Covid-19 outbreak like a nuclear explosion, says archbishop of Canterbury – as it happened

That’s it from this blog for today. We’ve started a new liveblog where you can keep up to date with the very latest coronavirus pandemic news here:

Reuters is reporting that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will pardon 10,000 prisoners including political ones in honour of the Iranian new year on Friday, state TV reported.

“Those who will be pardoned will not return to jail ... almost half of those security-related prisoners will be pardoned as well,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told state TV on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Esmaili said Iran had temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail, including political prisoners, in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

“A large number of prisoners who have been temporarily freed do not need to return to jail after the leader’s pardon,” Esmaili said.

“The unprecedented point is that the pardon also includes the security-related prisoners with less than five-year jail sentences,” Esmaili said.

Esmaili did not say whether it would include British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released on Tuesday for two weeks.

It’s also not clear if British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert would be pardoned. On Wednesday it was reported that she was not among the 85,000 prisoners temporarily released from Iranian jails.

Here’s a summary of the latest news:

• The pandemic is like a nuclear explosion, a senior British clergyman said. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the initial impact would be huge, but that the fallout would be long-lasting and transformative. Welby also said the UK government must not make the mistake of focusing its efforts to mitigate the outbreak’s economic effects on the UK’s big cities at the expense of smaller communities.
• The UK announced plans to double the military force available to help deal with the outbreak. The Ministry of Defence said an extra 10,000 personnel would be added to the 10,000 already available to form a support force.
• Pakistan and Costa Rica announced their first deaths. Two announcements in quick succession came from Pakistan, where official figures count 260 infections. Later, the Central American nation announced an 87-year-old man had died.
• The total number of US cases passed 7,000 as a congressman confirmed he had tested positive. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, besides the 7,038 cases, 97 people had died. At about the same time, Mario Diaz-Balart – a Republican of Florida – revealed his diagnosis. “I’m feeling much better. However, it’s important that everyone take this seriously,” he said.
• Tasmania cut itself off from the rest of Australia. The Australian island state decided to shut its border with the rest of the country in a bid to stop the spread of the virus within its community.

You can see a summary of the day’s earlier events here.

18 Mar 202019.26 EDT

Molly Blackall

The Sushi fast food chain, YO! Sushi, has revealed that 54 of its restaurants will permanently close at the end of service on Wednesday.

In an email sent to employees seen by the Guardian, the company said that the decision had come “in light of the escalating uncertainty of Covid-19” and followed “some very difficult decisions”.

“Regrettably, we have had to take this action as it is clearly in the interests of public health to do so and there is nothing more important than that, in particular our responsibilities to the elderly and vulnerable,” the email said.

It currently unclear which restaurants will be included, but at least one branch in London is set to shut.

One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “This is a lot to come to terms with. A week ago we were all talking about the future and what we can do with the restaurant, now we’re shut. It’s so much to process in such a short space of time.”

YO! Sushi has almost 100 restaurants operating across 8 countries, 70 of which are located in the UK.

The Australian stock market has risen slightly in opening trade even though US markets again tumbled by between 5% and 6% overnight.

At about 10.15am the benchmark ASX200 index was up about 1.45%.

Before trade opened, Australian flagship carrier Qantas announced it was suspending all international flights from the end of the month and would be standing down two thirds of its 30,000-strong workforce without pay.

Qantas stock fell 4.35% in early trade.

Other companies also flooded the market with coronavirus-related bad news, with at least half a dozen withdrawing previous profit forecasts and others reporting slower sales.

Still in the US and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its figures for Thursday 18 March. They are as follows:

• Total cases: 7,038
• Total deaths: 97
• Jurisdictions reporting cases: 54 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands)

A US congressman, Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican of Florida, has tested positive for coronavirus, he said in a statement. “I’m feeling much better,” he said. “However, it’s important that everyone take this seriously.”

18 Mar 202019.12 EDT

Tasmania in isolation

Calla Wahlquist

Tasmania is going into quarantine to prevent mainland Australians from spreading the virus.

It is the first time border controls have been introduced between Australian states, and a particularly extreme measure in a state whose economy relies heavily on tourism.

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, told reporters in Hobart on Thursday that from midnight on Friday (AEDT), all arrivals to Tasmania — including Tasmanians returning home — will have to go into a 14-day mandatory self-isolation.

The only exception is for essential services, like health workers. The penalty for breaching this mandatory self-isolation is a fine of up to AUD$16,800 (£8,366) or six months jail. Gutwein said:

I think it is an extra layer of protection on Tasmanians. This will be, in Tasmania, the strongest border measures in the country in terms of the states and territories...

But I want to make it clear as well: any Tasmanian can still come home. If they come home after midnight on Friday, they will need to go into a two-week quarantine.

This is an extension of the rules on quarantine for people returning to Australia from overseas, which have applied nationally since Monday.

18 Mar 202019.04 EDT

Costa Rica announces first death

Patrick Greenfield

The Costa Rican health ministry has announced the country’s first death from Covid-19.

An 87-year-old man who was in intensive care in Alajuela, Costa Rica’s second largest city, died at 4:15pm (CST) on Wednesday.

The country’s president, Carlos Alvarado, expressed solidarity with the man’s family and urged Costa Ricans to react to the government’s social distancing advice.

The death comes as the Central American country announced its largest day-to-day rise in cases: up 19 to 69 on Wednesday.

Mauritius has confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus, the island nation’s government has said.

It concerns three Mauritian nationals who have travelled back to Mauritius recently aged 21, 25 and 59 years, respectively. Two have worked on cruise ships and one is from the United Kingdom.