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:
— Britain tops 20,000 deaths from coronavirus.
— WHO warns against idea of ‘immunity passports.’
— Spain hopeful of easing confinement restrictions soon.
___
WASHINGTON — The Navy reports that the number of sailors aboard the USS Kidd confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus has nearly doubled, rising from 18 to 33.
The destroyer with its crew of 350 are off the Pacific coast of South America on a mission related to U.S. counter-drug activities.
In a statement issued Saturday, the Navy said a medical team continues testing of the Kidd’s crew. Two sailors have been medically evacuated to the United States. Meanwhile, officials say those aboard the Kidd are wearing N95 masks and other personal protective equipment.
The Navy says the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island is en route to rendezvous with the Kidd in case medical support is required at sea. Officials say the Makin Island has a fleet surgical team, intensive care capacity and ventilators, as well as additional testing capability.
The Kidd is the second Navy ship at sea to report an outbreak of the coronavirus. Officials say the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has reported more than 850 cases of infection among its nearly 5,000 crew members. Most of its crew has been moved ashore to quarantine on Guam.
___
UNDATED — Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging careful science to prove whether any of the drugs being explored as COVID-19 treatments actually work.
Fauci, infectious diseases chief at the National Institutes of Health, said Saturday during an online meeting of the National Academy of Sciences that the only way to get an answer that is not just perpetual ambiguity is by doing a randomized controlled trial.
“We need something out there, but safety and efficacy is something we owe to the global population,” Fauci said.
Fauci also stressed that caution is needed as economies reopen, pointing to a step-wise approach with restrictions gradually lifted as areas reach certain milestones.
“Any attempt to leapfrog over these almost certainly will result in a rebound, and then we can set ourselves back,” he said. “If we don’t get control of it we will never get back to normal. I know we will, but we’ve got to do it correctly.”
Fauci also cautioned against looking for a magic number of available tests needed as the country reopens.
“We don’t want to get fixated on how many tests you need,” Fauci said. Instead, places must “have enough tests to respond to the outbreaks that will inevitably occur.”
___
MIAMI — The president of a Florida medical center said at a press conference Saturday that any changes made going forward will have to be evaluated daily.
Orthopedic surgeon Wael Barsoum was referencing remarks by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about restarting activities, such as elective procedures and surgeries.
“I think that there is a lot of excitement about seeing what happens as we move forward, as we start slowly seeing changes with the requirements that we’ve had put in place,” said Barsoum, president of Cleveland Clinic Florida. “But please recognize that we will learn every day, and we may have to step back from some of those decisions as a society.”
Barsoum said he told his parents, who are 75 and 84 years old, that regardless of what happens in the coming weeks he expects they will remain indoors.
___
MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that Spaniards will be allowed to leave their homes for short walks and exercise starting on May 2 after seven weeks of strict home confinement.
Sánchez announced in a televised address Saturday that the government plans to allow those outings for physical fitness “if the evolution of the epidemic remains favorable as it has recently.” Since the start of the state of emergency, Spaniards have only been allowed to leave home for essential shopping, except those workers in industries who cannot work from home.
Sánchez also announced that he would present a detailed plan on the “de-escalation” of the lockdown on Tuesday that he hopes to put into effect in the coming weeks.
Spain has one of the world’s strictest lockdowns as it fights to contain a COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed over 22,000 lives and infected over 200,000 people.
The measures have helped reduce a daily contagion rate that was over 20% a month ago to under 2% this week. On Sunday, children under 14 years old will be allowed to take walks with a parent for up to one hour and within one kilometer from home, ending six weeks of complete seclusion.
“Maximum caution will be our guideline for the rollback,” Sánchez said. “We must be very prudent because there is no manual, no road map to follow.”
___
ROME — Nearly 200,000 Italian companies have asked authorities for permission to be able to operate during Italy’s lockdown, either because they help essential businesses or because they deem themselves strategic for the national economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
The interior ministry said Saturday that a streamlined procedure is being implemented that “trusts the sense of responsibility of individual business persons” in allowing companies to resume operations.
The ministry’s local authorities can verify that a company respects COVID-19 safety rules, including social distancing. Most of the requests have come from three northern regions that are among Italy’s most productive, but also among those most heavily hit by coronavirus cases.
So far, only a tiny percentage of the businesses have been found not following the rules, which are part of a government decree aimed at containing Italy’s COVID-19 outbreak.
___
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s health ministry has documented 106 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 2,706.
Minister Fahrettin Koca shared daily figures Saturday, showing 2,861 new confirmed cases. The total number of confirmed infections has reached 107,773.
According to the data, 3,845 people were released from hospitals in the past 24 hours, increasing the number of recovered patients to 25,582.
“The rate of positive tests is decreasing,” Koca tweeted and urged continued precaution.
Turkey ranks seventh in the world for the number of confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. But experts believe the actual toll of the pandemic around the world is higher than the tally.
Nearly 870,000 people have been tested in Turkey so far.
___
NEW YORK — Oil producers in the U.S. are making painful decisions about how to shut down operations after the pandemic decimated the need for fuel.
The price of U.S. benchmark crude plummeted more than 70% since the start of the year, selling for $17 a barrel Friday, well below what producers need to remain viable.
Parsley Energy, a mid-sized fracking company based in Austin, Texas, lost half its market value since the year began and told regulators it has been shutting down enough wells to take about 400 barrels of oil per day off the market.
In recent weeks, Exxon slashed its capital spending plan by 30%, or $10 billion, and Chevron gutted its capital expenses by 20%, or $4 billion. Both companies are planning to halt drilling for new oil in different parts of the world and will likely shrink further since conditions have deteriorated since their announcements.
___
BERLIN — About 1,000 people gathered in Berlin to protest restrictions caused by the coronavirus, defying social distancing rules.
Demonstrators have gathered in the Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz square in Berlin for several Saturdays. The protests have drawn a variety of people, including some right-wing populists and conspiracy theorists.
News agency dpa reported police repeatedly called on participants to leave and a few people were detained before the crowd dispersed.
Although Germany recently loosened its restrictions slightly by allowing small shops to reopen, rules still call for people to keep a 1.5-meters (5 feet) apart in public.
Authorities can allow gatherings of up to 20 people, although that permission wasn’t granted for Saturday’s protest.
The Volksbuehne theater distanced itself from the demonstration saying, “we are not your backdrop.”
___
ROME — Italy has reported 415 deaths and 2,357 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
The Italian health ministry puts Europe’s highest death toll at more than 26,000. The total known infections stand at more than 195,000.
The Lombardy region registers the most cases in Italy, adding some 700 on Saturday for a total of nearly 72,000 infected persons there since Italy’s first case in that northern region on Feb. 20.
Much of Italy’s south has been spared the brunt of the outbreak. Authorities cautioned Italians against abandoning social distancing practices after the current lockdown ends and looser restrictions begin on May 4.
___
ATHENS, Greece — Greece has recorded no deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
Greek authorities say the total number of fatalities remains at 130. There were 16 new confirmed cases, raising the total to 2,506.
The number of people on ventilators in intensive care units continued to decline to 47.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and several ministers met Saturday to consider gradually easing the strict quarantine measures. Mitsotakis will make an announcement on Monday.
___
OSLO, Norway — Norway is extending the ban on all events with more than 500 participants until Sept. 1
Norwegian Culture Minister Abid Raja said during a press conference Saturday “there is now a ban on major sporting events, festivals and concerts until 15 June. That ban is now extended until September 1.”
He says the decision wasn’t easy for the Norwegian government to make but stressed “we cannot have big events (in Norway) that can contribute to more infections that will affect life and health.”
Norway has reported 201 coronavirus deaths and 7,493 confirmed cases.
___
LONDON — Britain’s confirmed tally of hospital deaths among people with the coronavirus has topped 20,000, making it the fifth country to reach the grim milestone.
The government says 20,319 people with COVID-19 have died in British hospitals, an increase of 813 from the day before. The figure doesn’t include deaths in nursing homes, which are likely to number in the thousands.
Britain is the fourth European country after Italy, Spain and France to reach 20,000 deaths. The United States has recorded more than 50,000 coronavirus fatalities.
There are signs the U.K. outbreak has peaked, with the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus declining. But the government says it is too soon to ease a nationwide lockdown imposed on March 23 and extended to May 7.
Still, some businesses are planning to reopen after implementing social distancing measures. Several automakers say they will restart production in May.
___
MADRID — Spain’s health authorities say 2,944 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to nearly 206,000 cases.
Authorities say the daily figure is a 1.5% increase from Friday, compared to over 20% from a month before. There were 378 reported deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll since the start of the pandemic in Spain to nearly 23,000.
“The recent tendency of the evolution of the pandemic appears to hold true, each day improving a bit, but it is important to not fall into excessive euphoria,” Spanish health official Fernando Simón said. “We must be prudent. We have to develop ways to transition (out of lockdown), but first we must guarantee our security capabilities.”
On Sunday, Spanish children under 14 years old can go outside with a parent for a maximum of one hour and within one kilometer from home. They’ve been indoors since March 14. Parks and schools remain closed.
___
ROME — Italians celebrated the 75th anniversary of their country’s liberation from World War II occupation forces by emerging on balconies or rooftops to sing a folk song linked to resistance fighters.
Citizens played recordings of “Bella Ciao” or sang a cappella to mark Liberation Day, which is a national holiday. The traditional marches and other memorial gatherings are banned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Rome, Italian air force jets flew overhead, trailing smoke colored with the red, white and green hues of the Italian flag.
The government’s commissioner for the pandemic, Domenico Arcuri, cautioned Italians: “All must understand that we’re not fully liberated from the virus. Against this enemy, we haven’t regained our freedoms” yet.
___
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran says it registered 76 more deaths in the previous 24 hours.
That puts the reported death toll from Covid-19 at 5,650 and confirmed cases at over 89,000. Iran is the country hardest hit by the virus in the Middle East.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour says more than 1,100 new confirmed cases were detected from the previous day.
Jahanpour added nearly 3,100 patients are in critical condition.
___
ROME — Italy will start distributing free protective masks to nursing homes, many of which have been devastated by coronavirus infections and deaths.
Domenico Arcuri, the government’s commissioner for the pandemic, says doing so is a “gesture of solidarity and nearness and support to these places ever more at the epicenter of this great crisis.”
Arcuri says free masks also will be distributed to public officials, transport workers and police. Millions of Italians will be allowed to return to workplaces starting on May 4, when lockdown restrictions will be considerably eased.
Italy, with some 26,000 reported deaths, most of them of elderly persons, has Europe’s highest toll from COVID-19. In Lombardy, Italy’s most stricken region, prosecutors are investigating about two dozen homes, including one in Milan where some 200 residents died.
___
Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Copyright © 2020 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.