With much of the world still in lockdown owing to coronavirus, people are finding new ways to keep each others' spirits up. From Captain Tom Moore becoming the oldest person to score a UK No 1 with his cover of You'll Never Walk Alone to small acts of kindness from the police, these are the week's most uplifting clips.
Continue reading...Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak
Coronavirus: dozens arrested in Berlin protesting against lockdown – video
Dozens of protesters were arrested in Berlin on Saturday for flouting lockdown rules and staging a demonstration against lockdown measures.
About 200 people were involved in the protest, which was shut down by German police. Demonstrators said lockdown measures are an infringement of their constitutional rights
- Global report: death toll passes 200,000
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The state we’re in: will the pandemic revolutionise the role of government?
The state has been in retreat since the 80s heyday of Reagan and Thatcher but that could change as coronavirus delivers a shock to the system of historic proportions
Ronald Reagan’s 1986 wisecrack – “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help” – would not get a lot of laughs today. In much of the world, people are desperate for the government to show up and rise to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.
Reagan’s attitude to government solidified into orthodoxy for more than three decades, spreading abroad – particularly in the UK with the help of Margaret Thatcher – and captured the centre ground of politics in both countries.
Continue reading...No 10 advisers at Sage meetings: key questions that need answering
How and why Ben Warner and Dominic Cummings contributed to Covid-19 meetings is unclear
- Sage attendees worried by Cummings’ presence
- No evidence No 10 advisers attended Sage in previous crises
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The government has not disputed that this is the first time Downing Street political advisers have attended Sage meetings and asked questions at them. No 10 argues that the unprecedented scale of the coronavirus pandemic made it necessary. However, the government’s policies say scientific committees such as Sage should be politically neutral. Sage meetings are chaired by the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance. However, a government spokesperson said Vallance “would not have to sign off” on observers or representatives from government departments. So who decided they should attend, and why and when was the decision made?
Continue reading...Germany’s Covid-19 expert: ‘For many, I’m the evil guy crippling the economy’
Germany’s leading coronavirus expert Christian Drosten on Merkel’s leadership, the UK response and the ‘prevention paradox’
Christian Drosten, who directs the Institute of Virology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, was one of those who identified the Sars virus in 2003. As the head of the German public health institute’s reference lab on coronaviruses, he has become the government’s go-to expert on the related virus causing the current pandemic.
In an exclusive interview, Drosten admits he fears a second deadly wave of the virus. He explains why Angela Merkel has an advantage over other world leaders – and why the “prevention paradox” keeps him awake at night.
Continue reading...‘It’s just beginning here’: Africa turns to testing as pandemic grips the continent
Nations battle to contain spread after World Health Organization warns of 10 million cases within six months
African nations are banking on aggressive screening and testing strategies as their best – and possibly only – defence against the Covid-19 virus.
After a slow start, a sudden rise of more than 40% in the number of Covid-19 cases on the continent in the last 10 days – to 28,000 – and a similar increase in the number of deaths – to 1,300 – has worried specialists.
The World Health Organization has warned of 10 million cases on the continent within three to six months, though experts say that the death toll could be lower if authorities are able to move swiftly to contain outbreaks of the disease.
“We are at the beginning in Africa,” Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said last week.
Though some of the worst effects of infection may be mitigated by the relative youth of many people on the continent, others may be made more vulnerable by malnutrition or existing conditions, such as HIV.
Under-resourced health systems are unlikely to cope with a significant surge of those infected by the disease. Provision of intensive care facilities on the continent is grossly inadequate. Many countries with populations numbering tens of millions have only a handful of ventilators.
So far it has been difficult to fully grasp the extent of the spread of the disease in Africa, as testing has been patchy.
Djibouti has recorded 98.6 cases per 100,000 people, the highest prevalence on the continent. But the tiny country has conducted just over 10,000 tests, as many as neighbouring Ethiopia, which has more than 100 million people.
To tackle this virus, local public health teams need to take back control
A massive increase in testing and tracing should be the next phase, but decades of cuts and reorganisations have whittled away the necessary regional expertise
Perhaps, the most surprising aspect of the British Covid-19 crisis is the extent to which the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments, and the English regions, have allowed strategy to be decided by Westminster.
Health and social care are devolved, and this national epidemic is not homogenous. It is made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of outbreaks around the country, each at a different stage . England had its first confirmed case on 30 January, Wales on 28 February and Scotland on 1 March. Some areas – such as Rutland, Hartlepool, Blackpool, Isle of Wight, Tyneside, Durham, Orkney, Western Isles – had no reported cases until late March, and some even now have relatively few cases.
Continue reading...UK will need to extend Brexit transition, Merkel ally warns Britain
UK will need extension to agree Brexit deal as pandemic derails talks
Boris Johnson must extend the UK’s transition out of the EU for up to two years to avoid compounding the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic with a hugely disruptive and disorderly Brexit, according to a close ally of Angela Merkel.
In an interview with the Observer, Norbert Röttgen, chair of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, said it was now impossible to see how the UK and other EU countries could agree even a minimal outline free trade agreement this year because the talks were so behind schedule.
Continue reading...Alone and disconnected: the woman left unable to call her dying partner
Problems with internet and phone service were once just an inconvenience. Now they can prove to be catastrophic
Cut off by telecoms company, pensioner missed call as partner died of Covid-19
Barbara Parry* arranged to switch her phone and broadband account from Sky to Now TV in March, a week before lockdown. Instead, she was left incommunicado as her line was cancelled and her phone number reallocated.
During the following four weeks, as she pleaded in vain to be reconnected, her partner contracted Covid-19. He died four days later in hospital. Due to the blunders by Now TV, he was unable to call Parry from his deathbed and she was unable to say goodbye. The news was broken by a relative as the hospital could not get through on her cancelled number.
Continue reading...Australia coronavirus update latest: rescue flight from Argentina returns stranded travellers as death toll reaches 81 – live news
More than 150 Australians and 20 New Zealanders are on the flight from Buenos Aires after being stranded in South America since the outbreak. Follow live
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- Coronavirus Australia maps and cases: live numbers and statistics
The question about whether kids and teachers go back to school is looming as a brawl that will escalate in the coming week.
Two Labor-led states in particular, Queensland and Victoria, are on a different page of the textbook to the federal government, which wants schools to be open.
In Victoria, the state opposition has begun to grumble about the extended remote learning arrangements.
The vast majority of students in Vic are learning from home because that is the advice from our health experts.
If we did not follow this advice, more than 1 million children, their parents and school staff congregating at schools could spread Coronavirus in our community.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is today launching a nationwide campaign to make sure people don’t neglect health concerns while we’re all in lockdown.
It’s very concerning that some people have potentially been neglecting their health during this pandemic – the last thing we want is a tsunami of serious health issues and worsening chronic conditions coming after this virus, simply because people have stopped taking care of themselves or consulting their GP.
The reason why we are running our campaign Expert Advice Matters is to encourage people to keep taking care of their health. We also want to remind everyone that general practice remains open and expert medical advice matters most.
Continue reading...Spain’s daily death toll drops below 300 as children allowed out for first time in weeks – as it happened
WHO clarifies ‘immunity passport’ advice; global deaths pass 200,000; Russia case tally passes 80,000; Sweden’s deputy prime-minster admits problems with strategy. This blog is now closed.
- Follow the latest global coronavirus blog here for live news and updates
- Trump says briefings ‘not worth the effort’ after disinfectant debacle
We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:
Here a few key developments of the past few hours at a glance:
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un’s train possibly spotted at North Korean resort
As rumours persist that ruler is in poor health, satellite images emerge showing train parked at Wonsan’s ‘leadership station’
A special train possibly belonging to the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, has been spotted at a resort town, according to satellite images reviewed by a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health and whereabouts.
The monitoring project, 38 North, said in its report on Saturday that the train was parked at the “leadership station” in Wonsan on 21 April and 23 April. The station is reserved for the use of the Kim family, it said.
Continue reading...Johnson faces lockdown dilemma as scientists warn over grim virus data
Prime minister returns to work on Monday to cabinet at odds over easing social distancing
The number of new cases of Covid-19 being diagnosed is still much too high to allow any easing of the lockdown soon, leading scientists have warned, as the virus death toll in UK hospitals passed 20,000 on Saturday.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, described the figure as a “terrible milestone” and a “deeply tragic and moving moment”. She said it showed the need for the British public to “stay strong” and remain at home for the foreseeable future.
Continue reading...Trump says briefings ‘not worth the effort’ amid fallout from disinfectant comments
The president remained behind closed doors after advisers reportedly warned him that the briefings were hurting his campaign
After more than a month of near-daily White House coronavirus press briefings, Donald Trump stayed behind closed doors on Saturday after advisers reportedly warned the president that his appearances were hurting his campaign.
Trump himself referenced his absence when he wrote on Twitter that the briefings are “not worth the time & effort”. The president wrote the tweet on Saturday evening, when he would usually be taking the podium to address journalists.
Continue reading...Top Tories join calls to bar Cummings from scientific advisory group
Cross-party demand for transparency after chief adviser is revealed as attending meetings of Sage
Boris Johnson is facing cross-party calls to stop his chief adviser from attending meetings of the secret scientific group advising him on the coronavirus pandemic, as demands grow for the committee’s deliberations to be made public.
The former Brexit secretary, David Davis, is among those calling for Dominic Cummings and Ben Warner, an adviser who ran the Tories’ private election computer model, to be prevented from attending future meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).
Continue reading...Michigan senator apologizes for wearing Confederate flag face mask
Dale Zorn initially defended his actions, saying it was part of ‘our history’, but eventually apologized after widespread outrage
A Republican politician in Michigan has apologized after wearing a face mask that appeared to depict the Confederate flag, an image offensive to many Americans as a symbol of racism and slavery.
Michigan state Senator Dale Zorn wore the mask during a Senate vote at the state capitol in Lansing on Friday. He initially defended his actions, saying his wife had made the mask and that it depicted the flag of Tennessee or Kentucky.
Continue reading...World leaders agree to cooperate on coronavirus vaccine, but US does not take part – video
Global leaders have pledged to accelerate cooperation on a Covid-19 vaccine and to share research, treatment and medicines around the globe as part of a World Health Organization initiative.
The US did not take part in the pledge, made at a virtual meeting, designed to show that wealthy countries will not keep the results of research from developing countries.
Britain will co-chair a joint coronavirus global response summit on 4 May aimed at raising funds for vaccine research, treatments and tests.
- US stays away as world leaders agree action on Covid-19 vaccine
- Coronavirus – latest updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Brazilians take part in pot-banging protests against Bolsonaro’s coronavirus response – video
People protest against the Brazilian president after the resignation of popular minister Sérgio Moro. There were calls for Bolsonaro’s impeachment and an investigation into claims he had improperly interfered in the country’s federal police.
Bolsonaro denied claims from his outgoing justice minister that he had sought to appoint a new federal police chief in order to gain access to secret intelligence reports
Rio’s favelas count the cost as deadly spread of Covid-19 hits city’s poor
The coronavirus was probably brought to Brazil by rich returning holidaymakers but it is threatening to explode in marginal communities
In many ways, Washington Castro was a typical resident of Rocinha, the immense redbrick favela that towers over Rio de Janeiro’s Atlantic coast.
Industrious, God-fearing and the offspring of migrants from Brazil’s parched and impoverished north-east, he supported two young children by working two separate jobs and wore a suit and tie when attending his local church.
Continue reading...Africa’s Covid-19 research must be tailored to its realities – by its own scientists | Monique Wasunna
Trust is essential in the pandemic and scientists here can set the priorities that make the most sense for our people
Research to find a cure and effective treatment for Covid-19 is well under way, with hundreds of trials already announced. But very few involve African researchers, and this is a mistake.
Although Africa has yet to feel the full force of the coronavirus, preventing severe cases is a higher priority than it is elsewhere. Africa needs research that is tailored to our reality.
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