Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus US live: Trump reportedly knew pandemic was likely in January

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Joe Biden said he would like Bernie Sanders to be “part of the journey,” although not his running mate, if he wins the Democratic nomination.

Biden has a significant lead in the delegate count, but Sanders remains in the race, despite an increasingly narrow path to the nomination.

President Trump said he had a friendly phone conversation with former Vice President Joe Biden to talk about the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden told @craigmelvin in a one-on-one interview that he doesn't want the November election delayed. pic.twitter.com/DICLhBafTE

The White House has confirmed Stephanie Grisham is leaving her role as press secretary to rejoin the first lady’s team.

“My replacements will be announced in the coming days and I will stay in the West Wing to help with a smooth transition for as long as needed,” Grisham said in a statement released by the White House.

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Cancer Research UK to cut funding for research by £44m

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UK’s biggest cancer charity expects income to fall by up to 25% as a result of the coronavirus crisis

The UK’s biggest cancer charity is cutting research funding by £44m because of a sharp fall in income and has acknowledged that the move could set back the fight against the disease for many years.

Cancer Research UK (CRUK), which funds nearly half of the cancer research in the country, said it was the most difficult decision it had ever taken but explained that it believed limiting spending now would enable it to continue to support life-saving research in the long-run.

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Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre tested in hospital for Covid-19

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Giuffre, 35, from Florida, says she is ‘so scared right now’ and having trouble breathing

A US woman who claims she was trafficked to the UK as a teenager to have sex with Prince Andrew is in hospital, where she has been tested for Covid-19.

Virginia Giuffre said on Twitter on Tuesday: “I’m so scared right now, having trouble breathing, fever & cough. Getting tested for Covid-19 praying it’s not positive.”

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Inside an NHS coronavirus intensive care unit on the frontline – video

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The NHS continues to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak after the number of cases in the UK exceeded 51,000 on Tuesday. ITV News filmed a unit at the Royal Bournemouth hospital treating critically ill Covid-19 patients. Linda New, a patient and a volunteer at the hospital who was discharged from the unit, said : 'I just wanted to get through it for my children'

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‘Jeff Bezos values profits above safety’: Amazon workers voice pandemic concern

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Workers at facilities where there had been at least one coronavirus case said they were not being closed for deep cleaning

Workers at Amazon’s warehouse and shipping facilities say they fear going to work amid the coronavirus outbreak, and called on the company to do more to improve safety.

“We have no more wipes and hand sanitizer. We aren’t provided masks, don’t have the proper gloves, and not everything is being sanitized and cleaned before it comes to use,” said one Amazon warehouse associate in Phoenix, Arizona.

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‘We must keep the tension in the cord’: Morrison urges Covid-19 vigilance over Easter – video

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Australian prime minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media in Canberra about how Australia is tracking in dealing with the spread of the coronavirus. "We are making significant progress," Morrison said before urging continued vigilance over the upcoming Easter holiday. "We must keep the tension in the cord".

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Primark announces wage fund for garment workers

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Pledge comes in response to claims that order cancellations to minimise Covid-19 losses have hurt millions of workers in the developing world

Primark, one of the UK’s most popular retailers, has announced it will create a fund to help pay the wages of the millions of garment workers affected by its decision to cancel tens of millions of pounds worth of clothing orders from factories in developing countries across the world.

The pledge followed sustained criticism of the fashion retailer after data from the Bangladeshi and Garment Exporters Association (BGMEA) revealed it had cancelled all orders already placed with suppliers.

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WhatsApp to impose new limit on forwarding to fight fake news

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Restrictions on frequently forwarded messages intended to disrupt false Covid-19 claims

WhatsApp is to impose a strict new limit on message forwarding as the Facebook-owned chat app seeks to slow the dissemination of fake news, the company has announced.

If a user receives a frequently forwarded message – one which has been forwarded more than five times – under the new curbs, they will only be able to send it on to a single chat at a time. That is one fifth the previous limit of five chats, imposed in 2019.

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‘Coronavirus doesn’t respect barbed wire’: concern mounts for Greek camps

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Calls grow for EU countries to accept refugees as outbreaks fuel fears that virus could rampage through overcrowded facilities

The spectre of coronavirus striking severely overcrowded refugee camps in Greece has hovered menacingly for months.

International aid organisations, human rights groups and doctors have sounded the alarm. With the spread of the pandemic, calls for action to prevent impending medical catastrophe have become shriller. In Aegean islands on the frontline of the crisis, health carers speak of days gained, not won.

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‘There is no magic bullet’: the town that turned the tide against HIV

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Lessons learned in Eshowe, South Africa, one of the areas worst hit by the HIV pandemic, are being used against coronavirus

In the visitors’ books of Eshowe’s many guesthouses and hotels, tourists inspired by verdant sugar cane fields and blossoming trees write about “a corner of Eden”.

Locals and specialists know the small town set high among the rolling hills that run along South Africa’s eastern coast for another reason.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump says country will reopen ‘sooner than people think’

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Dr Birx shared a personal story about her granddaughter’s current high fever and her inability to visit. Earlier, Trump accidentally referred to her “grandson”.

“I’m sure it’s roseola or something,” Birx says of her 10-month-old granddaughter’s high fever.

She doubts it’s coronavirus because her family is self-isolating.

“No one is allowed into that house or out of that house because there’s too much precious cargo inside,” Birx says https://t.co/zvWlrulgbf

More details from the Guardian’s Sam Levine on the Wisconsin election:

The US supreme court ruled 5-4 that Wisconsin voters have to have their mail-in ballots postmarked by 7 April, election day, in order to have them counted in the state’s closely watched election. The deadline for election officials to receive the ballot is 13 April. The decision, which came shortly after the state supreme court ordered the election to move forward on Tuesday, ends days of legal fighting over the deadline for receiving absentee ballots in the state.

While I do not doubt the good faith of my colleagues, the court’s order, I fear, will result in massive disenfranchisement. A voter cannot deliver for postmarking a ballot she has not received. The question here is whether tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens can vote safely in the midst of a pandemic.”

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US navy official calls commander who was fired for coronavirus memo ‘naive or stupid’

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Donald Trump says he will settle dispute as acting navy secretary Thomas Modly faces calls to resign for attack on captain of USS Theodore Roosevelt

The Pentagon leadership crisis over a US aircraft carrier has intensified after the acting navy secretary called the ship’s ousted captain “too naive or too stupid” to be in command.

There were calls from Congress and former officers for Thomas Modly to resign after an audio recording surfaced of a speech he gave to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in which he denigrated the commander he had fired for having circulated a memo calling for more help for his crew, who had been stricken by a coronavirus outbreak onboard.

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Global leaders urge G20 to tackle twin health and economic crises

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Letter calls for $8bn emergency fund to bolster health systems in world’s poorer countries

A group of 165 global leaders has called for immediate and coordinated international action to tackle the twin health and economic emergencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Past and present politicians – including three former UK prime ministers – joined academics and civil society representatives to warn the G20 that the virus will return unless urgent action is taken to bolster health systems in poor countries of Africa and Latin America.

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Trump and 3M reach deal to allow N95 face masks to be exported to Canada

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US officials had stopped shipment at 3M factory after Trump invoked Defense Production Act to halt exports to Canada and beyond

The Trump administration has agreed a deal with the US manufacturer 3M to import more than 166m respirators from China over the next three months and allow 3M to continue exporting its US-made respirators.

The agreement breaks a deadlock which resulted in Washington stopping nearly three million of the specialized masks from being exported to Ontario, stirring fears that Canada’s most populous province would run out of supplies for medical staff battling coronavirus by the end of the week.

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Andrew Cuomo doubles fines as New Yorkers flout ‘stay at home’ orders – video

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The New York governor has announced he is doubling the fine for violating his ‘stay at home’ order to $1,000 after ‘unacceptable laxness’ over the weekend. ‘If I can’t convince you to show discipline for yourself, then show discipline for other people,’ Andrew Cuomo told rule-breakers

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Iranian official backtracks after calling Chinese Covid-19 figures a ‘joke’

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Comments from Kianoush Jahanpour draw reproach from Chinese ambassador

Iran’s health ministry spokesman has backtracked after he described China’s official figures on the coronavirus outbreak as a “joke”.

Kianoush Jahanpour made the remarks at a press conference and a tweet on Sunday, adding that China had given the impression that coronavirus was like influenza but with fewer deaths.

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Lockdown has cut Britain’s vibrations, seismologists find

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There’s a kind of hush all over the world as the reduction in human activity stops the Earth buzzing so much

The dramatic quietening of towns and cities in lockdown Britain has changed the way the Earth moves beneath our feet, scientists say.

Seismologists at the British Geological Survey have found that their sensors are twitching less now that human activity has been curtailed, leading to a drop in the anthropogenic din that vibrates through the planet.

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‘My uniform counts’: care worker’s anger at being denied priority access at Aldi – video

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Warning: contains strong language

A care worker has vented her anger after being turned away from priority access at an Aldi supermarket while trying to buy food for an elderly client.'We're frontline workers just as much as the NHS, the police, the fire brigade,' said Marion Kilmurray in a video posted to Facebook. 'Who's going to do our job if we don't?' Aldi has apologised for the incident

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No flour, eggs or butter? No problem! 23 cake recipes for when you’re missing an ingredient

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On lockdown and feeling the urge to bake, but missing something apparently vital? Then pinch some ideas from great bakers past and present

Cake has taken on a new significance now that most of us are stuck at home all day, every day. We’re comfort-eating and baking like there’s no tomorrow. But what do you do when you fancy a sponge, but can’t find eggs or your oven is broken and no one will fix it? Here are some recipes to get you through every ingredient shortfall.

If we suggest you replace one missing ingredient with another that you don’t have, or that you would normally never dream of buying, bear in mind that no two kitchen cupboards are the same and you may find that grocers can still supply “fancy” alternatives such as ricotta or flaxseeds while the staples are but a memory.

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