Lockdowns have brought silence to some of the world’s busiest places. Transport hubs normally teeming with people such as New York’s Grand Central station or Istanbul’s Eminönü ferry docks are all but deserted. Reuters photographers captured the hush that had descended on some of the world’s best-known places on the same day, at noon
Continue reading...Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak
Australia coronavirus live update: Scott Morrison announces free childcare as death toll rises to 24 – latest news
Victoria and Queensland register deaths as Western Australia flags border closure and federal government acts on childcare and industrial relations concerns. Follow live updates
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The PM stresses that the “health advice we have is that there is no health reasons why children can’t go to school”.
Asked if taxes will increase to pay for its massive stimulus funding, Morrison does not address this directly.
Obviously there will be a heightened debt burden as a result of decisions we have had to take. They have been necessary decisions. Otherwise the calamity for Australian households economic will be disastrous. We have taken that decisions of government to step up and to make this commitment to provide people with an economic lifeline over the many months ahead. But you are right, we will have to then work hard on the other side to restore the economy. Now, that’s why we are being so careful not to have things that tie the economy and the budget down off into the future. We do need to snap back to the normal arrangements on the other side of this.
Morrison says schools have been planning for a “balance – a combination of distance learning” and, for those who can’t “provide a learning environment at home, for the children to be able to return to school”.
School will return after the holidays. They just won’t be holidays that most school students have known for a long time. And when they go back, it’s the learning that matters, and we hope to have an arrangement that can return as much to normal as possible.
But we have to accept that there will be, for some protracted period of time, this combination of distance learning, and for those who can’t do that at home, no child should be turned away.
Continue reading...Confirmed cases pass 1 million – as it happened
This blog is now closed
We are about to wrap up our coverage on this blog for the day, but you can follow all developments on our new global live blog here. In the interim, you can catch up on all the day’s latest news here, on our latest At a Glance:
Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Just dipping back into the Trump press conference at the White House, and the president has blame states for lack of supplies.
“By the way, the states should have been building their stockpiles,” Trump said, reiterating that the federal government is “a backup.”
Lockdown eases seasonal smog – but less than expected
Air quality index peaks at three across England and Wales, but wood fires and farming continue to cause pollution
We think of spring as the time of blossom and fresh new green growth, but it is often the most polluted time of year in western Europe. Last week, as winds turned easterly, particle pollution once again spread across western Europe. Spring smogs can cause particle pollution to reach the top value of 10 in the UK air quality index, but four to nine is more typical.
With the lockdown in place, the increases were less than normal. The air quality index peaked at three over most of England and Wales. A few places in south-east England, Yorkshire and north Wales reached four, the level where health advisory messages are issued. After three days, a welcome change of wind direction at the weekend pushed the polluted air southwards.
Continue reading...Tips for mindfulness during coronavirus isolation – video
Australian academic, psychologist and author Lea Waters shares some tips for mindfulness during the coronavirus crisis. The video forms part of a multi-part series looking at ways we can all stay positive during the coronavirus crisis.
- Silver linings: how to stay positive during the coronavirus crisis
- The good place: a series providing positive and practical stories for these difficult coronavirus times
Trump says US stockpile of protective equipment nearly gone amid coronavirus
Report warns of White House and states competing for supplies as president focuses on counter-narcotics operations at briefing
Donald Trump has admitted the US government’s emergency stockpile of protective equipment is nearly exhausted because of the extraordinary demands of the coronavirus pandemic.
The shortage was first reported by the Washington Post, which said the supply of respirator masks, gloves and other medical supplies was running low.
Continue reading...Brazil confirms first indigenous case of coronavirus in Amazon
Positive test for 20-year-old woman from Kokama tribe comes amid fears virus could devastate remote communities
An indigenous woman in a village deep in the Amazon rainforest has contracted the novel coronavirus, the first case reported among Brazil’s more than 300 tribes, the Health Ministry’s indigenous health service Sesai has said.
The 20-year-old from the Kokama tribe tested positive for the virus in the district of Santo Antonio do Iá, near the border with Colombia, 880km (550 miles) up the Amazon river from the state capital Manaus, Sesai said in a statement on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson: testing ‘will unlock the coronavirus puzzle’ – video
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...‘Thank you’: NHS staff clap public for staying at home – video
The theatre and endoscopy staff at the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust have thanked and applauded the general public for staying at home. In a video posted online, matron Vicky Oluwole says: 'We, the staff of Lewisham endoscopy theatres, are thanking you for clapping for the NHS. Now, we are clapping and saying thank you for staying at home'
Continue reading...Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow postponed until 2021
Crucial UN conference will be delayed until next year as a result of the coronavirus crisis
The UN climate talks due to be held in Glasgow later this year have been postponed as governments around the world struggle to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The most important climate negotiations since the Paris agreement in 2015 were scheduled to take place this November to put countries back on track to avoid climate breakdown. They will now be pushed back to 2021.
Continue reading...New York governor says there will be no ‘back to normal’ after coronavirus – video
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he thought Americans would be living with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for a long time. ‘I don’t think we get back to normal,’ Cuomo said. ‘I think we get to a new normal.’ The governor also emphasised that states need to be better prepared for such crises because ‘something like this will happen again’
Continue reading...When this is all over, I’m not going to stop hugging my friends | Josephine Tovey
As coronavirus keeps us apart, I have developed a very wholesome thirst for the physical intimacy we used to have with friends and family
Lately, when I find myself reaching for my phone for a distraction, it’s no longer just to mindlessly swipe through Instagram stories and semi-ironically decipher my horoscope. Instead, I catch myself constantly returning to my camera roll. In particular, the photos where I’m touching my family and friends.
There’s the fuzzy Christmas party set of my colleagues and I, all cheek to cheek, craning our heads to get in a series of group selfies. There’s a backyard family lunch, me with my arm slung over my mum’s shoulder. There’s a day at the beach with my sister and her kid, us each holding a hand as we drag her back to the car. And there’s Mardis Gras night. It was just a few weeks ago but today the photos feel as though they belong in a history book. Friends and strangers covered in glitter and sweat, dancing close at a street party, arms wrapped around waists, exuberant kisses being planted on faces, all of us joyfully, drunkenly close to each other and vigorously engaged in whatever the opposite of social distancing is.
Continue reading...Viktor Orbán ditches mayor plan amid claims of coronavirus power grab
Hungary’s prime minister criticised for inefficient and unworkable measures
Hungary’s nationalist government announced measures to strip the country’s mayors of political autonomy, before appearing to ditch them hours later, the latest episode in a political drama in which the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has been accused of using the coronavirus to mount a power grab.
On Monday, Hungary’s parliament passed a law that gives Orbán the right to rule by decree for an indefinite period and also criminalises intentionally spreading false information about coronavirus with up to five years in prison. The move was roundly criticised by Orbán’s domestic and international critics.
Continue reading...Coronavirus could be final straw for EU, European experts warn
Leaders are warned that if division prevails, pandemic will be more destructive than Brexit, migration and bailout crises
The European Union has weathered the storms of eurozone bailouts, the migration crisis and Brexit, but some fear coronavirus could be even more destructive.
In a rare intervention Jacques Delors, the former European commission president who helped build the modern EU, broke his silence last weekend to warn that lack of solidarity posed “a mortal danger to the European Union”.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Spain passes 100,000 cases, as UN says world faces worst crisis since WW2
US has one 1 in 5 cases globally; global cases pass 860,000; record daily fatalities in UK, France, Spain and Russia
- White House officials predict up to 240,000 US coronavirus deaths
- UK coronavirus – live updates
- Latest developments at a glance
- The most extreme lockdown controls around the world
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The European Commission has proposed a short-time work scheme to avoid mass lay-offs across the bloc during the coronavirus pandemic.
The scheme, which is modelled on Germany’s Kurzabeit programme, was announced by Commission head Ursula von der Leyen in a video message.
Companies are paying salaries to their employees, even if, right now, they are not making money. Europe is now coming to their support, with a new initiative.
“It is intended to help Italy, Spain and all other countries that have been hard hit. And it will do so thanks to the solidarity of other member states,” she said.
Italy has extended lockdown restrictions until 13 April as signs emerge indicating the coronavirus contagion might be reaching a “plateau”.
“Italians have shown great maturity,” Roberto Speranza, the health minister, told parliament on Wednesday. “Experts say we are on the right track, and that the drastic measures taken are starting to give results.”
However, Speranza warned “we must not drop our guard” as the recovery will be “prudent and gradual”.
“It would be unforgiveable to mistake this first result for a
definitive defeat of Covid, it’s a long battle.”
The number of new confirmed infections rose by 2,107 on Tuesday, taking the total number of current cases to 77,635, according to figures from Italy’s civil protection authority.
The rise in infections was higher than the daily increase registered on Monday (1,648), but lower than Sunday’s increase of 3,815.
On Tuesday, there was a 2.8% increase in new (i.e current) infections, compared with an average daily rise of 15% during one of the most critical weeks.
The death toll rose by 837 on Tuesday to 12,428, higher than the 812 deaths registered on Monday. The number of people who have recovered from the virus rose by 1,109 to 15,729 on Tuesday, following a record leap of 1,590 on Monday.
The daily death toll and infection rate have also started to slow in Lombardy, the region worst-affected by the virus.
“The curve tells us that we’re at a plateau,” said Silvio Brusaferro, the president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS).
The pandemic is producing a ‘Trump bump’ in the polls – but it may not last | Simon Tisdall
Despite his contradictory, ill-considered response to coronavirus, a growing chunk of Americans see a man in charge. But making himself the face of the crisis may yet backfire
The rise in Donald Trump’s approval ratings – it would be misleading to call it a surge – appears to have shocked his opponents. Critics in the Democratic party and the media have noisily condemned and ridiculed his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, as have some scientists and economists.
But it seems a growing chunk of the America public does not agree.
Continue reading...‘You aren’t getting it’: farmer urges public to stay away from fields – video
A Scottish sheep farmer has pleaded with the public to follow the government’s guidance to stay indoors to prevent putting farmers, who are ‘trying to provide for the nation’, at risk of coronavirus. Speaking in a video posted on Facebook, Emma Murdoch from New Galloway said: ‘Every gate you touch, every stile you touch, if you have the virus you are giving it to a farmer. If we are ill, how do we look after our livestock? How do we produce for the nation?'
Coronavirus embarrassed Trump and Bolsonaro. But the global right will fight back | Paulo Gerbaudo
Science and welfare are at the heart of this crisis – which is bad for right-wing populists. But they won’t be wrongfooted for long
The populist right has built their electoral strength on boisterousness and arrogant self-confidence. Yet, amid the coronavirus pandemic, figures such as Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro seem to be confounded. They are either desperately clinging to a narrative of normality (it’s just a flu), or have already been forced to make embarrassing U-turns acknowledging the gravity of the crisis.
Boris Johnson had to abandon the government’s “herd immunity” strategy when new scientific evidence made apparent its horrific human cost. He recently tested positive for the virus and is now accused of complacency and lack of leadership. In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party and former deputy prime minister, appears downbeat, unable to wear the robes of the responsible statesman this emergency calls for; his unabashed criticism of government has even earned him the label “unpatriotic”. In France, Marine Le Pen seems to have vanished altogether from the media, while Bolsonaro’s persistence in denying the crisis is leaving him increasingly isolated.
Continue reading...Covid-19: signs of hope on Edinburgh’s streets – in pictures
Pictures of rainbows have begun appearing in windows up and down the country as families and households work to stay positive during the lockdown. The posters, many drawn or painted by children, often contain messages of support for the NHS. Further, inspired by the popular children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, teddy bears have also been on display. Photographer Murdo MacLeod went on a hunt of his own on the streets of Edinburgh
Continue reading...‘No profit, no food’: lockdown in Kabul prompts hunger fears
Residents of Afghanistan’s capital face stark choice between providing food for their families and limiting risk of coronavirus
- Afghanistan braces for coronavirus surge as migrants pour back from Iran
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The streets of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, were packed on Friday; a hectic bustling in the markets and shops, pious whispers ringing from prayer gatherings at the mosques, the skies full of kites that children were flying.
But on Saturday the city of around six million people went into lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus in one of the poorest and most war-torn countries in the world.
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