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Updated
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is taking the lead in pressing a hard line against Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic, AFP reports.
Pompeo, in an interview Sunday on ABC, said there was “enormous evidence” that the new coronavirus came out of a Wuhan lab - not a wet market, as most scientists suggest.
“Remember, China has a history of infecting the world and they have a history of running substandard laboratories,” he said.
Pressed in the interview, Pompeo, formerly the CIA chief, walked back his statement that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was “man-made,” an idea explicitly rejected by US intelligence.
Chinese state media on Monday responded with harsh commentary, denouncing his remarks as “insane” and saying, “Evil Pompeo is wantonly spewing poison and spreading lies.”
Pompeo has also joined Trump in attacking the World Health Organization, which said Monday it had no evidence that the virus came out of a laboratory.
WHO says has no proof from US on ‘speculative’ Wuhan lab claims
The World Health Organization said Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support “speculative” claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab, AFP reports.
“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus - so from our perspective, this remains speculative,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.
Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
But US President Donald Trump, increasingly critical of China’s management of the first outbreak, claims to have proof it started in a Wuhan laboratory.
And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said “enormous evidence” backed up that claim, which China has vehemently denied.
“Like any evidence-based organisation, we would be very willing to receive any information that purports to the origin of the virus,” Ryan said, stressing that this was “a very important piece of public health information for future control.
“If that data and evidence is available, then it will be for the United States government to decide whether and when it can be shared, but it is difficult for the WHO to operate in an information vacuum in that regard,” he added.
Summary
- Confirmed global death toll exceeds 250,000. According to research by both the Reuters news agency and Johns Hopkins University, at least a quarter of a million people are now known to have died as a result of the pandemic. Globally, 3,062 new deaths and 61,923 new were cases recorded over the past 24 hours, taking total cases to 3.58m. Experts worry the available data is underplaying the true impact of the pandemic. The Johns Hopkins researchers put the known death toll at 250,687.
- Germany set to ease restrictions – report. Germany’s state premiers will agree on further measures to ease restrictions during a telephone call with the chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Reuters reports, citing two people familiar with the preparations.
- French hospital discovers Covid-19 case from December. The hospital retested old samples from pneumonia patients and discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as 27 December, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.
- Italy’s death toll far higher than reported. Statistics bureau ISTAT said its analysis showed an extra 11,600 deaths were unaccounted for, and it was reasonable to assume these people either died of Covid-19 without being tested or that the extra stress on the health system due to the epidemic meant they died of other causes they were not treated for.
- World leaders pledge $8bn to fight coronavirus. At a video-conference summit hosted by the European Union, Japan pledged more than $800m while Germany offered €525m. Italy and Spain each said they would provide more than €100m.
- Austrian unemployment at all-time high. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the number of unemployed Austrians to historically high levels, with a year-on-year rise of almost 60%.
- Carnival to resume cruises in August. Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to resume operations at the beginning of August despite dozens of deaths on cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic and investigations into the industry’s possible role in spreading the disease around the globe.
- Plane carrying aid supplies crashes in Somalia. The accident, involving an African Express Airways plane, killed seven people on board, a security official said.
- US supreme court hears arguments by teleconference for first time. In a break from tradition caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the nine justices participated remotely via a dial-in format, while the audio feed was broadcast live.
In the UK, a review will analyse how factors such as ethnicity, obesity and gender can affect people’s vulnerability to coronavirus, health leaders have said.
Public Health England (PHE) said thousands of health records of people who have had Covid-19 will be examined to establish more “robust” data on what can have an impact on the number of cases and health outcomes for different groups within the population.
The review aims to better understand how factors such as ethnicity, deprivation, age, gender and obesity could impact on how people are affected by coronavirus, PHE added.
The review is intended to provide “insight” into emerging evidence the virus is having a disproportionate effect on different groups.
It follows reports that deaths among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups are disproportionately high.
Hello, Helen Sullivan with you now and for the next few hours. Get in touch any time on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Confirmed global death toll exceeds 250,000
According to research by both the Reuters news agency and Johns Hopkins University, at least a quarter of a million people are now known to have died as a result of the pandemic.
North America and European countries account for most of the new deaths and cases reported in recent days but numbers are rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa and Russia, Reuters reports.
Globally, 3,062 new deaths and 61,923 new were cases recorded over the past 24 hours, taking total cases to 3.58m. Experts worry the available data is underplaying the true impact of the pandemic.
The Johns Hopkins researchers put the known death toll at 250,687. Their figures, which are based on official and media reports, have been subject to small fluctuations in the past.
Workers in the UK may refuse to turn up or stage walk-outs unless the government helps guarantee their safety, trade unions have warned amid anger over guidance designed to ease the lockdown.
As ministers prepare to urge the country back to return to work, Rowena Mason and Heather Stewart write that Labour has joined a string of trade unions in criticising draft guidelines for being vague, inadequate and putting staff at risk because employers can choose how closely to follow them.
They warned that vulnerable people such as pregnant women, those with underlying conditions such as cancer, asthma and diabetes, and over-70s could be forced to work without enough protections.
Italians were allowed out as the toughest quarantine measures were lifted throughout the country after almost two months on 4 May. About 4m people returned to work as the prime minister Giuseppe Conte appealed to the public in a Facebook post on Sunday night to “act responsibly”.
Germany set to ease restrictions – report
Germany’s state premiers will agree on further measures to ease restrictions during a telephone call with the chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, Reuters reports citing two people familiar with the preparations.
The state premiers are expected to give the green light for large shops to reopen, probably from 11 May, Reuters says.
The states will also agree to reopen schools for all grades step-by-step, though most children will only be allowed to go to class in rotating shifts, not on daily basis, the sources said.
Updated
Tim Bray, a top engineer and vice-president at Amazon, is resigning “in dismay” over the company’s firing of employee activists who criticised working conditions amid the pandemic.
Bray’s resignation comes as Amazon faces increased scrutiny and employee activism surrounding its internal response to coronavirus. Amazon workers on Friday participated in a nationwide sick-out to protest working conditions and inadequate safety protections.
In the UK, the virus’ devastating spread among care homes has led to a growing number of families seeking legal advice about bringing their relatives home, Amelia Hill and Diane Taylor write.
One law firm said it had received at least 10 calls a week from families wanting to overturn guidance that prevents them from withdrawing their loved ones.
Advice lines said they had also seen a small but growing number of calls from those experiencing what one lawyer called a new “fear factor … the fear that coronavirus will sweep through the care home and everyone will die”.
Paraguay has become one of the first Latin American countries to start relaxing its lockdown, Will Costa writes from Asunción.
The landlocked nation, which has reported some of the lowest numbers of cases in the region with 396 cases and 10 deaths, has launched a four-phase plan under which some public freedoms and economic activities will gradually be reintroduced over a period extending until early July.
Under the measures introduced on Monday, people working in sectors such as construction, hairdressing and law will return to work. Paraguayans will also be allowed to leave their homes once a day to exercise.
The country’s president Mario Abdo Benítez claimed the low number of cases are due to citizens’ good behaviour and the strict early measures taken by his government — restrictions began to be implemented after the confirmation of just the second case of infection on 10 March.
Paraguay must keep moving while following the hygiene protocols and using our intelligence to take responsibility for the quarantine so that we can keep the curve flattened.
The health minister Julio Mazzoleni said further relaxations and a potential return to stricter measures would depend upon developments over the coming weeks.
A row has erupted among scientists over a new report into the use of face masks by the general public as an approach to managing the spread of Covid-19 in the community.
The report from a multidisciplinary group convened by the Royal Society called Delve – Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics – has weighed up the evidence and come out in favour of the public wearing face masks, including homemade cloth coverings, in a bid to tackle Covid-19. The report notes:
Our analysis suggests that their use could reduce onward transmission by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic wearers if widely used in situations where physical distancing is not possible or predictable, contrasting to the standard use of masks for the protection of wearers. If correctly used on this basis, face masks, including homemade cloth masks, can contribute to reducing viral transmission.
There have been 4,075 new cases and 263 deaths over the last 24 hours in Brazil, the country’s health ministry has said.
Brazil has now registered 105,222 confirmed cases and 7,288 deaths. New cases increased roughly 4% from the previous day, and deaths rose roughly 3.7%.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 1,152,372 cases in total, and said the number of deaths has risen to 67,456.
Over the weekend, the CDC updated its case count to 1,122,486 and said 65,735 people had died across the country, but that the numbers were preliminary and had not been confirmed by individual states. The figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
Kigali traders have resumed work as Rwanda partially lifted the strict lockdown measures adopted six weeks ago.
Businesses in the capital were flooded with customers hurrying to finish their shopping before an 8pm (CAT) curfew, AFP reported.
Rwanda imposed a shutdown on 22 March, closing non-essential shops, shuttering schools, suspending public transport and banning all “unnecessary travel” outside the home.
The measures have had a heavy economic impact in the poor east African country. Jane Mutoni, a waitress at a small restaurant in Kigali, said two of her male colleagues were let go.
We are now two waitresses. It has been really good to return to work because we had no other source of income.
In the markets, only half the shops were allowed to reopen. Hair salons in particular have benefited from the easing of restrictions, although measures have been taken to prevent them from becoming overcrowded. John Sibomana, a Kigali hairdresser, said:
We are going back to work slowly. Usually we are eight people working as a team here. But today we work in shifts at only three at a time to respect the social distancing.
After three hours, a colleague will replace me. We don’t earn much, but it is still better than staying at home.
The government is using the pandemic to transfer key public health duties from the NH S and other state bodies to the private sector without proper scrutiny, critics are warning.
Doctors, campaign groups, academics and MPs raised the concerns about a “power grab” after it emerged on Monday that Serco was in pole position to win a deal to supply 15,000 call-handlers for the government’s tracking and tracing operation.
They said the health secretary Matt Hancock has accelerated the dismantling of state healthcare and that the duty to keep the public safe is being outsourced to the private sector, Juliette Garside and Rupert Neate write:
Updated
In photographs together and with their families, the five men smile, or hold their loved ones close. All 50 or older, their friendships ranged over decades, their passions running from philanthropy to cycling, their duties from activism to business. A little over two weeks ago, they were pillars of the Pakistani community in the small pocket of Birmingham in which they all lived, with 41 grandchildren between them. Now they are all dead, victims of coronavirus.
Updated
There must be equal access for developing countries to medicine to combat the pandemic, the Indonesian president Joko Widodo has said.
We need to fight for just and timely access to affordable Covid-19 medicine and vaccine.
Debt relief and debt repayment obligations from official creditors (for developing countries) need be rediverted into financing the handling of Covid-19.
He attended a virtual summit held by 39 heads of states that are part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a cold war-era bloc that was established in 1961 and declared itself non-partisan to any major powers.
Updated
Summary
French hospital discovers Covid-19 case from December. The hospital retested old samples from pneumonia patients and discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as 27 December, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.
Italy’s death toll far higher than reported. Statistics bureau ISTAT said its analysis showed an extra 11,600 deaths were unaccounted for, and it was reasonable to assume these people either died of Covid-19 without being tested or that the extra stress on the health system due to the epidemic meant they died of other causes they were not treated for.
World leaders pledge $8bn to fight coronavirus. At a video-conference summit hosted by the European Union, Japan pledged more than $800m while Germany offered €525m. Italy and Spain each said they would provide more than €100m.
Austrian unemployment at all-time high. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the number of unemployed Austrians to historically high levels, with a year-on-year rise of almost 60%.
Carnival to resume cruises in August. Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to resume operations at the beginning of August despite dozens of deaths on cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic and investigations into the industry’s possible role in spreading the disease around the globe.
Plane carrying aid supplies crashes in Somalia. The accident, involving an African Express Airways plane, killed seven people on board, a security official said.
US supreme court hears arguments by teleconference for first time. In a break from tradition caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the nine justices participated remotely via a dial-in format, while the audio feed was broadcast live.
Updated
Former Chelsea attacker Salomon Kalou has been suspended by German club Hertha Berlin after posting a video showing him breaking coronavirus social distancing rules by shaking hands with teammates.
The Facebook video of Kalou, 34, greeting Hertha players and club employees with handshakes was condemned by the German league, which has put in place stringent hygiene measures as it attempts to secure the political green light to restart its interrupted season.
“The pictures of Salomon Kalou from the Hertha dressing room are absolutely unacceptable,” the German Football League (DFL) said in a statement.
Hertha said they had suspended the 34-year-old Ivory Coast international “with immediate effect”.
Kalou, who won the Premier League with the Blues in 2010, apologised for his actions and said he should have known better because of his involvement in health projects in his homeland.
“I am sorry if my behaviour has given the impression that I do not take corona seriously. I would like to apologise for this,” he said.
“The opposite is true, because I am particularly concerned about the people in Africa, because the medical care there is by far not as good as in Germany. I did not really think about it.”
The Bundesliga, which is aiming to restart its season from 16 May, said mass testing of players and backroom staff had produced 10 positive results.
Updated
Coronavirus funding pledges must require any vaccine to be patent-free, campaigners have said.
Reacting to reports that today’s Coronavirus Global Response Summit has raised $8bn for the research and development of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, Heidi Chow, of Global Justice Now said:
We welcome the funding that has been pledged today and the commitment of the hosts to make any Covid-19 vaccine available, accessible and affordable to all.
But what is not clear is how the hosts of today’s summit intend to achieve the aim of universal access. Recent history tells us that it will not happen by default.
She went on to say that participants of the summit should take concrete action and attach certain conditions to any funding pledged, specifying that any publicly funded Covid-19 vaccines and treatments are patent-free
Ruling out pharmaceutical monopolies will not only prevent corporate profiteering but will also enable mass production at a scale that will be required by global demand.
The challenge of our time is not just to develop a vaccine but to also take the bold steps needed to ensure new Covid-19 vaccines and treatments are affordable for all countries and free to the public.
Auction house Christie’s will hold a sale to help raise money for The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) Covid-19 fund after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the charity’s famous Cannes Film Festival gala.
Leading collectors and artists have donated several contemporary artworks, some of which have never been seen before, Christie’s and amfAR said in a statement.
“The two organizations are joining forces to bridge the gap in fundraising and use it as an opportunity to address the new and urgent threat of Covid-19,” they said.
A date for the auction has not yet been announced but it is set to coincide with Christie’s New York spring sales, which are scheduled for the week of 22 June.
The announcement comes after amfAR said it was expanding its research efforts into the global push to find effective treatments for the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization has stressed that contact-tracing apps and other technology cannot replace old-fashioned “boots-on-the-ground” surveillance measures as many countries begin easing lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus.
“We are very, very keen to stress that IT tools do not replace the basic public health workforce that is going to be needed to trace, test, isolate and quarantine,” the WHO’s top emergencies expert, Mike Ryan, told journalists at an online briefing in Geneva.
He stressed the need for “shoe-leather epidemiology” and praised the success of places like South Korea and Singapore for their strategy.
Many countries are easing lockdown restrictions to resurrect economies and contact-tracing apps are expected to play a role in helping identify new cases and contain clusters.
France's coronavirus death toll tops 25,000
The number of people who have died after contracting coronavirus in France increased by 306 to 25,201 on Monday, the sharpest rate of increase in four days, government data showed.
On Sunday, only 135 new deaths were reported, but on Sundays the data reporting from nursing homes is often delayed, leading to a catch-up during the week.
In a statement, the health ministry said the number of people in intensive care units fell to 3,696 from 3,819 on Sunday, down for a 26th consecutive day.
The number of people in hospital with coronavirus also fell again to 25,548 from 258,815, continuing an uninterrupted fall for almost three weeks.
European Union lawmakers said the coronavirus pandemic should not soften the bloc’s long-term climate goals, although some called for a “beefed up” fund to help coal-dependent regions move towards a greener economy.
Europe is facing a recession and governments are pumping out cash to keep economies afloat, but the EU’s executive Commission has pledged not to roll back its climate ambitions.
The EU will use its Green Deal, a policy package centred around a target to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, to drive the bloc’s economic recovery from the pandemic, Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said.
EU lawmakers doubled down on the 2050 target on Monday, in a debate over the bloc’s planned €7.5bn euro ($8.2bn) Just Transition Fund to help high-carbon regions shift away from fossil fuels.
Alexandr Vondra, the Czech lawmaker guiding parliament’s talks on the fund, had suggested the pandemic could require the 2050 climate goal to be delayed.
The virus has had a “profound impact” on Europe’s economy, Vondra – who represents a country not enthusiastic about the climate targets and asking for more financial support for the transition – said in a draft proposal for parliament’s position on the fund.
“It may therefore be necessary to revise or postpone the date of achievement of the climate neutrality objective,” the proposal said.
However, the push for a delay found no supporters when parliament’s environment committee discussed it on Monday.
Lawmakers from the three biggest political groups in parliament – which make up 432 of the total 705 EU lawmakers – spoke out in favour of keeping the 2050 goal.
Hungarian lawmaker Sandor Ronai said:
I understand that some would like to delay this goal due to the economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
But, in my view, the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to transform and rebuild our economies based on the European Green Deal.
Some supported Vondra’s call for the fund to be significantly larger, given EU climate targets will cost coal-reliant countries such as Poland hundreds of billions of euros.
Updated
Mexican medical staff treating Covid-19 patients will be housed in the country’s former presidential palace – a luxurious abode, in which the austere president Andrés Manuel López Obrador refuses to live.
Staff from three Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) hospitals will be offered temporary residence in the mansion known as Los Pinos, which was turned into a cultural centre after López Obrador (commonly called Amlo) took office in late 2018.
Amlo and his family now live in an apartment in the National Palace in central Mexico City.
IMSS director Zoe Robledo said 58 physicians and nurses would start staying at Los Pinos on Monday, though the mansion could house up to 100 people.
Robledo added that a survey of IMSS staff showed 86% of respondents wanting to temporarily reside somewhere other than home to avoid long commutes and possibly spreading Covid-19 to family members.
Medical staff in Mexico report being accosted, having bleach thrown on them and having to remove their uniforms after leaving work as some in the population erroneously see doctors and nurses as carrying Covid-19.
The decision to house staff in Los Pinos prompted cheers and jeers on social media – with critics panning the plan as “populist” and pointing out that many unoccupied luxury hotels in the same area of Mexico City would work better for housing staff.
Mexico has reported 23,471 Covid-19 cases and 2,154 deaths as of 3 May. Its rate of testing, however, ranks among the lowest in Latin America with just 0.51 tests per 100,000 people.
Updated
Turkey will start easing coronavirus containment measures as of Monday, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, lifting intercity travel restriction in seven provinces and easing a curfew imposed for senior and youth citizens after weeks.
The country has around 130,000 confirmed cases, the highest total outside Western Europe, the United States and Russia.
Ankara has rolled out measures to contain the outbreak, but Erdoğan said Turkey would start easing them in May, June and July as the virus spread began slowing over the past two weeks.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdoğan said senior and youth citizens will be allowed outside for four hours for one day a week starting this weekend and that travel restrictions would be lifted for seven cities, excluding Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
He said shopping malls, barber shops and some stores will be allowed to open on 11 May as long as they abide by normalisation rules, adding that universities would return to their academic calendar as of 15 June.
But Erdoğan warned that the government would impose much harsher measures if the normalisation plan is not followed.
As Canada’s Yukon territory braces for coronavirus, residents have been asked keep one caribou’s length apart from each another. (For those not familiar with the dimensions of the reindeer, that’s roughly equivalent to two husky lengths or eight loaves of sourdough bread.)
The light-hearted advice is part of a viral public health awareness campaign that seeks to inform residents and pay homage to the region’s cultural history.
The guidelines from Yukon’s department of health also advised residents that keeping the distance four ravens – the official bird of the territory – will help prevent transmission of the virus.
Because of its geographic isolation and low population density, the Yukon territory has only recorded 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, but has put measures in place to limit travellers at its borders with British Columbia and Alaska, where tourists often arrive.
Carnival to resume cruises in August
Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to resume operations at the beginning of August despite dozens of deaths on cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic and investigations into the industry’s possible role in spreading the disease around the planet.
In a statement on Monday, the operator said eight cruise ships would resume operations from 1 August, sailing from Galveston, Texas, and Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida, once a no-sail order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had expired.
The CDC has issued repeated warnings that cruise travel has spread the coronavirus outbreak around the world and on Friday, the US Congress announced an investigation of Carnival Cruise Line’s parent company – Carnival Corporation – over why it did not act sooner to protect passengers and staff.
Dozens of people have died and more than 1,500 confirmed Covid-19 infections have been recorded in connection with Carnival’s ships, which saw major outbreaks on the Diamond Princess, the Zaandam and the Ruby Princess.
Updated
Studies in Britain show that most people who have had Covid-19 develop antibodies, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said, but it was too early to say whether this gave them immunity.
At a daily news conference, Van-Tam said:
The overwhelming majority of people so far called back who’ve had definite Covid-19 infection have got antibodies in their blood stream.
By and large the signal is that people get antibodies. The next question is, do those antibodies protect you from further infections?
And we just haven’t had this disease around ... for long enough to know the answers to that with any surety.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, added that the government was in discussions with Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche over antibody testing.
Finland will lift some coronavirus restrictions, allowing restaurants to reopen and public services including libraries and sports facilities to start operating again from 1 June, the government has said.
A ban on public meetings will be relaxed from a maximum of 10 people to 50 people from 1 June but emergency powers will be kept in place, it said.
Essential travel to countries in the Schengen area will be allowed from 14 May, interior minister Maria Ohisalo said.
Last week, the government decided to reopen schools from 13 May.
The head of the World Health Organization has urged the world to unite to defeat the new coronavirus.
WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a virtual briefing in Geneva:
This virus will be with us for a long time and we must come together to develop and share the tools to defeat it.
We will prevail through national unity and global solidarity.
He also praised pledges of $8bn from world leaders for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, the WHO will launch its updated strategic preparedness and response plan, which will provide an update of its funding needs in order to support the international and national plans to fight the virus, Tedros said.
Updated
Apple and Google ban location tracking in contact tracing apps
Apple and Google have said they would ban the use of location tracking in apps that use a new contact tracing system the two are building to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Apple and Google, whose operating systems power 99% of smartphones, said last month they would work together to create a system for notifying people who have been near others who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Both companies said that privacy and preventing governments from using the system to compile data on citizens was a primary goal.
The system uses Bluetooth signals from phones to detect encounters and does not use or store GPS location data.
But the developers of coronavirus-related apps in several US states told Reuters last month that it was vital that they be allowed to use GPS location data in conjunction with the new contact tracing system in order to track how outbreaks move and identify hotspots.
Updated
Tanzania has suspended the head of its national health laboratory in charge of testing for the coronavirus and ordered an investigation, a day after president John Magufuli questioned the tests’ accuracy, Reuters reports.
Magufuli said on Sunday the imported test kits were faulty as they had returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw - among several non-human samples submitted for testing, with technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins.
He did not say where the kits had been imported from or why the authorities had been suspicious of the results.
Catherine Sungura, acting head of communications at the ministry of health, said in a statement on Monday the director of the laboratory and its quality assurance manager had been immediately suspended “to pave way for the investigation”.
Sungura said a 10-person committee had been formed to investigate the laboratory’s operations, including its process of collecting and testing samples.
On Sunday, Magufuli also fired the head of the government medical stores department, which is in charge of distributing medical supplies and equipment to government hospitals, but gave no reason.
As of Monday, Tanzania had recorded 480 cases of Covid-19 and 18 deaths, according to a Reuters tally based on government and World Health Organization data.
Updated
Bulgaria will not extend a state of emergency past its 13 May expiry date but some coronavirus restrictions will remain in force for two more months, finance minister Vladislav Goranov has said.
Bulgaria, which declared a state of emergency on 13 March, has so far confirmed 1,652 cases of the illness and 78 deaths.
France might allow religious services to resume before the end of the month if a gradual easing of lockdown rules from 11 May did not result in the rate of coronavirus infections increasing, prime minister Edouard Philippe has said.
The government had indicated religious ceremonies would be banned until 2 June at the earliest, but Philippe told the Senate this might be advanced by four days. He said:
Many faiths have made proposals to reconcile how their meetings are held with social distancing rules
I know the May 29 - June 1 period is for several faiths an important date on the religious calendar.
The Christian holy day of Pentecost, celebrated 50 days after Easter Sunday, falls on 1 June.
A week earlier, and before the government has said it might allow religious festivities, Muslims mark Eid, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Britain needs new cases of Covid-19 to fall further, England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, has said, even as data indicates that the peak of the coronavirus outbreak has passed.
“It’s now very clear in the data that we are past the peak,” Van-Tam said at a daily news conference. “New cases need to come down further ... we have to get cases lower.”
The British government has set five tests that need to be met before it will start easing a lockdown that has been in place since 23 March.
One of the five tests is that there has to be reliable data showing that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board.
Follow all the latest updates from today’s daily press conference over on our UK live blog.
A plane carrying aid supplies has crashed in Somalia’s southern Bay region, killing seven people on board, a security official said.
State-run Somalia News Agency said the plane belonged to African Express Airways and was ferrying supplies for use in the fight against coronavirus. It said there were six crew members on board.
“An African (Express) Airways plane from Mogadishu flew to Baidoa and then continued its flight to Bardale town where it crashed,” the news agency said on its website.
“The plane crashed near Bardale airport. It was carrying medicine to prevent Covid-19. It is not clear why it crashed.”
Updated
The world economy may have dramatically dipped and the price of oil crashed, but one commodity is seeing an unprecedented boom: the face mask.
Samanth Subramanian explores the newly distorted marketplace for masks and the lengths some will go to get them in the latest episode of our Today in Focus podcast.
France’s prime minister has stood by a plan for lifting the country’s coronavirus lockdown next week, despite concerns the government is moving too fast to reopen schools, as well as doubts over the availability of face masks.
The French are due to emerge on 11 May from a lockdown that began in mid-March to combat the virus, and in a strategy different to other European countries, some schools are set to reopen.
The prime minister, Edouard Philippe, said to senators while laying out his government’s strategy:
This confinement was necessary to meet the emergency, but its social and economic cost is colossal.
We’re at a decisive moment, we cannot remain in confinement.
Economic life must resume imperatively and quickly.
But officials have drawn fire from critics who say the country is not ready to cope with the strict social distancing and other protective measures that will be required after 11 May to avoid a flare-up of the epidemic, which has already killed nearly 25,000 people in France.
New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has outlined a phased reopening of business activity in the state hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, starting with select retailers, wholesale suppliers and the construction and manufacturing industries.
Cuomo, speaking at a daily briefing, did not put specific dates to the outline, which envisions allowing finance, insurance, retail, administrative support and real estate businesses to restart in a second phase of reopening.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has warned that the country could face a “real catastrophe” if coronavirus cases spike and overwhelm health services.
The current low level of infections did not mean Syria had gone out of the “circle of danger”, Assad said in an address to the government committee that oversees measures to curb the pandemic.
“These figures could suddenly spike in a few days or few weeks and we would see in front of us real catastrophe,” he said.
World leaders pledge $8 billion to fight coronavirus
World leaders promised $8bn on Monday for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said at the end of a pledging event that she chaired.
In the space of just few hours we have collectively pledged €7.4bn euros ($8.07bn) for vaccine, diagnostics and treatment.
This will help kick-start unprecedented global cooperation.
Updated
Britain’s Covid-19 death toll has risen by 288 to 28,734, according to figures announced by health secretary Matt Hancock.
The increase was the smallest since late March, Hancock said, adding that he expected it to rise in coming days as the numbers tended to be lower over the weekend.
Coronavirus deaths in Italy climbed by 195 on Monday, up from 174 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new infections declined to 1,221 from 1,389 on Sunday.
Italy’s daily death toll in recent weeks has always fallen on Sundays and risen the following day, while the underlying trend has been steadily declining since a peak above 900 daily fatalities around the end of March.
The total death toll now stands at 29,079 the agency said, the second highest in the world after the United States.
The number of confirmed cases amounts to 211,938.
Italy’s true death toll from the disease is much higher than is reported in the daily bulletins, the national statistics agency said in an analysis of mortalities from all causes released on Monday.
There were 1,479 people in intensive care on Monday against 1,501 the day before, maintaining a long-running decline.
Of those originally infected, 82,879 were declared recovered against 81,654 on Sunday.
US senators returned to Washington for the first time in nearly six weeks on Monday, amid concerns that their legislative sessions could put lawmakers and staff at risk of contracting Covid-19.
The Senate was due to reconvene to address partisan differences over the next step in legislation to combat the pandemic and to scrutinize a series of nominations for senior government posts put forward by president Donald Trump.
Democrats and Republicans are at odds over the contents of any new coronavirus legislation. Democrats want up to $1tn to help state and local governments weather the brunt of the pandemic.
Republicans are demanding liability protections for businesses, which Democrats oppose, as a condition for moving forward on any bill.
The Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said Trump is looking at ways to stimulate travel and wants tax changes for business entertainment expenses to get people to go back to restaurants.
With Washington still under a stay-at-home order, lawmakers have been advised by the congressional physician to wear masks, maintain a distance of six feet (2 metres) and limit the number of staff on Capitol Hill.
The first real test of the recommendations will come at 5.30pm (ET), when senators are due for a roll call vote on Robert Feitel’s nomination to be inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, called the Republican-led Senate back into session, saying lawmakers would join American workers in essential sectors of the economy to address “critical business” on several fronts.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives chose instead to remain in recess this week because of potential health risks.
With some Democratic lawmakers warning that the Senate’s return could risk spreading the virus, the Trump administration last week offered Congress 1,000 coronavirus tests.
McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down the offer over the weekend, a decision that came under fire on Monday.
“By Congress not wanting the special 5-minute testing apparatus, they are saying that they are not ‘essential’,” Trump wrote in a tweet.
Updated
There were feelings of relief and trepidation as people in Italy returned to the streets after almost two months indoors under a strict lockdown.
Rina Sondhi, who lives in the Umbrian town of Orvieto, said:
I literally haven’t been out of the house. The biggest shock for me was the fresh air.
Today I feel liberated, but with caution – that’s the important thing, we can have the freedom but we must be really careful.
An estimated 4 million people returned to work on Monday as part of what the Italian government called the second phase of the country’s coronavirus emergency, with the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, appealing to the public in a Facebook post on Sunday night to “act responsibly”.
Trenord, the company that manages train services in Lombardy, Italy’s industrial hub and the region worst affected by the outbreak, said the commuter flow in the morning rush-hour was about 30% of pre-outbreak levels.
Usually buzzing with activity in the morning, people wearing face masks queued outside bars in Orvieto as they waited for their espresso. “This is a great step even if we have to remain cautious – it gives you something else to smile about,” said Slavik Cebanu.
Jaskaran Singh, who works in Caffè Barrique, said: “We are happy to be able to open even if things are still restricted, and to see some movement. I just hope everything goes well.”
Although the infection rate has been steadily falling, fear of the virus lingers.
Valentina Santanicchio, a chef whose restaurant in Orvieto, Capitano del Popolo, has been providing home deliveries, said:
In some ways, I’m more afraid than when we closed, as a lot will now depend on people managing the moment in a responsible way.
Updated
The Czech government has agreed to lift a ban on international bus and train travel from 11 May, a member of the government said.
The measure was put in place on 14 March in an effort to control the spread of Covid-19.
Updated
Yemen has reported two new coronavirus infections in Hadhramout, the national emergency coronavirus committee said on Monday, raising the number of diagnosed infections in the war-town country to 12, with two deaths.
The province of Hadhramout was where Yemen recorded its first case of Covid-19 on 10 April.
The United Nations says it fears the coronavirus could be spreading undetected among an acutely malnourished population with inadequate testing capabilities.
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French hospital discovers Covid-19 case from December
A French hospital has retested old samples from pneumonia patients and discovered that it treated a man who had Covid-19 as early as 27 December, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.
Yves Cohen, head of resuscitation at the Avicenne and Jean Verdier hospitals in the northern suburbs of Paris, told BFM TV that scientists had retested samples from 24 patients treated in December and January who tested negative for the flu.
“Of the 24, we had one who was positive for Covid-19 on December 27,” he told the news channel on Sunday.
Each sample was retested several times to ensure there were no errors, he added.
France, which has seen almost 25,000 people die from the virus since 1 March, confirmed its first three Covid-19 cases on 24 January, including two patients in Paris and another in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
Cohen said it was too early to know if the patient whose 27 December test was Covid-19 positive is France’s “patient zero”.
Knowing who was the first is critical to understanding how the virus spread.
Cohen said the patient had survived and that an investigation to trace the first contamination has been carried out. He said:
He was sick for 15 days and infected his two children, but not his wife, who works in a supermarket.
He was amazed, he didn’t understand how he had been infected. We put the puzzle together and he had not made any trips. The only contact that he had was with his wife.
The man’s wife worked alongside a sushi stand, close to colleagues of Chinese origin, Cohen said.
It was not clear whether those colleagues had travelled to China, and the local health authority should investigate, he said.
“We’re wondering whether she was asymptomatic,” he said.
“He may be the ‘patient zero’, but perhaps there are others in other regions.”
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So far 6.3 million workers in Britain have been furloughed, with £8bn ($9.9bn) claimed from the government to sustain their wages during the coronavirus lockdown, tax authorities said on Monday.
HM Revenue and Customs said on Twitter that 800,000 employers had furloughed their staff, citing figures up to midnight on Sunday.
The Job Retention Scheme launched on 20 April.
— HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) May 4, 2020
By midnight 3 May a total of:
➡️ 6.3m jobs furloughed *
➡️ 800K employers furloughing **
➡️ Total value of claims £8bn
Apply for a grant to cover the wages of your furloughed staff now: https://t.co/bx1Nszshsr pic.twitter.com/29n9h0RB2k
The major Canadian province of Quebec, among the worst hit by the coronavirus, started gradually restarting its economy on Monday, while prime minister Justin Trudeau maintained his cautious stance.
Quebec is allowing stores with an outside entrance for customers to reopen but this does not apply to Montreal, Canada’s second largest city, where retail establishments must wait until 11 May.
Although Quebec makes up 24% of the Canadian population, it accounts for 54% of the cases and 60% of the deaths. Canada has so far reported 60,000 positive diagnoses and 3,800 deaths.
Trudeau and senior medical health officials have repeatedly stressed any reopening efforts must be carried out carefully to head off a second wave of the virus.
The provinces have a large amount of control over their economies and healthcare systems, and Trudeau has so far not offered any criticism.
“If a province started to reopen and sadly saw an explosion in new cases, it would be up to that province to react. And I know the inhabitants of that province would certainly stress that they wanted to see a different approach,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Trudeau appeared uncertain when asked by public broadcaster Radio Canada whether he would allow his children to go back to school if he lived in Quebec.
He paused for a couple of seconds before replying “I don’t know”, while noting schools in Ontario – the most populous of Canada’s 10 provinces – were not going to reopen soon.
Updated
Austrian unemployment at all-time high
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the number of unemployed Austrians to historically high levels, according to official figures released on Monday, with a year-on-year rise of almost 60%.
The blow to the economy dealt by the virus – and the lockdown brought in to combat it – means 571,477 people are out of work, Austria’s AMS employment service said.
This compares with 361,202 people at the end of April 2019, an annual rise of 58%.
The AMS said the rise since mid-March this year was “an extreme rise in inactivity linked to coronavirus”.
The unemployment rate, which in Austria is calculated to include those in training, stood at 12.8% at the end of April, up from 8.1% in February.
AMS said in a statement that “all sectors, all regions and all age groups” had been affected by the slowdown.
There are now 10 times more jobseekers than vacancies, which are themselves down a third year-on-year. The hardest hit industries are hotels and restaurants, which have seen a 130% rise in unemployment, and construction, where the figure is 98%.
The mountainous Tyrol region, where the vital ski season had to be ended early, had a 10% increase.
Austria moved into a lockdown to restrict the virus’s spread relatively early in mid-March, and is in the process of progressively lifting restrictions on movement.
As of Monday, the country of 8.8 million people had recorded 15,538 infections and 600 deaths.
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Italy's death toll far higher than reported - stats office
Italy’s coronavirus death toll is much higher than reported, statistics bureau ISTAT said on Monday, in an analysis pointing to thousands of fatalities that have never been officially attributed to Covid-19.
In its first report of the epidemic’s impact on Italy’s mortality rate, covering 86% of the population, ISTAT said that from 21 February, when the first Covid-19 deaths occurred, until 31 March, nationwide deaths were up 39% compared with the average of the previous five years.
Of the 25,354 “excess deaths”, Covid-19 was registered by the Civil Protection Agency as the official cause for 13,710, leaving around 11,600 deaths unaccounted for.
These occurred overwhelmingly in the northern part of Italy most heavily hit by the virus.
The statistics bureau said it was reasonable to assume these people either died of Covid-19 without being tested or that the extra stress on the health system due to the epidemic meant they died of other causes they were not treated for.
Officially, up to 3 May, the Civil Protection Agency recorded 28,884 coronavirus deaths, the second highest toll in the world after the United States. The tally only includes people who tested positive.
The agency compiles data from the regions on deaths of people who tested positive for the virus and issues them in a bulletin at 6pm every day.
ISTAT’s report, drawn up with Italy’s National Health Institute, confirmed the massive concentration of the epidemic in the country’s northern regions, where the vast majority of unreported deaths have also taken place.
In the northern region of Lombardy, which includes the financial capital Milan and has been most ravaged by the disease, deaths were up 186% in March from 2015-2019.
Looking at individual cities, the worst-hit was Bergamo, near Milan, where deaths were up 568% in March compared with the 2015-2019 average.
The nearby cities of Cremona and Lodi saw increases of 391% and 370% respectively. In Milan they rose 93%.
In Rome, Italy’s most populous city, which has been relatively lightly hit by Covid-19, overall fatalities were down 9% from the previous five years. The Sicilian capital Palermo also posted a 9% decline.
Chemicals manufacturer INEOS said it has built two hand sanitiser plants in the United States in response to greater demand amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The plants are in Arkansas and Pennsylvania and they will each produce one million bottles of hand sanitiser a month.
The sanitiser will be given to hospitals across the United States for free.
The firm has already opened four similar facilities in Europe.
INEOS gets #HandsOn.
— INEOS (@INEOS) May 4, 2020
Within 10 days, INEOS sets-up two new factories in Arkansas and Pennsylvania to provide FREE hand sanitizer to hospitals in hotspot states: https://t.co/yyXxK6utc3
MILLIONS of bottles will be produced every month to fight #COVID19 in the United States. pic.twitter.com/c66igxy9Qq
The number of coronavirus cases in Chile has exceeded 20,000, the health ministry said on Monday.
Paula Daza, the health ministry subsecretary, said there were now 20,643 confirmed cases, 980 more than the previous day, and 10 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 270.
Belarus will hold a military parade this week to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, its president has said, despite having one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Europe.
Alexander Lukashenko said in televised remarks that he did not want to cancel the parade in part because people “would say we were scared”.
Russia and other former Soviet countries have cancelled this week’s commemoration to slow the spread of the virus.
Last month, more than 10,000 Russian soldiers who took part in rehearsals were quarantined.
Belarus has almost 17,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, giving it one of Europe’s highest per capita infection rates.
Lukashenko, president since 1994, has publicly said the danger from the disease was exaggerated and avoided instituting physical distancing guidelines.
It is a mystery that has left doctors questioning the basic tenets of biology: Covid-19 patients who are talking and apparently not in distress, but who have oxygen levels low enough to typically cause unconsciousness or even death.
The phenomenon, known by some as “happy hypoxia” (some prefer the term “silent”) is raising questions about exactly how the virus attacks the lungs and whether there could be more effective ways of treating such patients.
A healthy person would be expected to have an oxygen saturation of at least 95%. But doctors are reporting patients attending A&E with oxygen percentage levels in the 80s or 70s, with some drastic cases below 50%.
Dr Jonathan Bannard-Smith, a consultant in critical care and anaesthesia at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said:
It’s intriguing to see so many people coming in, quite how hypoxic they are.
We’re seeing oxygen saturations that are very low and they’re unaware of that.
We wouldn’t usually see this phenomenon in influenza or community-acquired pneumonia.
It’s very much more profound and an example of very abnormal physiology going on before our eyes.
In a break from tradition caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the US Supreme Court for the first time heard arguments in a case by teleconference.
The case was a trademark dispute involving popular hotel reservation website Booking.com – and even typically silent Justice Clarence Thomas asked questions.
The nine justices kicked off a scheduled hour of arguments in the case, not in a courtroom but by participating remotely using a dial-in format.
Emphasising the unique nature of the proceedings, Thomas, a conservative justice who almost never asks questions during arguments, queried government lawyer Erica Ross about her arguments on behalf of the US Patent and Trademark Office seeking to prevent Booking.com from trademarking the site’s name.
The justices over the next two weeks are set to conduct arguments in 10 cases by teleconference, taking it in turns to ask questions in order of seniority.
In another first, the court is providing a live audio feed, making these the first arguments that the public can hear live.
Cable TV network C-SPAN said it plans to broadcast that feed in all the cases.
The biggest cases to be considered by teleconference are three that focus on the question of whether president Donald Trump can keep his financial records, including tax returns, secret. Those cases will be argued on 12 May.
Updated
The US president, Donald Trump, is planning executive orders to increase the production of medical products and energy components in the country, the White House said on Monday.
Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told Fox News in an interview that an order would soon require federal agencies to purchase US-made medical products, saying the Covid-19 outbreak had exposed the nation’s reliance on China.
The country’s power grid is also at risk because components come from overseas, he said.
Bangladesh authorities said on Monday they will gradually open up more factories, as well as farms and logistics operations, as they try to diminish the economic impact of a coronavirus lockdown which they extended to 16 May.
Shopping malls were given permission to reopen with shorter than usual hours.
The move followed a decision last week to reopen more than 2,000 garment factories that supply global brands, after a month-long shutdown.
Much of the rest of the economy remains offline.
The official tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases rose by 688 to surpass 10,000, the health ministry said.
Some experts are concerned that the real number of cases could be higher in a country of more than 160 million people where many have only limited access to healthcare.
The death toll rose to 182 from 177.
Prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has told government officials that schools and colleges may have to remain closed until September if the situation does not improve.
Kuwaiti authorities dispersed a “riot” by Egyptian workers who demonstrated on Monday to demand repatriation amid the coronavirus crisis, state media said.
Such protests are rare in the tightly controlled Gulf countries, where there is a large population of foreign workers.
Security forces intervened to halt “riots and chaos” at a housing area for foreign workers, detaining an unspecified number of people, according to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
On Sunday, KUNA quoted the Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait, Tareq al-Qooni, as saying that Egyptians at a camp for immigration offenders will be repatriated starting “this week”.
“The first flights will be for women and children who are kept in special housing units,” Qooni reportedly said.
Kuwait has said it will allow expatriates in violation of residency laws to leave the Gulf country without paying fines or for plane tickets.
Millions of foreigners across the wealthy Gulf nations face uncertainty amid the coronavirus crisis, with many workers sick and countless others unemployed, unpaid and at the mercy of unscrupulous employers.
Kuwait has so far recorded more than 5,000 infections, including 40 deaths.
One of Brazil’s most celebrated composers and lyricists has died at the age of 73 after contracting Covid-19.
Aldir Blanc, whose mastery of the Portuguese language made him a legend of 20th-century Brazilian music, had been in hospital in Rio de Janeiro since 10 April and died in the early hours of Monday.
He is one of more than 7,000 Brazilians killed by the pandemic so far.
“The poet is dead. What a sad day, Brazil,” the journalist Flávia Oliveira wrote on Twitter as tributes from fans poured in.
“All that remains for us is to weep and to honour,” tweeted the composer Arnaldo Antunes.
Blanc leaves a vast body of work including classic songs such as O bêbado e a equilibrista and O mestre-sala dos mares.
Many of his best-known compositions became famous in the voice of the legendary singer Elis Regina.
Updated
Scores of sheep crossed empty streets in Samsun, northern Turkey, as people stayed indoors over the weekend during the coronavirus lockdown.
Videos shared on social media show the animals following a shepherd along empty roads in the city, with some stopping occasionally to graze on grass verges.
Participants have started enrolling in a study to find out the infection rate of Covid-19 in children and their families in the United States.
The government-funded study, which will be conducted completely remotely, looks to determine how many children infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, develop symptoms of the disease.
The study also looks to determine whether there are differences in the rates of infection between children who have asthma or other allergic conditions, and children who do not.
“One interesting feature of this novel coronavirus pandemic is that very few children have become sick with Covid-19 compared to adults,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Fauci said the study will determine if this is because children are resistant to the infection, or because they are infected but do not develop symptoms.
The study will enroll 6,000 people from 2,000 families already participating in NIH-funded pediatric research studies in 11 cities.
Updated
Spain will pledge €125m ($136.58m) to developing a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, prime minister Pedro Sanchez has said.
Speaking at a virtual pledging conference today, Sanchez said Spain would contribute €50m to the Global Vaccine Alliance and €75m to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
The funds add to the €500m pledged by France and €525m pledged by Germany.
A street artist called Msale has taken it upon himself to create giant murals bringing public health messages directly to the overcrowded Mathare slum in Nairobi. With half a million people living in such ‘a squeezed area’ social distancing is quite impossible to achieve, says Msale, so he is providing information for people on how to keep safe from Covid-19 in the ‘simplest, clearest’ way he knows
Hearings in the US extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will resume in September after being postponed from later this month because of the coronavirus outbreak, a London court said on Monday.
Reuters reports from a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday where it was agreed that September would be the most convenient date for the hearings to resume, although an exact date and an appropriate venue was yet to be decided, a spokesman said.
Assange is wanted by US authorities to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. His extradition case began in February for a week before being adjourned until May 18 for another three weeks of arguments.
Last week, Judge Vanessa Baraitser said it would not be possible for it to recommence this month because of strict restrictions on gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus.
A phased easing of a five-week lockdown on Abuja, Lagos and Ogun State in Nigeria has begun today, even as a rise in new cases of Covid-19 across Nigeria continues to accelerate.
Infections have almost doubled in the last week to 2,500. Over 2000 cases are active infections, with 87 people dying from the virus and 400 having now recovered.
Movement is permitted providing face masks are worn. Several businesses including restaurants, viewing centres and places of worship will remain closed. Gatherings of more than 20 remain banned.
Yet the easing of restrictions has drawn sharp criticism. This weekend, the head of the Nigerian Medical Association said: “The easing of the lockdown even in phases is very premature,” and could portend a “frightening scenario”.
Many African countries including Nigeria, swiftly adopted restrictive lockdowns, travel bans and other measures to curb Covid-19, far earlier than in many other parts of the world.
Yet a worsening economy, and stretched security services, have diminished the limit of Nigeria’s ability to withstand the effects that the lockdown has wrought.
The government has provided support to only a small fraction of millions most affected.
During the lockdown, the number of testing laboratories have significantly improved to 18 from four two months ago. But low levels of testing in Nigeria have only slowly risen, with 17,500 tests administered in total.
Heightening fears further are hundreds of additional deaths in Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city, which have now been confirmed as linked to Covid-19.
Local media reports of residents fleeing Kano despite a ban on inter-state travel have heightened concerns that a potential epicentre is not secure.
A two-week lockdown was imposed on Kano by President Buhari but the state governor has since declared that the measures would be suspended on Monday and Thursday this week to help residents during Ramadan.
Updated
EU pledges €1bn for vaccines and treatment for coronavirus
The European Union pledged €1bn ($1.09bn) on Monday for the global search for vaccines and treatment for the novel coronavirus, the European commission president Ursula von der Leyen told a pledging conference, Reuters reports.
Norway pledged to give $1bn to support the distribution worldwide of any vaccine developed against Covid-19 as well as for vaccines against other diseases, prime minister Erna Solberg said on Monday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday Germany would contribute €525m ($573.51m) to a global fund-raising push to search for vaccines and for a treatment for coronavirus.
Updated
England reported 204 new coronavirus hospital deaths, the lowest daily increase since 30 March.
The new hospital deaths bring the total figure of confirmed deaths in hospitals to 21,384.
Scotland reported five new coronavirus deaths, taking the total to 1,576. She said there are 99 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms in Scotland, no change from yesterday.
Wales reported 14 new coronavirus deaths, taking total to 997.
Updated
Downing Street has published the names of the more than 50 scientists who sit on its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies to discuss coronavirus, after criticism of the secrecy surrounding the group and the Guardian’s revelation that the No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings had attended meetings of the group.
The list of names was made available on the government’s website, showing that around half of the experts come from universities and another half are made up of government chief scientific advisers, public health officials or NHS senior staff.
Cummings is not listed as a member even though he attended meetings and made interjections, according to those present.
The scientists include university professors such as Wendy Barclay, Ian Boyd, John Edmunds, Sir Jeremy Farrar, Neil Ferguson, Julia Gog, Peter Horby, Dame Theresa Marteau, Graham Medley, Andrew Morris, Cath Noakes, Michael Parker, Venki Ramakrishnan, Andrew Rambaut, Brooke Rogers, James Rubin, Calum Semple, Sir David Spieglhalter, Russell Viner, Mark Woolhouse and Lucy Yardley.
Two participants refused to be named. Membership lists of several other advisory groups were also published.
Updated
Migrant labourers in Indian cities whose incomes have plummeted as a result of anti-coronavirus lockdown measures have been told that they will have to pay to board special trains taking them back to their homes in the countryside.
The decision has prompted derision in India, where most labourers live off what they earn in a day and have been surviving on state handouts.
“At first I thought it was a joke,” said Badal Raj, a carpenter from Patna who lives in a shelter in Delhi. “We have to pay? My last few rupees went on recharging my phone so I could speak to my children. Where am I going to get the money for the fare?”
Since the lockdown was imposed on 25 March, an estimated 10 million labourers have been trapped in the company of strangers in cities across India, with no work or income and a long way from the comfort of home and family.
With public transport shut down, many labourers walked hundreds of miles to their homes in a massive reverse migration. Those who remained have been sequestered in government shelters.
Mass deaths in a northern Nigerian state were caused by coronavirus, authorities said after a preliminary investigation into the phenomenon.
Gravediggers in the state of Kano have reported burying dozens of corpses per day, in what the authorities had called “mysterious deaths”.
But a local Covid-19 team, after carrying out door-to-door investigations and interviewing bereaved relatives, said coronavirus was most likely to blame.
“With the preliminary report, most of the deaths recorded of recent, and tests carried out, indicated that coronavirus is the cause,” the team leader, Nasiru Sani Gwarzo, told reporters.
The final report will be published in the coming days, but residents needed to face the “serious issue at hand”, he said.
He warned the pandemic had “scaled to the level of community transmission”.
Kano, with around 12 million people, is the second most populous state in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Friday said the number of recorded infections across Kano rose to 219, up from 77 at the start of the week.
Kano has in recent days seen a spate of high-profile deaths including academics, bureaucrats, businessmen and traditional leaders.
The state has the capacity to carry out just 88 tests per day, which should rise to 300 this week.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, with a headcount of around 200 million people, has 2,500 recorded cases of coronavirus and 87 deaths, according to official figures.
A lockdown on Nigeria’s largest city Lagos and the capital Abuja was to ease on Monday.
Restrictions in Kano remain in force, although the authorities eased the measures for six hours on Monday to enable people to shop and replenish dwindling supplies.
Hundreds of South African health workers were given a century-old tuberculosis vaccine on Monday in a trial to see whether the venerable formula can protect against coronavirus.
Devised at France’s legendary Pasteur Institute 100 years ago, the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is one of the world’s oldest and most trusted immunisations.
“We vaccinated the first participant this morning,” Duncan McDonald, head of business development and marketing at a clinical research organisation called TASK, told AFP.
Trials started at Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town, where BCG booster shots were administered to 250 health care workers, while another 250 received a dummy formula, or placebo.
“There are observations that this BCG vaccine does something to the immune system that we don’t really understand,” TASK founder professor, Andreas Diacon, said.
Children immunised with BCG tend to suffer less from respiratory illnesses, including asthma, he said.
“It makes the immune system cope better with respiratory retract infections,” said Diacon. “No one actually really understands why it works.”
Diacon and his team want to determine whether BCG could have an effect on coronavirus by reducing the risk of infection or easing symptoms.
“If you can reduce the (Covid-19) symptoms just a little, you will probably get people to survive this better or not even have to go to hospital or not even becoming ill,” said Diacon.
The plan is to ramp up the trials to up to 3,000 health care workers in Cape Town. Participants will be observed for at least a year.
Similar BCG clinical trials are being conducted in the Netherlands, Australia and France.
Millions of Italians allowed to return to work
Millions of people were allowed to return to work in Italy on Monday as Europe’s longest lockdown started to ease.
Italy, the first European country hit by the pandemic and a nation with one of the world’s highest death tolls, started stirring after its two-month shutdown.
In all, 4.4 million Italians were able to return to work, and restrictions on movement eased.
Traffic in downtown Rome picked up, construction sites and manufacturing operations resumed, parks reopened and flower vendors returned to the Campo dei Fiori market for the first time since 11 March.
Its something that brings happiness and joy, and people have been missing that these days, vendor Stefano Fulvi said. He doesn’t expect to break even anytime soon, but you have to take the risk at some point, he said.
Mourners in the country are able to attend funerals, but services are limited to 15 people and there is still no word on when Masses will resume.
Restaurants scrubbed their floors in preparation for take-out service, but sit-down service is several weeks away.
Southern Italy braced for the return of students and workers who were trapped in the hard-hit north when the lockdown took effect.
Some regional governors said they would require anyone arriving home to go into quarantine for two weeks.
Its a new page that we must write together, with trust and responsibility, remier Giuseppe Conte said in a message to Italians.
Updated
The Pulitzer prizes in journalism and the arts will be announced on Monday after being postponed by the coronavirus outbreak.
The initial Pulitzer ceremony, which was scheduled for 20 April, was pushed back to give Pulitzer board members who were busy covering the pandemic more time to evaluate the finalists.
The awards luncheon that is traditionally held at Columbia University in May will be postponed as well.
Details of a fall celebration will be announced at a later date, the Pulitzer board said.
The Pulitzer prizes in journalism were first awarded in 1917 and are considered the field’s most prestigious honour in the US.
Updated
Germany, which is part of Europe’s open-border Schengen area, will extend its border checks until 15 May, a spokesman for the interior ministry has said.
The measure is in line with the European commission, he added. “Of course, we are guided by the European spirit not to act unilaterally or in an uncoordinated way.”
Numerous Schengen countries have imposed emergency border checks in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Updated
A street artist called Msale has created giant murals bringing public health messages directly to the overcrowded Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya.
With half a million people living in such “a squeezed area” social distancing is quite impossible to achieve, says Msale, so he is providing information for people on how to keep safe in the “simplest, clearest” way he knows.
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 199 on Monday to 40,770, with 26 new deaths, health authorities said.
Total deaths in the country rose to 5,082, the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.
The RIVM cautioned that it only reports confirmed cases and deaths, and actual numbers are higher.
Zimbabwe pleads with foreign lenders to prevent coronavirus "catastrophe"
Zimbabwe is headed for a health and economic catastrophe from the coronavirus pandemic because its debt arrears mean it cannot access foreign lenders, the finance minister warned in a letter to the IMF.
Mthuli Ncube said in the letter dated 2 April and seen by Reuters on Monday that Zimbabwe needed to start talks and normalise ties with foreign creditors to clear its decades-old arrears and unblock urgently-needed funding.
“The Zimbabwean authorities propose a high-level dialogue on mitigating the economic and social downfall from the Covid-19 pandemic through transformative arrears clearance ... short of which the country will suffer a health and economic catastrophe,” Ncube said in the letter.
It was sent to the IMF and copied to the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and the chair of the Paris Club of sovereign creditors.
The IMF declined to comment on the leaked letter. An official in the agency, who declined to be identified, confirmed the letter had been received.
Lenders like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank stopped lending to Zimbabwe in 1999 after the country defaulted on its debt repayments.
That has led the government to resort to domestic borrowing and money-printing to finance the budget deficit, pushing inflation to 676.39% in March year-on-year, one of the highest in the world.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Zimbabwe was grappling with its worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of foreign exchange, medicines and electricity as frustration over president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government grows.
Zimbabwe has reported just 34 coronavirus cases and four deaths. Yet the economic effects of its lockdown have been ruinous. More than half of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people already needed food aid after a drought in 2019, according to the government and aid agencies, which shrank the economy by 6%.
The president last week promised a $720m stimulus package for distressed companies, but did not say where the money would come from.
“Cumulatively, Zimbabwe’s economy could contract by between 15% and 20% during 2019 and 2020. This is a massive contraction with very serious social consequences,” Ncube said in the letter.
“Zimbabwe desperately needs international support,” Ncube said, adding that the pandemic could lead to loss of lives and “raise poverty to levels not seen in recent times”.
Updated
China’s southern Guangdong province has launched a raft of anti-discrimination policies targeting businesses and venues after a heavy-handed crackdown on the African community sparked international outrage last month.
Authorities in the provincial capital Guangzhou had started mass testing its African community shortly after a cluster of Covid-19 cases was found in a neighbourhood with a large migrant population, and a wave of reports about discrimination and xenophobia followed.
The new anti-racism rules, announced at the weekend, came after many Africans in Guangzhou said they had been forcibly evicted by police from their accommodation, refused service at shops and restaurants, and were subject to mass coronavirus testing and arbitrary quarantines.
Now, businesses and residential compounds “must implement non-discriminatory service … treat all Chinese and foreigners in Guangdong equally, and firmly oppose any racist or discriminatory speech and behaviour,” according to a Sunday report by the state-run China News Service.
The new policies appeared to address some of the concerns raised by the African community, banning public spaces from setting tighter entry requirements for certain nationalities and promising to punish buses and taxis who refuse foreign passengers.
They also ban landlords from cancelling housing contracts or increasing rent without explanation. However, the measures do not outline any specific punishments.
A total of 111 African nationals in Guangzhou have tested positive for Covid-19, including 19 imported cases, officials announced on 11 April. The vast majority of imported cases in Guangdong province involved returning Chinese nationals.
McDonald’s China was among the businesses who came under fire. It apologised after a branch in Guangzhou displayed a sign banning black people from entry, prompting online outrage.
Updated
Two US biotech companies have identified a drug candidate for treating Covid-19 and plan to begin human testing by the end of the year, the companies said on Monday.
Vir Biotechnology Inc and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc said the therapy candidate makes use of RNA interference (RNAi) technology that targets and “silences” specific genetic material, blocking the production of deadly proteins that cause diseases.
Is air pollution making the coronavirus pandemic even more deadly?
My colleague, environment editor Damian Carrington, has written a comprehensive summary of the research into whether air pollution is turbo-charging the coronavirus pandemic. He writes:
Researchers caution that plausibility is far from proof, and correlation does not necessarily mean causation, as many other factors may be important.
But these initial findings do raise cause for concern – and may play a crucial role in helping us understand and combat the spread of the pandemic.
Cases in Germany likely to be 10 times higher than official number, researchers conclude
More than 10 times as many people in Germany have probably been infected with the coronavirus than the number of confirmed cases, researchers from the University of Bonn have concluded from a field trial in one of the worst hit towns.
The preliminary study results, which have yet to be peer reviewed for publication in a scientific journal, serve as a reminder of the dangers of infection by unidentified carriers of the virus, some of whom show no symptoms, the researchers said.
The readings come as Germany took further steps on Monday to ease restrictions, with museums, hairdressers, churches and more car factories reopening under strict conditions.
About 1.8 million people living in Germany must have been infected, more than 10 times the number of about 160,000 confirmed cases so far, the team led by medical researchers Hendrik Streeck and Gunther Hartmann concluded.
“The results can help to further improve the models to calculate how the virus spreads. So far the underlying data has been relatively weak,” Hartmann said in a statement.
The team analysed blood and nasal swabs from a random sample of 919 people living in a town in the municipality of Heinsberg on the Dutch border, which had among the highest death tolls in Germany.
To arrive at their estimate, the researchers put the town’s number of known deaths from Covid-19 relative to the larger estimate of local people with a prior infection – as indicated by antibody blood test readings – and applied the rate of 0.37% to country-wide deaths.
They also found that about one in five of those infected showed no symptoms.
Updated
The French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, has revived calls for a European tax on digital businesses, saying the coronavirus crisis made such levies more pertinent than ever.
Nearly 140 countries are negotiating the first major rewriting of international tax rules in more than a generation, to take better account of the rise of big tech companies that often book profit in low-tax countries.
However, the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak has left finance ministries more focused on saving their economies than overhauling outdated tax rules, making a deadline of the end of the year to wrap up the talks look increasingly stretched.
Le Maire had said before the crisis that if the talks organised by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fail, then the European Union should create its own digital tax.
Le Maire said in a Linkedin Live event:
This crisis shows that those who are making out the best are the digital giants, simply because they are able to keep their businesses going and yet they are the ones that are the least taxed.
My digital tax proposal is more relevant than ever and I hope that our European partners will recognise the absolute necessity to step up the taxation of digital giants.
Past attempts to create an EU-wide digital tax have failed in the face of opposition from Ireland, where many big US tech companies book profits, and some Nordic countries.
In the face of the deadlock, some European countries, starting with France, have pushed ahead with their own national taxes on digital companies.
France’s tax triggered threats of tariff retaliation from the United States, which have been put on hold to give time for a deal to be reached this year at the OECD.
Romania will not extend a state of emergency past its 15 May expiry date, but will impose a “state of alert” allowing some modest relaxation of restrictions, president Klaus Iohannis said on Monday.
“Unfortunately this epidemic has not yet passed. We need to be responsible and be very cautions further ahead,” Iohannis said, adding that some travel restrictions were lifted but “people won’t be allowed to travel in groups larger than three”.
Gatherings, outdoor and indoor, were still banned, he added.
Internal report warns Beijing faces wave of anti-China sentiment - Reuters
An internal Chinese report warns that Beijing faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with the United States into confrontation, Reuters reports.
The report, presented early last month by the ministry of state security to top Beijing leaders including president Xi Jinping, concluded that global anti-China sentiment is at its highest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, sources said.
As a result, Beijing faces a wave of anti-China sentiment led by the US in the aftermath of the pandemic and needs to be prepared in a worst-case scenario for armed confrontation between the two global powers, according to people familiar with the report’s content, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
The report was drawn up by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a think tank affiliated with the ministry of state security, China’s top intelligence body.
Reuters has not seen the briefing paper, but it was described by people who had direct knowledge of its findings.
“I don’t have relevant information,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson’s office said in a statement responding to questions from Reuters on the report.
China’s Ministry of State Security could not be reached for comment.
CICIR, an influential think tank that until 1980 was within the ministry of state security and advises the Chinese government on foreign and security policy, did not reply to a request for comment.
Reuters couldn’t determine to what extent the stark assessment described in the paper reflects positions held by China’s state leaders, and to what extent, if at all, it would influence policy.
But the presentation of the report shows how seriously Beijing takes the threat of a building backlash that could threaten what China sees as its strategic investments overseas and its view of its security standing.
Relations between China and the United States are widely seen to be at their worst point in decades, with deepening mistrust and friction points from US allegations of unfair trade and technology practices, to disputes over Hong Kong, Taiwan and contested territories in the South China Sea.
In recent days, US president Donald Trump, facing a more difficult re-election campaign as the coronavirus has claimed tens of thousands of American lives and ravaged the US economy, has been ramping up his criticism of Beijing and threatening new tariffs on China.
His administration, meanwhile, is considering retaliatory measures against China over the outbreak, officials said.
It is widely believed in Beijing that the United States wants to contain a rising China, which has become more assertive globally as its economy has grown.
Updated
An international conference to drive forward the global race for coronavirus vaccines, treatments and tests is taking place today.
The virtual Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference, is co-hosted by the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the European Commission.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, will confirm the government’s pledge of £388m in aid funding for research into vaccines, tests and treatments.
This includes £250m for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop vaccines against coronavirus – the biggest such donation to the fund by any country.
Speaking to the conference, Johnson will say:
The more we pull together and share our expertise, the faster our scientists will succeed.
The race to discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a competition between countries, but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes.
It’s humanity against the virus - we are in this together, and together we will prevail.
On Thursday, the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca announced a partnership to support large-scale manufacture and potential distribution of a vaccine currently being trialled by the university.
Updated
Swiss parliamentarians, who broke off work in March over the coronavirus outbreak, gathered on Monday in a large exhibition hall for a special session to discuss the best way forward in the pandemic.
Opening the session in Bern - only the fourth in history to be held outside Switzerland’s stately parliament building - president Simonetta Sommaruga acknowledged that the country was living through “an unprecedented crisis” and urged MPs to get back to work.
“The government needs you,” she said, standing at a lonely podium, her microphone covered with a plastic bag, in a large hall with the country’s 246 parliamentarians and their aides seated at tables spaced out with at least two metres between them.
Sommaruga acknowledged that the government had been forced during the crisis to infringe on personal and economic liberties but said it had not taken such decisions “lightly”.
Over the next four days, MPs will discuss the restrictions imposed to halt the spread of the virus, and the path forward as Switzerland, like a number of other European countries, begins easing the lockdown.
The wealthy Alpine country of some 8.5 million people has been relatively hard-hit by the pandemic, counting more than 1,450 deaths out of almost 30,000 people infected.
Last week, hairdressers, garden centres, hardware stores and doctors’ surgeries reopened again.
Next week, schools, shops and markets, along with restaurants, museums and libraries are set to open their doors as well.
Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, has outlined a list of what the public should be expecting of and demanding from their governments during the coronavirus pandemic.
In brief:
- An aggressive “test, trace, isolate” policy involving mass community testing
- The protection of health and social care workers who are most at risk from contracting the virus
- Constant surveillance of the virus using tracking systems to quickly detect hotspots across the country
- Clear and honest communication with the public to ensure trust
- Recognition that any “exit” strategy will not mean a return to normal pre-coronavirus
- Lockdowns are not a solution by themselves - they should be used as sparingly as possible
- The world is still awaiting key scientific findings that will determine the ultimate “exit strategy”.
Iceland’s secondary schools and universities began reopening on Monday, as the country started easing measures put in place seven weeks ago to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The vast island in the North Atlantic has confirmed 1,799 cases of the illness and 10 deaths, but the number of new cases has ranged between zero and three since 23 April.
A study published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed Iceland’s success at containing the pandemic to its widespread testing, having tested more people than any other country and starting a month before the first case was even confirmed.
As of Sunday, Iceland had carried out tests on 50,406 people, or 14% of its 364,000-strong population.
The aggressive testing programme appears to have helped slow the spread of the virus by allowing health authorities to detect people who were infected and contagious but had no symptoms or thought they just had a cold or the flu.
When people test positive, they have to self-isolate at home until 14 days after their fever subsides or until they test negative for the virus. Anybody who comes in contact with them has to self-quarantine for two weeks.
The University of Iceland in Reykjavik, which has 13,000 students, predicted a slow and gradual reopening on Monday, principal Jon Atli Benediktsson told AFP, and the same was expected at its six other campuses across the country.
Ukraine’s government on Monday extended a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic until 22 May but agreed to partially lift some restrictions from 11 May, according to televised cabinet proceedings.
The partial lifting of the restrictions includes opening parks and recreation areas, and allowing some shops, such as those specialising in household goods or textiles, to open.
Cafes can reopen for takeaway services.
Major South African lender Absa said on Monday it had agreed hundreds of millions of dollars in temporary repayment relief for its borrowers, after the industry said 1.2 million people had applied for help.
The impact of the lockdown on South Africa, a country of over 58 million, mostly poor people, is expected to be devastating: the economy had already fallen into recession at the end of 2019, and official unemployment was close to 30%.
Absa said more than 376,000 of its account holders had applied for assistance and the bank would deliver 5.8bn rand of relief, such as repayment breaks or reductions in installments, over three months.
The Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) said the industry had already implemented more than 15bn rand ($798.03 million) in temporary repayment help - with roughly half going to individuals and half to businesses.
Updated
The death toll from the Covid-19 outbreak in Iran rose by 74 in the past 24 hours to 6,277, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on Monday.
The total number of diagnosed cases in Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak in the Middle East, has reached 98,647, he said.
Indian police fired tear gas on Monday to scatter migrant workers during clashes in the western state of Gujarat, officials said, as authorities relaxed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The nationwide lockdown, extended twice since it was implemented on 25 March, is being eased in some areas, but will run until 17 May, the government said last week.
The tally of infections stands at more than 42,500, with 1,300 dead.
About 1,000 stranded workers seeking help to return to homes in states across India gathered on the outskirts of the industrial and diamond-processing city of Surat, but threw stones at police who ordered them to break up, an official said.
“The police fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters,” a police official in Kadodara, near the site of the clash, told Reuters, seeking anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with media.
Television showed images of police entering buildings and homes in the area and detaining people.
Surat has suffered incidents of labour unrest since the lockdown began.
The shutdown endangers the economic survival of many of India’s estimated 140 million migrant labourers, though officials say it is key to beating the virus in a nation of 1.3 billion people, where health services are already stretched.
It’s Jessica Murray here, I’m taking over from my colleague Aamna and will be running the global live blog for the next few hours, updating you on the latest coronavirus developments from around the world.
If you’re looking for UK-focused coronavirus news, Andrew Sparrow is heading up the UK live blog as ministers discuss plans for how Britain’s lockdown could be eased.
As always, feel free to get in touch with your suggestions and experiences - you can reach me via jessica.murray@theguardian.co.uk or @journojess_ on Twitter.
Summary
- US officials believe China hid virus’s severity to hoard medical supplies. An intelligence report by US Department of Homeland Security, obtained by AP, claims China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and how contagious the disease is to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it. The report follows claims by US defence secretary Mark Esper that Russia and China are taking advantage of the coronavirus emergency to put their interests forward in Europe.
- Police in Kuwait dispersed protests by stranded Egyptians unable to return home. The development was the first reported sign of unrest from the region’s vast population of foreign workers who have lost their jobs over the crisis.
-
Japan extends the country’s national state of emergency to May 31. Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he had decided to extend the country’s national state of emergency to 31 May, Reuters reports.
-
High schools and universities slowly reopen in Iceland. The country began easing measures put in place seven weeks ago to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
-
South Africa’s unemployment rate could reach 40%. In a radio interview, South Afica’s treasury director general, Dondo Mogajane, said the country could see about 200bn rand under-collection in tax revenue, painting the starkest picture yet of the economic impact of the coronavirus on the nation.
-
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 10,581 over the past 24 hours. This brought Russia’s nationwide tally to 145,268, the country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said on Monday.
- Swimming body FINA postpones 2021 World Aquatics Championships to 2022. The FINA World Championships in Fukuoka (JPN) was initially scheduled for the summer of 2021, but will now take place from 13-29 May 2022.
Updated
Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, has been giving evidence to the European parliament’s committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
Ammon told the committee that only Bulgaria among all European countries is still experiencing an increase in cases of infection.
She said: “The country where we now see still an increase is Bulgaria. There are four countries where we see no substantial changes in the last 14 days – Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the UK. All the others we really see this substantial decrease.”
Ammon said that lockdowns in Europe have reduced the overall transmission of coronavirus by 45% compared with 8 April. “As of Saturday it appears the initial wave of transmission has passed its peak,” she said.
Ammon sounded cautious about the rollout of masks to the public as a way of controlling the spread given the lack of evidence for their utility. “Wearing a face mask should always be seen as an additional tool to hand-washing and social distancing measures,” she said. Ammon added that there was a risk that masks would give citizens a “false sense of security”.
She said:
This is a marathon not a sprint. People’s expectations about the pandemic situation, duration, effect it’ll continue to have on their lives for the foreseeable future needs to be managed. This isn’t going to end any time soon and people need to prepare for it.
Ammon said her agency had ‘low confidence’ that the death figures collected by governments within the EU/EEA and the UK are complete.
Updated
US officials believe China hid virus' severity to hoard medical supplies
An intelligence report by US Department of Homeland Security, obtained by AP, claims China covered up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and how contagious the disease is to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it.
Chinese leaders intentionally concealed the severity of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a four-page dated 1 May. The revelation comes as the Trump administration has intensified its criticism of China, with secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying Sunday that that country was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable.
The French prime minister Édouard Philippe will present more details of the government’s deconfinement or end of lockdown plan as well as the bill extending the “state of health emergency” until 24 July, to the Sénat, the upper house of parliament, on Monday afternoon.
The government is hoping for a quick passage through the house and on to the Assemblée Nationale tomorrow where the debate is likely to be more heated, but where Emmanuel Macron’s centrist government has a large majority.
France’s health minister, Olivier Véran warned at the weekend that the date for the end of lockdown of 11 May is not set in stone and if there is no significant continuation of the drop in the spread of the virus, the date would be put back.
However, the figures are continuing to look encouraging and the curve is still heading downwards, so France will almost certainly end the lockdown in a week. But the return to more normal life will be “progressive” and will largely depend on where the virus is still circulating and how hospital intensive care units are coping.
A map, updated every day, has been published dividing the country’s departments into “red”, “orange” and “green”, indicating which areas may still face some lockdown regulations. The orange departments will be declared red or green when a definitive map is published on Thursday. In any case, the French have been told not to make journeys of more than 100km without good professional or major family reasons after 11 May for the foreseeable future.
One of Macron’s main objectives in ending the lockdown is to reopen the country’s schools, but this is proving problematic. Nursery and primary schools will reopen classes on Tuesday, but with a maximum of between 10 and 15 pupils. The two lower years of secondary schools, will return the following Monday.
In Paris, City Hall estimates only 10% of nursery and primary school pupils will be able to return on Tuesday. The opening of classes is hampered because the city will almost certainly remain “red” on the coronavirus map and many city school buildings make it impossible to impose social distancing on youngsters.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo is among 334 mayors from the Île de France region who have written an open letter to Macron asking for the reopening of schools to be postponed because of concerns over the potential health risk to children and teachers.
Updated
For a second consecutive day, Spain’s overnight coronavirus death toll has reached 164, according to the latest figures from the health ministry.
To date, there have been 218,011 confirmed cases in the country and 25,428 deaths.
The embattled carrier Norwegian Air has won support from aircraft lessors for its rescue plan as it faces a crunch shareholder vote on the $1.2bn (£950m) plan to convert debt into equity at an emergency meeting on Monday.
Norwegian’s shareholder meeting got under way in Oslo on Monday morning, as the European Union’s competition watchdog approved French state aid worth €7bn (£6bn) for Air France. The Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the global aviation industry into its worst crisis, bringing air travel to a near-standstill.
Airlines across Europe have sought government help as coronavirus lockdowns have forced them to ground their fleets. As it approved the French state guarantee and shareholder loan to Air France, the European commission noted the importance of the carrier, with more than 300 planes, to the French economy and its role in repatriating stranded citizens and transporting medical supplies.
Norwegian – one of the biggest airlines at London’s Gatwick airport – grounded 95% of its fleet in mid-March and has warned it could run out of cash by the middle of the month unless it pushes through its rescue plan.
The plan will hand majority ownership to the airline’s creditors and leave current shareholders with just 5.2% of the company, but there was no alternative, Norwegian’s chief executive, Jacob Schram, said.
He told Norway’s TV2: “Without a yes [from shareholders], it will be game over.”
Updated
Malaysian health authorities on Monday reported 55 new coronavirus cases, Reuters reports, raising the total to 6,353 cases as Malaysians began heading out under relaxed curbs on movement and businesses.
There were no new fatalities reported, leaving total deaths at 105.
Meanwhile, Indonesia reported 395 new coronavirus infections on Monday, taking the total in the south-east Asian country to 11,587, said health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.
Yurianto reported 19 new coronavirus-related deaths, taking the total to 864, while 1,954 have recovered. More than 86,000 people have been tested, he said.
Updated
The number of coronavirus cases in Bangladesh surpassed 10,000 on Monday, the country’s health ministry said, Reuters reports, with infections increasing in pace over the past several days.
Bangladesh reported 688 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, taking its tally since it reported its first case two months ago to 10,143. The death toll rose to 182.
Updated
Russia and China are taking advantage of the coronavirus emergency to put their interests forward in Europe, US defence secretary Mark Esper claimed on Monday, according to a report by Reuters.
Both China and Russia have offered support to Italy, sending doctors, medical equipment and face masks to the country which was the first in Europe to be hit hard by the outbreak.
When asked whether China and Russia were trying to gain influence in Italy by sending aid, Esper told the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa:
[The United States] is aware that some will try to use the pandemic as a way to invest in critical industry and infrastructure, with effect on security in the long term...
Potential opponents will almost certainly try to use their interest to put their interests forward and create divisions in NATO and Europe
Huawei and 5G are an important example of this malign activity by China.”
Esper’s comments come at a time when some US officials have blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday Washington had evidence the disease emerged from a Chinese lab, which Beijing strongly denies.
Updated
Police in Kuwait dispersed what they described as a riot by stranded Egyptians unable to return home amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said on Monday, AP reports.
The development was the first reported sign of unrest from the region’s vast population of foreign workers who have lost their jobs over the crisis.
Online videos purported to show Kuwaiti police firing teargas at the demonstrators overnight, who earlier chanted: “Where is our embassy?”
The state-run Kuna news agency called the confrontation a “riot” carried out by Egyptians corralled at a group shelter.
“Security officials intervened and took control, arresting a number of them,” the Kuna report said.
It did not acknowledge what level of force police used to put down the unrest, nor how many people authorities ultimately arrested after the incident. Kuwait’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan extends the country’s national state of emergency to May 31
Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he had decided to extend the country’s national state of emergency to May 31, Reuters reports.
Abe will consider lifting the state of emergency without waiting for its 31 May expiration if experts decide that is possible based on detailed analysis of regional infection trends, he said at the start of a meeting of the government’s coronavirus task force.
Updated
High schools and universities slowly reopen in Iceland
Iceland’s secondary schools and universities began reopening on Monday, as the country began easing measures put in place seven weeks ago to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, AFP reports.
The country, a vast island of 364,000 people located in the North Atlantic, has confirmed 1,799 cases of the illness and 10 deaths, but the number of new cases has ranged between zero and three since 23 April.
The University of Iceland in Reykjavik, which has 13,000 students, predicted a slow and gradual reopening, principal Jon Atli Benediktsson told AFP, and the same was expected at its six other campuses across the country.
Of Iceland’s 38 secondary schools, it was mainly vocational schools that were resuming classes in smaller groups. At these schools, which often involve practical classes, the approaching end-of-year exams must be conducted in person and not online.
Most general secondary schools contacted by AFP said they would not be reopening and would instead continue distance learning for the last three weeks of the academic year, avoiding the need to find tricky solutions to social distancing in classrooms. Those students will take their final exams exclusively online.
Nursery schools and primary schools, which have remained open albeit with reduced hours, resumed their regular schedules on Monday.
Updated
Hundreds of people queued outside liquor stores in New Delhi on Monday as the Indian capital began easing some curbs after a 40-day lockdown against the coronavirus, Reuters reports.
Some offices resumed work with fewer staff and traffic trickled into the streets. Many government cars were among the traffic on Delhi’s boulevards on Monday, while police at checkpoints peered into cars to ensure there were no more than two occupants. Everyone wore masks.
Updated
South Africa's unemployment rate could reach 40%
South Africa’s treasury director general warned that unemployment rate could reach 40%, Reuters reports.
In a radio interview, Dondo Mogajane said the country could see around 200bn rand under-collection in tax revenue, painting the starkest picture yet of the economic impact of the coronavirus on the nation.
He added the economy could contract by between 6% and 12% due to the coronavirus.
Updated
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 10,581 over the past 24 hours, Reuters reports, compared with a record of 10,633 on the previous day.
This brought Russia’s nationwide tally to 145,268, the country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said on Monday.
It also reported 76 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total death toll in Russia to 1,356.
Updated
Britain’s defence minister declined to comment on media reports that a dossier by the US led ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence consortium had said that China lied about the coronavirus outbreak.
The 15-page intelligence report claimed China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency” that cost tens of thousands of lives. The report, obtained by Australia Sunday Telegraph, was reportedly produced by The Five Eyes, an intelligence group made up of Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
When asked about the report on BBC Radio, defence secretary Ben Wallace said: “Every day I get intelligence bulletins from our agencies around the world. I don’t comment on individual bulletins, what I have and haven’t seen. That would be wrong.”
The Five Eyes evolved from a secret World War Two alliance between British and U.S. cypher and code breaking teams, Reuters reports.
Updated
The Ugandan government has launched an investigation into the activities of a megachurch in Kampala after seven members of its internationally renowned children’s choir were diagnosed with Covid-19 following an overseas tour.
The country’s child affairs minister, Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, told the Guardian the Internal Security Organisation was investigating Watoto church for allegedly breaching child labour laws, taking the children out of the country without permission and putting them at risk by not cancelling the tour as coronavirus cases escalated and countries closed their borders.
The church has not responded to the Guardian’s requests for comment on the allegations.
The children, aged between seven and 10, were diagnosed shortly after returning from a UK tour on 20 March. They, along with seven adults on the tour who also tested positive for the virus, have all now fully recovered, the church said.
However, more than 80 members of the choir, including 48 children, reportedly remain stranded in the US, Malaysia, New Zealand and Brazil as they were unable to travel back to Uganda before the country closed its borders on the 23 March.
As of Tuesday, Uganda had 83 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Updated
In Afghanistan, the health ministry has warned that the threat of coronavirus is at its highest level across the war-torn country as number of confirmed deaths of Covid-19 reached 90.
The country reported 190 new coronavirus cases and five new deaths over past 24 hours, including the highest one-day rise of infections in Paktia province and continued surge of transmission in Kandahar. Th latest figures push the total number of infections to 2894 and death toll to 90.
#Afghanistan has recorded 190 new #Coronavirus cases and 5 deaths over past 24 hours.
— Akhtar Mohammad Makoii (@akhtar_makoii) May 4, 2020
Total infections: 2894
New infections: 190
May3: 235
May2: 179
May1: 164
Apr30: 232
Apr29:110
Ap28: 125
Ap27: 172
Ap26: 68
Ap25: 133
Ap24: 95
Ap23: 83
Ap22: 51
Ap21:66
Ap20:30
Death toll: 90
The number of transmission continued to surge in Kandahar and Kabul on Monday, with around 50 new cases confirmed in both provinces. Kabul is the country’s worst affected area with 704 confirmed cases.
One-third of 500 random coronavirus tests in Afghanistan’s capital came back positive, health officials said Sunday.
Wahid Majroh, deputy health minister said on Monday that the result of 500 tests are concerning though it’s “not comparable with around 5 million population of Kabul and the tests were rapid and some may not confirmed at the end”.
He warned in press conference that the threat of the coronavirus is currently at its “highest level”. And asked the people to cooperate with health workers and stay at home.
The Afghan government has pledged to distribute bread to poor people over the weekend using Kabul bakeries. “Some bread is being distributed in the bakeries, but more people gathering. It has more disadvantages than advantages because the virus is spreading rapidly”, said Wahidullah Mayar, health ministry spokesman.
War continued to intensify in the country, a government spokesman said 17 civilians were killed by the Taliban in first week of Ramadan.
Updated
Swimming body FINA postpones 2021 World Aquatics Championships to 2022
The FINA World Championships in Fukuoka (JPN) was initially scheduled for the summer of 2021, but will now take place from 13 May 2022 to 29 May 2022.
FINA president Dr Julio C. Maglione said in a statement:
After liaising with the relevant stakeholders and receiving feedback from them, we have no doubt that the decision taken will provide the best possible conditions for all participants at the Championships. We look forward to witnessing the world’s best aquatic athletes from around the world competing in the city of Fukuoka (JPN) in 2022
At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, FINA hopes the announcement of these dates will allow for some clarity in planning for all concerned.
Updated
Singapore’s health ministry said on Monday it confirmed 573 new coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s tally of infections to 18,778, according to a report by Reuters.
Is Australia flattening the curve? My colleagues in Australia dig into the data. They bring together all the Covid-19 confirmed cases, maps, stats and graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response.
Updated
A global alliance of world leaders, potentially including China and the US, is expected to pledge to raise an initial $8.2bn (£6.5bn) at a virtual summit on Monday to research and equitably distribute vaccines and therapeutics to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
It is hoped national research efforts will be streamlined so that vaccines are manufactured quickly for distribution to poorer countries, and not just for the benefit of the wealthy economies that produce them.
National prestige and huge profits are potentially at stake for the countries and firms that win the race for a vaccine that can take the world’s economies out of lockdown, but there is a risk of uncoordinated duplication of research efforts slowing the process and adding to the cost.
Monday’s fundraising summit comes after the concept was launched at a previous meeting on 24 April. Neither China nor the US attended the hastily assembled earlier summit, which also included the World Health Organization.
The US president, Donald Trump, who is at loggerheads with the WHO and China over what he has called a conspiracy to cover up the origin of the virus, had been urged to support the summit. But optimism that the US might relent and join the initiative had waned by Monday morning.
PA Media has a breakdown of what different aspects of UK society could look like after the lockdown is eased.
Offices
According to the BBC, staggered shift times, less sharing of equipment and continued maximisation of home working are among a number of ideas listed as part of a draft government strategy to help businesses prepare for a return to work.Increased hygiene procedures and the installation of protective screens are also included in the plan.
Meanwhile, the Guardian says ministers are holding talks with technology firms over the creation of “health passports” that use “coronavirus testing and facial recognition” to prove which workers have had Covid-19.
Retail
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) last month published guidance for measures that retail stores could introduce to help with the transition once restrictions are lifted. The recommended measures include limiting entry and exit points, using floor markings to outline social distancing and keeping changing rooms closed.
The guidance also suggests installing cleaning stations with hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes at the front of stores.
Public transport
Speaking on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, transport secretary Grant Shapp said increased bus and train timetables will be implemented to help the public transport system cope with an influx in passengers while still adhering to social distancing recommendations.
He also pointed to active transport methods such as cycling as a way for people to take more personal responsibility over their welfare. “The second thing to say is active travel, I think, is a very important part of this, by which I mean cycling, walking and so on,” he said.
Airports
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye has warned that the nation’s major international airports do not have enough space for social distancing to be a solution for safe travel post-lockdown.
“Forget social distancing – it won’t work in aviation or any other form of public transport, and the problem is not the plane, it is the lack of space in the airport,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “Just one jumbo jet would require a queue a kilometre long.”
Instead, Holland-Kaye believes mandatory health checks for passengers, increased levels of hygiene and compulsory face masks would be more realistic options to enable airports to reopen and air travel to resume.
Updated
Hi, I’m Aamna Mohdin in London taking over the liveblog from Helen. If you want to get in contact, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or tweet me @aamnamohdin
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today. I’m off on a thrilling outing to the post office.
Take it away, Aamna Mohdin.
Summary
- Global coronavirus cases top 3.5 million. The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide has passed 3.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with deaths nearing a quarter of a million. North America and European countries accounted for most of the new cases reported in recent days, but numbers were rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa and Russia. There are currently 3,506,924 confirmed cases of the virus, and 247,473 people have lost their lives in the pandemic so far.
- Trump ‘very confident’ there will be a vaccine by the end of this year. US president Donald Trump is “very confident” there will be vaccine by the end of 2020. In a “virtual town hall” with Fox news, Trump said: “We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year.” Trump’s declaration came despite his own pandemic task force predicting it could be another 18 months. The US president also said that up to 100,000 Americans could die in the pandemic.
- Mike Pompeo says coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, claimed there was “enormous evidence” coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory – but did not provide any of the alleged evidence. US intelligence had issued a formal statement saying the scientific consensus is the virus was not manmade or genetically modified. When reminded of this, Pompeo replied: ‘That’s right. I agree with that.’”
- France won’t quarantine EU, Schengen area citizens. France said on Sunday it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen area or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing confinement measures after two months of lockdown.
- New Zealand records zero new cases. New Zealand has recorded a day of no new cases of Covid-19 for the first time since before the lockdown. It’s an “encouraging” result, said Ashley Bloomfield, the director general of health. There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 86% of them now recovered. Seven people were still in hospital.
- Japan expected to extend state of emergency until end of May. The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is set to extend the country’s state of emergency on Monday, until the end of May, public broadcaster NHK said. The government is also expected to determine new prevention measures for the coronavirus outbreak that has infected about 15,000 people and killed more than 500 in the country, Reuters reports.
- Bolsonaro fuels protests in defiance of health advice. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has spent another weekend stirring up street protests in defiance of his own health ministry’s appeals for citizens to stay at home because of coronavirus. Meanwhile, Brazil passed 100,000 confirmed cases.
- UK and France to trial tracing apps. France’s tracing app is expected to enter testing week on Monday. France’s state-supported “StopCOVID” contact-tracing app should enter its testing phase a week on Monday when the country starts to unwind its lockdown, a government minister has said. The UK will trial a new coronavirus tracing programme next week on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, cabinet minister Michael Gove announced as the government looked to minimise the risk of a second wave of infection.
Updated
More than a million renters in Britain risk losing their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic and should be protected by an immediate rent freeze, according to a thinktank.
Calling on the government to suspend all private rents for three months as an emergency measure to protect those most at risk, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) said 1.2 million people living in privately rented homes could fall into severe financial hardship otherwise.
These people are among 5.6 million it identified who will miss out from the government’s Covid-19 job retention scheme, due to having their hours cut or being made redundant rather than being furloughed. It also includes people ineligible for the self-employed income protection scheme.
Thailand’s new coronavirus cases rose to 18 on Monday, after falling to single-digits for the past week, but the country reported no new deaths.
Monday’s report brought the total number of cases to 2,987 since the new virus was detected in Thailand in January, with a total of 54 deaths.
The new cases were migrants who were entering Thailand through an immigration checkpoint in the southern province of Songkhla, which shares a border with Malaysia, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman of the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
They were all being quarantined in an immigration detention centre, along with 42 cases found previously on 25 April, Taweesin said.
The full story on the latest from Japan now:
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is poised to extend the country’s state emergency until the end of the month, amid warnings that relaxing social distancing advice too early could flood already crowded hospitals with coronavirus patients.
Abe declared a month-long state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures on 7 April, enabling local governors to request that people avoid unnecessary trips outside and that non-essential businesses close.
The measures have since been expanded nationwide, but they are far less restrictive than those introduced in the US and parts of Europe, with no fines or other penalties for those who do not comply.
The restrictions were due to end on Wednesday – the end of a series of public holidays known as Golden Week – but Abe has reportedly decided to extend them on the advice of experts who warned that a second wave of infections could put intolerable pressure on hospitals, particularly in Tokyo.
Abe, who was due to explain his decision at a press conference later Monday, has warned that Japan faces a “drawn-out battle” against the virus:
UK front pages, Monday 4 May 2020
Here’s a look at the stories leading the papers this morning:
GUARDIAN: Ministers in talks over immunity passports to get UK back to work #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/pkkRnRRgBI
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 3, 2020
TIMES: Vaccine is only way to beat virus, @BorisJohnson insists #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/aEXKBtSYpD
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 3, 2020
TELEGRAPH: @BorisJohnson : vaccine is endeavour of our lives #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/AYAEvzl3eC
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 3, 2020
INDEPENDENT DIGITAL: NHS app trial starts as No10 plans next phase #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/Ao99O0Ept1
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 3, 2020
FT: Proposed workplace rules include staggered shifts and separation #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/SAkaOkRL8L
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 3, 2020
Six Italians on lives changed by coronavirus
The Guardian’s Angela Giuffrida and Lorenzo Tondo have this in-depth report from Italy:
The coronavirus crisis agony of Spain’s poor
Paloma Pérez, a smoker who has dealt with pancreatitis and cancer, has more reason than many to fear the coronavirus as she waits out the lockdown in her house in the mountains outside Madrid.
To limit her exposure, the 74-year-old has told the home help who used to pop in twice a week to stop coming, and her main meal of the day – usually fish or meat, but with a decent variety of sides – is left outside her closed front door by the Catholic charity Cáritas.
The nightmares Pérez suffered when the pandemic began have receded and she is adapting to the enduring lockdown with far fewer problems than many people in Spain.
Cáritas has reported a surge in pleas for help since Spain went into national lockdown on 14 March. It says demand in the Madrid region has tripled over the past few weeks and 85% of the requests it receives are for food, medicine, or assistance in covering basic living costs.
Trump ‘very confident’ of Covid-19 vaccine in 2020 and predicts up to 100,000 US deaths
Donald Trump has said he is “very confident” there will be a vaccine for coronavirus by the end of the year, revising up his estimate of the final US death toll as several European countries prepare for a cautious easing of lockdowns.
The president used a Fox News “virtual town hall” on Sunday night to repeat his regular virus talking points, including that a vaccine was not far away, Covid-19 was China’s fault and the economy would not only recover but “grow like crazy”.
“We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year,” Trump said. Scientists have repeatedly warned that a vaccine may take 12-18 months or longer.
Trump in April predicted 60,000 American lives would be lost but on Sunday said: “We’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people. That’s a horrible thing.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the government has “not yet” received an invitation to take part in this month’s meeting of the World Health Organization’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly.
However, the government will strive “until the last moment” to participate as an observer, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said in a statement.
Taiwan’s lack of membership at the WHO, due to China’s objections which considers the island as one of its provinces, has infuriated Taipei, which says its exclusion has created a glaring gap in the global fight against the coronavirus.
Summary
Here are the main developments from the last few hours:
- Global coronavirus cases top 3.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with deaths nearing a quarter of a million. There are currently 3,506,924 confirmed cases of the virus, and 247,473 people have lost their lives in the pandemic so far.
- US president Donald Trump is ‘very confident’ there will be vaccine by end of the year. In a sit-down interview with Fox news, Trump said: “We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year.” The US president also said that up to 100,000 Americans could die in the pandemic.
- Mike Pompeo says coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed there is “enormous evidence” coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory – but did not provide any of the alleged evidence. US intelligence had issued a formal statement saying the scientific consensus is the virus was not manmade or genetically modified. When reminded of this, Pompeo replied: ‘That’s right. I agree with that.’”
- France said Sunday that it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen area or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing confinement measures after two months of lockdown. On Saturday, the government had said it would extend the state of emergency to contain the crisis until at least 24 July, and anyone entering France would have to remain in isolation for two weeks.
- New Zealand has recorded a day of no new cases of Covid-19 for the first time since before the lockdown. It’s an “encouraging” result, said Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health, who’s announcing the latest figures at an ongoing news conference in Wellington. There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 86% of them now recovered. Seven people are in hospital.
-
Japan expected to extend state of emergency until end of May. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to extend the country’s state of emergency on Monday until the end of May, public broadcaster NHK said. The government is also expected to determine new prevention measures for the coronavirus outbreak that has infected around 15,000 people and killed more than 500 in the country, Reuters reports.
- Bolsonaro fuels protests in defiance of health advice. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has spent another weekend stirring up street protests in defiance of his own health ministry’s appeals for citizens to stay at home because of coronavirus.
-
Brazil passes 100,000 confirmed cases. There have been 4,588 new cases of the coronavirus in Brazil and 275 deaths over the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, bringing total confirmed cases in the country to over 100,000.
- Italy reports lowest toll since first day of lockdown. Italyhas reported 174 new coronavirus deaths, its lowest toll since 168 fatalities were registered when the country’s lockdown started on March 10. The 1,389 new infections were also the lowest since the first week of March
- UK to trial new tracing programme. The UK will trial a new coronavirus tracing programme next week on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England, cabinet minister Michael Gove has announced as the government looks to minimise the risk of a second wave of infection.
- France’s tracing app expected to enter testing week on Monday. France’s state-supported ‘StopCOVID’ contact-tracing app should enter its testing phase a week on Monday when the country starts to unwind its lockdown, a government minister has said.
- The Pope has called for any successful Covid-19 vaccine to be shared worldwide. He said international scientific cooperation would be important in discovering a vaccine, stressing that it is “important to unite scientific capabilities, in a transparent and impartial way”.
Updated
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Coronavirus health passports for UK ‘possible in months’
The Guardian’s Kate Proctor and Hannah Devlin report:
Tech firms are in talks with ministers about creating health passports to help Britons return safely to work using coronavirus testing and facial recognition.
Facial biometrics could be used to help provide a digital certificate – sometimes known as an immunity passport – proving which workers have had Covid-19, as a possible way of easing the impact on the economy and businesses from ongoing physical distancing even after current lockdown measures are eased.
The UK-based firm Onfido, which specialises in verifying people’s identities using facial biometrics, has delivered detailed plans to the government and is involved in a number of conversations about what could be rolled out across the country, it is understood.
Its proposals, which have reached pilot stages in other countries, could be executed within months, it says. The firm could use antibody tests – proving whether someone has had the virus – or antigen tests, which show current infections.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is speaking to the press now.
Ardern has told reporters that a trans-Tasman reopening – in which Australians and New Zealanders could travel between the countries without a 14-day quarantine period – wouldn’t “be in the very very near short term.”
“Don’t expect this to happen in a couple of weeks time,” Ardern said. She added that the two countries “have very similar perspective of the type of timeline” that might be possible.
While Australian prime ministers had attended New Zealand’s cabinet ministers before, Ardern understood that she was the first New Zealand prime minister to be invited to an Australian gathering.
“It highlights what’s happened with cooperation at the state level and the mutual importance of both countries economies to each other,” she said.
Here’s the full story on New Zealand, which has recorded its first day of no new cases of Covid-19 since a stringent national lockdown began more than one month ago.
The public has been engrossed by the daily release of case numbers by the health ministry each afternoon – especially as a deadline looms for the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to decide whether the country’s lockdown rules will ease further next Monday.
One week into level-3 restrictions, however, officials sounded a cautious note as breaches of the shutdown rules continued to rise.
Jacinda Ardern joins national cabinet meeting as Australia, New Zealand share coronavirus strategyRead more
“It is cause for celebration … It is important that we reflect that it is symbolic of the effort that everybody has put in,” said Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health, as he announced zero new cases of the coronavirus on Monday. “I don’t want to downplay that but once again, we need to be continuing vigilance.”
There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 86% of them now recovered. Seven people are in hospital. Twenty people have died of the virus; no additional deaths were reported on Monday.
A dog is for life and not just for the Covid-19 lockdown, a UK charity has warned after online searches about getting a puppy surged by 120%.
The Dogs Trust says it is concerned that the increased interest in acquiring a dog may be followed by a rise in people giving up their new pets when some form of normality resumes.
The animal welfare charity, formerly known as the National Canine Defence League, is temporarily changing its famous slogan, “a dog is for life, not just for Christmas” to “a dog is for life, not just for lockdown”.
The organisation’s chief executive, Owen Sharp, said: “Like Christmas, when people are at home more, they might think now is the perfect time to get a dog.
“For some people this will be the case, but we’re asking people to consider when the lockdown lifts how your life will need to change to accommodate your four-legged friend. We’re encouraging potential dog owners to carry out our new test to see if you’re dog ready.
“Are you ready to be chief pooper scooper? Are you ready to forego a lie-in ever again? As well as more serious questions around vet treatment and preparing for emergencies.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has extended a nationwide coronavirus lockdown until 17 May, but has allowed some relaxations, which will take effect on Monday. The following lists what remains banned and what is permitted, Reuters reports:
NATIONWIDE:
Travel by air, rail and metro and inter-state movement of people by road remains banned all over the country. Schools, hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping malls, cinemas and places of worship are also shut nationally.
There will be no restriction on movement of goods between states or on the manufacturing and distribution of essential items.
Different regions have been colour-coded according to how much restrictions can be eased:
RED ZONES:
The metropolises of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru have been designated as red zones - where most curbs remain in place. The classification is made based on number of active coronavirus cases, the doubling rate of cases, and the level of testing and surveillance in the area.
In urban red zones that are not marked as containment zones - which are areas sealed off due to coronavirus cases - private offices can open at 33% capacity. Construction activity can also resume, as long as workers reside on site. Manufacturing of essential goods and IT hardware is permitted. E-commerce activities are only allowed for essential goods, while standalone shops are able to open.
In rural red zones, all agricultural, construction and industrial activity is permitted.
ORANGE ZONES:
In orange zones, all the activities allowed in red zones are permitted. In addition, taxis are allowed, provided they are carrying only two passengers, as is travel between districts for permitted activities.
GREEN ZONES:
Areas designated as green zones, or places that have not seen any incidence of Covid-19 in 21 days, are allowed to resume all activities except those prohibited nationally.
Buses are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.
Japan expected to extend state of emergency until end of May
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to extend the country’s state of emergency on Monday until the end of May, public broadcaster NHK said.
The government is also expected to determine new prevention measures for the coronavirus outbreak that has infected around 15,000 people and killed more than 500 in the country, Reuters reports.
Abe is expected to explain the reasoning behind the extension of the state of emergency, which is now due to expire on Wednesday, at a news conference in the evening, NHK said.
The government may also ease some of the current coronavirus-related constraints on economic activity by allowing places with relatively low infection risks, such as parks, to re-open, even in hard-hit prefectures.
The state of emergency gives governors in those prefectures the authority to request residents to stay at home and businesses to close. There are, however, no penalties for non-compliance.
The virus-triggered slump in business activity is threatening to throw the world’s third-largest economy into a deep recession, prompting calls for more government spending.
Japan’s parliament last week approved an extra budget to fund a record $1.1tn stimulus package.
Updated
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, will join Tuesday’s meeting of Australia’s national cabinet to discuss approaches to managing the coronavirus and Australia’s CovidSafe app.
Scott Morrison, who has been in regular dialogue with leaders during the pandemic, invited Ardern to join Tuesday’s national cabinet discussion with state premiers last week. Morrison and the premiers will meet twice this week to consider easing some of the restrictions imposed to flatten the curve of infections, with announcements expected on Friday.
Australia and New Zealand have both deployed successful strategies to manage the pandemic, although New Zealand’s lockdown has been more stringent than Australia’s.
New Zealand on Monday reported no new cases of Covid-19 for the first time in a month. The country has recently eased restrictions from level four to level three.
Piers Morgan has said he will be temporarily stepping back from presenting Good Morning Britain after developing a “mild” coronavirus symptom, PA media reports.
The programme will be hosted by ITV presenter Ben Shephard alongside Susanna Reid as Morgan waits for his test results, which are due on Monday.
Morgan said in a tweet on Sunday night he had had a test and will be stepping back from presenting duties “on medical advice, and out of an abundance of caution”.
This week, Morgan was cleared of breaching TV watchdog Ofcom’s rules after attracting more than 3,000 complaints over his “combative” questioning of Helen Whately, the social care minister, in two interviews.
During an animated interview, he asked Whately how many health workers and care workers who had died from the illness. She accused him of “shouting at me and not giving me a chance to answer your questions” and “attempting to score points”.
Morgan defended his approach, saying it was not as “uncomfortable” as the conditions for the carers on the front line of the coronavirus crisis.
Almost 600 viewers also complained about another interview, with the health secretary, Matt Hancock, on 16 April, who accused him of constantly interrupting him.
Circling back to US president Donald Trump’s Fox News town hall earlier, where he said up to 100,000 Americans could die from coronavirus.
“We’re going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people. That’s a horrible thing,” said Trump, who as recently on Friday had said he hoped fewer than 100,000 Americans would die and earlier in the week had talked about 60,000 to 70,000 deaths.
Nonetheless, he called his administration’s response to the pandemic a success:
Trump talks about how this effort has been successful, then says, "If you call 80 or 90,000 people successful."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 3, 2020
Updated
While millions of people took advantage of easing coronavirus lockdowns to enjoy the outdoors, some of the world’s most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections Sunday, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet, AP reports.
Second in population only to China, India reported more than 2,600 new infections.
In Russia, new cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time. The confirmed total death toll in Britain climbed near that of Italy, the epicenter of Europes outbreak, even though the U.K. population is younger than Italys and Britain had more time to prepare.
The United States continues to see tens of thousands of new infections each day, with more than 1,400 additional deaths reported Saturday.
Health experts have warned of a potential second wave of infections unless testing is expanded dramatically once the lockdowns are relaxed. But pressure to reopen keeps building after the weeks-long shutdown of businesses plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.
In Mexico City, where authorities expect infections to peak next week, workers will turn the Hernandez Rodriguez Formula 1 racecourse into a temporary hospital for Covid-19 patients.
Governments have reported 3.5 million infections and more than 247,000 deaths, including more than 67,000 dead in the United States, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
Deliberately concealed outbreaks, low testing rates and the severe strain the disease has placed on health care systems mean the true scale of the pandemic is undoubtedly much greater.
US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said there is “enormous evidence” the coronavirus outbreak originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, but failed to provide evidence following his statement. Pompeo added, “experts seem to think it was manmade”, before reversing his statement after he was reminded the US intelligence dismissed those claims last week. Here’s the video:
Podcast: The global race for face masks
The world economy may have dramatically dipped and the price of oil crashed, but one commodity is seeing an unprecedented boom: the face mask. Samanth Subramanian explores the newly distorted marketplace for masks and the lengths some will go to get them:
France says it won’t quarantine EU, Schengen area citizens
France said Sunday that it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen area or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing confinement measures after two months of lockdown, Reuters reports.
On Saturday, the government had said it would extend the state of emergency to contain the crisis until at least 24 July, and anyone entering France would have to remain in isolation for two weeks.
But the quarantine rules would not apply to “anyone arriving from the European Union, the Schengen zone or Britain, regardless of their nationality”, the presidency said on Sunday.
And for French and EU citizens arriving in France from other regions outside the EU, the Schengen area and Britain, “the rules will be announced in the coming days”, the presidency said.
Nevertheless, the tougher border controls introduced by France in mid-March to limit coronavirus contagion, particularly at the border with Germany, will continue, the interior ministry told AFP.
“The travel restrictions currently in place at our borders will continue to apply,” the ministry said. “Nothing has changed.”
The number of new deaths from Covid-19 in France has been declining in recent days, with 135 fatalities reported over the past 24 hours on Sunday.
Updated
People are FaceTiming the eels at Sumida Aquarium:
live footage of eels remembering humans https://t.co/4B4kiiogfw
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) May 4, 2020
In case you missed it, the aquarium asked people to call in via video, so that the eels would not “forget humans” and grow to shy to come out when visits to the aquarium resume.
More than 300,000 in the UK may have quit smoking during the coronavirus crisis as evidence mounts that the habit makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19, a survey suggests.
A further 550,000 have tried to quit, while 2.4 million have cut down, according to the joint study by YouGov and the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
The survey of 1,004 people suggested 2% of smokers had quit because of concerns about coronavirus; 8% were trying to quit; 36% had cut down; and 27% were now more likely to quit.
A quarter of former smokers said they were less likely to resume smoking, although 4% said the pandemic had made them more likely to relapse.
UK business confidence at all-time low, Deloitte report reveals
Business confidence at British companies has sunk to an all-time low because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey of finance chiefs at the largest UK firms.
The accountancy group Deloitte found that nine out of 10 finance directors believe there is a high or very high level of uncertainty facing their business.
Deloitte’s latest quarterly survey of chief financial officers took place after the UK was placed into lockdown, and warns that only 16% of executives are more optimistic about the prospects for their company than they were three months ago.
The survey has recorded its lowest business confidence reading since it was launched in 2007, even lower than during the global financial crisis, in stark contrast to the final quarter of 2019, when the survey recorded confidence at a record high.
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan with questions, comments and news from where you live.
New Zealand records no new cases for first time since mid March
Staying in Asia Pacific now:
New Zealand has recorded a day of no new cases of Covid-19 in the country for the first time since before the lockdown.
It’s an “encouraging” result, said Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health, who’s announcing the latest figures at an ongoing news conference in Wellington.
There have been 1,487 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with 86% of them now recovered. Seven people are in hospital.
20 people have died of the virus so far, and no additional deaths were reported on Monday.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, has won international praise for her swift and early lockdown of New Zealand.
The most stringent measures eased last Monday, and officials and the public are keenly watching the daily figures to see whether measures can ease further next week.
Updated
China reported three new coronavirus cases for 3 May, up from two the day before, data from the national health authority showed on Monday.
All of the new cases were imported, the National Health Commission said.
The commission also reported 13 new asymptomatic cases for May 3, an increase of one from the previous day.
The number of confirmed cases in China has reached 82,880. With no new deaths reported, the death toll remained at 4,633.
Trump is being asked about getting the nation back to work, and he says that not working can also have serious consequences for people, but praises the administration’s success with the virus.
Acknowledging that every death is one too many, he says: “In terms of the deaths ... we’re at the lowest level predicted, and we might not even hit that.”
Then he appears to lay out his re-election strategy, pretty much in dot-point form:
1. Get rid of the virus
2. Get the country back to work “quickly and safely”
3. Economically, he says quarter three will be a “transition” quarter, improved in quarter 4, and then a “great year” next year.
It’s six months exactly until the US election will be held (3 November), and he is asked about whether he will hold election rallies:
“Everyone wants the rallies... but I don’t think you can a rally with an empty stadium,” he says, adding that he hopes he will be able to to them in the last couple of months.
And the event wraps up.
Mike Pence is finally getting a word in. He’s being asked about not wearing a mask when he visited the Mayo clinic last week, an event that was widely publicised. He apologises.
“I didn’t think it was necessary, but i should have worn a mask at the Mayo clinic,” he says.
The vice president then goes on to reassure that he “knows we’ll get through this (pandemic)“ and thanks the American people for what they’ve done.
Steve Mnuchin has still barely said a word.
The vice president, Mike Pence, and Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, have joined the broadcast alongside Trump, but they are barely getting a word in.
Trump is asked if he is considering tariffs as a way of punishing China.
“It’s the ultimate punishment, I’ll tell you that. We are all playing a complicated game of chess or poker...but it’s not checkers, I’ll tell you that.”
“Tariffs at a minimum are the greatest negotiating tool,” he says.
He then attacks the World Health Organization for their involvement in managing the virus. He says the WHO missed “every call” on the virus.
He’s also strongly targeting China: “Don’t forget China tried to blame it first on some of our soldiers. Then they tried to blame it on Europe.”
Asked if the virus came from a lab, by intent or by accident, he says:
“I think they made a horrible mistake and they didn’t want to admit it.
“My opinion is they made a mistake, they tried to cover it ... they couldn’t put out the fire. They stopped people going into China but didn’t stop people going around the world.
“They knew they had a problem. I think they were embarrassed about the problem,” Trump says.
Will this affect his relationship with President Xi? He’s reluctant to blame Xi directly.
“I did a great trade deal with him. I’m not going to say anything. He’s a strong man,” he says.
“But this should never have happened. They should have put it out. They should have let us and other countries in to put it out.”
Updated
Just a reminder that Trump claimed he was treated worse by the press than Abraham Lincoln:
Video of President Trump, sitting at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial, saying is he being treated worse than President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated after freeing enslaved people across America. https://t.co/PHBVFHpCox
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) May 4, 2020
Honestly surprised the statue of Lincoln hasn't gotten up and left.
— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) May 4, 2020
Updated
Cases worldwide pass 3.5 million, deaths close to quarter of a million
Trump is speaking as global coronavirus cases have passed 3.5 million, with deaths nearing a quarter of a million, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Reuters reports that the rate of fatalities and new cases has slowed from peaks reached last month.
North America and European countries accounted for most of the new cases reported in recent days, but numbers were rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa and Russia.
There are currently 3,503,533 confirmed cases of the virus, and 247,306 people have lost their lives in the pandemic so far.
Updated
Trump is asked about the relationship with China, including on trade, and he’s not happy about it: “China never gave 10 cents to our country ... they ripped off our country ... I’ve told this to President Xi ... I get along with him ... (but) he should have done something different on this.”
He then goes on to list all the successful trade deals he has done ... with South Korea, Japan and others. The message is that the economy will bounce back next year.
“This country is going to grow like crazy,” he says.
Now he’s being asked about whether the manufacture of drugs will be brought back on shore, antibiotics and the like. He doesn’t give specifics but says “America first” was his election mantra, and reiterates that he thinks there will be a vaccine soon.
“We’re gonna have a vaccine by the end of the year. I firmly believe it,” he says.
Updated
Trump’s virtual town hall is back from an ad break, and the next video call is from a business which has not qualified for any financial support.
“At some point we have to open up our country. We can’t stay closed as a country or we won’t have a country left.”
Trump says the “greatest thing we can do is get rid of the virus”.
He’s now pushing the economic recovery he expects next year. “We did the right thing (closing businesses down), but we never want to do it again,” he says.
The next question is from a Trump supporter who asks why he doesn’t answer questions at news conferences and goes off on other tangents about positive decisions he’s made. He launches into a long rant about how hostile the press is and that he has been treated worse than Abraham Lincoln by the press.
“The media might as well be in the Democrat (sic) party,” he says.
Then lists what else he sees as his successes....killing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killing Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, launching space force.
The Fox anchor suggests he will be judged at the election on his handling of the virus. He doesn’t agree.
Updated
Meanwhile in Michigan:
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan issued a rebuke of the armed protesters who gathered inside the state capitol last week in defiance of statewide lockdown orders, saying the demonstrators embodied some of the “worst racism” of the nation’s history.
“Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country,” Whitmer said during a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Last week Donald Trump had said of the protesters: “These are very good people.”
Hundreds of protesters, many not wearing protective face masks and some armed legally with “long guns”, gathered inside the statehouse in Lansing on Thursday as lawmakers debated the Democratic governor’s request to extend her emergency powers to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The tightly packed crowd attempted to enter the floor of the legislative chamber and were held back by a line of state police and capitol staff, according to video footage posted by local journalists.
It’s worth noting that this Fox News “virtual town hall” as they are calling it, is a very controlled interview environment, compared with President Trump’s usual daily White House briefings. He is being interviewed with two Fox news anchors and taking some phone calls.
Fox has selected the questions to put to Trump from “thousands” of video questions and calls it has received from viewers over the past week.
When asked about why he didn’t act on the virus earlier, he was quick to point out that many people, including he says, disease expert Anthony Fauci, said Covid-19 “was going to pass”.
He indicates the US intelligence community will release a report on the virus on Monday.
He’s now being asked about what measures are being taken to protect nursing homes: “The nursing home issue is ground zero”
“What we’re doing is legislation immediately about how many people can be in (visit) ... it’s the one thing about this disease that everyone has learned ... is that it’s so contagious.”
He reminds viewers that nursing homes are a matter for states.
He’s saying elective surgery must recommence, but again, it’s up to the state governors. “They have to get back,” he says. “You think they’re making a lot of money? They’re losing a fortune. they have to get back to elective surgery.”
The network is taking an ad break.
Updated
More on Trump’s town hall now, from AP:
Trump declared Sunday that he believed a vaccine could be available by year’s end, despite his own pandemic task force predicting it could be another 18 months.
Anxious for an economic recovery, President Donald Trump fielded Americans’ questions about decisions by some states to allow nonessential businesses to reopen while other states are on virtual lockdown due to the coronavirus.
After more than a month of being cooped up at the White House, Trump returned from a weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland and participated in a virtual town hall, hosted Sunday night by Fox News Channel, from inside the Lincoln Memorial. He pushed for an economic reopening, one his advisers believe will be essential for his reelection chances this November.
“We have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible,” Trump said.
Though the administration’s handling of the pandemic, particularly its ability to conduct widespread testing, has come under fierce scrutiny, the president defended the response and said the nation was ready to begin reopening.
“I’ll tell you one thing. We did the right thing and I really believe we saved a million and a half lives,” the president said. But he also broke with the assessment of his senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, saying it was “too soon to say if the federal government was overseeing a success story.”
Trump’s impatience also flashed. While noting that states would go at their own pace in returning to normal, with ones harder hit by the coronavirus going slower, he said of some states, “frankly I think aren’t going fast enough” and singled out Virginia, which has a Democratic governor and legislature. And he urged the nation’s schools and universities to return to classes this fall.
This is the setting for Tump’s Fox News town hall, by the way:
I’m sorry, what? pic.twitter.com/dKvjfG8SMq
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 3, 2020
Trump says he is 'very confident' there will be vaccine by end of the year
President Trump is giving a sit-down interview with Fox news, and taking calls from viewers about the coronavirus.
Asked about a Covid-19 vaccine, he says: “We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year.”
Trump is asked about schools going back in the US in September: “We have to go back,” he says, adding that he is concerned about some older teachers and their possible exposure to the virus.
He’s criticising the Democrat’s response to the pandemic, implying it would suit their political purposes if the virus outcome was worse.
He talks about hydroxychloroquine, reminding viewers that he doesn’t own shares in the company that produces it: “We don’t lose anything with hydroxy .... people aren’t dying from it.”
He’s asked why he didn’t act earlier on the virus, and says his intelligence was that “on January 23 I was told there could be a virus coming but it was of no real import,” and then reminds viewers he stopped flights from China early.
Updated
Trump is speaking now on Fox news, we’ll have more on this shortly. In the meantime, he has said this, referring to deaths in the US:
Trump says we're going to lose anywhere from 75,000-80,000 to 100,000 people, then, a bit later, says it's 80,000 or 90,000. He's steadily moved the number up from the 50,000-60,000 total he cited on April 20.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 3, 2020
Trump talks about how this effort has been successful, then says, "If you call 80 or 90,000 people successful."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 3, 2020
The current US death toll, far higher than any other country, is 67,674 people.
Summary
Hello and welcome to our global coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Helen Sullivan, with you for the next few hours.
You can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan with comments, questions and news from where you live.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has claimed in a TV interview that there is ‘enormous evidence’ coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory, but did not provide any of this alleged evidence.
But, writes the Guardian’s Julian Borger, “when he was reminded that US intelligence had issued a formal statement noting the opposite – that the scientific consensus was that the virus was not manmade or genetically modified – Pompeo replied: ‘That’s right. I agree with that.’”
Meanwhile in Brazil, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been encouraging his supporters to protest, even as the country’s cases pass 100,000.
Here are the main developments from the last few hours:
- Bolsonaro fuels protests in defiance of health advice. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has spent another weekend stirring up street protests in defiance of his own health ministry’s appeals for citizens to stay at home because of coronavirus.
- Brazil passes 100,000 confirmed cases. There have been 4,588 new cases of the coronavirus in Brazil and 275 deaths over the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, bringing total confirmed cases in the country to over 100,000.
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed there is “enormous evidence” coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory – but did not provide any of the alleged evidence.
- Italy reports lowest toll since first day of lockdown. Italyhas reported 174 new coronavirus deaths, its lowest toll since 168 fatalities were registered when the country’s lockdown started on March 10. The 1,389 new infections were also the lowest since the first week of March
- UK to trial new tracing programme. The UK will trial a new coronavirus tracing programme next week on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England, cabinet minister Michael Gove has announced as the government looks to minimise the risk of a second wave of infection.
- France’s tracing app expected to enter testing week on Monday. France’s state-supported ‘StopCOVID’ contact-tracing app should enter its testing phase a week on Monday when the country starts to unwind its lockdown, a government minister has said.
- Portugal downgrades state of emergency. Portugal has downgraded its state of emergency to a category of “calamity”, as the rate of new coronavirus infections reached its lowest since the beginning of the outbreak, six weeks after a state of emergency was declared.
- Singapore records 657 new infections, the vast majority of them foreign workers living in dormitories, taking the city-state’s total to 18,205.
- The Pope has called for any successful Covid-19 vaccine to be shared worldwide. He said international scientific cooperation would be important in discovering a vaccine, stressing that it is “important to unite scientific capabilities, in a transparent and impartial way”.
- NHS England has announced a further 327 deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19. The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England is now 21,180.
- A coalition of artists, celebrities, scientists and intellectuals has warned that Brazil’s indigenous peoples are at grave risk of a Covid-19 “genocide”. Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, David Hockney and Paul McCartney are among those who have signed an open letter to the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro.
- Vietnam has confirmed its first Coronavirus case in nine days, meaning its total now stands at 271. The country’s lockdown was eased in late April and it is yet to record a Covid-19 death.
- Footballers in Serie A, Italy’s top division, will be allowed to start individual training sessions from Monday. It is the latest step in a series of cautious moves towards restarting top-level sport across Europe, which has also seen players in England and Germany permitted different degrees of training ground work.
- One third of 500 random coronavirus tests in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, have come back positive. It has raised fears that one of the world’s most fragile states may be harbouring widespread undetected infections.
