More now on Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced the nationwide coronavirus lockdown would be extended two weeks to 9 May, hours after the official death toll passed 20,000. “We have done the hardest part through responsibility and social discipline... we are putting the most extreme moments behind us,” Sanchez said. But Spaniards must not jeopardise the fragile gains made so far with hasty decisions. The restrictions currently in place would however be loosened slightly to allow children time outside from 27 April, said Sanchez. Until now only adults have been able to leave the house for specific reasons: to go to work, to go shopping for food or medicine, for a medical appointment or to work the dog. But there were growing calls to let children outside, as is permitted in most other countries observing a lockdown. Spain, which has been under confinement since March 14, has recorded 20,043 deaths from the virus, the latest health ministry figures showed - the third-highest official toll after the United States and Italy. In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. We’ll have Washington correspondent David Smith’s story on the latest US developments shortly, but in the meantime, in case you missed it – US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that China could face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic. “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing. “And now the whole world is suffering because of it.” The Trump administration has said it doesn’t rule out that the novel coronavirus was spread - accidentally - from a laboratory researching bats in Wuhan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian - who previously alleged that the US military may have brought the virus into China - has rejected US media reports on the subject and said there is “no scientific basis.” Trump also cast doubt on official Chinese figures showing the country has suffered just 0.33 deaths per 100,000 people. “The number’s impossible,” he said. “It’s an impossible number to hit.” The United States, according to a chart displayed at the briefing, has had 11.24 deaths per 100,000 people while France has had 27.92 and Spain 42.81. Ireland has ‘flattened curve’ of coronavirus spread: chief medical officer Ireland has successfully “flattened the curve” of coronavirus transmission and no longer expects a peak in infections, chief medical officer Tony Holohan said. “We think we’ve flattened that [...] curve so much that there is no peak,” he said on RTE’s Late Late show on Friday. “We think we can go along at a low level and reduce it even further.” He said nationwide adherence to a lockdown - imposed until 5 May - had “already saved hundreds of lives and admissions to intensive care”. There have been 530 Covid-19 related deaths and 13,980 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland according to department of health figures released Friday. Ireland, like many other countries, had been bracing for a surge in cases, where transmission would peak and hospitals become overrun with patients. But Holohan said analysis shows the reproductive rate of the virus - the number of people a confirmed case typically spreads to - is now below one. “That means that on average a person who’s infected is passing it down to less than one person,” he said. “If you continue on that path, the rate of infection in the population will continue to drop.” Concerns remain over the high number of cases and mortality in residential care homes across the republic. Around 60% of those who die from the virus come from long term residential care homes, Ireland’s Health Service Executive reported Friday. British Muslims find new ways to be together for Ramadan under lockdown The world’s 1.8bn Muslims are facing the most important period of the Islamic year, the holy month of Ramadan, which starts this week, under lockdown because of the global coronavirus pandemic. Mosques in most countries are shut and gatherings forbidden. The holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia are under curfew. The al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem’s Old City are closed and prayers suspended. In the UK, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) called for the suspension of all congregational activities at mosques and Islamic centres on 16 March, a week before the government announced all places of worship must close under the lockdown order. Hello and welcome to a new coronavirus live blog with me, Helen Sullivan. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan. As the number of people in Europe who have lost their lives in this pandemic so far approaches 100,000, Spain is planning to extend its lockdown. But in Italy, a church in Bergamo that served as a temporary morgue at the height of Italy’s coronavirus epidemic “is finally empty”, the mayor said Saturday. Meanwhile in the US, Donald Trump has announced that some states will start reopening: Texas and Vermont will allow certain businesses to reopen on Monday while still observing coronavirus-related precautions and Montana will begin lifting restrictions on Friday. Several dozen protesters gathered in the Texas capital of Austin on Saturday, chanting “USA! USA!” and “Let us work!”. Spain’s PM to ask for extension of lockdown to 9 May. Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday he would ask parliament for a third 15-day extension of the lockdown imposed to curb one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the new coronavirus, taking the restrictions up to 9 May. Restrictions to be lifted in some US states. Texas and Vermont will allow certain businesses to reopen on Monday while still observing coronavirus-related precautions and Montana will begin lifting restrictions on Friday. Some state governors have warned that they will not act prematurely to reopen their economies until there is more testing for the virus, however. Business leaders have also told Trump the country needs to have widespread testing in place before their companies can return to normal operations. Turkey’s coronavirus cases overtake Iran to become highest in Middle East. Turkey’s confirmed coronavirus cases have risen to 82,329, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday, overtaking neighbouring Iran for the first time to register the highest total in the Middle East. Morocco has extended its lockdown measures by another month. Morocco will extend lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus for another month until May 20, the government said on Saturday. France reports 642 more coronavirus deaths as country’s toll hits 19,323. France registered 642 more deaths from coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the total to 19,323, the fourth-highest tally in the world, although the number of people in hospital declined for a fourth day running. UK’s Covid-19 hospital death toll surpasses 15,000. In the UK, the official Covid-19 death toll has passed 15,000 – with 888 new fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours. It means as of 5pm on Friday, of those hospitalised in the UK who have tested positive for coronavirus, 15,464 people have died. Bangladesh garment workers pack streets to demand wages during coronavirus lockdown. Hundreds of workers in Bangladesh have taken to the streets in defiance of physical distancing rules to demand unpaid wages during the Covid-19 shutdown. New York daily death toll at two-week low. Deaths in New York State rose by 540 on Friday, the lowest daily death tally since the beginning of April.Andrew Cuomo, the state’s governor, said new hospital admissions stayed around the 2,000-patient mark, which he said was still an “overwhelming number”. Some shops in Iran have reopened as country’s daily death toll fell to 73. Iran allowed some businesses in the capital Tehran to reopen on Saturday as the country’s daily death toll from coronavirus fell to 73, its lowest in more than a month. Croatia extends its lockdown for another 15 days. Croatia is extending its coronavirus lockdown for another 15 days, but a minister says the country is exploring the possibility of gradually easing restrictions.