Coronavirus live updates: Russia reports spike in cases; Taiwan to quarantine 700 navy sailors

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.

• Global cases: More than 2,240,700
• Global deaths: At least 153,871
• Most cases reported: United States (700,282), Spain (190,839), Italy (172,434), France (149,130), and Germany (141,397). 

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:38 a.m. Beijing time. 

All times below are in Beijing time.

Singapore reported 623 new cases as of noon on April 17, bringing the city-state’s total to 5,050 cases.

Of that total, 708 people have fully recovered from the Covid-19 disease and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilites.

The Ministry of Health said there are currently 2,113 cases still hospitalized, but most are stable or improving. It also said there are 2,218 cases who are “clinically well,” but have tested positive for the coronavirus and have been isolated.

This week, the Southeast Asian country reported a jump in its number of infections, marking a shift from its relatively low numbers earlier in the outbreak.

Most of the new cases have been foreign workers housed in dormitories. Many new infection clusters have been found at these facilities. The men, typically from other Asian countries, work mostly in the construction sector.

The country’s health ministry also reported that a 95-year-old male citizen died Friday. Singapore has recorded 11 deaths related to the coronavirus. — Christine Wang

China’s National Health Commission reported 27 new confirmed cases and no additional deaths as of April 17. Of the new cases, the NHC said 17 were “imported” cases attributed to travelers from overseas.

That brings the country’s total confirmed cases to 82,719, while the death toll stands at 4,632, according to government figures.

Separately, the NHC said there were 54 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not display any symptoms. That brings China’s total number of asymptomatic cases currently under medical observation to 1,017, according to the NHC. — Christine Wang

All times below are in Eastern time.

The USNS Comfort hospital ship holds fewer than 80 patients in New York City, leaving nearly 90% of its available space unused after its emergency dispatch to the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus crisis. 

Shortly after arriving from its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, the military’s floating lifesaver was adjusted to receive coronavirus patients, halving its 1,000-bed capacity. As of Friday, 71 of the USNS Comfort’s 500 beds were occupied.

During a White House briefing Friday, President Donald Trump said the lack of patients on the ship showed that New York City was healing.

“They didn’t need it, that’s a good thing. That’s such a good thing. I think that shows that New York’s making progress,” Trump said.

On Friday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that his state is still struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak citing nearly 2,000 hospitalizations daily. — Amanda Macias

The World Health Organization said that China revised its Covid-19 infection counts “to leave no case undocumented” and that other countries will also likely need to amend their own data as systems around the world are overwhelmed.

Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, added 325 confirmed cases and 1,290 deaths to the city’s Covid-19 count after “a city-wide investigation,” state media reported Friday.

“This was done in an attempt to leave no case undocumented,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s lead scientist on Covid-19, said at a news briefing from the agency’s Geneva headquarters. “They looked at the funeral service systems. They looked at hospital systems. They looked at laboratories to see if there were any duplications or if there were any cases missing.” —Will Feuer, Noah Higgins-Dunn

The CEO of real estate brokerage Redfin said that demand for homes has shifted to rural areas as people react to the coronavirus pandemic and look to move out of dense urban areas.

“We have seen that people are more interested in that house at the foot of the mountains by the lake,” Glenn Kelman said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “Rural demand is much stronger right now than urban demand, and that’s a flip from where it’s been for the longest time, where everybody wanted to live in the city. We’ll see how it comes back, but there seems to be a profound, psychological change among consumers who are looking for houses.”—Jesse Pound

The National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association announced that they have reached an agreement regarding reductions in player compensation during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a joint statement.

The agreement stipulates that in order to give players a more gradual salary reduction schedule, reductions of 25% will begin with the players’ twice-a-month payment due May 15. The organizations also agreed on how to reduce player compensation in the event of the permanent cancellation of the current regular season or playoff games because of the pandemic.The collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and NBPA stipulates that the compensation of all NBA roster players shall be reduced in the event of a “force majeure” event, such as an epidemic or government order, using a formula based on the number of games missed. —Hannah Miller

Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: Visitors flock to Jacksonville, Florida beaches after they reopen for exercise and activity