A banner that says "thank you" and pictures of key workers are displayed on a balcony on April 17 in Madrid. Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
More than 20,000 people have now died in Spain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to official figures issued Saturday by the Ministry of Health.
The number of reported deaths, at 20,043, was up 565 from the number recorded Friday.
The percentage rise, at 2.9%, is roughly in line with most of the daily results of the last week.
Spanish authorities have warned that the data may fluctuate as a new system for reporting cases comes into play and as testing throughout the country is increased.
Earlier this week, the region of Catalonia revised the reported cases and deaths from coronavirus sharply upwards, after adopting a new formula for calculating the impact of the pandemic.
Among those who have died from coronavirus in the past 24 hours was one of Spain’s most prominent doctors, Jesus Vaquero. Vaquero was head of neurosurgery at the Puerta del Hierro Hospital in Madrid, and a leading specialist in back surgery.
7:34 a.m. ET, April 18, 2020
Iran reopens some stores in Tehran
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Ramin Mostaghim
Iranians wearing protective masks cross a main road in Tehran on April 13. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
Iran lifted coronavirus restrictions Saturday in the capital, Tehran, for low-risk businesses such as clothing stores and book shops.
Restrictions in other provinces were lifted on April 11.
High-risk businesses, such as gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls, will remain closed, authorities said.
On Friday, when the country's Army Day was marked, the Iranian Army put on a "service parade," instead of the usual military parade, in solidarity with medical teams working during the pandemic, according to state media.
Parades took place across the country and featured some of the army equipment used to assist the fight against the outbreak, including mobile hospitals, disinfection equipment and specially designed vehicles, state-run Press TV reported.
Images and video released by state media showed personnel wearing fatigues disinfecting train stations, squares and other public spaces.
Iran reported 89 more coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the nationwide total to 4,958, Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state television.
Iran has the highest number of reported coronavirus cases and deaths in the Middle East.
7:22 a.m. ET, April 18, 2020
UK doctors continue to face protective equipment shortages
From CNN's Laura Smith-Spark
Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock is pictured in London on April 3. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
Many UK doctors are still without the equipment they need to keep themselves safe as they treat coronavirus patients, a major survey of British doctors has found.
This is despite repeated promises from the UK government that problems with supply are being dealt with, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in a news release Saturday.
Gowns and eye protection are in particularly short supply, the trade union's survey indicated.
While the findings showed some improvement from the BMA's previous survey, published on April 7, the union urged the government to do more to resolve the issues around supply of personal protective equipment.
“Two months into the Covid-19 crisis in Britain, we shouldn’t still be hearing that doctors feel unprotected when they go to work," said Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair.
“The government says that 1 billion items will soon have been shipped, and while there have been signs of improvement, our research clearly shows that equipment is not reaching all doctors working on the front line."
More than 6,000 doctors from across the UK responded to the survey, the BMA said.
Around half of doctors working in high-risk areas said there were shortages or no supply at all of long-sleeved disposable gowns and disposable goggles, while just over half said the same for full-face visors, the BMA said.
Doctors working in general practice also reported shortages of eye protection.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Friday that he could not guarantee that hospitals would not run out of gowns this weekend, but that the government was doing all it could to ensure supply.
A day earlier, Hancock confirmed that 27 workers from Britain's National Health Service had died from the coronavirus. Speaking in a BBC interview, he called the NHS workers' deaths “incredibly heartrending.”
Enter One World: Together At Home, described as a "global broadcast & digital special to support frontline health care workers and the WHO" on its website.
The event -- which will feature dozens of celebrities and musicians -- will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Lady Gaga also helped to curate it.
The event is meant to encourage people to take action against the spread of coronavirus, through things like staying home and calling on elected officials.
WHO says no evidence antibody tests can determine immunity
From CNN's Ivana Kottasova
Scientists work to validate antibody tests from recovered Covid-19 patients on April 10 in New York City. Misha Friedman/Getty Images
The World Health Organization has warned there is no evidence to suggest the presence of antibodies in blood can determine whether someone has immunity to the coronavirus.
Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s executive director for health emergencies, said Friday there was no indication so far that a large proportion of the population had developed immunity.
“There’s been an expectation, maybe, that herd immunity may have been achieved and that the majority of people in society may already have developed antibodies. I think the general evidence is pointing against that... so it may not solve the problem the governments are trying to solve.”
The number of recovered coronavirus patients who have retested positive for the virus has raised concerns about how antibodies work in response to Covid-19.
While scientists say there is no evidence yet that a person who has retested positive can spread the virus further, there haven’t been any conclusive studies to rule that out.
Professor Chris Dye, of the Oxford Martin School at Britain's University of Oxford, said substantial work to develop accurate antibody tests for coronavirus infection was ongoing.
“The WHO are right to highlight that any antibody test, if we get one, won’t be able to definitely say whether someone is immune to the infection, because we just don’t know enough yet about how immunity works with Covid-19," he told the Science Media Centre.
Such tests would need to be sensitive enough to ensure that infections were not missed, and specific enough to be confident that a positive result is correct, he said.
"Before an antibody test can be used to indicate that someone is immune to further infection, the level of protection must be demonstrated in experimental trials," Dye added.
5:57 a.m. ET, April 18, 2020
How fear of Covid-19 is affecting children's health
By Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, for CNN
Classrooms are empty of children as many schools remain closed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Jasmin Merdan/Moment RF/Getty Images
The virus that causes Covid-19 has been relentlessly preying on adults around the world for months, while largely sparing children. Although children are not directly affected by the illness, their health is undoubtedly being at risk in our collective new reality.
Before Covid-19, my clinic in New York City used to be filled with children coming in for checkups, vaccines and minor illnesses. Parents in my community always erred on the side of bringing their kids in right away when sick rather than waiting at home, to make sure whatever they had "was not serious."
The new coronavirus changed everything. Parents are now afraid to take care of some of their children's basic health needs.
Although children have, as a group, been largely spared by the illness, families are now making a new calculation: to some, the risk of exposure to Covid-19 seems greater than the benefit of vaccinating on time or that of promptly seeking medical attention for minor illnesses and injuries.
For these families, our efforts to explain the measures we have taken to keep their children safe while in the office don't seem to offer much reassurance.
It's 5 p.m. in Tokyo and 9 a.m. in London, here are the top coronavirus headlines around the world
A nurse helps another nurse to put on a personal protective equipment before accessing a patient's home on April 17 in Madrid, Spain. Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images
Global death toll rises to 150,000: Covid-19 has killed more than 154,000 people around the world in just four months, as the total number of infections rises to 2.24 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
When should the US open up? US President Donald Trump has unveiled guidelines to help states loosen restrictions, as the country's total infections hit 700,000. He said some governors who are implementing federal guidelines for stay-at-home orders are being “too tough.”
Texas aims to be the first state to reopen: Gov. Greg Abbott announced he is consulting with a group of medical and economic experts -- named the "Strike Force to Open Texas" -- on how to reopen the state after the pandemic. Plans to restart business won't come until April 27, and Abbott stressed they will be determined by "data and by doctors."
Death toll in Spain over 20,000: There have now been more than 20,002 deaths from the novel coronavirus in Spain as the number of confirmed infections tops 190,839. Despite the high toll, Madrid is beginning discussions on how best to re-open the country after the epidemic.
Japan braces for coronavirus crisis: A combination of rising infections and medical equipment shortages has Japan scrambling to avoid a large-scale coronavirus epidemic. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has extended the state of emergency and promised hospitals they will receive protective equipment.
Top Nigerian official dies: Abba Kyari, chief of staff to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, died Friday after testing positive for the virus. He had been receiving treatment, the President's office said in a statement. Officially, Nigeria has 493 coronavirus cases and 17 fatalities.
3:52 a.m. ET, April 18, 2020
Georgia's defiant Orthodox church will host Easter worshipers despite lockdown
By Neil Hauer, for CNN
In this file photo, the biggest cathedral of Georgia, The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, commonly known as Sameba, is seen in Tbilisi, Georgia on February 18, 2020. Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
At first glance, the republic of Georgia has been a success story in the fight against the novel coronavirus: the outbreak in the small Caucasus nation has remained limited, with just 370 official cases as of Friday morning.
But Georgia now faces a serious test. Easter will be celebrated this Sunday on the Eastern Christian calendar, and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church is planning major celebrations that public health officials say could prove deadly.
Georgian authorities moved early to respond to the coronavirus. The government closed schools on February 29, when the country had just three confirmed cases. Health experts have credited the swift response with containing the virus early through social distancing and other measures. On Friday, a five-day nationwide ban on private car travel went into effect.
A spokesperson for the Georgian Orthodox Church did not return a request for comment. But church officials have been insistent that its traditional practices do no harm.
"It is not possible for this virus to be spread by the church," Metropolitan Gerasim, a senior priest who heads a large district in western Georgia, was quoted as saying by Georgian media this week. "We are healing people, not hurting them."
Taiwan plays ball -- and broadcasts live games to the world
From CNN's Ivan Watson, Rebecca Wright and Tom Booth
Kuo-Ching Kao of Uni-President Lions gets tagged out during a game in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on April 16. Gene Wang/Getty Images
Sports of all types have been canceled around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But not in Taiwan.
Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium echoed with the thwack of bats hitting balls on Thursday, as the Rakuten Monkeys clobbered the Uni Lions 15-3.
Taiwan is still playing ball.
"That is because we did a pretty good job on the pandemic prevention," said Richard Wang, a Taiwanese broadcaster who provided live English-language commentary broadcast worldwide.
The numbers suggest he's right.
As of Friday, Taiwan, with its population of around 24 million people, had detected only 395 cases of coronavirus and just six deaths.
On Tuesday, it also reached an important milestone. No new cases were reported that day, for the first time since March 9.
