Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Anthony Fauci criticises Donald Trump for using his words out of context

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Doctor says use of his comments to praise president in Republican campaign ad is misleading

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s top infectious disease expert, has criticised Donald Trump’s reelection campaign for using his words out of context to make it appear as if he was praising the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Fauci said in a statement to CNN on Sunday. “The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP [Republican] campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials.”

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UK at ‘critical juncture’ as No 10 unveils three-tier Covid alert system

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Boris Johnson’s plan will see areas of England graded in three tiers of restrictions

No 10 has warned that the UK is at a “critical juncture” for controlling the spread of Covid as Boris Johnson prepares to lay out new rules that will see pubs and bars in areas with the highest infection rate forced to close.

The prime minister is expected to address the nation on Monday after a frantic weekend of discussion with local leaders from across the country.

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Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find

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Researchers find Sars-CoV-2 survives longer at lower temperatures and lasts 10 days longer than influenza on some surfaces

Australian scientists have found that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.

The national science agency, the CSIRO, said the research undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong also found that Sars-CoV-2 survived longer at lower temperatures.

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Czech Republic goes from model Covid-19 response to brink of second lockdown

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Country lauded as success in managing pandemic on verge of new blanket closures

The Czech Republic could be set for a second lockdown following a dramatic rise in Covid-19 infections that has transformed it into Europe’s fastest growing outbreak just months after being hailed as one of the continent’s success stories in managing the pandemic.

A new peak of 8,618 cases was recorded on Friday in the country of 10.7 million, up more than 3,000 on the previous day and significantly more per capita than any other European state. Spain, with a population of just under 47 million and currently the second worst-affected country, documented 12,788 infections on the same day.

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Iain Duncan Smith calls for review of Chinese investment in UK

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Former Conservative leader says government should assess China’s influence in areas from 5G to Covid-19 research

Chinese ownership of British businesses should be subject to a national security review by the UK government to assess the impact of Beijing’s growing economic power, according to the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The senior backbencher – a leading figure in the rebellion that forced Downing Street to introduce tougher controls on Huawei – believes ministers have failed to deal with the scale of China’s influence on strategic industries in the UK.

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Would herd immunity stop the spread of coronavirus?

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Even if achievable, the strategy would kill too many people, say scientists

Like the Covid-19 virus itself, the idea of herd immunity has surged back into public life having been suppressed for months. It was initially touted as a way to hold back the pandemic – by allowing sufficient numbers of infections to occur and so reduce numbers of non-immune potential hosts for the virus. The disease would then stop spreading, it was argued.

The notion quickly fell out of favour when researchers highlighted the high death toll that would have to occur in the UK before herd immunity was achieved. Nevertheless, the idea has now bubbled back and is again making headlines.

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Coronavirus live news: Donald Trump ‘no longer transmission risk’; Victoria to ease lockdown

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Doctor says president not replicating virus, but no word on whether he has tested negative; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time. Follow latest updates

Mainland China reported 21 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on 10 October, up from 15 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Sunday.

All the new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed, fell to 23 from 39 a day earlier. All of them were imported.

The total confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China stands at 85,557, while the death toll remained at 4,634.

In Australia, the ACT has confirmed no new coronavirus cases. From the statement sent by the ACT government:

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the ACT in the past 24 hours, leaving the ACT’s total at 113. There are no active cases in the ACT.

A total of 110 cases have recovered from COVID-19 in the ACT.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil records 290 deaths in 24 hours; Italy plans new restrictions

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South American country has now registered 150,488 deaths; Italy moves as daily infections reach highest levels since March

Slovakia will impose stricter coronavirus restrictions from Thursday, including making face masks compulsory in public and limits to public gatherings, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.

The government will also debate on Monday whether to limit gatherings to six people, health minister Marek Krajci said.

Brazil confirmed 290 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 12,345 new cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Sunday.

The South American country has now registered 5,094,982 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 150,488 total deaths.

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Some attendees skip masks as Trump speaks at White House event – as it happened

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Here is a summary of the latest events:

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden continued to frame the November election as a choice between the interests of Scranton and Park Avenue in a speech on Saturday night at the Plumbers Local Union No 27 training center in Erie, Pennsylvania.

“Anyone who actually does an honest day’s work sees him and his promises for what they are,” Biden told a masked, socially distanced crowd at a training facility for plumbers and other tradespeople in Pennsylvania’s fourth-largest city.

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Northern cities seek overhaul of national tracing ‘shambles’

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Local health teams are outperforming the NHS Covid contact system, but as cases rise they want a rethink

Under the grandeur of Preston market’s Victorian canopy, the nervousness wrought by a resurgence of Covid-19 is not far away. Amid the fruit, veg and dairy stalls, all the shoppers and stallholders are wearing masks, keeping their distance. “Everybody seems to be sticking to the rules as much as they can,” said Gary Quinn, the landlord of the Orchard pub. “People haven’t been very clear on what is allowed, but I haven’t seen people acting maliciously. People are trying their best.”

Despite the efforts, the city is again seeing a resurgence of the virus, with 324 cases per 100,000 in the past seven days. Like dozens of other local authorities around the country, Preston city council is not solely relying on the national test and trace system to help track the virus. It has taken matters into its own hands, setting up walk-in test sites and its own tracing system. Its team has received 300 local contacts a week, with council staff making home visits to more than 100 people who needed to self-isolate and could not be contacted by any other means.

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The race for a Covid vaccine: inside the Australian lab working round the clock to produce 100m doses

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The Guardian is given a unique insight into the operations of CSL, which is making vaccines that could help end the crisis

Some call it the “happy soup”.

Take a dash of modified Covid-19 protein DNA, mix it with cells from a Chinese hamster’s ovary, and place the combination in two state-of-the-art 2,000L bioreactors in a sprawling scientific facility on Melbourne’s northern fringes.

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US Covid cases climb as midwestern states report steep increases

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  • Infections also ticking up in north-east
  • More than 57,000 tested positive for coronavirus on Friday

Covid-19 cases are again climbing in the United States, with the highest daily rates of new infections since August, when major states such as Florida became hotspots, new data from Johns Hopkins University’s Covid-19 tracker shows.

Now, several midwestern states are posting steep increases in Covid-19 cases, with at least one setting up a field hospital to cope with the flood of patients. Cases are also ticking up in the north-east, where tight restrictions had the virus under control for most of the summer.

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‘He became a hero’: Bolsonaro sees popularity surge as Covid-19 spreads

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Emergency aid payments have helped Brazil’s president win support despite the virus raging. But things could soon change

Brazil’s hard-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, dismissed Covid-19 as a “little flu”, and said it should be faced “like a man, not a boy”.

He sneered that self-isolating was “for the weak” and raged against lockdown measures. He clashed with state governors, and his own former health minister savaged his handling of the pandemic.

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Coronavirus live news: France sets daily record 20,000 cases; Australian state of Victoria reports 14 new infections

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Trump plans in-person rally on Monday as next presidential debate cancelled; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time; Canada at ‘tipping point’. Follow latest updates

I’m going to hand over to my colleague in London Aamna Mohdin.

Thanks for reading.

The ministry of health in India has said there were 73,272 new infections in the country over the past 24 hours.

There were also 926 new deaths, taking the death toll to 107,416. It is the seventh straight day where deaths have been below 1,000.

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NSW Covid hotspots: list of Sydney and regional case locations

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Here are the current coronavirus hotspots in New South Wales and what to do if you’ve visited them

New South Wales health authorities have released a list of hotspots where Covid-positive people have visited while infectious.

Those who attended some locations must isolate immediately for 14 days, others must monitor for symptoms.

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A critic’s view: the delusion of Trump’s Covid-19 victory photo

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President’s pose on the White House balcony was a manic act of narcissistic theatre

The trouble with Trump is that, as he told Bob Woodward, “I bring rage out.” It’s hard to see this picture of him posing maskless on the White House balcony after “winning” against Covid without the red mist coming down.

To anyone with a sense of history, the echo of Mussolini on the balcony of Rome’s Palazzo Venezia is unmistakable. But many of his core voters may know as little history as he does and, besides, this is the White House, with American flags flanking him – still for many a stage of democracy, not dictatorship. Perhaps the real shock of the pose is its delusion. There is no crowd – he’s performing for himself and the camera.

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Pelosi says Trump’s Covid medication has him ‘in an altered state’ – video

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Nancy Pelosi has announced that the House will invoke the 25th amendment, which gives Congress power to evaluate the health and stability of US presidents in conducting the duties of their office. 

Although the amendment enables the House Speaker to create a commission to review the president’s fitness for office, the House of Representatives would not be able to remove Donald Trump from office without the agreement of the vice-president, Mike Pence, and members of the cabinet. 

Pelosi insisted the proposed commission was not about Trump, but said of the president: 'He is under medication. Any of us who is under medication of that seriousness is in an altered state.'

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US won’t rely on UK for Covid vaccine safety tests, says Nancy Pelosi

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House speaker says UK system is not on a par with US’s ‘very stringent rules’ about vaccines

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has taken aim at the British vaccine testing safety regime, warning that UK approval of a vaccine would not automatically mean it was safe according to the US’s own procedures.

Amid a race to produce an effective vaccine against Covid-19 that meets broad international acceptance for safety, Pelosi’s comments appear partly motivated by concern that any quick and unilateral British approval of a vaccine might be embraced by Donald Trump for political gain, perhaps even before the 3 November election.

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Herd immunity letter signed by fake experts including ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’

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Open letter calling for new Covid-19 strategy also signed by ‘Prof Cominic Dummings’

An open letter that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.

The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found by Sky News to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.

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New furlough scheme may not be enough, say north of England firms

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Covid measures are designed to help businesses forced to close their doors over the winter

Hospitality businesses in the north of England have said they will struggle to survive on the new support package unveiled by the chancellor if they are forced into weeks of local lockdowns.

Carol Ross, the landlady of the Roscoe Head pub in Liverpool, said the new jobs support package- which includes the government paying 67% of employee salaries if businesses are forced to shut down and a further £3,000 a month in cash grants towards other costs – was not enough.

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