With 427 dead overnight, Italy surpasses China’s virus deaths

ROME — Italy has become the country with the most coronavirus-related deaths, surpassing China by registering 3,405 dead.

Italy reached the gruesome milestone on the same day the epicenter of the pandemic, Wuhan, China, recorded no new infections. Overall, China on Thursday counted 3,249 dead, 156 fewer than Italy, according to the Johns Hopkins University virus map.

Both Italy’s death toll and its new infections shot up again, adding 427 more dead and 5,322 more infections. Overall, Italy has recorded 41,035 infections, more than half of the world’s positive cases.

Italy’s health care system has been overwhelmed by the virus, and on Thursday a visiting Chinese Red Cross team criticized the failure of Italians to fully quarantine and take the national lockdown seriously.

U.N. and Italian health authorities have cited a variety of reasons for Italy’s high toll, key among them its large elderly population that is particularly susceptible to developing serious complications from the virus. Italy has the world’s second oldest population after Japan’s and the vast majority of Italy’s dead — 87% — were over age 70.

The American death toll rose to 163, primarily elderly people.

Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, a virologist at Germany’s Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, said Italy’s high death rate could be explained in part by the almost total collapse of the health system in some parts.

“And then people die who wouldn’t have died with timely intervention,” he said. “That’s what happens when the health system collapses.”

222,642 worldwide cases

A total of 222,642 cases have been reported worldwide, with 9,115 deaths and 84,506 recoveries, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Aside from the elderly and the sick, most people only have mild or moderate symptoms, like a fever or cough.

Price gouging reports rise

One store advertised hand sanitizer at $60 a bottle. Another was accused of hawking it at $1 a squirt. Chain stores were accused of selling $26 thermometers and face masks at the “everyday low price” of $39.95 a pair, while a convenience store offered toilet paper at $10 a roll next to a sign reading: “This is not a joke.”

Across a country where lines are long, some shelves are empty and patience thin, authorities are receiving a surge of reports about people trying to cash in on the coronavirus crisis with outrageous prices, phony cures and other scams. An Associated Press survey of state attorneys general or consumer protection agencies across the country found the number exceeded 5,000, with hundreds more coming in every day.

“Greed is a powerful motivator for some people,” said Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, where the number of reports jumped from 72 to 131 in a day. “It is inexcusable to prey on people in a vulnerable time to make a quick buck.”

Texas declares public health disaster

Texas declared a public health disaster Thursday morning, closing restaurant dining rooms and schools for 5 million students.

Russian state media accused of fake news on virus

Russian state media and news outlets supporting President Vladimir Putin are waging a fake news campaign aimed at undermining public confidence in the ability of European health care systems to cope with the coronavirus, according to a European Union analysis.

The report, seen by The Associated Press, said that EU experts noted nearly 80 instances of virus-related disinformation in about the last two months, including claims that the COVID-19 virus was a Western-made biological weapon.

“The campaign is designed to exacerbate confusion, panic, and fear, and to prevent people from accessing reliable information about the virus and public safety provisions,” states the report, which was compiled by the EU communications division assigned to countering false information.

The EU experts pointed the finger at news outlets Russia Today, Sputnik, Oriental Review, Geopolitica and others. As examples of false reports, they cited stories saying COVID-19 was less harmful than the flu, developed by the United States, brought into Europe by migrants or exacerbated by taking ibuprofen to relieve symptoms.

Testing inequalities?

Celebrities, politicians and professional athletes faced a backlash this week as many revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn’t have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms.

That’s fueling a perception that the wealthy and famous have been able to jump to the head of the line to get tested while others have been turned away or met with long delays.

The concerns over preferential treatment underscore a fundamental truth about inequalities baked into the American health care system — those with the financial means can often receive a different level of service.

Asked about the issue Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the well-to-do and well-connected shouldn’t get priority for coronavirus tests. But the wealthy former reality star conceded that the rich and famous sometimes get perks.

“Perhaps that’s been the story of life,” Trump said during a briefing at the White House. “That does happen on occasion. And I’ve noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly.”

Queen asks Brits to ‘work as one’

Queen Elizabeth II has urged British people to “work as one” to defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

In a rare first-person message, the queen acknowledged that many individuals and families “are entering a period of great concern and uncertainty.“

“At times such as these, I am reminded that our nation’s history has been forged by people and communities coming together to work as one, concentrating our combined efforts with a focus on the common goal,” she said.

The queen thanked medics, scientists and emergency workers, and said “we all have a vitally important part to play” in overcoming the pandemic.

The 93-year-old monarch and her husband Prince Philip, 98, moved to their Windsor Castle residence on Thursday. They usually spend Easter there but have gone a week early, with a slimmed-down staff, because of the outbreak.

US-Canada border likely to close Friday night

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canada-U.S. border likely will be closed to all non-essential travel in both directions on Friday night. He says it will take “weeks to months” for social-distancing measures in his country to be lifted.

Both the U.S. and Canada have been in talks in recent days to negotiate a mutual halt to tourism and family visits but leaving the flow of trade intact. Canada relies on the U.S. for 75% of its exports and about 18% of American exports go to Canada. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S.

Trudeau says his government is following the advice of health experts and won’t lift restrictions on public activities and movements in Canada until it is safe to do so. Trudeau made his comments in front of his residence where he is self-isolating after his wife tested positive for the virus. Canada has about confirmed 770 cases and nine deaths.

60K homeless in California possible victims

As worries about the spread of the coronavirus confine millions of Californians to their homes, concern is growing about those who have no homes in which to shelter. Gov. Gavin Newsom estimates up to 60,000 homeless could end up infected.

California has more than 150,000 homeless people, the most in the nation, and as the rest of the state’s residents are being told to stay apart and to frequently wash their hands, the homeless are living just as they did before the outbreak.

The virus is spread by coughing and sneezing and could easily sweep through homeless encampments where people live live close together and hygiene is poor or nonexistent.

Newsom on Wednesday said it’s possible 60,000 could contract the virus and overwhelm the state’s health care systems. The governor announced he would spend $150 million on efforts to shield that population from the virus.

“I hope you get a sense of the seriousness we’re taking the issue of homelessness,” Newsom said in a Facebook Live broadcast.

Prince Albert II tests positive

The palace of Monaco says Prince Albert II has tested positive for the coronavirus, but says there’s little concern for his health.

In a statement, the palace says the 62-year-old is being treated by doctors from the Princess Grace Hospital, named after his U.S. actress mother.

‘Test, test, test’

“You can’t go on ignoring World Health Organization guidelines — if they’re wrong, who the hell is right? … and their thing is test, test, test,” he said. “Let’s have no shilly-shallying.”

In a high-profile case, Michel Barnier, the European Union’s chief negotiator for its future relationship with Britain after Brexit, said he had been infected with the coronavirus.

“I am following all the necessary instructions, as is my team,” the 69-year-old Barnier said in a tweet. “For all those affected already, and for all those currently in isolation, we will get through this together.”

Thursday marked the first time the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged late last year, showed no new numbers since Jan. 20. The news offered a rare glimmer of hope and perhaps a lesson in the strict measures needed to halt its spread.

34 Wuhan cases, all imported

Wuhan once was the place where thousands lay sick or dying in hurriedly constructed hospitals. But Chinese authorities said Thursday that all 34 new cases recorded over the previous day had been imported from abroad.

“Today, we have seen the dawn after so many days of hard effort,” said Jiao Yahui, a senior inspector at the National Health Commission.

Wuhan has been under a strict lockdown since January.

While China did not report any new cases in Wuhan or Hubei province, it did record eight additional deaths.

European stock markets were up only slightly after losses in Asia despite a massive 750 billion-euro stimulus package announced overnight by the European Central Bank. Oil dropped below $21 a barrel Wednesday for the first time since 2002, and rose slightly Thursday to $23.

The United Nations warned that the crisis could lead to the loss of nearly 25 million jobs around the world.

More borders closed

More borders shut, leaving tens of thousands of tourists wondering how they would get home. In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand shut out tourists, allowing only citizens and residents to return, while Fiji reported its first virus case, a worrying development in a region with poor healthcare.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei planned to pardon 10,000 more prisoners — among them an unknown number of political detainees— to combat the coronavirus. The country, where more than 1,100 people have already died from the virus, has already released 85,000 prisoners on temporary leave.

In Austria, the western province of Tyrol put 279 municipalities under quarantine in light of a large number of infections there, banning anyone from leaving towns or villages except to go to work.

The U.S. and Canada both closed their borders to all but essential travel and U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to assert extraordinary powers to immediately turn back to Mexico anyone who crosses over the southern border illegally.

Russia, Mexico report 1st deaths

Russia and Mexico each reported their first death from the virus. Mexico closed its popular spring equinox visits to the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon at Teotihuacan.

In the U.S., Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, along with Honda and Toyota, said they will shut all of their factories in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The closing of Detroit’s Big Three alone will idle about 150,000 workers.

The U.S. has reported more than 9,400 coronavirus cases and at least 149 deaths, about half of them in Washington state, where dozens in a suburban Seattle nursing home have died.

Scientists believe the true number of people infected in the United States is higher than reported because many mild cases may have gone unrecognized and the U.S saw delays in ramping up testing.