Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Is it OK to shout at strangers who aren’t social distancing? Absolutely | Hadley Freeman

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My favourite video right now shows a variety of Italian mayors telling off their citizens in no uncertain terms – and it is exactly the approach we need here

Is it acceptable to shout at people – not just friends and family, but also strangers – for not practising social distancing?
Martin, London

Status update on me: I am spending every day, all day, inside my home with three children under five and a deranged, underwalked terrier who barks incessantly at his own reflection in the window. Am I lucky? You bet: I have a home and, so far, everyone has their health. But does my life also resemble a Channel 5 reality TV show? Maybe just a touch.

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Cattle gridlock: EU border delays add to coronavirus strain on meat trade

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Possible slaughterhouse shutdowns and staffing issues put pressure on ‘vulnerable’ supply chains, as campaigners call for restriction of live exports

Campaigners have called for the suspension of all live animal shipments out of Europe, and a restriction to the shortest possible journeys within Europe, over welfare and animal diseases concerns – as meat supply chains face potentially debilitating strain.

Last week queues of up to 60km (37 miles) formed at the Polish/German border on Wednesday after Poland announced that it was shutting to foreigners. Although the closure was supposed to apply solely to people, cargo experienced a knock-on effect, with some trucks reportedly taking as long as 18 hours to get through border controls. More queues formed at the Bulgarian/Turkish border.

Sabine Fisher of German animal welfare group Animal Angels said: “One driver told us that it had taken him three hours to travel 300 metres. There were trucks of sheep, bulls, cows. I’ve never seen a queue like it.”

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Coronavirus outdoor etiquette: no spitting, and keep your distance

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Britons should ditch their reserve and get used to telling people to stay back, say experts

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, the UK prime minister has urged people to steer clear of each other when they leave their homes.

So what is the new outdoor etiquette?

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‘Go home!’: Italian mayors rage at coronavirus lockdown dodgers — video

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Town, city and regional mayors across Italy are pleading with residents to stay indoors after witnessing people flouting the lockdown by going jogging, playing ping-pong and taking 'exhausted dogs' for long walks.

The Italian government has banned any travel inside the country and closed all non-essential businesses as it desperately tries to stem the spread of coronavirus.

This is what the mayors of Bari, Messina, Lucera, Gualdo Tadino, the governor of Campania, and the mayor of Reggio Calabria had to say

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Spanish police sing to families during coronavirus lockdown in Mallorca – video

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Police in Mallorca were seen playing guitar and singing to entertain families as they remain in a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The Spanish island will remain on lockdown after the government sought to extend the restrictions on movement until 11 April. One resident of the town of Algaida, Heidi Friedenberger, filmed the officers emerging from their car, singing a song and then leaving again, as neighbours watched on

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‘Everyone will be contaminated’: prisons face strict coronavirus controls

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New WHO guidelines are aimed at protecting one of the most vulnerable sectors of society from the spread of Covid-19

Prisons around the world can expect “huge mortality rates” from Covid-19 unless they take immediate action including screening for the disease, the World Health Organization has warned.

All visitors to prisons along with staff and new admissions should be subject to airport-style temperature testing and health assessments at point of entry, the agency has recommended under new guidelines published today.

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Russia may delay Putin vote as coronavirus threatens political agenda

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Vote allowing president to run for fifth or even sixth term likely to be rescheduled

Russia may be forced to put off a public vote on amendments allowing Vladimir Putin to hold office potentially until 2036 as the coronavirus threatens to upend a busy political season in Russia.

The Kremlin so far has not rescheduled the 22 April vote that was intended as a public endorsement for Putin’s surprise plan to “reset” his term limits, allowing him to run for a fifth or even sixth term as president under a revised constitution.

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Coronavirus: doctors and nurses in Belfast post message urging public to stay at home – video

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Healthcare workers on the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland have made an appeal to the public. In a video, doctors and nurses from the Belfast trust respiratory team urge people to stay at home in order to save lives

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The isolated tribes at risk of illness from Amazon missionaries

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As evangelical Christians use their influence with Brazil’s government to cast their net ever wider, indigenous people vulnerable to common diseases face a growing threat

A radical group of evangelical Christian missionaries set on converting every last tribe on Earth has raised fears that deadly diseases – and even the coronavirus – will spread in the Brazilian Amazon. The group has based its newly bought helicopter right beside a reserve with the world’s highest concentration of isolated indigenous groups, who have little resistance to common illnesses.

There are more than 100 isolated indigenous groups in Brazil, all highly vulnerable to common diseases such as measles and flu, and 16 of them live in the same reserve in the Javari Valley, a vast, remote area the size of Austria. Covid-19 could wipe out any of them.

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This virus is ravaging rich countries. What happens when it hits the poor ones? | Nesrine Malik

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Horror over the west’s failure to contain Covid-19 will pale by comparison if it sweeps the developing world

Though Africa has fewer coronavirus cases and a slower rate of infection than the UK, many countries in the continent have passed dramatically more extreme measures to prevent its spread than Britain has. In my birth country of Sudan, after only one case and one death was registered, all schools and universities were shut down. Several other nations, such as Egypt, have taken the ultimate precaution and closed their airports.

There is no denial here, no mixed messaging, and no unfounded promise of how soon we will send the virus packing.

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Australia shuts down, in the fight against Covid-19 – in pictures

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Australia’s major cities, buildings and even beaches are either closed or deserted as the government steps up measures to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Prime minister Scott Morrison announced late on Sunday that from midday Monday venues such as bars, clubs, nightclubs, cinemas and gyms would be closed, and restaurants would be restricted to offering takeaway. Schools remain open but parents have the option to keep children at home, while Victoria is bringing forward school holidays from Tuesday

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‘Invisible enemy’: Trump says he is ‘wartime president’ in coronavirus battle – video

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US president says the country is at war with coronavirus, while accusing China of not asking for help at the beginning of the crisis 'out of pride'. Trump also said the US economy will 'skyrocket' once the coronavirus outbreak is contained

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US coronavirus: Trump says national guard to be sent to New York, California and Washington – live

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The vice-president, Mike Pence, is speaking now. He says there is a “bipartisan” spirit to the fight against Covid-19 and it is a great credit to America. He says testing is becoming more widely available every day.

Peter Gaynor, the Fema administrator, speaks and emphasizes that the deployment of the National Guard does not mean martial law has been imposed in the three states where they will serve.

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Boris Johnson threatens stricter measures if people flout social distancing rules – video

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Boris Johnson has threatened to introduce stricter measures if people do not follow the government's advice on social distancing, saying that if people do not follow the rules then 'we will have to bring forward further measures'. The prime minister reiterated that people must stick to the two-metre social distancing rule, but added: 'It is very important for people's mental and physical wellbeing that they should be able to get out and exercise'

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Colombian prison riot over coronavirus fears kills 23

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More than 80 prisoners injured in protests against sanitary conditions in jail

A prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogotá left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the country’s justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested about sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.

Thirty-two injured prisoners had been hospitalised, justice minister Margarita Cabello Blanco said in a video, while seven prison guards were also injured. Two guards were in a critical condition.

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Brazilians protest over Bolsonaro’s muddled coronavirus response

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Citizens make anger known by hitting pots and pans from their windows and balconies

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is facing an intensifying public backlash after his muddled reaction to the coronavirus crisis sparked five successive nights of protests and predictions that his political authority had sustained a potentially fatal blow.

Brazil has recorded 1,128 coronavirus cases and 18 deaths, with the country’s health minister last week saying the public health system was likely to collapse by the end of April.

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‘Time is running out’: airline industry warns government

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EasyJet and Ryanair to stop flying on Monday and less than 5% of passengers expected at airports amid coronavirus

Airlines and airports have warned that time is running out for the government to enact promised measures to help the aviation industry, with EasyJet and Ryanair set to stop flying after Monday and less than 5% of normal passenger numbers expected at major airports.

Further talks are expected between ministers and the industry on Monday as the government wrestles with how to keep critical infrastructure functioning.

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Australia’s coronavirus rescue package is a step in the right direction – but we needed a leap | Stephen Koukoulas

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The measures taken in response to the coronavirus crisis will support growth, but they will be slow to come into effect and aren’t enough

• Follow our global coronavirus live blog
• What the $189bn economic rescue package means for you
• Why Australia is easing superannuation access for those worst-hit

The $66bn second stage of the government’s economic policy response to the coronavirus crisis is a genuine effort to underpin the economy as it lurches towards the deepest economic downturn since the 1930s great depression.

Unfortunately for those losing their jobs, their hours of work and their businesses, there is an unseemly delay before most of the measures reach the bank accounts of those in need.

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