National

• The chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the job retention scheme – the multi-billion coronavirus 80% wage subsidy – will be extended by one month until the end of June. The scheme is due to formally open on Monday next week, although payments will be backdated to 1 March.
• The government has set up a vaccine taskforce to find a coronavirus vaccine, the business secretary Alok Sharma announced at the daily press conference. He called producing a vaccine a “colossal undertaking” that would take many months and there was no guarantee of success.
• The health secretary Matt Hancock was unable to give MPs assurance that some hospitals won’t run out of gowns this weekend. This came on the same day the Guardian learned that NHS bosses have asked doctors and nurses to work without full-length gowns when treating Covid-19 patients, as hospitals across England are set to run out of supplies within hours.
• The government will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to recommend a change in policy on face masks. Sadiq Khan has been lobbying the government to change its advice on wearing masks to members of the public. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, the mayor of London urged the public to wear non-surgical masks when they go out, particularly on public transport and in shops where it isn’t always possible to stay 2 metres apart. He was backed by the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who said he thought he was “inevitable” that the government would have to start advising people to wear masks in certain circumstances, in step with changes taking places across Europe.
• Booking summer holidays at this time would be a mistake, the transport secretary Grant Shapps said, highlighting that while there are signs that the curve is flattening there has yet to be a decline.

National updates from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/apr/17/uk-coronavirus-live-lockdown-last-three-weeks-dominic-raab-latest-updates

• Global death toll exceeds 147,000: According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, nearly 2.2m people have been confirmed as having contracted the virus worldwide, while at least 147,632 have died. The figures are likely to present an underestimate.
• More than 14,000 have died in UK hospitals: The British government announces that a further 847 people have died in UK hospitals; taking the total to 14,576 since the outbreak began. That represents slightly decelerated growth. But the figures do not take account of the people who have died in other settings.
• Nearly 100,000 EU citizens remain stranded: The European commission says 98,900 EU citizens are still stuck abroad, though efforts to bring them home continue. That compares with 600,000 who had reported being stranded at the start of the outbreak.
• South Asia sees 22,000 cases: The number of people in the south Asia region known to have been infected passes the 22,000 mark. Health officials warn that the region, home to a fifth of the world’s population, could be the new frontline against the disease because there are millions in densely populated areas and living under fragile public health systems.
• Increase in Italian cases slows: Deaths in Italy rise by 575, up from 525 the day before, while the number of new cases declines slightly to 3,493 from a previous 3,786. The daily death toll is down considerably from peaks reached around the end of March.
• Health workers run out of protective gear: Health bosses in England are preparing to ask doctors and nurses to work without full-length gowns when treating patients, as hospitals are set to run out of supplies within hours.
• UK sets up vaccine taskforce: The UK’s newly created vaccine taskforce will be asked to provide industry and research institutions with resources, review regulations and make preparations for large-scale production once a vaccine is developed.
• Pandemic’s spread now ‘controllable’ in Germany: The reproduction number of the Covid-19 virus sinks to a new low in Germany, leading the health minister Jens Spahn to say there is enough evidence to declare the lockdown strategy a success.
• Jair Bolsonaro accused of leading Brazilians ‘to slaughterhouse’: The country’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused the incumbent of criminally irresponsible handling of the coronavirus as Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll hit 1,924.

International updates from https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/17/coronavirus-live-news-trump-says-29-states-could-reopen-relatively-soon-as-global-deaths-near-145000