The parents of a New Zealand nurse working in the NHS who cared for Boris Johnson while he was in hospital with coronavirus have said they are ‘exceptionally proud’ of their daughter. Jenny McGee’s parents, Mike and Caroline, said: ‘She has told us it doesn't matter what patient she's looking after, this is what she does and I just find it incredible.’
Partner says Wikileaks founder should be freed from UK prison; Christians adapt to Easter without ceremonies; Italy, India, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico extend lockdown
From AFP:
It’s a grim truth that times are good for the coffin business when they’re bad for people, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
Mathematician John Horton Conway has died after contracting Covid-19, his colleagues have reported.
I am sorry to confirm the passing of my colleague John Conway. An incomparable mathematician, a pleasant neighbor, and an excellent coffee acquaintance.
His passing was sudden (fever started only Wednesday morning). Part of coronavirus's hard toll in New Jersey.
He is Archimedes, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dalí, and Richard Feynman, all rolled into one. He is one of the greatest living mathematicians, with a sly sense of humour, a polymath’s promiscuous curiosity, and a compulsion to explain everything about the world to everyone in it. According to Sir Michael Atiyah, former president of the Royal Society and arbiter of mathematical fashion, “Conway is the most magical mathematician in the world.”
Continue reading...Jordan, Italy, India, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico extend lockdown; Britain pledges £200m to WHO; partner of Julian Assange calls for prison release
Criticism of the UK government’s response to the crisis is growing, report Rowena Mason and Haroon Siddique, particularly over its failure to get enough personal protective equipment and testing kits to NHS and care workers.
It comes as a government adviser also warned that the UK could experience the highest death toll from coronavirus in Europe on a day when the number of fatalities in British hospitals passed 10,000. Read the full story here:
Related: Government criticised over PPE and tests as death toll hits 10,000
The Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli performed inside the empty Milan Duomo on Sunday as millions tuned in via livestream.
Bocelli said: “I will cherish the emotion of this unprecedented and profound experience, of this Holy Easter which this emergency has made painful, but at the same time even more fruitful, one that will stay among my dearest memories of all time.”
Continue reading...In just three months, the coronavirus has turned the world upside down. But how did it play out so quickly? We take a look back to where it all began – from its origins in south east Asia, to its acceleration across Europe and the US. As the infection rate increased and countries went into lockdown, people began to find imaginative and inspiring ways of coping with our new reality
Continue reading...After 100 days of rapid change we now see we can do without celebrities but not shelf-stackers
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
So said Vladimir Ilyich Lenin of the ferment of revolution, but he could just as easily have been talking about the 100 days that have passed since the moment coronavirus officially became a global phenomenon, the day China reported the new contagion to the World Health Organization.
Continue reading...PM ‘engaging positively’ but still in intensive care, according to update on his condition
Boris Johnson remains in intensive care but his condition is improving and he is sitting up in his hospital bed, the chancellor has said.
Rishi Sunak said the prime minister was “engaging positively” with medical staff as he gave an update on Johnson’s condition at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Continue reading...Leaked letter reveals scale of bloc’s inability to function during coronavirus outbreak
Boris Johnson’s plan to seal a deal with Brussels on the future relationship with the UK by the end of December has been described as “fantasy land” by EU officials, as a leaked letter revealed the scale of the bloc’s inability to function during the coronavirus pandemic.
The European council headquarters, where member states’ positions are coordinated, is only able to hold one daily video conference due to a lack of facilities. The capacity to carry out work is 25% of what it would usually be.
Continue reading...Supporters of cabinet secretary say his role will be crucial with Boris Johnson ill
He has been called the most powerful man in the UK, a securocrat who is too smooth for his own good.
But few would dispute that the influence of the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, has increased since Boris Johnson was admitted to St Thomas’ hospital with coronavirus on Sunday night.
Continue reading...The UK's foreign secretary says he is 'confident' the prime minister will recover after he was moved into intensive care with Covid-19 on Monday evening
Continue reading...Doctors will assess how PM is responding to coronavirus, including breathing issues
Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday night with persistent coronavirus symptoms, 10 days after testing positive. Some estimates suggest that about 5-10% of people with Covid-19 require hospital treatment.
His admission to hospital indicates doctors want to check how his body is responding to the virus, which will probably involve carrying out the following tests:
Continue reading...It is unlikely the prime minister will have been admitted unless doctors have real concerns
Most people recover from Covid-19 within a week and cannot even be certain they had it, as they probably won’t be tested. The advice is to stay home, rest and take paracetamol. In 80% of cases, that is the end of it.
But NHS advice is that if the symptoms – mainly the dry cough, temperature and fatigue – have not gone by the end of a week, or they get worse, people should seek medical help.
Continue reading...With the PM in hospital for his coronavirus symptoms, we look at who will fill the void at the head of the UK government
In his role as first secretary of state, the prime minister’s de facto deputy, Dominic Raab will be expected to stand in for Boris Johnson if he is unable to work because of coronavirus.
While other ministers, including the health secretary Matt Hancock and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have been more visible during the Covid-19 outbreak, that position means he takes up the prime minister’s responsibilities if Johnson were unable to perform them himself.
Continue reading...People across the UK stood at their front doors, outside their windows, on balconies for the second week in a row, to clap, cheer and bang pots and pans for healthcare staff and all key workers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
In Scotland, many bagpipers joined in a 'pipe up for key workers' tribute and in London, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, who is still in self-isolation, stepped out of No 10 to join in the clapping
Continue reading...Concern that centres were too far from both work or home for those working in London
NHS staff have called on Boris Johnson to ensure the new coronavirus testing centres are located conveniently for health workers and not in out of town sites such as Ikea car parks.
Drive-in test centres for nurses and doctors were opened this week in converted car parks at the Scandinavian superstore in Wembley in London and Chessington theme park near the M25.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson has emphasised the importance of testing in battling the coronavirus outbreak in the UK. In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, the UK prime minister said it was a 'sad, sad day' as 563 more coronavirus-related deaths were announced, the largest day-on-day increase so far
Continue reading...UK prime minister’s refusal to criticise Amazon fires and sharp rise in deforestation praised by Brazilian ambassador
Boris Johnson was personally thanked by the Brazilian government for refusing to support European action over the Amazon fires, according to documents obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
As the rainforest burned last summer – fuelled by a sharp rise in deforestation that critics blame partly on President Jair Bolsonaro’s agenda – Johnson criticised a threat by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to block the EU’s Mercosur trade deal with Brazil.
Continue reading...Donald Trump said on Friday that he had a conversation with Boris Johnson, who has tested positive for coronavirus, and 'the first thing he said to me is: "We need ventilators"'. Trump mentioned Johnson 'asking for ventilators today' twice during the Coronavirus Task Force briefing
Continue reading...Were Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock practising what they have been preaching?
Prof Neil Ferguson was the first to sound the alarm – and perhaps provide a clue as to how the prime minister, the health secretary and the chief medical officer all became victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ferguson is the scientist whose research at London’s Imperial College led to the government’s dramatic pivot in its handling of the outbreak.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson said he was shaking hands with coronavirus patients just weeks before he tested positive for Covid-19. The prime minister confirmed he had entered self-isolation on Friday 27 March. Early this month, he insisted that people would be 'pleased to know' that the virus would not stop him greeting hospital patients with a handshake
Boris Johnson has thanked the 405,000 people who have responded to the government's call for volunteers to help the NHS support vulnerable people during the coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, health secretary Matt Hancock asked for 250,000 volunteers