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On Friday, April 17, Italy's Civil Protection Agency reported a slight increase in the daily coronavirus death toll - 50 more than Thursday's 525. Friday's coronavirus daily death toll climbed to 575. The overall coronavirus death toll has grown to 22,745 - the second highest in the world after the US. There was a small decline in the number of new cases - 293 less than Thursday's. There were thus 3,493 new cases on Friday.  The total number of confirmed cases in Italy has grown to 172,434, the third highest coronavirus death toll in the world behind the US and Spain. For the fourteenth consecutive day, the number of patients in intensive care declined. There were 124 less coronavirus patients in intensive care on Friday - a decline from 2,936 to 2,812.

On Friday, April 17, Spain registered its highest daily rise in coronavirus cases in more than a week - 5,252 cases (a 2.8% increase). This takes the total number of confirmed cases to 188,068. 74,797 of the confirmed cases have recovered. There were 585 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. This takes the total number of confirmed fatalities in the country to 19,478. Spain's Health Minister revealed that 930,230 coronavirus tests have been carried out in the country since the beginning of the crisis. Health Minister Salvador Illa at a press conference on Friday said: "It is Friday of the fifth week of drastic measures. The average increase in infections from Friday to Friday was 25.1% in the first week, 18.2% in the second, 9.1% in the third, 4.2% in the fourth and this week 2.6% despite the increase in the number of tests. [...] This leads us to conclude that the measures adopted by the government are working."

On April 16, Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported a decrease in daily coronavirus deaths – 525 deaths, down from Wednesday’s 578. This was the lowest daily death toll in a week. The total death tally from the virus now stands at 22,170. There was a sharp increase in new cases – an acceleration from Wednesday’s 2,667 to 3,786. This takes the total number of confirmed cases to 168,941. Italy has the third-highest number of confirmed cases, behind the US and Spain. As of Thursday, 40,164 people had recovered, an increase from Wednesday’s 38,092 recoveries. There has been a continuous decline in the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units – 2,936 people, down from Wednesday’s 3,079.

On Thursday, April 16, Spain reported the highest number of daily new coronavirus cases in seven days. 5,183 new infections were recorded in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 182,816. This is an increase from Wednesday's 5,092 new cases. 551 more coronavirus deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 19,130. Spain has the second-highest number of cases behind the US, and the second-highest death toll in Europe behind Italy. Recoveries are also increasing as 3,944 people were declared coronavirus-free today, an increase from Wednesday's 3,349. A total of 74,797 people have recovered so far. In an interview with Cadena Ser radio today, Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva said easing of lockdown restrictions will happen " in phases, by sectors and maybe even geographies".

On Monday, April 13, 2020, Italy reported a decline in the number of new coronavirus cases reported – 3,153 new cases, down from Sunday’s 4,092 new cases. The total number of coronavirus cases in Italy has shot up to 159,516. 1.05 million people have been tested this far. Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported 566 deaths from the virus, an increase from Monday’s 431. The total number of fatalities in Italy now stands at 20,465. So far, 35,435 people have recovered. There has been a decline in the number of patients in intensive care for the 10 th consecutive day. Giovanni Rezza, the head of the infectious diseases department at Rome’s national health institute, told a news conference :  “We’re still in Phase 1, for sure .  We see positive signals, but the number of deaths is still high, as it reflects previous cases of contagion.”

According to Johns Hopkins University data, the daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 1,557, a decrease from Saturday's 1,877 and Friday's 2,108. The US has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world - 550,000 confirmed cases, and more than 22,000 deaths. The global death toll has surpassed 114,000 deaths and 1.85 million coronavirus cases. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was on NBC'S "Today" show and said the US is "nearing the peak right now". "You'll know when you're at the peak when the next day is less than the day before," he said. "We are stabilizing across the country in terms of the state of this outbreak."

On Saturday, April 11, Italy's Civil Protection Agency reported 619 coronavirus deaths - up from Friday's 570. From February 21 when Italy recorded its first death from the virus, 19,468 people have died from the virus in Italy. There were 4,694 new cases recorded on Saturday, which takes the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 152,271. Italy's Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, on Friday night, announced the creation of a task force dedicated to tackling the effects of the pandemic. The said task force will be headed by Vittorio Colao - Vodafone's former CEO. PM Conte also announced an extension of the lockdown - which has been in place since March 9 - to May 3.

On Saturday, April 11, Spain's Health Ministry reported 510 fatalities from the coronavirus crisis - a drop in the daily death toll for a third consecutive day. 4,830 new cases were reported. The total number of cases now stand at 161,852. Spain has the third-highest number of fatalities from the virus after the United States and Italy. Given the slowdown in the rate of new infections and coronavirus deaths, the government will start unwinding lockdown measures in a gradual process. From Monday, workers in the construction and manufacturing sectors will be allowed to return to work, so thousands will be back at work.  At a joint press conference with Health Minister Salvador Illa, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said: "We are still in the confinement phase... We haven’t begun any relaxation (of the restrictions)." The guidelines issued by the prime minister's office require that companies returning to work provide appropriate protective equipment

On Saturday, April 11, the US became the first country to report more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a day. Its death toll is now 18,781. The US has overtaken Italy - which has a death toll of 18,849 - as the country with the most coronavirus deaths. Despite reaching such a grim milestone, Dr. Deborah Birx,  coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, on Friday said that the US has not yet "reached the peak" of the pandemic. On Friday, POTUS Trump said he was creating a second task force dedicated to the reopening of the country. "This is beyond economic," Trump said at the White House on Friday as he explained the group's mission. "I call it the 'opening our country task force' or 'opening our country council,' so we don't get it confused with" the primary White House task force. 

On Thursday, April 9, Italy's Civil Protection Agency reported 4,204 new cases, an increase from Wednesday's 3,836. Total confirmed cases in Italy sum up to 143,626 - the third highest tally behind the United States and Spain. The daily death toll also increased from 542 on Wednesday to 610 on Thursday. The total number of coronavirus fatalities in Italy now stands at 18,279. Reports show that 100 Italian doctors have died from Covid-19 after contracting the virus.

On Thursday, April 9, Spain's Health Ministry reported 683 new deaths, an increase smaller than Wednesday's 757. The total number of deaths in Spain has now risen to 15,238. There were 5,756 new coronavirus cases recorded, pushing the total number of cases above 150,000 (152,446). The number of new infections has been on the rise for three consecutive days. There were 5,478 new infections yesterday. 52,165 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Spain. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended his proposed extension of the lockdown in the country to at least April 26, at congress. He also called for solidarity in the EU as he said: "The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity. The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity. This scenario requires strength. Cuts and austerity are not the way forward."

On Wednesday, April 8, the daily death toll from the coronavirus in Italy dropped, as the increase in deaths was 542, lower than Tuesday's 604. The total death tally from the virus in the country now stands at 17,669 - the highest in the world. There was an increase in the rate of new infections, 3,836, higher than Tuesday's 3,039. The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 139,422. Italy has the third-highest number of cases, with the United States and Spain topping in first and second position respectively. So far, 26,491 people have recovered from Covid-19 - the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus - in Italy.

On Wednesday, April 8, the UK's coronavirus death toll crossed the 7,000 mark, as 936 more deaths were recorded. England's National Health Service has confirmed 828 more people have died in its hospitals, aged between 22 and 103 years old. 46 of the 828 dead had no underlying health conditions. Scotland has confirmed 306 more cases and 77 more deaths, and Public Health Wales has confirmed 284 more cases and 33 more deaths. Northern Ireland confirmed 5 deaths. The sum of deaths from all four UK territories amounts to 936 deaths in 24 hours. This is the highest daily death toll from the virus recorded in the UK. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is coronavirus positive was admitted in hospital on Sunday as his condition worsened. He was moved to intensive care on Monday night as he got worse. Today, his spokesman said he is "responding to treatment" and is in a stable condition. "The PM is not working, he’s in intensive care, he has the ability to c

On Wednesday, April 8, Spain's coronavirus daily death toll increased for a second successive day. 757 deaths were recorded, up from Tuesday's 743. However, the daily increase as a percentage of the total death toll was 5.5 percent, down from Tuesday's 5.7 percent. The total number of coronavirus deaths in the country now stands at 14,555, making Spain Europe's second-hardest-hit country after Italy.  The highest number of daily deaths was registered last Thursday - 950, then the daily death toll fell for four days straight. The number of new infections increased by 4.4% (6,180 new cases) to 146,690. So far, 48,021 people have made a full recovery from Covid-19 in Spain.

On Tuesday, April 7, France became the fourth country to hit and surpass the 10,000 coronavirus deaths milestone - a rather grim milestone. In France, 7,091 coronavirus deaths were recorded in hospital and 3,237 in old age homes - a total of 10,328 deaths. 597 coronavirus deaths were recorded in hospitals on Tuesday. Italy, Spain and the United States are the other three countries that have registered more than 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 complications. Jérôme Salomon, the head of France's public health authority, told a press conference: "We are in the ascending phase of the epidemic, even if it is slowing a bit," he warned. "We have not yet reached the peak." According to Johns Hopkins University data, the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases now exceed 1.3 million, including more than 285,000 recoveries and more than 75,000 deaths.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO and co-founder has just pledged to donate $1 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic - the largest pledged amount by a private individual so far. Dorsey is also the CEO and co-founder of Square Inc. - a payments platform. Dorsey announced his decision to donate $1 billion via Twitter, where he said he would make the donation using $1 billion in Square shares - approximately 28% of his estimated net worth.  “After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI,” Dorsey said. “Why UBI and girl’s health and education? I believe they represent the best long-term solutions to the existential problems facing the world. UBI is a great idea needing experimentation,” Dorsey tweeted. To ensure transparency, Dorsey said all of the share donations would be tracked through a public Google Sheet. Other coronavirus relief top donors include Bill and Melinda Gates, who have promised to donate $100 million which makes up l

Tuesday, April 7, has been the worst day for the US amid the coronavirus pandemic. 1,736 deaths had been recorded as of 8:00 pm Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York State, the worst-affected state accounted for majority of the deaths recorded - 731. New York's total death tally now stands at 5,489. Total coronavirus infections in the state have reached 138,836. The total number of coronavirus cases in the US have exceeded 395,000, and deaths surpassed 12,700. African Americans account for 72% of coronavirus deaths in Chicago, though they make up only 30% of the population. The percentage is slightly lower in Louisiana, with blacks accounting for 70% of the state's coronavirus deaths. Approximately 33% of the population in Louisiana is African American.

After the increase in daily deaths recorded in Italy on Monday, the daily death toll dropped on Tuesday, April 7. 604 new deaths were recorded, an improvement from Monday's 636. Italy is still the world's hardest-hit country with a total death tally of 17,127 coronavirus deaths.  There was also some improvement in the number of new cases recorded, as there were fewer new cases recorded. 3,039 new cases were recorded, a decrease from Monday's 3,599. From March 17 to April 5, daily increases were in the range of 4,050 to 6,557. Italy has registered 135,586 coronavirus cases since the outbreak began. The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care has also declined. On Tuesday, there were 3,792 patients in intensive care, a decrease from Monday's 3,898. So far, 24,392 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Italy.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as of Tuesday, April 7th in the morning, Germany has recorded more than 103,300 cases and recorded more than 1,900 deaths. On Tuesday, the number of cases rose by 3,834 in 24 hours. So far, more than 36,000 people have recovered from Covid-19 - the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Economics postdoctoral researcher Dr. Jean Roch Donsimoni, told The Local that the total number of coronavirus cases will grow throughout, "all the way to September". "What we will expect to see dropping is the number of new cases every day and that will happen as we approach the peak," he said. “If indeed the current policies in place continue as initially planned – that means the shutdown lasts from March 14th until April 19th – then, using our model, we predict that at the peak of the pandemic, we will see between 0.2 and 1.5 million individuals actively infected with Covid-19. “This figure only tak

On Tuesday, April 7, Spain's coronavirus daily death toll rose, after falling for 4 straight days. 743 deaths were recorded, taking Spain's total tally of deaths to 13,798. 5,478 new cases were recorded - a 4.1% rise - taking the total number of confirmed infections to 140,510. On Monday, the number of new cases only rose by 3.3%.  Mari Angels Rodriguez, a nurse at the Hospital Josep Trueta hospital in Girona in northeastern Spain told AFP the workload in the ICUs had decreased. "The collapse in the first few days was brutal, everyone was coming to emergency services, all the usual causes as well as all the possible cases of COVID-19." "What wears me out the most is seeing young and middle aged people, without chronic conditions, who arrive in moderate shape and quickly end up in the intensive care unit (ICU)." "The other day a 17-year-old girl was admitted to hospital and the next day she was in the ICU. It is full of young people. Psychol