This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.
- Global cases: More than 1,426,000
- Global deaths: At least 81,865
- Most cases reported: United States (396,223), Spain (141,942), Italy (135,586), France (110,065) and Germany (107,663).
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 7 a.m. Beijing time.
All times below are in Beijing time.
9:50 am: South Korea reports 53 new cases, 8 deaths
South Korea on Wednesday reported 53 new cases of infection. There were eight deaths.
On Monday and Tuesday, the country reported fewer than 50 cases on each day — the lowest daily reported numbers for the country since late February when the outbreak spread exponentially within its borders.
South Korea has altogether reported 10,384 cases of infection and 200 people have succumbed to the illness caused by the virus, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Korea is generally praised for its efforts to reduce the spread of infection by mass testing its people and adopting strict measures to quarantine and track those who affected. — Huileng Tan
8:20 am: China reports 62 new cases, 2 deaths
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) reported 62 new cases and two deaths as of April 7.
That brings the country’s total to 81,802 confirmed case and 3,333 deaths, according to the NHC.
Separately, there were 137 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms.
China started including asymptomatic cases in its daily reports starting April 1. — Huileng Tan
8:10 am: Wuhan further eases lockdown, allows people to leave city
The central Chinese city of Wuhan — where the coronavirus was first reported — started allowing people to leave for the first time since it was locked down on Jan. 23 to contain the outbreak.
The first train carrying departing passengers left the city at 5 a.m. local time, Reuters reported, and outbound highways were opened to vehicles around the same time.
Based on ticket sales, 55,000 people will leave Wuhan by train on Wednesday, Chinese media reported.
Chinese authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel from the city where the global pandemic first emerged.
Hecto Retamal | AFP | Getty Images
More than 50,000 people were infected with the virus in Wuhan and the death toll in the city has reached 2,572, about 80% of the total fatalities in China, according to official figures.
Chinese authorities gradually eased restrictions in Wuhan city as the epidemic situation improved. At one time, the industrial city’s 11 million people were confined to their homes. — Huileng Tan
All times below are in Eastern time.
8 pm: Trump blames WHO for getting coronavirus pandemic wrong, threatens to withhold funding
President Donald Trump blamed the World Health Organization for getting “every aspect” of the coronavirus pandemic wrong and threatened to withhold funding from the international organization.
“They did give us some pretty bad play calling … with regard to us, they’re taking a lot of heat because they didn’t want the borders closed, they called it wrong. They really called, I would say, every aspect of it wrong,” Trump said at a White House press conference Tuesday.
WHO officials declared the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, when there were just 121,000 global cases. In the U.S., there are more than 380,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. —Dawn Kopecki, Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
7:04 pm: Jim Cramer predicts ‘U’ shape recovery, says economy ‘will bounce back gradually’
CNBC’s Jim Cramer suggested investors take advantage of the recent market upside to sell some stock and build up some cash for the next dip.
“Without a V-shaped recovery, you have to be skeptical of these big moves higher,” the “Mad Money” host said. “Because in a U-shaped recovery I’m expecting, the stock market will pull back again and that is when you can put some money to work.”
A V-shaped recovery happens when a quick decline in economic activity is met by an abrupt rebound in activity, while a U-shaped recovery is one where the economy gradually climbs out of a recession environment, which can take up to two years.
Based on Monday’s 7% market rally, investors are hoping that the economy has a V-shaped recovery, Cramer said, which is where business activity snaps back if the ongoing outbreak is quelled soon.
″’V’ is what justifies yesterday’s rally” but “I do not believe in the ‘V’ when it comes to this recovery,” he said. —Tyler Clifford
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: US cases top 387,000, Amazon testing disinfectant fog at New York warehouse after protests