Coronavirus: Virus surges in US with 10,000 cases in one day

Watch Cassy Appleton draw
applause from passengers for this speech, on her final Virgin Australia flight.

The airline is among
those suspending international flights.

The number of people infected in the US has jumped to 68,572 – according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

The US now has the third most Covid-19 cases in the world, behind China and Italy.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the CDC numbers we reported earlier are announced once daily, whereas JHU keeps a rolling, live count of the numbers as they come.

World-renowned chef Floyd Cardoz has died after testing positive for coronavirus.

He co-owned the hugely popular Mumbai restaurants Bombay Canteen and O Pedro.

The Mumbai-born chef was a pioneer of modern Indian cuisine and first shot to fame as executive chef at the restaurant Tabla in New York City.

He was diagnosed with Covid-19 on 18 March in New Jersey, according to Hunger Inc where he was culinary director.

The food world has been in mourning since news of his death on Wednesday.

“The media would like to see me do poorly in the election.”

Jay Savage

BBC News, Sydney

Both have implemented strict new measures today.

New Zealand’s is a month-long lockdown that allows only essential workers to leave home, and forces the closure of all schools and non-essential businesses. The country has almost 300 cases of the virus.

Last night, as streets emptied, PM Jacinda Ardern answered people’s questions live on Facebook.

Australia’s new rules do not go as far, but place strict limits on how many people can attend weddings and funerals. Many public places and businesses are now shut, after more than 2,600 positive tests and 11 deaths.

Other
businesses, however, remain open – a point of continuing debate.

PM Scott Morrison has now scrapped a controversial 30-minute limit on hairdressing appointments – “following the receipt of feedback on the practical implementation of [those] measures”.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The number of cases in the US has jumped by 10,000 – bringing the total number of cases in the country to 54,453.

According to the US CDC, the death toll also rose by 193 cases, bringing it to 737.

The state of New York has more than half of the country’s overall cases – with more than 30,800 patients.

BINDI IRWIN/INSTAGRAMCopyright: BINDI IRWIN/INSTAGRAM

In Australia, there’s been a rush down the aisle in the past 24 hours after authorities announced new
social isolation rules banning more than five people at a wedding.

That number includes the marrying
couple and their celebrant – so only two guests are allowed.

Facing the prospect of nuptials
postponed for an indeterminable time, or perhaps a live-streamed ceremony (see here and here), some opted to tie the knot immediately, to beat the Wednesday
midnight deadline.

TV wildlife conservationist Bindi Irwin did just that, announcing her marriage to Chandler
Powell on social media. The small ceremony took place at Australia
Zoo in Queensland on Wednesday with only immediate family in attendance.

“We’ve planned this beautiful day
for nearly a year and had to change everything, as we didn’t have guests at our
wedding,” she wrote.

“This was a very difficult
decision but important to keep everyone safe.”

As you can imagine, the maths
jokes have been flying around. In Australia now, four weddings+ one funeral = 30 people max.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has described the hospitalisation rate in the state as “almost too good to be true” and “headed in the right direction” – while warning that numbers are still expected to spike.

Latest figures suggest the doubling of hospitalisation numbers is not coming every two days – as was expected earlier – but only every 4.7 days.

This crucial change gives medical staff more time to treat patients and slows down the overcrowding of hospitals.

Mr Cuomo said the peak of patients needing hospital care in the state was expected in about 21 days, but that the trend showed that social distancing was working.

New York is the worst hit state in the US, accounting for more than half of overall cases.

Welcome back to our rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. We’re writing to you out of Singapore today – where many of us are working from home – and we’ll be handing over to our colleagues in London later this afternoon. Here’s your news this morning:

• The number of coronavirus cases in the US has jumped by more than 10,000 in a single day. This brings the total number of cases to 54,453, with 737 deaths so far
• But it’s not all bad news. New York’s governor says the city’s strict measures seem to be working, as the rate of hospitalisations appears to have slowed in recent days. Governor Cuomo said the arrows were “headed in the right direction”

• In the UK, the death toll has risen to 463 from 422, as the number of cases in the country passes the 9,500 mark
• No new virus cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan – where the virus emerged late last year. There has however, been a rise in the number of imported cases across China