As summer ends, and as deaths near 200,000 amid severe economic damage, experts say the next few months are vital
Even with three decades of experience in the travel industry, Jorge Pesquera has never seen a downturn in business like this one.
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Continue reading...At least 6,000 people say they caught coronavirus in Ischgl, dubbed ‘Ibiza on ice’, and their class action is gaining pace. Those who were there recall a terrifying week
In the first week of March, Charlie Jackson had an argument with his wife. The recruitment agent, 53, from Pangbourne in Berkshire, was due to catch a flight to Innsbruck for a three-day “boys’ holiday”, skiing in the Tirolean Alps. Jackson’s wife, Carol, felt Ischgl, the resort booked by the group, was a bit too close to the parts of northern Italy that had recently been shut down to contain the spread of a mystery flu-like illness. But Jackson threw caution to the wind: he had already spent more than £1,000 on the trip.
Ischgl, one of the most popular ski resorts in Europe, is what Jackson calls “a boyish kind of place”. He and his friends had been visiting the town in the Paznaun valley, Austria, for the past nine years. The snow is reliably powdery from November to May. The compact nature of the place means you don’t need a car to get around. The facilities are well-run: Ischgl has 45 state-of-the-art ski lifts, three of which take you directly from the edge of town to the mountain.
Continue reading...Children packed in like sardines, few face masks ... an English secondary teacher records pupils’ return
I wake at 4am, two hours before my alarm is due to go off, with sneezing fits and stomach cramps – cramps are one of my symptoms of anxiety.
Continue reading...New South Wales announces five more Covid-19 cases while Queensland and South Australia report one more each
Daniel Andrews says Victoria’s roadmap out of coronavirus lockdown has “not been finalised” as government and health experts meet before the unveiling of the plan on Sunday.
At his press conference on Saturday, the Victorian premier announced 76 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths, five of which were historical cases from recent days.
Continue reading...Conservation charity launches appeal to raise money for projects halted due to pandemic
A major appeal aimed at encouraging people to maintain links made with the natural world during lockdown and to raise money for environmental projects halted because of the Covid-19 crisis is being launched by the National Trust.
The conservation charity is also keen to encourage more care and respect for nature following a surge in littering, fly-camping and damage to nature and wildlife this summer.
Continue reading...Protesters seen chanting ‘freedom’ and hurling abuse at police and media while not wearing masks
At least 15 people have been arrested at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and Albert Park after at least 200 protesters defied the city’s stage-four lockdowns to hold an anti-lockdown rally on Saturday.
Police in New South Wales also arrested three people at an unauthorised protest in Sydney’s Hyde Park while another protest was held at Sydney’s Olympic Park. Smaller protests were also held in Townsville, Brisbane and Byron Bay.
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Jennifer Griffin, a national security correspondent for Fox News, said she has confirmed reporting by The Atlantic with two former senior Trump administration officials.
One former official told her: “When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker.’”
This former official heard the President say about American veterans: "What's in it for them? They don't make any money." Source: "It was a character flaw of the President. He could not understand why someone would die for their country, not worth it."
Regarding McCain, "The President just hated John McCain. He always asked, 'Why do you see him as a hero?" Two sources confirmed the President did not want flags lowered but others in the White House ordered them at half mast. There was a stand off and then the President relented.
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Exclusive: Britain approaching ‘pivotal moment’ in attempt to avoid surge in cases, scientists say
Police forces across the country are dealing with thousands of potential violations of quarantine rules involving holidaymakers who may not be self-isolating after trips abroad, the Guardian can reveal.
The requests for “further action” have been raised by Border Force officials and public health authorities, who have been tasked with ensuring that people returning from abroad are abiding by regulations designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Continue reading...Why the chains and independents at the heart of Britain’s high streets are in deep trouble
It’s the multibillion-pound industry that kept on growing, based on a bean that Britons couldn’t seem to get enough of: coffee.
Until, that is, the pandemic struck. As is the case with many businesses hit hard by coronavirus, the ubiquitous coffee chains that have powered city centres and high streets across the UK are in deep trouble.
Continue reading...Widespread vaccinations against Covid-19 are not expected until the middle of next year, according to the World Health Organization, which has stressed the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety.
'This phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is,' said spokeswoman Margaret Harris, referring to vaccine clinical trials
Continue reading...Greek government suggests need for ‘closed and controlled’ structures but NGOs fear virus is pretext for increased restrictions
The first recorded coronavirus case in Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, where just under 13,000 people are living in a space designed for 3,000, has led to fears that the government will use the pandemic as a pretext to create closed camps.
Notis Mitarachi, the minister for migration, told local news that the coronavirus situation demonstrated the need for “closed and controlled” structures. The migration ministry also released a statement on Thursday, which said that plans to create closed structures on the islands of Lesbos and Chios were progressing.
Continue reading...Americans are increasingly encountering barriers to exercising their most fundamental of democratic rights during this 2020 presidential election – the right to vote.
The Guardian's Sam Levine looks at how voter suppression has been unfolding across the US, four key tactics being used in attempts to block votes, and how president Donald Trump is trying delegitimize November's election
Victoria reports nine deaths in the past 24 hours and 50 people added to total who died in aged care facilities in July and August. Follow live news and updates today
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who was celebrating the AFL’s decision to stage the grand final in her state just two days ago, has called for tough penalties to be meted out to the two Richmond players arrested on the Surfers Paradise strip in the early hours of this morning.
With the AFL and police investigating the incident, which left Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones with facial injuries, Palaszczuk wants the pair thrown out of the state.
AFL players caught breaking Covid rules should be sent home,.
Queensland won’t tolerate it. I know the AFL takes these issues seriously and will take appropriate action.”
Related: Two Richmond AFL players arrested after late-night brawl outside Gold Coast strip club
One of the announcements out of national cabinet was that leaders “agreed that we needed to further boost the capacity for inbound arrivals into Australia, particularly for those Australians seeking to come home”.
However, Scott Morrison did not outline any detail of exactly how the arrival caps – which currently allow for about 4,000 passengers to enter Australian quarantine hotels each week – would be further boosted to help repatriate the 23,000 Australians (at least that’s how many have registered with Dfat) who want to come home but can’t.
Continue reading...‘We need to see how safe it is,’ WHO stresses; Cuba welcomes first plane of tourists in months; Italy reports biggest rise since 2 May
Smoking appears to increase the genetic contribution to Covid-19 infections, a small study suggested.
The new coronavirus enters the body by hijacking proteins on the surface of healthy cells, in particular a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).
Liberia’s president George Weah has sacked the country’s top health official over his handling of coronavirus testing in the impoverished West African state.
Mososka Fallah, director general of the Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), was removed from his post for “breaches in the health and administrative protocols that guide the issuance of Covid-19 test results,” Weah’s office said in a statement.
Continue reading...India cases top 80,000 for second day in a row; Asia Pacific shares suffer heavy losses; Israel to impose partial lockdown
US president Donald Trump slammed House speaker Nancy Pelosi after the Democrat was filmed at an indoor hair salon with her face covering around her neck. Trump, a longtime critic of Pelosi, pounced on the opportunity to attack her over the incident.
“I’ll tell you what, she must have treated that beauty salon owner pretty badly. She uses the salon and the salon turned her in?” he said. “So I just put out that if she was set up, then she shouldn’t be leading the House of Representatives. I want the salon owner to lead the House of Representatives”:
A groundbreaking new comedy sketch show based on women’s sex lives during lockdown, starring Aimee Lou Wood and Miriam Margolyes, is designed to “claim the stage” for women, its co-creator, Joanna Scanlan, says.
Sex Lives, believed to be the first interactive comedy backed by the BBC’s commercial wing, BBC Studios, documents stories submitted anonymously by women and has proved a hit online.
Related: Women's sex lives in lockdown prove online comedy hit
Continue reading...Research suggests stomach trouble more predictive of virus in young people than a cough
Diarrhoea and vomiting could be an important sign of Covid-19 in children, researchers say, leading to calls for the official NHS list of symptoms to be updated.
The checklist for coronavirus in children currently includes just three symptoms: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change to the sense of smell or taste. The latter was added to the list in May.
Continue reading...UK should adopt German-style wage support for short-time working, unions say
Rishi Sunak has been urged by union leaders to launch a wage subsidy scheme to prevent a “tsunami” of unemployment when furlough comes to an end this autumn.
Demanding the chancellor follows the examples of other leading European countries to avert a looming jobs crisis, the Trades Union Congress said a continental-style system of “short-time working” wage support could be used in Britain to save millions of jobs from redundancy.
Continue reading...Actor will reportedly self-isolate as Warner Bros halts UK production of The Batman
The actor Robert Pattinson has tested positive for Covid-19, according to US media reports, halting production of the film The Batman just days after it resumed following lockdown.
A spokesperson for Warner Bros, the Hollywood studio behind the film, said: “A member of The Batman production has tested positive for Covid-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols. Filming is temporarily paused.”
Continue reading...Despite 2.43 people per 1,000 being tested for Covid-19 daily labs are stretched and people are slipping through the net
Ministers say the UK has a greater testing capacity than other countries of its size, with 2.43 people tested each day for every 1,000 in the population. That compares with 1.15 in Germany and France, and one in Spain.
Continue reading...News updates: just 69.4% of close contacts of people testing positive for Covid-19 reached; Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish R number could be as high as 1.4
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Cabinet Office minister and an ally of Sir Keir Starmer, has rowed back on her earlier calls for Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard to “consider his position.” She made that suggestion in an interview this morning. (See 10.09am.) But in a tweet issued some hours later, Reeves reverted back to the normal protocol which prohibits Labour leaders at Westminster from commenting on Scottish Labour’s internal debates and problems.
As I said repeatedly this morning, matters about Scottish Labour are for Scottish Labour. Keir, Richard and the whole of the Labour Party are determined to rebuild trust in Scotland, and take on the SNP’s domestic record ahead of next year’s elections.
Some of the best journalism on the coronavirus crisis has come from BBC Radio 4’s More or Less, presented by Tim Harford. But Harford, like all of us, does occasionally make a mistake and, in an interesting Twitter thread starting here, he explains how he got it wrong when he said the risk of dying from Covid-19 was the same as the risk of dying from a bath.
1/ Time for an apology and a correction. Seems that every newspaper in the UK is (correctly) reporting that I said the risk of catching a fatal case of Covid-19 is about the same as the risk of having a bath. I did say that, but I was wrong. Details below.
3/ Now according to this piece – the author of which should be held blameless – the risk of taking a bath is about 1 in 3 million (0.3 micromorts). But that can’t be right. https://t.co/6DBj7rv97W
4/ The correct claim is that the risk of dying in the bath PER YEAR is 1 in 3 million – 20-30 deaths per year in a country of 67 million people. https://t.co/MSJ6eP7k6S
13/ Covid is a killer. It’s killed 65,000 people in the UK, including a dear friend of mine. Don’t let anyone tell you different. But the daily infection risk from Covid is now low. People shouldn’t be terrified to leave their own homes.
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