Covid-19 - Bronx Zoo tiger tests positive

Spain deaths lower for fourth day in a row as Germany sees further case drop.

Japan prepares for state of emergency. US faces ‘hardest and saddest week’. UK PM Boris Johnson in hospital. Bronx Zoo tiger tests positive.

With deaths in Spain declining for the fourth consecutive day, Italy reporting its lowest death toll in two weeks and France recording adecline in new hospital admissions, there is tentative hope across Europe that lockdowns are starting to show results.

Austria became the first European country to announce plans to lift its lockdown, with some shops being reopened from next week, and Spain said it would start widespread testing as a first step towards slowly easing restrictions.

Meanwhile, Japan’s government is poised to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday after a surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe is also expected to announce an “unprecedented” 108 trillion yen ($989 billion) package in response to the “biggest crisis” the global economy has faced since the second world war, a draft document has revealed.

In airline news, British Airways announced it would be suspending direct flights between Japan and the UK, and American Airlines Group Inc said late Sunday it would suspend more flights in and out of New York City’s three main airports for about a month.

Indonesia recorded its biggest daily jump in cases, with 218 confirmed on Monday, and the Philippines recorded 414 new infections. Russia also recorded its biggest daily jump, with 954 new cases of the disease.

A tiger at New York City’s Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus, in the first known case of Covid-19 in an animal in the US. But a veterinary expert says cat owners shouldn’t panic.