The UK health secretary has said there is a risk of an increase in Covid-19 cases following the Black Lives Matter protests this weekend, while denying Britain is a racist country. Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Matt Hancock said: ‘I support very strongly the argument that is being made by those who are protesting … but the virus itself doesn’t discriminate and gathering in large groups is temporarily against the rules precisely because it increases the risk of the spread of this virus’
Continue reading...Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak
Omission of air pollution from report on Covid-19 and race ‘astonishing’
Failure to consider dirty air as a factor in higher death toll among ethnic minorities wholly irresponsible, say critics
The failure to consider air pollution as a factor in the higher rates of coronavirus deaths among minority ethnic groups is “astonishing” and “wholly irresponsible”, according to critics of a Public Health England review.
The PHE report released on Tuesday confirmed the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from ethnic minorities but did not mention air pollution. Minorities in the UK, US and elsewhere are known to generally experience higher levels of air pollution, and there is growing evidence around the world linking exposure to dirty air exposure to increased coronavirus infections and deaths.
Continue reading...Breakthrough close on coronavirus antibody therapy: reports
Scientists say injection of cloned antibodies could help treat people already infected, while vaccine development continues
Scientists working on coronavirus treatments may be close to a breakthrough on an antibody treatment that could save the lives of people who become infected, it has been reported.
An injection of cloned antibodies that counteract Covid-19 could prove significant for those in the early stages of infection, according to the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: US cases approach 2 million; pope warns Italians not to let their guard down
Bolsonaro conceals Brazilian death toll; Philippines death toll passes 1,000; lockdown in Greece migrant camps extended
- After six months of coronavirus, how close are we to defeating it?
- Global report: Brazil’s running tallies deleted
- Protests ‘incredibly selfish’, Australian finance minister says
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“The word most often used is ‘unprecedented’,” Jo Stubley, a consultant psychiatrist and clinical psychoanalyst in London says, “and it looks increasingly likely that the long-term consequences will also be unprecedented in scale. Given that mental health services have been starved of resources for years, one can only imagine the impact that a deep recession will have on an already beleaguered sector. So there is a lot of concern among health care professionals like myself about what will happen next.”
Related: Health experts on the psychological cost of Covid-19
Continue reading...US protests live: hundreds of thousands march against racial injustice
Large crowds from coast to coast demonstrate against police killing of George Floyd
- States announce police reforms after controversial tactics
- Protests about police brutality met with wave of police brutality
- In their own words: the protesters at the heart of America’s uprising
- What freedom of the press looks like in the US right now
The top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer has resigned following an uproar over a headline bemoaning property damage incurred during the ongoing protests decrying police brutality and racial injustice, the newspaper has announced.
Guardian US reporter Nina Lakhani reports from Harlem:
Hundreds of people prayed and protested in Harlem this afternoon, in a peaceful and hopeful mobilization characterized by dignity, anger, resistance, and determination.
“Get off our necks,” and “racism is America’s original sin,” were among the hard-hitting truths chanted by protesters as they marched uptown from the National Black Theatre, a historical and cultural landmark situated on the corner of 5th Avenue and West 125th Street. Pastors and other faith leaders gave rousing speeches outside the theatre and other iconic spots including the Schomburg Centre for research in black culture – an internationally renowned archive for information on people of African descent which is located on the corner of Lennox Avenue and West 135th Street.
Continue reading...Opec and allies extend oil production cuts to end of July
Nigeria and Iraq also agree to cuts as prices begin to recover with coronavirus lockdowns easing
Opec, Russia and allies have agreed to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July, prolonging a deal that has helped crude prices double in the past two months by withdrawing almost 10% of global supplies from the market.
The group, known as Opec+, also demanded countries such as Nigeria and Iraq, which exceeded production quotas in May and June, compensate with extra cuts in July to September.
Continue reading...Renewable energy stimulus can create three times as many Australian jobs as fossil fuels
Government spending on clean energy would deliver 100,000 new jobs, EY assessment finds
Stimulus programs backing clean energy as a path out of recession would create nearly three times as many jobs for every dollar spent on fossil fuel developments, according to a financial consultancy analysis.
The assessment by professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) says a government focus on renewable energy and climate-friendly projects to drive the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic could create more than 100,000 direct jobs across the country while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue reading...‘It’s psychologically easier’: how anti-vaxxers capitalised on coronavirus fears to spread misinformation
While many believe a Covid-19 vaccine will be a ‘ticket out’, experts are concerned getting people to take it is the real challenge
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When Susan had a baby daughter, she was not planning on having her vaccinated. It didn’t seem abnormal to her – most of her mothers’ group didn’t vaccinate either.
“I had friends who believed in natural healing, healthy food, being vegan, eating raw food. I just didn’t think that vaccines were necessary.”
Continue reading...Prime minister told to dump rhetoric and plan for new Covid wave
Medical chiefs call for a public health campaign as faith in government strategy slumps
Senior figures from across the NHS have issued an urgent plea for a comprehensive plan to tackle a second wave of coronavirus infections, as Boris Johnson continues to lose public confidence in his handling of the pandemic.
Amid persistent fears among scientists that the virus remains too prevalent to ease the lockdown further, the prime minister has been urged to ditch “cheap political rhetoric” that risks eroding the public’s adherence to lockdown measures in the months ahead.
Continue reading...The George Floyd murder and Covid-19 have hurt Trump, but maybe not fatally
The president’s approval ratings have dipped sharply but he could still beat Biden
Voter disapproval of Donald Trump’s handling of the George Floyd protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, plus the accompanying economic meltdown, have undoubtedly hurt the president’s re-election chances.
But it’s unclear whether the damage is fatal. Could Trump, despite everything, still stage a comeback and beat the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden?
Continue reading...French health ban keeps Allied D-day veterans away
Normandy locals mourn the absence of the Allied soldiers forced to stay at home for the first time in 76 years
In Ranville cemetery, a lone piper playing Amazing Grace walked solemnly between the graves as the early morning sun reflected off the rows of white headstones.
Every 6 June for the last 75 years, the soldiers who made it off the Normandy beaches in 1944 have returned to remember comrades who did not. Every year, the pilgrimage became a different kind of battle but still they came, in fewer numbers but just as determined to overcome the odds as they were when they landed to liberate France.
Continue reading...Europe’s big two kiss and make up for pandemic rescue deal
Germany amazed the whole continent with last week’s stimulus package, but it paves the way for countries such as France to agree an effective coronavirus response
From champion of austerity to Europe’s biggest spender – Germany has travelled a long way in just a few months. The notoriously frugal ministry of finance has agreed to spend €130bn – a sum equal to 4% of national income – on more than 50 initiatives to promote growth across the country.
This breathtaking investment programme comes on top of the almost 30% of GDP the government has so far spent on rescuing businesses and protecting jobs during the coronavirus crisis.
Continue reading...Merkel among winners as Europeans give verdict on anti-Covid battles
Satisfaction levels across the continent have risen and fallen, but nowhere have they plunged as for Boris Johnson’s government
All across the continent, most Europeans now trust their leaders generally, and how they have handled the coronavirus pandemic in particular, a little less than when the crisis began – but nowhere has public confidence fallen as far and as fast as in the UK.
Even leaders seen as having managed Covid-19 the most successfully, such as Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel and Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen, have suffered slight dips in popular satisfaction as the weeks have worn on.
Continue reading...‘We need the Brits’: Benidorm banks on August tourist surge
Spanish resort ‘like a ghost town’ as UK’s Covid-19 lockdown keeps its best customers away
There’ll be no craic at the Shamrock tonight, says Lisa Griffin, who has run the Irish pub in Benidorm for 25 years.
Griffin’s 15 staff, who include a four-piece band, are on furlough and no one knows what will happen when the Spanish government’s scheme comes to an end on 30 June.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: China warns of Covid-linked ‘racial violence’ overseas
Beijing warns citizens against travel to Australia; UK is second country to pass 40,000 Covid-19 deaths; Sweden has 1,000 new cases for third day running
In Russia, 197 more people have died with coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the country’s official death toll to 5,725.
There have been 8,855 new cases of the virus, according to officials, pushing the total number of infections to 458,689.
Related: St Petersburg death tally casts doubt on Russian coronavirus figures
In Nepal, climbers who earn a living supporting international expeditions to summit Everest have been pushed into destitution by the cancellation of this year’s climbing season amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fundraising has been launched by climbers to support the community of porters, cooks and guides left without any income since the government cancelled climbing permits and stopped international flights, the Guardian reports today in a piece by Roshan Sedhai in Kathmandu, Amelia Gentleman and Pete Pattisson.
Related: Nepali climbers and support staff destitute after Everest closure
Continue reading...Care home residents foot £100 a week for coronavirus costs
Older people and families asked to pay bill on top of usual fees as homes reel from cost of PPE and staff absences
Some older people who fund their own care home fees are being forced to pay a steep and unexpected coronavirus bill by their care provider, it has been revealed.
Older people and their families are being asked to pay more than £100 a week on top of their usual care home fees, with homes saying the cost of PPE and staff absences could push their finances into the red, threatening their sustainability.
Continue reading...Exclusive: nearly 600 US health workers died of Covid-19 – and the toll is rising
The Guardian and KHN release new figures showing the harsh toll that the pandemic is taking on the frontline health workers
Nearly 600 frontline healthcare workers have died of Covid-19, according to Lost on the Frontline, a project launched by the Guardian and Kaiser Health News (KHN) that aims to count, verify and memorialize and every healthcare worker who dies during the pandemic.
Continue reading...WHO advises public to wear face masks when unable to distance
Over-60s should use medical-grade masks and all others three-layer fabric ones, health body says
People over 60 or with health issues should wear a medical-grade mask when they are out and cannot socially distance, according to new guidance from the World Health Organization, while all others should wear a three-layer fabric mask.
The announcement on Friday marks a significant change of stance by the WHO, which until now has been reluctant to advocate the wearing of masks by the public because of limited evidence that they offer protection.
Continue reading...Global alliance formed to counter China threat amid rising tensions
Lawmakers from EU parliament and eight other countries create new body
International cooperation is needed to protect democratic values from an increasingly assertive communist China, a new group made up of lawmakers from eight countries and the EU parliament has said.
The legislators, representing parties across the political spectrum, have formed a global alliance, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, to push their governments to take a stronger stance on relations with the country.
Continue reading...UK coronavirus live: infection R rate rises to between 0.7 and 1 in England
News updates: EHRC will look into ‘long-standing, structural race inequality’; those shielding in Wales asked to stay home until mid-August
- Infection rate has risen, estimates show
- CPS asked to review rail worker’s death
- Rail unions may strike over face-cover volunteers
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
A senior Northern Ireland police officer has made a strong appeal to protesters not to take part in demonstrations this weekend.
PSNI assistant chief constable Alan Todd said his officers are engaging with organisers of Black Lives Matter gatherings to explain the coronavirus regulations, adding if the warnings are ignored then enforcement will be used.
I have a very clear message to organisers, the best way to resolve this for everybody’s interests is to call off these events.
Large crowd protests are at this time inappropriate.
On any other day as a police service we would be fully facilitating those protests in a peaceful and lawful manner with the organisers, however this is not any other day, we’re in the middle of a pandemic and gathering in crowds, socially distanced or otherwise, is both a risk to public health and a breach of the health protection regulations.
It seems to be somewhat ironic that we would protest the avoidable and unnecessary death of an individual in the United States by risking unnecessary and avoidable deaths in Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...