Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Ecuador’s death rate soars as fears grow over scale of coronavirus crisis

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Mortalities in one province leap from 3,000 to 11,000 in six weeks, with health and mortuary services overwhelmed

New data suggests that Ecuador’s coronavirus toll may be much higher than previously indicated, after figures revealed a massive jump in deaths in the province at the centre of the country’s devastating outbreak.

Since the beginning of March six weeks ago, 10,939 people have died in Guayas province, which includes Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, according to figures released late on Thursday.

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No match for Dr Fauci – are TV Doctors like Dr Phil causing more harm than good?

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Dr Phil, Dr Oz and others appearing on cable news now exist in a bizarre realm halfway between fiction and authenticity

Last week, a group of actors known for their roles as fictional medical professionals on television released a video on Instagram thanking the real doctors on the frontlines fighting against the pandemic, raising money on their behalf.

Olivia Wilde of House, Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faisona, Nurse Jackie’s Edie Falco, Julianna Margulies and Maura Tierney of ER, and others, came together to share a message of support for doctors and nurses, and joked in a way best summed up by Neil Patrick Harris: “I’m not a doctor, but I was paid to be one on TV.”

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Nearly 100,000 EU citizens remain stranded overseas due to pandemic – as it happened

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China denies cover-up as Wuhan death toll revised up by 50%; Brazil’s president fires health minister

We are closing this live global blog now, but you can pick up all of our continuing coverage on our new global blog here.

You can also see our latest summary of events at Coronavirus latest developments: at a glance.

Oliver Milman, an environment reporter for Guardian in New York, has some analysis on the progression of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

A model relied upon by the White House, from the University of Washington, estimates that the virus will “peter out” in May and then essentially grind to a halt by the summer. This is based on the experiences of China and Italy, previous coronavirus hotspots.

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Coronavirus live news: nearly 100,000 EU citizens remain stranded overseas due to pandemic

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China denies cover-up as Wuhan death toll revised up by 50%; Brazil’s president fires health minister

WHO’s daily briefing on the coronavirus outbreak has just begun. WHO director Tarik Jasarevic said the coronavirus solidarity fund has generated $150 million from more than 245,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations.

Deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in Italy rose by 575 on Friday, up from 525 the day before, while the number of new cases declined slightly to 3,493 from a previous 3,786.

The daily death toll is down considerably from peaks reached around the end of March, Reuters reports.

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Coronavirus US live: Cuomo says Trump should ‘go to work’ after president lashes out during briefing

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated that the federal government must be involved in expanding testing capacity, after Trump tweeted it was up to the states to make tests more widely available.

“If we don’t have federal help on testing, that’s a real problem,” Cuomo said.

Trump sent a series of tweets trying to deflect responsibility for the coronavirus crisis, suggesting states are the ones who need to expand testing capacity.

The States have to step up their TESTING!

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Ilhan Omar unveils bill to cancel rent and mortgage payments amid pandemic

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Landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government under the legislation

The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar has unveiled a bill that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for millions of Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the legislation announced on Friday, landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government. The program would extend for a month beyond the end of the national emergency, which was declared on 13 March, and would be made retroactive to cover April payments.

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Lions and other wild animals relax in South Africa golf club during lockdown – video

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Lions and wild dogs have been filmed relaxing in the the greens of Skukuza golf club in Kruger National Park in South Africa as visitors stay away during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jean Rossouw, captain of the golf club, located within the park, captured videos and images of lions and hyenas on the green in the early morning

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Suppliers ration stocks of tinned tomatoes after surge in demand

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Supermarkets told to ‘calm the fever’ as UK sales rise more than 30% during coronavirus crisis

Tinned tomato suppliers are rationing stocks to supermarkets after demand in the UK surged more than 30% and threatened to use up supplies ahead of this year’s harvest.

Supermarkets and convenience store groups are understood to be jockeying for supplies as families continue to buy more tinned foods than usual after the closure of schools and restaurants forced them to cook more meals at home.

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Liverpool region mayor backs Sadiq Khan over face mask use

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Steve Rotheram says covering face would make people more aware of coronavirus situation

Steve Rotheram is the latest mayor to urge people to wear masks in public after Sadiq Khan called on the government to make them compulsory on transport in London during the coronavirus outbreak.

The metro mayor of Liverpool city region said wearing any type of face covering meant Britons were likely to “go further in protecting [themselves] and other people”.

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Coronavirus ‘under control’ in Germany, as some countries plan to relax lockdowns

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Health minister says Germany will produce 50m face masks a week by the summer

Germany has declared its coronavirus outbreak under control as it prepares to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown next week, while several European countries unveiled contact-tracing mobile apps aimed at facilitating a gradual return to a more normal life.

The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said on Friday that the virus was under control in Europe’s largest economy, thanks to confinement measures imposed after an early surge in cases. “The infection numbers have sunk significantly, especially the relative day-by-day increase,” he said.

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Michael Cohen to be released from prison over coronavirus fears – report

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Trump’s ex-fixer will remain under quarantine for 14 days before he is released to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement

Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will reportedly be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cohen is currently locked up at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. Cohen began serving his sentence last May and was scheduled to be released from prison in November 2021.

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British workers reject fruit-picking jobs as Romanians flown in

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Contract length, farm location and caring duties cited as reasons for turning down work

Thousands of British workers who responded to a nationwide appeal to help pick fruit and vegetables on farms have rejected job offers, it has emerged.

As hundreds of workers are being flown in from Romania to pick lettuce and asparagus, specialist recruitment firms revealed that fewer than 20% of the applicants were either willing or able to take up roles on the farms.

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‘I accepted the very first patient’: one nurse’s first week at NHS Nightingale – video

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Jo, a nurse practitioner, documents her first week at one of the largest field hospitals in the world: the Nightingale at the London ExCeL centre. The hospital was built in nine days with a capacity for up to 4,000 patients in reaction to the global coronavirus outbreak

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Life, but not as they knew it: ISS crew return to Earth transformed by Covid-19

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American and Russian crew touch down in Kazakhstan after months on International Space Station

The three-person crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday morning, arriving back to a world that has been radically transformed by coronavirus in the time they were away.

Space travel is often a journey into the unknown, but for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka, their return to Earth may bring more surprises than the time they spent in orbit. The trio’s landing capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe in the early hours of the morning.

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US to give Palestinians $5m in coronavirus aid – 1% of what Trump cut

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President accused of damaging Palestinian ability to cope with pandemic by cutting funding

The United States has announced it will give $5m to the Palestinians to help them fight the coronavirus epidemic, roughly 1% of the amount Washington provided a year before Donald Trump cut almost all aid.

The US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a former Trump bankruptcy lawyer, announced the aid package on Twitter, saying he was “very pleased” the US would provide money for Palestinian hospitals and households.

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge praise ‘incredible’ Capt Tom Moore – video

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The Duke of Cambridge has hailed second world war veteran, Capt Tom Moore, as 'incredible' and a 'one-man fundraising machine'.

Moore, 99, has raised more than £18m for the NHS after walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday 

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‘Huge environmental waste’ as US airlines fly near-empty planes

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A 96% drop in passenger numbers because of coronavirus restrictions has not been matched by cuts in flights

The coronavirus outbreak has provoked a string of unsettling sights, such as the sudden widespread use of masks, shuttered businesses and deserted streets. Another unusual phenomenon is also playing out in the skies – near-empty airplanes flying through the air.

Widespread travel restrictions around the world have slashed demand for air travel, with more than eight in 10 flights canceled. But there is a disparity in the US – while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has reported a 96% slump in passenger volume, to a level not seen since 1954, this hasn’t been matched by the number of flights being scrapped.

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Trump announces guidelines for lifting lockdowns but defers to state governors – video

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Donald Trump and his coronavirus taskforce have unveiled a set of federal guidelines for reopening the economy, which comprise three phases but ultimately defer to governors on when and how to return their states to normal.

‘A prolonged lockdown combined with a forced economic depression would inflict an immense and wide-ranging toll on public health,’ he said. In Trump’s plan, the responsibility for opening businesses across the country lies with state, not federal, authorities. The announcement was in stark contrast to an earlier press conference where Trump said he had ‘total authority’ over the re-opening of the country 

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Refugees among hundreds of overseas medics to respond to NHS call

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Scheme allowing doctors to join as medical support workers is welcomed but calls to ‘permit doctors to work as doctors’ persist

  • Coronavirus – latest updates
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    • Hundreds of foreign-born doctors, including refugees, have signed up to become medical support workers as part of a new scheme aimed at helping the NHS tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

    NHS England launched the initiative for international medical graduates and doctors after calls to fast track the accreditation of overseas medics.

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    Trump’s ‘science based’ reopening strategy is still full of unanswered questions

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    Despite the restraint, the plan neglects to mention a firm target date or give an explicit strategy for national testing

    “Make America great again” was an election winning slogan with a bold and simple message. “Opening up America again” proved to be less clear cut and left questions in the air.

    On Thursday Donald Trump unveiled federal staggered guidelines for getting America back to business after the shutdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic. He had previously billed it as the most important decision of his presidency, but what he called “a science-based reopening” was messier and more ill-defined.

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