Coronavirus live news: Iran and Germany cases jump overnight; Russian military medics to help Italy | World news

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has announced restrictions on businesses but has said schools will remain open. In a press conference, which is ongoing – you can follow it on our dedicated Australia live blog – he said that Australians had been disregarding advice on social distancing. In response, he announced that from tomorrow at midday, the following businesses will be closed or restricted in their trade:

• Registered and licensed clubs
• Licensed premises in hotels and pubs.
• Entertainment venues and cinemas, casinos and nightclubs.
• Restaurants and cafes will be restrict to takeaway only.
• Indoor sporting venues.
• Places of worship.
• Enclosed spaces for funerals and things of that nature will have to follow the strict four square metre rule which will be enforced.

Hong Kong has reported 44 more cases confirmed over the past 24 hours, the city’s second highest daily increase to date, RTHK reports.

The highest daily toll to date was the 48 confirmed on Friday. The total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong now stands at 317.

Out of the 44 new cases, 29 had recently come back to Hong Kong from abroad, including nine students who had just returned to Hong Kong, RTHK says.

A further seven patients in Wales who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total to 12, the chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, has said.

Iran has also issued its latest figures, which show the death toll has risen to 1,685, an increase of 129 in 24 hours, and the number of cases has risen by 1,028 to 21,638.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen by 1,948 to 18,610, and the number of deaths has increased by nine to 55, the country’s public health institute has said.

Covid-19 could pose a threat to Africa’s endangered mountain gorilla, conservationists have warned. From AP:

Congo’s Virunga National Park, home to about a third of the world’s mountain gorillas, is barring visitors until 1 June, citing advice from scientific experts indicating that primates, including mountain gorillas, are likely susceptible to complications arising from the Covid-19 virus.

Neighboring Rwanda also is temporarily shutting down tourism and research activities in three national parks that are home to primates such as gorillas and chimpanzees.

Mountain gorillas are prone to some respiratory illnesses that afflict humans. A common cold can kill a gorilla, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, one reason why tourists tracking gorillas are not normally permitted to get too close.

Paula Kahumbu, chief executive of the Kenya-based conservation group WildlifeDirect, told The Associated Press that every possible effort must be made to protect mountain gorillas because so few are left in the wild. She said:

We know that gorillas are very sensitive to human diseases. If anyone has a cold or a flu they are not allowed to go and see the gorillas. With coronavirus having such a long time of no symptoms in some cases, it means that we could actually put those gorillas at risk.

Even existing measures may not be enough to protect them.

A UK pet shop chain, Pets At Home, has been criticised for claiming key worker status for its staff. Schools in the UK have closed but children of those classified as key workers are still allowed to attend. A letter from Pets At Home tells schools to contact their legal department in case of questions.

The general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers has responded:

Indonesia has confirmed 10 new deaths from Covid-19 and 64 new cases, taking the respective totals to 48 and 514.

On Saturday, Indonesia reported six deaths and 81 new cases.

The south-east Asian country has turned its athletes village built for the 2018 Asian Games into an emergency hospital with a capacity to hold more than 4,000 patients, it announced earlier today.

A group of almost 4,000 NHS workers in the UK have pleaded with the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to ensure they have adequate protective equipment to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

In an open letter to The Sunday Times, the medics have called on Johnson to “protect the lives of the life-savers” and resolve the “unacceptable” shortage of protective equipment.

The group said many medical workers are “putting their lives on the line every day” by treating coronavirus patients without appropriate protection, and they called on the prime minister to ensure an adequate supply of masks, safety glasses, gloves, aprons and protective suits.

The letter, signed by 3,963 front-line NHS staff, reads:

Front-line doctors have been telling us for weeks that they do not feel safe at work.

Intensive care doctors and anaesthetists have told us they have been carrying out the highest-risk procedure, putting a patient on a ventilator, with masks that expired in 2015.

The letter adds that paediatricians have warned their stocks of protective glasses would run out in 48 hours, including in special-care baby units.

One acute care worker reported one NHS trust had run out of its stock of masks last weekend, the letter said. It continued:

GPs have told us they feel abandoned; many have been left without any protection for weeks and do not even have simple masks to protect them if a patient comes in with symptoms of Covid-19.

The group also said ambulance workers had been arriving for shifts to find no hand sanitiser, masks or wipes were available.

Iran’s supreme leader has today refused US humanitarian assistance to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America.

Washington has offered to help Iran while refusing to lift crushing sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said:

Possibly your (offered) medicine is a way to spread the virus more, Khamenei said. Or if you send therapists and doctors, maybe he wants to see the effect of the poison, since it is said that part of the virus is built for Iran.

There is no scientific proof offered anywhere in the world to support Khamenei’s comments. Earlier this month, Chinese government spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted that it might be US army who brought the epidemic – described by Donald Trump as the Chinese virus – to Wuhan.

Khamenei made the comments in a speech in Tehran broadcast live across Iran marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Iran has over 20,600 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus amid 1,556 reported deaths.

Romania has today confirmed its first death in the due to coronavirus, Reuters reports.

The deceased was a 67-year-old man who had been suffering from terminal cancer, the government said. He was confirmed to be infected with coronavirus on 18 March and was being treated in a hospital in the southern Romanian city of Craiova.

Romania, which has recorded 367 cases of coronavirus to date, declared a state of emergency on 16 March.

This video is of Piccadilly in London’s West End, one of the capital’s busiest districts, which would usually be packed full of revellers and tourists on a Saturday night.

That’s all from me for now. I’ll leave you in the capable hands of my colleague Haroon Siddique. Take care.

• The Russian military will send medical help to Italy from today, including mobile disinfection vehicles and medical specialists.
• Malaysia has sent the army to the streets to enforce restrictions which people appear to be defying. The country has one of the highest rates of infection in Southeast Asia.
• China is diverting all Beijing-bound international flights to other airports for checks before allowing them to continue.
• Singapore has banned the entry and transit of all foreigners, except those with work permits in essential services.
• Hawaii became the first US state to require 14 days quarantine for all arrivals.
• Multiple Australian states will effectively close borders, requiring 14 days quarantine for all arrivals from Tuesday.
• NSW, the ACT and Victoria have ordered the shutdown of non-essential services from tomorrow.
• India has announced a curfew from 7am to 9pm Delhi time.
• The Italian PM ordered businesses to close all operations.
• More than 50,000 people queued to see the Olympic flame in northeast Japan. Meanwhile Olympic officials are reportedly workshopping delaying the games despite the Japanese government’s insistence it go ahead.
• UK military planners have been drafted in to help feed vulnerable people.
• Italy reported 793 deaths in a single day, and 6557 new cases
• Thailand has reported 188 new cases on Saturday.
• Australia – 276
• South Korea – 98
• Indonesia – 81
• Mexico – 48
• Philippines – 73
• Afghanistan – 10
• Mainland China – 46, including the first domestic case in four days.
• Argentina – 67, with the security minister not ruling out declaring a state of siege.
• Palestinian health officials have reported the first two cases in the Gaza Strip.
• The Caribbean region has surpassed 400 cases.
• Colombia recorded its first death.
• Guam reported the first death in the Pacific region.
• Bolivia has postponed its presidential elections.
• Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz has died of Covid-19.

Indonesia has turned its “Athlete’s Village” built for the 2018 Asian Games into an emergency hospital with a capacity to hold more than 4,000 patients, authorities said on Sunday, as coronavirus cases and deaths in the country rose.

Four out of 10 towers in the Athlete’s Village, located in the country’s capital city, have been converted into a medical facility that would house more than 7,000 people, including a coronavirus task force, medical staff and up to 4,208 patients.

“The ministry of state-owned enterprises will provide supplies for the emergency hospital to handle COVID-19, be it healthcare equipment, medicine, personal protection gear and masks,” the minister of state-owned enterprises, Erick Thohir, said in a statement.

On Saturday, Indonesia confirmed 81 new cases and 6 more deaths due to the virus, bringing the total number of cases to 450 and deaths to 38. Indonesia has the highest coronavirus death toll in Southeast Asia.