Aerial images reveal impact of outbreak on famous holy sites and capital cities
Empty public squares, a highway with no cars on it and deserted holy sites – a series of striking satellite images have revealed the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on some of the world’s busiest spaces.
The aerial photographs, released by Colorado-based space technology firm Maxar, show normally bustling spots from Mecca to Beijing thinned of people.
Continue reading...As contagion swept through the Diamond Princess, its crew had to carry on working. Here, they recall the climate of chaos and fear that prevailed during the ship’s two-week quarantine
Christian Santos* remembers staying awake at night, anxiously listening to the sound of his colleague coughing. They were sleeping below deck, in one of the small rooms shared by workers on board the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship.
He had spent the previous two weeks serving guests who were confined to their rooms, and watching the miserable failure of disease-control measures on the vessel. Now he knew the coronavirus, which had already transmitted to hundreds of people onboard, had almost certainly entered his own cabin.
Continue reading...First cases reported in Vatican City, Peru and Serbia, while France has further 190 patients, bringing total number to 613
If you’d like to read a summary of the day’s events, here’s our coronavirus at-a-glance article from earlier this evening:
Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance
A 15th person has died in the USA, according to a hospital in Washington state – the worst-hit in the union. EvergreenHealth Medical Center in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland has reported the state’s 12 death.
Kirkland is the site of an outbreak at a nursing facility, where at least six people have died.
Continue reading...Teacher was given 20 minutes to pack and must remain in hotel room for two weeks
Jo Davison and her partner were relaxing in their flat in Shenzhen, China, when the phone rang. She was told by the Chinese authorities that they had been exposed to the coronavirus at close proximity and that officials were on their way.
“It was terrifying. Five people in hazmats turned up at our apartment, they looked like ghostbusters,” she said. “They took swabs from our nose and throat and said they’d return in the morning so we should start packing.”
Continue reading...The truth about the protective value of face masks and whether it’s easy to catch Covid-19
All viruses accumulate mutations over time and the virus that causes Covid-19 is no different. How widespread different strains of a virus become depends on natural selection – the versions that can propagate quickest and replicate effectively in the body will be the most “successful”. This doesn’t necessarily mean most dangerous for people though, as viruses that kill people rapidly or make them so sick that they are incapacitated may be less likely to be transmitted.
Continue reading...King Djoser’s step pyramid is the main attraction at the Saqqara necropolis. A restoration project that began in 2006 and was paused between 2011 and 2013 worked on the outer facades, internal corridors leading to the burial well, the stone sarcophagus and stairs at two entrances
Continue reading...What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. Many of those initially infected either worked or frequently shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in the centre of the Chinese city.
Continue reading...California declares state of emergency; Italian doctors say German man may have been first European with virus and Scotland registers three more cases
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a statement warning businesses to not exploit the coronavirus outbreak and take advantage of people. The CMA said it will take enforcement action against companies that are charging excessive prices or making misleading claims about the efficacy of protective equipment.
CMA chairman Lord Tyrie said: “We will do whatever we can to act against rip-offs and misleading claims, using any or all of our tools; and where we can’t act, we’ll advise government on further steps they could take, if necessary.”
Here’s the latest summary of today’s events.
Continue reading...Climate crisis likely to have supercharged temperatures around world, data suggests
The winter just experienced by Europe was by far the hottest on record, scientists have announced, with the climate crisis likely to have supercharged the heat.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data dates back to 1855. It said the average temperature for December, January and February was 1.4C above the previous winter record, which was set in 2015-16. New regional climate records are usually passed by only a fraction of a degree. Europe’s winter was 3.4C hotter than the average from 1981-2010.
Continue reading...More cases in Scotland and Ireland, Italians in India test positive while Facebook says it will take down hoax claims
Two groups of Italian tourists were under quarantine in India today, with 16 testing positive for the coronavirus, prompting authorities to tighten controls.
Health minister Harsh Vardhan said that passengers on all international flights would now be screened, the AFP news agency reported.
This seems to be emerging a bit of a trend. Footage has appeared showing Iranian health workers dancing and singing in an effort to keep morale up as the country faces the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China.
Videos of medical staff and #coronavirus patients square dancing together in several "shelter hospitals" in #Wuhan have gone viral on Chinese social media.
"Square dancing helps to cheer them up and improve their immunity, which is beneficial for their recovery." pic.twitter.com/Kpqsyqclkj
The partner of the woman, who flew to Auckland via Singapore and is now in isolation, is also showing symptoms and is being tested
A second case of coronavirus has been confirmed in New Zealand, with the infected woman having recently arrived in the country from Italy.
The latest infection is a New Zealand citizen, a woman in her early 30s who recently returned from a trip to northern Italy and rapidly became ill.
Continue reading...Study finds chromosomes offer clue to longer life of different sexes in different species
From humans to black-tailed prairie dogs, female mammals often outlive males – but for birds, the reverse is true.
Now researchers say they have cracked the mystery, revealing that having two copies of the same sex chromosome is associated with having a longer lifespan, suggesting the second copy offers a protective effect.
Continue reading...Up to 100 million people died in 1918-19 in the world’s deadliest pandemic. What can we learn?
Spanish flu is estimated to have killed between 50 million and 100 million people when it swept the globe in 1918-19 – more than double the number killed in the first world war. Two-thirds of its victims died in a three-month period and most were aged 18-49. So what lessons has the world’s deadliest pandemic taught us?
Continue reading...What the government’s measures to fight the spread of Covid-19 mean in practice
Publicity
Publicity will be increased about the need for good hygiene measures (handwashing and “catch it, bin it, kill it”) and for workers to stay at home for the full duration of their illness.
Continue reading...Chemical signatures in ancient ocean crust point to a planet without continents
Scientists have found evidence that Earth was covered by a global ocean that turned the planet into a “water world” more than 3bn years ago.
Telltale chemical signatures were spotted in an ancient chunk of ocean crust which point to a planet once devoid of continents, the largest landmasses on Earth.
Continue reading...UK on course to lose a quarter of its sandy coast because of human-driven erosion
Almost half of the world’s sandy beaches will have retreated significantly by the end of the century as a result of climate-driven coastal flooding and human interference, according to new research.
The sand erosion will endanger wildlife and could inflict a heavy toll on coastal settlements that will no longer have buffer zones to protect them from rising sea levels and storm surges. In addition, measures by governments to mitigate against the damage are predicted to become increasingly expensive and in some cases unsustainable.
Continue reading...South Korea reports almost 500 new cases and a second person dies in the US as UK ministers hold emergency meeting
Big businesses and wealthy people are chartering private jets for “evacuation flights” out of countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak, reports the Guardian’s wealth correspondent Rupert Neate.
Adam Twidell, the chief executive of the private jet booking service PrivateFly, said the company had been inundated with requests from multinational firms arranging the mass evacuation of staff from China and south-east Asia.
Related: Wealthy turning to private jets to escape coronavirus outbreak
British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has had confirmation from the family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman detained in Iran, that she has not been tested for coronavirus. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband told broadcasters this morning that his wife suspected she might have the virus and was displaying all the symptoms.
Just spoken to Nazanin’s family about what was said in the chamber in my Urgent Question - she told them this morning categorically that she has NOT been tested for coronavirus and remains petrified about her health #FreeNazanin
Continue reading...Covid-19 is spreading around the globe but Australia has not yet had a case of community transmission. That is likely to change
With novel coronavirus (Covid-19) spreading with astonishing speed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that many health systems are not prepared to control infections if the disease hits. To mitigate the risk of outbreaks, WHO warned that countries need to have proactive surveillance, rapid diagnosis and immediate quarantine, plus an education campaign so the public knows proper hygiene and what to do if they become sick.
Australia reported its first Covid-19-related death on Sunday – 78-year-old James Kwan from Perth, a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. To date 29 cases have been reported in Australia and of those, 15 have recovered. There is no community transmission, meaning no one has yet caught the disease without travelling to an infection zone or without direct contact with one of the few infected people. But some health experts and researchers have said community spread is inevitable in Australia, and questions are being asked about how many people might need treatment in hospital and how many might become critically ill – and whether resources will cope.
Continue reading...What are the statistics on surviving Covid-19? When might a vaccine be ready? Find out here
Coronavirus Covid-19 has now spread to six continents – only Antarctica is currently free of infections – and has triggered more than 85,000 cases of respiratory illness, of which nearly 3,000 have been fatal. The spread of the disease, which first emerged in Hubei province in central China at the beginning of 2020, has also triggered widespread financial alarm over the past week, with stock markets suffering their worst week since the global financial crisis of 2008.
Covid-19 is now an epidemic in many parts of the globe and is destined to have a major impact on the health of the planet. Here we answer some key questions about the disease and its likely effects.
Continue reading...US strengthens travel advice, raising Iran and Italy to a level three, advising people to ‘avoid nonessential travel’. Follow live news
US confirms first death from the coronavirus in King County in Washington state.
BREAKING: First death from Coronavirus in Washington State - awaiting details on patient said to be from King County - @GovInslee statement @KIRORadio #973FM #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/TjlmhRIeBB
Reuters reports that the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Italy has climbed above 1,000, according to an official who said the number of deaths had surged to 29.
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