in.
"First the trucks stopped coming. Then some labourers fled. Then came the news about the virus patient. The rest of the workers fled," Manoj Jain, an onion trader told me.
Read the full story here
What is an Intensive Care Unit?
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) at St Thomas' hospital in London. We'll bring you the latest news on his condition as we get it.So what is intensive care?
ICUs are specialist wards set up to provide treatment and close monitoring for patients who are too seriously ill to be cared for in other parts of the hospital.
They have fewer patients and more staffing to provide one-on-one care when it's needed and they are also kitted out with sophisticated monitoring equipment.
Read our full explainer on what ICUs are here
UK tourists finally fly home from Philippines
Nearly 300 passengers have left the Philippines on a London-bound repatriation flight from Manila’s main airport.Earlier today four "sweeper flights", from islands identified by the embassy as having high concentrations of stranded UK nationals, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport for the connecting flight to the UK.
Joe Caswell, a 24-year-old graduate from Wirral, who had been stranded in Siargao, said he nearly didn’t make the flight home today because soldiers at a quarantine checkpoint demanded a paper copy of his ticket.
"It was an extremely strange and stressful situation," he said. "But after half an hour of talking we were able to get through. I’m relieved to be going back to see family and friends."
The British embassy says it will now look at ways of helping other stranded Britons in less accessible parts of the country’s archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.
NZ 'idiot' minister breaks lockdown
Earlier today, New Zealand's health minister David Clark said he had been an "idiot", after he broke lockdown rules by driving to the beach with his family."At a time when we are asking New Zealanders to make historic sacrifices I've let the team down. I've been an idiot," he said.
His resignation was rejected, but he has been been demoted in cabinet rankings and also lost a secondary position of associate finance minister.
Read more on Mr Clark here.
Who is Dominic Raab?
f you didn't know much about him before this, here are some key points on the man deputising for Boris Johnson:
- 46-year-old former lawyer
- Son of a Czech-born Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis in 1938
- Degrees from Oxford and Cambridge
- Conservative MP since 2010
- Current foreign secretary and first secretary of state
- Supporter of campaign to leave the European Union
- Black belt in karate
Read our full profile here.
Singapore foreign workers on lockdown
They are Singapore’s neglected workforce. Cramped living quarters, bunk beds and shared toilets. Sometimes 12 men sleep in one room, often in squalid living conditions.This is the life for many of the more than 200,000 migrant workers - mostly from South Asia - who live and work in Singapore, building the country’s gleaming skyscrapers and swanky malls. They’re also employed in some vital services, like fixing problems on the country’s public transport system or in the electricity grid.
The coronavirus has brought that inequality to the surface. Dozens of workers have contracted the virus, and three separate dormitories have effectively been quarantined into red zones, with thousands of people inside. None of them can go out for 14 days.
But the worry is that now these dorms are sealed off to the world, the virus will spread even further inside - becoming, in essence a far less comfortable and glamorous version of the Diamond Princess in Japan, which was dubbed a floating petri dish. The virus spread rampantly amongst people quarantined in that cruise ship as well as others.
The measures to gazette these dorms comes against the backdrop of rising local infections - a second wave that the government is grappling with.
Today marks the beginning of a month-long shutdown which will see workplaces and schools closed, which officials hope will slow the spread. But the number of infected migrant workers grows every day.
India to release supply of hydroxychloroquine
India will release "appropriate quantities" of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol, according to reports citing the Ministry of External Affairs..The ministry said in addition to supplying neighbouring countries, India would also give it to other nations "badly affected by the pandemic".
On Monday, Donald Trump said the US could "retaliate" if India didn't release stocks of the drug, which he has called a "game-changer" in the fight against Covid-19.
Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to Chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs.
But it remains unclear whether the drug can actually work against coronavirus. Many virologists and infectious disease experts have cautioned that the excitement over hydroxychloroquine is premature and the drug has not been properly tested.
Stricken Antarctica cruise ship stuck off Uruguay
Another cruise ship has been hit by the virus, this time coming back from a trip to Antarctica: Australia's Greg Mortimer vessel is off the coast of Uruguay with more than 80 people who tested positive - almost half of the roughly 200 overall passengers and crew.The small, state-of-the-art liner had left for a trip to Antarctica on 15 March. But during the trip passengers and crew began showing symptoms. Six seriously ill have been taken on land in Uruguay for treatment while the rest remain on board.
The country is in talks with Australia to allow those who are healthy to fly home. Passengers are mostly from Australia, the UK and New Zealand.
Cruise operator Aurora said it had begun the "extraordinarily complicated" task of repatriating passengers, as most airlines had stopped flying "and access to charter planes is difficult".
Trump asks 'genius' companies to help Boris
US President Donald Trump says he asked two "genius" US companies to help in the treatment of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was moved to intensive care after his virus symptoms worsened.In a press briefing on Monday, Trump said he had asked "two of the leading companies, brilliant companies... to contact London immediately".
He did not give the names of the companies or say what treatment methods were being considered. Johnson is being treated in the ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
"We've contacted all of Boris's doctors and we'll see what is going to take placem," Trump said.
Pakistan quarantines 20,000 in bid to curb spread
Pakistan has quarantined 20,000 people after they attended a gathering organised by an Islamic missionary movement, Tablighi Jamaat. Officials are concerned that they could be spreading the virus in the country and overseas.
The group has dominated news coverage in India too, where nearly 30% of its more than 4,000 confirmed cases have been linked to an event organised by its members in the capital, Delhi, last month.
Here’s more news from the rest of South Asia:- In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Bangladesh has stopped prayers at mosques
after three new cases were confirmed over the weekend, taking the tally to nine.
Dozens of arrests at Pakistan doctors' protest
Police in Quetta have arrested scores of practicing doctors and paramedics after a doctors’ protest over non-availability of safety gear turned violent.According to eyewitness accounts, police used batons to prevent the doctors' march towards a venue where the provincial cabinet was holding a meeting. The doctors have been critical of the provincial health ministry for failing to ensure safety of medical workers despite promises.
The government says it has provided masks and kits to staff who handle coronavirus patients, but medical workers say they are all at risk, as they have to deal with patients who may be infected but not yet tested.
They point out that more than a dozen doctors who have so far tested positive for coronavirus in the Balochistan region, of which Quetta is the capital, were not working with coronavirus patients.
Doctors and nurses in several parts of the country, including the capital Islamabad, have gone on strike several times over the last couple of weeks to register their concerns over lack of safety kits for hospital staff.
These concerns were triggered by the infection and death in late March of a doctor in Gigit-Baltistan region who had been screening returning pilgrims from Iran.
Hours after the arrests in Quetta, another doctor who recently tested positive for coronavirus died in a Karachi hospital. He is the third doctor to have died of the infection in Pakistan so far.
Indonesia urges Muslims to pray at home
Indonesia has urged Muslims to practice tarawih, or additional prayers performed at night during fasting month, at home and forgo mass Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan, a move that would dramatically affect the life of millions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.Ramadan is typically such a festive month in Indonesia, where about 85% of the more than 260 million-strong population are Muslims. At dawn, some people take to the roads to give early meals, or sahoor, to the poor, and at dusk people break the fast together at restaurants or mosques. Street vendors line up on the roads, selling light meals such as dates or banana in coconut milk. At night, people go to the mosques for tarawih, Koran reading, or donating zakat or alms.
On Eid day, which falls at the end of May, football fields, parking lots, and neighborhood alleys are used to host mass prayers, where many don their new clothes and prayer dresses. Eid shopping is also important for the economy - last year, domestic consumption during Ramadan boosted Indonesia’s GDP growth in the second quarter to 5.17%.
Ramadan this time will be vastly different. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry of religious affairs has issued a circular letter urging Muslims to practice prayers, fast breaking, and Koran reading in their homes. It also asks Muslims to carry out online the country’s own halal bi-halal tradition, or social gathering after Eid, to ask forgiveness from friends and families.
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