Navy says 6 carrier sailors hospitalized; UK extends lockdown 3 weeks

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.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy says six sailors from the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt are hospitalized for treatment of coronavirus symptoms.

That’s up from five on Wednesday and four on Tuesday. One of the six in is the intensive care unit with shortness of breath.

The total number of Roosevelt sailors who have tested positive for the coronavirus has risen to 655. Another 3,919 tested negative.

Six percent of crew members have not yet been tested.

Britain to extend lockdown 3 weeks

The United Kingdom has extended the national lockdown for at least three more weeks to slow country’s coronavirus outbreak.

Britain has recorded another 861 coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 13,729.

The figure released daily by the government underestimates the actual toll because it only includes deaths in hospitals and not nursing homes or other settings.

The increase is 100 more deaths than the 761 reported Wednesday. It’s below the largest daily increase of 980, recorded last week.

The number of deaths each day is starting to fall in Italy, Spain and France, which were hit by the pandemic earlier than Britain.

U.K. health officials say it’s too soon to say whether the outbreak in Britain has reached its peak.

Yemen forces expected to call cease-fire

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen says the threat of COVID-19 has galvanized peace efforts and he expects the country’s warring parties to adopt proposals for a nationwide cease-fire and peace talks “in the immediate future.”

Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council that talks with the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite rebels “are making very good progress.”

The U.N. envoy says he is redoubling efforts to bridge outstanding differences before convening the parties at a meeting “where agreements will be tabled, confirmed, I hope, and published.”

Griffiths says the opportunity to end the five-year-old conflict has come amid military escalation on several fronts and the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in Yemen, which threatens deeper and more widespread suffering in the Arab world’s poorest country.

He says it’s a timely moment for “the two parties to commit to silencing the guns and ending the conflict through a peaceful, political solution.”

Putin delays parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the postponement of a Victory Day parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, citing the ongoing public health threat from the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on television, Putin says the festivities in Red Square would be held later this year.

The postponement followed Putin’s decision to put off a vote originally scheduled for this month on constitutional changes that would allow him to try to stay in office until 2036.

Amsterdam gay pride parade scrubbed

Pride Amsterdam, the annual gay pride festival that draws huge crowds to the Dutch capital, has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus.

Organizers say the 25th edition of the hugely popular event, that was scheduled for July 25-Aug. 2, will be held next year.

While it is unclear what restrictions may be in place in the Netherlands over the summer, the government is telling people to prepare for a “1.5-meter society” in which social distancing is the new normal.

Germany critical of Trump’s WHO move

Germany’s foreign minister says cutting funding for the World Health Organization is like “throwing the pilot out the plane.”

The comment comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced American payments to the Geneva-based body would stop because of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Heiko Maas says the United Nations and its health agency are the “backbone” of the current fight against the outbreak and “it makes no sense at all to question the functioning and significance of the WHO now.”

Maas says it’s important to strengthen the agency with more funding.

Swiss adjusting restrictions

Swiss authorities will lift restrictions aimed for the coronavirus over the next two months after a decline in cases in recent weeks.

Home and Health Minister Alain Berset told a news conference in the capital of Bern, “We want to go as fast as possible and as slow as necessary.”

The Federal Council, Switzerland’s seven-member executive, says the three-step process starts with the opening on April 27 of hospitals for non-urgent needs, medical and dental offices, hair salons and some stores.

On May 11, all other stores and public schools are to reopen, followed on June 8 by professional schools, institutes of higher learning and libraries and museums.

Berset says those openings will come with protection guidelines and the plan may change. Switzerland has 26,732 virus cases and 1,107 deaths.

Relatives in Italy demand details from nursing home

Relatives of residents in Italy’s largest nursing home are demanding information about the high number of deaths and reports that medical staff were prohibited from using protective gear for the coronavirus.

A Facebook group, the Committee for Justice and Truth for Victims of Trivulzio, is gathering testimony and information from relatives who are considering class action legal offensive against the Pio Albergo Trivulzio home in Milan, which is governed by local and regional authorities.

At least 143 people have died in the 1,000-bed home since the beginning of March. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the facility and more than a dozen others around Italy.

The Trivulzio home has said it followed all security protocols and is cooperating with investigators.

Field hospital raised in 8 days

Prince William has praised the “selfless commitment” of doctors and nurses while opening a new field hospital in Birmingham, England.

The 500-bed Nightingale Hospital was built inside an exhibition center in just eight days. It will take patients recovering from the coronavirus, freeing up hospitals to care for the most critically ill. It has a mortuary and can increase capacity to take up to 4,000 patients.

The field hospital is the second of seven such temporary facilities to open, after the first became operational at London’s ExCel center.

Speaking by video link to about 50 health care workers and military staff, William said: “The building you are standing in is yet another example of how people across the country have risen to this unprecedented challenge.”