The Latest: Turkmenistan bans use of word 'coronavirus'

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

— Media watchdog says Turkmenistan bans use of word “coronavirus.”

— Toronto cancels city-led and permitted events through June 30.

— U.N. chief says pandemic is biggest global crisis since World War II.

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MOSCOW — An international media freedom watchdog says the autocratic ex-Soviet nation of Turkmenistan has banned the media from using the word “coronavirus.”

Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday the word also has been removed from health information brochures distributed in schools, hospitals and workplaces. The gas-rich Central Asian nation that neighbors Iran so far has reported no cases of the new coronavirus. Iran has reported more than 44,000 cases.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said people wearing face masks or talking about the coronavirus are liable to be arrested by plainclothes police. Ranked last in the group's 2019 World Press Freedom Index, Turkmenistan is one of the world’s most closed countries.

Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ruled the country since 2006 through an all-encompassing personality cult that styles him as Turkmenistan’s “arkadaq,” or protector.

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LONDON — A 13-year-old boy from south London with no apparent underlying health conditions has died after testing positive for the new coronavirus. He is believed to be the youngest person in the U.K. to have died after contracting the COVID-19 disease.

Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab died early Monday. He had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, a day after he was admitted to King's College Hospital with coronavirus-related symptoms, his family said.

A spokesman for King's College Hospital said: “Sadly, a 13-year old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 has passed away, and our thoughts and condolences are with the family at this time.”

Dr Jenny Harries, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said it “is the case very sadly that young people can still be affected” from coronavirus.

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TORONTO — Canada's largest city has announced it is canceling all city-led and permitted events through June 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said Tuesday that the events being canceled include Pride Toronto in late June.

Mayoral spokesman Don Peat said the cancellation applies to events that get city permits like parades and festivals and does not include sporting events like Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs games. Professional sports in North America are on hold because of the pandemic but there is some hope by leagues that play could resume before June 30.

Tory said the health and safety of residents has to be the priority and said physical distancing is critical. He added that it is in line with the province's ban of gatherings of more than five people.

The decision to cancel was made in consultation with Toronto's Medical Officer of Health.

Toronto has at least 628 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including eight deaths.

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NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana pastor charged with six misdemeanors for holding church services in violation of a ban put in place to control the coronavirus said Tuesday that he would continue to ignore the ban because God told him to.

Pastor Tony Spell was issued a summons Tuesday for holding services at the Life Tabernacle church in the city of Central in violation of an order from Gov. John Bel Edwards prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people, said East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore.

Each violation carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine, Moore said.

“The whole situation just puts everyone at risk,” Moore said. “We ask everyone to abide by the governor's order.”

Spell, reached by telephone Tuesday, confirmed he was read his rights and fingerprinted — but the summons wasn't deterring him. Another service was scheduled Tuesday night that he said was expected to draw hundreds.

“We’re still here and still assembling and having church,” Spell said. Asked why he was defying the governor’s orders, he said, “Because the Lord told us to.”

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WASHINGTON — A senior military general says the Pentagon has not yet delivered any of the 2,000 ventilators it offered to the Department of Health and Human Services two weeks ago because HHS has asked it to wait while the agency determines where the devices should go.

Lt. Gen. Giovanni Tuck, the Pentagon's top logistics official, said in an interview with a small group of reporters Tuesday that the military arranged for an initial batch of 1,000 ventilators to be delivered, but HHS asked it to wait.

Tuck also told reporters that of the 5 million respirator masks the Defense Department offered to provide to HHS as personal protective equipment for health care workers and others, about 1.5 million have been sent. He said another 500,000 are due to be shipped this week. The rest will be delivered when HHS asks for them, he added.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Fifty-four more Louisianans have died from the new coronavirus, bringing the state's death toll to 239, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

Increased testing shows more than 5,200 people have confirmed infections, according to the figures, up more than 1,200. That's the largest single-day spike in the number of new virus cases Louisiana has seen since its first infection was reported March 9.

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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus has followed the example of other countries and has released inmates from its central prisons complex to ease overcrowding and help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

The Prisons Department said 114 inmates were released on Tuesday from a total prison population of 800 after consultations with the Cypriot president, justice minister and attorney general.

The complex has a maximum capacity of around 550 inmates. The released inmates include those who have received sentences of up to 10 years, have served at least half of their sentence or have two years left on that sentence. Inmates convicted of serious crimes including murder, attempted murder, rape and sexual assault of minors are excluded.

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BAGHDAD — Iraq has extended a nationwide curfew until April 19 amid a rising rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases as the country improves testing capabilities.

Under the curfew, first imposed on March 17, all but essential businesses have been shuttered and inbound and outbound flights suspended in Baghdad and local airports across the country. Twice a day clarion calls by Iraqi authorities instruct citizens to stay at home.

Iraq is seeing a gradual increase in confirmed coronavirus cases as testing capabilities improve. By Tuesday, at least 50 people had died among 694 cases, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

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KIGALI, Rwanda — The African nation that once declared it was coronavirus-free because it had "put God first" has confirmed its first two cases.

The announcement by Burundi's health minister came the same day as a Human Rights Watch report citing witness accounts of squalid quarantine conditions in the East African nation.

The government, often accused by rights groups of political repression, has refused to comment on the allegations. They include lack of food and water, poor sanitation, staying several people to a room and being told by police that people leaving quarantine could be shot if they leave. Forty-nine of Africa's 54 countries now have the virus.

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JERUSALEM — Israel’s Defense Ministry says it has converted a missile-production facility into an assembly line producing breathing machines to help the country confront the coronavirus pandemic.

The ministry announced Tuesday that the facility, operating at a factory belonging to state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, produced its first 30 ventilators.

Israel Aerospace said it built the production line in several days with Inovytec, an Israeli maker of medical equipment. Israel Aerospace says it expects the line to make hundreds of machines per week.

The facility is normally used to produce the U.S.-Israeli "Arrow" missile defense system, satellites and the "Beresheet" unmanned spacecraft that attempted a lunar landing last year.

“Turning a missile production line into a ventilator assembly plant is a very complex task,” said Dr. Dani Gold, the ministry official leading the effort.

Israel has reported 5,300 cases of coronavirus. Twenty people have died.

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ATHENS, Greece — Greek authorities say a ship with 383 people on board that is anchored off the country’s main port of Piraeus has been quarantined after about 20 of its occupants tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The coast guard said Tuesday that the measure was imposed on March 28 when the first case was confirmed.

Greek state TV said the Eleftherios Venizelos ferryboat had been chartered to take mostly Turkish workers to Spain, where they were to have been employed in a shipbuilding project.

The coast guard said that due to the virus outbreak it returned to Piraeus, the port of Athens, and has been quarantined just outside the harbor.

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — For the first time, a major election in Africa has been postponed as authorities say the coronavirus makes it impossible to prepare.

Ethiopia's national election board says it is ceasing all work related to the vote once set for August. It has been highly anticipated in a country that has seen sweeping political reforms but a surge of violence as people use new freedoms to settle old scores.

Both the government and opposition camps have expressed support for the election board's decision. With the government's mandate expiring in a few months, lawmakers are expected to vote to extend it.

Several African countries have upcoming presidential votes this year.

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PRAGUE — The Czech government has approved a package to help the economy hit by restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Labor Minister Jana Malacova said the government agreed to pay up to 80% of the salaries of the employees at the businesses that had to be closed after the outbreak. The companies have to keep them on the payroll.

The people who had to be quarantined will also be given 80% of their salaries by the state.

The maximum was set at 39,000 Czech crowns ($1,560) per person a month.

The government will also contribute 60% of the salaries to the employees at the companies whose revenues dropped due to the crisis with a maximum set at 29,000 Czech crowns ($1,160) per person a month.

Finance Minister Alena Schillerova said self-employed people will receive a one-time payment of $1,000.

The government previously agreed to use up to $40 billion to help the economy in direct aid and loan guarantees.

The Czech Republic had 3,138 people infected while 29 have died, according to figures released on Tuesday.

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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey reported 46 deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of fatalities in the country to 214.

According to the Health Ministry figures released Tuesday, the country also registered 2,704 more confirmed cases, bringing the total number to 13,531. At least 243 patients have recovered.

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LONDON — The medical director of the National Health Service's operations in England says there is evidence that the social distancing measures imposed by the British government to get on top of the coronavirus pandemic are working.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Professor Stephen Powis said this was not a time for complacency.

Though there's been “a bit of a plateau,” Powis insisted "we must not take our foot off the pedal."

His comments came after figures showed that 381 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 had died in the previous 24-hour period, taking the total to 1,789. The increase was by far the biggest daily rise.

Powis said the number of deaths will continue to increase over the coming weeks as it is the last indicator that will turn after the number of infections and the number of hospitalizations.

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UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that the world faces the most challenging crisis since World War II, confronting a pandemic threatening people in every country that will bring a recession “that probably has no parallel in the recent past.”

The U.N. chief said at the launch of a report Tuesday on the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 there is also a risk that the combination of the disease and its economic impact will contribute to “enhanced instability, enhanced unrest, and enhanced conflict.”

Guterres called for a stronger and more effective global response to the coronavirus pandemic and to the social and economic devastation that COVID-19 is causing.

He stressed that this will only be possible “if everybody comes together and if we forget political games and understand that it is humankind that is at stake.”

“The magnitude of the response must match the scale of the crisis — large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive, with country and international responses being guided by the World Health Organization,” the secretary-general said, noting that not all countries are following WHO guidelines.

Guterres announced the establishment of a COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to support efforts in low- and middle-income countries, with the aim of swiftly enabling governments to tackle the crisis and promote recovery.

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