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.6852, also hit by worse than expected employment data.
Australia’s unemployment rate jumped to the highest in about two decades in May as nearly a quarter of a million people lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic-driven shutdowns.
Oil prices also dropped with US crude futures falling 1.9% to .49 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent lost 1.4% to .14 a barrel.
4.30am BST
S&P 500 mini futures fell 1.2% in early Asian trade while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost as much as 1%.
Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.3% while in mainland China, bluechip CSI300 shares shed 0.1% in early trade.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost 0.36% on Wednesday but tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.15% due to hopes of increased demand for various online services due to the epidemic.
Several US states including Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump plans a campaign rally on Saturday, reported a surge in new coronavirus infections.
The daily count of infections also hit a new benchmark in California and Texas, while Florida and Arizona also recorded the second-highest daily increases.
China’s capital cancelled scores of flights, shut schools and blocked off some neighbourhoods as it ramped up efforts to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has fanned fears of wider contagion.
4.17am BST
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 580 to 187,764, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.
The reported death toll rose by 26 to 8,856, the tally showed.
4.07am BST
The Bank of England, confronted by Britain’s collapsing coronavirus-ravaged economy, will later Thursday reveal the outcome of its latest monetary policy meeting, with analysts predicting more stimulus.
The British central bank has been at the forefront of economic fire-fighting over this year’s deadly Covid-19 emergency – and could expand its quantitative easing stimulus in an attempt to kickstart growth.
The pandemic has so far killed more than 41,000 people in Britain, making it the third worst hit country in the world, while the nationwide lockdown shrank the size of the UK economy by more than a fifth in April alone.
In response to the crisis, the BoE in March slashed interest rates to a record-low 0.1 percent and pumped an extra £200 billion (7bn, 220bn euros) in a bid to get retail banks lending to fragile businesses. That took the bank’s QE total to £645bn.
3.53am BST
Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to 7.1% after another 227,700 people lost their jobs thanks to coronavirus, AAP reports.
The jobless rate had already climbed from 5.2% in March to a revised 6.4 per cent in April, as the deadly global pandemic gripped the country.
May’s monthly drop in the number of people employed is the second largest on record after nearly 600,000 got sacked in April. Another poor set of figures had been expected as a result of nationwide lockdowns.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed full-time employment had decreased by 89,100 while part-time employment dropped by 138,600. The participation rate of people either in or seeking work fell by a further 0.7% to 62.9%.
Monthly hours worked fell 0.7% in May, to be down 10.2% since March.
Updated at 3.53am BST
3.43am BST
“Children interrupting Zoom meetings could be the reboot corporate culture needed,” writes Catharine Lumby:
The other day I was in a Zoom meeting with colleagues I don’t know that well. The tone was serious and formal when suddenly everything changed. The door behind the man chairing the meeting burst open and his toddler ran in, jumped on his lap and smeared Vegemite all over his computer screen.
It reminded me of the video that went viral in 2017. Prof Robert Kelly was being interviewed live by the BBC when his small daughter strutted into the room behind him. His toddler spotted the open door and followed his sister in with great delight. The clip ends with a frantic mother removing the kids.
We may not be seeing each other at work these days but in some ways we’re seeing a lot more of each other than we anticipated. That revelation is making me think that screens might be perversely better at connecting us than face-to-face workplace life.
3.31am BST
China’s Vice Premier Liu He said the country’s economic situation has gradually improved, and that various indicators have shown marginal progress, in prepared remarks delivered on Thursday by the chief securities regulator.
Liu also said in the remarks that China and the United States should create the conditions and atmosphere to implement the Phase 1 trade deal reached earlier this year.
3.19am BST
The coronavirus lockdown has put a strain on Australian couples, new data has confirmed, with family therapists and lawyers noting a jump in clients seeking counselling or divorce.
A study on the impacts of Covid-19 by Relationships Australia, the leading national provider of relationship support services, found that 42% of people had experienced a negative change in their relationship with their partner during the last few months.
Its national executive officer, Nick Tebbey, said this statistic was directly related to the finding that 55% of people reported feeling challenged by their living arrangements during this time:
3.06am BST
Guardian US reporter Erin McCormick describes why thousands of crew are still stranded on cruise ships after coronavirus bought the industry to a standstill in March. Will Lees describes how it took him 82 days to get back to Canada while Perry, who hasn’t had a salary since March, is still stuck and doesn’t know when he will get home to his family in Mauritius:
2.48am BST
As always, it would be great to hear from you on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com – questions, comments, tips and news from your part of the world are most welcome.
2.47am BST
That press conference is now over.
2.41am BST
“Over the last few months, our team has dealt with hundreds of compassionate leave applications – some of which have been profiled in the media and have been very tragic,” says Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
2.40am BST
New Zealand Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, is speaking now at a press conference.
The two women recently arrived from Britain who were infected with Covid-19 and allowed to leave quarantine without being tested, did not break any laws, he says.
2.38am BST
New Zealand has confirmed another coronavirus case, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has announced.
The case is a man in his 60s, who is in quarantine, the New Zealand Herald reports:
New Zealand has another new Covid-19 case.
The man is in his 60s and is now in a quarantine facility in Auckland – the Jet Park Hotel.
He flew from Pakistan to Doha and on to Melbourne on June 11, and then to Auckland on Flight NZ124 on June 13.
The man wore a mask on the flight.
He developed symptoms on June 15.
The Ministry of Health is in the process of contacting all people on the flight.
Updated at 2.38am BST
2.33am BST
Mexico’s near-record level rise in coronavirus cases on Wednesday came as officials acknowledged the country is on a plateau with few signs of decrease, even as the economy starts reopening.
The Health Department reported that confirmed cases rose by 4,930, the second-highest daily increase to date, to reach an accumulated total of 159,793.
Deaths rose by 770, the third-highest daily number, after one-day increases of 1,092 and 816 earlier this month. Those death tolls rivaled those of the United States. Mexico’s overall death toll now stands at 19,080.
Both case and death totals are clearly undercounts because Mexico does very little testing. Moreover, reporting has been slow and faulty.
The Mexican Social Security Institute, the nation’s largest health care provider, said Wednesday that 957 confirmed Covid-19 deaths had not been added to official counts because the information had not been typed into computer systems. Mexicos official toll will probably also rise when deaths at home, or deaths where no test were performed, are added.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell said the numbers indicate a “progressive tendency of prolonging the epidemic … longer than originally predicted.”
López-Gatell had originally predicted a peak in the epidemic in May, but the latest figures show a peak in early June. However, because of delays in testing and reporting and the large number of suspected coronavirus deaths and cases that may later be confirmed it is unclear when the peak occurred or it if is still to come.
He also predicted the first wave of the epidemic may not go into definitive decline until September or October, especially in some states are just starting to be hit hard.
2.17am BST
Norway and Ireland won contested seats on the powerful UN Security Council Wednesday in a series of UN elections held under dramatically different voting procedures because of the Covid-19 pandemic, AP reports.
In the most closely watched race, Canada lost out to the two European countries for two Western seats on the 15-member council. It was Canadas second consecutive defeat in a bid for a seat and a blow to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In previous years, ambassadors from all UN member states have gathered in its vast chamber to vote by secret ballot, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world body to adopt new rules.
While the UN headquarters complex overlooking New Yorks East River remains open for essential workers, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has ordered staff to work from home until 31 July because of the pandemic.
On Wednesday morning the new rules went into operation a few ambassadors arriving at the assembly during spaced-out time slots to avoid a large gathering and ensure social distancing.
And instead of voting separately for the next General Assembly president, five new members of the Security Council and 18 new members of the Economic and Social Council, the three elections were held at the same time by secret ballot.
Each arriving ambassador wore a mask, presented a voting card to a UN staff member, received three different colored paper ballots in an envelope, and went up an escalator into the nearly empty chamber where Assembly president Muhammad-Bande presided over the elections.
2.05am BST
Charles Anderson reports for the Guardian from Nelson:
More reports have emerged in New Zealand of people leaving isolation without being tested and going on to meet friends, placing government officials under increasing scrutiny over the rigour of their Covid-19 quarantine rules.
Police revealed that six people absconded from managed isolation after being granted compassionate leave from Covid-19 quarantine to attend a funeral in Hamilton.
TVNZ reported that a birthday party for a girl in isolation brought people together who should not have been mingling.
A Christchurch funeral director told Stuff that about 10 people had been let out of quarantine early to attend one of the funerals it had arranged on Tuesday. Steve Parkyn, chief executive of funeral directors Lamb and Hayward, said he refused to let them attend the service after being contacted by health authorities, but they joined mourners at the burial, accompanied by a health official. Around 200 people attended the funeral.
On Tuesday, New Zealand recorded its first new cases of the virus for 24 days after two New Zealanders, sisters returning after travelling to the UK, were found to be infected. The pair, who were permitted to leave their managed isolation early to visit a dying parent, but had not been tested.
1.54am BST
Beijing confirmed 21 new Covid-19 cases as of June 17, China’s health authority said on Thursday, down from 31 a day earlier.
Beijing logged its first case in the current outbreak, the worst in the city since early February, on 11 June. The total number of infections has risen to 158 over the past week.
1.43am BST
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Wednesday 4,930 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 770 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 159,793 cases and 19,080 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
1.32am BST
Qantas Airways said on Thursday it had cancelled most international flights until late October, after the Australian government indicated its border closure because of the coronavirus was likely to extend to 2021.
“We will still have some flights scheduled across the Tasman in the coming months with the expected travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand,” the airline said in a statement, referring to the Tasman Sea between the countries.
“Should travel between Australia and other countries open up and demand return, we can add more flights back into our schedule,” it added.
1.22am BST
The number of coronavirus infections in the UK has passed 300,00, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with the current total standing at 300,717.
At least 42,238 people have died in the UK so far.
1.17am BST
Uki Goñi reports for the Guardian from Buenos Aires:
Argentina’s president Alberto Fernández has gone into voluntary isolation amid growing concerns over a surge of coronavirus infections, including several cases among the country’s political elite.
The decision to quarantine the president – whose popularity is riding high on his no-nonsense response to the pandemic – was taken due to the “significant increase in the circulation of the virus,” presidential doctor Federico Saavedra said in a statement on Wednesday.
Until now, Argentina’s strong coronavirus lockdown, had been a standout success in the containment of the pandemic that is ripping through its South American neighbours Brazil and Chile.
But that may start changing after Argentina’s reported cases more than quadrupled in the last month following the gradual lockdown relaxation that began on 10 May.
The sudden spike in cases has also struck a number of current and former senior politicians, including former Buenos Aires governor María Eugenia Vidal, 46, a presidential hopeful for the 2023 elections for the opposition PRO party.
1.02am BST
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Panama reached 22,597 on Wednesday, up 635 from the previous day, and deaths climbed by 13 to 470, the health ministry said.
Director of Epidemiology Lourdes Moreno gave the Central American country’s latest data at a news conference.
Updated at 1.09am BST
12.47am BST
As coronavirus cases surge across the state, Arizona’s Republican governor said he would no longer block mayors from being able to require local residents to wear masks.
But governor Doug Ducey held off from issuing a statewide mask-wearing requirement, even after hundreds of Arizona medical professionals sent him an open letter this week, outlining the evidence that masks save lives and asking him to require citizens to wear them.
Mask-wearing has become a charged partisan issue in Arizona, one of the key swing states in the 2020 election. Donald Trump is expected to visit the state for a rally next week, even as coronavirus cases and deaths are rising rapidly.
For days, the Democratic mayors of Phoenix and Tucson, the state’s two largest cities, have been speaking out, asking Ducey to change the executive order that has blocked them from mandating any public health guidelines in addition to the ones that the governor himself had approved.
12.36am BST
The cheap steroid British researchers believe can help save lives should be used only for the most serious cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
The WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said research was at last providing “green shoots of hope”.
Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, a generic drug used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill patients admitted to hospital.
The head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Dr Mike Ryan, said the drug should only be used in the cases where it has been shown to help.
It is exceptionally important in this case, that the drug is reserved for use in severely ill and critical patients who can benefit from this drug clearly.
12.31am BST
Brazil recorded 1,269 additional Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing its official death toll from the novel coronavirus to 46,510, the most in the world outside the United States.
The Health Ministry also registered 32,188 new cases of the virus since its Tuesday update, for a total of 955,377 confirmed cases, also second to the United States globally.
12.16am BST
Hello and welcome to today’s global live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be with you for the next few hours.
It would be great to hear from you on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com – questions, comments, tips and news from your part of the world are most welcome.
The cheap steroid British researchers believe can help save lives should be used only for the most serious cases, the World Health Organization has said. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said research was at last providing “green shoots of hope”.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Covid-19 cases, the second highest in the world after the US, are nearing 1 million, with 923,189 currently confirmed. Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has resisted strong measures to stop spread of what he calls a “little flu”, with devastating consequences.
Updated at 3.44am BST
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