Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus live news: New Zealand to trace 320 ‘close contacts’ of virus pair who stopped to meet friends

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Beijing raises alert level and grounds hundreds of flights; India’s official death toll leaps by more than 2,000 to reach 11,903; Brazil suffers record case increase

Around 11,000 mink at a farm in Denmark will have to be culled after they were found to be infected with the coronavirus, the country’s authorities have said.

The outbreak is the first in Denmark, the world’s biggest producer of mink skins, but comes shortly after the virus was found at 13 mink farms in the Netherlands, where about 570,000 mink have been ordered culled.

If you’re planning to meet Vladimir Putin in the next few weeks, be warned: you will have to pass through a special disinfectant tunnel to get to the Russian president.

Putin’s official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has confirmed a report by Russian state television that three airport-style tunnels have been built for the president: one at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, where he has reputedly being doing much of his work during the pandemic, and two at the Kremlin.

В резиденции Путина для защиты от коронавируса установили специальный туннель. Он предназначен для дезинфекцииhttps://t.co/jjwWbuZ2EX pic.twitter.com/h62KWARvsr

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Suites, shoots and leaves: Spanish opera house reopens with concert for plants

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String quartet will play Puccini for potted audience at grand venue in Barcelona

Attendees of the first post-lockdown concert at Barcelona’s Liceu opera house next week will not need masks or gloves, nor will they be required to observe physical distancing.

But they might like to take along a nice comfy pot and a little water to prevent their roots from drying out as a string quartet serenades them, fittingly, with Puccini’s Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums).

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Mexico’s secret churches: invitation-only Catholic masses defy Covid-19 rules

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‘They call you and tell you the place and the date’ – but there are risks, with about 20 praying elderly women busted in one police raid

The invitations arrive via text message or social media. “They ask you for a kind of password to let you in,” said Jesús Preciado, whose father has attended the secretive gatherings in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

Diego Martínez, whose mother has attended the backstairs events, said they were off-limits to anyone not in the know. “It’s invitation-only,” he said. “They call you and tell you the place and the date.”

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Matt Hancock promises update on coronavirus shielding ‘very soon’

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Charities had called for clarity after confusion about when scheme in England would end

An announcement on a possible end to the coronavirus shielding programme in England will come “very soon”, the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said, after healthcare charities called for clarity on the government’s plans.

The scheme affects roughly 2.2 million “clinically extremely vulnerable” people, a category that includes those who have had transplants, are having certain cancer treatments, have severe lung conditions or have immune systems that are particularly vulnerable to infection.

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Jacinda Ardern: new coronavirus cases are ‘unacceptable failure of the system’ – video

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Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand's defence force will oversee the country's quarantine facilities and strengthen border requirements, after a slip-up allowed two arrivals from Britain to leave managed isolation without being tested for coronavirus - for which they later diagnosed positive. The prime minister said she would temporarily remove the compassionate exemption under which the pair were released from quarantine early

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UK begins talks with Australia and New Zealand on free trade deal for post-Brexit era

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Australian and New Zealand ministers say they are eager to do deals with the UK as their economies emerge from the coronavirus crisis

Australia and New Zealand are about to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement with the UK in what the Australian trade minister said was “a strong signal of our mutual support for free trade” in a post-Covid-19 world.

Simon Birmingham said Australia was “ready to help the UK find new beginnings post-Brexit and in doing so, open up new doors for our farmers, businesses and investors”.

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Pandemics result from destruction of nature, say UN and WHO

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Experts call for legislation and trade deals worldwide to encourage green recovery

Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity’s destruction of nature, according to leaders at the UN, WHO and WWF International, and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades.

The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade as well as the devastation of forests and other wild places were still the driving forces behind the increasing number of diseases leaping from wildlife to humans, the leaders told the Guardian.

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Global report: six US states report most ever new coronavirus cases

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More cases in Beijing outbreak; Brazil suffers worst ever day; New Zealand prime minister voices anger over quarantine fiasco

New coronavirus infections have soared to record highs in six American states, marking a rising tide of cases for a second consecutive week as authorities in Beijing said another 31 people had been infected in a fresh outbreak in China.

Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas all reported their most ever new cases on Tuesday after all-time highs last week and as they continued to reopen their economies. Nevada also reported its highest single-day tally of new cases on Tuesday, up from a previous high on 23 May.

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‘Disinfection tunnel’ set up to protect Vladimir Putin from coronavirus

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Anyone visiting the Russian president at his official residence must pass through a special disinfection chamber, state TV says

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been protected from the coronavirus by a special disinfection tunnel that anyone visiting his residence outside Moscow must pass through, according to state television.

The special tunnel, manufactured by a Russian company based in the town of Penza, has been installed at his official Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow where he receives visitors, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday.

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Coronavirus in the Pacific: weekly briefing

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Covid-19-related developments throughout the Pacific Islands

The total number of Covid-19 cases across the Pacific stands at 314, with new cases reported this week in New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

New Zealand is under increasing pressure, both internally and from across the region, to consider Pacific countries as part of its proposed travel ‘bubble’, alongside, or even in place of, Australia. The foreign minister, Winston Peters, initially rejected including Pacific island nations, but later backtracked.

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Australian politics live: consular officials talk to Karm Gilespie, Australian man facing death penalty in China – latest updates

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Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne says Australian authorities visited the detention centre where the 53-year-old is being held. Follow live

Julian Hill is looking at the government’s spend on consultants (an evergreen sentence, no matter what political party is in government)

New analysis by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has found that the big four consultancy firms – Deloitte, Ernest&Young, KPMG and PwC – now collectively reap $800m a year in government contracts.

But only 20% of that figure is spent on actual consultancy contracts, meaning the Morrison government is paying top dollar to large consultancy firms to work as contractors doing the day-to-day work of public servants.

The Australia Institute has begun a new campaign to have truth in advertising part of Australia’s political advertising.

An open letter coordinated by the Australia Institute and signed by 29 prominent Australians calls for parliament to pass truth-in-political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech.

Signatories to the open letter include former political party leaders and politicians, Dr John Hewson, Cheryl Kernot and Michael Beahan; former supreme court judges, the Hon Anthony Whealy QC, the Hon Paul Stein AM QC and the Hon David Harper AM QC, as well as barristers, community leaders, business people and other prominent Australians.

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Police fire teargas at largely peaceful healthcare protest in Paris – video

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French nursing unions called for a national strike to ask for better working conditions and to demand the government keep its promise to overhaul France’s hospital system in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

Police fired teargas after being pelted with objects by a small minority that overturned a car during the demonstration led by healthcare workers

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Johnson makes U-turn on free school meals after Rashford campaign

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‘Covid summer food fund’ announced after pressure from footballer and campaigners

Boris Johnson has been forced into a humbling U-turn over providing food vouchers for some of England’s poorest families after a campaign launched by the footballer Marcus Rashford threatened to engulf his government in another crisis.

In an embarrassing about-face, the prime minister said that on Tuesday he had called the England and Manchester United striker to explain the reversal, and made the remarkable claim that he had only become aware of Rashford’s interest in the issue earlier in the day.

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Covid-19 outbreaks in New Zealand and China highlight stark choices

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To stay coronavirus free, countries face unsustainable social and economic losses

Beijing and New Zealand had both declared themselves Covid-19-free by mid-June, life returning to an enviable normality of schools and shops, work and human contact. It didn’t last long.

Last week, parts of the Chinese capital went back on a “wartime” footing after a cluster of cases emerged linked to the city’s biggest wholesale food market. Movement restrictions are back and residents have already been warned against leaving the city. Schools are closed.

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Public prosecutor faces legal action over Cummings’ Durham trip

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Member of public seeks judicial review of Max Hill’s ‘inaction’ over alleged lockdown breaches

A judicial review is being sought over the failure of the director of public prosecutions, Max Hill, to investigate Dominic Cummings for alleged breaches of the coronavirus lockdown rules.

The complaint has been lodged on behalf of a member of the public, Martin Redston, who is concerned the DPP has shown insufficient independence from the government over the movements of Boris Johnson’s key adviser.

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Don’t blame public for Covid-19 spread, says UK scientist

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Exclusive: Prof John Drury says cooperation more prevalent than selfish behaviour

From empty supermarket shelves to crowded parks, public behaviour has come in for criticism during the Covid-19 outbreak.

But blaming the spread of Covid-19 on selfishness or thoughtless behaviour is misguided and distracts from the real causes of fatalities, according to one of Britain’s leading behavioural psychologists.

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Why are Google and Apple dictating how European democracies fight coronavirus? | Ieva Ilves

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In Latvia we wanted to harness smartphone technology for contact tracing. We ran into a Silicon Valley-built brick wall

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a rush by governments, private companies and digital startups to harness and develop the latest technologies in the fight against the spread of the virus.

To best meet public health needs, digital technology should be able to trace the spread of the virus, identify dangerous Covid-19 clusters and limit further transmission. The essential goal is to register contacts between potential carriers and those who might be infected. This has led to tech solutions using smartphones to perform the otherwise arduous and labour-intensive task of “contact tracing” – determining who has come into contact with a disease carrier and what should be done when a person has had that contact.

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Coronavirus live news: New Zealand records first new cases for weeks as Beijing bans high-risk travellers from leaving city

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China reimposes partial lockdown in capital to tackle new cluster; US authorities revoke emergency use of hydroxychloroquine; two imported cases in NZ. Follow the latest updates

Germany has launched their coronavirus tracing app today, which officials say is so secure even government ministers can use it.

Smartphone apps have been touted as a high-tech tool in the effort to track down potential Covid-19 infections. Experts say finding new cases quickly is key to clamping down on fresh clusters, especially as countries slowly emerge from lockdowns and try to avoid a second wave of infections and deaths.

Russia has reported 8,248 new coronavirus cases today, bringing its nationwide infection tally to 545,458. The authorities said 193 people had died of the virus in the last day, raising the official death toll to 7,284.

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Beijing coronavirus outbreak: travel restricted to tackle ‘extremely severe’ situation

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Restrictions on travel to and from China capital brought in as neighbourhoods sealed off and venues close

Authorities in Beijing have described the city’s coronavirus outbreak as “extremely severe” as dozens more cases emerged, travel from the city was curtailed and its schools and universities shut down.

Beijing residents were told to avoid “non-essential” travel out of the capital, and anyone entering or leaving will be tested for Covid-19.

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