Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Senate Democrats block Republican police reform bill – live

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Speaking at his joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump confirmed he would be drawing down the US troop presence in Germany.

The US president told reporters gathered in the Rose Garden that his administration would reduce troop numbers in Germany from 52,000 to 25,000 and would probably then send some of those troops to Poland.

"They'll be paying for the sending of additional troops" -- Trump announces that Poland has bought US troops that have been stationed in Germany pic.twitter.com/4DnhvNQrcv

Trump does Putin's bidding by blaming Obama and Joe Biden for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014 pic.twitter.com/MvYiK7W62Z

A grand jury has indicted three men on murder charges in connection to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood.

Cobb district attorney Joyette M. Holmes announced that a Glynn county grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William R. Bryan on malice and felony murder charges in the February 23 death of Arbery.

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Extending free childcare could fuel huge boost to economy, report says

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Economists’ study says permanently free childcare would provide short-term stimulus and drive long-term growth

Australia could unlock huge economic gains by continuing to offer free childcare after the pandemic is over, a new report argues.

The release of the report comes a day after Australia’s small business ombudsman and employer groups warned of the coming cliff in economic supports including free childcare ending and called on the government not to reduce jobseeker unemployment benefits to their former level of $40 a day.

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Texas Covid-19 cases hit all-time daily high as Houston hospitals near capacity

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Increase in coronavirus infections prompted governor to tighten public health restrictions after resisting calls to slow reopening

Texas recorded an all-time daily high of 5,489 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday as hospitals neared capacity in Houston.

The dramatic increase in cases prompted the governor, Greg Abbott, to tighten public health restrictions after resisting calls to slow the state’s reopening process.

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Life almost as we know it: England’s lockdown changes on 4 July

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Scientists describe measures for easing lockdown as nuanced and ‘an art, not a science’

As multiple lockdown measures are eased on 4 July, England will enter uncanny valley territory: life almost as we know it, but with notable exceptions.

Weddings can go ahead at religious venues – but with a cap of 30 participants and no singing. Two households can meet indoors, but must make an effort to stay physically distanced. Hugs will have to wait for now. Playgrounds and pubs can open, but casinos and swimming pools will remain shut.

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‘A sobering reminder’: global coronavirus cases to hit 10 million next week, says WHO – video

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World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom has said he expects the number of coronavirus cases around the world, now at approximately 9.3 million, to reach 10 million next week. Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme, said the pandemic for many countries in the Americas had not yet peaked, and that it was 'still intense', especially in Central and South America.

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Global report: India has highest rise in Covid-19 cases as Latin America toll passes 100,000

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Portugal, Spain and Bulgaria reimpose some restrictions to contain fresh outbreaks

India has recorded its highest daily rise in new infections and the death toll in Latin America has passed 100,000 as countries from Croatia to Iran and Portugal to Bulgaria stepped up efforts to contain ongoing and fresh outbreaks of Covid-19.

Soldiers were called in to manage healthcare centres in Delhi after nearly 4,000 people in the Indian capital tested positive in 24 hours. Authorities have promised to make 20,000 extra beds available in temporary facilities run by army medics.

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‘I am angry’: Germans back in lockdown demand accountability

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Reaction in Gütersloh highlights the problems governments may face if restrictions return

Residents and local businesses in a community in Germany’s most populous state that has been forced back into strict lockdown following a coronavirus outbreak at a local abattoir are demanding that those responsible are held to account.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Gütersloh district, which has over 360,000 inhabitants, on Wednesday had its first full day under a reimposed coronavirus lockdown after more than 1,700 employees at the Tönnies abattoir and meat processing plant tested positive.

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Policing of European Covid-19 lockdowns shows racial bias – report

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Amnesty says pandemic has led to greater ‘marginalisation, stigmatisation and violence’ in 12 countries including UK

The “disinfecting” of Roma communities by low-flying planes and the high number of fines handed to minority groups has been cited in a report as evidence of the racial bias in the policing of the coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.

The report by Amnesty International, examining the enforcement of physical distancing measures in 12 European countries, concludes that the pandemic has led to greater “marginalisation, stigmatisation and violence”, echoing the long-standing concerns aired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Coronavirus live news: deaths in Latin America pass 100,000 as Fauci warns of ‘disturbing’ US cases surge

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Brazil records 39,436 new cases; 200 cases at one South African school; new cluster confirmed in Tokyo

As the coronavirus spreads, soaring demand for oxygen is bringing out a stark global truth: even the right to breathe depends on money. In much of the world, oxygen is expensive and hard to get a basic marker of inequality both between and within countries.

In wealthy Europe and North America, hospitals treat oxygen as a fundamental need, much like water or electricity. It is delivered in liquid form by tanker truck and piped directly to the beds of coronavirus patients. Running short is all but unthinkable for a resource that literally can be pulled from the air.

In Spain, as coronavirus deaths climbed, engineers laid 7 km (4 miles) of tubing in less than a week to give 1,500 beds in an impromptu hospital a direct supply of pure oxygen. Oxygen is also plentiful and brings the most profits in industrial use such as mining, aerospace, electronics and construction.

But in poor countries, from Peru to Bangladesh, it is in lethally short supply.

In Guinea, a west-coastal country in West Africa, oxygen is a costly challenge for government-funded medical facilities such as the Donka public hospital in the capital, Conakry.

A haunted house in Japan has developed a drive-through format amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Inside a car, guests can scream as loudly as they like, with no mask required. And according to producer Kenta Iwana, 25, the new format might even be scarier than a traditional haunted house.

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‘We live in a cage’: residents hide as macaque ‘gangs’ take over Thai city

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Officials in Lopburi plan to sterilise the animals that have turned nasty after tourists’ bananas were replaced with junk food

Residents in Lopburi, Thailand, are hiding behind barricaded indoors as rival monkey gang fights create no-go zones for humans. The ancient Thai city has been overrun by a growing population of monkeys super-charged on junk food – as locals try to placate the macaques with snacks. The monkeys usually enjoy a steady supply of bananas from tourists, who have dwindled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Pointing to the overhead netting covering her terrace, Kuljira Taechawattanawanna said: “We live in a cage but the monkeys live outside.”

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Uganda reopens border to thousands of people fleeing violence in DRC

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Call for other African countries to reopen for refugees, after crossings were shut to stem the spread of coronavirus

Uganda has temporarily opened its border to thousands of people fleeing deadly ethnic clashes in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Ugandan government closed its reception centres at border crossings in March in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

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Lagos distributes free phones in bid to bridge digital and educational divide

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Closure of Nigeria’s schools during lockdown has hit access to learning for poorer children

Like millions of other children in the sprawling Nigerian city of Lagos, 15-year-old Sharifa Umar switched from classroom learning to lessons over radio, TV and the internet when schools were closed in March because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Programmes set up by the city authorities for public schools have aired on television and radio, following statewide timetables. Individual schools have made online classes available. But for disadvantaged students, access to learning throughout the pandemic has been a challenge.

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Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis denies Potato the Clown his last wish

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Leandro Maduro Costa entertained patients in a Rio hospital before his death from coronavirus

Those who knew and loved him say Leandro Maduro Costa was born a clown, lived his life as a clown – and had hoped to die as one.

“He always said to me: ‘Felipe, if I die first, bury me as ‘Potato’,” said Felipe Alves Guimarães, a friend and fellow entertainer known by audiences as Tambourine.

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Coronavirus has brought US ‘to its knees’, says CDC director

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Dr Robert Redfield tells hearing that public health capabilities underfunded as US sees more than 2.3 million cases

A US public health chief told Congress on Tuesday that coronavirus has “brought this nation to its knees” as America struggles with more than 2.3 million confirmed cases and more than 121,000 deaths so far.

Dr Robert Redfield, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a hearing in Washington that core public health capabilities in the US had been vastly underfunded for a long time and needed urgent investment.

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‘More testing, not less’: Fauci contradicts Trump on coronavirus testing – video

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Health officials contradicted Donald Trump over claims the president made at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday when he told supporters that he told his people 'to slow the testing down' for the coronavirus. Dr Anthony Fauci and other health officials told a House panel they had never been instructed to slow down testing

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From super-spreader Boris to Classic Dom’s eyesight: daily press conference hits | John Crace

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As No 10 announces Covid-19 press conferences are to end, here are some world-beating moments

The daily Downing Street coronavirus press conferences, watched by millions since early March, are coming to an end. Here are some of the most memorable moments.

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Pakistan Covid-19 doctors witness black market deals in blood plasma

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Patients are looking for cure as healthcare system is on brink of collapse, say doctors

As coronavirus chaos has enveloped Pakistan, with hospitals overflowing, doctors dying and infections escalating at an unmanageable rate, a dangerous black market in blood plasma has emerged.

The blood plasma of recovered coronavirus patients is now being sold for upwards of £3,000 to those who are desperately looking for a cure, at a time when doctors say Pakistan’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse.

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Boris Johnson ditches 2-metre rule and reveals new lockdown-easing measures for England – video

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Boris Johnson has announced a raft of new measures aimed at easing England's coronavirus lockdown and restarting the economy. The 2-metre physical distancing rule will be dropped in favour of a '1-metre-plus' approach from 4 July. Members of two different households will be able to eat, drink or dine together, pubs restaurants and hairdressers will reopen with Covid-19 mitigation measures in place 

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UK coronavirus live: Boris Johnson ditches 2m social distancing rule for ‘1m-plus’ in England

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Richard Graham, a Conservative, asks if schools and FE colleges will be able to go back normally in September.

Johnson agrees. He says that is what he wants.

Johnson says the government wants to get the prevalence of coronavirus down so much that shielding is no longer needed.

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Coronavirus live news: German district placed in local lockdown after meat plant outbreak

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Texas ‘wide open for business’; WHO urges dexamethasone steroid boom; Saudi Arabia closes borders to foreign pilgrims

Novak Djokovic, the men’s world No 1 tennis player, has tested positive for Covid-19, the Serbian said in a statement on Tuesday.

Croatia’s Borna Ćorić, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Viktor Troicki have previously tested positive after playing in Djokovic’s Adria Tour exhibition tournament in the Balkan region.

Related: Novak Djokovic tests positive for Covid-19 amid Adria Tour fallout

Italy has seen a surge in bicycle sales since the government ended its coronavirus lockdown as people steer clear of public transport and respond to government incentives to help the environment.

Some 540,000 bikes have been sold nationwide since shops across the country reopened in early May, according to sector lobby Ancma, a 60% increase in the first month compared to the same period in 2019.

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