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Coronavirus live updates: UK health minister Nadine Dorries in isolation after testing positive Coronavirus live updates: UK health minister Nadine Dorries in isolation after testing positive
(31 minutes later)
UK death toll rises to six as Italy lockdown comes into force, Greece and Spain close schools, and universities in US and Ireland move lectures onlineUK death toll rises to six as Italy lockdown comes into force, Greece and Spain close schools, and universities in US and Ireland move lectures online
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has told reporters in Canberra that Australia has extended its travel ban to Italy, placing it under the same restrictions that remain in place against travellers from China, Iran, and South Korea. Those travel restrictions mean that citizens or permanent residents returning from those countries have to self-isolate for 14 days, and non-citizens or permanent residents can’t enter Australia unless they’ve been somewere
Morrison also announced $2.4bn in additional health funding to respond to the coronavirus.
Health minister Greg Hunt says the funding includes a $615m for primary care systems, which is focused on “expanding the capacity of people to have treatment, diagnosis and testing.”
The Australian government is also standing up a telehealth service to support coronavirus patients who are under home isolation, and $200m to stand up specialist respiratory clinics.
Australian market slumps
Australia’s market has fallen on open, defying the lead set by a rally on US markets inspired by president Donald Trump’s promise of significant economic stimulus to combat the coronavirus crisis.
The benchmark ASX200 index fell 0.59% shortly after trade opened on Wednesday morning.
Overnight, Australian time, US markets were up around 5% but the London exchange’s FTSE index recorded a small fall of 0.1%.
Australians are now waiting for details of a local stimulus package, which prime minister Scott Morrison is expected to reveal on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, announced it would be cutting small business loan rates by 0.25 percentage points, matching rivals Westpac and NAB.
The cut is part of a series of measures designed to help customers hit by the outbreak that also including waiving fees for small businesses and allowing them to put off loan repayments for three months.
It said it would also try to pay more of its small and medium-sized suppliers immediately. The bank says currently two-thirds of suppliers get paid straight away and it wants to move the rest to immediate payment terms when practical.
Two major music festivals in the US have been postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, organisers have said.
Coachella had been set to take place over two weekends in the California desert next month, with Rage Against The Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean headlining.
However, its organiser Goldenvoice has now confirmed the festival’s postponement until October; citing advice from local health authorities. Stagecoach, the country music festival from the same organisers as Coachella, has also been pushed back from April to October.
My colleague, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, has all the details:
In Australia, Victoria stands up disaster response centre
In Australia, Victoria has stood up the state control centre — most recently used during the devastating bushfires — to manage its coronavirus response.
The number of people who have tested positive to the virus in Victoria has risen to 21 and in New South Wales it has risen by six to 61. The number of cases in Australia topped 100 yesterday.
In a statement, the premier Daniel Andrews said: “The likely COVID-19 pandemic will have significant impacts across our economy and across our state, including schools, businesses, and places of mass gatherings, such as sporting and cultural events.”
The state control centre will be used to coordinate the response between state and federal health authorities, and manage the output of public information.
Victoria has also set up seven screening clinics for people who believe they may have coronavirus: Royal Melbourne Hospital, Alfred Hospital, Austin Hospital, Box Hill Hospital, Monash Clayton, Northern Hospital and Sunshine Hospital.
Those clinics screened 1,039 people on Tuesday and the state coronavirus hotline fielded 14,500 calls. The number of confirmed cases in Victoria jumped by three overnight to 21. Two schools — Carey Baptist Grammar School and Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah College, both in Melbourne — have been closed after teachers tested positive.
Authorities are trying to trace 45 people who came into contact with a teacher at Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah College, anyone who may have been on a flight from San Francisco to Melbourne on which another woman later tested positive to Covid-19.
They are also trying to trace people who may have come into contact with the third person to test positive overnight. That man went to a jazz festival in the South Melbourne markets on 7 March and a rugby union on the same day.
Here’s a little more reaction from Nadine Dorries to the news of her diagnosis:
In the USA, recommendations aimed at stopping the virus’s spread are due to be unveiled in the four hardest-hit states soon, the vice president Mike Pence has promised. He’s told reporters:In the USA, recommendations aimed at stopping the virus’s spread are due to be unveiled in the four hardest-hit states soon, the vice president Mike Pence has promised. He’s told reporters:
Here’s some more detail on the Dorries news from one of the journalists who broke the story:Here’s some more detail on the Dorries news from one of the journalists who broke the story:
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has tweeted this response to the news:The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has tweeted this response to the news:
And here, via the Daily Mirror, is a statement from Dorries:And here, via the Daily Mirror, is a statement from Dorries:
The Department of Health and Social Care has now confirmed that Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire and a junior health minister, has contracted coronavirus. A spokeswoman confirmed reports, first made in the Times, that Dorries was being treated for the illness and said a fuller statement would be released out soon.The Department of Health and Social Care has now confirmed that Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire and a junior health minister, has contracted coronavirus. A spokeswoman confirmed reports, first made in the Times, that Dorries was being treated for the illness and said a fuller statement would be released out soon.
In the UK, a health minister is reportedly in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.In the UK, a health minister is reportedly in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.
According to the Times, Nadine Dorries, a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care, fell ill last Friday and her diagnosis was confirmed on Tuesday.According to the Times, Nadine Dorries, a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care, fell ill last Friday and her diagnosis was confirmed on Tuesday.
The paper’s reporting that Dorries has “met hundreds of people in parliament in the past week and attended a reception at No 10 with Boris Johnson”. She is said to be recovering. This is the first case of an MP testing positive and the news comes amid discussions over whether parliament should be temporarily shut down.The paper’s reporting that Dorries has “met hundreds of people in parliament in the past week and attended a reception at No 10 with Boris Johnson”. She is said to be recovering. This is the first case of an MP testing positive and the news comes amid discussions over whether parliament should be temporarily shut down.
Turkey has confirmed its first case, its health minister Fahrettin Koca has said. According to Reuters, he said the patient has been isolated and their relatives are under observation.Turkey has confirmed its first case, its health minister Fahrettin Koca has said. According to Reuters, he said the patient has been isolated and their relatives are under observation.
Google is recommending that all of its North American staff work from home, according to Business Insider, which reports:Google is recommending that all of its North American staff work from home, according to Business Insider, which reports:
Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have cancelled Tuesday campaign events in Ohio amid coronavirus concerns, the Associated Press (AP) is reporting.
Sanders had been planning to speak at a convention centre in Cleveland as results from six states voting in the Democratic presidential contests began rolling in. But he pulled the plug only about three hours before it was scheduled to start and his campaign announced that decisions on future events would be made on a case-by-case basis, according to AP. It quoted his campaign spokesman, Mike Casca, as saying:
A Biden spokesman initially suggested the former vice president’s own event in Cleveland would go on as scheduled, but his campaign subsequently released a statement saying it was off, AP says.
More on Hatch End High School in Harrow, which has remained open despite confirmation that a “person at the school”, who was onsite as recently as last Friday, is being treated for Covid-19.
A source at the school, speaking on condition of anonymity, said news of the diagnosis was communicated to teachers in the morning – but parents were not informed until the end of the school day. They claimed staff were told they could catch the virus, but symptoms were likely to be mild.
Some teachers and parents were reportedly concerned about the decision not to close the school, which was taken after advice from Public Health England – and there was speculation some families could opt to keep their children at home on Wednesday.
Dr Atherton has said:
The chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, has confirmed that nine further patients in Wales have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the UK total to 382 people.
Two of the patients have recently returned together from northern Italy and are resident in the Carmarthenshire area, a statement from the Welsh government said.
The other seven patients were tested following tracing in connection with the Neath Port Talbot resident whose positive test was announced on Monday.
One of the seven is a resident of Cardiff, one is from Swansea and the other five are all from Neath Port Talbot. All nine patients are being managed in clinically appropriate settings.
The small German town of Gross-Gerau has created a drive-through for coronavirus testing, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reports.
The drive-in facility at the local hospital is designed to minimise medical staff and patients’ exposure. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions,” Dr Roxana Sauer, a medical director at Gross-Gerau district hospital, told AFP.
Since last week, patients have been able to call ahead and consult a physician by phone, who decides whether they should be tested. The person is then assigned a time slot and asked to park outside a side entrance of the hospital, where they are met by a doctor clad head to toe in protective gear.
After rolling down the car window, the potential patient is swabbed in the mouth or nostril before driving off again. Their sample is sent to a lab, which returns the result within 24 hours and the patient is then notified by phone.
Similar drive-through testing sites have sprung up in other German hospitals in recent days, as well as in South Korea, the United States and Britain. “People love that it can be done so quickly and easily,” said Sauer.
None of the 32 tests carried out so far has come back positive but the hospital’s coronavirus hotline has been ringing off the hook.
The New York auto show is set to be postponed until August because of the coronavirus outbreak, automakers and a spokesman for the show have said. The annual event, which draws thousands of reporters and hundreds of thousands of visitors, is now likely to be postponed.
According to Reuters, a spokesman for the show said organisers were “headed in the direction” of moving it to August and a final decision is expected by Wednesday.
In their response to the coronavirus outbreak, public health experts and government officials have repeatedly referenced the importance of “flattening the curve”. But what does this mean, exactly?
In the UK, Transport for London has confirmed one of its head office staff tested positive on Monday.
This person is not believed to be additional to the UK government’s latest tally of cases.
Here’s a little more on those comments from Varadkar, who has said health ministers across the European Union will talk to each other every day to help tackle the spread of Covid-19.
Spain will guarantee the supply of medicines and open credit lines to small businesses as part of a program of measures aimed at alleviating the impact of coronavirus, its prime minister Pedro Sánchez has said.
Speaking after the meeting of EU leaders, he said he had also asked for EU fiscal rules to be relaxed to give the country more economic firepower to confront the virus.