The World Health Organisation (WHO) has responded to Donald Trump's threat to withhold funding, arguing "now is not the time" to cut contributions to the institution, which has played a key role in the global response to coronavirus.
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, has also said the European Covid-19 outbreak is "still very concerning" and “we still have a long way to go” in the fight against the pandemic.
Meanwhile, UK government ministers have warned it is unlikely that the country's nationwide lockdown will be lifted soon, as the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, began to return to some form of normality on Wednesday.
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Dying cancer patients abandoned as coronavirus derails UK research and treatment
Hundreds of dying cancer patients have had home visits by Marie Curie nurses cancelled as the coronavirus outbreak derails UK cancer research and forces hospitals to cancel treatments.
Some cancer patients have even been asked to "make their own mind up" as to whether or not to continue with their treatment at hospitals battling to cope with rising numbers of Covid-19 cases.
The Marie Curie cancer charity told The Independent it had been forced to cancel at least 155 visits to dying patients since Thursday last week because of a lack of protective equipment and staff shortages.
The Independent's health correspondent Shaun Lintern has the full story below:
Government admits it has no idea when epidemic peak will hit UK
No 10 has admitted it has no idea when the peak of the coronavirus pandemic will hit, making an early easing of the lockdown even less likely.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, had suggested the crisis would be at its worst this weekend – while the mayor of London predicted it might take a week longer.
But, asked for the government’s latest forecast, the Downing Street spokesman said: “It is too early to say when the peak is going to be.”
He added: “The focus needs now to be relentlessly on stopping the transmission of this disease.”
My colleague Rob Merrick has the full story below:
‘Lack of blood samples’ hampering efforts to find antibody test
A lack of blood samples from patients who have had Covid-19 is hampering efforts to validate antibody tests, experts have said.
Public Health England (PHE) currently only has a small number of positive blood samples for screening antibody tests to see whether they work, while the Department of Health is trying to create a blood bank.
Part of the issue, PHE said, is that it takes time for an immune response to develop and therefore the blood from those who have had the coronavirus is only just reaching the maturity needed for use in antibody tests.
However, some private labs have said their efforts to validate tests are being hampered by PHE not sharing its blood samples.
Professor Sir John Bell, from Oxford University, has said the university team has struggled to get samples from the organisation.
In private email correspondence, Sir John said the team “could not get” samples from PHE, adding: “We are collecting ours one convalescent patient at a time.
“Now have 15, soon will have more than 30.”
In a statement, Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE, said: “The government wants as many labs as possible to support the scaling up of the UK's testing capacity and any commercial companies that can help should contact the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
"PHE has only a very small number of positive blood samples.”
She added: "It takes time for an immune response to develop; for most people infected in the UK, this will have been in the past six weeks and so their blood is only now reaching maturity to be used in this capacity.
“A blood bank will be developed that companies can use to validate their technology."
Face mask thief jailed for three months
A man who stole face masks from a London hospital has been jailed for three months after pleading guilty to theft.
The Metropolitan Police said Lerun Hussain, from Clapham, south London, was held by security staff at King's College Hospital late on Sunday night after he stole three face masks.
Meanwhile, a doctors' surgery in Kidderminster has urged thieves to return its only box of face masks, which was stolen from the practice.
Church Street Surgery said the protective equipment was necessary to keep the practice open.
West Mercia Police said they were aware of a reported theft and would be visiting the surgery on Wednesday.
British Veterinary Association not advising all cats to be kept indoors due to Covid-19
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has pushed back on reports suggesting all cats should be kept indoors during the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to a BBC report relating to cats and Covid-19, the BVA said only cats from infected or self-isolating households should be kept indoors “as a precaution, if possible”.
“We are not advising that all cats are kept indoors. Only cats from infected households or where their owners are self-isolating, and only if the cat is happy to be kept indoors,” Daniella Dos Santos, BVA’s president, said.
“Some cats cannot stay indoors due to stress-related medical reasons.”
She added: “There have been a tiny number of cases of Covid-19 in animals and in all cases, it is likely that the transmission was human to animal. There is no evidence that pets can pass Covid-19 to their owners.”
Obesity is major coronavirus risk factor, leading French epidemiologist says
Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with Covid-19 and the US will be particularly vulnerable due to its high obesity levels, France’s chief epidemiologist has said.
“This virus is terrible, it can hit young people, in particular obese young people. Those who are overweight really need to be careful,” Professor Jean-François Delfraissy told franceinfo radio on Wednesday.
“That is why we're worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity.”
Professor Delfraissy said 88 per cent of those infected with the coronavirus suffered only severe flu-like symptoms, but the mortality rate for young people entering hospital with severe Covid-19 respiratory disease was about 2 per cent - rising to 14 per cent for people who are more vulnerable.
‘Cobra for jobs’ needed to tackle employment crisis, report says
The government should set up a “Cobra for jobs” to deal with the employment impact of coronavirus, a report has said.
The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has estimated employment has fallen by between 1.5 million to two million over the first month of the Covid-19 crisis, equivalent to 5 per cent of all those in work.
This would be double the fall in employment in the last recession, IES said.
Unemployment has already increased to at least 2.5 million, or 7.5 per cent of the workforce, the report estimated.
“We recommend that government brings together a 'Cobra' for jobs, to work together on designing, coordinating and mobilising this response, and convening a wide range of partners including government departments and agencies, local government, sector bodies, trusts and foundations and key stakeholders,” Tony Wilson, IES director, said.
“The proposals will help to ensure that as the economy recovers we can keep people attached to work, help them find better work, and minimise the 'scars' from being out of work."
He added: “With a cost of around £4.7bn over the next three years, the evidence from previous programmes tells us that this investment would more than pay for itself in the future, while the evidence from previous recessions tells us that the costs of inaction would be far higher.”
Virus acts like ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ to trick way into body
The virus that causes Covid-19 acts like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” to trick its way into the human body, according to new research.
Scientists at the University of Southampton have found how the virus disguises itself by using sugars to enter human cells undetected.
They also found that the virus is not as heavily protected as some others, such as HIV.
The team, led by Professor Max Crispin, has said the model will provide “crucial and encouraging” information for scientists creating a vaccine.
Professor Crispin explained that the Sars-CoV-2 virus has a large number of spikes sticking out of its surface which it uses to attach to and enter cells in the human body.
These spikes are coated in sugars, known as glycans, which disguise their viral proteins and help them evade the body's immune system.
He said: “By coating themselves in sugars, viruses are like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"But one of the key findings of our study is that despite how many sugars there are, this coronavirus is not as highly shielded as some other viruses”.
Professor Crispin added: “In the case of the coronavirus, the lower shielding by sugars attached to it may reflect that it is a 'hit and run' virus, moving from one person to the next.
"The lower glycan density means there are fewer obstacles for the immune system to neutralise the virus with antibodies. So this is a very encouraging message for vaccine development."
Tesco urges shoppers to visit stores due to delivery capacity issues
Most shoppers must visit stores to buy food because “there is simply not enough capacity” to deliver to most of the public during the UK’s coronavirus epidemic, Tesco has said.
The supermarket giant has estimated “between 85 per cent and 90 per cent of all food bought will require a visit to a store.”
In March, Boris Johnson said people were allowed to leave home to buy essentials, such as food and medicine, but they “should do this as little as [they] can and use food delivery services” where possible.
France enters worst recession since 1945 due to Covid-19 impact
France is undergoing its worst recession since the Second World War, after its economy shrunk by 6 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from the Bank of France revealed that the negative growth came at the end of the quarter, when strict containment measures were introduced nationwide to halt the spread of Covid-19.
Our reporter, Anthony Cuthbertson, has the full story below:
French economy sees worst recession since 1945 amid coronavirus lockdown
Bank of France forecasts economy will shrink 1.5 per cent for every two weeks the country is in lockdownMore information on Boris Johnson's condition in intensive care can be found below from our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn.
Boris Johnson spends second night in intensive care and remains in 'stable condition'
'He hasn’t had to have mechanical ventilation, although he did have some oxygen when he first went into hospital,' health minister saysWHO regional director hits back at Trump’s funding threat
Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, has responded to a threat by Donald Trump to withhold US funding to the organisation.
“We are now in an acute phase of the pandemic - now is not the time to cut back on funding,” Dr Kluge said.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that he was going to “put a hold” on money sent to WHO because the organisation had, in his opinion, “missed the call” on Covid-19.
“They seem to be very China-centric. And we have to look into that so we'll look into it. We pay for a majority of the money that they get,” the president said.
BREAKING: Spain death toll rises to 14,555 overnight
Spain’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 757 to 14,555 in 24 hours, as the country recorded thousands more cases of Covid-19 yesterday.
Confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to 146,690 on Wednesday from 140,510 the day before, the Spanish health ministry said.
The country has been on lockdown since 14 March.
On a lighter note, a 90-year-old British man has spoken about his experience with Covid-19 and said “death never entered [his] mind” when he tested positive for the virus.
“I just felt, well I’ve got this thing, right I’m going to get over it, that’s that,” Bill Dobie told BBC Breakfast.
“I will get over it, there’s no doubt about that.”
“I just felt, well I’ve got this thing, right I’m going to get over it, that’s that,” Bill Dobie told BBC Breakfast.
“I will get over it, there’s no doubt about that.”
‘Now is not the time to relax measures,’ WHO warns
The World Health Organisation’s Europe director has warned the region’s coronavirus outbreak is “still very concerning” and said “we still have a long way to go in the marathon” against the pandemic.
“Now is not the time to relax measures,” Dr Hans Kluge said at an international press conference, adding that Europe’s Covid-19 cases represent half of the total across the world.
“It is, once again, the time to double or triple collective efforts with the support of society.”
Ireland’s health minister warns against lockdown complacency
Coronavirus restrictions must be maintained “for the time being” and complacency must be avoided in the battle against the pandemic, Ireland’s health minister has said.
“Now is not the time for any complacency whatsoever. It is difficult and challenging to stay at home. I'm conscious of parents with kids, particularly children with autism,” Simon Harris said.
“These are big challenges for people, but they are not as significant and challenging as the problems we could face if we don't stay the course.”
He added: “We are seeing what is happening with other countries regarding the death toll and we cannot allow that to happen here”
New regulations giving Gardai - the Irish police service - beefed up enforcement powers to ensure compliance with Covid-19 restrictions were signed by the health minister on Tuesday night.
New coronavirus testing lab to be set up in Cambridge
A new coronavirus testing laboratory is to be set up at Cambridge University, but may not be fully operational until May, as the government pushes to reach 100,000 Covid-19 tests per day by the end of April.
Cambridge University is collaborating with pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline on a new facility which aims to process 30,000 tests per day at the university's Anne McLaren Laboratory.
However, Stephen Toope, the university’s vice-chancellor, has told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the facility aims to be “fully up and running” by the beginning of May, after the government's target date.
“We have a goal of, by the beginning of May, early May, having a facility that's fully up and running and would be able to process roughly 30,000 tests a day,” Professor Toope said.
“That would go a long way towards meeting the government's target of 100,000 a day.”
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, told the BBC that the company typically carries out PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests “very regularly”.
“The challenge here is to bring this to a big scale and achieve 30,000 tests per day,” he said.
“We believe we will start testing by mid-April and be at scale indeed with 30,000 tests per day by early May.”
He said the lab would start with 1,000 to 2,000 tests per day by mid-April and “ramp up progressively” to 30,000 tests in the first week of May.
More on Sadiq Khan’s comments about the next step for the lockdown can be found below.
Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story:
UK lockdown unlikely to end soon: ‘We’re not there yet’
Now is not the time to think about easing the UK’s coronavirus lockdown as Covid-19 cases are continuing to rise, a government minister has indicated.
A three-week review of the lockdown rules was due on Monday but Edward Argar, a health minister, has made clear that the number of cases will need to start coming down before any changes in restrictions are brought in.
“We need to start seeing the numbers coming down and that's when you're in the negative," he told BBC Breakfast.
“That's when you have a sense when that's sustained over a period of time, that you can see it coming out of that.
"We're not there yet and I don't exactly know when we will be. The scientists will tell us that they are constantly modelling the data and they're constantly looking at those stats.”
Mr Argar added: “We should also remember there is always a lag of a couple of weeks in the hospitalisation and death rate data behind the actions that we've taken to try to slow it down, because that's the nature of the disease.”
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has also said the capital is “nowhere near” the point of being able to lift restrictions more than two weeks into the lockdown.
Wuhan celebrates end of lockdown with dazzling light show
China has lifted its 11-week lockdown in the city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first identified, and celebrated the occasion with a light show over the Yangtze River.
One resident in the city who watched the light show said he had not been outside for more than 70 days.
Our reporter, Rory Sullivan, has the full story below:
China has lifted its 11-week lockdown in the city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 was first identified, and celebrated the occasion with a light show over the Yangtze River.
One resident in the city who watched the light show said he had not been outside for more than 70 days.
Our reporter, Rory Sullivan, has the full story below:
