Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Trump to suspend US immigration as doctors told not to work without PPE

US president makes surprise move amid growing concern about NHS supplies

The coronavirus pandemic has continued to dominate headlines as it affects the health and livelihood of millions across the world. Here is your morning briefing of everything you may have missed overnight.

Donald Trump has said he will suspend all immigration into the US temporarily through an executive order in a surprise move which has been criticised as an attempt to distract attention away from the coronavirus pandemic.

The president tweeted that the decision was made in light of the so-called “Invisible Enemy” of Covid-19 and the need to “protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens”.

It was not immediately clear exactly which immigration programmes would be affected, what legal basis there was for the decision or why Mr Trump had decided to take action now - although the president has long vowed to crackdown on immigration to the US.

Mr Trump did not mention the suspension during his earlier daily coronavirus news briefing, where he instead spent time criticising Republican and Democratic governors who have questioned his response to the pandemic.

Hospital supplies of face masks could be “jeopardised” if the government advises the public to start wearing them, a senior health official has said.

Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said fluid-repellent masks were “key to safety” for health and care staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Securing the supply of masks, when there is huge global demand, is crucial. This must be a key consideration for government,” Mr Hopson said.

“There needs to be clear evidence that wearing masks, along with other measures, will deliver significant enough benefits to take us out of lockdown to potentially jeopardise NHS mask supply.”

The warning came as the head of the Royal College of Anaesthetists told The Independent doctors should not treat patients without the protective equipment they need to keep them safe.

Although the World Health Organisation has already said members of the public should only wear masks if they are sick or caring for someone who is ill, the UK government’s scientific advisers will meet later to discuss whether the general population should be advised to wear them.

More than 16 per cent of people who have died with coronavirus are from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, new NHS data has shown.

On Monday, NHS England released data showing the ethnic breakdown for people who have died after testing positive for Covid-19.

The figures, which used data up to 5pm on 17 April, revealed that of the 13,918 patients in hospitals in England who had died, 73.6 per cent were of white ethnicity, 16.2 per cent were of BAME ethnicity and 0.7 per cent had mixed ethnicity - while the remaining 9.5 per cent had no stated or identifiable ethnicity.

The data was released after the announcement of a review to examine what appeared to be a disproportionate number of BAME people being seriously affected by Covid-19.

US oil prices have plummeted to the lowest level in history following an unprecedented drop in demand for crude during the coronavirus pandemic.

The price of the West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures experienced the sharpest decline by falling to minus-$40 per barrel before settling at minus-$37.63 per barrel - the first time in history that a US oil futures contract has turned negative.

With countries in lockdown across the world, there has been a huge drop in demand for the industry which has created concerns about the storage of excess oil.

A negative price means traders were essentially offering to pay people for oil to be taken off their hands.

More than 140,000 firms have applied for government help for 1 million furloughed staff within hours of the government's jobs scheme going live, the chancellor has said.

Rishi Sunak told the daily Downing Street press briefing on Monday that businesses would receive money within six days from the coronavirus job retention scheme, which allows firms to put staff on a furlough while the government pays up to 80 per cent of their wages.

“As of 4pm this afternoon, over 140,000 firms have applied and the grants they'll receive will help pay the wages of more than a million people,” Mr Sunak said.

“A million people who if they hadn't been furloughed would have been at risk of losing their job.”

The chancellor announced the scheme last month as part of plans to protect the economy during the UK’s coronavirus lockdown.