The Latest: Spain’s coronavirus death toll tops 18,000

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Detained immigrants plead for masks, protection from virus.

— Spain’s virus death toll rises over 18,000.

— The head of Germany’s disease control center encourages international cooperation in virus fight.

— Indonesia’s president issued a decree regarding COVID-19.

— New figures show hundreds more died from the coronavirus in Britain than originally reported.

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MADRID — Spain’s recorded coronavirus death toll is now over 18,000 after 567 more people succumbed to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a number slightly higher than Monday’s but below most daily increases in the past two weeks.

Confirmed infections are now roughly 172,500 after Spain’s Health Ministry reported 3,045 new positive cases on Tuesday, a 1.8% day-to-day increase.

The figures defy the common fear that a backlog of unreported infections over the Easter holidays could have reverted the recent trend of the slowdown in the spread of the epidemic.

The real situation could be different because Spain has not begun widespread testing and because the government itself acknowledges that coronavirus-related fatalities are not being efficiently recorded.

A study by Spain’s main epidemiology institute on the excess mortality compared to the average in over a decade shows that there were some 1,500 more “unexpected” deaths between March 17 and April 11 than those officially attributed to the coronavirus.

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BERLIN — The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s disease control center, said exchange of information between countries and institutions is key to combating the coronavirus outbreak.

Lothar Wieler said Tuesday that his organization is in constant contact with others to share best practices, including which measures are effective in preventing the virus from spreading, how to test for infection, which vaccine studies to fund and how to protect vulnerable populations.

Wieler said he personally had phone conversations over the Easter weekend with British government officials and the mayor of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, formerly known as Kiev.

Germany has been more successful than many other nations in tackling the pandemic, with far fewer deaths than most large European countries despite having a bigger population.

According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, Germany had just over 130,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,193 deaths.

Wieler said “confidence building measures” such as taking in patients from other countries were also important. Germany is treating dozens of severely ill patients from Italy, France and the Netherlands, which all have higher mortality rates.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo has declared the new coronavirus outbreak in the world’s fourth most populous country a “non-natural national disaster” in a Presidential Decree which is opening its door for international cooperation and humanitarian assistance.

The decree was issued as the government reported 60 new deaths on Tuesday, the biggest daily fatalities yet, taking the country’s virus death toll to 459, the highest in Asia after China. There have been 282 new cases to bring the total to 4,839 positive tests.

Efforts to mitigate the outbreak are to be led by the COVID-19 National Task Force with the cooperation of regional administrations, ministries and national agencies, according to the decree. Governors, mayors and district chiefs as the leaders of the COVID-19 task force in their respective regions, will have broader authority.

Some regions with a high number of infections have enforced stricter social restrictions, following the country’s capital Jakarta, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak, recording 2,335 cases with 241 deaths.

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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s prime minister has described as “unfathomable” the World Health Organization’s support for the reopening of wet markets in the Chinese city at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Nations agency is supporting the reopening stalls at wet markets in China’s central city of Wuhan as it lifts a monthslong lockdown against COVID-19.

Asked about WHO’s position, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Nine Network television on Tuesday: “I think that’s unfathomable, frankly.

“We need to protect the world against potential sources of outbreaks of these types of viruses. It’s happened too many times. I’m totally puzzled by this decision,” Morrison said.

Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was unsettled by China’s reopening of the wet markets.

“There is a very real likelihood that this disease arose from a wet market in Wuhan — it’s clear that these are dangerous vectors,” Hunt told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

WHO said in a statement wet markets should not be allowed to sell illegal wildlife for food and authorities should enforce food safety and hygiene regulations.

“COVID-19 has reminded us of the need to ensure that our food markets are well managed and regulated and provide an environment where people can safely trade and buy safe food products being it live, raw or processed,” the statement said.

“Wet markets and other food markets do not need to be closed down,” WHO added.

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LONDON — New figures show that hundreds more people with COVID-19 have died in Britain than have been recorded in the government’s daily tally.

The Office for National Statistics says 5,979 deaths that occurred in England up to April 3 involved COVID-19, 15% more than the 5,186 deaths announced by the National Health Service for the same period.

The daily total released by the U.K. government only includes people who died in hospitals. The higher figure includes deaths in all settings including nursing homes, and cases where coronavirus was suspected but not tested for.

The U.K. statistics office says that so far just under 10% of deaths involving COVID-19 occurred outside hospitals.

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PARIS — France is forecasting a 8% drop in growth this year because of virus confinement measures and is facing its worst recession since World War II.

And that 8% may be an optimistic estimate, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on BFM television Tuesday.

One of the world’s richest economies, France is pumping money into temporary unemployment payments and to help struggling businesses. Le Maire said France’s strategy is based on “more debt for fewer bankruptcies.”

But that spending, coupled with plunging growth, could push France’s deficit up to 9% in 2020, Budget Minister Gerard Darmanin said Tuesday.

France entered recession in the first quarter as lockdown measures around the world pummeled the tourism industry and other key parts of the French economy. President Emmanuel Macron has now extended he confinement measures until at least May 11.

The French central bank says every two weeks under lockdown could shrink the economy by 1.5%.

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GENEVA — The U.N. health agency is warning that more than 117 million children in more than three dozen countries could miss out on measles vaccines as countries suspend immunizations and other services to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The World Health Organization says 24 countries have already postponed measles vaccination campaigns to avert further spread of COVID-19 disease, and another 13 are expected to do so by the end of the year.

“If the difficult choice to pause vaccination is made due to the spread of COVID-19, we urge leaders to intensify efforts to track unvaccinated children, so that the most vulnerable populations can be provided with measles vaccines as soon as it becomes possible to do so,” WHO said in a statement Tuesday.

WHO and partners say they support a “pause of mass campaigns” in their measles and Rubella initiative to protect communities and health workers, but “this should not mean that children permanently miss out.”

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MOSCOW — Russian officials say that scores of patients at a nursing home in western Russia have been infected with the new coronavirus.

The city of Vyazma 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of Moscow has been shut after contagion was found over the weekend in the local home for the elderly. Officials said one of the medics there has tested positive for COVID-19 and 86 patients have been infected.

Russia has registered 21,102 coronavirus cases and 170 deaths as of Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered most Russians to stay off work until the end of April as part of a partial economic shutdown to stymie the spread of the coronavirus.

On Monday, Putin ordered officials to prepare for “any possible scenarios, including the most difficult and extraordinary.” He warned regional governors that they would face charges of criminal negligence if they fail to mobilize all available resources to combat the outbreak.

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BERLIN — Austria is beginning to relax its strict coronavirus lockdown measures by allowing small retailers and DIY and gardening supply stores to reopen Tuesday.

All customers will be required to wear mouth and nose covers that help reduce the risk of infection for others, and keep a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) from each other. There will also be a limit on the number of people allowed into stores.

Austria closed almost all stores apart from supermarkets in mid-March in an effort to curb the spread of the virus and has so far managed to keep the number of infections and deaths relatively low compared to other countries.

Austrian authorities have said they plan to let all stores reopen on May 2, followed by restaurants in mid-May, provided the pandemic remains under control.

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ANKARA, Turkey — Haydar Bas, the founder and leader of a small, nationalist party has become the latest victim of the coronavirus in Turkey.

Bas, 73, died Tuesday in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Trabzon, northern Turkey, where he was being treated for COVID-19, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Eight members of his family are also infected.

Bas founded his Independent Turkey Party in 2001. The party does not have seats in Turkey’s parliament.

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LONDON — The boss of one of Britain’s biggest nursing home operators says the number of reported coronavirus deaths among elderly residents is much higher than has been officially reported.

The government says outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported in one in eight U.K. care homes.

But David Behan, chairman of home operator HC-One, said cases of the new coronavirus had been reported in 232 of the firm’s homes — two-thirds of the total. He says 311 residents have died with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

Ros Altmann, a former government minister who campaigns for older people, said frail elderly people were being overlooked in the pandemic. She said “we must not forget that the mark of a civilized society must reflect how it treats its most vulnerable and oldest citizens.”

The U.K.’s official daily tally of COVID-19 deaths, which stands at more than 11,000, includes only people who have died in hospitals. Deaths in other settings are reported separately once a week. Figures are due later Tuesday.

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