Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Disunited states of America: responses to coronavirus shaped by hyper-partisan politics

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Democratic states have tended to be more proactive while some Republican governors followed Trump in downplaying the crisis

It was a tale of two beaches. On Florida’s Atlantic coast, at the height of spring break season, the sand was deserted in the cities of Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, where Democratic mayors had imposed closures to fight the spread of coronavirus.

Across the narrow neck of the state, the Gulf coast beaches in Clearwater were a world apart. There the Republican mayor had declined to impose a closure, and photos that would circle the world captured the result: thousands of carefree sunbathers lining the sand and mingling in the water.

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Coronavirus live news: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut told to halt non-essential travel

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Centers for Disease Control advice after president backed away from sealing state borders; worldwide deaths pass 30,000 with a third in Italy

Qatar Airways will continue to operate flights as long as necessary to get stranded travellers home but might run out of cash soon, Reuters reported.

Chief executive Akbar al-Baker said: “We have enough cash to take us through a very short period of time,” adding that the airline would eventually have to seek support from its owner, the Qatar government.

Domestic abuse victims are allowed to leave home to seek help despite the lockdown rules, the home secretary Priti Patel has said.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Patel said restrictions imposed on the population by the government to stay indoors were even more challenging to cope with for people whose “home is not the safe haven it should be”.

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US awol from world stage as China tries on global leadership for size

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Mike Pompeo labelling the virus ‘Chinese’ has added to lack of international cooperation

When the UN security council and the G7 group sought to agree a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts stumbled on the US insistence on describing the threat as distinctively Chinese.

There are other reasons for the lack of collaboration in the face of a global crisis, but the focus on labelling the virus Chinese and blaming China pursued by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, helped ensure there would be no meaningful collective response from the world’s most powerful nations.

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We Ugandans are used to lockdowns and poor healthcare. But we’re terrified

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Coronavirus has given President Yoweri Museveni an opportunity to further clamp down on freedoms

In Uganda, for the first time since 2013, more than three people can legally meet without needing to inform the police. Last week, parts of the Public Order Management Act, a law used to gag political opponents, was declared unconstitutional. But most Ugandans are staying away from crowds and keeping at home to control the spread of coronavirus.

The government moved quickly to close schools and universities. Measures became more and more stringent – closing borders, compulsory quarantine, banning public transport and the sale of non-food items at open markets.

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Late-breaking news: there’s been a pandemic while you were away

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A full-scale disaster unfolded as we switched our phones back on after nine days of Colombian beaches and jungles

You can learn a lot about yourself in times of crisis, but you learn a hell of a lot more about the person you weather said crisis with. Best to strap in and bite your tongue. A lifetime of three weeks ago, my clever, rational other half and I went on a holiday to Colombia. He’s a man who rarely travels without a first aid kit, gaffer tape and a multi-tool thing allegedly essential for “survival”. I rarely travel without what he assumes are decadent luxuries – basic toiletries, to the rest of us – and three more books than I could possibly read. It’s a delightful match.

For eight or so days, we adventured on the country’s Caribbean coastline, trekked the jungle and landed on remote beaches far away from phone signal. It’s fair to say we were late to the memo. Turning our phones on after a self-imposed period of isolation was like watching a disaster film unfold. First, on a six-inch screen squinting at ticker tapes of rolling news. Then in full-blown Technicolor as Cartagena went into lockdown, with face masks being dealt out on street corners and a strict curfew enforced by police.

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Detainees in US immigration jails living in fear as coronavirus spreads

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Recordings obtained by Guardian reveal people in Ice centers in the south concerned they are not being properly cared for

Detainees at immigration detention centers across the American south have alleged heavy-handed crackdowns amid increasing panic and protest over the coronavirus pandemic, according to advocates and recordings of detainees obtained by the Guardian.

A number of detainees have expressed concern they are not being properly cared for in packed detention centers. Former senior immigration officials and attorneys have called for the release of nonviolent detainees. Judges in New Jersey, New York and California have ordered the release of small numbers, based on health concerns.

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Fears for Iranian refugee removed from Jakarta-Melbourne flight amid coronavirus crisis

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Australian safe haven visa holder Amir denied re-entry and sent back to Europe in case reminiscent of detained footballer Hakeem al-Araibi

Refugee advocates fear time is running out for a refugee to return to his Australian home after he was denied the right to board a flight from Indonesia to Australia because of his visa status.

In what advocates fear may be a repeat of the Hakeem al-Araibi case, which left a refugee wrongly detained in a Thai prison after a series of bureaucratic bungles over his visa status, Amir, a young Iranian refugee on an Australian safe haven visa, has been sent back to Turkey amid the coronavirus crisis.

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We can scrutinise our leaders, but we must all improve our responses to coronavirus covid-19

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In a rapidly evolving situation, we must think ahead and react fast, says a special envoy of the WHO director general

Covid-19 is a new virus. Its high transmission rate and rapid exponential growth make its effects particularly serious. We are seeing how, in country after country, this is now far more than a public health issue. Politicians everywhere are having to balance their responses to the health consequences of Covid-19 with the needs of their economies and societies. The interactions are complex and can be highly contextual as differences in the strength of the economy, the age of the population and local health systems and society all interact. People and businesses are hurting and fearful for the future.

There are many lessons from countries where the disease appeared early in the pandemic, but global leaders also need to be aware of the global context. It is right that we scrutinise our leaders’ actions, but it is right because we all need to learn quickly, and to improve our responses. In such a rapidly evolving situation it is far too early to judge what has worked and what has not. What is critical is that we develop our actions fast in response to new information.

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North Korea fires two missiles as Seoul condemns ‘inappropriate’ timing

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Latest in flurry of launches draws particular criticism amid coronavirus pandemic

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast on Sunday, the latest in an unprecedented flurry of launches that South Korea decried as “inappropriate” amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

Two “short-range projectiles” were launched from the coastal Wonsan area and flew 230km (143 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30km (19 miles), South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said.

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s leave from prison to be extended by two weeks

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British-Iranian’s release from jail in Tehran, due to Covid-19 outbreak, now runs until 18 April

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband has said her temporary leave from prison in Iran has been extended.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife’s father had been told that her temporary release from Evin prison in Tehran - granted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - had been extended by two weeks and would now run until April 18.

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My NHS colleagues are committed but we are at maximum stretch

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Psychiatrist and former minister Dan Poulter says the crisis is unprecedented, but his fellow health workers will see it through

As I walk across the hospital complex and pause to look at the London tower blocks in the near distance, life could not be further removed from the green benches of parliament, a mere 45 minutes walk away. Covid-19 has changed everything. In mental health services, in the central London epicentre of Britain’s outbreak, we are used to caring for people who have severe mental illness, but we have been confronted with a new reality of caring for people who are also infected with coronavirus.

Hundreds of healthcare colleagues are already off sick. Others are self-isolating because a family member is showing symptoms. Our service is at maximum stretch.

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‘I don’t know what that means’: Cuomo responds to Trump’s hint at quarantine – video

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Donald Trump has said he is considering a mandatory quarantine of some Northeastern states because of the coronavirus outbreak. Responding, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he had not discussed any potential 'enforceable quarantine', adding 'I don't even know what that means'

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UK can keep Covid-19 deaths below 20,000, says medical director

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Professor Stephen Powis has said the national effort can work if everyone plays their part

Every citizen in the United Kingdom must play a part if the number of deaths from coronavirus are to be kept below 20,000, the national medical director has said.

The call for a national effort to reduce deaths came as the total who have died rose by 260 since Friday to 1,019. In total, 17,089 have tested positive in the UK.

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Five of Donald Trump’s most misleading coronavirus claims

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As US deaths rise, the president seems unable to grasp the severity of the problem – and he’s made multiple false claims along the way

Political fact-checkers have flourished under Donald Trump, a president who according to one count uttered more than 16,000 misleading or false claims during his first three years in the White House.

Related: The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life

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Pope’s blessing in empty St Peter’s Square watched by 11m on TV

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Hour-long address came as Italy said 969 people had died from Covid-19 in 24 hours

More than 11 million people tuned in to watch Pope Francis deliver a blessing in an empty Saint Peter’s Square, television bosses have said, as the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the EU risked losing its purpose.

The pope’s blessing, Urbi et Orbi (To the city and the world)is usually reserved for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, with thousands flocking to take part.

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Stranded Canadians plead for help onboard coronavirus-stricken cruise ship – audio

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Holding a sign that reads ‘help us’, a Canadian couple are stranded on the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam off the coast of Panama as sickness spreads aboard. Chris and Anna Joiner are among more than 130 passengers stuck onboard the vessel, which has been stranded for days after Chile refused to allow the ship to dock.

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Alister Jack is third UK cabinet member to self-isolate during Covid-19 outbreak

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Scottish secretary has not been tested for coronavirus but has mild symptoms

A third member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet is self-isolating after developing coronavirus symptoms.

Alister Jack, the secretary of state for Scotland, said he had not been tested for Covid-19 but had a temperature and a cough.

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‘We clap because we care’: New Yorkers applaud frontline coronavirus workers – video

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At 7pm local time on Friday, hundreds of thousands of people across New York, one of the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus in the US, cheered those working on the frontline of efforts to rein in the pandemic from their balconies and windows

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Coronavirus live news: Cases in Italy overtake China, US infections pass 100,000

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Trump invokes Defence Production Act; Syria introduces travel restrictions; The UK, Spain, Italy see biggest daily rise in deaths. Follow the latest updates

Afghanistan has reported 15 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total number of infections to 110 - including four NATO forces and two foreign diplomats, Akhtar Mohammad Makoii reports from Herat.

Eleven of the new positive cases have been confirmed in western province of Herat, raising the total number of infections in Afghanistan’s worst affected province to 76. Herat neighbours Iran, where authorities have been struggling to control one of the world’s worst outbreaks.

This tweet from the air traffic tracking service Flightradar24, showing the number of planes in the air on Friday evening compared to four weeks earlier, shows the remarkable impact of travel restrictions across Europe.

Friday evening in Europe - February 28 vs March 27https://t.co/EqV2Vo80Kd pic.twitter.com/4puKM9G1f2

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Coronavirus: Scotland may release prisoners close to end of sentences

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Plan under consideration due to ‘increasingly alarming’ situation in overcrowded prisons

Prisoners approaching the end of their sentences could be released from next week, as the Scottish government moves to prevent an “increasingly alarming” coronavirus crisis in the country’s jails.

Scotland’s justice secretary, Humza Yousaf, said on Friday that he was “actively considering” options for early release: “I cannot envisage a situation where we’re seeing the rate of infection, the spread of the virus in our prison establishment, the rate of absence amongst our prison officers and staff, where we do not release prisoners to make that a safer environment.”

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