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Coronavirus live updates: Justin Trudeau's wife tests positive, Europe shuts schools, sporting world in crisis Coronavirus live updates: Justin Trudeau's wife tests positive, Europe shuts schools, sporting world in crisis
(32 minutes later)
First case at UN headquarters; Australian Grand Prix cancelled, Italy deaths pass 1,000. Follow the latest news.First case at UN headquarters; Australian Grand Prix cancelled, Italy deaths pass 1,000. Follow the latest news.
In short, the position of Australia’s Scott Morrison is, as he has just said: “People can go about their normal essential business they do each day.”
They should however avoid gatherings over 500 people – excluding schools and university lectures – from Monday, and reconsider non-essential travel.
Morrison also says Parliament will continue as normal.
Australia’s New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian says, “It’s safe to go to school. When it’s not, we will shut down that particular school and work with the school community to reopen at the appropriate time.”
Australian PM Scott Morrison is asked:
So you are willingly going to a game this weekend which from Monday - a mass gathering, which you recommend people don’t attend. How is that responsible?
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says, “I do have still plans to go to the football on Saturday. This is an arrangement we are putting in place for next week as a precaution. This is an early-stage action that we are undertaking to make sure we get ahead of this. I would be going on on Saturday because I had previously planned to, and these are measures we are putting on from next week, and there are further measures that will come in over time, I would expect.”
Australia’s Scott Morrison said that by advising against mass gatherings he was acting on the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principals Committee. That committee will also be the principal advisory body to the new national cabinet.
The cabinet will be made up of COAG members — premiers and chief ministers. They will also establish a national coordinating mechanism to ensure the response is consistent across jurisdictions.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, is speaking now.
“We are not suggesting people should interrupt their normal daily work. It’s just avoiding those particular circumstances where transmission can be accelerated,” he says.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government now advises Australians to reconsider non-essential travel.
It is “Level-Three” travel advice he says.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says the government will be advising against “nonessential, organised gatherings of persons of 500 or more.”
“That of course does not include schools. It does not include university lectures. It does not mean people getting on public transport or going to airports or things of that nature.”
In Australia now, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is speaking at a COAG meeting:
The government will be moving to a position from Monday where they advise against mass public gatherings of 500 people or more. But this does NOT include schools and universities, says Morrison.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking now from a Council of Australian Governments meeting after it was reported that the government has been advised mass gatherings should be cancelled.
Government leaders met in Parramatta on Friday for the COAG meeting, where chief health officers told them urgent social distancing measures were necessary to slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Morrison says:
The Australian market has come roaring back in afternoon trade to be less than 2% down for the day.The Australian market has come roaring back in afternoon trade to be less than 2% down for the day.
It’s not entirely clear what’s caused the dramatic turnaround, but the most likely answer is that the Reserve Bank has pumped $8.2bn into short-term bank funding this morning.It’s not entirely clear what’s caused the dramatic turnaround, but the most likely answer is that the Reserve Bank has pumped $8.2bn into short-term bank funding this morning.
The AFR reports that the funding package was designed to head off a looming credit squeeze caused by market panic over the coronavirus crisis and US president Donald Trump’s cack-handed response to it.The AFR reports that the funding package was designed to head off a looming credit squeeze caused by market panic over the coronavirus crisis and US president Donald Trump’s cack-handed response to it.
Benchmark index the ASX200 fell as much as 8% on Friday but by 3pm was surging upwards to be just 1.78% below Thursday’s closing price.Benchmark index the ASX200 fell as much as 8% on Friday but by 3pm was surging upwards to be just 1.78% below Thursday’s closing price.
South Korea reported more recoveries from the coronavirus than new infections on Friday for the first time since the country’s first patient was confirmed on 20 January, raising hopes that Asia’s biggest epidemic outside China may be slowing.South Korea reported more recoveries from the coronavirus than new infections on Friday for the first time since the country’s first patient was confirmed on 20 January, raising hopes that Asia’s biggest epidemic outside China may be slowing.
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 110 new cases had been confirmed on Thursday - compared to 114 a day earlier - taking the total to 7,979. But 177 fully recovered patients were released the same day, it added.Officials said the number of new infections in Daegu, the southern city at the centre of the outbreak, and the neighbouring province of North Gyeongsang had declined “dramatically”, but there were concerns over a spike in cases at a call centre in Seoul, where 102 people have tested positive, and a government office in the administrative capital Sejong.Daegu and North Gyeongsang account for about 90% of cases in South Korea, with 60% of infections linked to the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious sect with 210,000 followers.Despite the encouraging news, the country’s prime minister, Chung-Sye-kyun, who is leading efforts to contain the outbreak in Daegu, warned against complacency. “The battle against the coronavirus has now become a global fight going far beyond Daegu,” he said.The 110 cases detected Thursday, and reported by the KCDC on Friday, was the lowest number of daily infections in more than two weeks, and well below the 500-600 daily increases reported early this month. One death was confirmed on Thursday, bringing the country’s total to 67.Sixty-one of the latest cases were from Daegu, while 17 and 13 were in Sejong and Seoul, respectively.The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said 110 new cases had been confirmed on Thursday - compared to 114 a day earlier - taking the total to 7,979. But 177 fully recovered patients were released the same day, it added.Officials said the number of new infections in Daegu, the southern city at the centre of the outbreak, and the neighbouring province of North Gyeongsang had declined “dramatically”, but there were concerns over a spike in cases at a call centre in Seoul, where 102 people have tested positive, and a government office in the administrative capital Sejong.Daegu and North Gyeongsang account for about 90% of cases in South Korea, with 60% of infections linked to the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious sect with 210,000 followers.Despite the encouraging news, the country’s prime minister, Chung-Sye-kyun, who is leading efforts to contain the outbreak in Daegu, warned against complacency. “The battle against the coronavirus has now become a global fight going far beyond Daegu,” he said.The 110 cases detected Thursday, and reported by the KCDC on Friday, was the lowest number of daily infections in more than two weeks, and well below the 500-600 daily increases reported early this month. One death was confirmed on Thursday, bringing the country’s total to 67.Sixty-one of the latest cases were from Daegu, while 17 and 13 were in Sejong and Seoul, respectively.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just tweeted about his wife Sophie’s confirmed case of Covid-19:
Here is the official (2015) guidance video from the World Health Organization on how to wash those hands of yours.
The WHO says:
“Hand hygiene, either with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand rub, is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading infections to others. Indeed, hand hygiene is an easy, inexpensive, and effective mean to prevent the spread of germs and keep everyone healthy.”
More official WHO tips here.
The last of Apple’s 42 stores in China reopened Friday, as the country slowly goes back to work following weeks of quarantine that forced the closure of businesses, AFP reports.
The firm announced on February 1 that it would shut all its stores, corporate offices and contact centres across the mainland as the epidemic rapidly spread.
Apple’s stores have gradually been reopening over the past few days and a spokeswoman for the company told AFP the remaining few would throw their doors open Friday.
The company’s website shows its stores now have “special operating hours”.
As we report the latest coronavirus news today, please send me any tips or relevant news on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is due to speak speak shortly, following reports that the government has been advised mass gatherings should be cancelled. We’re also hoping for an update on the economy, following a 6% drop on the ASX200.
The Guardian is tracking global infections below:
Australia’s Central Coast has confirmed its first coronavirus case, the ABC reports:
In Australia, Queensland state health says there are now 35 cases in the state, as of Friday 13 March.
The statement does not say how many cases are new but out understanding is that this means there are eight new cases, up from 27 yesterday.
The statement says:
In Australia, expert health advice reportedly given to the prime minister and state premiers says all gatherings of more than 500 people across Australia should be cancelled immediately to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Government leaders met in Parramatta on Friday for a Council of Australian Governments meeting, where chief health officers told them urgent social distancing measures were necessary to slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The advice is unconfirmed, but, if correct, would appear to mandate the closure of schools and universities, as well as sporting events and concerts.
The Guardian has contacted government authorities seeking their response.
As the Catholic and Mormon churches close services over coronavirus fears, a Catholic church in Hong Kong has started streaming its mass to worshipers online. Similar arrangements have been made in Singapore and elsewhere at various churches, temples and mosques.
With an iPad on a small tripod, Father Thomas Law of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in downtown Hong Kong is broadcasting mass to worshippers to their homes via online streaming as a way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reports.
The church was formerly packed during daily morning mass and on Sundays, but the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong has suspended mass and liturgies since Feb. 15 in line with government health guidelines promoting social distancing. Many churches in Hong Kong have taken their services online due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the Chinese-ruled city, which has reported 130 cases and three deaths.