Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tests positive for coronavirus – live

Posted on by

A fascinating dispatch from Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair, who cites “two Republicans briefed on the family conversations” in reporting that Donald Trump Jr is worried by his dad’s car-ride-and-tweet-storm response to being hospitalised with Covid-19:

‘Don Jr has said he wants to stage an intervention, but Jared and Ivanka keep telling Trump how great he’s doing,’ a source said. Don Jr is said to be reluctant to confront his father alone. ‘Don said, ‘I’m not going to be the only one to tell him he’s acting crazy,’’ the source added.

One area where the family seems united is over the president’s manic tweeting early Monday morning. After Trump sent out more than a dozen all-caps tweets, the Trump children told people they want Trump to stop. ‘They’re all worried. They’ve tried to get him to stop tweeting,’ a source close to the family told me.

…Trump’s father, Fred Trump Sr, insisted on working even after his Alzheimer’s disease advanced in the 1990s … Every day Fred Sr would go to the office in Brooklyn and they would give him blank papers to sort through and sign. The phone on Fred’s desk was set up so that it could only dial out to his secretary. “Fred pretended to work,” the family friend said.

A new Times/Siena survey has Joe Biden ahead of Donald Trump in Arizona, a traditionally conservative state-turned presidential battleground.

Biden leads Trump 49% to 41% in Arizona, with just 6% of likely voters saying they were undecided. He is buoyed by his lopsided support among Hispanics, women and young people. The candidates are effectively tied in their support among seniors, a critical voting block in the state that has soured on Trump amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Continue reading...

Ministers accused of putting lives at risk with Covid data error

Posted on by

Matt Hancock says no lockdowns need to be changed because of 16,000 unreported cases

Ministers have been accused of “putting lives at risk” through data failures which led to nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases going unreported in England, but Matt Hancock insisted the problem had been addressed.

Updating the Commons after it emerged that data transfer errors between laboratories and Public Health England (PHE) meant 15,841 positive results were left off daily figures between 25 September and 2 October, the health secretary said just over half those missed were now having their contacts traced.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: Europe struggles to contain surge of cases

Posted on by

Rise in infection rate in Paris as Spanish authorities clash over Madrid lockdown

Bars in Paris have been ordered to close for two weeks, Madrid residents may no longer leave their city and Ireland is set to introduce tighter national restrictions as governments struggle to contain a Europe-wide surge in Covid-19 cases.

As infections in the Paris area rose to 270 for every 100,000 people – and as high as 500 for every 100,000 among 20- to 30-year-olds – with 36% of intensive care beds occupied by Covid-19 patients, the city’s police chief said bars must close from Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Lana Del Rey criticised for wearing mesh mask to poetry reading

Posted on by

Musician posed with fans at a Los Angeles bookshop wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not fully cover her nose and mouth

Fans of Lana Del Rey have criticised her for wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not appear to fully cover her nose and mouth at a surprise poetry reading and book signing event.

The musician read from her new collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, and posed with fans at a Barnes and Noble store in Los Angeles at the weekend, wearing a net facial covering that did not seem to assist in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Continue reading...

Zimbabwe teachers refuse to return to work over low pay and lack of sanitation

Posted on by

An acute shortage of sanitiser, PPE and clean water is putting pupils and school staff at risk of Covid-19, say unions

Teachers in Zimbabwe are refusing to return to work after the resumption of some classes this week, accusing the government of failing to adequately prepare for the opening of schools.

Schools reopened last week for pupils due to sit exams in early December, six months after they were closed because of a rise in Covid-19 cases in the country. But teachers say the government is ill-prepared to deal with a possible outbreak of the virus in schools.

Continue reading...

Did early focus on hand washing and not masks aid spread of Covid-19?

Posted on by

Increasing number of scientists believe risk from contaminated surfaces may have been overplayed

From the moment coronavirus reached UK shores, public health advice stressed the importance of washing hands and deep-cleaning surfaces to reduce the risk of becoming infected.

The advice was informed by mountains of research into the transmission of other respiratory viruses: it was the best scientists could do with such a new pathogen.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: global cases pass 35m as Walter Reed physician calls Trump drive ‘insanity’

Posted on by

UK reports 22,961 new cases, says figure ‘artificially high’; nine New York neighbourhoods headed for lockdown; Ireland health experts recommend moving to highest level. Follow the latest updates

In non-coronavirus news, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,382 to 300,619, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The reported death toll rose by five to 9,534, the tally showed.

The New York Times, citing medical experts, reported on Sunday that Trump’s medical treatments suggest that the president has a “severe” case of Covid-19.

The times report, which asks several doctors to decipher how ill Trump may be – amid confusing and contradictory reports from his medical staff and the White House – based on the treatments he is taking.

Some experts raised an additional possibility: that the president is directing his own care, and demanding intense treatment despite risks he may not fully understand. The pattern even has a name: V.I.P. syndrome, which describes prominent figures who receive poor medical care because doctors are too zealous in treating them — or defer too readily to their instructions.

Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody therapy: On Friday afternoon, the White House said in a letter that Trump was treated with an 8-gram dose of the experimental antibody therapy cocktail made by the biotechnology company Regeneron. The investigational cocktail, known by its investigational name REGN-COV2, has been in clinical trials since June.

Remdesivir: President Trump is being given a five-day course of the antiviral drug remdesivir, one of the doctors treating him said during a briefing on Saturday. The treatment is intended to shorten recovery time for Covid-19 patients. In a Phase 3 clinical trial, remdesivir was found to speed recovery in moderately ill patients with pneumonia from Covid-19, according to results published in the medical journal JAMA in August.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: Irish government ‘to reject new lockdown recommendation’; Paris bars to close

Posted on by

Ireland’s health chiefs called for highest level of restrictions late on Sunday; restaurants in Paris can stay open but bars cannot

French health authorities have reported that the number of patients being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) for Covid-19 has gone beyond the 1,400 threshold for the first time since 28 May.

The latest figure comes the day before Paris is to be placed on maximum Covid-19 alert, meaning bars will be forced to close for two weeks, partly because of the sharp rise of the number of people in ICUs.

Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona has been tested for the coronavirus, his lawyer said on Twitter on Monday.

The results of the former striker’s test are expected within 24 hours, his lawyer Matias Morla said. Morla shared a photo of a medical worker swabbing Maradona at his home.

Cumpliendo con los protocolos y para tranquilidad de Diego y de su familia, Maradona fue hisopado este mediodia en su domicilio. Los resultados estarán en las próximas 24 horas. pic.twitter.com/BTCLVgyc0c

Continue reading...

Auckland coronavirus restrictions to be lifted from Wednesday night

Posted on by

New Zealand’s largest city to move to level 1 as Jacinda Ardern says there is 95% probability Auckland cluster is eliminated

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city will be lifted this week, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she expressed confidence a second wave of Covid-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated.

The city will move to alert level 1 from 11.59pm on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria reports nine new cases and Bondi beach to close as crowds reach capacity

Posted on by

Victoria to return to staged face-to-face teaching next week; treasurer Josh Frydenberg promises a jobs-focused budget. Follow live

Here’s the latest case data from Victoria:

Three of today’s nine new cases have been linked to known outbreaks or are considered complex cases. These are linked to the Butcher’s Club Chadstone Shopping Centre outbreak, with single cases linked to Corrigan Produce Farms Clyde North and Coles Williamstown. The other six cases remain under investigation.

Anglicare is calling on the federal government to increase jobseeker and fund social housing projects in tomorrow’s budget announcements.

“A permanent boost to jobseeker will add billions of dollars to the economy and at least 145,000 full-time jobs. The benefits would go straight to the areas that need them most,” Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said in a statement.

Social housing will offer relief for the tens of thousands of people who are homeless in Australia. It also boosts GDP, and creates jobs in construction for the regions that need it most.

With the economy reeling in the wake of the coronavirus, we need to invest in projects that are shovel-ready. There is no time to waste. Social housing projects can get off the ground quickly – and they bring long-term benefits.

The fact is that one-off payments and tax cuts won’t help people out of poverty. And they won’t boost the economy. A jobseeker increase and social housing will do both.

Continue reading...

‘This is insanity’: Walter Reed physician among critics of Trump drive-by visit

Posted on by

President briefly left hospital for surprise drive past supporters with at least two others in vehicle

Donald Trump drew immediate rebuke from doctors on Sunday afternoon for an “insane” surprise drive-by visit to supporters outside the Walter Reed military medical center, where the president is being treated for an infection of Covid-19.

At least two other people, probably Secret Service agents, wearing respirators and eye protection, were seen on video in the vehicle accompanying Trump, who was also masked, during the short drive.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump drives past supporters after saying he has ‘learnt a lot about Covid’ – video

Posted on by

After releasing an upbeat video message from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, US president Donald Trump left hospital to wave to his supporters in a motorcade. Throngs of flag-waving Trump supporters gathered outside the hospital where Trump was being treated for Covid-19. The move was criticised as insanity' by one Walter Reed doctor. In the video message Trump thanked the medical team, saying: 'The work they do is just absolutely amazing.' He added that his time in hospital has been 'a very interesting journey' and that he has 'learnt a lot about Covid'. 

  •  
Continue reading...

Sean Conley: who is the Trump doctor whose updates are raising questions

Posted on by

Physician’s press briefings leave medical experts, analysts and the public searching for the truth as to how sick the president really is

Donald Trump has often boasted of surrounding himself with “the best people” and the medical skills of Dr Sean Conley, the personal physician now charged with steering the US president back to health through his encounter with Covid-19, have never been called into question.

Related: Trump's steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health

Continue reading...

Trump’s steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health

Posted on by

Dexamethasone ‘normally reserved for people going into respiratory failure’, says expert

The latest intervention from Donald Trump’s medical team has been to put the president on dexamethasone, a steroid that is proven, thanks to the UK’s Recovery trial, to benefit Covid-19 patients who are having breathing difficulties.

But the decision to administer the steroid now has only added to the confusion surrounding the president’s state of health. Normally, dexamethasone is reserved for patients who have been ill for at least a week and whose oxygen levels are low.

Continue reading...

Fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies after catching Covid-19 aged 81

Posted on by

Takada was the first Japanese designer to make a mark on the Paris fashion scene

The Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada has died in Paris after contracting Covid-19, a spokesperson has announced. He was 81.

Takada, known best by his first name, was the first designer from Japan to break into the city’s exclusive fashion milieu in the 1970s.

Continue reading...

Leak reveals possible harsher three-tier Covid plan for England

Posted on by

Exclusive: government documents suggest potential pub closures and stricter social contact rules

A new three-tier lockdown system is being planned for England, with leaked government documents paving the way for potential harsher restrictions including the closure of pubs and a ban on all social contact outside of household groups.

The draft traffic-light-style plan, seen by the Guardian, is designed to simplify the current patchwork of localised restrictions, which apply to about a quarter of the UK. It also reveals tougher measures that could be imposed by the government locally or nationally if Covid cases are not brought under control.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump received oxygen at least twice since Covid-19 diagnosis – video

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, said the president experienced two drops in his blood oxygen levels and had needed to be given supplemental oxygen twice since becoming ill on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference, Conley said he had been upbeat about the president’s health in a previous briefing because he hadn't wanted to 'steer the course of the illness' but in doing so had made it seem as if Trump's medical team were trying to hide something, which, he said, 'wasn't necessarily true'.

Another member of the team, Dr Brian Garibaldi, said the president may be released as early as tomorrow

Continue reading...

French worker fired after going to the office before Covid test result

Posted on by

Sébastien Klem takes employer to tribunal, but ex-colleagues dispute version of events

A French housing association employee has been fired for serious misconduct after returning to his office before receiving the result of a coronavirus test that came back positive.

Sébastien Klem, 41, insisted he had no idea he had the virus and only took a test because he was driving past a diagnostic centre and saw there was no queue. “Apart from a light cough, I didn’t have any other symptom,” he told France3 television.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus restrictions may continue beyond Christmas, says Boris Johnson – video

Posted on by

Boris Johnson has said the UK's coronavirus restrictions could continue beyond Christmas in a sobering interview on the Andrew Marr Show. The prime minister said the outlook would be very different by spring 2021, but that things would 'continue to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond'

Continue reading...

Trump’s New Jersey event showed perilous neglect for his staff, supporters – and himself

Posted on by

Why did the White House allow a fundraising event to go on after one of Trump’s closest aides tested positive for Covid?

On Thursday afternoon Donald Trump held a roundtable of 19 top Republican donors at Bedminster, his 36-hole golf course in New Jersey, where he vented his frustrations about how his push for a rapid vaccine against Covid-19 was being undermined by the deep state.

According to a description of the meeting recorded on video by one of the donors present, “the president said that the approval for vaccines has been slowed down for political reasons by people who wanted to hurt him”.

Continue reading...