Coronavirus news – live: UK death toll rises to 233, as public urged to stop 'selfishly shopping'
Coronavirus has now killed 233 people in the UK, NHS England has said. All those who have died “were aged between 41 and 94 years old and all had underlying health conditions”, the body added. The figures came as Italy released grim statistics showing its own death toll had risen by 793 in a single day.
Also on Saturday, a top UK medical official urged the British public to stop selfishly panic-buying, to make sure there was enough food for NHS workers, and tens of thousands of bars, restaurants, cafes and gyms across the UK remained closed this morning as the government battles to control the spread of Covid-19 – a ban Boris Johnson has promised to “strictly” enforce through licensing rules, if necessary.
Eslewhere, three American states – New York, Illinois and California – entered into lockdown amid a rise in cases across the US. With American hospitals already under pressure, officials are desperate to prevent – or at least limit – a repeat of what has happened in parts of China, Italy and Spain where the outbreak has overwhelmed medical services.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are the latest updates:
- Three major American states are locking down their residents in the face of a rapidly advancing virus storm that is already severely straining health systems in parts of Europe
- A UK ban on pubs and restaurants staying open during the coronavirus outbreak will be enforced "strictly" if necessary through licensing rules, the prime minister warned
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that social distancing measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the country, including travel restrictions, will apply for only two to three weeks as he expects the crisis to ease by then
- China reported a record rise in imported coronavirus cases on Friday as expatriates returned home from the United States and Europe, sparking fears of a second wave of infections just as the country recovers from the initial outbreak
- South Korea on Saturday advised its public to close facilities and forgo socialising for 15 days, keeping to its policy of voluntary social distancing but warning of consequences if the rules are not followed to slow the coronavirus outbreak
- To date, more than 277,000 cases and 11,422 deaths reported across the globe
Young people are not immune to coronavirus and are at risk of serious illness or death as well as putting their elders in danger if they do not avoid socialising, the World Health Organisation has warned.
A “significant proportion” of patients treated in hospital for Covid-19 around the world were aged under 50, the WHO said, amid concern the gravity of the pandemic had not been grasped by many.
“Today, I have a message for young people: You are not invincible”, said the organisation’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Three major American states are locking down their residents as the country continues to battle the continuing spread of coronavirus.
Officials in New York and Illinois announced they would largely restrict residents to their homes from this weekend, after California - America's largest state - did so on Friday. The three states have a combined population of more than 70 million people.
With American hospitals already under pressure, officials are desperate to prevent - or at least limit - a repeat of what has happened in parts of China, Italy and Spain where the outbreak has overwhelmed medical services.
Pubs and restaurants ban to be 'strictly' enforced, warns PM
A ban on pubs and restaurants staying open during the coronavirus outbreak will be enforced "strictly" where necessary, the prime minister warned on Friday.
Boris Johnson said people have already made a "huge effort to comply" with social distancing policies in a bid to halt the spread of the disease and there had been a "big reduction" in the number of pub-goers.
But he warned it was "becoming clear in order to drive that curve down, to reduce social gathering, we now need to be making absolutely clear that we are going to enforce these closures".
Businesses shut to the public would still be allowed to offer a takeaway delivery service, he added.
Sainsbury’s extends dedicated shopping hour for NHS and social care workers
Sainsbury's has extended the dedicated shopping hour it created for elderly and vulnerable customers to also include NHS and social care workers.
From next week health and care staff will be able to shop at Sainsbury's between 8am and 9am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Sainsbury's is also consolidating its opening hours from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, in order to be able focus on restocking shelves.
This comes after critical care nurse Dawn Bilbrough, from York, made a heartfelt plea for shoppers to stop stockpiling, in a video which circulated on social media on Thursday.
'A basic income is a bad idea in search of a reason to be implemented. So no wonder that the coronavirus pandemic has revived this zombie policy. The economic damage wrought by the disease is so great that huge and innovative responses are required, and a basic income, which is an attractive option in normal times, seems an obvious answer.
'Extraordinary measures will be needed, but not necessarily this one…'
Calls for government to properly equip NHS staff with PPE
The government is facing rising pressure to ensure all frontline NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have access to personal protective equipment (PPE).
Both former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and Lisa Anderson, a consultant cardiologist at St George's Hospital in London, warned on BBC Radio 4 this morning that medical workers are not getting the PPE they need.
Ms Anderson said the government had changed the rules so they where no longer compliant with World Health Organisation recommendations, which required medics to wear a full gown and visor.
She said that since Monday, staff in the NHS only had to wear a simple face mask, short gloves and a pinafore apron.
"This is not just about the risk to ourselves and our families. We are travelling home on the Tube, on buses," she said. "There is a lack of protection for us which extends to a lack of plan of how to segregate patients clean and dirty, how to protect us and keep us away from the public. Doctors have no faith in what is going on."
Mr Hunt meanwhile urged the government to “sort this out.” He added: “We have all seen the terrible scenes as to what is happening in Italy.”
As a number of European states scramble to introduce mandatory social distancing and the UK ponders similar measures, governments are looking at Italy’s coronavirus lockdown to gauge how far a democratic state can go to constrain civil liberties when dealing with a medical emergency, reports Federica Marsi from Milan.
Italy has been in full lockdown since 9 March, yet its measures are failing to contain the spread of the pandemic. On Thursday, deaths had soared to 3,405, outstripping the toll in China, where the virus first hit.
While infections kept on rising, totalling 41,035 cases including 4,440 recoveries, the government extended the quarantine beyond its initial deadline of 3 April and mulled over a harsher crackdown on civil liberties to curb the outbreak. By Friday, there had been 47,021 cases and 4,032 deaths.
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The Philippines' health ministry has reported 45 more confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing Saturday's tally to 77. The country's total now stands at 307.
The government has placed more than half of the country's population under strict home quarantine to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Iran's death toll rose has risen to 1,556, with the number of confirmed infections now exceeding 20,000, the country's health ministry announced on Saturday.
Iran, which is one of the worst-affected countries by the pandemic outside of China, has faced widespread criticism for its lagging respond to the outbreak.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that social distancing measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the country, including travel restrictions, will apply for only two to three weeks as he expects the crisis to ease by then.
Iran "has to do everything necessary to return economic production to normal," he said in comments broadcast on state TV. He also accused "counter-revolutionaries" of plotting to shut down economic production.
PM to discuss panic buying with supermarket bosses
Boris Johnson will be speaking to supermarket bosses about efforts to keep supplies flowing and how to overcome the panic buying that is gripping the UK.
Shelves have been stripped of essential items, such as toilet rolls, hand sanitiser, paracetamol, meat, fruit and vegetables as shoppers ignore pleas not to stockpile.
It has led to supermarkets having to bring in limits on the amount of some items sold, with golden shopping hours introduced to help the elderly and NHS and care workers.
Stores are also taking on thousands of temporary and permanent workers to deal with the increased demand from the Covid-19 crisis.
PA Media is reporting that Mr Johnson will be meeting the with the UK's leading supermarket chains to see what the Government can do to ensure the shelves remain stocked and the supply chains can cope with the demand.
- NHS medics are to be given criteria on who to prioritise if hospitals run out of intensive care beds or ventilators - New London Underground announcement tells people they should not be using service - Supermarkets to hire tens of thousands - World Health Organisation tells young people: you are not immune
Manchester City and Manchester United have joined forces to donate a combined sum of £100,000 to local food banks in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, reports northern football correspondent Mark Critchley.
Each club will donate £50,000 to the Trussell Trust's 19 food bank centres in the Greater Manchester area in order to help vulnerable communities affected by the outbreak.
The gesture follows co-operation between United and City fans' food bank campaigns, whose matchday collections outside Old Trafford and the Etihad have been interrupted by the suspension of the football season.
In a joint statement, City and United said: “We are proud of the role our supporters play in helping local food banks and recognise the increased strain likely to be placed on these charities by the impact of coronavirus."
Mounting fears over second wave of infections in Asia
China and South Korea both reported a rise in imported coronavirus cases on Friday and Saturday respectively as expatriates returned home from the US and Europe, sparking fears of a second wave of infections just as the two countries recover from the initial outbreak.
All 41 of the new confirmed cases in China were brought into the country, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, raising the total number of such cases to 269. There were no locally transmitted cases, for the third consecutive day.
Beijing and Shanghai were the main entry points for the returnees, many of whom are students studying abroad, according to official reports. They have come back after many campuses in the United States and Europe shut down to stem rapidly rising infection rates there. (A masked man walks the streets in Seoul, with South Korea continuing to practise social distancing amid concerns of a spike in infections)
In South Korea, officials advised the public to close facilities and forgo socialising for 15 days, keeping to its policy of voluntary social distancing but warning of consequences if the rules are not followed to slow the coronavirus outbreak.
The country reported 147 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, jumping from the previous day's 87, as experts noted the need to prepare for a "long battle" amid the threat posed by imported cases and new outbreaks around small clusters.
Prime minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a televised address the government strongly recommended religious, sports and entertainment facilities suspend operations, and people avoid socialising and travel for the next 15 days.
Australia’s famous Bondi Beach has been temporarily closed after the number of people flocking there exceeded the government’s restrictions on outdoor gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus, reports Kate Ng.
New South Wales police ordered the closure of the beach on Saturday afternoon, after large numbers of people visited the tourist hotspot to take advantage of the warm weather.
The measure will be extended to other beaches if social distancing rules continue to be broken, in which non-essential outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people were banned.
The local government in the area, Waverley Council, also closed Bronte and Tamarama Beaches to comply with the NSW police’s announcement.
Trump in conflict with leading US infections expert
As governments across the world defer to the advice of their leading scientific experts, Donald Trump is continuing to blaze his own trail of confusion and misdirection.
Speaking during his Friday press conference, the US president publicly sparred with the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, over whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with the coronavirus.
Reporters at the White House asked both men - first Dr Fauci then Mr Trump - if a drug called hydroxychloroquine could be used to prevent Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Despite Dr Fauci's insistence that this was not the case - "The answer ... is no" - Mr Trump offered a slightly different take as he appeared to disagree with the notion that there is no magic drug for the coronavirus disease.
"Maybe and maybe not," he said. "Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. We have to see." He struck an upbeat note, while trying not to directly challenge Dr Fauci.
"I think without seeing too much, I'm probably more of a fan of that," he said, referring to the malaria drug. "And we all understand what the doctor said is 100% correct." Then the president added: "It's a strong drug. So, we'll see."
Dr Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH and in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and now Covid-19.
Firefighters call for virus testing to preserve vital services
Union leaders have called for firefighters to receive coronavirus tests to prevent staffing levels plummeting to “dangerously low levels” as hundreds of staff are forced to self isolate.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has written to the health secretary Matt Hancock and James Brokenshire, the security minister, to raise concerns about their ability to protect the public if firefighters are self-isolating unnecessarily.
BREAKING: Officials in Hong Kong have warned that an influx of returning people from overseas is likely to lead to a community outbreak. Any surge in confirmed cases will paralyse the region's medical system, the local government warned.
A reported spike in pneumonia cases in Moscow is fuelling fears about the accuracy of official coronavirus data in Russia, reports Tom Embury-Dennis.
The country of 144 million has reported just 253 cases, far fewer than in many other European countries with smaller populations.
The figures have led some doctors to question how far the official data reflects reality, given what they say is Russia's patchy nature and quality of testing.
“I have a feeling they (the authorities) are lying to us,” said Anastasia Vasilyeva, head of Russia's Doctor's Alliance trade union.
