Top story: Train timetables to scale back
Hello, I’m Warren Murray, glad to report that this service remains broadly on schedule.
You might be beginning the day wondering whether you are one of the “key workers” whose children can still go to school next week. Overnight the Department for Education has released its official list of those who qualify – it includes doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, nursery staff, police, transport workers and a range of others whom it is considered essential to keep at work. For the rest, schools will be closed indefinitely from Monday. Train services are to be pared back across Britain from Monday as passengers are urged to stop all non-essential travel. There has been an almost 70% drop in passenger numbers already. Franchise operators have agreed with ministers to maintain a sufficient timetable for key workers and for those needing medical appointments, as well as ensuring the flow of freight.
The pandemic continues to tighten its grip on the US while China claims it has had the second day in a row of no new domestic cases. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, expanded a take shelter order to cover the entire state, ordering all residents to remain indoors and limit movements. The decision affects nearly 40 million people.
Worldwide there have been more than 244,500 people confirmed to have Covid-19, with 10,030 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University more than 86,000 people have recovered. South Korea has reported 87 new cases, bringing total infections to 8,652. Australia, which closed its borders to foreigners on Thursday, has now advised against non-essential domestic travel during the Easter holidays.
Chinese investigators have exonerated Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old doctor who was reprimanded after trying to raise the alarm about the coronavirus in December. Li died in hospital in January after contracting Covid-19. Infections continue to appear in passengers on cruise ships, with three people on the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney testing positive. Authorities fear the nearly 2,700 people on board may not have known Covid-19 was present. And an official from the Japan Olympic Committee has urged a delay of the Tokyo 2020 Games saying “athletes can’t be well prepared” in the circumstances. It comes as the Olympic flame arrives in Japan. Do keep an eye on our live blog for all the developments in this constantly developing global story.
There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to fact checks and advice.
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Delhi gang rapists executed – India has this morning hanged four men who were convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi in 2012. The case led to a global outcry with India shamed for its appalling record on crimes against women. India’s president, Ram Nath Kovind, rejected pleas for clemency from the condemned men. Attacked on a moving bus and dumped on the roadside, the victim, 23, clung to life for two weeks in a hospital in Singapore where she was transferred. Outrage over her death led to India passing tough new laws against sexual violence, including the death penalty for rape in some cases.
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Far-right raids across Germany – Police have rounded up members of the United German Peoples and Tribes group, a newly banned faction of Germany’s armed and dangerous Citizens of the Reich (Reichsbürger) movement. Members of the far-right movement refuse to recognise German laws, evade taxes and fines and have their own currency. They mix Holocaust denial with conspiracy theories. Police seized computers, weapons and ammunition, baseball bats, propaganda literature and drugs during the dawn raids, officers said. The federal interior minister, Horst Seehofer, declared war on Germany’s rightwing scene after the February terror attack in Hanau, where a suspected extremist shot dead nine people from migrant backgrounds.
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Windrush: what happens next – After the completion of a watershed investigation on the immigration scandal, Amelia Gentleman picks through its key findings, which set out how the Home Office needs to change.
Coronavirus Extra
Mortgage holders keen to get the “payment holiday” on offer from banks during the coronavirus crisis are sometimes struggling with the process, it has emerged. Patrick Collinson has looked at what’s happening and presents some figures on how a payment holiday could affect later repayments. Barclays has cautioned that switching to interest-only payments might work out better.
Respiratory physician John Wilson explains what happens to people’s lungs when they get Covid-19 and the range of seriousness, from no symptoms to severe illness featuring pneumonia.
In Africa, governments are rushing to reinforce measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. Most of the small number of infections so far involve people who have recently been in Europe or other hotspots. But cases of internal transmission emerge every day – and health officials across Africa know that hospitals can deal with only a fraction of those needing care if the virus spreads. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said: “In other countries we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point, so the best advice for Africa is to prepare for the worst and prepare today.”
Today in Focus podcast: Coping with a new normal
Columnist Zoe Williams has spent the week researching tips for life under a new regime of social distancing and self-isolation. She tells Anushka Asthana it is important to give yourself a break amid the hardships.
Lunchtime read: ‘We’re clearing the decks’
Despite the growing death toll and the unprecedented speed at which events are moving, the past few weeks feel like just a prelude of what is to come, writes Gavin Francis, a GP in Scotland.
Sport
In an exclusive interview, former Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi explains how taking a stand over coronavirus caused him to walk out on Turkish club Trabzonspor. The provisional date of the first weekend in April for the resumption of men’s and women’s professional football has been pushed almost a month further until “no earlier than 30 April”, with the season’s finish “extended indefinitely”, the Premier League, Football Association and EFL announced. Premier League clubs have been urged to follow the leads of Liverpool and Brighton to “avoid a disaster waiting to happen” by fighting the threat of the coronavirus crisis to food banks and ensuring casual staff are paid during football’s suspension.
Concern that the jewels of the British sporting summer will be threatened by Covid-19 is increasing, with heightened uncertainty over Wimbledon and the Open at Royal St George’s. The Dutch, Spanish and Monaco grands prix have been postponed, meaning the first seven races of the Formula One season have been affected by coronavirus. Round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari has been alone at sea for as long as six months. She gives her tips on how to cope with solitude during the coronavirus outbreak.
Business
Asian stock markets have been mostly higher on Friday after modest Wall Street gains on hopes government and central bank action can shield the world economy. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Australia and south-east Asia advanced. Tokyo was closed for a public holiday. Oil gained again after US benchmark crude soared 23% on Thursday for its biggest one-day gain on record. The pound is trading at $1.168 and €1.085 at time of writing and the FTSE is trending in positive territory ahead of the open.
The papers
Let’s look first at the papers with the more distinctive headlines today. “Our history has been forged by us coming together as one” – the Mirror uses part of Her Majesty’s statement to good effect. The Guardian has “Trials to begin on Covid-19 vaccine in UK next month” – the Queen is pictured as saying “My family and I stand ready to play our part” and the photo confirms this includes the corgis. “Queen urges country to be strong in face of virus” says the Times.
“Calling time” says the Sun – “Appeal to stop going to the pub”. The FT’s front has: “Sunak primes big rescue plan to help businesses keep paying staff”. The Telegraph boils it down to: “Support for millions of workers”.
Others mainly stick to the Boris Johnson corona-catchphrase du jour. The Express and the Metro are more or less the same: “We can turn the tide in 12 weeks”. The Mail decides to look different with “We can beat virus in 12 weeks” – it also praises the Queen’s “blitz spirit” and hails the “two cheering messages” from the sovereign and her government. The i goes with “12 weeks to turn tide in UK”, which could be misread as meaning that if we don’t “send it packing” within that time limit we will be in even more serious trouble.
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