Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Hockney invites budding artists to find joys of spring in lockdown

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Artist provides inspiration for competition to lift spirits during the coronavirus crisis

Locked down in France, the British artist David Hockney has been sitting in the garden of his Normandy home drawing the blossoming of spring. The cherry and other fruit trees, the hawthorns and blackthorns, all feature in his works, famously created on his iPad.

Now Hockney, 82, is the inspiration for a competition to encourage young and old to create an image that captures the season and to lift coronavirus lockdown spirits.

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Mexico: adulterated alcohol deaths rise to over 100 amid ban on official sales

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  • Methanol believed to involved in incidents across country
  • Sale of liquor banned during Covid-19 pandemic

More than 100 Mexicans have died from drinking adulterated alcohol over the past month in a string of mass poisonings which followed a ban on the sale of liquor during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deaths from unsafe alcohol have been reported in at least four states. On Thursday, health officials in the central state of Puebla said the death toll there had reached 51 after a batch of moonshine was tainted with methanol – a wood alcohol which can cause blindness and kidney damage.

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‘People are more scared of hunger’: coronavirus is just one more threat in Nigeria

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The pandemic has left many people in Orile, Lagos state, struggling for survival – and compounded the risks of the area’s heavily polluted air and water supply

  • All photographs by Nurudeen Olugbade

For Nurudeen Olugbade taking photographs of life in Orile-Iganmu, Lagos state, during the pandemic is a way to affirm that the disruption it has wrought on the neglected town does matter.

“We are not really seen. There’s very little attention paid to us but the struggle out here is real,” says Olugbade, 28, who has documented the crisis on his phone.

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World looks on in horror as Trump flails over pandemic despite claims US leads way

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The president’s outlandish behavior as Americans suffer has inspired horror and confusion while alienating allies

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the US is “leading the world” with its response to the pandemic, but it does not seem to be going in any direction the world wants to follow.

Across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, views of the US handling of the coronavirus crisis are uniformly negative and range from horror through derision to sympathy. Donald Trump’s musings from the White House briefing room, particularly his thoughts on injecting disinfectant, have drawn the attention of the planet.

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Kenya’s pastoralists face hunger and conflict as locust plague continues

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As herds are devastated and crops destroyed across east Africa, there are fears of violence as competition for grazing increases

Tiampati Leletit had heard tales of massive desert locust swarms darkening Kenya’s horizon. But when they hit his farm the devastation was all too real. They ate everything.

“I have never seen anything like this. When the swarms of locust invaded, they consumed everything and all the vegetation was gone. The livestock had nothing to eat,” says the 32-year-old. In January, he had 80 goats. Today he has four.

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Fighting a locust plague amid Covid-19 in east Africa – video

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The recent coronavirus pandemic is only exacerbating the problems currently facing herders, also known as pastoralists, in Kenya. They’ve seen their livestock devastated and crops destroyed after the worst locust invasions in 70 years and vlllagers are bracing themselves for another swarm, 400 times larger if left unchecked.  With less vegetation for grazing, herders can sometimes infringe on neighbours land, causing violent conflict.

We follow Josephine Ekiru, a peace-builder, who is trying to help as economic insecurity caused by the pandemic fuels attacks

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Turkey’s lockdown rainbows have become another symbol of division

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In a country highly polarised along political and religious lines the symbol has become another cultural battleground

Like many children across the world sent home from school, youngsters in Turkey were encouraged to draw pictures of rainbows and place them in windows to cheer up the country in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Orders to teachers from some local education boards to stop because the rainbows were part of a “plot” to turn children gay were met with surprise.

Instead of boosting morale, the lockdown rainbows have become yet another symbol of division, the latest cultural battleground in a country highly polarised along political and religious lines.

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Africa facing a quarter of a billion coronavirus cases, WHO predicts

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But continent will have fewer deaths than Europe and US because of its younger population and other lifestyle factors

Nearly a quarter of a billion people across 47 African countries will catch coronavirus over the next year, but the result will be fewer severe cases and deaths than in the US and Europe, new research predicts.

A model by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional office for Africa, published in the BMJ Global Health, predicts a lower rate of transmission and viral spread across the continent than elsewhere, resulting in up to 190,000 deaths. But the authors warn the associated rise in hospital admissions, care needs and “huge impact” on services such as immunisation and maternity, will overwhelm already stretched health services.

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Global report: Trump threat to cut trade ties over Covid-19 branded ‘lunacy’ by Chinese media

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President says he doesn’t want to speak to counterpart Xi; Brazil passes 200,000 infections; Baltic travel ‘bubble’ begins

An escalation of rhetoric between Donald Trump and China over the coronavirus pandemic has sparked concerns that a trade deal between the nations is in peril, as Chinese state media dismissed as “lunacy” a suggestion by the US president that he could “cut off relations” with Beijing.

The US president said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain Covid-19 in an interview with Fox Business news. Trump said the pandemic had cast a pall over his January trade deal with Beijing and that he had no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping at the moment.

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Coronavirus Australia live news: Rockhampton aged-care nurse tests positive to Covid-19 – latest updates

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Queensland’s chief health officer says staff member in facility with 115 residents continued to work when sick. Follow live

One of the eight new cases of Covid-19 detected in New South Wales in the past 24 hours is an overseas traveller who recently flew from Brisbane to Sydney after completing their mandatory 14-day quarantine period, the state’s health department said.

Despite completing the quarantine in Brisbane, the person developed symptoms afterwards and NSW Health believes “it is likely they were infectious on the flight to Sydney”.

Look I know it’s not strictly coronavirus-related but this video, put together by my colleagues Steph Harmon and Becca Leaver, of beloved children’s author Andy Griffiths answering questions sent in by our younger readers is very good and fun and wholesome.

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Coronavirus live news: Europe could face deadly second wave of winter infections, WHO warns

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Spain hails large-scale antibody study; no Danish virus deaths for first time since March; China marks one month with no Covid-19 deaths

New York will join the nearby states of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware in partially reopening beaches for the Memorial Day weekend, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.

Reuters reports that Cuomo’s announcement comes one day after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was opening the beaches for the traditional May 23-25 start of summer.

Related: Coronavirus US live: House to vote on $3tn stimulus package opposed by Trump and Senate

There were 242 new coronavirus fatalities in Italy on Friday, down by 20 from Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 31,610.

New infections rose by 789, down by over 200 within the last 24 hours, according to the civil protection authority.

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Trump: ‘We could cut off relationship with China’ – video

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US president Donald Trump says he could 'cut off' the relationship with China following the coronavirus outbreak. In an interview wth Fox Business, Trump expressed his disappointment with China for failing to contain the Covid-19 outbreak before adding he maintained a good relationship with leader, Xi Jinping, but 'right now, I don't want to speak with him'

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Ousted whistleblower warns US facing ‘darkest winter in modern history’

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Rick Bright testified before congressional committee that as virus spreads in US the ‘window is closing to address this pandemic’

Americans should brace themselves for the risk that they will suffer their “darkest winter in modern history” due to the ongoing federal government failures in addressing the coronavirus pandemic, a recently ousted public health official turned whistleblower warned the US Congress.

Rick Bright, who was removed from his role heading a federal agency in charge of vaccines last month, told a congressional committee on Thursday that as the virus continues to spread in the US the “window is closing to address this pandemic” because the Trump administration still lacks a comprehensive plan to tackle Covid-19.

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Global report: leaders urge free vaccines as France allows staycations

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French drugmaker criticised for giving US priority; Gordon Brown says Covid-19 solution is global

More than 140 world leaders and experts have called for future Covid-19 vaccines to be made available to everyone free of charge, amid growing tensions between drug companies and governments and a boycott of vaccine summits by the US.

Vaccines and treatments for the virus should not be patented, say the signatories to an open letter published in the run-up to next week’s meeting of the World Health Assembly, the policy-setting body of the UN’s World Health Organization. Instead, scientific breakthroughs must be shared across borders, they urge.

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Drivers tell of chaos at UK’s privately run PPE stockpile

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Allegations raise questions over Movianto’s management of government stocks during coronavirus outbreak

The private firm contracted to run the government’s stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) was beset by “chaos” at its warehouse that may have resulted in delays in deploying vital supplies to healthcare workers, according to sources who have spoken to the Guardian and ITV News.

The allegations from delivery drivers and other well–placed sources raise questions about whether Movianto, the subsidiary of a US healthcare giant, was able to adequately manage and distribute the nation’s emergency stockpile of PPE for use in a pandemic.

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Cruise firm Carnival slashes jobs and pay in face of Covid-19 crisis

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World’s largest cruise company declines to give details for extent of redundancies

Cruise ship company Carnival has announced a wide-ranging programme of job losses and pay cuts as it desperately seeks to cut costs in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The world’s largest cruise company said it would save “hundreds of millions of dollars” over the course of a year after making the cuts but declined to give details of the extent of redundancies and furloughs.

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US could face ‘darkest winter in modern history’, warns former vaccine official – video highlights

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Rick Bright, a former top vaccine official, has told a Congressional committee that the US faces its 'darkest winter in modern history' if it does not develop a coordinated response to the pandemic. Bright has turned whistleblower and claims his removal from his federal government role last month was retaliation by the Trump administration for his resistance to the promotion of unproven drugs to treat Covid-19

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Canada’s Calgary zoo to return two giant pandas after bamboo supply disruption

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Scarcity of flights due to coronavirus pandemic has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them

The Calgary zoo will be returning two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to Covid-19 has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them.

Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Calgary in 2018 after spending five years at the Toronto zoo and were to remain in the Alberta city until 2023.

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Coronavirus cases among refugees on Lesbos spark fresh calls for evacuation

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NGOs say infections among arriving refugees show urgent need to move more migrants from Moria camp to mainland

Two migrants arriving by sea to the Greek island of Lesbos tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, leading to increased calls for evacuation of the overcrowded local camps.

The Moria camp in Lesbos has so far not reported cases of the virus, though two other camps and a hotel where asylum-seekers are staying were locked down in April after positive coronavirus tests were returned.

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