We’ve launched a new global coronavirus pandemic live blog at the link below. We’ll be shutting this one down shortly, so follow me there for the latest developments:
Dr. Deborah Birx also said African Americans are not more “susceptible” to coronavirus. “What our data suggests is that they are more susceptible to more difficult and severe disease and poorer outcomes,” she said.
Data from cities including Chicago and Philadelphia show stark racial disparities in coronavirus patients and fatalities. White House official Seema Verma said that Medicare data will be looking at race and underlying conditions, and the president earlier promised that more statistics on racial disparities will be revealed in the next week.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert is speaking now about the health disparities in African American communities.
“Health disparities have always existed for the African American community. Here with the crisis it is shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is... It’s not that they get infected more often, it’s that their underlying conditions... put them in the ICU.”
“When all of this is over there will still be health disparities, that we need to address, in the African American community,” he says.
In the US, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, has warned people not to buy antibody tests they see for sale on the internet. The government is working hard to roll out reliable tests she says.
Fact check: coronavirus deaths
“I think they’re pretty accurate on the death counts,” Trump told reporters. But doctors disagree. Delays in reporting and a continuing lack of widespread testing mean that more people have died of coronavirus than the official count. Doctors also believe that deaths in February and early March — before the coronavirus was recognized as an epidemic in the US — that were attributed to influenza or pneumonia, were likely due to Covid-19.
“Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country,” the president said. The ballots are “forgeries in many cases - it’s a horrible thing,” he added, citing no evidence to back the claim.
Trump himself voted by mail in 2018.
Trump is asked whether there is a plan in place to track the side effects of hydroxychloroquine.
“The side effects are the least of it,” he says. “There are people dying all over the place.”
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have potentially severe and even deadly side effects if used inappropriately, including heart failure and toxicity.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has warned that as well as heart attacks the drug can lead to irreversible eye damage and severe depletion of blood sugar potentially leading to coma.
Updated
Trump says on Tuesday that the federal government had 8,675 ventilators in a national stockpile available to states who need them while another 110,000 are to be delivered in coming weeks.
“I don’t think we’ll need them,” the president said, referring to the ventilators, in a White House briefing. “But we’ll have them for the future and we’ll also be able to help other countries who are desperate for ventilators.”
The US president also said that the United Kingdom has asked for 200 ventilators.
The WHO “did give us some pretty bad play calling,” Trump says. “With regard to us they’re taking a lot of heat. They didn’t want the borders closed. They called it wrong. They really called every aspect of it wrong.”
“They seem to be very China-centric. That’s a nice way of saying it.”
Trump asked again whether he is going to freeze funding during the pandemic and whether he thinks that would be wise.
“I didn’t say I was going to do it”, he says (he did). He says he’s looking into it.
Speaking about the resignation of acting navy secretary, Thomas Modly – over action taken against a naval officer who called for more help for his crew, who had been stricken by a coronavirus outbreak – Trump says he, “didn’t have to write a letter. He didn’t have to be Ernest Hemingway”.
You can get in touch with me directly on Twitter with questions or news tips @helenrsullivan.
Hello, Helen Sullivan with you now. US President Donald Trump is briefing media at the White House. He has said he plans to put a hold on the US contribution to the World Health Organization. Trump blamed the WHO for the crisis, noting that they “blew it”.
We’ll bring you more details on this shortly – as well as any important developments from that presser.
You can watch it live here:
The US defence secretary, Mark Esper, has confirmed he has accepted the resignation of the acting navy secretary, Thomas Modly, over action taken against a naval officer who called for more help for his crew, who had been stricken by a coronavirus outbreak. Esper has said:
This morning, I accepted Secretary Modly’s resignation. He resigned on his own accord, putting the navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the navy, as an institution, can move forward.
Esper said that, with the US president’s approval, the army undersecretary Jim McPherson will take over as acting navy secretary.
Here’s a little more from Ferrari’s resignation statement, which the Financial Times has published in full:
I have been extremely disappointed by the European response to Covid-19, for what pertains to the complete absence of coordination of health care policies among member states, the recurrent opposition to cohesive financial support initiatives, the pervasive one-sided border closures, and the marginal scale of synergistic scientific initiatives.
I am afraid that I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union.
In these three long months, I have indeed met many excellent and committed individuals, at different levels of the organisation of the ERC and the EC.
However, I have lost faith in the system itself. And now the times require decisive, focused, and committed actions – a call to responsibility for all those that have an aspiration to make a difference against this devastating tragedy.
The ERC has been approached for comment.
EU's top scientist reportedly resigns over bloc's virus response
The Financial Times is reporting that Prof Mauro Ferrari has resigned as the president of the European Research Council (ERC), saying he has been “extremely disappointed by the European response to Covid-19”.
The paper reports that the EU’s top scientist, who only started a four-year term job on 1 January, was disappointed at having failed to persuade Brussels to mount a coordinated response to the pandemic. It quotes him as saying:
I arrived at the ERC a fervent supporter of the EU [but] the Covid-19 crisis completely changed my views, though the ideals of international collaboration I continue to support with enthusiasm.
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Specially created London hospital takes in first patients
The first patients have been admitted to the NHS Nightingale hospital, which has been hastily set up in the ExCel centre in east London to boost capacity during the outbreak. An NHS Nightingale London spokeswoman has said:
Our first patients have now been admitted to the NHS Nightingale London, as planned. There is also treatment capacity available in other hospitals across London to complement the care being provided at the London Nightingale.
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Twitter boss pledges $1bn
The chief executive of Square and Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has pledged $1bn (£810m) of his equity in the payments processor towards fighting the outbreak.
I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here: https://t.co/hVkUczDQmz
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Why UBI and girl’s health and education? I believe they represent the best long-term solutions to the existential problems facing the world. UBI is a great idea needing experimentation. Girl’s health and education is critical to balance: https://t.co/dC3dU6hvxB
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Why is #startsmall a LLC? This segments and dedicates my shares to these causes, and provides flexibility. Grants will be made from Start Small Foundation or the LLC directly based on the beneficiary org. All transfers, sales, and grants will be made public in tracking sheet.
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Why the transparency? It’s important to show my work so I and others can learn. I’ve discovered and funded ($40mm) many orgs with proven impact and efficiency in the past, mostly anonymously. Going forward, all grants will be public. Suggestions welcome. Drop your cash app ;)
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Why pull just from Square and not Twitter? Simply: I own a lot more Square. And I’ll need to pace the sales over some time. The impact this money will have should benefit both companies over the long-term because it’s helping the people we want to serve.
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Why now? The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now. ✌🏼
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
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The authorities running eastern Libya have confirmed a first case despite efforts to close borders and impose a curfew to limit social interactions.
Libya has confirmed a total of 20 cases of the new coronavirus, with the others in the western areas controlled by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
The United Nations and aid agencies have urged Libya’s warring factions to stop fighting but the conflict has increased in the past two weeks and projectiles hit a hospital in a GNA-held area of Tripoli on Monday.
Aid agencies, including the World Health Organization, have said Libya is poorly placed to withstand any major coronavirus outbreak as much of its infrastructure is damaged.
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The acting US Navy secretary, Thomas Modly, has offered his resignation after coming under fire for his handling of a crisis involving the captain of a virus-stricken aircraft carrier, a US official and an unnamed congressional aide has told Reuters.
It was unclear whether the US defence secretary, Mark Esper, accepted Modly’s resignation offer, which came after Democrats in Congress called for his removal, citing a loss of confidence. Esper’s office and the Navy declined to comment.
US immigration officials have rapidly deported nearly 400 children intercepted at the US-Mexico border in the past two weeks under new rules billed as seeking to limit the spread of virus, according to government data seen by the Reuters news agency.
President Donald Trump’s administration implemented new border rules on 21 March that scrapped decades-long practices under laws meant to protect children from human trafficking and offer them a chance to seek asylum in a US immigration court.
Under the new rules, US officials can quickly remove people without standard immigration proceedings.
French death toll passes 10,000
My colleague, Kim Willsher, has an update on the situation in France:
Jérôme Salomon gives the daily update of coronavirus figures. He points out today is World Health Day.
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) April 7, 2020
There are 30,000 people in hospital (+ 305)
Of whom 7,131 are in intensive care (+59)
Explanation this = +518 new patients in i/c but -459 who left, total up 59.
Of those in i/c 35% under 60 years old
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) April 7, 2020
61% aged 60-80, 104 patients under 30 years old.
Deaths in hospital: 7,091 (+607)
Deaths in nursing care homes: 3,237 (+820)
Total deaths: 10,328
Total number of cases: 78,167 (+3,777)
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) April 7, 2020
Sources:https://t.co/dxVaY5R5yIhttps://t.co/Z2I1vT3gyz
Updated
A UK doctor who specialised in treating the elderly has died after testing positive for Covid-19.
Dr Anton Sebastianpillai, who had a long association with Kingston hospital in south-west London, died on Saturday – four days after being admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The consultant geriatrician, who qualified as a doctor in Sri Lanka in 1967, finished his last shift on 20 March. A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said:
It is with great sadness that I confirm the death of a consultant geriatrician who was part of the team at Kingston hospital.
Dr Anton Sebastianpillai died on Saturday having been cared for in the hospital’s intensive care unit since 31 March. We would like to extend our sincere condolences to his family.
Dr Sebastianpillai trained at the Peradeniya Medical School in Sri Lanka and qualified in 1967, according to the institution. In an obituary notice, he was referred to as a “distinguished alumnus”.
Updated
The Canadian Grand Prix, which was due to take place in June, has been postponed. Montreal was due to host the first race of the disrupted 2020 schedule but a statement posted on the official Formula 1 website reads:
We would have been honoured to host the first race on the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship calendar, but we are saddened to have to announce the postponement of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 2020 scheduled for June 12-14 2020.
This postponement was not a decision that was taken lightly or easily. Over the past month, we have been in constant communication with Formula 1 and representatives from the city of Montreal, Tourism Montreal and both provincial and federal governments.
We have heard the directives issued by public health officials and as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic are following the expert guidance provided by the authorities.
Updated
Summary
- The UK prime minister remains in intensive care. The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who is running the UK government while Boris Johnson receives treatment in hospital for coronavirus, says he is confident the prime minister will recover.
- Official global death toll passes 78,000. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, at least 78,269 people have now died worldwide, while at least 1,381,014 have been infected. Due to suspected under-reporting, these figures are likely to be lower than the true statistics.
- More than 55,000 have now tested positive in the UK. According to the latest official figures, 213,181 people in the UK have been tested and 55,242 have been confirmed as having contracted the virus. Of those hospitalised with Covid-19, 6,159 have died.
- Africa, the world’s second-largest continent, now has at least 10,000 cases – and experts believe the true scale of the outbreak is much greater. More than 1,700 of the cases are in South Africa, which has been rolling out an aggressive testing campaign.
- Turkey has world’s fastest rising infection rate. The number is increasing by more than 3,000 a day, reaching 30,217 since the first case was confirmed four weeks ago. Reported fatalities remain much lower than other badly hit countries, at 649.
- The death toll in Italy continues to rise. The country reported 604 more deaths, though it marked the lowest day-to-day increase in new infections since introducing quarantine measures. New cases rose 0.9% to 880.
- The US is still obstructing medical supply shipment. Justin Trudeau says Canada still has more work to do to persuade Washington to ensure supplies flow freely, after it emerged Donald Trump had blocked a shipment of masks to Ontario.
- The equivalent to 195m jobs are forecast to be lost in working hours as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, according to the International Labour Organisation, which forecasts the global downturn to be far more damaging than the 2009 crash.
- The WHO held off recommending face mask use. Experts say that, despite evidence suggesting widespread use of masks could help reduce the virus’ spread, they are insufficient on their own, despite many places making them mandatory.
Updated
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said it has been contacted by 6,000 short-term travellers in Pakistan who want to return home to the UK, confirming suspicions that the country is one of the blackspots for British nationals stranded because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lisa O’Carroll reports.
It said it estimates there are as many as 100,000 British nationals in Pakistan, confirming a recent tweet by the high commissioner.
He tweeted earlier today to thank the “50 people all working double shifts” to help the 6,000 people desperate to get home.
Learning new ways of working - all @ukinpakistan staff join a virtual meeting; thanking the 50 people working double shifts (over 1000 hours) to support the most vulnerable of 6,000 requests received from 🇬🇧 nationals in 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/2vlFSn04XF
— Christian Turner (@CTurnerFCO) April 7, 2020
The FCO said eight commercial flights were leaving the country this week and that the foreign secretary had responded to Emily Thornberry’s letter, signed by 75 MPs, calling for swift action to rescue British citizens trapped in Pakistan.
“We know it’s a difficult time for many British travellers overseas, including in Pakistan, and we are working around the clock to bring people home.
“The foreign secretary is in close contact with his Pakistani counterpart to ensure routes are kept open between our two countries. Four flights carrying Brits departed Islamabad for the UK this weekend and we are doing everything we can so more flights can take off in the coming days,” said a spokesperson.
Updated
Donald Trump has launched an attack on the World Health Organisation, calling it “China-centric” and accusing it of issuing bad advice at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020
China is under fire in Washington, particularly from Republicans, over the way it handled the pandemic and Trump has expressed doubt over the accuracy of Chinese statistics for cases and deaths, AFP reports.
However, Trump himself has been widely criticised for initially downplaying the virus, which he likened to an ordinary flu and said was under control in the United States, before later accepting that it was a national emergency.
More than 11,000 Americans have now died from Covid-19.
Updated
Japanese government aid workers who worked on a $22.5m medical assistance package to help Iran fight coronavirus are pressing Tehran to make the final steps to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, reports.
The British-Iranian dual national, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in September 2016, has been on furlough on a tag for three weeks in Tehran, waiting to hear whether she will be allowed to return to her family in the UK.
The Iranian prosecutor’s office is due to update the family on Wednesday on whether she has qualified for clemency under the terms set out by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but such deadlines have slipped in the past, reflecting tensions within the Iranian government.
An analysis by researchers at Harvard university has found that air pollution is linked to significantly higher rates of death in people with Covid-19, writes Damian Carrington, the Guardian’s environment editor.
The work shows that even a tiny, single-unit increase in particle pollution levels in the years before the pandemic is associated with a 15% increase in the death rate. The research, done in the US, calculates that slightly cleaner air in Manhattan in the past could have saved hundreds of lives.
Given the large differences in toxic air levels across countries, the research suggests people in polluted areas are far more likely to die from the coronavirus than those living in cleaner areas.
The scientists said dirty air was already known to increase the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is extremely deadly and a cause of Covid-19-related deaths, as well as other respiratory and heart problems.
Kenya has reported 14 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, including eight males and six females aged between five and 56 years old.
In a statement, the Kenyan ministry of health said:
In the last 24 hours, we have tested a total of 696 samples out of which 14 people have tested positive for the coronavirus disease out of which 12 are Kenyans and two are foreigners.
All have been taken to into isolation and contact tracing was underway, the ministry said.
On Monday, the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced he was banning movement into and out of the four regions most affected by the outbreak, including the capital Nairobi, for three weeks. He also also ordered Kenyans to wear masks while in public.
Kenyatta said in a televised address:
We are at war and we must win. We must make a stand here, before Covid-19 starts to spread out of control, and we must be ready to go even further if necessary.
The country has reported a total of 172 confirmed cases of the disease. Six patients have died and seven have recovered.
Updated
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Africa pass 10,000
Cases of Covid-19 in Africa have now topped 10,000, though most experts believe the real number of infections is considerably higher, Jason Burke, the Guardian’s Africa correspondent, reports.
More than 1,700 of these are in South Africa, which has been rolling out an aggressive testing campaign. One particular cluster has given cause for concern - 66 people tested positive in a single hospital in the eastern city of Durban.
Health authorities said many - possibly most - were staff.
South Africa, which is into the 12th day of a stringent 21-day lockdown, has also got tough with those spreading conspiracy theories and misleading material about the virus. A man was in court today in Cape Town, facing charges related to his repeated posts on social media claiming that tests would pass on the virus.
Aid organisations continue to raise deep concern about parts of the continent where health systems are most fragile. UN officials in Geneva raised potential issues in Somalia where there are only two health workers per 100,000 people compared to the global standard of twenty-five.
“A Covid 19 outbreak would devastate the already fragile healthcare system,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told reporters on Tuesday.
There are also growing calls for dramatic measures to cushion the massive blow delivered by the pandemic to African economies, possibly through widespread cancellation of the massive debts run up by many countries over recent decades.
This is more complicated than it sounds however. Once, it was just wealthy western countries and international institutions that were creditors. Now China’s government, banks and companies are owed as much as $160bn while African governments have raised over $55bn on international debt markets in the past two years alone.
Updated
The global coronavirus pandemic threatens to devastate children’s health and education, and cause unprecedented protection needs, Save the Children has warned as it launched its biggest ever appeal.
The NGO is calling for $100m in donations to fund work protecting children during the outbreak, which is now accelerating across lower-income countries. Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children international, said:
We have all watched in horror as the Covid-19 outbreak has turned lives at home and overseas upside down. The pandemic is now spreading across the world’s poorest countries, further crippling fragile health systems where children are already missing out on life saving treatment for malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition. It will leave many children without caregivers, out of school and in danger. We only have a matter of weeks to take swift action, that will determine how many lives we can save.
Updated
The World Health Organization has held off from recommending people wear face masks in public after assessing fresh evidence that suggested the items may help to contain the pandemic, Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, reports.
The WHO reviewed its position on masks in light of data from Hong Kong indicating that their widespread use in the community may have reduced the spread of coronavirus in some regions.
But in updated guidance published on Monday, the organisation maintained that while masks could help limit the spread of the disease, they were insufficient on their own. There was no evidence that wearing a mask in the community prevented healthy people from picking up respiratory infections including Covid-19, it said.
Prof David Heymann, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who chaired the WHO’s scientific and technical advisory group for infectious hazards, said that unless people were working in healthcare settings, “masks are only for the protection of others, not for the protection of oneself.”
Updated
Justin Trudeau has said that Canada still has more work to do to persuade Washington to ensure medical supplies flow freely, after it emerged over the weekend that Donald Trump had blocked a shipment of masks to Ontario.
Trudeau told a briefing that US officials have allowed the export of 500,000 masks - ordered by the province of Ontario to help fight the coronavirus - which should arrive on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Trudeau said:
We have had constructive and productive conversations that have assured that this particular shipment comes through but we recognize there is still more work to do.
... We are going to continue to highlight to the American administration the point to which healthcare supplies and services go back and forth across that border.
Canada’s public health agency said on Tuesday that the death toll from the outbreak had risen to 345 from 293 on Monday. The total number of cases is 17,063, compared to 15,822 a day earlier.
Updated
Italy records 604 new Covid-19 deaths
Deaths from coronavirus in Italy rose by 604 on Tuesday, although the country marked the lowest day-to-day increase in new infections since it was quarantined, Angela Giuffrida reports.
New cases rose by 0.9% to 880, and that number was outstripped by the 1,555 increase in the number of people who recovered.
To date, the overall number of cases in Italy has reached 135,586, including 17,127 deaths and 24,392 recovered.
Turkey has world's fastest rising rate of infection
Turkey’s number of coronavirus infections is increasing by more than 3,000 a day, reaching 30,217 since the first case was confirmed four weeks ago, Bethan McKernan reports from Istanbul.
Reported fatalities remain much lower than other badly hit countries, at 649, but the infection figures suggest Turkey has the fastest rising number of confirmed cases in the world.
The president, Recep Tayip Erdoğan, usually no stranger to heavy-handed tactics, has, however, resisted calls by doctors’ unions and opposition politicians to order people to stop going to work and stay home, insisting that the “wheels of the economy must keep turning”.
Turkey is still recovering from a 2018 currency crash, leading economists and policymakers to fear a coronavirus-induced recession is inevitable.
Updated
Lufthansa is shutting down its budget Germanwings subsidiary and getting rid of dozens of planes to weather the impact of the coronavirus crisis, AFP reports.
Demand for flights has plummeted as countries around the world close their borders and restrict movement in a bid to stem the pandemic, plunging even large airlines like Lufthansa into an unprecedented crisis.
“Germanwings flight operations will be discontinued,” Lufthansa said in a statement after a meeting of the group’s executive board. It did not give details about job losses, but said talks with unions “are to be arranged quickly”.
The group, which also owns Eurowings, SWISS, Brussels and Austrian Airlines, said it would decommission or phase out more than 40 of its 763 aircraft in a bid to cut costs.
A statement posted on the Lufthansa group website said:
The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG does not expect the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels very quickly. According to its assessment, it will take months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted and years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels. Based on this evaluation, today the Executive Board has decided on extensive measures to reduce the capacity of flight operations and administration long term.
Updated
Refugees from Venezuela’s crippling financial crisis are beginning to return home from Colombia, where lockdown measures are preventing them from earning a living, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Amid hyperinflation, an economic crisis and political violence in Venezuela, about 1.8 million people have fled across the border to Colombia since 2015. But a three week nationwide lockdown in Colombia to slow the spread of the pandemic has frozen the formal sector in which many of them now work, NRC reports.
Despite the challenges faced by many in Venezuela, migrants told NRC staff that they will at least not have to pay rent or utilities in their home country, and will be reunited with family.
Dominika Arseniuk, the NRC’s Colombia country director, said:
Venezuelans that sought refuge in Colombia are losing their financial lifeline because of Covid-19. Hundreds are now returning home from exile and many more could follow as lockdown continues and if aid is not provided.
We all need to do more to include Venezuelan migrants and refugees living on the fringes in our Covid-19 response planning, or risk more returning to a life of uncertainty.
Despite the challenges many face in Venezuela, where the economy has been crippled by economic sanctions imposed by the US, as well as economic mismanagement, migrants told NRC that if they return at least they will not have to pay rent or utility bills, and they will be reunited with family.
Big Brother contestants around the world are exiting their lengthy periods of self-isolation on the reality TV show to find that coronavirus has changed the world while they were away, writes Jim Waterson, the Guardian’s media correspondent.
Swedish Big Brother contestant Daniel Glasman left his country’s edition of the show last week, having spent 50 days on the programme. When he entered the house, Covid-19 was still viewed by many as a Chinese issue, albeit with a worrying number of infections in Italy. Seven weeks later, he left his televised isolation to find a world transformed.
“I’m digesting the whole thing,” he said. “It’s so difficult because I would be in the middle of the process of dealing with being isolated, and I have to deal with the fact that the world has changed while I was gone. I can’t turn my back on the world for 50 days and expect the world to keep it together, apparently. I’ve had a very profound experience, but so has the world.”
The economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic is forecast to lead to a loss in working hours equivalent to 195 million full-time jobs – far more than the 2009 crash, according to the International Labour Organisation.
A report published by the UN body on Tuesday describes the current situation as “the worst global crisis since World War II”. It warns that 1.25 billion workers worldwide are working in sectors at high risk of “drastic and devastating” layoffs or reductions in wages and working hours.
Guy Ryder, the ILO’s director general, said:
Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies … We have to move fast, decisively, and together. The right, urgent, measures, could make the difference between survival and collapse.
The ILO is calling for massive, integrated measures to support businesses and employment, stimulate economies, protect workers’ rights and encourage dialogue between workers, employers and governments to find solutions. Ryder added:
This is the greatest test for international cooperation in more than 75 years. If one country fails, then we all fail. We must find solutions that help all segments of our global society, particularly those that are most vulnerable or least able to help themselves.
… The choices we make today will directly affect the way this crisis unfolds and so the lives of billions of people. With the right measures we can limit its impact and the scars it leaves. We must aim to build back better so that our new systems are safer, fairer and more sustainable than those that allowed this crisis to happen.
Updated
UK hospital Covid-19 death toll rises by 786 to 6,159
The Department for Health and Social Care has issued its latest update on hospital coronavirus deaths in the UK. It gives the latest daily number of deaths as 786, taking the total number to 6,159.
As of 9am 7 April, 266,694 tests have concluded, with 14,006 tests on 6 April.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) April 7, 2020
213,181 people have been tested of which 55,242 tested positive.
As of 5pm on 6 April, of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus, 6,159 have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/MB1ckbNjm7
Updated
Viewing the headlines of the latest daily death tolls from the coronavirus outbreak, it is sometimes easy in the heat of the moment to lose sight of context. How much worse the situation is compared with the usual numbers of people who die in normal circumstances has been a subject of some debate in some sections of the media, and particularly on social media.
A blogpost by David Shaw, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, posted on the British Medical Journal provides some much-needed context. Shaw identifies four important contextual factors that should be borne in mind to understand reports of death tolls that make headlines in the daily press. For example, he writes:
[I]n all the millions of words written about how many people have died in each country each day, no coverage appears to have given the baseline daily death rate before the outbreak began. Take Scotland: here, the death rate had averaged between 6 and 8 people per day before increasing to 16 on the 1st of April. But the typical death rate in Scotland is 160 people per day, with about a quarter of them dying of cancer. This means that the virus is currently increasing the daily rate by 10% (and before that around 5%) – a substantial increase, but not as massive as many members of the public are probably assuming, given the press coverage. Reporting the increasing number of deaths in isolation without this context is likely to increase people’s stress about the virus, because people are unaware of how many people normally die each day.
Read more on the BMJ website: The vital contexts of coronavirus.
Updated
More people have now died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the Associated Press reports.
At least 3,202 people in the city have been killed by the virus, according to the latest figures released on Tuesday. That compares with a death toll of 2,753 people in New York, and 2,977 overall when hijacked planes were crashed into the WTC, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in 2001.
New York City recorded its first fatality on 13 March.
Updated
More people have now died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
— JimMustian (@JimMustian) April 7, 2020
At least 3,202 people have been killed in the city by the virus, according to a new count released by city health officials Tuesday @AP
Norway is to lift some of its restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, its prime minister has told a press conference.
“Together we have taken control of the virus, therefore we can open up society little by little,” Erna Solberg was quoted as saying by Reuters.
My Norwegian is rusty, but a reader, Miriam Jackson, has emailed to say that nurseries and daycare centres will reopen from 20 April, and primary schools and the last year of sixth form will reopen from 27 April. Restrictions on visiting second homes will be lifted from 20 April, the same date that one-on-one health services will begin to reopen.
It means Norway joins Denmark and Austria in making plans to emerge from the lockdown conditions that have been imposed by governments across Europe.
Updated
A dramatic situation is unfolding onboard a cruise ship anchored 20 kilometres off the coast of Uruguay for almost two weeks, on which a large number of passengers have come down with coronavirus, writes Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires.
The number of people with diagnosed coronavirus on board the Greg Mortimer, an Australian ship carrying 132 tourists plus a crew of 85, leaped from 81 on Monday to 128 on Tuesday, according to Uruguayan officials, who have sent a team of 21 doctors onboard.
The Uruguayan navy tweeted a video on Friday of a British female passenger “with pneumonia in both lungs” being transferred from the Greg Mortimer to a navy boat to be taken to Montevideo.
🔴AHORA: Tercer pasajera británica con síntomas de COVID-19 es embarcada en Lancha “Isla de Flores” ⚓️🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/Rzgl5Q3Xbo
— Armada Uruguay (@Armada_Uruguay) April 4, 2020
Most of the passengers are from Australia, Britain and New Zealand; many of them over 70 years of age.
After initially refusing permission for anyone to disembark, Uruguayan authorities have in the last few days removed six passengers whose lives were at risk and taken them to the British Hospital in Montevideo for treatment.
The captain of the Greg Mortimer decided to cut short an Antarctic cruise last month after passengers started developing symptoms.
One of the Uruguayan doctors on the ship has said that the virus probably got onboard when the ship stopped in the Argentinian port of Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, on 15 March on its way to Antarctica.
“It seems the crew were given some time off, they themselves presume it could have been then,” Uruguayan doctor Sebastián Yancev told the Uruguayan press. “In Ushuaia there’s a lot of movement of passengers of different nationalities on different ships.”
“There are many patients over 70 years of age, some of them with comorbidities, heart and lung diseases. Those patients may fall seriously ill tomorrow even if we saw them well today,” Uruguayan doctor Karina Rando was quoted as saying in the Uruguayan press.
The Uruguayan and Australian governments are working to send Australian and New Zealand nationals home on a medical charter flight from Montevideo. “We are in conversations with the Australian government to try to get the flight arranged as quickly as possible,” Uruguayan foreign minister Ernesto Talvi was quoted as saying in the Uruguayan press Monday.
No decision has yet been announced regarding British and US citizens onboard, Uruguayan authorities said.
Updated
More than 20 human rights groups have called on Israel to urgently lift the blockade of Gaza so that the coastal territory can equip itself with the medical supplies it needs to combat any outbreak of coronavirus.
Expressing “grave concern in the face of a potential human catastrophe”, the organisations said the healthcare system in Palestine was operating with a “dire lack of equipment, medicines and training” that left it ill-equipped to handle an outbreak. Their statement said:
At such a critical moment, we call on Israel to lift the 13-year closure on Gaza so that inter alia Gaza can equip itself with the necessary medical supplies—both to combat Covid-19 and to care for patients who would usually seek to leave the Strip as their treatment is unavailable locally, notably cancer patients.
Where medication and equipment are unavailable because of budgetary shortages of the Palestinian health system, Israel should help ensure the supply of the missing materials, to the greatest extent possible. Moreover, Israel should remove barriers to movement of goods and any other impediments on trade and economic activity that harm public health, as well as help to actively maintain a steady supply of electricity and fuel so that hospitals and the general population can maintain reasonable levels of hygiene.
There are more than 250 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the West Bank and potentially dozens in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Updated
854 new coronavirus deaths reported across UK
And there have been three new coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland, according to the latest update (pdf) from Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency, writes Andrew Sparrow on our UK coronavirus blog
These three deaths, combined with the 758 from England (see 2.18pm), the 74 from Scotland (see 1.50pm) and the 19 from Wales (see 2.08pm), would take the UK total of new deaths to 854.
We will get an official UK figure from the Department of Health and Social Care later. As Nadine White at HuffPost points out, there is normally a slight difference between the official UK total and the figure produced by the combination of the separate figures for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That is because some of the reporting criteria differ. Yesterday the official DHSC figure for new UK deaths was 439.
Read more updates from the UK in our UK-focused blog.
Doctors have found tentative evidence that seriously ill coronavirus patients can benefit from infusions of blood plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease, writes Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor.
Two teams of medics working at separate hospitals in China gave antibody-rich plasma to 15 severely ill patients and recorded striking improvements in many of them.
In one pilot study, doctors in Wuhan gave “convalescent plasma” to 10 severely ill patients and found that virus levels in their bodies dropped rapidly. Within three days, the doctors saw improvements in the patients’ symptoms, ranging from shortness of breath and chest pains to fever and coughs.
The eastern Mediterranean region is facing a shortage of health workers, the World Health Organization has warned, as it called for a worldwide investment in training new nurses.
Speaking in an online press conference from Cairo, Ahmed al-Mandhari, the WHO’s eastern Mediterranean director, noted a sharp decline in nurses and midwives in the region and urged investments to plug the gap.
We need health workers to be mobilised to ensure their availability to meet shortages. We also need to protect health workers … to prevent and control infections and provide them with the required personal protection equipment.
Across the region, total confirmed Covid-19 cases have reached 78,500 and more than 4,100 fatalities, with Iran hardest hit by the virus, according to figures on WHO’s website. However, the organisation said that underreporting was still a problem.
Mandhari’s comments came as the WHO issued a warning that the world is facing a global nursing shortage and needs another 6 million nurses in the profession.
Updated
Daycare nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools will reopen in Denmark from 15 April, its prime minister has said, making it the second European country after Austria to unveil its plans for a gradual easing of restrictions.
According to a report on AFP, Mette Frederiksen said that according to health authorities “it is appropriate and justified to start a slow opening. But on condition that everyone keeps their distance and washes their hands.”
Bars, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centres, hairdressers and massage parlours will remain closed, and gatherings of more than 10 people are still prohibited.
“Daily life is not going to return as before for the moment. We will live with many restrictions for many more months,” the prime minister warned.
Not all sections of the Danish economy have suffered from the lockdown. The country’s biggest retailer of sex toys says that sales have doubled since Danes were told to stay at home, Reuters reports.
In the first week of April, sales at Sinful rose 110% in Denmark, where it estimates it commands three-quarters of the total market, while the country’s biggest sex toy review website Eroti.dk said traffic has more than tripled during the lockdown compared with the same period last year.
In particular demand for sex games and toys for couples has spiked. Sinful said sales of a 10-day love challenge for couples rose more than four-fold since mid-March compared with the same period before the lockdown.
Mathilde Mackowski, co-owner of Sinful, the biggest sex toy seller in the Nordics, told Reuters:
It makes me happy that we are doing something good during this difficult time, when people feel vulnerable ...
I think it’s only natural that when we spend more time together we want to have a little extra fun ... We take better care of each other in this difficult time and that also reflects on our sex lives.
As the coronavirus outbreak spreads around the globe, demand for protective equipment and medical devices has never been greater, with countries (mainly the US) trying to outbid each other to try to secure limited supplies hot off production lines.
Today, a story in the Times of Malta illustrates just how cutthroat the competition for these essential supplies is becoming. According to the paper, a shipment of 50,000 medical suits bound for Malta was stolen from a warehouse in Turkey, and is now likely to have ended up on a burgeoning global black market for medical gear.
Outlining the difficulties Malta has had in obtaining supplies for its health system, an official told the paper:
It’s like trying to grab a bar of soap. We order supplies, they are in our grasp, and then they just keep slipping out of our hands before we get them here
Brazil’s president has been forced into a humiliating climbdown after a revolt by top members of the country’s political and military establishment forced him to abort plans to sack the health minister with whom he has been sparring over coronavirus, Tom Phillips reports from Rio de Janeiro.
Jair Bolsonaro was reportedly all set to fire Luiz Henrique Mandetta on Monday after the two fell out over Brazil’s response to Covid-19. Bolsonaro has dismissed the virus as media “hysteria” and criticised lock down containment measures while Mandetta, a doctor by training, has backed a science-based response including social distancing measures.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro dropped a huge hint that Mandetta’s days were numbered, warning that certain unnamed ministers who lacked “humility” would soon get their comeuppance.
But to the delight of Mandetta’s supporters and Bolsonaro’s political foes that sacking never came.
Fernando Haddad, a left-wing politician who lost to Bolsonaro in the 2018 election, tweeted: “I have never seen a president put himself in such a humiliating situation.”
Political commentators described Bolsonaro’s failure to follow through on his threat to axe Mandetta as good news for the health of Brazilian citizens but a devastating blow to the president’s authority.
“He’s a president who no longer presides,” one Brazilian commentator wrote in the newspaper O Globo.
Another pundit tweeted: “In practice Bolsonaro was deposed today”.
A reader has emailed to warn that some caution may be necessary when looking at the shocking forecast by an American university that the UK could be in story for as many as 66,000 deaths from the Covid-19 outbreak. He writes.
Their forecast is based on old data showing uk having 799 ICU beds (eg previous accepted number of 4000 minus the usual 4/5 occupancy level) so not accounting for any of the re-organisation and expansion within hospitals that’s been happening nor any of the temporary field hospitals.
Also they say they could not get invasive ventilator numbers for uk and so seem to have put that figure at zero in their model.
If you bung those numbers in of course it’s going to come out with a massive total of deaths.
A photograph tweeted out by the mayor of Ecuador’s largest city gives a sense of the scale of the coronavirus tragedy it is now facing, writes Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent.
To give you a sense of the scale of the coronavirus tragedy currently unfolding in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The mayor @CynthiaViteri6 has just announced creation of two cemeteries for victims totaling nearly 30 acres of land. That’s the size of about 15 football pitches. pic.twitter.com/1KcQE7aPRd
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) April 7, 2020
Hundreds of people are feared to have died in Guayaquil in recent days with hospitals and mortuaries so stretched that corpses have been dumped on the streets or outside homes.
“The things we have seen are straight out of a horror film,” one local doctor told the Guardian last weekend.
On Monday night mayor Cynthia Viteri, who has herself been self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, said two cemeteries were being built for victims - with a total size of nearly 30 acres (the equivalent of nearly 15 football pitches).
“These spaces will be dedicated to the memory of the guayaquileños who have died during this health emergency,” Viteri tweeted.
Many readers have been sending me messages for more information about how Africa is handling the Covid-19 outbreak. Well today, Jason Burke, the Guardian’s Africa correspondent, has written a dispatch from Eshowe, South Africa, one of the areas worst hit by the HIV, on how the lessons learned about the fight against that pandemic are now being used against coronavirus.
In the visitors’ books of Eshowe’s many guesthouses and hotels, tourists inspired by verdant sugar cane fields and blossoming trees write about “a corner of Eden”.
Locals and specialists know the small town set high among the rolling hills that run along South Africa’s eastern coast for another reason.
With the world’s attention now focused on a new infectious and potentially lethal disease, there is hope that South Africa’s long battle against an earlier pandemic – and other infectious diseases – can provide ideas for possible solutions and hope.
Government ministers in Spain are saying they plan to accelerate plans to introduce a universal basic income, after 302,265 people signed on as unemployed last month as the Covid-19 outbreak led to a fresh economic crisis in the country.
“There is a huge consensus” within the government “to put in place this measure,” consumer protection minister Alberto Garzon said during an interview with Spanish public radio, AFP reports.
In a separate interview on Sunday night with private television broadcaster La Sexta, economy minister Nadia Calvino said the government was working to roll out a universal basic income in the nation of around 47 million people “as soon as possible”.
The goal is for this measure to “stay forever, that it become a structural instrument, a permanent instrument,” she said, adding the income would focus on struggling families.
The coalition deal reached late last year between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists and hard left party Podemos called for the creation of a universal basic income but did not set a timeframe for the adoption of the measure.
Spain, which has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death toll after Italy, ordered a nationwide lockdown on 14 March to try to curb the spread of the virus, which was further tightened on 29 March 29 by banning all non-essential work for two weeks.
The British overseas territory of Bermuda has reported its first two deaths linked to Covid-19, local paper The Royal Gazette reports.
The coronavirus outbreak has been slow to emerge in Bermuda, an island of 65,000 in the north Atlantic ocean, hundreds of miles off the east coast of the US. A state of emergency and lockdown was declared on Friday night.
So far it has recorded 39 confirmed cases of the virus, with 17 patients recovering. Announcing the deaths, Bermuda’s premier David Burt said:
I sincerely hope all Bermudians will pray for their families and recognise that if we do not follow our instructions, if we do not observe the guidelines which have been laid out, there will be more people who, sadly, will succumb to this illness.
It is important for us do our part so we can keep that number as low as possible.
This is Damien Gayle taking back the live blog now.
Updated
The state of Wisconsin is asking hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a stay-at-home order to participate in Tuesday’s presidential primary election, becoming a test case for dozens of states struggling to balance public health concerns with a core pillar of democracy.
The National Guard will help run voting sites across the state after thousands of election workers stepped down fearing for their safety. Dozens of polling places will be closed, but those that are active will open at 7 a.m. CDT.
Results were not expected to be released on election night. In the wake of a legal battle over whether to conduct the election as scheduled, a court ruling appeared to prevent results from being made public earlier than April 13.
Here’s more from Sam Levine in the US
Hundreds of thousands of Indian small businesses have either deferred or cut their workers’ wages this month, say industrialists and union leaders, amid a 21-day nationwide lockdown, reports Reuters.
All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO) an industry body representing some 100,000 small manufacturers - said more than two-thirds of its members faced problems in paying salaries on Tuesday, the usual day for paying monthly wages.
India’s nationwide lockdown, set to end April 14, has left millions of migrant workers stranded without any other source of income. Officials have warned that some states may extend the lockdowns as coronavirus cases rise.
India has so far recorded more than 4,200 coronavirus cases and a death toll of 114 people.
The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 777 to 19,580, health authorities said on Tuesday, as a slowing trend in the rate of increase continued, reports Reuters.
Deaths increased by 234 to 2,101, the Netherlands’ Institute for Health said in its daily update, though it underlined that the death figures it reports on Tuesdays include some patients who died over the weekend and were reported later.
Good afternoon. I’m Gregory Robinson, taking over the live blog for the next hour. If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter to share insight or send tips, I’m on @Gregoryjourno or send me an email at gregory.robinson@guardian.co.uk
UK prime minister 'does not have pneumonia'
Boris Johnson does not have pneumonia, Downing Street has said, Andrew Sparrow reports.
Until now ministers and No 10 have refused to give a clear answer to this question. But asked if the PM has been diagnosed with pneumonia, the spokesman at a daily briefing to political journalists said: “That is not the case, no.”
The spokesman said that Johnson was “stable” overnight and “remains in good spirits”. In a statement about his condition in intensive care, the prime minister’s spokesman said:
The prime minister has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits. He is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any other assistance. He has not required mechanical ventilation or non-invasive respiratory support.
This is a crosspost from our UK-focused live blog.
On Monday I reported that dozens of doctors were arrested in Quetta, Pakistan, after fighting with police during a demonstration about the lack of safety equipment available to them for treating patients with the coronavirus.
Today the Pakistani military has promised that it is to dispatch an emergency shipment of medical supplies to the city, the Associated Press reports.
According to the AP, some of the doctors said they were maltreated by the police and that some of their colleagues were beaten. They declined to give their names, fearing reprisals.
Two doctors have died after contracting the new virus in Pakistan, which has recorded 4,004 cases and 54 deaths. Many of the cases have been traced to pilgrims returning from neighbouring Iran, which has been battling one of the region’s worst outbreaks.
After initially hesitating over imposing measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, Pakistani authorities have imposed a countrywide lockdown until 14 April.
Updated
66,000 Covid-19 deaths forecast in UK
The UK could see as many as 66,000 Covid-19 deaths during the first wave of the current pandemic, more than a third of the expected death toll across Europe, according to modelling by a US university.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine estimated that approximately 151,680 people were likely to die from the virus across the continent. The institute estimates 81,766 deaths for the whole of the US.
IHME director Dr Christopher Murray said:
We are expecting a foreboding few weeks for people in many parts of Europe. It seems likely the number of deaths will exceed our projections for the United States
Using local and international data on case numbers, as well as age mortality breakdowns from Italy, China and the US, the team at IHME modelled the expected death toll on a country-by-country basis.
A key consideration was an individual nation’s intensive care bed capacity. According to a news release by the institute:
The death toll in many countries is compounded by demand for hospital resources well in excess of what is available. For example, peak demand in the UK is expected to total 102,794 hospital beds needed compared to 17,765 available, 24,544 ICU beds compared to 744 ICU beds available, and 20,862 ventilators needed (with data currently unavailable on ventilators available).
More than 5,000 people have died from Covid-19 in so far in the UK, fewer than in Spain, Italy and France. But the epidemic curve in the UK lags behind the rest of the continent by several days, and its death toll trajectory is already steeper than other nations, IHME said.
The institute has posted a video of Murray summarising the key points of the study.
Updated
Calls are growing for EU countries to accept refugees held at the continent’s periphery, as the escalating outbreak fuels fears that the virus could rampage through overcrowded facilities.
The spectre of coronavirus striking severely overcrowded refugee camps in Greece has hovered menacingly for months, writes Helena Smith, the Guardian’s Athens correspondent.
International aid organisations, human rights groups and doctors have sounded the alarm. With the spread of the pandemic, calls for action to prevent impending medical catastrophe have become shriller. In Aegean islands on the frontline of the crisis, health carers speak of days gained, not won.
But an outbreak of the disease in two facilities near Athens has intensified concerns over the estimated 36,000 men, women and children stranded on remote isles opposite the Turkish coast.
Installations on Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos – at six times over capacity, sprawling, wretched and congested – where social distancing, and other precautionary measures are an impossible privilege, offer fertile ground for Covid-19.
“Time is on nobody’s side,” said Dutch physician Steven van de Vijver, the driving force behind an online petition urging EU leaders to bring refugees to safety by agreeing to take them in from Greece. Since its launch last week, more than 6,000 European doctors have signed the appeal.
Updated
In Spain the number of daily deaths has risen to 743 – the first increase after four consecutive days of falling numbers, Ashifa Kassam reports from Madrid.
One day earlier, the daily death toll stood at 637. The country has reported 13,798 deaths from the virus, making it the hardest hit in the world after Italy.
Health officials cited a slight delay in weekend reporting from some regions to explain the uptick in the data. “We continue to see a downward trend in the past days,” said María José Sierra of the health ministry’s emergency coordination unit. “We’re hearing from health officials and from the regions that the pressure is starting – though slowly – to ease.”
The number of confirmed cases rose by 4% to 140,510 on Tuesday, according to the health ministry. More than 43,000 people have recovered from the virus.
On Tuesday the Spanish government is expected to announce new rules aimed at addressing another issue stemming from the pandemic: A dire shortage of workers to harvest fruit and vegetables after lockdowns and border closures were ushered in around the world.
The pandemic has left Spain – the EU’s biggest exporter of fruit and vegetables – in need of as many as 150,000 workers, the country’s agriculture minister, Luis Planas, said earlier this month.
The government is expected to make it easier for unemployed workers and some migrants with expired work permits to help with the harvest, according to broadcaster Cadena Ser.
Wearing face masks or respirators in public is now mandatory in Ukraine, after a range of new measures were implemented on Monday to further try to curb the spread of Covid-19.
People in the eastern European country are also now restricted from gathering outdoors in groups of more than two people, except those with children, with youngsters under the age of 16 banned from leaving home unaccompanied at all.
All visits to parks, recreation areas, sports grounds and playgrounds are prohibited, except for those who are walking pets, and they may only do so alone.
The new rules are in addition to those imposed on 12 March, including the closures of schools and universities, restaurants, cafes, entertainment centres and gyms, and heavy restrictions on the use of public transport.
On Tuesday morning, the health ministry reported 143 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total in Ukraine to 1,462, according to MenaFM. So far, 45 people have died from Covid-19 in Ukraine, including 26 women and 19 men. Among them 85% were over 50. Twenty-eight people have recovered.
Updated
Global Covid-19 death toll passes 75,000
The number of deaths worldwide from the coronavirus has passed 75,000 since the outbreak was first identified at the end of 2019, according to the tally of official statistics kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The Maryland, US-based research university has been compiling statistics since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in China 97 days days ago, on 31 December.
Italy remains the worst affected country, with 16,523 deaths so far, followed by Spain, where the death toll is 13,798. The US is now third worst-affected, with 10,993 deaths – 3,485 in New York City alone.
Updated
Health authorities in Malta have reported that further 52 confirmed cases of coronavirus detected in the past 24 hours, increasing the southern European republic’s total number of cases to 293.
It is the largest daily number of new Covid-19 infections since the outbreak began in Malta last month, the Times of Malta reports. But the Maltese health minister, Chris Fearne, insisted the increase was in line with predictions.
The number did not take us by surprise. The only surprise is that they came today and not days ago. We were expecting these figures last week.
Fearne said Malta was working on increasing its number of intensive care beds from 125 to 200. Four people with Covid-19 were being treated in intensive care, with one on a ventilator.
Updated
Officials in a number of French cities and towns have announced they plan to make face masks mandatory for locals when they leave home in an effort to prevent the coronavirus spreading, Kim Willsher, the Guardian’s Paris correspondent, reports.
The first is Nice, in the south, where the centre-right mayor Christian Estrosi said all inhabitants will be sent a mask within the next eight to 10 days that they can reuse for a month. He promised to give further information on Wednesday.
Several other mayors have said they will follow suit, including neighbouring Cannes on the French Riviera. In Paris, the Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo told France Info radio she was ready to “go in the same direction”.
“Everybody should have some kind of protection,” Hidalgo said.
The move to make masks mandatory, led by local authorities, follows a complete shift in public policy and advice. Until last Friday, the French government and national health officials had repeatedly insisted wearing a mask was “useless” and that the scarce supply of masks available were to be saved for health and frontline workers. Pharmacies were ordered to stop selling masks unless customers had a “medical prescription”.
“Masks are not necessary if you’re not ill,” government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye said.
However, last week, president Emmanuel Macron announced France was launching large-scale production of “alternative” masks made of material, for non-medical workers.
On Friday, Jérôme Salomon, the head of France’s health authority, echoed the changing advice, saying: “We encourage the general public, if they so wish … to wear these alternative masks that are being produced.”
Updated
This is Damien Gayle taking over the global coronavirus news blog now, and for the next eight or so hours.
If you have any tips or comments for our coverage - and I’m particularly asking for your help in pointing out any gaps in topics or from countries we’ve not well covered - please do send me an email at damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or send me a direct message via my Twitter profile, @damiengayle.
I am going to be passing the blog over the colleague Damien Gayle now. Thanks to everyone who has followed this morning. I appreciate all your messages.
Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose to 3,872 with 133 deaths in the past 24 hours, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV. The total number of cases climbed to 62,589, with 2,089 new infections, while 3,987 infected people were in a critical condition, he said.
French authorities have tightened their lockdown measures in the capital by banning Parisians from outdoors sports activity between 10am and 7pm local time, aiming to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
The move came after many French politicians and doctors expressed dismay at the fact that the streets of Paris still feature people jogging or congregating near markets, despite government orders to get people to stay in as much as possible.
The city’s police and mayor’s departments said in a joint statement that, from Wednesday, outdoor sports would no longer be permitted between those conventional daytime hours. People looking to go for a run would have to do so between 7pm and 10am.
France has confined residents to their homes since 17 March to stem the spread of the virus. The measures have been extended until 15 April, and are likely to be extended again.
Updated
The pace of coronavirus deaths in Spain increased slightly on Tuesday for the first time in five days, with 743 people succumbing overnight to reach a total of 13,798.
That compared with 637 people who died during the previous 24 hours in the nation with the second highest toll of fatalities from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Total cases rose to 140,510 on Tuesday from 135,032 on Monday, the health ministry said.
Updated
Indonesia confirmed on Tuesday 247 new coronavirus infections, taking the total to 2,738, said a health ministry official.
Achmad Yurianto, the official, reported 12 more deaths, taking the total to 221, while 204 people had recovered. More than 14,300 coronavirus tests have been carried out.
Lothar Wieler, the head of public health body the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has just held his twice-weekly briefing this morning in which he said it was not yet time to relax the measures in place in Germany to slow down the spread of the virus.
Wieler said the death rate would continue to rise as older people were increasingly contracting the illness, after many more younger people had it at the beginning. The average age of those with the illness is still lower than elsewhere, at 49, he said.
Wieler announced the introduction of a new digital app to help in the fight, called Corona Data Spender App (Corona Data Donor App) through which users can voluntarily contribute their health data to be analysed by the RKI, which would help see how the virus is spreading. The app is available for smart watches or fitness armbands and is free to download.
“If we have a big enough sample group our scientists can draw conclusions about the virus,” Wieler said. He compared it to a similar app used in the US to monitor the flu wave. The app works by collating the data of a user such as weight, height, sex, pulse, heart rate, sleep patterns, as well as their post code, and being able to register when that person was showing indications that they may have contracted coronavirus.
“It can recognise changes in temperature, if the individual is less active, or their sleep is disturbed,” Wieler said. “It is a supplement to other measures, but in my opinion a very useful one.”
The data will be recorded on an interactive map which will be published on the internet and will be regularly updated “and will indicate if the measures [taken] are working,” he added.
The RKI said around 10 million people in Germany possess a smartwatch or fitness armband. Wieler stressed participation was voluntary and data would be anonymous. No mobile phone data would be collected, he said.
This morning, Germany had over 103,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 1,823 people have so far died. The RKI said the current reproduction rate is 1.2-1.5. The aim is for this rate to go below one.
Updated
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has sent a message of “enduring appreciation and good wishes” to health workers around the world for World Health Day.
“I want to thank all those working in the healthcare profession for your selfless commitment and diligence as you undertake vitally important roles to protect and improve the health and well-being of people,” the Queen said.
“My family and I send our enduring appreciation and good wishes.”
Updated
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The Philippines’ health ministry on Tuesday reported 14 new coronavirus deaths and 104 additional infections.
Deaths have reached 177 and total cases 3,764, health secretary Francisco Duque told a news conference.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier in the day extended to the end of April strict quarantine measures on the country’s main island implemented to contain the outbreak.
Some French cities make face masks mandatory
A number of French cities, including Nice, have announced they plan to make face masks mandatory for those who go out.
The mayor of Nice, the capital of the French Riviera, has said all city inhabitants will receive a mask within eight to 10 days that they can reuse for a month.
Cannes and a few other places are following suit, and the capital, Paris, has said it is considering introducing the rule.
This is a complete U-turn as officials have been saying for weeks that nobody needed masks and they were “useless”, presumably because there weren’t even enough for frontline health staff.
French agriculture minister Didier Guillaume has said more than 200,000 people have signed up to help farmers who have warned of a catastrophic lack of seasonal workers. Guillaume made an appeal for a “great agriculture army” last month and this is the response.
Updated
Dozens of prisoners in a Pakistani jail have contracted the novel coronavirus, officials have said, with more than 150 additional inmates potentially infected as cases of Covid-19 continue to soar in the country.
At least 49 inmates at a jail in the eastern city of Lahore have tested positive, according to a tweet by the provincial chief minister late Monday.
The outbreak is believed to have stemmed from an inmate who was arrested for smuggling narcotics and had returned from Italy last month. He was diagnosed on 23 March.
Updated
Afghanistan has recorded its biggest one-day rise in number of infections to coronavirus in last 24 hours amid a surge of infections in Kabul and Kandahar.
Total number of infections to Covid-19 stands at 423 now with 56 new confirmed cases. Twenty seven cases of these new cases were recorded in Herat, the third-largest city of Afghanistan. It is the country’s worst affected area with 257 infections.
A health ministry spokesman warned that the virus has now spread into society with most of the new positive cases from people have had not travelled to Iran.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled the coronavirus outbreak in neighboring Iran and returned home in recent weeks amid concerns that they are bringing the virus with them.
Kabul and all three provinces that share a border with Iran are under partial curfew in a bid to contain the spread of the virus but with streets packed with people walking freely around, experts warn that fighting the outbreak will be challenging.
In southern province of Kandahar, infections jumped to 23 from five in 48 hours, raising concerns in one of Afghanistan’s most populated provinces.
Twelve of new positive cases were in the country’s capital, Kabul, pushing the total number of infections to there to 73.
Thousands of volunteers who were working in the country to fight polio are now spreading information about coronavirus and offerinh assistance in remote areas of the country.
Afghanistan has recorded 18 recoveries and 11 deaths of linked to covid-19.
Japan declares a state of emergency after rise in cases in Tokyo
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency to fight new coronavirus infections in major population centres.
He also unveiled a stimulus package he described as among the world’s biggest to soften the economic blow.
Abe announced the state of emergency targeting the capital Tokyo and six other prefectures – accounting for about 44% of Japan’s population – for a period of about one month.
“We have decided to declare a state of emergency because we’ve judged that a fast spread of the coronavirus nationwide would have an enormous impact on lives and the economy,” he told parliament earlier.
His cabinet will also finalise the stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen ($990 billion) – equal to 20% of Japan’s economic output – to cushion the impact of the epidemic on the world’s third-largest economy.
Coronavirus infections in Tokyo more than doubled to about 1,200 in the past week, with more than 80 new ones reported on Tuesday, accounting for the highest number in the country. Nationwide, cases have climbed past 4,000 with 93 deaths as of Monday.
The emergency gives governors the authority to call on people to stay at home and businesses to close. With no penalties for ignoring the requests in most cases, enforcement will rely more on peer pressure and respect for authority.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said the city was in talks with the central government to decide what types of facilities it would ask to close or curtail business hours, while reiterating there would be no restrictions on buying groceries and medicine.
Updated
It is too early to talk about an easing of new cases of coronavirus in Germany, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases has said.
“We need to wait a few days to see if there is a trend in the reports,” Lothar Wieler, president of the RKI, told reporters.
The RKI said earlier on Tuesday that Germany’s confirmed coronavirus infections rose by 3,834 in the past 24 hours to 99,225 on Tuesday, rising again after four consecutive days of drops.
Updated
Japan has sought to reassure people there is no need for panic buying with prime minister Shinzo Abe due to announce a state of emergency to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Abe will hold a news conference at 7pm (1000 GMT) to announce the measures for the capital, Tokyo, and six other prefectures.
Tokyo has seen coronavirus infections more than double to 1,116 in the past week, accounting for the highest number of patients in the country. Nationwide, cases have climbed past 4,000 with 93 deaths as of Monday.
Minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries Taku Eto called on shoppers to stay calm.
Updated
Indonesia has approved a request by the Jakarta administration to impose further large-scale social restrictions on the capital, the epicentre for novel coronavirus cases in the country.
President Joko Widodo has focused on combating the spread of the disease through social distancing policies, but has resisted the tough lockdown measures adopted in many countries.
Official data shows the virus has infected 2,491 people in the world’s fourth most populous country and killed 209, though a low level of testing and data showing a spike in funerals in Jakarta indicates the toll could be higher. A large portion of Indonesia’s confirmed cases are in the city region.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto signed a central government order, giving approval for the Jakarta government to impose a range of social restrictions in the city region over the next two weeks, with state agencies helping to implement them.
The restrictions include limiting religious events, defence-related activities, socio-cultural activities, and the closing of schools and workplaces.
Updated
Finland announced tougher controls to further reduce arrivals from its neighbours including Sweden, where measures to tackle the coronavirus have been less severe and infection rates higher.
The two countries’ land border in Lapland is usually crossed by thousands of workers and families every day, although traffic across the Swedish and Norwegian borders has fallen by 95 percent since the government banned all but essential traffic on March 14, Finland’s Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo told a press conference.
“In addition to extending the measures (for a month until May 13), quarantine requirements for arrivals will be tightened,” Ohisalo said.
Under the new measures, workers must now carry a permission slip from their employer stating that the border crossing is essential and must remain under quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Finland.
The measures come after a senior Finnish infection specialist called for an end to work-related travel over the Lapland border, where 2,000 border crossings a day were still being made.
Updated
Nearly 140 campaign groups and charities urged the IMF and World Bank, G20 governments and private creditors to help the world’s poorest countries through the coronavirus crisis by cancelling debt payments.
The call, spearheaded by the British-based Jubilee Debt Campaign, comes a day before a Group of 20 working group tasked with the coronavirus response for developing countries is due to meet.
Separately, Ghana Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who chairs the Development Committee advising the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), singled out China - Africa’s largest bilateral creditor - to do more to relieve its debt burden.
The Jubilee Debt campaign urges the immediate cancellation of 69 poor countries’ debt payments for the rest of the year, including to private creditors, estimating that it would free up over $25 billion for the countries, or $50 billion if extended through 2021.
Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp has restricted users to sharing forwarded content one chat at a time after a jump in messages touting bogus medical advice since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
The pandemic, which has killed more than 70,000 people worldwide, has been accompanied by what the World Health Organization (WHO) has called an “infodemic” of misinformation, prompting governments and other authorities to urge social media companies to do more to combat the problem.
WhatsApp, which has more than 2 billion users worldwide, said in a blog post it made the change after observing a “significant increase” in the number of forwards since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
“We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation,” the statement said.
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Updated
Sweden will run large deficits in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak and the effects on the central government budget will be seen from April, the debt office said in a statement on Tuesday.
It’s a tender greeting, albeit one adapted to the times of Covid-19.
The photo, snapped by Spanish photojournalist Unai Beroiz as he visited his 90-year-old grandfather, shows their hands pressed against each other, separated by a narrow sliver of window.
Aitona. Tan cerca, tan lejos.
— Unai Beroiz (@UnaiBeroiz) April 2, 2020
Huarte/Uharte.
1 de abril 2020
2020ko apirilaren 1a.
©Unai Beroiz. pic.twitter.com/lvO3qjFnNK
As Spaniards head into their fourth week of a near-total lockdown, the photo has lit up social media. “I think it really speaks to the moment we’re living in,” Beroiz told the Guardian.
After covering a story at the local paper where he works, Beroiz stopped to check in on his grandfather Miguel. He took the photo as his grandfather stood in the entrance of his building. “He wanted to come out, he’s not too fussed about all this,” said Beroiz.
The initial idea was to share the photo with his family to show them that Miguel – who has a phone line but no internet connection – was doing well. Beroiz later decided to post it, adding the title “So Close, So Far,” on social media. “He’s right there … but it feels like a world away,” explained Beroiz.
Spain has emerged as one of the country’s hardest-hit by the virus, with more than 13,000 lives claimed. The vast majority have been over the age of 80 years, forcing elderly across the country into isolation in hopes of evading the deadly contagion.
The British government declined on Tuesday to say who had responsibility for the UK’s nuclear codes while Boris Johnson is treated in intensive care for Covid-19 complications.
When asked by the BBC if Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had been handed the nuclear codes while Johnson receives treatment, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said: “There are well developed protocols which are in place.”
“I just really cannot talk about national security issues,” Gove said.
The UK is one of the world’s five official nuclear weapon states and has four nuclear submarines armed with Trident II D5 ballistic missiles loaded with nuclear warheads. The UK has a stockpile of about 215 nuclear warheads, though about 120 are operationally available.
Only the British prime minister can authorise a nuclear strike. Such an order would be transmitted to one of Britain’s nuclear submarines with a special set of codes.
Wishing PM swift recovery.
— Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) April 7, 2020
Dominic Raab now deputising.
Listening to Micheal Gove on TODAY - it is important to have 100% clarity as to where responsibility for UK national security decisions now lies.
We must anticipate adversaries attempting to exploit any perceived weakness.
Updated
The London stock market rallied 3% in opening deals on Tuesday, despite news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was battling the coronavirus in an intensive care unit.
Johnson, who spent the night in intensive care with a deteriorating case of coronavirus, has been given oxygen but is not on a ventilator, senior cabinet minister Michael Gove said.
At the open, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 of major UK companies jumped to 5,571.09 points, amid Europe-wide gains as some of the world’s worst-hit countries reported falling COVID-19 death rates.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX won 3.7% to 10,445.50 points and the Paris CAC 40 leapt 3.2% to 4,485.32 compared with Monday’s closing levels.
“The coronavirus crisis has taken a dramatic turn in the UK,” said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
“Boris Johnson, the prime minister, is in intensive care. He was hospitalised on Sunday after spending nearly 10 days in quarantine.
“Johnson is struggling to shake-off COVID-19 and his government is in a panic mode to contain the current crisis.
“However, when it comes to markets, traders have decided not to overreact to the current leadership situation because sterling is still holding ... its ground against the dollar.”
Samsung Electronics expects higher first-quarter profits, it said, as millions of people working from home in coronavirus lockdowns turn to cloud data services, pushing up demand for its chips.
The pandemic is wreaking havoc across the global economy –Samsung itself had operations suspended at 11 overseas assembly lines – and is widely expected to cause a recession.
Looking forward, analysts expect the firm’s smartphone and consumer electronics businesses will be buffeted by the resulting falls in consumer demand.
But initially, changing behaviour patterns among people forced to stay at home around the world have generated a silver lining for the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “It really does bring it home when somebody like Boris is struck down.”
But he added that government will always carry on.
He told BBC Breakfast: “Government will always continue. The people are there, the support’s there. Whatever happens, no matter how bad it is, the country continues, government continues.”
Sir Lindsay said: “What we’ve got to do is wish this prime minister well, a speedy recovery. I don’t think it’s going to be as quick as one expects, but we’ve got to get him back to the helm.
“But, in the meantime, government will always continue, people pull together.”
Updated
Finland’s government has extended and tightened border controls restricting travel to and from the country until 13 May in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The country has followed with mounting concern neighbouring Sweden’s liberal pandemic strategy, fearing cross-border commuters could speed up the spread of the virus in northern parts of Finland, which has an ageing population and limited intensive care resources.
“The government’s aim is to further reduce movement in the inherent commute area across the borders with Sweden and Norway,” Finland’s government said in a statement.
Finland had recorded 2,176 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 27 deaths by Tuesday, while Sweden’s numbers stood at 7,206 and 477 deaths, according to Reuters.
Updated
Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe will on Tuesday declare a state of emergency in parts of the country, including Tokyo, over a sharp rise in coronavirus infections.
“I have decided that a situation gravely affecting people’s life and the economy has occurred. This evening, I plan to call a government headquarters meeting and declare a state of emergency,” Abe said Tuesday.
He announced the plan a day earlier, citing “rapid increases of new infections, particularly in urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka”.
The declaration is expected to take effect from midnight and will empower governors of seven affected regions to ask people to stay inside and businesses to close their doors.
But it stops far short of the sort of lockdown seen in parts of Europe and the US, with no enforcement mechanism to keep people indoors or shutter businesses, nor penalties for those who fail to comply.
Updated
British prime minister Boris Johnson is not on a ventilator but has had some oxygen support and if his condition changes the government will make an official statement, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday.
“He’s not on a ventilator no,” Gove told LBC radio. “The prime minister has received some oxygen support and he is kept under, of course, close supervision.”
Gove also spoke on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme and said if there were any changes to Johnson’s condition there would be updates. “The decisions made by the medical team require medical expertise so it’s important people like me don’t second guess them but support the work they do.”
He added: “It was a shock, yes … the prime minister is someone who has amazing energy and great determination. He has a desire all the time to make sure things are moving forward. He has a zest for life on the tennis court but also in government. He is a force of nature … he is determined to do the best for the country he loves. It’s naturally concerning when he is ill but he is receiving the best possible treatment.”
Michael Gove says that the decision on the lockdown exit strategy will be taken ‘collectively’
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) April 7, 2020
‘We are very very conscious people find the lockdown challenging but we do have to follow the lockdown strategy at the moment
‘As the PM’s case reminds us this can hit anybody’
Updated
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Updated
Mainland China reported on Tuesday a drop in the number of new coronavirus cases after closing its borders to virtually all foreigners to curb imported infections.
It comes as the central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, had no new deaths for the first time.
China had 32 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Monday, down from 39 cases a day earlier, the national health commission said. All of the 32 cases involved travellers arriving from overseas, compared with 38 imported cases a day earlier.
The overall number of imported infections so far stands at 983, the health authority said.
Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province, reported only two new confirmed cases in the past 14 days. It is due to allow people to leave the city on Wednesday for the first time since it was locked down on Jan. 23 to curb the spread of the virus.
Updated
Sharing an interesting article on the Guardian about hope that explores how in the midst of fear and isolation, we are learning that profound, positive change is possible.
Along the same vein, I also thought it would be nice to share a Twitter thread from the UK’s Lewisham intensive care team in which they thank people and companies for their support. This includes thanking countless neighbours for bringing them baked bread.
1/ The last few weeks here in the ICU have been really hard. The days ahead will be even harder. But each day as we face the harsh realities of this disease we are also reminded of the strength and generosity of our community.
— Lewisham Intensive Care (@iculondon) April 6, 2020
5/ Thank you @raastawala for the rice, daal, curry trio and the chance for a shameless plug for our new instagram (check us at @londoncriticalcare) pic.twitter.com/JLLEYc5ViP
— Lewisham Intensive Care (@iculondon) April 6, 2020
Updated
The negotiations over the UK’s future relationship with the EU are going nowhere fast. Following a phone call between the UK’s chief negotiator David Frost and the EU’s deputy head of taskforce, both sides could only say they would try and arrange a new timetable for remote negotiations next week.
The two sides have swapped their rival legal texts for a future treaty and analysis is said to be ongoing but actual negotiations over that text seems to be proving difficult.
Following the phone call on Monday afternoon, a European commission spokesman said: “Last week, the EU and the UK provided clarifications at technical level on their respective legal texts. Clara Martínez Alberola and David Frost spoke by phone this afternoon to take stock of this work. Both sides will remain in contact this week.”
Michel Barnier will speak with David Frost next week to agree a calendar for next steps in order to move the negotiations forward, taking into account the coronavirus outbreak.
The UK government, despite the prime minister Boris Johnson now being in intensive care, attempted to make the situation seem a little more hopeful. The government has put in law an end date of 31 December 2020 for the transition period despite having the opportunity to agree an extension of “up to one or two years”.
A UK government spokesman said: “Talks continue to take place between the negotiations teams remotely. Last week, in a series of conference calls, both sides discussed and provided technical clarifications on their respective legal texts.
“David Frost and the EU’s Deputy Head of the Task Force, Clara Martínez Alberola, and their teams, spoke by video conference this afternoon to take stock of those discussions and to consider next steps. They agreed that there was scope for further productive discussions and that contact should continue in the next few days.
“Chief Negotiators (David Frost and Michel Barnier) have agreed to speak early next week to agree a timetable for negotiations by remote means in April and May.”
China must do more to help ease the debt burden of African countries facing economic calamity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Ghana’s finance minister said.
Speaking with the Center for Global Development, Ken Ofori-Atta said Europe may also need to offer special drawing rights – a form of foreign exchange reserves managed by the International Monetary Fund – to shield Africa from commercial debt defaults.
Updated
Virginia Giuffre, an American advocate of justice for sex trafficking victims who accused Prince Andrew of abusing her as part of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, is in hospital and being tested for coronavirus. Giuffre tweeted to share her experiences of being afraid and having a fever as well as breathing difficulties.
I’m so scared right now, having trouble breathing, fever & cough. Getting tested for Covid-19 praying it’s not positive 🙏 🦋 pic.twitter.com/GfAzxut82Q
— Virginia Giuffre (@VRSVirginia) April 7, 2020
Giuffre, 35, alleges she had sex with Andrew on three occasions between 2001 and 2002. She claimed in a Panorama interview that she was instructed to have sex with Andrew after he bought her a drink and asked her to dance at Tramp nightclub in London in 2001. He has denied the allegations.
Hello, I am taking over the live feed and will be keeping you updated on all the latest developments. Please do share your news tips and any information or insight you have with me.
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I am about to hand over to my colleague in London, Sarah Marsh. Thanks for reading today and if you want to get up to speed on the latest developments, you can find a summary of the top stories below.
Germany records 3,800 jump in confirmed cases
Reuters is reporting that Germany has recorded another 3,834 cases of Covid-19, bringing its total number of cases to 99,225, with 1,607 deaths.
Updated
For those of you looking for an update on Boris Johnson’s condition, there has not been a statement so far this morning. The last statement from No 10’s is about the PM being moved to intensive care on Monday evening. You can read it here.
Updated
This special report by the BBC’s medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, on an intensive care unit at University College London hospital, has been retweeted many times over in the past few hours. Definitely worth a look.
We all have a role to play in fighting this disease, and people of all ages can be affected pic.twitter.com/83dTGlITcj
— Fergus Walsh (@BBCFergusWalsh) April 6, 2020
Updated
The Conservative MP Michael Tomlinson member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, has tweeted his support for Boris Johnson, and also a Dorset dawn.
This picture doesn’t quite do justice to the glorious dawn in Dorset. Praying that today brings some better news for our Prime Minister @BorisJohnson - get well soon Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/2MpVV6yKPG
— Michael Tomlinson MP (@Michael4MDNP) April 7, 2020
Updated
Sky News UK is reporting that MPs have been told police should be issued with spit guards to prevent offenders coughing on them after claiming they have Covid-19.
MPs have been told that all police officers should be issued with spit guards to prevent some offenders biting, coughing and spitting at officers after claiming they have #COVID19 https://t.co/aGF4PmHVKg
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 7, 2020
Guardian coronavirus opinion today includes a piece by Polly Toynbee: Your money or your life? Coronavirus has sparked the latest culture war
And, in features, you can also read about: Hydroxychloroquine: how an unproven drug became Trump’s coronavirus miracle cure
The Guardian’s Long Read today is about what coronavirus can teach us about hope. In the midst of fear and isolation, we are learning that profound, positive change is possible, writes Rebecca Solnit.
You can read the full story here:
As much of the world’s attention is focussed on the progress of Boris Johnson, China has announced its first day with no deaths from Covid-19 since daily briefings began.
You can read our global wrap of this angle of the story below:
If social media is anything to go by, many people in the UK have had a sleepless night, anxious to hear news about Boris Johnson.
The UK papers publish some grave front pages about the PM’s move to intensive care.
The Guardian’s splash headline is “Johnson taken to intensive care after virus symptoms worsen”.
The Mirror says “Sick Boris faces fight for life” across a picture of a pallid-looking Johnson taken from a government video last week.
Tomorrow's front page: Sick Boris faces fight for life #tomorrowspaperstoday https://t.co/pONirpx7Pa pic.twitter.com/XExOH0HHVW
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) April 6, 2020
The Mail also chooses the same image as the Mirror alongside a headline reading “Now stricken Boris taken to intensive care”.
Tuesday's @DailyMailUK #MailFrontPages pic.twitter.com/2xwxZFTvSw
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) April 6, 2020
The Telegraph headline is “Johnson in intensive care” and on the inside pages the paper’s former editor, Charles Moore, is sharply critical of comments by the one-time Whitehall mandarin Lord Kerslake, who told the BBC that Johnson would have to “reflect on his position” if his illness continued, writes the Guardian’s Martin Farr.
Tomorrow’s Telegraph front page: “Johnson in intensive care”#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/n1t2F9zHTQ
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) April 6, 2020
You can read Martin Farrer’s full write up of the UK papers below.
Updated
Summary
Here is a summary of the main points so far:
- The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, was moved to intensive care on Monday night after his condition worsened.
- Donald Trump paid tribute to Johnson at his daily White House briefing: “I found him to be a fantastic person, a fantastic warm strong smart guy. He loves his country, you see that. He fought like hell for his country. But intensive care is big stuff, really big stuff.”
- The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, will run the country’s coronavirus response in Johnson’s absence.
- Global leaders sent Johnson messages of support, including Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison who in the past few minutes sent good wishes: “We’re with you mate, and we hope you get better soon”.
- China reported no deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since it began publishing daily data on the pandemic in January.
- The Chinese city of Wuhan is preparing to reopen transport out of the city tomorrow.
- The governors of New York and New Jersey pointed to tentative signs on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak was starting to plateau but warned against complacency as the nationwide death toll approached 11,000 in the US, with more than 366,000 confirmed cases.
- Japan’s prime minister is expected to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday evening, after several major regions saw a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, especially in the capital Tokyo.
- Australia PM has told citizens to stay home for Easter, as data showed the country’s infection curve was being bent in the right direction. The country has 5,844 cases and 44 deaths from the virus.
- Spain declared Monday a fourth consecutive drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths with 637 over the past 24 hours, the lowest number in nearly two weeks.
- New Zealand’s health minister, Dr David Clark, was demoted for flouting lockdown rules.
- Global infections stood at 1,347,803, with deaths at 74,807, as of 05.42GMT, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
Updated
Our correspondent in India, Hannah Ellis-Petersen reports that people in Mumbai’s largest slum, Dharavi, home to 1 million, are “very afraid” of the impact of the coronavirus on their lives.
She describes the prospect of attempting to contain transmission in a place where 10 people often live in a single room, more than 80 people share a public toilet and where many houses do not even have running water is already proving daunting to local officials. So far there are five known cases in Dharavi, while 25 people have been taken into special quarantine facilities and another 3,500 placed under home quarantine.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure it does not explode and that there is no community spread, but it is a big challenge to contain this,” said Kiran Dighavkar, the assistant municipal commissioner for G-North ward of Mumbai.
You can read her full story here:
Hong Kong leader weighs in on Taiwan debate
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam has defended and supported an accusation against public broadcast RTHK that it breached the “One China” principle by asking a World Health Organisation about Taiwan’s response to the pandemic and its exclusion from WHO.
In an interview which quickly went viral last month, RTHK’s Yvonne Tong asked WHO advisor Bruce Aylward whether the organisation would reconsider Taiwan’s membership, which has long been objected to by Beijing.
Aylward appeared not to hear Tong, and then either hung up on her or was disconnected.
At a press conference today Lam was asked about a statement by the secretary for commerce and economic development, Edward Yau, who accused RTHK of breaching its charter obligations, and said the program had “reached the One-China Principle and the purposes and mission of RTHK as a public service broadcaster”.
“I certainly endorse and support this stance and position of secretary Edward Yau,” Lam said.
“Let me make this very clear, either as a public broadcaster or a govt department, RTHK has to fulfil the important and fundamental principle of upholding One Country Two Systems. RTHK can not claim immunity by being a public broadcaster and not observe this very important principle … and even as a public broadcaster in the charter there are clear requirements … of its role in deepening the public’s understanding of One Country Two Systems.”
Lam did not address the specifics of the question prompting her remarks, which was how asking Aylward a question breached the principle.
Japan's PM tweets message of support to 'dear friend' Johnson
As we have been reporting, world leaders have been sending messages of support to the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, the latest from Japan, Justin McCurry writes:
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has become the latest world leader to send his support to Boris Johnson. In a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, Abe, who within hours will declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures, addressed the British prime minister as “my dear friend,” adding, “my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, as you fight for a swift recovery. The people of Japan stand with the British people at this difficult time”.
To my dear friend @BorisJohnson , my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, as you fight for a swift recovery. The people of Japan stand with the British people at this difficult time.
— 安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) April 7, 2020
Updated
Well, that Australian press conference, with all its caveats, is probably some of the best news we have heard on coronavirus for some time. Many Australians will be breathing a sigh of relief that things seem to be somewhat stable at the moment, but will also hopefully heed the PM Scott Morrison’s plea to STAY AT HOME this Easter.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media has released some images of bullet trains getting ready to resume service out of the city of Wuhan tomorrow, when travel restrictions lift for people who have a green health code.
One day to go! More than 80 trains at the #Wuhan station are ready to resume operation. Starting from Wednesday, outbound transport will resume after the city hit the “pause” button for more than 2 months. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/NjtDR5nVGY
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 7, 2020
Updated
Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, is now looking at what could have happened in Australia if no restrictive measures had been put in place. he says the demand would have been for 35,000 ICU beds – way beyond Australia’s capacity.
Unmitigated scenario @joshgnosis pic.twitter.com/DaW6NTXCqq
— Daniel Hurst (@danielhurstbne) April 7, 2020
Now he’s looking at the impact quarantine and isolation of cases had been implemented only – and the outcome would still be ICU demand well beyond Australia’s capacity.
The final image is what the modelling predicts under the current “lockdown” conditions where people have been asked to stay at home and many businesses have been shut down, including cafes, restaurants and bars ... and the outcome is a much flatter curve. A “major downward affect” is how he describes it.
Below is a tweet from Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst, showing the three scenarios.
— Daniel Hurst (@danielhurstbne) April 7, 2020
He reiterates that he main area of focus is still the community transmission in parts of Sydney.
Updated
Australia is 'flattening the curve'
He is showing the new modelling that shows the “curve” is being bent in Australia but “complacency is our biggest risk”.
Australia has 5,844 cases and 44 deaths
We are now hearing from Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy.
He reports the latest figures, including 5,844 cases in Australia, 44 deaths, fewer than 100 cases in ICU, fewer than 40 people on ventilators.
He says what worries them is the 500 people in the community who have the disease but don’t know they have had it.
“That is why we cannot relax what we have been doing,” he says, but he adds that there have been impressive reductions in infection rates.
Updated
He say the states are looking at educational impacts and looking at how rest of year will be managed.
He said he is leaving those issues to states an territories, but said: “We want to ensure parents who cannot provide a learning environment, that they don’t have to choose between their children’s education and feeding their children.”
Morrison says modelling of coronavirus cases in Australia will be released later today. “You will have what we have... it is the full complement of what we have available to us.”
He says it is theoretical, and is not based on case data, and does not predict what will happen in Australia in terms of how many will contract the virus or will die from the virus, or how long it will last in Australia.
The modelling, he says, draws on a broader international dataset, and will help with flattening the curve, which is what is happening. He says the data will help plan the way out.
Morrison warns the media to avoid reporting the modelling as a prediction.
“We are on the right track: controlling spread, boosting the health system and buying time.”
Updated
Morrison extends his concerns and support to UK PM Boris Johnson who is in intensive care in London.
Australian PM tells citizens to stay home for Easter
Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, is speaking at a press conference now. He is urging all Australians to abandon any Easter holiday travel plans or risk undoing all the good that has been achieved by existing isolation measures
Updated
Japan’s government is considering including sex workers in a scheme to compensate freelancers for loss of income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, after being accused of occupational discrimination.
The daily payments of ¥4,100 (£30) are intended to help parents who have been unable to work due to school closures that began early last month.
Sex workers, however, are currently ineligible for financial help, prompting an advocacy group to call on the health ministry to include them.
“The government programme helps encourage discrimination and prejudice against people working in the sex industry,” Yukiko Kaname, the head of Sex Work and Sexual Health, told Kyodo news agency.
“Illegal shops and ties with crime syndicates are the operators’ problems. The workers are not at fault and their children do not bear any responsibility,” Kaname said.
Ministry officials denied charges of discrimination. “There were problems in the past when subsidies were given to shops with ties to crime syndicates and those operating illegally,” an official said.
The health minister, Katsunobu Kato, said last week there were no plans to adjust the programme, adding that it would be “inappropriate” for people working in the commercial sex industry to receive state support.
But this week the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told MPs the government would “review” the scheme after coming under pressure to explain how it planned to help vulnerable workers during the crisis.
Japan is expected to declare a state of emergency in response to the crisis on Tuesday.
Summary
Here is a summary of the main points so far:
- The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, was moved to intensive care on Monday night after his condition worsened.
- Donald Trump paid tribute to Johnson at his daily White House briefing: “I found him to be a fantastic person, a fantastic warm strong smart guy. He loves his country, you see that. He fought like hell for his country. But intensive care is big stuff, really big stuff.”
- The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, will run the country’s coronavirus response in Johnson’s absence.
- Global leaders sent Johnson messages of support.
- China reported no deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since it began publishing daily data on the pandemic in January.
- The governors of New York and New Jersey pointed to tentative signs on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak was starting to plateau but warned against complacency as the nationwide death toll approached 11,000 in the US, with more than 366,000 confirmed cases.
- Japan’s prime minister is expected to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday evening, after several major regions saw a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, especially in the capital Tokyo.
- Spain declared Monday a fourth consecutive drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths with 637 over the past 24 hours, the lowest number in nearly two weeks.
- New Zealand’s health minister, Dr David Clark, was demoted for flouting lockdown rules.
- Global infections stood at 1,347,676, with deaths at 74,744, as of 04.07GMT, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
China records no virus deaths for first time since January
I reported a few minutes ago on China’s daily coronavirus figures, including that all infections were from abroad. But the bigger point that I think should be pointed out is that for the first time since the National Health Commission began publishing daily updates on 25 January, the country has recorded no deaths.
Over the past two weeks, the death toll has hovered between one and seven. Over the past two weeks, of the 55 deaths reported in China, 51 were in the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
Updated
For those of you who may have missed this earlier, here’s Donald Trump talking about Boris Johnson’s admission to intensive care and the US drug companies he has asked to offer help with regards to the UK PM’s treatment.
New Zealand's health minister demoted for flouting lockdown rules
New Zealand’s health minister has been demoted after he ignored national lockdown rules and drove his family to a beach 20km from his home.
Last week Dr David Clark was photographed going for a mountain bike ride 2km away from his Dunedin home. He apologised for the incident, saying it showed poor judgment at a time when all New Zealanders were being urged to stay at home and only exercise in their local area.
Under level 4 lockdown, which New Zealanders have been under for nearly two weeks, Kiwis cannot leave their homes except for essential supplies such as food or medicine, and could only take brief bouts of exercise in their local area.
“At a time when we are asking New Zealanders to make historic sacrifices I’ve let the team down. I’ve been an idiot, and I understand why people will be angry with me,” Clark said in a statement.
“As the health minister, it’s my responsibility to not only follow the rules but set an example to other New Zealanders … I’ve apologised to the prime minister for my lack of judgement and offered her my resignation.”
Ardern did not accept his resignation, but responded swiftly to Clark’s revelation, stripping him of his associate finance minister portfolio and demoting him to the bottom of the cabinet rankings.
Newshub reported on Tuesday, that All Black rugby player Richie Mo’unga had apologised for breaking lockdown rules after he was filmed with several other players passing a ball and completing drills at Christchurch’s Malvern Park on Monday. In an instagram video, he said: “It was by coincidence that I rocked up and they were there training, just finishing up their session.”
You can see our full story here.
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The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast is about the stricken Zaandam cruise ship, which finally docked in Florida last Thursday. It’s sister ship, the Rotterdam, was also allowed to dock, after both were refused port at other destinations.
You can listen to it here:
Updated
In case you missed it, a British Labour MP, the member for Rochdale (Greater Manchester), Tony Lloyd, was admitted to hospital on Monday. The 70-year-old shadow Northern Ireland secretary was “stable and responding to treatment” at Manchester Royal Infirmary, his family said.
China records no locally-transmitted cases of Covid-19
China has released its daily coronavirus figures, which include 32 newly confirmed cases that were all imported. There were no cases no new deaths.
In Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak, there remain 518 confirmed cases (515 cases in Wuhan), including 184 severe cases (181 cases in Wuhan). Wuhan is due to lift its travel restrictions on Wednesday for residents who have a green health code.
China’s total death toll stands at 3,212.
Updated
Sacked US naval commander gets an apology
The row over the sacking of the US navy commander, Captain Brett Crozier, who complained that not enough was being done to help his sailors who were stuck on the US Theodore Roosevelt off Guam, with coronavirus onboard last week, has taken another turn.
In his marathon White House press briefing a few hours ago, President Trump came to Captain Crozier’s defence: “His career prior to that was very good. So I’m going to get involved and see exactly what’s going on there because I don’t want to destroy somebody for having a bad day,” Trump said, while stressing that Crozier should not have circulated the memo that called for more help for his crew because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump’s intervention followed calls from Congress and former officers for the acting US Navy secretary, Thomas Modly (who fired Crozier) to himself resign after an audio recording surfaced of a speech he gave to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in which he denigrated the commander he had fired for having circulated the memo.
Now Modly has issued a statement apologising to Crozier, saying: “Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive or stupid ... I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier ... for any pain my remarks may have caused.”
Quite a climb down.
Acting @SECNAV just issued an apology to the Navy for his comments today. pic.twitter.com/G7Q5YWigHK
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) April 7, 2020
Updated
US deaths approach 11,000
US deaths from coronavirus stand at 10,783, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker. There are 366,614 confirmed cases of Covid-19, as of 02.00GMT on Tuesday.
There was quite a startling figure tweeted by the ABC White House producer, Elizabeth Thomas, that showed African American fatalities in Louisiana from Covid-19 accounted fo 70% of deaths in the state
BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana just released COVID-19 data which shows that African-Americans account for 70% of ALL DEATHS in the state.
— Elizabeth Thomas (@lizzkatherine_) April 6, 2020
African-Americans makes up roughly 32% of the population. #COVID19
There was a similar statistic reported in Chicago.
Sobering data:
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) April 6, 2020
72% of our #COVID19 deaths have been in black Chicagoans.
But black Chicagoans make up just 30% of the city.@cbschicago #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/X07mnBfiI2
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3M to import 166m respirator face masks in next three months
A statement from the industrial giant 3M said it was announcing a plan with the Trump administration to import 166m N95 face masks, also known as respirators, to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. The company also committed to further collaboration to fight price gouging and counterfeiting in what has become an intense market for global supplies of personal protective equipment.
“I want to thank President Trump and the Administration for their leadership and collaboration,” said 3M chairman and CEO Mike Roman. “We share the same goals of providing much-needed respirators to Americans across our country and combating criminals who seek to take advantage of the current crisis. These imports will supplement the 35m N95 respirators we currently produce per month in the United States.”
The company said it would further expand its production capacity and the millions of additional masks would primarily come from its facilities in China.
Spain declares fourth day drop in deaths
Spain declared Monday a fourth consecutive drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths with 637 over the past 24 hours, the lowest number in nearly two weeks.
Fatalities, which were sharply down on the record 950 on Thursday, brought the total deaths in the country to 13,055, second only to Italy, with 16,500.
The official figures represent an increase of 5.1% over the last 24 hours, compared to a 4.8% rise on Sunday and a 32.63% leap as recently as 21 March.
Japan expected to declare state of emergency
Japan’s prime minister is expected to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday, after several major regions saw a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, especially in the capital Tokyo.
“We hope to declare a state of emergency as early as tomorrow after listening to the opinions of the advisory panel,” Abe told reporters on Monday evening.
“We are seeing rapid increases of new infections, particularly in urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka.
“Considering that medical institutions are facing a critical situation, I have received opinions that the government should prepare to declare a state of emergency.”
Japan has more than 3,600 cases of Covid-19 and 85 deaths.
You can read our latest story on this from Justin McCurry in Tokyo.
New York governor talks of 'possible flattening of curve'
The governors of New York and New Jersey pointed to tentative signs on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak was starting to plateau but warned against complacency as the nationwide death toll topped 10,000 and the number of known US infections surpassed 350,000.
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said coronavirus-related deaths statewide reached 4,758 as of Monday, an increase of 599 from Sunday, on par with an increase of 594 during the previous 24 hours. On Friday, the state’s death toll increased by 630.
The overall tally of confirmed cases in the state grew by 7% from the previous day to 130,680. But hospitalisations, admissions to intensive care units and the number of patients put on ventilator machines to keep them breathing had all declined – signs that crisis may be levelling off, Cuomo said.
“While none of this is good news, the possible flattening of the curve is better than the increases that we have seen,” Cuomo told a daily briefing, referring to the shape of the curve when case numbers, deaths and other data are plotted on a graph.
Cuomo warned it was still too soon to know whether the state has turned the corner, saying: “If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a high level.”
New York’s order to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed has been extended until 29 April.
In neighbouring New Jersey, the state with the second-highest number of cases and deaths, Governor Phil Murphy told a briefing, “Our efforts to flatten the curve are starting to pay off.”
There was a 24% increase in positive cases on 30 March, but the rate of growth had slowed to 12% on Monday. New Jersey has confirmed more than 41,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths.
British media heavyweight, Andrew Neil, whose resume includes the BBC, the Spectator, Sky News and the Sunday Times summed up the mood in London.
Normal party politics is suspended in Britain tonight. All people of good will hope for the Prime Minister’s speed recovery. He is in good NHS hands.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) April 6, 2020
Tony Blair’s former press secretary, Alistair Campbell, also tweeted:
Good luck to @BorisJohnson and the doctors and nurses caring for him and best wishes to his family who must be sick with worry. I have often criticised him and his politics but I sincerely hope he gets through this and can return to lead the country through this crisis
— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret) April 6, 2020
A number of world leaders have tweeted their support for Johnson, including this from the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
I send all my support to Boris Johnson, to his family and to the British people at this difficult moment. I wish him a speedy recovery at this testing time.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 6, 2020
And this from the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison.
Get well soon @BorisJohnson. Thinking of you, your family and all our UK friends at this tough time.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) April 6, 2020
You can see our story on world leaders’ tributes to Johnson below:
Updated
UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, takes over Johnson's responsibilites
While Johnson is in hospital, the UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, will be running the country’s coronavirus response. He is expected to chair the emergency Cobra meetings and cabinet meetings as the government makes crucial decisions related to the pandemic, including whether and when to alter restrictions on movement.
Raab, 46, who has twice tested negative for the virus, is Johnson’s “designated survivor”, and takes on prime ministerial responsibilities now Johnson has become too ill to remain in charge of the government.
You can see our full story on this by Rajeev Syal and Lisa O’Carroll here: Dominic Raab to lead UK through coronavirus hurdles
Updated
Trump on Johnson's hospital admission: 'intensive care is big stuff'
President Trump has been holding his daily White House briefing on coronavirus, in which he paid tribute to Boris Johnson, saying he had “found him to be a fantastic person, a fantastic warm strong smart guy. He loves his country, you see that. He fought like hell for his country. But intensive care is big stuff, really big stuff...”
Trump also said:
We’re very saddened to hear that [Johnson] was taken into intensive care this afternoon, a little while ago, and Americans are all praying for his recovery. He’s been a really good friend. He’s been really something very special: strong resolute; doesn’t quit; doesn’t give up.
And I’ve asked two of the leading companies – these are brilliant companies. Ebola, Aids, they’ve come with the solutions and just have done incredible jobs – and I’ve asked them to contact London immediately. They’ve really advanced therapeutics ... and they have arrived in London already, the London office has whatever they need.
We’ll see if we can be of help. We’ve contacted all of Boris’s doctors, and we’ll see what is going to take place, but they are ready to go.
But when you get brought into intensive care, that gets very, very serious with this particular disease.
So, the two companies are there. And with what they are talking about, and it’s rather complex and has had really incredible results. We’re working with the FDA and everybody else but we are working with London with respect to Boris Johnson.
If you are just joining our coverage of the day’s coronavirus developments, it’s been a dramatic few hours of news, with the British prime minister moved to intensive care in hospital after his condition from Covid-19 deteriorated.
Johnson was moved to the critical unit at St Thomas’ Hospital on Monday evening. He was understood to be conscious when he was moved to intensive care at about 7pm, as a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery.
Press Association reports Derek Hill, professor of medical imaging at University College London (UCL), said the PM could be given a breathing aid known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which bridges the gap between an oxygen mask and full ventilation.
CPAP uses pressure to send a blend of air and oxygen into the mouth at a steady rate, thereby boosting the amount of oxygen that enters the lungs.
But Prof Hill said many Covid-19 patients eventually “progress to invasive ventilation”.
This is for people whose illness is so severe they are struggling or unable to breathe for themselves. A mechanical ventilator either does all the breathing for the patient, or assists the patient’s own breathing.
Hill said:
One of the features of Covid-19 in all countries seems to be that many more men become seriously ill than women – especially in the over 40 age group. Also we know that people under about 60 seem to have a higher chance of making a recovery from critical illness with Covid-19 than older people.
But there is no doubt this turn of events means Boris Johnson is extremely sick.
It illustrates three of the important healthcare needs of Covid-19.
Firstly, many patients need help breathing, and there is a shortage of the mechanical ventilators that can do this – and in particular a shortage of the high quality intensive care ventilators most suitable for Covid-19 patients who might need help breathing for over a week.
Secondly, Covid-19 patients need a huge amount of oxygen to help them breathe - which is potentially going to be in short supply.
Thirdly, looking after people in intensive care requires skilled staff, and the experience of New York has been that finding enough skilled staff has been the greatest challenge.
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
The main news today is that the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been admitted to intensive care in a London hospital, as he battles Covid-19. He was moved into ICU at 7pm London time as a precaution in case he needed ventilation.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the prime minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the intensive care unit at the hospital.”
You can read our coverage of the story here:
- Boris Johnson moved to intensive care after his condition worsens
- The strange lead-up to Boris Johnson’s admission to hospital
- Global leaders send messages of support to Boris Johnson
President Trump has just held his daily White House press briefing, in which he paid tribute to Johnson.
We’re very saddened to hear that [Johnson] was taken into intensive care this afternoon, a little while ago, and Americans are all praying for his recovery. He’s been a really good friend. He’s been really something very special: strong resolute; doesn’t quit; doesn’t give up.
Elsewhere:
- Egypt has reported 149 new cases; its highest daily toll since confirming the first infection in February.
- Israel will go into a four-day national lockdown starting on Tuesday to try to stem the outbreak during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
- Denmark will reopen day cares and schools for children in first to fifth grade starting 15 April if the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths remain stable, the country’s prime minister has said.
- Russia is resuming some international flights to repatriate its citizens, ending the suspension of all flights announced last week.
- The wearing of medical masks by the general public could exacerbate the shortage for health workers on the front lines, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
You can also find our latest “At A Glance” summary of developments here.
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