Non-peer reviewed study from Stanford found rate of virus may be 50 to 85 times higher than official figures
A new study in California has found the number of people infected with coronavirus may be tens of times higher than previously thought.
The study from Stanford University, which was released Friday and has yet to be peer reviewed, tested samples from 3,330 people in Santa Clara county and found the virus was 50 to 85 times more common than official figures indicated.
Continue reading...New York governor criticises Donald Trump during a briefing on the spread of coronavirus in the state after the US president lashed out against Cuomo in a tweet.
Trump’s tweet suggested Cuomo should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining'. The governor said: 'If he’s sitting at home watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work'
China denies cover-up as Wuhan death toll revised up by 50%; Brazil’s president fires health minister
WHO’s daily briefing on the coronavirus outbreak has just begun. WHO director Tarik Jasarevic said the coronavirus solidarity fund has generated $150 million from more than 245,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations.
Deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in Italy rose by 575 on Friday, up from 525 the day before, while the number of new cases declined slightly to 3,493 from a previous 3,786.
The daily death toll is down considerably from peaks reached around the end of March, Reuters reports.
Continue reading...China denies cover-up as Wuhan death toll revised up by 50%; Brazil’s president fires health minister
We are closing this live global blog now, but you can pick up all of our continuing coverage on our new global blog here.
You can also see our latest summary of events at Coronavirus latest developments: at a glance.
Oliver Milman, an environment reporter for Guardian in New York, has some analysis on the progression of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.
A model relied upon by the White House, from the University of Washington, estimates that the virus will “peter out” in May and then essentially grind to a halt by the summer. This is based on the experiences of China and Italy, previous coronavirus hotspots.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated that the federal government must be involved in expanding testing capacity, after Trump tweeted it was up to the states to make tests more widely available.
“If we don’t have federal help on testing, that’s a real problem,” Cuomo said.
Trump sent a series of tweets trying to deflect responsibility for the coronavirus crisis, suggesting states are the ones who need to expand testing capacity.
The States have to step up their TESTING!
Continue reading...Landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government under the legislation
The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar has unveiled a bill that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for millions of Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the legislation announced on Friday, landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government. The program would extend for a month beyond the end of the national emergency, which was declared on 13 March, and would be made retroactive to cover April payments.
Continue reading...Health minister says Germany will produce 50m face masks a week by the summer
Germany has declared its coronavirus outbreak under control as it prepares to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown next week, while several European countries unveiled contact-tracing mobile apps aimed at facilitating a gradual return to a more normal life.
The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said on Friday that the virus was under control in Europe’s largest economy, thanks to confinement measures imposed after an early surge in cases. “The infection numbers have sunk significantly, especially the relative day-by-day increase,” he said.
Continue reading...Trump’s ex-fixer will remain under quarantine for 14 days before he is released to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement
Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will reportedly be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Cohen is currently locked up at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. Cohen began serving his sentence last May and was scheduled to be released from prison in November 2021.
Continue reading...American and Russian crew touch down in Kazakhstan after months on International Space Station
The three-person crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday morning, arriving back to a world that has been radically transformed by coronavirus in the time they were away.
Space travel is often a journey into the unknown, but for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka, their return to Earth may bring more surprises than the time they spent in orbit. The trio’s landing capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe in the early hours of the morning.
Continue reading...President accused of damaging Palestinian ability to cope with pandemic by cutting funding
The United States has announced it will give $5m to the Palestinians to help them fight the coronavirus epidemic, roughly 1% of the amount Washington provided a year before Donald Trump cut almost all aid.
The US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a former Trump bankruptcy lawyer, announced the aid package on Twitter, saying he was “very pleased” the US would provide money for Palestinian hospitals and households.
Continue reading...A 96% drop in passenger numbers because of coronavirus restrictions has not been matched by cuts in flights
The coronavirus outbreak has provoked a string of unsettling sights, such as the sudden widespread use of masks, shuttered businesses and deserted streets. Another unusual phenomenon is also playing out in the skies – near-empty airplanes flying through the air.
Widespread travel restrictions around the world have slashed demand for air travel, with more than eight in 10 flights canceled. But there is a disparity in the US – while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has reported a 96% slump in passenger volume, to a level not seen since 1954, this hasn’t been matched by the number of flights being scrapped.
Continue reading...Donald Trump and his coronavirus taskforce have unveiled a set of federal guidelines for reopening the economy, which comprise three phases but ultimately defer to governors on when and how to return their states to normal.
‘A prolonged lockdown combined with a forced economic depression would inflict an immense and wide-ranging toll on public health,’ he said. In Trump’s plan, the responsibility for opening businesses across the country lies with state, not federal, authorities. The announcement was in stark contrast to an earlier press conference where Trump said he had ‘total authority’ over the re-opening of the country
Nobel prize-winning songwriter follows 17-minute Murder Most Foul with I Contain Multitudes, referencing everything from Edgar Allan Poe to William Blake and the Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan has continued to release his first original music in eight years, with a song in which he seemingly compares himself to Anne Frank, Indiana Jones, the Rolling Stones and William Blake.
At four and a half minutes, I Contain Multitudes is less lengthy than the song he returned with, Murder Most Foul, a 17-minute long track about the JFK assassination. Like that song, though, I Contain Multitudes is drifting and percussion-free, backed by acoustic, electric and pedal steel guitars.
Continue reading...Despite the restraint, the plan neglects to mention a firm target date or give an explicit strategy for national testing
“Make America great again” was an election winning slogan with a bold and simple message. “Opening up America again” proved to be less clear cut and left questions in the air.
On Thursday Donald Trump unveiled federal staggered guidelines for getting America back to business after the shutdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic. He had previously billed it as the most important decision of his presidency, but what he called “a science-based reopening” was messier and more ill-defined.
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House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson corrected Trump’s claim that she had deleted a tweet containing her comments from late February encouraging people to visit Chinatown.
Pelosi’s spokesperson said the clip the president tweeted was from local news coverage and had never been posted on the speaker’s account.
Fact check: We never posted this video. It’s obviously local TV coverage of the Speaker visiting Chinatown in San Francisco three weeks prior to the shelter-in-place order. https://t.co/sVCqbkD0DF
Trump lashed out against Nancy Pelosi after the House speaker accused the president of causing unnecessary deaths through his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Trump criticized Pelosi for saying in late February, before there were any confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Francisco, that people should continue to visit the city’s Chinatown neighborhood.
It was a pleasure to try my hand at making fortune cookies at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory (with a little guidance from owner Kevin Chan, of course).
The message inside?
“United We Stand.” pic.twitter.com/3piGq4yKXq
Related: 'Please visit Chinatown': coronavirus fears empty San Francisco district
Continue reading...The governor, Andrew Cuomo, has announced New York will maintain lockdown measures for at least 30 more days until 16 May to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Cuomo said the shutdown had worked in flattening the curve of infection
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen voices regret as expert warns herd immunity still a way off in Europe
The EU has offered “a heartfelt apology” to Italy for letting it down at the start of the coronavirus crisis as fresh evidence emerged that few European countries are likely to have achieved herd immunity as they begin cautiously lifting their lockdowns.
As the World Health Organization warned that the continent remained firmly “in the eye of the storm”, the president of the European commission said on Thursday that truth was needed to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic – including political honesty.
Continue reading...Defying social-distancing guidelines to fight the coronavirus pandemic issued by her own father’s administration, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner traveled with their children to New Jersey earlier this month to celebrate Passover.
Related: With #TogetherApart, Ivanka Trump capitalises on the coronavirus moment
Continue reading...Politicians, faith leaders and other authority figures have been touting dubious remedies
In India, politicians from the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party have been touting cow urine as a cure for Covid-19. In Tanzania the president has promised that taking communion in church would “burn” the virus away. In Brazil a congressman claimed a day of fasting would halt its spread.
And the leader of the most powerful country in the world, Donald Trump, has been touting as a miracle cure an unproven anti-malarial drug that has contributed to at least one death.
Continue reading...Trump casts doubt on China death toll; WHO chief hopes US will remain a ‘friend’; almost 700 test positive on French aircraft carrier
Households across the UK are now taking to their gardens, doorsteps, balconies and windows to applaud for the frontline workers fighting the coronavirus.
It will be the fourth “clap for carers” event in the UK, becoming a staple for Thursday nights in lockdown.
Leaders of the G7 group of major industrialised nations have agreed the rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine is crucial in dealing with the outbreak.
First Secretary of State Dominic Raab deputised for the UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson at the virtual summit, which also discussed the particular risk coronavirus poses for developing countries.
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