By Joshua Berlinger, Ben Westcott, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
From CNN's Joe Sutton
At least 245,559 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Infections have been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories.
A total of 6,057 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the country as of early Friday morning on the East Coast. Wyoming is the only state not reporting a death from coronavirus.
Global cases top 1 million: More than a million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, a landmark moment in the growing worldwide pandemic. The worst affected countries are the United States, Italy and Spain, all of which have more than 100,000 cases.
Italy's death toll nears 14,000: More than 53,000 deaths have been reported globally, according to Johns Hopkins. The countries with the highest number of fatalities are Italy, with 13,915 deaths, and Spain with 10,348.
More than 1,000 people have died in Germany: A rise of 145 fatalities in just 24 hours has pushed the number of recorded deaths from the coronavirus to over 1,000 in Germany. The country's total number of confirmed cases is approaching 80,000.
Indian PM praises citizens amid lockdown: In a televised speech today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lavished praise on the Indian public for adhering to strict quarantine measures designed to slow the epidemic. "The strength of 1.3 billion Indians is with and every one of us,” Modi said.
Wuhan official tells resident to not go out unless necessary: China's apparent success at controlling the coronavirus epidemic has given hope to the rest of the world amid a growing pandemic. But today the Communist Party Chief in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the outbreak, warned residents to only go out of their homes if necessary, showing the strict measures are likely to remain for a little longer at least.
Time for national stay-at home order, Fauci says: Top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci told a CNN town hall Thursday night that it was time to put in place a nationwide order for citizens to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. "I don't understand why that's not happening," he said. President Trump has previously called for flexibility between states.
US to issue nationwide guidance on face masks: In a news conference Thursday, President Donald Trump said that US regulations on face masks would be announced soon, but added they likely wouldn't be mandatory.
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
It's the piece of advice long-timers offer nearly every new arrival to President Donald Trump's ranks: bring visual aids. Luckily for Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, charts are their thing.
Summoned to the Oval Office last weekend to state their case for keeping the country closed, Fauci and Birx arrived armed with tangled multicolored lines, stippled mountains of various heights and one ominous inky blue bell curve showing American deaths from coronavirus rising to 2.2 million if social distancing efforts were abandoned.
The graphics were weaponry in a pitched battle with some of Trump's economic advisers -- and at times with Trump himself -- who argued continued restrictions against large gatherings were ravaging the American economy.
Evidence of that was delivered Thursday when the federal government announced jobless claims skyrocketed to 6.6 million last week.
Still, the charts -- printed in color and blown up for effect -- seemed to work, even as some of Trump's advisers now question their accuracy. Trump announced hours later he was extending his coronavirus guidelines another 30 days, despite a strong inclination to open the nation for business.
As the pandemic rages and Trump's response comes under withering scrutiny, Fauci and Birx -- the two top medical experts on the White House coronavirus task force -- have emerged as central figures advising Trump and fixations for a nation grappling with a generation-defining crisis.
Read more here.
Chinese authorities have sentenced a man to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of lying about traveling to northern Italy, where thousands of people have been infected by the novel coronavirus.
The 29-year-old man, surnamed Guo, flew from Beijing to Milan on March 1 and returned to China on March 7, according to the country's Ministry of Public Security.
He took a train to his hometown of Zhengzhou, in Henan province, that same day, and then took the subway to work on March 8 and March 9.
Local police quickly found out about his travel history. On March 11, Guo was charged with obstructing the prevention of infectious diseases.
Guo was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus, and more than 40 close contacts were placed in quarantine.
From CNN's Fred Pleitgen and Simon Cullen
Germany’s coronavirus death toll has reached 1,017 -- an increase of 145 fatalities in the past 24 hours -- according to figures released on Friday by the Robert Koch Institute, the country's federal public health agency.
Since the outbreak began, Germany has confirmed 79,696 Covid-19 patients. The number of cases jumped by 6,174 from Thursday to Friday.
From CNN's Stephanie Becker
Health officials say 71 people infected with the novel coronavirus in California's Sacramento County are connected to a single church, making it one of the largest outbreak clusters in the United States.
But despite dozens falling ill, and one death, church leaders have rebuffed demands to halt gatherings, officials say.
The outbreak occurred at Bethany Slavic Missionary Church in Rancho Cordova, where members of the church and others associated with the congregation are confirmed to have been infected with the virus, Sacramento County health officials said. The church is a large and influential institution among the Northern California slavic community.
The head pastor, Reverend Adam Bondaruk, has also contracted the virus, according to associate Pastor Ivan Gavrilyuk.
Gavrilyuk told CNN that the church suspended services two weeks ago in accordance with health regulations. He would not confirm if the person who died from complications of the virus was a member of the congregation.
In a statement to CNN on Thursday night, the church said it believed in complying with government regulations.
Here's what they said:
“This church has complied with all applicable Covid-19 regulations immediately after they came into effect. The church closed its doors on March 18th. At this time, the Church remains closed. All services, departments, and activities are conducted solely online.” The statement did not address concerns that members were still gathering elsewhere.
Health officials want more help: County health officials said they are frustrated that the church leaders won’t work with the department to prevent further spread of the virus.
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, Sacramento County Health Director Dr. Peter Beilenson said the church "basically told us to leave them alone.”
“This is extremely irresponsible and dangerous for the community,” he said.
The health department believes the virus is being spread during Bible study and fellowship meetings in small groups at congregants homes.
County health spokeswoman Janna Haynes said they are very concerned about the upcoming holidays of Palm Sunday and Easter -- when church members and their families traditionally get together to celebrate -- and is deploying translators to plead with the Russian-speaking community to stay home. Haynes said some of those they are attempting to reach don’t monitor mainstream news outlets and haven’t gotten the message about isolation.
In an interview Thursday night on the local Russian language radio station, Ethno FM, and translated for CNN, church Pastor Pavel Gurzhiy reportedly downplayed the seriousness of the situation.
“My estimation is that no less people are sick with the flu,” Gurzhiy said. “Seventy-one sick members against 5,000 is not too many to be honest with you.” The pastor said he knew of five people who had been infected with the virus.
Prince Charles is expected to open a new coronavirus field hospital, NHS Nightingale, via video link on Friday from his home in Scotland, according to a statement from Clarence House.
NHS Nightingale is a new hospital that can provide support for potentially several thousand patients with coronavirus.
Based at the ExCeL conference center in East London, it will initially provide up to 500 beds equipped with ventilators and oxygen. The capacity will then continue to increase, potentially up to several thousand beds, should it be required, according to the statement.
"The Prince will also say a few words in tribute to all those who have worked tirelessly to create the new medical facility and to people across the UK who continue to deliver frontline care to those affected by the coronavirus crisis," the statement read.
Charles, the heir to the British throne, tested positive for the virus last month. He only showed minor symptoms and has since been released from isolation in good health.
From CNN's Kaori Enjoji and Emiko Jozuka in Tokyo
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike is asking residents of the prefecture to refrain from going outdoors unless necessary this weekend in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Japan reported 235 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday morning, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the country to 3,329. The capital Tokyo saw its largest single-day rise yet of 97 cases. There are now 684 infections in the city.
Koike warned that the situation in the Japanese megacity is worsening and could be on the verge of a massive outbreak.
Following the spike in infections in Tokyo and other cities, Japan is scrambling to avert an explosive uptick in cases as public pressure mounts on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency. Such a move would allow prefectural governors to send out a stronger message when it comes to urging the public to stay at home, but the measures will not be legally binding.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and the Tokyo Stock Exchange will remain open even in the event of a state of emergency. Publicly-funded high schools in Tokyo will remain closed until May 6, but some schools will reopen as scheduled next week.
Museums, zoos and other venues run by the city will remain closed until the end of Golden Week, a nationwide national holiday that runs until May 6. Koike also asked citizens again to stay away from nightclubs and other nightspots.
Koike said she will repeat her request if the Abe government declares a state of emergency.
Read more about why people in Japan aren't staying home:
Analysis from CNN's Ben Westcott
Only one month ago, on March 3, there were about 92,000 cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Of those, just over 80,000 were in mainland China, which was then slowly beginning to bring its local epidemic under control.
Since then, the number of cases around the world has skyrocketed. One month later, on April 3, there are more than 1 million infections globally.
Nowhere is this more clear than in the United States. On March 3, the country had recorded 118 cases, according to Johns Hopkins. It now has more than 245,000.
Just over a month ago, on March 1, Kings County in Washington state announced the first death from the coronavirus in the United States.
As of today, there are nearly 6,000 deaths in the US. Some US government estimates show a worst-case scenario with a death toll for the country that runs into the hundreds of thousands.
It still isn't clear when we will see a peak of the pandemic. While some countries are seeing a drop in the rate of new daily infections, such as South Korea, others are experiencing a second wave.
Speaking at a CNN town hall on Thursday, top US infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it could be some time before widespread lockdowns and stay-at-home orders have an effect on death tolls and infection counts.
"Even when you suppress or stabilize the number of new infections, it's still going to take a little while before you decrease in hospitalizations, a decrease in intensive care and a decrease in deaths. And in fact, deaths are the last thing that lag. So you could be doing well, and having a good effect on mitigation, and still see the deaths go up," Fauci said.
