Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Supreme court blocks House Democrats’ access to Mueller grand jury materials – live

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Joe Biden assailed Donald Trump in a pair of virtual events in Wisconsin, calling him “a destroyer of everything he touches.”

“All he’s ever done is hollow out what really matters and then slap a gold sign on a flimsy foundation,” Biden said during the virtual rally in the battleground state.

“Donald Trump claimed he would fight for the forgotten man, the working class,” the former vice president continued. “But as soon as he got into office, he forgot them.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Biden held a virtual roundtable with Wisconsin congressman Ron Kind and community advocates who spoke about the challenges facing rural Americans during the epidemic.

During the back and forth, Biden, referring to federal funding to combat the economic fallout from the virus, said: “Not one more penny should go to a Fortune 500 company. Period. Period. They don’t need it.”

“Among the speakers at the “rally” was Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee after she won re-election in 2018. Biden called her a “true champion for Wisconsin, a true leader.”
Biden has been ramping up his virtual campaign schedule in recent weeks. Earlier events have been riddled with technical glitches - and the occasional honking duck. By contrast, Wednesday’s events went smoothly.

Related: Biden's lead over Trump widens – but strain on his virtual campaign grows

Prisoners and advocates told the Guardian that some infected inmates are in isolation without medical care or adequate food, cut off from family and attorneys

More than 3,200 prisoners in California have contracted Covid-19 and at least 16 inmates have died, in a public health catastrophe that advocates say was both predictable and preventable.

Related: 'People are sick all around me': inside the coronavirus catastrophe in California prisons

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Brits flock to beaches as coronavirus lockdown eases – video

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Beaches across the south of England were packed on Wednesday as the country basked in the hottest temperatures since the coronavirus outbreak began. Since 13 May, people in England have been allowed to take unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise, sit in the sun, drive to other destinations, and play sports with members of their own household

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Trump considers an in-person G7 meeting despite coronavirus pandemic

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After first moving the talks to a teleconference, the US president, this year’s summit head, is now suggesting a Camp David meeting

Donald Trump has said he may seek to revive a face-to-face meeting of Group of Seven leaders near Washington, after earlier canceling the gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David,” the US president tweeted on Wednesday. “The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all – normalization!”

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Black Americans dying of Covid-19 at three times the rate of white people

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New figures from non-partisan APM Research Lab show staggering racial divide in coronavirus death rate across US

The racial wound at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the US continues to fester, with latest data showing that African Americans have died from the disease at almost three times the rate of white people.

New figures compiled by the non-partisan APM Research Lab and released on Wednesday under the title Color of Coronavirus provide further evidence of the staggering divide in the Covid-19 death rate between black Americans and the rest of the nation.

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Oxfam to close in 18 countries and cut 1,500 staff amid coronavirus pressures

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More cuts in the UK expected as global funding crisis follows Haiti sex-abuse scandal and charity shop lockdown closures

Oxfam International is to lay off almost 1,500 staff and close operations in 18 countries – including Afghanistan where it has worked for 50 years – after it emerged that the global aid organisation had been bleeding cash during the coronavirus crisis.

The agency has seen its funding model hit by an accumulation of crises.

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Peru’s coronavirus response was ‘right on time’ – so why isn’t it working?

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Peru was one of the first Latin America countries to go into lockdown – but the jump in new cases is undeniable, and experts say it’s due to people’s behaviour

Peru seemed to be doing everything right.

Its president, Martín Vizcarra, announced one of the earliest coronavirus lockdowns in Latin America on 16 March.

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Europe should brace for second wave, says EU coronavirus chief

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Exclusive: ‘The question is how big,’ says Dr Andrea Ammon, who thinks March skiing breaks were pivotal to spread

The prospect of a second wave of coronavirus infection across Europe is no longer a distant theory, according to the director of the EU agency responsible for advising governments – including the UK – on disease control.

“The question is when and how big, that is the question in my view,” said Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

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Florida scientist says she was fired for refusing to change Covid-19 data ‘to support reopen plan’

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Dr Rebekah Jones says she was fired from Department of Health by the governor after protesting order to censor information

The scientist in charge of Florida’s Covid-19 database was fired on the same day as the state opened up for business.

As sunbathers returned to beaches, and restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and hair salons in almost every county were permitted to open their doors on Monday, the Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration fired Dr Rebekah Jones from the Florida department of health.

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US demands removal of sexual health reference in UN’s Covid-19 response

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Campaigners condemn letter from USAid’s John Barsa, calling it ‘a disgraceful and dangerous attack on essential health services’

Civil society groups have condemned calls by the Trump administration to remove references to sexual and reproductive health from the UN Covid-19 humanitarian response plan (HRP).

In a letter to the UN secretary-general António Guterres on Monday, John Barsa, the acting administrator for the US agency for international development (USAid), called on the UN to “stay focused on life-saving interventions” and not include abortion as an essential service.

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Pitfalls the UK needs to avoid when contact tracing for coronavirus

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Health expert John Ashton recalls his experience of the early stages of the crisis

Fresh uncertainty over the UK’s contact-tracing plans has thrown light on the difficulties of a successful track-and-trace system to tackle Covid-19. Prof John Ashton, a former regional director of public health and regional medical officer for the north-west of England, describes his experience of contact tracing at the early stages of the coronavirus crisis and highlights pitfalls the UK should avoid.

“In early February I was invited to Bahrain to examine the country’s preparedness for Covid-19. The first case, that of a religious pilgrim returning from a visit to holy sites in Iran, was diagnosed while I was in Bahrain on 24 February.

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‘We can’t turn them away’: the family kitchen fighting lockdown hunger in Zimbabwe

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Samantha Murozoki bartered her jeans and sneakers to stop the food running out, inspiring others to pitch in

It is 7am and hundreds of children have come out on this chilly morning to queue for a plate of porridge.

With makeshift masks covering their faces, the children wait for Samantha Murozoki to start dishing up the warm food into whatever plastic tub, plate, tin cup – or even ripped-off corner of a cardboard box – is presented to her.

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Four-day weeks could be key to New Zealand’s Covid-19 recovery, says Ardern – video

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New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has suggested employers consider a four-day working week and other flexible working options as a way to boost tourism and help employees address persistent work/life balance issues.

Ardern said people had suggested everything from the shorter work week to more public holidays as a means to stimulate the economy and encourage domestic tourism, while the borders remain closed to foreign nationals

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New York enlists ‘army’ of contact tracers to beat coronavirus – but will it work?

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Both city and state aim to recruit thousands to trace contacts of those diagnosed with coronavirus as part of plans to reopen

New York faces enormous challenges in its attempts to implement one of the largest contact tracing schemes in the US, as the city prepares to reopen after nearly two months of coronavirus lockdown.

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has said the state is recruiting an “army of people to trace each person who tested positive” for an “unprecedented, nation-leading contact tracing programme”. The New York city mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced a new test and trace corps, which he said would “lead the way in creating testing and tracing on a level we’ve never seen before in this city or this country”.

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Coronavirus live news: Greece to restart tourism from 15 June

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Country plans to allow international flights from 1 July; Spain makes face coverings compulsory; global cases hit 4.9m

Here is more on US president Donald Trump calling for an in-person G7 meeting.

Donald Trump has said he may seek to revive a face-to-face meeting of Group of Seven leaders near Washington, after earlier canceling the gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Related: Trump considers an in-person G7 meeting despite coronavirus pandemic

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Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine, White House confirms

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  • ‘The president said himself he’s taking it. That’s a given fact’
  • FDA has approved drug for malaria but not against Covid-19

Donald Trump on Tuesday further touted his apparent taking of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as protection against coronavirus despite federal regulators warning of the potentially serious, even fatal, dangers.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US continued to rise and the death toll crept inexorably towards a landmark 100,000, the highest in the world, Trump spent public appearances repeatedly talking about a dubious treatment and an economic comeback.

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‘An individual decision’: Trump defends taking unproved coronavirus drug hydroxychloroquine – video

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The US president has defended his use of the anti-malaria drug, dismissing a study indicating it was not an effective coronavirus treatment as a 'Trump enemy statement'. He also attacked Nancy Pelosi after she publicly expressed concern, claiming she had 'mental problems' 

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President calls negative hydroxychloroquine study ‘a Trump enemy statement’ – as it happened

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Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger report:

Member states have backed a resolution strongly supportive of the World Health Organization, after Donald Trump issued a fresh broadside against the UN body, giving it 30 days to make unspecified reforms or lose out on US funding.

Related: Member states back WHO after renewed Donald Trump attack

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Covid-19’s unlikely victim: new emojis

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The pandemic has forced the Unicode Consortium to delay new emojis in 2021 – but remixes of existing ones could be on their way

Covid-19 has taken so much from us, but now it’s come for our emojis too.

Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump claims to take hydroxychloroquine and threatens to withdraw US from WHO

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