Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Leaders in California are scrambling to prepare the state amid a shortage of hospital beds, limited access to masks and ventilators and a patchwork approach to testing, as a surge of cases in New York provides a warning of how quickly the coronavirus crisis could spiral out of control.
The number of cases in New York state had soared by Tuesday morning, with 25,665 confirmed infected and 210 deaths. “We are now, in New York City, the epicenter of this crisis in the United States of America,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. “The worst is yet to come.”
Police chiefs have warned the coronavirus pandemic could “bring out the worst in humanity” after a spate of opportunistic crimes hindered efforts to control the crisis.
The theft of oxygen canisters from a hospital, the puncturing of ambulance tyres and the raiding of food banks by thieves were among the “worrying isolated incidents” in recent days raised by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
The Metropolitan police have released footage of officers clearing Shepherd's Bush Green, west London, of sunbathers on the first day of the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown. 'Can you all go home please,' one officer can be heard saying. 'It's not a holiday, it's a lockdown.'
Under tough new measures announced by Boris Johnson on Monday, people are allowed to leave their homes only to exercise once a day, to travel to and from 'absolutely necessary' work, and to shop for essential items.
Global stock markets staged a strong rally on Tuesday as investors were buoyed by the Federal Reserve’s efforts to boost the US economy and the prospect of Congress backing a fiscal stimulus package.
The Dow Jones recorded its best day since 1933 as it gained 11.4%, or 2,113 points, while the FTSE 100 posted its highest ever gain, of 452 points, as it rose 9% to 5,446.
Australian academic, psychologist and author Lea Waters shares some advice as other activities and social engagements are cancelled during the coronavirus crisis. The video forms part of a multipart series looking at ways we can all stay positive
What are the rules for the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK? The Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker clarifies what we are and are not expected to do to limit the spread of the coronavirus across the country
People across the world have been finding innovative ways of staying connected and keeping fit as more and more countries introduce lockdown measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus. From playing balcony bingo to online exercise workouts, here's a look at some stories of communities coming together
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced a new scheme to recruit 250,000 volunteers to support people who are unable to leave their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The volunteers will help the NHS and local services by delivering shopping and medicines to vulnerable people. Hancock also announced that an extra 35,000 staff, including final-year medical students and retired doctors and nurses, are joining the NHS to fight the virus.
Exactly a month after Donald Trump tweeted that the US had the coronavirus outbreak “very much under control”, the World Health Organization delivered a stark and jarring reality check: America faces being the centre of a pandemic that has paralysed much of the world.
Applause rang out at the emergency field hospital at the Ifema exhibition centre in Madrid as nurses said farewell to the first coronavirus patient to be given the all-clear at the facility. The temporary healthcare facility, which is still under construction, will be able to treat 5,500 patients when it is fully operational.
Boris Johnson’s announcement of strict new distancing measures laid out restrictions increasingly familiar around the globe since China initiated its tough lockdown in Wuhan city and Hubei province in January.
More vague in detail than those of some countries, the UK measures unveiled were a lot less stringent than in many other European countries, with penalties appearing to be at the softer end of a spectrum compared with those nations threatening huge fines or imprisonment for violators.
Labour’s four-month leadership election to replace Jeremy Corbyn has hampered the party’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to some of its MPs.
Critics said the party’s leadership has been sluggish in responding to the crisis and Corbyn, as outgoing leader, has failed to command authority.
The president’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has been feeble. But that’s the beauty of setting an incredibly low bar for yourself – you can fail up
Just a few weeks ago, I was confident that Donald Trump’s days in the White House were numbered. The economy was tanking; coronavirus cases were soaring. And what was the president doing? Calling the coronavirus a “hoax” and mindlessly tweeting. On the same day, the Dow Jones plunged more than 2,000 points and Trump cheerfully retweeted a doctored photo of him playing a violin, remarking: “Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me!” “Nero” immediately started trending.
Trump may be fiddling while the world burns, but, over the past week, he has sharply changed his tune. The guy who recently assured us that Covid-19 would “like a miracle … disappear” now insists that, actually, he knew it was “a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic”. Having realised he can’t just bluster coronavirus away, Trump has rewritten the past, adopted a newly sombre tone and reinvented himself as a “wartime” president. Last Monday, Trump finally admitted the gravity of the situation and announced a 15-day plan to “slow the spread” of the virus.
The United States could become the new centre of the global coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Health Organization, which said case numbers were rising quickly there even asDonald Trump talked of re-opening the country for business.
“We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential [to become the centre of the pandemic],” the WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.
Deaths jump in Spain; France tightens lockdown; Afghanistan appeals for help amid new cases; South Africa prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest updates
Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.
In a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media.
Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation.
The UK’s supreme court has adapted to physical distancing by holding its first remote, live hearing on Tuesday morning, reports my colleague Owen Bowcott.
The building in Westminster is closed but the case is being conducted via video links and can be watched online. The judges are determined that justice should be transparent even in times of pandemic.
The first appeal using the technology is the case of Fowler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, dealing with the intricacies of the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty.
Gamblers are switching from wagers on sport to far riskier online casino and slot games amid lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, according to one of the UK’s biggest gambling websites.
In an update to the stock market, 888 Holdings said it had been affected by the postponement or cancellation of events such as the Premier League and Grand National, cutting income from sports betting, which accounts for about 16% of its revenues.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought urgency to the defining political question of our age: how to distribute risk. As with the climate crisis, neoliberal capitalism is proving particularly ill-suited to this.
Like global warming, but in close-up and fast-forward, the Covid-19 outbreak shows how lives are lost or saved depending on a government’s propensity to acknowledge risk, act rapidly to contain it, and share the consequences.
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has transferred to humans from animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic.
Covid-19 symptoms vary widely, and undertesting in many countries means that many people may have already had the coronavirus without having received a positive diagnosis. Is it possible to find out, and how should you behave if you think you may have been infected?