May 8 coronavirus news

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Brazil reported a record daily increase of 751 Covid-19 deaths on Friday, according to the Brazilian Health Ministry.

The newly reported fatalities bring the countrywide death toll to 9,897, according to the ministry. 

Brazil also reported 10,222 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the countrywide total of confirmed cases to 145,328.

People walk in Madrid, on Friday, May 8.

More than 50% of Spain’s population will advance to phase one on Monday as part of the country’s de-escalation process, during the coronavirus crisis, Spain’s health minister announced on Friday.

But Madrid and Barcelona, the two largest cities in the country and the hardest hit by the pandemic are staying behind.

At a nationally-televised news conference on Friday evening, Health Minister Salvador Illa and the Director for Health Emergencies, Dr. Fernando Simón, said the government decided which parts of the country could advance to phase one, after consulting with Spain’s 17 regional governments regarding infection rates in each region, the capacity to quickly detect any new cases and how each region’s hospitals could respond to any second wave.

Simón listed a total of 11 regions that will transition fully to the next phase: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Pais Vasco, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragon, Extremadura, Murcia, Balearic Islands, Canaries, and Spain’s two enclaves on Morocco’s north coast, Ceuta and Melilla.

Other regions such as Castilla Leon, Catalonia, Castilla La Mancha, Valencia and Andalusia will have some of their provinces or health districts advancing to phase one, but not the entire region.

The Madrid region, which includes the Spanish capital and surrounding cities, had requested to move to phase one but the health minister said the region has not met all the technical criteria yet and would not predict when it could advance to the next level.

Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city that is also a province of the same name, with numerous adjacent cities, also did not advance to phase one.

The Madrid region and Barcelona province have special challenges, with density of population, movement of that population, their exchange nationally with other parts of Spain and their international interaction, Simón added.

Queen Elizabeth II has likened the British public’s response to the coronavirus pandemic with the efforts of its soldiers during World War II, in a televised speech delivered exactly 75 years after her father marked the end of fighting in Europe.

Speaking on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the Queen remembered her own experiences of the end of fighting on the continent and praised the “strength and courage” of British and Allied troops who brought about Germany’s surrender on May 8, 1945.

“Never give up, never despair — that was the message of VE Day,” the monarch said. “I vividly remember the jubilant scenes my sister and I witnessed with our parents and Winston Churchill from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.”

Acknowledging the impact on modern British life of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced this year’s public commemorations to be canceled, she also drew parallels between the UK’s wartime generation and their modern compatriots.

“Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps,” she said at the conclusion of her speech. “But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other.

“When I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognize and admire,” the Queen added.

The speech marked the second time the 94-year-old monarch has addressed the country since the coronavirus outbreak began — usually a rare occurrence saved only for her annual Christmas Day message.

It’s 8 p.m. in London. Here is a wrap-up of the latest global coronavirus news:

People walk past social distancing markers on the ground at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on April 11.

The UK should not expect a “dramatic overnight change” in coronavirus restrictions when the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Sunday, an official said.

Boris Johnson is expected to start lifting restrictions in an announcement on Sunday outlining the next phase of the government’s response to coronavirus. 

Johnson will act cautiously, the nation’s Environment Secretary George Eustice said at a daily government press briefing.

He warned a second peak of the virus could still overwhelm the national health service.

An empty food court in a shopping mall in Toronto on March 21.

At least 2 million Canadians lost their jobs in April, adding to the 1 million who were already unemployed through March. Canada’s unemployment rate stands at 13%, the second highest ever recorded.

Statistics Canada said the unemployment rate would be even higher, nearly 18%, if those who were not actively looking for work were included in the unemployment rate. Nearly one in three Canadian workers either didn’t work in April or had reduced hours. 

Trudeau announced that the emergency wage subsidy program is being extended beyond June, in an effort to encourage more employers to keep staff on payroll or to help more businesses re-hire employees already laid off. 

Canada said nearly 100,000 businesses have already been approved for the up to 75% wage subsidy program and that 1.7 million workers are already keeping their jobs while on the program.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce called the job losses “staggering” and added that the key to reopening the economy will be “re-skilling” businesses and employees. 

“The key question is how quickly businesses can or will re-hire once the economy reopens,” said the Chamber in a statement noting that many businesses will have to reopen even as social distancing requirements remain in place. 

A police officer halts traffic on Germany's border with Austria to check drivers' paperwork in Kiefersfelden, Germany, on March 17.

The European Commission is encouraging countries in the European Union to extend restrictions on nonessential travel and to keep external borders closed until June 15.

“While some EU and Schengen Associated States are taking preliminary steps towards easing the measures for fighting the spread of the pandemic, the situation remains fragile both in Europe and worldwide. This calls for continued measures at the external borders to reduce the risk of the disease spreading through travel to the EU. The lifting of travel restrictions should be phased,” the European Commission said in a statement Friday.

The “invite” is not binding and the opening of the countries’ external borders is a decision at national level. 

The EU decided to close its external borders on March 17, except for essential travel. The restrictions apply to the “EU+area,” a total of 30 countries including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Cones and tape on the ground help employees of French automaker PSA Peugeot-Citroen to keep social distances required at the Poissy, France, plant on April 15.

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization health emergencies program, said the lives of people across the world could face “significant alteration” until a coronavirus vaccine is developed.

Speaking on Friday during a briefing, Ryan said, “There is a path out, but we must remain ever vigilant. And we may have to have a significant alteration to our lifestyles, until we get to a point where we have an effective vaccine, or an effective treatments.” 

Ryan said the team at WHO feels the effects of physical distancing, just like the rest of the world.

“We haven’t shaken hands or hugged our friends in 18 weeks either,” he said.

To reopen, “many countries are taking a very careful stepwise approach, relying on the patience and perseverance of their citizens to continue to suffer what is a difficult process both socially psychologically and economically for many people,” he said. “I think everyone is doing that because we want to protect those we love.”

Ryan sees the path out involving partial school openings, partial returns to workplaces and careful measures in-place to those who work in high-density areas. 

But for things like concerts and sports, he said, “it’s going to be much more difficult to make those perfectly safe.” 

Workers distribute food to residents in the area of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Kuwait, on April 9.

Kuwait imposed a nationwide lockdown starting Sunday until the end of May, the government said on Friday.

At least 642 new cases and three deaths were reported on Friday, the Health Ministry said. The total number of cases in the Gulf state stands at 7,208. At least 47 people have died.

Despite the easing of strict lockdown measures and curfews in the Middle East, Kuwait continued to reinforce measures by expanding its nationwide curfew.

Kuwait’s first recorded coronavirus case was announced on February 24.

Almost 90,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Gulf Arab states.

Environment Secretary George Eustice gives a media briefing on COVID-19 on Downing Street in London, England, on May 8.

The UK’s coronavirus death toll has increased by at least 626 deaths in the past day.

The number of new cases of the virus has declined with 4,649 new patients.

There has been at least 211,364 cases in the UK, and approximately 31,241 deaths, Environment Secretary George Eustice said on Friday at a daily government briefing. 

Testing: The UK carried out 97,000 tests in the past day –– falling short of its own testing target of 100,000 a day.

The UK government will scrap their stay-at-home advice as part of the plan to gradually ease coronavirus restrictions, UK media reported on Wednesday.

Medical staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) attend to COVID-19 patients at Vishnevsky National Medical Research Centre of Surgery in Moscow, Russia on May 8.

The World Health Organization said efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic need to go back to the basics.

“We seem also to be avoiding the uncomfortable reality that we need to get back to public health surveillance,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization health emergencies program, said on Friday during a briefing. 

“We sometimes look for the answers where they are not. We need to go back to the basic principles of how we control this disease, a comprehensive strategy that matches basic public health surveillance.” he added.

Ryan said there is a lot of other information and science out there, “but we need to stick to the core strategy, or else we really will risk looking for answers, where the answers are not.”

A Disney Resort Line train travels along an elevated track near Tokyo Disneyland at night in Urayasu, Japan, on March 2.

It’s 4 p.m. in London. Here is a wrap-up of the most important global coronavirus news today:

Some countries are loosening restrictions. Here’s how:

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford speaks to the press outside the Welsh Government building in Cardiff, Wales, on May 8.

Wales will make three “small and modest” adjustments to its current coronavirus regulations but “remains in lockdown,” Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said Friday.

He listed the three adjustments that will start on Monday. They are as follows: 

Speaking ahead of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown review announcement on Sunday, Drakeford said modest adjustments were deemed necessary for Wales as part of the three week review of the nation’s lockdown but he has extended the lockdown for another three weeks and said “it is too soon” to lift it. 

He urged the stay at home guidance must remain in place, adding “we must not lose the progress we have made”.

A view of a canal in the Navigli area in Milan, Italy, on May 4.

The Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, expressed his horror at images of locals going for evening strolls in the Navigli area of the Italian city despite coronavirus restrictions still requiring social distancing.

On Thursday evening many people were pictured strolling along the canals as restaurants and bars mount continued pressure on the government to reopen.

“When it’s time to thank the Milanese for their virtuous behavior I am always the first to do it and I also like it. But there are times when you get really p****ed off and this is one of those moments. Yesterday’s images along the canals are shameful,” Sala said Friday during a live broadcast on Facebook. 

According to the government’s latest decree, since Monday – when phase 2 of the coronavirus containment phase began – Italians can leave their home only to go to work, for health reasons, for necessity (such as buying food, visiting relatives), or to carry out sports or physical activities outdoors.

Gatherings are prohibited and people must maintain a one-meter distance from others.

Milan is the capital of Lombardy, the Italian region hit the hardest by coronavirus. Since the start of the epidemic, 14,745 coronavirus deaths have been registered in the region: that is almost half of the total number of deaths registered in Italy (29,958), according to the latest figures from the Civil Protection Department.

The Mayor stressed that the city needs to get back up on its feet and that he supports “those who go to work and struggle to make ends meet,” not “those who have fun.” 

“We are not only in crisis from the health point of view and we have seen how much the pandemic has affected this city. But we are also in a profound socio-economic crisis. Milan needs to go back to work. This is the point. It is not a desire to reopen, it is a necessity,” Sala said.

The Mayor announced that checks will be increased Friday and he issued an ultimatum: “Either things change today or tomorrow I will take measures, I will close the area” and prohibit bars to provide takeaway.

Nicolas Chapuis, the European Union Ambassador to China, speaks at the 2019 World 5G Convention in Beijing, China, in November 2019.

The European Union has acknowledged it allowed the Chinese government to censor an opinion piece published in the country, removing a reference to the origin of the coronavirus outbreak and its subsequent spread worldwide.

The piece was jointly authored by the EU’s ambassador Nicolas Chapuis along with the ambassadors to China for the EU’s 27 member states to mark 45 years of EU-China diplomatic relations.

In the original piece published on the EU delegation’s website, the ambassadors wrote that “the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world over the past three months” had side-tracked pre-existing diplomatic plans.

But in the version that appears on the website of China Daily, a state-owned newspaper, the reference to the origin of coronavirus in China and its spread is removed.

While the EU Delegation to China said it “strongly regrets” the change, it also admitted that it ultimately agreed for the censored piece to be published because it still contained “key messages on a number of our priority areas.”

“The EU Delegation was informed by the media in question that the publication of the Op-Ed would only be allowed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the condition that a part of a sentence related to the origins and spread of the coronavirus was removed,” the Delegation said in a statement. “The EU Delegation to China made known its objections to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in no uncertain terms.”

“As the Op-Ed states, while the EU and China have differences, notably on human rights, our partnership has become mature enough to allow frank discussions on these issues. This is what makes this incident even more regrettable,” the Delegation’s statement adds. 

CNN has asked China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a response. 

Motorcyclists Marc Marquez, left, and his brother Alex Marquez prepare to greet fans during the launch of Repsol oil products in Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 5.

Life under lockdown can be challenging for elite sports stars, but not many world champions have to share a confined space with a fellow world champion, teammate and brother all rolled into one.

Marc Marquez, who has six MotoGP titles among the eight world championships to his name, has been quarantined at his parents’ house in Cervera, Spain, for the last two months. Alongside him is his brother Alex, reigning Moto2 champion and now Repsol Honda MotoGP teammate.

The two brothers were poised to begin a new and intimate chapter of their sibling rivalry at the opening MotoGP in Qatar in March when the premier class race was abruptly canceled, leaving the pair in a unique state of limbo.

Luckily for the Marquez brothers, and their parents, life as competitors under one roof is nothing new.

“I promise,” Marc told CNN Sport via video conference from his family home, “even when we were kids, we were playing for everything: who goes to bed earlier, who got out of home earlier; I mean, everything was a competition.”

The pair have been dueling on the PlayStation in virtual MotoGP races, as part of the sport’s attempt to occupy fans in the absence of real racing. The older Marquez is forced to admit his younger brother has the upper hand.

“In the PlayStation he beats me all the time,” he said, laughing. “I mean, always: in a soccer game, in a MotoGP game, in a Formula One game, I mean, all the time he beats me.”

Read more here.

Cemetery workers dig graves for suspected victims of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Nossa Senhora cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, on May 6.

Brazil’s coronavirus cases have spiked to 135,106 including 9,146 deaths, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Brazilian Health Ministry. This surge comes as President Jair Bolsonaro’s spokesman, Gen. Otavio Santana do Rego Barros, confirmed he tested positive for Covid-19.

Yet Bolsonaro said earlier this week he believed “the worst had passed” for the coronavirus pandemic, during a press conference outside the Alvorada presidential residence in Brasilia. But as the number of cases and deaths continue to climb, many health experts fear the worst is yet to come.

Since Bolsonaro made the comment in Brasilia on Tuesday, there have been more than 20,000 new cases of coronavirus and the country registered 610 deaths on Thursday, nearly the highest toll yet in a 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry.

Health Minister Nelson Teich said Thursday that stricter lockdowns may be needed in some of the hardest-hit regions, during a video conference with members of the lower house of Congress.

Former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said “the toughest months” are likely to be May and June, during an interview with TV Globo last month, four days before he was fired by Bolsonaro over disagreements on the country’s coronavirus strategy.

Read more here.

Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer announced plans to hold virtual meetings around the United Kingdom to hear about the public impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on April 30.

The leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer, says the UK needs to do “everything” to protect the most vulnerable from the novel coronavirus, especially those in care homes, he wrote in an op-ed marking VE day on the The Daily Telegraph newspaper. 

“We have all heard the harrowing stories of the virus spreading through care homes, with families unable to say their last goodbyes,” he wrote. “The crisis in our care homes has gone on for too long and we must do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable, many of whom protected our country in its darkest hour.”

Starmer had already criticized the British government for its handling of the coronavirus in care homes across the UK when he clashed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. In the op-ed, published on a Conservative-leaning newspaper that once counted the current Prime Minister among its columnists, the Labour leader seemed to double down. 

“We owe so much to the generation of VE Day,” Starmer wrote. “We must do everything we can to care for and support them through the current crisis,” he also said. 

The leader of the largest opposition party in the British parliament went on to set out his vision for a “better” United Kingdom, after it overcomes Covid-19. “After coronavirus, we cannot return to business as usual or continue as though nothing has changed,” he said. “We must go forward with the determination to rebuild a better society.

“That means repaying the debt we owe to our key workers, who are putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. It means having the courage to tackle the injustices that have existed in our society for too long,” Starmer added. “And it means writing a new settlement for social care, with dignity and respect at its heart.”

third grade students at Nordstrand Steinerskole school in Oslo learn after school reopened on April 27.

Norway announced it will ease many of the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus, including reopening all schools next week and lifting the maximum number of people allowed at public gatherings.

The country has identified 8,034 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University. At least 217 have died.

Some of the changes include: 

Solberg said that despite the positive news, people will still need to be patient and vigilant.