California governor issues statewide ‘stay at home’ order as Italy deaths pass China

Malaysia will mobilise the army to help enforce curbs on movement aimed at reining in the coronavirus, the government said today as it grapples with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia reported 130 new infections on Friday, taking its total to 1,030, accounting for nearly 40 percent of those across Southeast Asia.

Since Wednesday, Malaysia has closed its borders, schools and non-essential businesses and ordered people to limit going outside, warning of a “tsunami” of cases if the curbs are not followed.

But people continued to go to restaurants and parks, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

“The army will begin mobilising on Sunday,” he told a news briefing, according to the Reuters news agency.

“We are confident with the army’s assistance, we would be better able to enforce this order.”

Footage of an Irish funeral in which mourners have been respecting social distancing measures has been shared by an RTE journalist, Seán Mac an tSíthigh.

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Austria: infections trend “encouraging”

Austria will extend its coronavirus restrictions until 13 April, the chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said today.

After the country reported more than 2,200 coronavirus cases and six deaths from the global pandemic, he added, however, that the trend towards infections was “encouraging”.

Authorities imposed severe restrictions on movement on Monday in response to the developments in Italy and a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases in some of its regions.

“Hold tight,” Kurz addressed Austrians at a news conference. “We must not slow down. We must stick with the measures we have taken.”

A growing number of musicians are heading online as Covid-19 puts live shows on pause.

The Brighton band Metronomy were supposed to be playing sold-out dates in Portugal, Spain and France at the start of their European tour when the Covid-19 outbreak meant all their shows were cancelled. This week, instead of taking to the stage in Madrid, Adelekan has started giving online tutorials in bass and music production.

This week Neil Young, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Keith Urban and pop-punk act Yungblud have all put on or promised impromptu online performances as most major concerts, festivals and gigs are cancelled until at least after the summer.

For once, an entire country is begging for bad weather this weekend, as Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the behaviour of the population tomorrow will crucially influence whether her government will have to issue curfews from Monday.

“Saturday is a crucial day, and we will keep a close eye on that”, the German chancellor’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told news magazine Der Spiegel.

“While people usually used their weekends to socialise with friends and relatives, “this is currently not an option outside the family core,” the CDU politician added.

“If that doesn’t happen, then it could happen that the federal states have to take further measures that we would like to avoid”.

Schools, nurseries, bars, nightclubs and non-essential shops have been closed in most parts of Germany since Tuesday, in an attempt to find a “third way” between a full lockdown and the more laissez-faire approach to curbing the spread of Covid-19 taken by the UK or the Netherlands.

In Berlin, streets have been noticeably emptier throughout the day, but the measures to curb social interaction also seem to have led to an increase in the number of people going out for a run or a cycle in the park.

On Sunday evening, Merkel will hold a phone conference with the premiers of Germany’s 16 federal states in which a full lockdown is expected to be discussed.

The cities of Freiburg and Leverkusen have already announced lockdown plans of their own. Freiburg’s two-week ban comes into effect on Saturday, banning citizens from entering public places including streets, squares, public green spaces and parks.

The British Museum has seen a surge in the number of online visitors with the top 10 searches including those for the Benin Bronzes, metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, and the Lewis Chessmen, a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces.

It said the number of online visitors between 1-18 March was 978,548, up from 472,890 in the same period last year. Most of the increase has happened over the last seven days.

The largest number of online visitors are from Italy, 203,250 in March so far, followed by the UK (175,734), US (113,741), Spain (111,707), Turkey (54,133), Russia (22,764), Canada (15,610), Australia (15,575).

The reasons are obvious. Every UK museum and gallery closed down this week so people self-isolating at home are desperate for a diversion.

The top 10 searches are: ‘Egypt’, ‘Virtual tour’, ‘Benin bronzes’, ‘Rosetta stone’, ‘Netsuke franks’, ‘Lewis Chessmen’, ‘Virtual’, ‘Rosetta’, and ‘Vase Exekias.’

The museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, said: “Culture gives comfort in times of turmoil, it unites us and makes us understand what it means to be human. As the world grapples with this current crisis, I am glad that so many people are coming to the website and online collections of the British Museum.”

The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, is self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus.

The news, which was reported by various sources today and attributed to the UK government comes after Frost’s EU counterpart, Michel Barnier said he had tested positive for the disease on Thursday

Details are expected today of plans by the US and Mexico to halt much of cross-border travel without disrupting trade during the coronavirus outbreak.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he proposed steps to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that won’t paralyse economic activity and keep the border open to commerce and work.

Pompeo said on Twitter that he was working closely with his Mexican counterpart on travel restrictions.