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Coronavirus cases in the US jump to 180,000, the UK records its highest daily coronavirus death toll for the second day in a tow, Turkmenistan bans its state-controlled media from mentioning the virus at all, and Indonesia begins its release of up to 30,000 prisoners in a bid to stem the crisis.
This story is being updated regularly. You can also stay informed with the latest episode of the Coronacast podcast.
Thursday's top stories
US coronavirus cases hit 180,000
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported 186,101 cases of coronavirus across the country, an increase of 22,562 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 743 to 3,603.
Coronavirus-related deaths in the state of New York are now approaching 2,000, mostly centred around New York City.
Governor Andrew Cuomo told a daily briefing that the number of coronavirus cases in New York had increased to 83,712, up from 75,795 a day earlier, with 1,941 deaths in total, up from 1,550 yesterday.
Meanwhile, thousands of passengers stuck on cruise ships near Florida are still waiting for that state and the Trump administration to strike a deal allowing them to disembark.
One of the two Dutch cruise ships involved is Holland America Line's MS Zaandam, along with its sister ship the Rotterdam, which have around 100 Australians on board.
The company says two passengers on the Zaandam have died due to COVID-19, while nine people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. At least 190 more reported symptoms.
Nearly two-thirds of its passengers were moved to the Rotterdam after passing a medical screening.
Both vessels were on the way to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the Zaandam carrying nearly 1,050 passengers and crew, and the Rotterdam almost 1,450.
Highest daily death toll recorded in the UK
Another 563 patients with coronavirus have died in the United Kingdom, where the total number of deaths is now 2,352.
It is the country's highest number of deaths in a single day, and marks two days in a row where the country has recorded its highest single day death toll.
More than 29,474 people have tested positive for the virus, up by more than 4,000 since yesterday.
It comes as the Government confirmed that more than 2,000 frontline health workers in England have been tested for coronavirus since the outbreak began.
Hundreds have been screened since the weekend in a push to get healthy, self-isolating medics back to work.
Fewer deaths in Italy, but cases rise
The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has climbed by 727, putting total deaths at 13,155.
It was a significantly smaller increase than what was seen yesterday, and the lowest daily tally since March 26.
However, the number of new cases rose more sharply than a day earlier, growing by 4,782 against a previous 4,053, bringing total infections to 110,574.
In Lombardy, the epicentre of the outbreak, the daily tallies of deaths and cases were both up compared with those of the day before, reversing the recent trend.
Italy has registered more deaths than anywhere else in the world and accounts for around 30 per cent of all global fatalities from the virus.
Italy's largest daily toll from the epidemic was registered last Friday, when 919 people died. There were 889 deaths on Saturday, 756 on Sunday, 812 on Monday and 837 on Tuesday.
Turkmenistan bans the word 'coronavirus'
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan — which has so far reported no cases of the virus — has banned the use of the word coronavirus altogether.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says state media has been stopped from mentioning coronavirus, and the word has also been removed from health information brochures.
The group says people can even be arrested for wearing face masks or talking about the virus, including by undercover police.
Turkmenistan, which borders Iran, is one of the world's most closed-off countries, and RSF ranked it last in its World Press Freedom Index in 2019.
Its autocratic leader President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ruled the country since 2006 through an all-encompassing personality cult that styles him as Turkmenistan's "arkadaq", or protector.
Indonesia begins mass release of prisoners
Indonesia has begun releasing prisoners from the country's overcrowded jails, a move could see up to 30,000 people eventually released from prison.
Official data shows there are 270,386 prisoners across Indonesia, more than twice the official capacity of its jails.
Many centres lack proper sanitation, which makes inmates particularly vulnerable to the spread of diseases.
A document issued by the law and human rights ministry stipulated that adult prisoners would be eligible for parole if they had served two-thirds of their sentences, while children would be eligible if they served half of their jail term.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo this week declared a national public health emergency in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
So far, the government has reported 1,414 infections and 122 deaths from the virus, but some officials and experts believe a lack of testing has masked the scale of the outbreak.
One study has suggested almost 250,000 Indonesians could die from COVID-19 by the end of the month.
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Daily deaths in Spain continue to rise
Spain has reported a record 864 deaths in one day.
And the nation's total number of infections has broken the 100,000 mark, making it the third country to pass that milestone behind the United States and Italy.
Spanish health authorities said on Wednesday the total number of deaths had reached 9,053 since the beginning of the outbreak.
The total number of infections had hit 102,136, but the 24-hour increase of 7,719 was 1,500 fewer than the increase from the previous day, offering hope the contagion rate was stabilising.
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Israel links aid for Gaza to recovering soldiers
Israel has linked any assistance it might offer for the Gaza Strip's efforts against coronavirus to progress in its attempt to recover two Israeli soldiers lost during the 2014 war in the Palestinian enclave.
Blockaded and impoverished, Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza has reported 12 coronavirus cases and authorities worry that local health facilities — with just 96 ventilators for a population of two million — are insufficient to contain a contagion.
"The moment there is talk of the humanitarian world in Gaza — Israel also has humanitarian needs, which are mainly the recovery of the fallen," Defence Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters.
"And I think that we need to enter a broad dialogue about Gaza's and our humanitarian needs. It would not be right to disconnect these things ... and certainly, our hearts would be open to many things."
Hamas has never stated whether the two Israeli troopers are dead or alive, but neither has it provided a sign of life, something it did in a previous similar case.
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Topics: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, covid-19, united-kingdom, turkmenistan, indonesia
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