Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

UK coronavirus live: seven Greek islands to be added to England quarantine list

Posted on by

Grant Shapps says Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos will be added on Wednesday

The Department for Transport press release about Grant Shapps’ announcement has now arrived. This is what it says about the inclusion of the seven Greek islands on the quarantine list for England.

The first changes under the new process were also made today, with seven Greek islands to be removed from exemption list – Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos. People arriving in England from those islands from Wednesday 9 September 04.00am will need to self-isolate for two weeks. Data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant risk to UK public health from those islands, leading to Ministers removing them from the current list of travel corridors.

At the same time, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for Greece to advise against all but essential travel to Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos. The rest of Greece remains exempt from the FCDO’s advice against all non-essential international travel.

Shapps says he is not lifting quarantine for Spain’s Canary or Balearic islands.

He says there might have been a case for this when quarantine was imposed on Spain. But the number of cases in country has risen sharply, he says, and now it has 127 cases per 100,000. He say it is not safe to reduce quarantine for those islands.

Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Crete, Santorini and Zakynthos removed from air corridor exemption list.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: France could face ‘critical’ winter, expert says; Scotland could reimpose restrictions

Posted on by

Leading epidemiologist warns over case rate in France; Scottish first minister said her government could ‘put brakes’ on lockdown easing

Fatigue, headache and fever are the most common symptoms of coronavirus in children, with few developing a cough or losing their sense of taste or smell, researchers have found, adding to calls for age-specific symptom checklists.

The NHS lists three symptoms as signs of Covid-19 in adults and children: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change in the sense of smell or taste.

Related: Fatigue and headache most common Covid symptoms in children – study

French people who reject mask-wearing are more likely to be older, educated women who support the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest movement and the controversial virus specialist Didier Raoult, and would refuse to have a coronavirus vaccination if one were available, according to a new study.

They also describe themselves as free-thinkers who believe the government is meddling too much in their lives, have a distrust of public institutions and often support conspiracy theories, it found.

Related: French 'anti-maskers' most likely to be educated women in 50s, says study

Continue reading...

French ‘anti-maskers’ most likely to be educated women in 50s, says study

Posted on by

Results show 94% of Covid sceptics would refuse vaccine and most describe themselves as free-thinkers

French people who reject mask-wearing are more likely to be older, educated women who support the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest movement and the controversial virus specialist Didier Raoult, and would refuse to have a coronavirus vaccination if one were available, according to a new study.

They also describe themselves as free-thinkers who believe the government is meddling too much in their lives, have a distrust of public institutions and often support conspiracy theories, it found.

Continue reading...

On the frontline against Covid-19 in Ethiopia – a photo essay

Posted on by

Yonas Tadesse is an Ethiopian photographer based in Addis Ababa who has been documenting doctors and emergency workers fighting coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak. This series focuses on the taskforce at the Eka Kotebe hospital in Addis Ababa

The first case of Covid-19 in Ethiopia was reported on 13 March, when a team of first responders took in a 48-year-old Japanese man. Having never seen anything like his condition, they did not know what to prepare for, and thus started their new normal of battling the coronavirus in Ethiopia.

Doctors, nurses, janitors, security guards and drivers donned hats they had never dreamed of wearing as they worked to develop systems and techniques to minimise the damage from the virus – often at the cost of their health, their home lives, their reputations, and sometimes their lives.

Continue reading...

Fatigue and headache most common Covid symptoms in children – study

Posted on by

Researchers call for age-based symptom checklists as virus presents differently in children

Fatigue, headache and fever are the most common symptoms of coronavirus in children, with few developing a cough or losing their sense of taste or smell, researchers have found, adding to calls for age-specific symptom checklists.

The NHS lists three symptoms as signs of Covid-19 in adults and children: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change in the sense of smell or taste.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria Covid cases drop below 50 for first time since June as NSW records four – as it happened

Posted on by

Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown extended by two weeks in ‘roadmap’ as Victoria pursues aggressive suppression strategy. This blog has ended

Thanks for following our live coverage of the coronavirus coverage in Australia. You can continue to follow our rolling global coverage here.

A quick recap on what happened today:

Asked if he would step down as premier if the hotel quarantine inquiry laid the blame for the outbreak on his office, Andrews said his responsibility was to keep going.

My position and the responsibility I have is to see our state through this. What is what I’m focused on.

Let me be as frank as I can be: Politics has never mattered less to me. Leadership is not able doing what’s popular, it is about doing what’s right.

The politics of this, that is of no value. The only thing that matters is we all stay the course. We all keep following the data, the science and the doctors and get this done. Then move to the biggest economic repair job that our state has ever seen.

Continue reading...

Why Covid school closures are making girls marry early

Posted on by

The pandemic’s impact is long-term: the UN warns that it could lead to 13 million more child marriages over a decade

Samita (not her real name) is 17 and lives in the Lamjung district of Nepal. It was never easy, even before coronavirus, for her to attend school full-time. Living in a rural community in a family with little income she was expected to do housework as well.

Samita persisted though. At the beginning of the year, the Sisters for Sisters project run by international development charity VSO was supporting her with an “older sister” mentor, who was encouraging her to keep up her education.

Continue reading...

Global report: India overtakes Brazil as second most Covid-infected country

Posted on by

Seven French departments placed on high alert; UK sees 3,000 cases in one day, the highest figure since May

India has recorded a global one-day record of more than 90,000 positive coronavirus cases, taking the country past Brazil as the second most infected country in the world, with 4.2m confirmed cases.

On Sunday India recorded 90,802 new cases and 1,016 deaths. The worst affected state continues to be Maharashtra, home to the financial capital, Mumbai. It has had nearly a quarter of the country’s total infections, and on Sunday it reported a record 23,350 new cases.

Continue reading...

Australia’s conspiracy theorists are increasingly energised, but police crackdowns may be counterproductive | Elliott Brennan

Posted on by

QAnon is dangerous but some action taken to stem its influence may further embolden its followers

Saturday, 5 September was supposed to be the day Australian history was irreconcilably changed. It was to be “Freedom Day”, the day when “real” Aussies took back control of the streets, their airways and their collective destiny.

Rather than changing it, the protests amounted to what might constitute a footnote in an awfully specific history of Australia. Disparate groups gathered in separate events around the country. Dozens of protesters were arrested, dozens more were fined with breaching Covid-19 restrictions, one protester jumped into Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake and all of it was livestreamed.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: fears UK government has lost control as cases soar

Posted on by

Labour calls on Matt Hancock to explain reasons behind increase and testing centre problems

The UK has recorded a massive rise in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus, amid concerns the government has lost control of the epidemic just as people are returning to work and universities prepare to reopen.

Labour has demanded the health secretary, Matt Hancock, give an urgent statement to the House of Commons to explain the increase and why some people are still being told to drive hundreds of miles to have a test.

Continue reading...

Matt Hancock says rise in UK coronavirus cases is concerning – video

Posted on by

The UK health secretary has commented on Sunday’s sharp rise in coronavirus cases, after nearly 3,000 more people tested positive. Matt Hancock said: 'The rise in the number of cases is concerning ... We've seen in other countries across the world and in Europe this sort of rise in the cases amongst younger people leading to a rise across the population as a whole'

Continue reading...

Covering covid-19 in Africa: ‘The virus cannot stop this life and energy’

Posted on by

The Guardian’s Africa correspondent on life in a country that has fought and faced down more than one epidemic

In the evening I went for a run, down to the gate from my guesthouse, past a huddle of round huts and through the fields of sugar cane to the lake. A dog barked, a child howled, someone laughed, and tinny music played somewhere in the gathering darkness.

Eshowe, a small town in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, is a place of astonishing natural beauty. The run did not last long. I stopped and watched as weavers, glossy starlings and sunbirds swooped through the trees, catching the last rays of the sun. To the north, low dry hills lined the horizon. To the south, the breakers of the Indian Ocean crashed on miles of wild shore. Eshowe was memorable for something else too: the very human suffering I found there, and equally human hope.

Continue reading...

Pope Francis: gossip is ‘plague worse than Covid’ – video

Posted on by

Pope Francis strays from his prepared text to repeat his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy. Francis did not give specifics during his weekly blessing, but went on at some length to say the devil is the 'biggest gossiper' who is seeking to divide the church with his lies

Continue reading...

Political leaders are raising ‘false hopes’ about coronavirus vaccines

Posted on by

Drugs now under development are unlikely to end the pandemic, the Wellcome Trust’s Jeremy Farrar warns

Vaccines will not be a silver bullet to end the Covid-19 pandemic and leaders must avoid creating false hope, a key government adviser has warned.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, writes in today’s Observer that the first vaccines are likely to be only partially effective. Raising expectations and rushing new drugs into production risks damaging public trust in any vaccination programmes that eventually arrive, he said.

Continue reading...

As other cities go into lockdown, why isn’t London having a second wave?

Posted on by

Experts suggest the capital’s previous exposure, and capacity to embrace home working, may now be inhibiting the virus

It is a question that puzzles both those on the front line fighting Covid 19 and the experts developing strategies to combat its next move: why has London not seen a second flare-up when other parts of the UK are now having to introduce new lockdown restrictions?

“It’s a bit of an enigma, given that London very definitely led during the initial peak,” said Professor David Alexander, who is based at the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction at University College London.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: nearly 3,000 people in UK test positive in 24 hours

Posted on by

Significant rise in UK with 2,988 new cases; Netanyahu backtracks on lockdowns for cities with high infection rates; thousands attend protests against measures in Croatia and Italy

More than 200 UN employees have been infected with Covid-19 in Syria, medical workers and UN officials have said.

UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Imran Riza, last week told UN heads of agencies that the global body was close to securing a medical facility for treatment of coronavirus cases.

Up to 300 people who attended a charity football match at a working men’s club on the border of Sunderland and Durham have been asked to self-isolate after 28 tested positive for Covid-19.

Those who attended the event at Burnside working men’s club on 30 August are being told to self-isolate until 13 September.

Breaking: Up to 300 people who were at a charity football match asked to self-isolate, after 28 test positive for #Covid_19

Event was on 30 August at Burnside working men’s club (border of Sunderland and Durham)
 
Durham & Sunderland Council & @PHE_uk managing response.

Continue reading...

Melbourne stage 4 coronavirus lockdown extended for two weeks

Posted on by

Victoria premier Daniel Andrews says existing restrictions with only minor changes will remain in place until 28 September

  • Coronavirus Australia map
  • Melbourne stage 4 restrictions explained
  • Regional Victoria stage 3 restrictions explained

    • Stage four restrictions in Melbourne will be extended for two weeks to 28 September with the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, declaring “we can’t run out of lockdown”.

    “I want a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible and this is the only way, these steps are the only way, that we will get to that point,” Andrews said when revealing a roadmap to eventually lift restrictions which currently include a night-time curfew.

    Continue reading...

    More than 1,000 UK doctors want to quit NHS over handling of pandemic

    Posted on by

    New survey finds two-thirds of respondents plan to leave within three years, citing Covid-19 burnout and frustrations over pay

    Over 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS because they are disillusioned with the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and frustrated about their pay, a new survey has found.

    The doctors either intend to move abroad, take a career break, switch to private hospitals or resign to work as locums instead, amid growing concern about mental health and stress levels in the profession.

    Continue reading...

    Coronavirus live news: India cases pass 4m; anti-lockdown protesters arrested in Victoria

    Posted on by

    India adds 86,432 cases in the past 24 hours; arrests made after hundreds gather for Melbourne anti-lockdown rallies

    The UK government will deliver 250,000 clear face masks to frontline NHS and social care workers to help them communicate with people with conditions such as hearing loss and dementia.

    The transparent masks are made from plastic with an anti-fogging barrier, meaning patients will be able to see the mouth of the wearer as they speak. The Department of Health and Social Care said this would help the millions of people with hearing loss who needed to use lip-reading to communicate.

    In England, coronavirus restrictions are to be eased in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, Matt Hancock has said.

    Casinos, skating rinks, bowling alleys, exhibition halls, conference centres and indoor play areas, including soft play areas, will be able to lawfully reopen on Tuesday in all three places, apart from Bolton in Greater Manchester.

    Continue reading...

    ‘It’s a race to get out there’: stir-crazy Californians are overwhelming campsites

    Posted on by

    Parks in California are seeing double or even triple the usual number of campers, who can bring trash and unsafe behavior

    Chris Giesige thought planning a camping trip would be simple. He’s a regular, often heading out into the wilderness several times per year. But when he recently tried to reserve a campsite online in Yosemite, then Mammoth, then Whiskeytown Lake, he was shocked to see they were all booked for weeks. Twice he thought he’d found an open spot, only to see it get snapped up moments later.

    “I know May, June and July are busy camping months, but I don’t remember it being like this,” he says. “I have never had as much trouble before in trying to find a campground.”

    Continue reading...