Undetected transmissions in early stage of outbreak at heart of current difficulties
Italy appeared well ahead of the curve when the coronavirus outbreak began to spread outside China.
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Coronavirus travel ban: Italy under lockdown – in pictures
Italy has imposed a nationwide ban on unnecessary travel as the country tries to stem the tide of Covid-19 infections
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: Italy-wide lockdown comes into force
UK and US had worst days trading since 2008 GFC; Global cases near 110,000; Grand Princess passengers disembark. Follow the latest news.
- Cruise ship carrying at least 21 with coronavirus docks in California
- US pledges more testing as Trump hints at aid for workers
- Quarantined US congressman flew with Trump on Air Force One
- Global stock markets post biggest falls since 2008 financial crisis
- Italian PM extends lockdown to entire country
- Coronavirus sufferers symptom-free for five days on average – study
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
As the whole of Italy goes into lockdown, there are some reassuring signs that measures are starting to work. Across the 11 towns that went into quarantine over two weeks ago, the number of cases is beginning to fall.
Virgin Atlantic has called on the European Commission and UK flight slots co-ordinator to relax rules amid the coronavirus outbreak, PA reports.
Chief executive Shai Weiss said: “Last month Virgin Atlantic and industry partners committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050.
Continue reading...Italy PM: ‘ We cannot let meetings become occasions of contagion’ – coronavirus video report
Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures to the entire country. All movement across the country will be restricted to ‘reasons of work, reasons of necessity or health reasons’, says Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Italy is the worst-hit country after China with more than 460 deaths. Additionally, six people died during riots across Italy’s prison system which were sparked as probation and visitation rights were restricted.
Continue reading...The day we stopped shaking hands – and what that means for Europe | Natalie Nougayrède
The disappearance of this friendly gesture reflects the fragmented European response to the coronavirus
Europeans have stopped shaking hands. That is, I and almost everyone I have come across has stopped.
At an event last week hosted by the German foreign ministry in Berlin, we shunned the handshake. We huddled awkwardly, nodding heads, or half-jokingly stretched out a leg to touch an interlocutor’s foot as a new form of greeting. In Paris, a fashion and perfume store manager told me sales were badly down because “the usual 30 bus loads of Chinese tourists a day” had completely stopped. A taxi driver said he was keeping his car windows open, despite the cold, to avoid contamination from passengers. As of Monday, French authorities have announced that any event with more than 1,000 people has to be cancelled: book fairs and music festivals are over. Of course the situation in Italy is more alarming, with more than 16 million people in quasi-lockdown, and numbers of infections and deaths still rising quickly. That the Pope decided to speak by video on Sunday for the Angelus ceremony, to protect himself and the congregation in St Peter’s Square from infection, seemed a fitting symbol of what is under way.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: fifth death confirmed in UK, as head of New York’s airports tests positive
With cases spiking sharply across Europe and emergency measures in place from California to Saudi Arabia, investors have sent shares tumbling
- Stock markets plunge – business live updates
- Head of port authority of New York and New Jersey tests positive
- Six Nations 2020: France v Ireland called off because of coronavirus
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should I see a doctor?
- Share your experiences
US authorities are planning a flight tomorrow to repatriate Britons on the coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship.
The UK Foreign Office issued the following statement:
We continue to work closely with the US authorities to repatriate British nationals on board the Grand Princess. The US are currently planning for a flight to leave tomorrow evening, returning to the UK on Wednesday afternoon. We remain in contact with all British nationals on board and will continue to offer support.
Chinese authorities reportedly scrambled to move people out of quarantine hotels which need full safety inspections after the deaths of at least 10 people in a collapsed hotel.
Joanna Davison, an English teacher, and her partner were suddenly placed in enforced isolation in Shenzhen after a ferry trip about 10 days ago. On Thursday, she told the Guardian she endured a “terrifying” experience as five people in hazmat suits came to test them at her home before they were whisked to quarantine.
Health authorities check all passengers travelling from northern Italy – video
Italian health authorities were checking passengers getting off buses and trains from northern Italy and arriving in Salerno and Naples on Saturday. Other countries could soon follow Italy’s drastic containment measures as coronavirus threatens to continue its spread across Europe. Italy remains the epicentre of the viral outbreak in Europe, as more than a quarter of the country’s population is under quarantine
Continue reading...Italy extends coronavirus lockdown in Lombardy – in pictures
Italy announced a sweeping quarantine on Sunday for its northern regions, igniting travel chaos as it restricted the movement of a quarter of the countries population in an effort to halt the relentless march of the coronavirus
Continue reading...Italy lockdown: PM outlines new measures to prevent spread of coronavirus – video
Giuseppe Conte announced a range of tough new measures in the early hours of Sunday to try to contain Italy's coronavirus outbreak, including the virtual lockdown of the country's wealthiest and most populous region. The new rules include telling people not to enter or leave Lombardy, which is home to about 10 million people, and dozen provinces in four of Italy's 19 other regions. The draconian steps come after the number of coronavirus cases in Europe's worst-hit country reached 5,883 on Saturday.
- Coronavirus: quarter of Italy's population put in quarantine as virus reaches Washington DC
- Coronavirus live updates: Italian PM signs lockdown decree affecting millions in north
Italy set to quarantine whole of Lombardy due to coronavirus
Government’s draft decree would impose fines on anyone caught entering or leaving northern region
The Italian government is to lockdown the northern region of Lombardy, as it battles to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A draft decree would extend the quarantined areas, so-called “red-zones”, ordering people not to enter or leave the region.
The country is grappling to contain Europe’s worst outbreak of Covid-19, which has claimed 233 lives and infected a total of 5,883 people.
Continue reading...‘It has arrived’: Italian Democratic party leader announces he has coronavirus – video
The governor of Italy's Lazio region is the latest official to test positive for coronavirus in the country. Nicola Zingaretti, who is also head of the Democratic party, one of the national ruling parties, announced his diagnosis on Facebook on Saturday. At least three government prefects – in Bergamo, Brescia and Matera – have tested positive for the virus, along with three Milan prosecutors, according to reports
- Leader of Italian Democratic party has coronavirus
- Coronavirus live updates: passengers on Grand Princess to be tested by US authorities
Coronavirus latest: at a glance
A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak
Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak on Friday include:
Continue reading...Coronavirus: Iran to limit travel between major cities amid more than 3,500 cases – latest updates
California declares state of emergency; Italian doctors say German man may have been first European with virus and Scotland registers three more cases
- Full story: California declares emergency after first death
- UK: government reverses plan to stop daily location updates
- ‘Do not kiss pets’: owner gives dog coronavirus
- Share your experiences
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a statement warning businesses to not exploit the coronavirus outbreak and take advantage of people. The CMA said it will take enforcement action against companies that are charging excessive prices or making misleading claims about the efficacy of protective equipment.
CMA chairman Lord Tyrie said: “We will do whatever we can to act against rip-offs and misleading claims, using any or all of our tools; and where we can’t act, we’ll advise government on further steps they could take, if necessary.”
Here’s the latest summary of today’s events.
Continue reading...Italy’s ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi splits from partner of 12 years
Twice divorced media magnate reportedly now dating Marta Fascina, an MP from his party
Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has split from his partner after a 12-year relationship, his Forza Italia party said.
The 83-year-old billionaire and 34-year-old Francesca Pascale will “remain friends”, Forza Italia said in a statement.
Continue reading...Iran to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers as 23 MPs infected – as it happened
Germany reports increase in infections and more events cancelled across Europe. This blog is closed.
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Related: Coronavirus live updates: WHO warns protective gear 'rapidly depleting' amid recession fears
The drop in the Australian share market despite the US Fed rate cut raises questions over the ability of central banks to halt the fall in share prices, according to Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets in Sydney. The moves in Australia follow late falls on Wall Street as the main indices failed to rally on the emergency Fed stimulus.
The market reaction to the Fed’s decisive action is worrying for investors. Major US indices dropped 2.5% to 3%. There is now a question over the ability of monetary policy to halt plummeting asset prices. The dangers of negative wealth effects from stock market falls adds to concern about the global outlook. The seeming ineffectiveness of further monetary easing will almost certainly lead to further calls on governments to push the fiscal stimulus button.
Bonds rallied again, pushing yields to fresh all-time lows. Gold found a firmer footing to rally by 3% as the US dollar slipped. In an illustration of the unusual conditions cryptocurrencies were among the least volatile markets.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: two patients die in France as four new cases detected in England – live updates
South Korea reports almost 500 new cases and a second person dies in the US as UK ministers hold emergency meeting
- Four more people in England test positive
- EU raises infection risk from moderate to high
- Epidemics expert Jonathan Quick: ‘Worst-case scenario is likely’
- Share your experiences
Big businesses and wealthy people are chartering private jets for “evacuation flights” out of countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak, reports the Guardian’s wealth correspondent Rupert Neate.
Adam Twidell, the chief executive of the private jet booking service PrivateFly, said the company had been inundated with requests from multinational firms arranging the mass evacuation of staff from China and south-east Asia.
Related: Wealthy turning to private jets to escape coronavirus outbreak
British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has had confirmation from the family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman detained in Iran, that she has not been tested for coronavirus. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband told broadcasters this morning that his wife suspected she might have the virus and was displaying all the symptoms.
Just spoken to Nazanin’s family about what was said in the chamber in my Urgent Question - she told them this morning categorically that she has NOT been tested for coronavirus and remains petrified about her health #FreeNazanin
Continue reading...Unsealing of Vatican archives will finally reveal truth about ‘Hitler’s pope’
Historians can now pore over secret files from the papacy of Pius XII, who has long faced accusations of being a Nazi sympathiser
New light will be shed on one of the most controversial periods of Vatican history on Monday when the archives on Pope Pius XII – accused by critics of being a Nazi sympathiser – are unsealed.
A year after Pope Francis announced the move, saying “the church isn’t afraid of history”, the documents from Pius XII’s papacy, which began in 1939 on the brink of the second world war and ended in 1958, will be opened, initially to a small number of scholars.
Continue reading...Prosecutors seize Italian Scala dei Turchi over conservation concerns
Coastline that has been up for Unesco listing has been in poor condition for years
Italian prosecutors have seized control of the famous Scala dei Turchi limestone coastline, one of the Mediterranean’s main tourist attractions, citing poor handling of the cliff’s preservation.
For years, the site of the Scala dei Turchi – meaning Turkish steps or stairs of the Turks – a candidate for Unesco heritage, has been in a state of degradation. It is subject to constant erosion and theft by visitors who detach pieces of marl, the white sedimentary rock that gives the steps their distinctive appearance.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: walking through the ghost town at the centre of Italy’s outbreak – video
Streets and shops in Codogno in northern Italy have been left eerily empty after the town was placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak. The virus has so far killed 12 people in Italy, and cases across the country had reached more than 400 by Wednesday night, among them five children aged between four and 15
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: Trump puts Mike Pence in charge of US response, says risk to Americans ‘very low’
Saudi Arabia bans religious tourists from entering country as WHO says virus now spreading faster outside China than in it. Follow latest news
- Ireland v Italy in Six Nations postponed due to coronavirus
- Zara Phillips will not self-isolate after Italy trip
- More new cases outside China than inside, says WHO
- Is it safe to travel, and should children be kept home?
- Have you been affected by the coronavirus?
Fiji has extended its travel ban due to coronavirus fears. Travellers who have been in Italy, Iran and the South Korean cities of Daegu and Cheongdo will not be permitted to enter Fiji. Visitors who had been in mainland China in the last 14 days have also been forbidden entry into the Pacific nation.
There are no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus in Fiji, but Pacific nations are fearful of how their health systems will cope were the virus to reach their shores.
Ian Thorpe, the Australian Olympic swimming legend, says athletes must consider their own health before attending the Tokyo Games this year.
Thorpe, whose five Olympic golds make him the most successful Australian Olympian all time, spoke out as concerns mounted about whether the Games in July and August will go ahead because of the coronavirus outbreak.
I think the decision should come down to each individual athlete. But whether or not they want to compete, that they should take their health into consideration first.
Related: Athletes must consider their own health before travelling to Olympics, says Ian Thorpe
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