Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Brexit: Ed Miliband accuses Boris Johnson of ‘failure of governance’ in internal market debate – live

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Former chancellor Sajid Javid becomes most senior Tory MP to say he cannot back bill in its current form

The politics live blog will be paused for now, thank you all for reading along so far. We may be back later as the debate continues.

Heald also expressed his unhappiness at the UK government claiming precedent for breaking international law.

He said:

Can I just also say that I was surprised to see this justified by the precedent, allegedly, of the Finance Act 2013 General Anti-Abuse Rule by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

I was a law officer at the time, Dominic Grieve was attorney general. And one thing I can say about Dominic Grieve is that he was very correct and made sure that Government legislation did not offend the rule of law - he was extremely painstaking.

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Biden condemns Trump as ‘climate arsonist’ as wildfires burn – live

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Trump has landed in California, where he will receive a briefing on the west coast wildfires, which have already claimed at least 35 lives.

“There has to be good, strong forest management, which I’ve been talking about for three years with the states, so hopefully they’ll start doing that,” Trump said.

Trump is in California mispronouncing "Oregon" and insisting that wildfires are caused be poor forest management pic.twitter.com/zydXDoe3DT

Joe Biden closed his climate speech by noting he continues to pray for Americans on the west coast who have been affected by the wildfires.

“We see the light through the dark smoke. We never give up. Always,” Biden said.

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New antibody drug added to Oxford University trial of Covid-19 treatments

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Regeneron’s experimental drug REGN-COV2 to be added to UK’s Recovery trial

The Oxford-based Recovery trial which proved that steroids saved the lives of some Covid patients will now take on a promising but far more expensive new antibody combination treatment, it has been announced.

A cohort of patients joining the trial in most NHS acute hospitals will be randomly allocated to Regeneron’s experimental drug, called REGN-COV2. The drug is a combination of two human neutralising antibodies against the virus. The company previously developed a similar antibody drug against Ebola.

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Aged care homes with multiple Covid cases named on list published by federal government

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Health department had earlier requested list not be released, saying it could hamper care and put staff off going to work

The Australian government has begun releasing a weekly snapshot of Covid-19 deaths and infections in aged care homes, despite earlier attempting to keep secret the identity of providers with fewer than five cases.

The health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, had previously asked the Senate’s Covid-19 committee not to publish a full list of providers with outbreaks, claiming publication of the data could distract from care and discourage staff from attending work.

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Covid-19: Marseille and Bordeaux announce new restrictions

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New measures to limit public gatherings come as number of cases surges

Authorities in Bordeaux and Marseille have announced strict new measures to limit public gatherings in an effort to rein in a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases that risks overwhelming the two French cities’ hospitals.

“The virus has accelerated despite the obligation to wear a mask introduced earlier this summer,” Christophe Mirmand, the government’s top official in greater Marseille area, said on Monday. “We need to take action to ensure health services can cope.”

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Hunting in England exempt from ‘rule of six’ Covid-19 restrictions

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List of exempt physical activities includes football, rugby, cricket and hockey among others

Grouse shooting and hunting with guns in England are among outdoor activities exempted from the government’s “rule of six” coronavirus regulations.

Confirmation that the latest health protection regulations permit groups of up to 30 to take part in any “sports gathering” was published only minutes before coming into force.

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Toronto’s strip clubs face calls to close after second Covid outbreak in a month

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Seven cases linked to Club Paradise, which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks

Officials in Canada’s largest city are calling for strip clubs to be shut down after a second Covid-19 outbreak linked to such an establishment in less than a month.

Over the weekend, Toronto’s public health unit identified seven cases linked to Club Paradise, a venue which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks.

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Hold Still – The UK Lockdown – in pictures

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Hold Still is a digital exhibition hosted by the National Portrait Gallery. People of all ages, from across the UK, were invited to submit a photographic portrait which they had taken during lockdown. The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation as we continued to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The final 100 images include one by the Guardian’s Sarah Lee

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Guam boy, 10, dies as Covid outbreak threatens country’s health system

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Of island’s nearly 1,900 cases, 70% were diagnosed in August and September, with one in 10 tests positive

A 10-year-old boy has become Covid-19’s latest fatality on Guam, as the island struggles to rein in an outbreak that threatens to overwhelm its public health system.

The boy, who had underlying health conditions, died on Sunday night at the US Naval Hospital, 10 days after contracting the virus. He is the 26th person to die from Covid on Guam.

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Just $5 per person a year could prevent future pandemic, says ex-WHO head

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Cost would be billions, but represents a huge saving on $11tn response to Covid-19, estimates show

Spending $5 (£3.90) per person annually on global health security over the next five years could prevent a future “catastrophic” pandemic, according to a former head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

It would cost the world billions of dollars, but that amount would be a huge saving on the $11tn response to Covid-19, said Gro Harlem Brundtland, who, with other prominent international experts, sounded the alarm over the threat of a fast-spreading deadly pandemic last September.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Daniel Andrews holds Covid press conference as Victoria reports 35 new cases and NSW four

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Victoria to turn roads and footpaths into dining spaces to help hospitality industry as Queensland border row deepens. Follow all today’s news

When will regional Victoria learn more about its restrictions being eased?

Daniel Andrews:

We will be here tomorrow and hopefully there will be no mystery cases in the data I report tomorrow and hopefully we can have more to say.

No doubt, there will be criticism that we haven’t been given any notice but this is nature of these things.

Professor Brett Sutton is then asked about some of the restrictions being eased today (very small easings).

They are baby steps. We all recognise that it is not an absolute sea change in terms of what is opening up.

That is what we’re trying to manage here. We are managing expectations and we’re being clear that outdoor activities are the low-risk activities.

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Coronavirus live news: UK reports 2,621 new infections as global cases hit one-day record high

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Public Health England also records nine further deaths; 14 refugees test positive after Lesbos fire; Silvio Berlusconi leaves hospital after treatment

French health authorities on Monday reported 6,158 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, sharply down from Saturday’s record high since large-scale testing began of 10,561 and Sunday’s tally of 7,183.

The Monday figure always tends to dip as there are fewer tests conducted on Sundays.

Related: Covid-19: Marseille and Bordeaux announce new restrictions

The Chinese city of Ruili will test all people there after authorities reported two new coronavirus cases imported from neighbouring Myanmar, state media reported late on Monday.

Ruili is part of Dehong Prefecture in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan. The city asked residents to quarantine at home, according to state television CCTV.

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UK temperatures set to hit up to 30C in September heat

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Hottest weather will be in the south but most of the country will see warmer days

The UK is set to bask in temperatures of more than 30C this week, as summer heat returns.

The mercury will be highest in southern parts of the UK, but most of the country will see a spell of warmer weather over the next few days, the Met Office has said.

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Coronavirus: 86% of doctors in England expect second wave in next six months

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BMA survey also found 90% thought test-and-trace failures were a risk factor

Almost 86% of doctors in England say they expect a second peak of coronavirus in the next six months, according to a new survey, as concern continues to grow over a recent rise in cases.

On Friday, new results from a population-based study suggested the R number for England is now at 1.7, with infections doubling every 7.7 days. While the prevalence of the disease remains lower than it was in the spring, an R value above 1 means cases could grow exponentially.

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Israeli government to impose second Covid-19 national lockdown

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Three-week lockdown will make Israel the first country to reimpose such stringent restrictions on a national scale

Israel’s government has decided to impose a lockdown lasting three weeks, the first country to reimpose such severe restrictions on a national scale, after a dramatic resurgence in coronavirus cases.

Fearing mass gatherings during a string of national holidays over the next month, the cabinet decided to shut down the country as of Friday, the Jewish new year, until 9 October.

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Trump aides insist Woodward tapes reveal strong leadership on Covid

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The revelation that Donald Trump deliberately downplayed the coronavirus pandemic forced key aides on to desperate defence on Sunday, barely 50 days from the presidential election.

Related: Roger Stone to Donald Trump: bring in martial law if you lose election

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Queensland man’s daughter condemns Scott Morrison for turning funeral into ‘a circus’

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Alexandra Prendergast, whose father’s funeral became part of a federal-state brawl over borders, writes open letter to PM

The daughter of a Queensland man whose funeral was at the centre of a federal-state brawl over border closures has accused Scott Morrison of using the case to “advance his political agenda”.

Alexandra Prendergast said in an open letter to the prime minister his actions were “absolutely disrespectful” to families who had not been granted permission to attend relatives’ funerals.

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Coronavirus live news: European outbreaks worsen; Australia sees anti-lockdown protests

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Cases hit daily record in Czech Republic; Austria ‘experiencing start of second wave’; 74 people at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne

An Israeli cabinet minister, who heads an ultra-orthodox Jewish party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, has tendered his resignation in protest at a looming coronavirus lockdown. Housing minister Yaakov Litzman argued the restrictions would unfairly impede religious celebrations of Jewish holidays.

The rules - the most extensive Israel will have imposed since a lockdown that ran from late March to early May - are expected to go into effect on Friday, the Jewish new year Rosh Hashana, and span into the Yom Kippur fast day on 27 September.

This wrongs and scorns hundreds of thousands of citizens. Where were you until now? Why have the Jewish holidays become a convenient address for tackling the coronavirus...?

We have to move on, to make the decisions necessary for Israel in the coronavirus era, and that is what we will do in this session.

India has reported 94,372 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, taking total cases past 4.7 million.

The daily increase was down on the record global spike in the previous 24 hours of 97,570 new cases and came after three days of recording more than 95,000 new cases. Infections have been growing faster in India than anywhere in the world.

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Outdoor worship, short services: ways to mark Yom Kippur during Covid

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Coronavirus bans have forced Jewish communities to adapt and innovate as the year’s high holy days draw near

Rochelle Shorrick’s freezer would normally be filled well in advance with meals for extended family and friends over the Jewish high holy days of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

Usually she bakes a honey cake to signify a sweet new year, and pops some extra dishes in the freezer in case of last-minute guests. She looks forward to several visits to her local synagogue in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with her husband and three children – especially the service which precedes 25 hours of fasting and prayer on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

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Coronavirus: is this the start of a second wave and is the UK prepared?

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Cases are increasing here and across Europe as universities plan to reopen. What is the outlook for autumn?

Is this the start of a second wave, and if so will it be as bad as the first?
The number of Covid-19 infections has almost doubled in a week, with 3,497 cases announced yesterday. Admissions to hospital have also risen. We’ll find out soon if this is a second wave but there are some indicators of what is coming.

Cases are rising quickly…
Researchers at Imperial College London said on Friday that the number of cases had been doubling roughly every 7.7 days in England, and that the reproduction rate was as high as 1.7. If the virus continues to spread at that rate, the UK would see about 10,000 new cases a day in the next two weeks, with 300 to 400 hospital admissions a day.

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