UK toll grows by 980, bringing total near 9,000, as France reports 987 fatalities, with overall figure topping 13,000.

The worldwide death toll from the new coronavirus has surpassed 100,000 amid about 1.6 million cases and more than 368,000 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

Italy has registered the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, more than 18,000 as of Friday, while the United States has reported the majority of confirmed infections, nearly half a million.

However, the number of newly hospitalised patients in the hardest-hit state of New York has dropped to a one percent increase.


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/coronavirus-deaths-rise-signs-progress-live-updates-200409231002574.html


17:39 GMT - France reports 987 deaths
France confirmed 987 more COVID-19 deaths registered in hospitals and nursing homes in a day, bringing the total toll to 13,197.

Speaking to reporters, top health official Jerome Salomon said a child aged under 10 infected with COVID-19 died, but the causes of the death were "multiple".

In encouraging news, Salomon said there were now 62 fewer people in intensive care, continuing a trend first seen on Thursday.

17:06 GMT - Moscow to introduce passes for travel around the city
Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the city would begin to gradually introduce a system of passes next week to monitor and regulate residents' movements during a partial lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking on a state television channel, Sobyanin said that the passes would be introduced in stages. The first would focus on creating permits for those travelling to work.

17:02 GMT - Turkey's coronavirus death toll rises to 1,006
Turkey's confirmed cases of coronavirus increased by 4,747 and 98 people died in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll from the disease to 1,006, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The total number of recovered cases stood at 2,423, with 281 recoveries in the last 24 hours, and the number of tests carried out in that time was 30,864, Koca said on Twitter.

Turkey's total confirmed cases stood at 47,029, he added.

16:26 GMT - New York sees first slight drop in intensive care unit patients
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units across the state dropped in the last day, offering a glimmer of hope that the surge in critical care hospitalizations might be leveling off.

Cuomo said there were 17 fewer patients in the state's intensive care units on Thursday than a day prior, a decrease in that figure "for the first time since we started this ... journey", Cuomo said at a news briefing.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1248515055882125312

SOURCE: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/coronavirus-deaths-rise-signs-progress-live-updates-200409231002574.html

What? God help us.

100000? That is massive.