April 24 coronavirus news

Alaska is set to be one of the first US states to begin loosening business restrictions on Friday.

"We're looking at, potentially, a new beginning," said Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy at a news conference on Thursday. He also encouraged residents to leave town if they wanted to, since movement restrictions will also be lifted.

Under the loosened restrictions, restaurants can resume table service but are limited to 25% capacity with 10 feet (3 meters) between each table. Only family members can sit together. Salons will accept customers by appointment only. 

The city of Anchorage, where 40% of the state's residents live, is putting off the looser restrictions until Monday. 

Dunleavy did warn that people shouldn't expect a quick return to ordinary life. "We're preparing for a world in which we have to incorporate this new disease into our daily lives," he said.

He also acknowledged that opening up the economy is likely to involve more spread of the virus.

Japan reported 434 new coronavirus cases and 19 related deaths on Thursday, according to the country's health ministry.

The ministry also added 85 deaths and 34 infections to the nationwide totals, which had been previously missed. The discrepancy was found when officials re-examined information received from local governments.

This brings the country's total to 13,100 cases and 330 deaths, according to the health ministry.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticized China previously for its handling of coronavirus, but tonight he was clearer than ever, saying, "China caused an enormous amount of pain, loss of life, and now a huge challenge for the global economy and the American economy as well by not sharing the information they had."

Pompeo has previously said "there'll be a time for recriminations" when asked if China should pay for the damage of the pandemic, but his language tonight is more direct in saying they will pay a price.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to create a massive coronavirus recovery fund worth trillions rather than billions of euros.

But they did not endorse "coronabonds," the controversial debt-pooling instrument that countries such as Italy and Spain hoped for.

French President Emmanuel Macron said it was critical that the EU worked together in the face of the crisis, warning that "if we abandon part of Europe, all of Europe will fall."

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, a fierce critic of the Europe-wide response to the pandemic that has hit his country so hard, expressed satisfaction with Thursday’s virtual summit.

He said the Council's decision to launch the recovery fund was "important" to help some of the hardest-hit countries.

"It's important because this is a necessary and urgent tool. It is absolutely necessary Italy is the first in line to ask for this," he said in a short video statement.

Coronabond controversy: The leaders agreed that the financing would be built into the EU’s next seven-year budget, rather than special instruments including the so-called "coronabonds."

The Czech government on Thursday laid out its plans to lift restrictions that had been imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Starting Monday, some shops, gyms without locker rooms and showers, libraries and outdoor areas in zoos and botanical gardens will be reopened. 

Religious services for a maximum of 15 people will also be allowed. 

From May 11, all shops in shopping malls and those larger than 2,500 square meters (26,900 sq ft) will reopen, as will restaurants, bars and cafes that have outdoor patios.

Hairdressing salons, barber shops, beauty salons, massage parlors, museums and galleries will also open on May 11.

From May 25, hotels, theaters, tattoo and piercing parlors will reopen, and weddings "under specific hygienic terms" will be allowed to go ahead, the statement says. 

The Czech Republic has reported 7,187 coronavirus cases, including 210 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

South Korea recorded no deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday for the first time in 40 days, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

The country also recorded a fourth consecutive day of single-digit new cases, suggesting a potential slowdown of the outbreak.

The country has now reported 10,708 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

According to the KCDC, fewer than 2,000 of those are active cases, with the majority of total infected patients having recovered.

The country's government has been among the most ambitious when it comes to providing the public with free and easy testing options. Experts have attributed South Korea's decline in new cases to its early testing efforts, a successful example of what is now commonly referred to as "flattening the curve."

Hawaii’s state tourism agency, typically dedicated to welcoming visitors, is now paying for them to leave.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has set aside $25,000 for the costs of sending tourists away if they refuse to abide by the state’s 14-day quarantine.

Outbound travel arrangements are being handled by the non-profit group Visitor Aloha Society, the state said in a news release.

Nineteen people have been flown back to their airports of origin since the beginning of the outbreak. In some cases, the violators have been prosecuted for misdemeanors and forced to pay a fine. 

The Visitor Aloha Society arranges for the travel back home, and pays for the ticket if the visitor can't afford it.

The United States has reported at least 868,395 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 49,861 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 25,090 new cases and 3,071 deaths have been reported so far on Thursday. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases and those in the US military.

CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases here:

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Hafiz Mohammed Naseerudin says that after a police officer assaulted him for being a Muslim and blamed him for spreading the coronavirus, he was left lying on the road for almost an hour.

Naseerudin, 44, had gone to pick up some vegetables from his friend's house in Humnabad, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, when he says an officer stopped him on his scooter.

Other vehicles were on the road, Naseerudin says -- he believes he was stopped because of his religion.

Nagesh D L, police superintendent of Bidar district where Humnabad is located, says the officer has been suspended while an inquiry was conducted into the incident. Naseerudin says he called the police from hospital to make a statement, but Nagesh claims they did not receive any complaint.

Naseerudin is not alone: As fears over the coronavirus mount in India, some Muslims, who make up roughly 200 million of the country's 1.3 billion population, have been targeted in Islamophobic attacks and accused of spreading the virus.

In the capital New Delhi, volunteers distributing ration kits to Muslim families say they face harassment from police and are scared to go out. In Punjab, Muslim milk producers say they have been threatened by villagers, their houses have been raided by police, and people are scared to buy their produce.

While these incidents have been mostly isolated, the virus fears are only amplifying existing prejudices, playing into growing Hindu nationalism which in recent years has seen India's Muslim societies increasingly marginalized.

Read more here:

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Covid-19 amplifies prejudices against India's Muslims