Category Archives: Science

Coronavirus: two patients die in France as four new cases detected in England – live updates

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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

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What happens if coronavirus spreads in Australia?

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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.

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Coronavirus outbreak: the key scientific questions answered

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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.

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Coronavirus: South Korea reports ‘critical moment’ after 813 new cases – latest updates

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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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Yes, it is worse than the flu: busting the coronavirus myths

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The truth about the protective value of face masks and how easy it is to catch Covid-19

Many individuals who get coronavirus will experience nothing worse than seasonal flu symptoms, but the overall profile of the disease, including its mortality rate, looks more serious. At the start of an outbreak the apparent mortality rate can be an overestimate if a lot of mild cases are being missed. But this week, a WHO expert suggested that this has not been the case with Covid-19. Bruce Aylward, who led an international mission to China to learn about the virus and the country’s response, said the evidence did not suggest that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. If borne out by further testing, this could mean that current estimates of a roughly 1% fatality rate are accurate. This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu, which is estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people a year globally.

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World Bank’s $500m pandemic scheme accused of ‘waiting for people to die’

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Bonds designed to provide fast funding for poor countries branded ‘obscene’ because of complex payout criteria

A flagship $500m World Bank scheme to help the poorest countries deal with a health emergency is “too little too late” for the coronavirus outbreak, say health experts.

The first pandemic emergency financing (PEF) bonds were launched in 2017 by Jim Yong Kim, the bank’s president at the time, after the Ebola outbreak in west Africa. Designed to potentially “save millions of lives and entire economies” by speedily funnelling money to nations facing pandemics.

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Coronavirus news: death toll rises in Italy and Iran as outbreak could cause 2008-level economic damage – live updates

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Britain’s chief medical officer says mass gatherings could be cancelled. Meanwhile, experts say virus could trigger 2008-level economic damage

In the US, health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, on Thursday said that at least 40 public health labs can currently test specimens for coronavirus and that could more than double as soon as Friday.

Azar, speaking before the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tested 3,625 specimens for the fast-moving virus as of this morning.

He said at least 40 labs currently have test kits that were previously manufactured by the CDC that were modified to test for coronavirus.

He added that a newly manufactured CDC test can be sent to 93 public health labs as soon as Monday, and a privately manufactured test based on the new CDC test could be sent to those same labs as early as tomorrow, pending FDA clearance.

Related: Five questions Donald Trump must answer on coronavirus

Downing Street defended the response to the situation at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

The Foreign Office has been in contact with more than 100 British nationals who are staying in the hotel.

They are providing them with support, they are also in regular contact with local authorities and tour companies to share information.

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Coronavirus in a war zone: Afghanistan braces for outbreak after first case

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Lone Kabul laboratory preparing to treat patients in the midst of political turmoil and tentative peace talks, as border with Iran closed

Preparations for an outbreak of coronavirus were underway in Afghanistan as the country confirmed its first case in the western province of Herat, which borders Iran.

Seven more suspected cases have been identified in Herat, and three cases in the nearby provinces of Farah and Ghor.

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Coronavirus live updates: Trump puts Mike Pence in charge of US response, says risk to Americans ‘very low’

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Saudi Arabia bans religious tourists from entering country as WHO says virus now spreading faster outside China than in it. Follow latest news

Fiji has extended its travel ban due to coronavirus fears. Travellers who have been in Italy, Iran and the South Korean cities of Daegu and Cheongdo will not be permitted to enter Fiji. Visitors who had been in mainland China in the last 14 days have also been forbidden entry into the Pacific nation.

There are no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus in Fiji, but Pacific nations are fearful of how their health systems will cope were the virus to reach their shores.

Ian Thorpe, the Australian Olympic swimming legend, says athletes must consider their own health before attending the Tokyo Games this year.

Thorpe, whose five Olympic golds make him the most successful Australian Olympian all time, spoke out as concerns mounted about whether the Games in July and August will go ahead because of the coronavirus outbreak.

I think the decision should come down to each individual athlete. But whether or not they want to compete, that they should take their health into consideration first.

Related: Athletes must consider their own health before travelling to Olympics, says Ian Thorpe

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‘Electronic nose’ could smell breath to warn about higher risk of oesophageal cancer

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Current diagnostic method for Barrett’s oesophagus relies on invasive and costly endoscopy

An electronic device that “sniffs” breath may offer a new way to identify people with a condition that can lead to cancer of the oesophagus, researchers have revealed.

Recent figures suggest there are about 9,000 new cases of oesophageal cancer, or cancer of the food pipe, every year in the UK.

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Coronavirus: fourth Diamond Princess passenger dies as Japan closes some schools – live news

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Concerns mount that the spread of Covid-19 cannot be stopped as stock markets fall amid investor fears. Follow latest news

Italy may need to call on the European Union to offer leeway on its budget targets as it struggles with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said.

Deputy economy minister, Laura Castelli, made the comments a day after prime minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the fallout from the outbreak, which has concentrated in the economic powerhouses of northern Italy, would be “very strong”.

If you want to share any thoughts or news tips with me about the coronavirus then please email: sarah.marsh@theguardian.com or tweet me @sloumarsh. My direct messages are open. Thanks

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Coronavirus: South Korea to test 200,000 sect members as pandemic fears hit markets

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Nation brings in ‘maximum measures’ to contain outbreak at secretive church

South Korea has stepped up its “maximum measures” to contain the coronavirus with plans to test around 200,000 members of a secretive church believed to be at the centre of the country’s outbreak.

Along with an emergency budget and a crackdown on the hoarding of face masks, the government in Seoul will test members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus after its founder agreed to provide authorities with the names of all its members in the country.

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Katherine Johnson, Nasa mathematician portrayed in Hidden Figures, dies at 101

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Johnson overcame racial and gender-based discrimination to become an integral part of Nasa’s work in space exploration

Katherine Johnson, one of the trailblazing African American mathematicians whose story was told in the hit film Hidden Figures, has died, Nasa announced on Monday. She was 101.

Related: How history forgot the black women behind Nasa’s space race

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Italy imposes draconian rules to stop spread of coronavirus

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People caught entering or leaving outbreak areas to be fined, after country’s third death

Italian authorities have implemented draconian measures to try to halt the coronavirus outbreak in the north of the country, including imposing fines on anyone caught entering or leaving outbreak areas, as a third person was confirmed to have died on Sunday.

The number of cases of the virus in the country has risen to 152.

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World is approaching coronavirus tipping point, experts say

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78,000 cases confirmed, as Italy and Iran scramble to contain major outbreaks

The world is fast approaching a tipping point in the spread of the coronavirus, according to experts, who warn that the disease is outpacing efforts to contain it, after major outbreaks forced Italy and Iran to introduce stringent internal travel restrictions and South Korea’s president placed the country on red alert.

Some of the countries most affected by the virus are scrambling to halt its progress two days after Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said the international community needed to act quickly before the narrowing “window of opportunity” closed completely.

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Coronavirus outbreak: four cruise ship passengers test positive in UK – live news

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Turkey and Pakistan close borders with Iran after eight deaths, while in northern Italy towns are on lockdown after jump in cases

Here’s Angela Giuffrida, Patrick Wintour and Sam Jones’s roundup of today’s coronavirus developments across the globe.

Four of the 32 British and Irish Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers taken to Arrowe Park, Merseyside on Saturday have tested positive for coronavirus strain Covid-19, the chief medical officer for England has said.

Prof Chris Whitty said: “Four further patients in England have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 13.

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Why the lights are going out for fireflies

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Fireflies face a dim future because of habitat loss and light pollution. How can conservationists help?

At dusk, graduate student Sara Lewis was sitting on her back porch in North Carolina with her dog. “We were supposed to be mowing our grass, but we never did, so we had long grass in our yard,” she recalls. “Suddenly this cloud of sparks rose up out of the grass and started flying around me.”

Each spark was a firefly: a beetle that glows in the dark. Hundreds of fireflies had gathered in Lewis’s back yard and were soaring around her. “It was this incredible spectacle,” says Lewis, “and I just sort of gasped.” Then she became fascinated. “I started wondering what the heck was going on here, what were these bugs doing, what were they talking about?” She has spent much of the past three decades studying fireflies.

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African killifish may hold key to stopping ageing in humans

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Turquoise killifish is able to suspend its development for longer than its average lifespan

The curious ability of the African turquoise killifish to press pause on its development could have intriguing implications for human ageing, say researchers.

Certain creatures, including the killifish, can put themselves into suspended animation as an embryo – a trait known as diapause. The phenomenon is thought to have evolved in response to pressures such as seasonal changes in the environment – for example ponds drying up – or sudden challenges that pose a risk to the creatures. In other words, diapause allows the animal to put its development or birth on ice until conditions improve.

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Coronavirus: South Korean city faces ‘unprecedented crisis’ after spike in cases – latest news

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Mayor of Daegu orders shutdown of all kindergartens and public libraries in while two Japanese passengers from stricken Diamond Princess ship die

Two more Russians aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan have been diagnosed with a new virus, the Russian Embassy in Japan said Thursday.

The two will be transferred to a hospital in Japan for treatment, according to the embassy statement published on Facebook.

An evacuation flight for Britons stuck on a cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan over coronavirus fears will leave Tokyo on Friday, the UK’s foreign secretary has said.

Dominic Raab said information had been provided to those registered for the flight, but he urged other British nationals still seeking to leave to contact the Foreign Office. He added: “We will continue to support British nationals who wish to stay in Japan.”

I can confirm the evacuation flight out of Tokyo on Friday for British nationals from the Diamond Princess cruise ship: https://t.co/vBYNRkvBbK

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‘Bali’s been through a lot’: holiday island’s tourism industry hit by coronavirus fears

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Hotel bookings plummet by 40,000 in recent weeks as ban on incoming flights from China bites local businesses

The idyllic holiday island of Bali has been hit by the ripple effect of the coronavirus crisis, with tourism plummeting and suggestions it “does not have the capacity” to treat patients if they become sick.

Indonesia, the largest country in south-east Asia, claims to have no cases of coronavirus, but according to the Bali’s tourism board, there have been around 40,000 cancellations of hotel bookings in recent weeks nonetheless. In the first half of February about 740,000 people visited the island – 16.25% fewer than the same period last year – Bali’s airport spokesman told state news agency Antara this week.

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