DUBAI: Countries around the world have been helping each other in tackling the coronavirus crisis by sending aid planes to COVID-19 hotspots.
Countries in the Middle East have also stood in solidarity with other nations, providing support to help them deal with the pandemic. The UAE has sent aid planes to multiple countries such as Pakistan and Colombia.
Thursday, April 9 (All times in GMT)
19:15 - Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the deadline to submit requests to return to the Kingdom has been extended to April 14.
19:07 - Egypt announced 139 new cases of coronavirus, 15 deaths and 43 cases of recovery on Thursday.
18:41 - The United Arab Emirates decided on Thursday to extend the closure of mosques and places of worship until further notice, the state news agency reported.
The statement added this decision comes as part of the precautionary measures across the UAE to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
17:35 - France records another big jump in its death toll from the virus, announcing it had reached 12,210 on Thursday from 10,869 on Wednesday.
17:15 - Jordan records 14 new coronavirus cases, meaning the country's total now stands at 372.
16:43 - Turkey's confirmed cases of coronavirus increased by 4,056 in the last 24 hours, and 96 people have died, taking the death toll to 908, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.
The total number of recovered cases stood at 2,142, with 296 recoveries in the last 24 hours, and the number of tests carried out in that time was 28,578, the highest number yet, Koca said on Twitter.
Turkey's total confirmed cases stood at 42,282, he added.
16:26 - Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday Britain had not yet reached the peak of the coronavirus epidemic and that it was too early to lift the lockdown.
Experts were still gathering data on the lockdown and it was too early to say conclusively whether it was working, he told reporters.
Raab, standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told reporters he did not expect to be able to say more on the lockdown until late next week.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks during a media briefing on coronavirus in Downing Street, London, Thursday, April 9, 2020. (AP)
16:24 - New York saw a sharp drop in the number of people newly admitted to a hospital in the past 24 hours to the lowest level in the coronavirus crisis, a sign that social distancing steps are working, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.
Cuomo also told a daily briefing that the number of deaths increased to 799 on April 8, up from 779 a day earlier and a record high for a third day.
16:22 - Britain announced another 881 deaths of people testing positive for coronavirus in Thursday's daily update, bringing the country's total toll to 7,978.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in charge as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care battling COVID-19, announced the figures as he warned that the country hadn't "yet reached the peak of the virus".
16:10 - Bahrain makes wearing face masks compulsory in public for citziens, residents and shop workers. It also allowed shops that provide goods and services for customers to re-open.
15:00 - Muslim football stars Riyad Mahrez and Xherdan Shaqiri are among 150 Premier League players who announced an initiative to help fund the UK’s National Heath Service (NHS) in its fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. FULL STORY.
15:05 - One hundred doctors have died of the coronavirus in Italy.
14:20 - Saudi Arabia announced 355 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 3,287. FULL STORY.
13:50 - Iran’s health ministry on Thursday said 117 new deaths from the novel coronavirus took the total to 4,110 in the country, one of the worst-hit by the disease.
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12:28 – Saudi Arabia confirmed 355 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 3,287. The number of patient recoveries meanwhile reached 666, while fatalities are now at 44.
12:09 – Bahrain reported 32 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 855 infections.
10:28 – Lebanon confirmed seven new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 582 infections.
10:26 – Qatar recorded 166 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 2,376 cases.
10:01 – Morocco reported 71 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 1,346 infections.
Moroccan authorities wearing protective masks check people at a road block in a street in Casablanca on April 8, 2020. (AFP)
09:38 – Iran said it had 1,634 new #coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 66,220 cases.
09:38 – Spain confirmed 5,756 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 152,446.
09:35 – Kuwait recorded 55 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 910.
08:14 – Italy recorded 3,836 new coronavirus cases, bringing the toll to 139,422, 542 deaths, bringing the toll to 17,669 deaths.
08:13 – The Philippines reported 21 new deaths and 206 additional cases of the coronavirus, the health ministry said on Thursday.
08:36 – Lebanon’s higher defense council has advised the government to re-extend the coronavirus lockdown until April 26.
07:54 – Russia recorded 1,459 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 10,131.
07:49 – Oman confirmed 38 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 457.
05:51 – Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization chief on Thursday after he accused the island’s government of leading personal attacks against him and his agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. READ THE STORY
05:44 – Thailand confirmed 54 new coronavirus cases and two more deaths.
05:34 – Israel’s coronavirus death toll increased to 74.
04:56 – The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Germany rose by 4,974 in the past 24 hours to 108,202.
German residents coverge at the former airport at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin on April 8, 2020. (AFP)
03:48 – New Zealand will begin moving citizens to compulsory quarantine from Friday as they return from overseas, stepping up its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus halfway through a four-week nationwide lockdown.
03:48 – Migrant workers in Singapore are living in fear following a surge of coronavirus infections in their dormitories where they say cramped and filthy conditions make social distancing impossible.
Wednesday, April 8 (All times in GMT)
16:45 – The UAE Cabinet has agreed to offer paid leaves to some categories of employees at the federal government, state news agency WAM reported. The decision is part of the country’s efforts to control the coronavirus spread.
14:51 – A UAE plane carrying 10 metric tons of medical supplies was sent to Colombia to help the country take control over the coronavirus spread, state news agency WAM reported. This move will also benefit more than 10,000 healthcare employees in the country.
12:49 – A Kuwaiti army transport plane loaded with tons of medical supplies arrived back from China to help the government curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency KUNA reported, citing the Ministry of Defense.
08:42 – Kuwait’s coronavirus cases have reached 855 with death toll at one while Bahrain's cases reached 823 with deaths raised to five.
