The World Health Organisation has warned the coronavirus outbreak is “not a drill” as the UK prepared to enter a new phase of its public health response following its first death from the virus yesterday, and a second that was confirmed on Friday evening.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was concerned about countries who have not shown “the level of political commitment” needed to match the threat posed by the outbreak and argued now was the time for “pulling out all the stops” to prevent further spreading.
Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, admitted last night that the government had called on supermarkets to ensure food supplies remain available for people who self-isolate.
A new case of coronavirus has been identified in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of people diagnosed in the region to four - and the UK total to 164.
Staff at the Public Health Agency are working to identify contacts the individual may have had.
It is understood that the fourth case has no implications for the Irish Republic as they did not travel across the border.
The latest case comes as the Republic confirmed five more cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in Ireland to 18.
Apple asks Silicon Valley employees to work from home
Apple has asked employees at its Silicon Valley headquarters to work from home if possible as a "precaution," a spokesman has said.
Officials in Santa Clara County, where Apple's 12,000-person Apple Park campus is located, had earlier asked large companies to consider asking employees to telecommute and find other ways of limiting close contact.
There were 20 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the county as of 5 March, health officials said.
Apple is also asking employees in the Seattle area to work from home. In California, its Santa Clara County retail stores remain open.
The United Nations has cancelled key meetings planned in the run up to the UN climate summit to be held in Glasgow in November.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: "This exceptional measure aims to contain the spread of Covid-19 and safeguard the health and safety of participants attending UNFCCC meetings in Bonn and elsewhere."
The UNFCCC secretariat will not hold any physical meetings in Bonn, in western Germany, or elsewhere between 6 March and the end of April, she added in a statement.
The first coronavirus case in the Vatican attended a big conference last week, it has been revealed.
A Vatican source said the patient had participated in an international conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Life last week in a packed theatre several blocks from the Vatican.
Top executives of US tech giants Microsoft and IBM were among the participants at the three-day conference on Artificial Intelligence.
The death toll in Italy, the worst-hit European country, stands at 197.
France has 613 confirmed cases of coronavirus - an increase of 190 compared to a day earlier.
Jerome Salomon, head of the public health service, told a press briefing the death toll from the disease was still at nine and that 39 persons were in intensive care.
Foreign Office updates South Korea travel advice
The government is now advising against all travel to the South Korean cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan.
In a statement, the FCO said: "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all travel to the cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan due to the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, the increased incidence of community transmission and increasing pressure on medical services in these areas.
"The government of South Korea has designated the cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan as 'special care zones' due to the high number of cases of coronavirus in these cities.
"If you're already in Daegu, Cheongdo or Gyeongsan, you should follow the instructions and advice of the local authorities and pay particular regard to virus control testing and measures."
Hospital visitors stealing hand sanitiser
Visitors have reportedly stolen hand sanitising gel from the ends of ward beds "every single day" this week at Northampton General Hospital.
Three wall-mounted dispensers have been ripped off, while visitors have used the hospital's supply of sanitiser to "top up" their own bottles.
A Northampton General Hospital spokeswoman told the BBC: "Nothing like this has ever happened in all the years we've had the gel."
It comes as retailers reported a surge in demand for hand sanitiser, which has has left some shelves empty of the product.
The second UK death related to the Covid-19 coronavirus has been confirmed.
The man has been described as “somebody older” who had ”underlying health conditions” by health secretary Matt Hancock.
It is understood the man tested positive for the disease in an initial screening. More tests are due to be carried out.
Italy confirms 4,636 coronavirus cases and 197 deaths
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has risen to 4,636 from 3,858.
Meanwhile, the death toll has increased by 49 to 197 – the largest daily increase in deaths since the contagion was uncovered two weeks ago.
The head of the Civil Protection Agency said that of those originally infected, 523 had fully recovered versus 414 the day before.
Supermarkets confident of avoiding food shortages
Supermarket bosses are confident they will avoid food shortages and have contingency plans in place, the environment secretary has said.
George Eustice met with the chief executives of the UK’s leading supermarkets to discuss their response to coronavirus on Friday.
He said: “The retailers reassured me they have well-established contingency plans and are taking all the necessary steps to ensure consumers have the food and supplies they need.
“Retailers are continuing to monitor their supply chains and have robust plans in place to minimise disruption.
“I will be convening a further meeting with industry, retailers and public sector organisations early next week to discuss support for vulnerable groups who may be in isolation.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is monitoring the risk of disruption to medicine supplies caused by the coronavirus, director-general Tedros Adhanom has said.
Mr Adhanom said manufacturing has now resumed in most places in China, which is a major producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients and other products used to produce medicines in other countries.
However WHO has developed a list of more than 20 essential medical devices countries need to manage patients, including ventilators and oxygen supply systems.
"Access to medical oxygen could be the difference between life and death for some patients, but there is already a shortage in many countries, which could be exacerbated by this epidemic," said Mr Adhanom.
He also told a daily coronavirus media briefing WHO has received applications for the review and approval of 40 diagnostic tests for coronavirus, while 20 vaccines are being developed around the world and "many clinical trials of therapeutics are underway".
Thailand has denied entry to more than 2,000 people on board a cruise ship because one of the passengers is from Italy.
Phuket Immigration Police Chief Colonel Narong Chanaphaikul said his office would not allow passengers and crew on the Costa Fortuna to disembark after it arrived at the popular Thai island of Phuket.
Italy is a country which Thai health authorities have officially designated a dangerous communicable disease area, along with South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong and Iran.
Thai authorities can prohibit the entry of anyone travelling from a designated dangerous disease area or require them to undergo physical exams or be quarantined.
Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies programme, has said it is a "false hope" that coronavirus will just disappear in the summer like flu.
Iran has warned it may use “force” to limit travel between cities.
The threat may be to stop people from using the closed schools and universities as an excuse to go to the Caspian Sea and other Iranian holiday spots.
Iran announced it would put checkpoints in place to limit travel between major cities on Thursday, hoping to stem the spread of the virus.
The first case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in Bristol.
The person lives in Bristol and became infected while in northern Italy.
Debra Lapthorne, centre director for Public Health England South West, said: "Public Health England is contacting people who had close contact with one of the latest confirmed cases of Covid-19.
"Close contacts will be given health advice about symptoms and emergency contact details to use if they become unwell in the 14 days after contact with the confirmed case."
Residents in the virus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan voiced their anger on Friday as a senior government official led a tour inspecting how people were coping under lockdown in the area.
The residents are still confined to their homes under measures imposed in February to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which was traced to a market that was illegally selling wildlife in the city.
In a 15-second video clip, amid jeers and yelling, some residents accused employees of their residential complex of staging the delivery of groceries to households merely to coincide with the visit of Sun Chunlan, a vice premier in China.
The video was a rare glimpse of unscripted anger involved a top central government official in the country, where social media in heavily censored.
The People's Daily, an official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, acknowledged the veracity of the video and even posted it on its English-language Twitter feed before removing it on Friday.
Donald Trump has signed an emergency spending bill for $8.3bn (£6.4bn) to ramp up the US response to coronavirus as the number of cases has grown across the country.
The bill will provide funds for state and local officials to combat the spread of infections.
It includes more than $3bn for research and development of vaccines, test kits and medical treatments, $2.2bn to aid public health activities on prevention, preparedness and response, and $1.25bn to help international efforts aimed at reining in the virus.
Coronavirus could knock half a percentage point off UK GDP growth this year, a respected economic think tank has warned.
The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has said a contraction on this scale could add around £5bn to the deficit and urged Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, to use next week’s budget to tear up fiscal rules inherited from his predecessor Sajid Javid.
“As a very open economy, the UK is quite exposed to any sustained falls in world growth as a result of the coronavirus outbreak,” Niesr's report said.
“We estimate a downside risk of up to 0.5 per cent to UK GDP growth this year from a sustained economic impact from the coronavirus if the world growth slows by an equivalent amount.”
Our political editor, Andrew Woodcock, has the full story below:
