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Summary for Friday, 24th April


Hello and welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We’re writing to you out of Asia this morning, and will be joined later today by our colleagues from London.
Muslims across the world are today marking the start of the holy month of Ramadan, and many of them are doing so under a lockdown.
Typically, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, gathering with family to break the fast in the evening.
Some countries are allowing events to go ahead. But for many people, social distancing measures means these traditions can't take place as usual this year – with people unable to pray at mosques or even gather for meals.
Some are trying to combat this by going virtual – with mosques offering virtual prayers and families breaking fast through video calls. For most, it’s still going to be a month of reflection and celebration – just one that might look a little different.

What’s happening in Asia

As the last day of the working week gets under way in Asia, here's a glance at what's happening across the region:

• China again reported no coronavirus deaths for the past day, making it a full week without fatalities.
  
• South Korea’s government says it will provide cash handouts to every household, not just middle and lower income ones as initially planned.
  
• Japan has warned the fallout from the virus threatens to push its economy into a deep recession.
  
• Indonesia will temporarily ban domestic air and sea travel, starting this Friday.
  
• The Philippines will extend the lockdown of Manila and other high risk areas until 15 May.
  
• Malaysia will extend most lockdown measures for two weeks until 12 May but looks at allowing some sectors to resume business.
  

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar - a holy month for the world's 1.8 billion Muslims and a time of increased participation in community life.
It is obligatory for every able Muslim to fast between dawn and sunset during the entire month. Young children, pregnant women, the old, the sick and travellers are exempt from fasting. People typically gather with families and friends to break their daily fasts with large Iftar meals.
Another special, but not obligatory, practice during Ramadan is attending the nightly Taraweeh prayers. Traditionally, mosques are filled with worshippers attending these prayers, which usually last for one and a half to two hours. Most mosques will recite one 30th of the Koran each night.
You can find out more about Ramadan here from our colleagues at BBC Newsround.

What’s happening in Australia?

• Australians are being urged to stand in their driveways and tune into streamed services tomorrow to mark Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance for the wartime dead. Traditional dawn services have been cancelled as large gatherings have been banned.
  
• A 79-year-old woman from Tasmania’s north-west has died, in another fatality linked to a super cluster there. It brings the national death toll to 77.
  
• However less than a dozen new cases have been recorded nationally overnight and New South Wales – the worst-affected state - has urged anyone with even mild symptoms to go for testing so restrictions can be relaxed sooner.
  
• Around 460,000 Australians have sought to withdraw money from their retirement funds, prompting criticism the government's welfare isn't being released quickly enough.
  
• And Tom Hanks, who recovered from the virus last month, has become pen pals with an eight-year-old Gold Coast boy who's been bullied for his name, Corona.
  

US death toll close to 50,000

The number of deaths in the United States linked to Covid-19 now stands at 49,759. The country has by for the highest death toll in the world and the number of confirmed infections is more than 866,000 with just under 10% of those already recovered.
President Donald Trump has criticised the decision by some US states to gradually open up their economies, even though he earlier tweeted his support to protesters demanding an end of the lockdown.
Meanwhile, the US has passed a new $484bn (£390bn) stimulus package, with funds for small businesses and virus testing. It's the fourth aid bill in response to the pandemic.
US unemployment claims have hit 26.4 million - more than 15% of the country's workforce.

Ruby Princess crew fly home to the Philippines

Some 360 Filipino crew members from virus-stricken cruise the Ruby Princess have flown home to the Philippines.
The crew members boarded a chartered flight from Sydney last on Thursday - all of them were cleared to travel.
The ship had been docked in Port Kembla, south of Sydney, since 6 April.
More than 600 confirmed cases and 21 deaths in Australia have been linked to the Ruby Princess, after thousands of passengers were allowed to leave the cruise despite some of them being sick.
It left the port yesterday, bound for the Philippines. Around 100 Filipino crew members remain onboard as part of the essential crew.

Islam's holiest sites lie empty

The coronavirus outbreak has meant that some of the holiest sites in Islam have been empty for weeks and will continue to be so during Ramadan.
These sites are usually full of worshippers during the fasting month.
“It is a very sad moment in the history of Islam,” said Sheikh Omar al-Kiswami, the imam and director of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Dome of the Rock at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem




Umraah visits to Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia have been halted since March

Japanese hospitals face onslaught of patients

Until recently, Japan had been one of the success stories in controlling the spread of the virus. In February and March it succeeded in suppressing early cluster outbreaks, and in keeping total infections in the hundreds.
But now the capital, Tokyo, appears to have a developing epidemic with more than 3,500 cases confirmed. Countrywide there are now more than 12,000 cases.
Doctors in Tokyo say a state of emergency, declared two weeks ago, is not slowing the spread of the virus enough to stop new cases overwhelming the hospital system.
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and the BBC's Tokyo team have been inside one hospital just south of the capital, which has built a makeshift Covid-19 unit in just 10 days, to try to deal with the overflow.

How to fast safely at this time

Fasting is obligatory for all adult followers of Islam who are able to safely go without food and drink.
But there are some considerations when it comes to fasting during a pandemic.
Fighting infection takes a lot of energy, University of Sussex immunologist Dr Jenna Macciochi says.
And prolonged periods of not eating or drinking can weaken the immune system.
Learn more about how to fast safely here

Boris Johnson 'just another patient for us'

The New Zealand nurse whom British PM Boris Johnson credited for taking care of him while he was in an intensive care unit has said he was just "another patient we were trying to do our best for."
In an interview with TVNZ, Jenny McGee also said she was shocked when she heard that he had paid tribute to her and a Portuguese nurse, saying it came "totally out of the blue".
Mr Johnson is currently recovering from his bout of Covid-19 at his country retreat, Chequers. Read more from Jenny's interview here.

Coronavirus drug fails first trial

A potential antiviral drug for the coronavirus has reportedly failed in its first randomised clinical trial. There had been widespread hope that the drug called remdesivir could treat Covid-19.
But a Chinese trial showed that the drug had not been successful, according to draft documents published by accident by the World Health Organization.
Out of 237 patients, some were given the drug, others a placebo. After one month, 13.9% of the patients taking the drug had died compared to 12.8% of those receiving the placebo. The trial was then stopped early because of side-effects.
The US firm behind the drug, Gilead Sciences, has disputed the WHO post though, saying it had mischaracterised the study.

US protesters say 'we want our lives back'

According to John Hopkins University there are currently more than 864,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US and there have been more than 47,000 deaths.
But from Pennsylvania to Kansas, protesters across the US have been insisting that the coronavirus lockdowns should be lifted and states reopened, despite expert advice that social distancing is the best way of keeping the virus from spreading.

Hong Kong students finally sits exams

Tens of thousands of teenagers in Hong Kong are today sitting their university entrance exams. They were originally due to take place last month but were forced to be delayed due to the outbreak.
Today's students however, will need to wear masks and adhere to strict social distancing rules in the examination room. Their temperatures will also be taken before they're allowed in.
Hong Kong currently has 1,035 confirmed virus cases.

G20 calls for more donations

The presidency of the G20, currently held by Saudi Arabia, has called for more donations to fund emergency response to the pandemic.
The G20 secretariat said that so far $1.9bn (£1.5bn) had been donated, but that the target set was $8bn. Donations are coming from countries and the private sector.
G20 labour and employment ministers pledged on Thursday to prop up the labour market as the coronavirus pandemic hits jobs and output around the world.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) earlier this week warned that the economic consequences of the virus crisis were having a "devastating effect" on workers and employers.
"The world of work is facing the worst global crisis since World War Two," Alette van Leur, ILO policies director, warned.

Cruise ship in Japan reports 91 cases

Ninety-one crew members onboard an Italian cruise ship which was undergoing repairs in Japan's port city of Nagasaki have now tested positive for the virus, says a Reuters report quoting officials.
There are around 623 crew members on board the Costa Atlantica and no passengers.
Those who test negative will be repatriated, said Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, though it's still unclear how exactly this would take place. All those onboard the ship are currently in quarantine, unless they require hospital visits.
The ship was taken into a shipyard in Nagasaki in late February after the outbreak meant that scheduled repairs in China could no longer take place.

Anzac Day to be marked at dawn in driveways

Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand is the most sacred public holiday for both nations – as their day of remembrance for wartime dead.
Traditionally, people will gather at their local war memorial or community hall to attend solemn dawn services, however under lockdown restrictions, any public gatherings have been banned.
So instead people have been urged to turn out in their driveways, windows and balconies tomorrow morning, with a lit candle, to pay tribute. People can access pre-recorded services or tune into a select few ceremonies being live-streamed. Musicians are also encouraged to play the Last Post.
Already people have shared some of their creative #AnzacSpirit tributes online, such as papier-mache red poppies and home-made wreaths. And veterans have been encouraged to call each other over the phone in lieu of the usual reunion marches.

Ramadan restrictions in key countries

In Saudi Arabia, King Salman has decreed that a shortened version of the Taraweeh prayers can be performed by clerics and staff at Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca’s Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Members of the public will not be permitted to enter the sites - they have been told to pray at home.
The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, in the Old City of Jerusalem will also be closed to members of the public during Ramadan. “Such a decision was the first in 1,400 years, it is tough, and it pains our hearts," said Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, al-Aqsa’s director. Clerics and guards will still be allowed to attend the Taraweeh prayers, which will also be streamed online.
The president of Egypt, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, said the decision to close mosques and continue the night-time curfew during Ramadan were taken to “preserve the safety of the people”. He warned of “tougher measures” if the restrictions were ignored and the Covid-19 outbreak got worse.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will provide 10 million meals to communities affected by the outbreak in the country. “Providing food for everyone, with the approach of the Holy Month of Ramadan, is a social priority in our battle against the pandemic,” Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wrote on Twitter. The UAE is also relaxing its lockdown to allow people out between 06:00 and 22:00.

Tom Hanks writes back to bullied Corona

It can't be easy being called Corona in these times - and for an eight-year-old Australian boy - all the teasing he's been getting at school was bringing him down.
So Corona De Vries wrote to one of his favourite actors, Tom Hanks, who along with his wife Rita Wilson contracted and recovered from the virus on the Gold Coast last month.
"I heard on the news you and your wife had caught the coronavirus," Corona wrote in his letter to "Mr and Mrs Hanks", adding: "Are you ok?"
Hanks then sent a letter back thanking Corona for his well wishes - and marvelling over his unique name: "You are the only person I've ever known to have the name Corona - like the ring around the sun, a crown."
The Toy Story actor also gifted a Corona-brand typewriter to the boy telling him: "Use it to write me back."
Read more about this lovely new friendship here.

Is social distancing an oxymoron in India?

Geeta Pandey - BBC News, Delhi


Three weeks into the lockdown, this vegetable market in Patna was still crowded

Health experts and governments across the world have been advising people to practice social distancing to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
In India too, we are constantly being told to avoid physical contact and maintain a distance of at least 1m from others.
But what transpires every now and then makes one wonder if social distancing is an oxymoron in India.
"In India, it's a privilege to be able to maintain social distancing when most of the population is huddled up five to six in a room," one sociologist I spoke to said.
You can read the full story here.

Trump suggests unproven heat and light treatments

At his daily press conference that ended just hours ago, US President Donald Trump suggested looking into unproven treatments for curing Covid-19, including using shining "a tremendous light" into the body, and injecting disinfectant.
But at the same briefing Dr Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force co-ordinator, said she had not seen evidence that heat could kill the virus.

Mass prayers to go ahead in Pakistan

M Ilyas Khan - BBC News, Islamabad


Friday congregational prayers have continued at the Red Mosque and others despite a government ban

Ramadan officially begins in Pakistan on Saturday, but questions over official measures to contain infection still loom large.
The government has agreed to open mosques for Ramadan prayers after a month-long closure.
It comes as most Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia which is the birthplace of Islam, have said they will continue with restrictions on public prayers in mosques.
Ramadan is traditionally marked by increased attendance at mosques and other communal rituals which many say may spur the social spread of the virus.
Pakistan has already registered more than 10,000 cases of coronavirus infection, of which around 79% have been due to local transmission.
Top doctors’ associations have since warned of an "unmanageable" spike in cases next month if the decision to open mosques for collective prayers is not revised.

Red Mosque and the influential clergy

M Ilyas Khan - BBC News, Islamabad
The government of Pakistan says the clerics have agreed to a set of precautions such as disinfectant sprays or keeping a 1m distance between worshippers. But everyone, including government officials, admits there is no capacity to enforce universal conformity.
Islamabad has repeatedly failed to enforce earlier lockdowns on mosques.
Some say the clergy has been adamant on opening religious rituals during Ramadan because it is the month when most affluent Muslims tend to pay zakat, or an Islamic annual tax on income, and most of which flows into the mosques and seminaries attached to them.
They say the government’s decision is evidence of the influence the clergy – which has long been an ally of Pakistan’s powerful military – wields over the political establishment.
A clear sign of this is the case of Islamabad’s famous Red Mosque, whose chief cleric has been booked for violating lockdown procedures for three consecutive weeks, but hasn’t been arrested because officials fear a violent backlash from his followers.

Lockdown clears Delhi pollution

As recently as November, the Indian capital, Delhi, went through some its worst polluted days in history.
But the country has been under strict lockdown since March and just have a look at what a difference that's made. The closure of factories and airports has resulted in a dramatic reduction in smog pollution.

See more HERE

Top health expert says WHO trusted China too much

A key member of Canada's pandemic task force has said the World Health Organization (WHO) response relied too much on China's official data and set back the global response by as much as three weeks.
Dr David Naylor told broadcaster CBC that the WHO should have known from past experience that there was a problem with China reporting incomplete data.
"I think we lost two to three weeks and I think that's regrettable, and I think that will come to light when a review is done," he said.
He stressed though it was wrong to conclude that an earlier reaction would have "completely changed" the course of the outbreak and said the WHO needed continued support.
The WHO has also been criticised by US President Trump, who has said he will withdraw funding.

Mass prayers still held in Aceh, Indonesia

Prayers were held in mosques in Aceh province in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - on Thursday evening.
The local religious authorities announced that the nightly Taraweeh prayers would be allowed in the month of Ramadan despite the Covid-19 outbreak - in defiance of the guidelines issued by the country's Religious Affairs Ministry that advises Indonesians to worship from home.
The congregational prayer were only being allowed in Aceh in areas where the spread of Covid-19 was under control, authorities said.
Aceh has recorded seven confirmed cases and one death.

Sydney beaches closed again after crowds gather

Three Sydney beaches that re-opened this week - Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra - have been temporarily shut again after too many people flocked to the surf.
Local authorities said lifeguards cleared the crowds shortly after lunchtime when it became "just impossible to maintain safe social distancing".
A council spokeswoman told the BBC: "There were definitely too many people breaching the 1.5m distancing rule. Lots of people just paddling along the shoreline not actually swimming but just hanging out in the shallows.
"What we need is people to come and swim, do their exercise and then go."
But on a sunny Friday in 27C heat - the temptation to stay clearly proved too much for many. The beaches will re-open tomorrow, but officials say they will draw the line in the sand if crowds form again.
Bondi Beach is also set to re-open next week but only to swimmers and surfers.

United flight attendants must wear masks

All United Airlines flight attendants must wear a face covering or mask on duty starting today - the first such rule by a major US carrier
In a letter seen by Reuters, the Association of Flight Attendants welcomed the move but also urged the departments of transportation to make it compulsory for passengers to wear masks.
It also called for personal protection equipment to be made available to flight attendants, which was echoed by the US pilot union.
"Flight crews are a unique vector for the virus, traveling all over the country. It is vital that our crews be treated as essential workers and have access to personal protection equipment and testing," Jason Goldberg, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, was quoted as saying.
Major US airlines have drastically scaled back flying schedules but continue to operate domestic flights and a handful of international routes.

'India has not done enough for the poor'

Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee has told the BBC that India needs to be "much more generous" in providing relief to the millions that have been directly hit by the ongoing lockdown.
"We haven't done anything close to enough," the Indian-American academic said in an interview.
After imposing the lockdown on 24 March, India announced a $23bn (£18bn) relief package.
Much of it involves cash transfers and food security for the poor.
Prof Banerjee, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2019 with co-researchers Esther Dufflo and Michael Kremer, said the "government was right in its thinking to throw a shock in the system" to contain the spread of the Covid-19 infection.
"But the lockdown is not the end of the story. This disease is going to be with us for a long time until a vaccine arrives, which is not anytime soon," the economist added.
You can read more of his comments here.

Osaka mayor says women take too long to shop

In times of social distancing, all ventures outside should be done swiftly. And according to the mayor of Osaka, that means they should be done by men because women "take a long time" and "hesitate about this and that".
Mayor Ichiro Matsui said men should do the grocery runs because they "can snap up things they are told to buy and go, so I think it's good that they go shopping, avoiding human contact".
Unsurprisingly, he has come under significant fire for his comments, with people online accusing him of being prejudged and disrespectful to both women and men.
When challenged by a reporter, he admitted his advice might be viewed as out-of-touch, but said it was true in his family.
Traditional gender roles are still deeply rooted in Japanese society and women are often expected to take primary responsibility for childcare and domestic chores.

'Giving to others is a form of prayer'

Krutika Pathi - BBC News, Delhi
One non-profit in the Indian capital, Delhi, has found a way to connect the community, as Ramadan begins under lockdown with no gatherings at mosques allowed.
“We thought let’s give ourselves an alternative - let’s give out ration kits to families in need,” Irtiza Quraishi of the Marham non-profit said.
Volunteers will aim to deliver around 200 kits every night. Filled with essentials like wheat, rice and lentils, each kit weighs 18kg and is enough for a family of three or four to survive for a month, Mr Quraishi said.
His team of volunteers have secured passes that will allow them to drive through the city to drop off the rations, which has been funded by the Hamdard National Foundation.
He adds that Ramadan is a month to reflect but now “everything has changed”.
“Our ambitions, our targets for the year - it’s different now. It’s all about survival so we need to work together to make sure everyone survives this.
“The satisfaction from doing something like this is similar to praying at the mosque - giving to others is a form of prayer itself.”

Trump criticised for disinfectant theory

US President Donald Trump has been widely criticised after he suggested the possibility of injecting disinfectant into the body as a treatment for Covid-19.
He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, after an official had earlier said sunlight and disinfectant were known to kill the infection.
"So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous - whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light," he said.
"And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?"
Pointing to his head, Mr Trump went on: "I'm not a doctor. But I'm, like, a person that has a good you-know-what."
But doctors warned the president's idea could have fatal results, with one doctor saying it's "irresponsible and it's dangerous".
In short - don't inject or ingest disinfectant.
Read more on Trump's remarks here.