Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Danes and Czechs say easing lockdowns has produced no Covid-19 surge

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Encouraging signs from EU states who acted early, as South Korea reports no new cases

Denmark and the Czech Republic have said partially easing their lockdowns has not led to a surge in new coronavirus infections, as the WHO continued to urge extreme caution and Germany relaxed some restrictions but extended others.

As EU governments grappled with the complex and conflicting imperatives of easing the lockdowns crippling their economies while avoiding a disastrous second wave of infections, meanwhile, South Korea reported no new cases for the first time.

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Coronavirus: New York subway to close at night for disinfection, says Cuomo – video

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New York state governor Andrew Cuomo has said the New York subway will close between 1am and 5am from 7 May to allow the MTA to disinfect the carriages, train and stations, and protect essential workers from contracting coronavirus

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Germany and Spain ease lockdown as Eurozone slumps 3.8% – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

We’ve launched a brand new blog at the link below. Follow me there for the latest coronavirus news from around the world, live:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Trump claims to have evidence virus started in Wuhan lab as UK is 'past the peak'

Hello, Helen Sullivan with you now. I’ll have the blog for the next few hours, so please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

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Eurozone downturn and US jobless surge hit markets – business live

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The euro area is suffering its worst contraction ever, as the French economy suffers its biggest plunge since the second world war

Britain’s FTSE 100 has just posted its worst day in a month, at the end of its best month in two years.

The blue-chip index has closed down 214 points at 5901, a drop of 3.5%. That wipes out yesterday’s rally, and half of Wednesday’s gains too!

Related: Shell cuts dividend for first time since 1945 amid oil price collapse

Shares in Zoom have dropped over 6% today, after the video-conferencing services admitted it wasn’t quite as popular as thought...

Zoom had initially said it had 300 million daily users, following the surge in remote working. But, it actually has 300 million daily meeting participants.

Zoom shares dropped more than 7% after the company walked back on claims it has 300 million daily active users. $ZM actually reached 300m daily participants, the difference being that meeting participants can be counted more than once.https://t.co/UIVYBP9sqt

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Coronavirus US live: intelligence report concludes Covid-19 was not ‘manmade or genetically modified’

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House speaker Nancy Pelosi was careful not to criticize Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for calling senators back to Washington starting next week.

Pelosi and majority leader Steny Hoyer originally said the House would also return next week, but they reversed that decision after a consultation with the Capitol’s attending physician.

The office of the director of national intelligence has released an unusual statement saying officials do not believe coronavirus was manmade, echoing many health experts.

“The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the statement reads.

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Warning over ‘hidden effect of coronavirus’ after grandfather’s suicide

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‘Pick up the phone to loved ones’, urges grandson after Dennis Ward’s death

A grandson is urging people to “pick up the phone” and speak to loved ones and vulnerable people in self-isolation after his 82-year-old grandfather killed himself during the coronavirus pandemic.

James Parnaby said his grandfather’s death was one of the “hidden effects of coronavirus” in a tribute posted on Facebook that described Dennis Ward as the “life and soul at family parties”.

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Victoria Beckham reverses decision to furlough fashion label staff

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Exclusive: application to use public money to support staff is withdrawn following criticism

Victoria Beckham has reversed a decision to furlough 30 staff at her fashion label and said that her team’s welfare “means everything to me” after the decision to apply for public money drew heavy criticism.

Following a change of heart by the designer and her board, the application to the government scheme has been withdrawn and all employees concerned restored to their roles.

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Captain Tom Moore: flypast in honour of veteran’s 100th birthday – video

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A flypast over Capt Tom Moore’s house by a wartime Spitfire and a Hurricane was broadcast live on BBC Breakfast to mark the second world war veteran’s 100th birthday.

The centenarian, who has helped to raise over £30m for the NHS during the coronavirus crisis with a sponsored walk around his garden, has been appointed an honorary colonel

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Link climate pledges to €26bn airline bailout, say Europe’s greens

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Environment groups insist conditions must be attached to Covid-19 rescue plan for sector

Airlines are seeking €26bn (£22.7bn) in state aid to deal with the economic fallout from coronavirus, according to environmental campaigners, who accuse governments of failing to attach binding climate conditions to negotiations.

My flight to Europe is cancelled. All I’m being offered is an alternative flight or vouchers. Is this legal?

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Chinese to hit the road again on first national holiday since lockdown

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Officials expect 117 million to travel after Covid-19 emergency response levels downgraded

China is gearing up for its first national holiday after months of lockdowns, with authorities lowering the emergency response level for Beijing just in time to allow freer travel.

On Wednesday, authorities announced a downgrade of the emergency response level governing Hebei province and the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, from Thursday.

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Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state

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• Coronavirus: world map of deaths and cases
• See all our coronavirus coverage
• Coronavirus – latest global updates

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to grow in the US. Mike Pence, the vice-president, is overseeing the US response to the coronavirus.

So far, 80% of patients experience a mild form of the illness, which can include a fever and pneumonia, and many of these cases require little to no medical intervention. That being said, elderly people and those with underlying conditions such as diabetes or heart and lung issues are the most vulnerable. The coronavirus death rate in China for people 80 or over in the government’s study of more than 72,000 cases, was 14.8%.

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‘Utter disaster’: Manaus fills mass graves as Covid-19 hits the Amazon

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Emergency measures pile pain on to mourning families as coronavirus tears through the ill-prepared jungle-flanked city

Day and night, the dead are delivered into the tawny Amazonian earth – the latest victims of a devastating pandemic now reaching deep into the heart of the Brazilian rainforest.

On Sunday 140 bodies were laid to rest in Manaus, the jungle-flanked capital of Amazonas state. On Saturday, 98. Normally the figure would be closer to 30 – but these are no longer normal times.

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‘This moment is leaving a mark on me’: framing Rio under Covid-19’s shadow

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Nicoló Lanfranchi arrived in Brazil to make a film about traditional medicine and ended up charting a tragedy that acquired a deeply personal dimension

Photographing a funeral is never easy, no matter how professional the photographer, and even more so amid a pandemic. But for Nicoló Lanfranchi, capturing the burial of Covid-19 victim Elizabeth Baez, 82, which took place this month at the São João Batista cemetery in Rio de Janeiro, was especially difficult.

As he photographed the gravediggers in protective clothing with Elizabeth’s son Henrique, 49, the only mourner allowed, watching on from behind a mask, Lanfranchi thought of his own father, Piero. At 72, Piero was in intensive care with Covid-19 in a hospital in Voghera, in Lombardy, northern Italy – one of the worst-affected places on Earth.

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‘We were behind the eight ball’: Papua New Guinea’s health minister on Covid-19

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Jelta Wong had been in the job for just a few months when the coronavirus outbreak reached PNG

When Jelta Wong was appointed as Papua New Guinea’s health minister in November, he knew he had his work cut out for him.

The Pacific nation just north of Australia is dealing with outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever, drug-resistant tuberculosis and had a recent outbreak of polio. Its health system is notoriously fractured and underfunded.

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Donald Trump accuses WHO of ‘misleading’ US over coronavirus – video

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Donald Trump has accused the World Health Organization of being a 'pipe organ for China' and misleading the US over the coronavirus crisis. The US president suggested the US could take action against the WHO. 'We're coming up with a very distinct recommendation,' Trump said. 'We're not happy with it.' 

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UK coronavirus death toll revised up to 26,097, Dominic Raab announces – video

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A total of 26,097 patients have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, Dominic Raab has said. It was the first time the daily death toll figures have taken into account deaths in care homes and the community as well as those in hospitals between 2 March and 28 April. It marked an increase of 3,811 on the previous figure

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New York City’s mayor Bill de Blasio apologises for tweet about Jewish funeral – video

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New York City's mayor, Bill de Blasio, has apologised for lashing out at the conduct of mourners at a packed funeral for a rabbi who died of Covid-19. In a tweet, the mayor called the large processional 'absolutely unacceptable' and vowed to shut down such gatherings. 'If you saw anger and frustration [in the response] you’re right,' de Blasio said. 'I spoke out of real distress. People’s lives were in danger right before my eyes.'

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More cases of rare syndrome in children reported globally

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Nearly 100 cases of the unusual illness linked to Covid-19 have emerged in at least six countries

Doctors around the world have reported more cases of a rare but potentially lethal inflammatory syndrome in children that appears to be linked to coronavirus infections.

Nearly 100 cases of the unusual illness have emerged in at least six countries, with doctors in Britain, the US, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland now reported to be investigating the condition.

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Swedish city to dump tonne of chicken manure in park to deter visitors

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Lund council hoping ‘stink’ keeps people away on Walpurgis Night

The university town of Lund in Sweden is to dump a tonne of chicken manure in its central park in a bid to deter up to 30,000 residents from gathering there for traditional celebrations to mark Walpurgis Night on Thursday.

“Lund could very well become an epicentre for the spread of the coronavirus on the last night in April, [so] I think it was a good initiative,” the chairman of the local council’s environment committee, Gustav Lundblad, told the Sydsvenskan newspaper.

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