The country already has the most deaths in south-east Asia, but research suggests the official 800 infections so far may only be 2% of the total
It was just last month that Indonesia’s coronavirus cases stood at zero, with officials fiercely rejecting suggestions that infections were spreading undetected.
Weeks later, 78 fatalities have now been linked to the virus, the highest number in south-east Asia. Seven health workers are among those who have died.
Continue reading...Spain saw what happened in Iran and Italy – and yet it just overtook China’s death toll in one of the darkest moments in recent Spanish history
It is one of the darkest and most dramatic moments in recent Spanish history. In the chilling table of daily dead from the coronavirus pandemic, Spain has taken top position from Italy - with 738 dying over 24 hours.
Spain is now the hotspot of the global pandemic, a ghoulish title that has been passed from country to country over four months – starting in Wuhan, China, and travelling via Iran and Italy. As it moves west, we do not know who will be next.
Continue reading...Ugandan star among those taking to the airwaves with a message on how to avoid spreading Covid-19
Bobi Wine, a Ugandan musician and rising political force, has joined the likes of footballer-turned-president George Weah in resorting to song to help stem the spread of coronavirus in Africa.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, worked with fellow artist Nubian Li to release a song on Wednesday laced with east Africa’s signature rhumba melodies about the importance of personal hygiene.
Continue reading...In Wellington it felt downright bizarre as people took exaggerated arcs on the footpath to avoid each other, while near-empty buses sped past
By the time they locked down Italy, it seemed like it was already too late. Hundreds of people there had died of Covid-19 , with thousands infected. Over the next two weeks, the death toll soared. In New Zealand, we have oddly been in the opposite position: no one has died from the virus. Seven people are in hospital but they’re not in intensive care or on ventilators. There are more than 280 people confirmed to have the disease.
Yet this country has begun at least four weeks of some of the strictest restrictions anywhere in the world to fight Covid-19, clamping down on most movement, association and – to the chagrin of some – shopping, in the hope that a tragedy like the one unfolding in Italy and elsewhere can be avoided.
Continue reading...District Judge Vanessa Baraitser refused Assange’s release from Belmarsh Prison in London believing he still poses a flight risk
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s application for bail to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus has been denied by a British judge.
Assange was denied bail after arguing that his release from a UK prison would mitigate his “high risk” of catching coronavirus.
Continue reading...Restrictions on movement prevent food and medicine from reaching people in adversity, experts warn
Stringent new international restrictions on movement introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic are threatening the lives of millions of people across the world already caught up in humanitarian emergencies.
UN agencies, aid groups and international experts have warned that the new restrictions, which have closed borders and ports, and severely limited the movement of key staff from Africa to South America and Asia, threaten a “dramatic” knock-on effect in countries suffering from conflict, extreme climate events and other crises.
Continue reading...India locks down; Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus; Senate and White House reach stimulus deal
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael say they’ve “agreed the need form a strong, stable government” in Ireland as the number of confirmed cases in the country rises by 235 to 1,564. Ireland’s health department has also confirmed two more deaths, bringing the total number to nine.
The Irish general election earlier this year resulted in an almost tied result with Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dominating. None won enough seats to form a government by itself and numerous rounds of talks between parties have failed to result in an agreement to form a coalition government. The statement reads:
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael met this afternoon and had a productive meeting. They both agree the need to form a strong stable government that will help Ireland recover post Covid-19.
They are working to develop a programme for government that provides stability and majority support in the Dáil. They will meet again over the coming days and will both continue to reach out and engage with other parties.
Andy Burnham, a former UK health secretary and now the mayor of Greater Manchester in the north of England, says he is taking legal advice on whether firms forcing employees to work without adequate protection and not observing guidance to keep them two metres apart are breaking the law.
After a conference call with Greater Manchester MPs, he tweeted:
... I am taking legal advice about whether @gmpolice or other GM agencies can take enforcement action against companies which are exposing their employees in this way. If you would like to make a confidential report, please do so using: the.mayor@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk 2/2
Following government instructions to stay at home, the move to accommodate hundreds of homeless people in hotel rooms is a recognition of the vulnerability of many rough sleepers and homeless people in shared accommodation spaces, and their need for support and a safe place to stay at this difficult time.
Continue reading...Brazil’s president uses national televised address to dismiss state-based health measures ‘scorched earth’ tactics
Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has claimed he “wouldn’t feel anything” if infected with coronavirus and rubbished efforts to contain the illness with large-scale quarantines as his country’s two biggest cities went into shutdown in a desperate bid to save lives.
In a televised address to the nation on Tuesday night, Bolsonaro slammed what he branded the economically damaging “scorched earth” tactics being used to slow the advance of an illness that has now claimed about 15,000 lives around the world.
Continue reading...State has more than 2,500 cases and faces a shortage of protective equipment and hospital beds
Leaders in California are scrambling to prepare the state amid a shortage of hospital beds, limited access to masks and ventilators and a patchwork approach to testing, as a surge of cases in New York provides a warning of how quickly the coronavirus crisis could spiral out of control.
The number of cases in New York state had soared by Tuesday morning, with 25,665 confirmed infected and 210 deaths. “We are now, in New York City, the epicenter of this crisis in the United States of America,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday. “The worst is yet to come.”
Continue reading...Many of our closest living relatives are already at risk of extinction and susceptible to human disease, warn scientists
The coronavirus pandemic could wipe out populations of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, leading scientists have warned.
Our closest living relatives, which share about 98% of human DNA, are known to be susceptible to catching respiratory diseases from people.
Continue reading...Deaths jump in Spain; France tightens lockdown; Afghanistan appeals for help amid new cases; South Africa prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest updates
Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.
In a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media.
Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation.
The UK’s supreme court has adapted to physical distancing by holding its first remote, live hearing on Tuesday morning, reports my colleague Owen Bowcott.
The building in Westminster is closed but the case is being conducted via video links and can be watched online. The judges are determined that justice should be transparent even in times of pandemic.
The first appeal using the technology is the case of Fowler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, dealing with the intricacies of the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty.
Continue reading...Rightwing governments have denied the problem and been slow to act. With coronavirus and the climate, this costs lives
• See all our coronavirus coverage
The coronavirus pandemic has brought urgency to the defining political question of our age: how to distribute risk. As with the climate crisis, neoliberal capitalism is proving particularly ill-suited to this.
Like global warming, but in close-up and fast-forward, the Covid-19 outbreak shows how lives are lost or saved depending on a government’s propensity to acknowledge risk, act rapidly to contain it, and share the consequences.
Continue reading...What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus, how does it spread, and should you see a doctor?
It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has transferred to humans from animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic.
Continue reading...Fears are growing about the spread of coronavirus in camps where few can afford soap, water is rare and social distancing impossible
In the Nabadoon camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Asho Abdullahi Hassan, a 40-year-old mother of seven, has heard about the coronavirus on the radio.
“I am very scared about this deadly virus. I only heard about it from the news. It is like we are waiting for death to come,” she says.
Continue reading...Health minister Greg Hunt has asked for an urgent briefing on hydroxychloroquine but it has been known to cause heart damage and toxicity
The health minister Greg Hunt has asked for an urgent briefing about the clinical trial of a decades-old drug in the prevention of Covid-19, as countries race to find a way to prevent serious cases and slow the spread.
But infectious disease experts have warned the drug, hydroxychloroquine, is far from proven as effective in treating Covid-19 and that it could take several months for results to be conclusive. In previous studies for other conditions, hydroxychloroquine has been shown to cause heart damage and toxicity.
Continue reading...Some travellers told they could be stuck for months because transit countries will not accept passengers from Indonesia
British nationals stuck on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are calling on the government to bring them home, saying they face the prospect of being trapped for months due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Two travellers told the Guardian they had tried to follow Foreign Office advice to return home immediately due to the escalating seriousness of the Covid-19 outbreak, only to arrive at Bali’s Denpasar airport and be told they would not be able to board flights due to travel restrictions in countries through which they transit.
Continue reading...To watch Trump is to witness the awesome and terrifying power of the American president over life and death – a burden he is unqualified to bear
Due to social distancing, there were only two dozen or so reporters in the White House press briefing room on Monday, making it feel like a flight with numerous empty seats and lots of legroom.
But when Donald Trump let rip for nearly two hours, it was as if the captain had announced a sudden whim to land the plane on water while wearing a blindfold. We sat tight for an unnerving journey.
Continue reading...As borders close and social distancing increases, what are our responsibilities to the people who keep working?
Amid coronavirus-induced stockpiling and empty supermarket shelves, politicians have been quick to assure us of the reliability of Australia’s food supply systems.
Writing for the Guardian last week, agriculture minister David Littleproud slammed “ridiculous” panic-buying, saying: “It is important to understand that Australian farmers produce enough food for 75 million people: three times what we need”. Farmers, he continued, are “calmly going about the business of food production”, “preparing to sow and pick their crops and making sure their produce makes it to market”.
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Edouard Philippe, the French prime minister, has said that country’s lockdown could last several more weeks, with new restrictions – including limits on daily exercise outside the home – now in place:
Any morning constitutional/jogging now has to be within 1km of home, 1 hour max, alone, and only once per day. https://t.co/3CvQzDtZpb
The International Olympic Committee is facing almost irresistible pressure to postpone the Tokyo Olympics this week rather than wait until its mid-April deadline – with a growing number of athletes, governments and national federations saying it is unfair to keep them in limbo during the coronavirus pandemic.
Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today that the Games would be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Related: Athletes across globe call for Olympic postponement as countries pull out
Continue reading...Pause follows uncertainty over how trials would work given physical distancing needs
Crown court trials across England and Wales were suspended or collapsed on Monday as judges attempted to find safer ways for juries and lawyers to conduct hearings.
There have been suggestions, including from the Ministry of Justice, that courts move to handling urgent work only during the coronavirus crisis, but no one has defined what types of cases that might involve.
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