This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/16/coronavirus-live-updates-us-cdc-events-europe-lockdown-uk-deaths-australia-france-italy-spain-update-latest-news

The article has changed 46 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 11 Version 12
Coronavirus live updates: global infections outstrip China cases as US ramps up response Coronavirus live updates: global infections outstrip China cases as US ramps up response
(32 minutes later)
New York closes schools; CDC advises against gatherings of more than 50 people, US Fed cuts interest rates to near zero; deaths jump in Europe. Follow the latest news.New York closes schools; CDC advises against gatherings of more than 50 people, US Fed cuts interest rates to near zero; deaths jump in Europe. Follow the latest news.
In UK news, the coronavirus could lead to 7.9 million people being hospitalised, a secret Public Health England (PHE) briefing for senior NHS officials has revealed. Health chiefs tackling the virus admitted that they expect Covid-19 to circulate for another 12 months. On Monday the PM, Boris Johnson, will start his daily press briefings on the outbreak.
We’ll be posting today’s British front pages shortly.
Abigail Disney, grand daughter of Walt Disney Co’s co-founder Roy Disney, slammed a Twitter post showing a huge crowd at Sunday night’s showing of ‘Happily Ever After’, a fireworks show in Florida’s Disney Magic Kingdom theme park, Reuters reports. “Are you fucking kidding me??” she said in a comment.
She was re-tweeting a post from WDW News Today saying “Current crowds at the Magic Kingdom for tonight’s showing of Happily Ever After... DisneyWorld” and with two pictures showing scores of people present. Abigail Disney’s tweet garnered over 10,000 likes and 2,000 retweets in under two hours. Many Twitter users criticised Disney over the WDW News Today tweet and said the parks should have been shut down because of the coronavirus epidemic. Reuters could not immediately verify if the pictures were from Sunday night. WDW News Today is not affiliated to the Walt Disney Co, according to a disclosure on its Twitter page. Disney did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The company had announced last Thursday that it will be closing its theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Paris Resort, beginning at the close of business on Sunday, March 15, through the end of the month. The Magic Kingdom park is located at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Hospitals in Nagoya city in Japan’s industrial heartland have more coronavirus patients than they can treat, forcing transfers to nearby areas and offering a glimpse of the challenges the outbreak poses for a country with a huge elderly population, Reuters reports.
Japan has closed schools and cancelled public events, which experts say has helped prevent an explosive spread of the virus. But because testing hasn’t been widespread, some medical experts say the extent of infection is understated, and a surge could yet happen.
“If the numbers rise further, we won’t be able to cope, so we will either have to ask nearby prefectures to help, or tell those with lighter symptoms to stay at home,” a prefecture official in Nagoya told Reuters. Confirmed coronavirus cases in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi prefecture, totalled 98 as of Sunday, the official said, far exceeding the city’s 27 beds at hospitals that meet conditions for patients with the highly contagious disease. Aichi, home to Toyota Motor Corp, is Japan’s second-hardest hit prefecture, with 121 confirmed coronavirus cases so far. It has a total of 161 beds capable of handling patients with such a disease. Of those, 105 were in use as of Sunday, the official said.
Thank you to everyone who has sent messages through to us today. Have any tips, good news or stories I may have missed? Send me a message on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
British unions representing gig workers have attacked “paltry” offers of sick pay for delivery couriers affected by coronavirus that could push them to keep working to stay financially afloat rather than self-isolate.
Here is our full story on the Australian sharemarket’s tumble today.
The ASX dove 9.7% on Monday, the biggest one-day fall in decades for the benchmark ASX200 index, wiping out nearly four years of gains.
About 30% of the value of Australian shares has been wiped out in less than a month due to coronavirus-inspired panic selling, with an index that hit a peak of 7162 on 20 February closing trade on Monday at 5002.
A market that is now trading at levels last seen in March 2016 was dragged down on Monday by collapsing entertainment, travel and education stocks, but every sector shared in the pain.
Monday’s fall is the biggest since at least 1987’s Black Monday stock market crash.
Australia’s doctors are warning that the country’s failure to stockpile a commonly-used chemical reagent needed for coronavirus testing is contributing to shortages in the midst of the current pandemic.
The Australian Medical Association has warned a common reagent that is critical in the testing of coronavirus is facing supply issues because of the huge demand on Australian laboratories due to Covid-19.
In Thailand, villagers scouring a dark cave in Ratchaburi for bat guano are undaunted by scientists’ suggestion that it could be behind a coronavirus that has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide, Reuters reports.In Thailand, villagers scouring a dark cave in Ratchaburi for bat guano are undaunted by scientists’ suggestion that it could be behind a coronavirus that has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide, Reuters reports.
The source of the virus remains a matter of debate after it emerged in China late last year, but some scientists believe it could have originated in bats before passing to humans, perhaps being transferred through another animal. They start work after dark, when millions of chittering bats stream out of the cave to hunt for food. Some of those who have been collecting for decades, earning less than $1 for each bucketload, say they have never had any health issues. Guano collection began generations ago, when the abbot then in charge of the temple asked villagers to help clean the cave. At $6 a bucket, the guano, rich in chemicals such as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, brings in the bulk of the temple’s earnings from farmers keen to boost crops and improve the taste of fruit.The source of the virus remains a matter of debate after it emerged in China late last year, but some scientists believe it could have originated in bats before passing to humans, perhaps being transferred through another animal. They start work after dark, when millions of chittering bats stream out of the cave to hunt for food. Some of those who have been collecting for decades, earning less than $1 for each bucketload, say they have never had any health issues. Guano collection began generations ago, when the abbot then in charge of the temple asked villagers to help clean the cave. At $6 a bucket, the guano, rich in chemicals such as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, brings in the bulk of the temple’s earnings from farmers keen to boost crops and improve the taste of fruit.
The Peace Corps is telling its volunteers around the world that it is suspending all operations globally and evacuating all volunteers in light of the spread of the new coronavirus, AP reports.The Peace Corps is telling its volunteers around the world that it is suspending all operations globally and evacuating all volunteers in light of the spread of the new coronavirus, AP reports.
In an open letter to volunteers posted Sunday on its website, the federal agency’s director, Jody Olsen, says the decision follows recent evacuations in China and Mongolia due to the outbreak. Olsen says that with evacuations now underway at other posts and travel becoming more challenging by the day, the agency decided to expand the suspension and evacuations. Olsen says the posts are not closing and that the agency looks forward to returning to normal operations when conditions permit.The letter says country directors would be providing more information to volunteers.The Peace Corps was established in 1961 during the Kennedy administration as a government-run volunteer program serving nations around the world. Its website says volunteers perform community work in more than 60 countries today and that more than 235,000 Americans have served in 141 countries since its inception.In an open letter to volunteers posted Sunday on its website, the federal agency’s director, Jody Olsen, says the decision follows recent evacuations in China and Mongolia due to the outbreak. Olsen says that with evacuations now underway at other posts and travel becoming more challenging by the day, the agency decided to expand the suspension and evacuations. Olsen says the posts are not closing and that the agency looks forward to returning to normal operations when conditions permit.The letter says country directors would be providing more information to volunteers.The Peace Corps was established in 1961 during the Kennedy administration as a government-run volunteer program serving nations around the world. Its website says volunteers perform community work in more than 60 countries today and that more than 235,000 Americans have served in 141 countries since its inception.
Now, an important addition to your social distancing toolkit: a dystopian reading list.Now, an important addition to your social distancing toolkit: a dystopian reading list.
“A good reading list for self-isolation requires several categories. You should read some of the brilliant pandemic novels that everyone is talking about, and some novels about being alone. You should also add some comfort reads, and poetry, and books about people being thoughtful and useful and kind,” writes the Guardian’s Lois Beckett.“A good reading list for self-isolation requires several categories. You should read some of the brilliant pandemic novels that everyone is talking about, and some novels about being alone. You should also add some comfort reads, and poetry, and books about people being thoughtful and useful and kind,” writes the Guardian’s Lois Beckett.
An Australian television network entertainment editor has tested positive for the new coronavirus after meeting Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, in Sydney.Hanks and Wilson have been isolated in an Australian hospital since they were both diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 12.Nine Network entertainment editor Richard Wilkins said Monday that he was tested because he met Wilson at the Sydney Opera House on March 7 and again at Nines Sydney studio on March 9. The result came back positive on Sunday, AP reports.An Australian television network entertainment editor has tested positive for the new coronavirus after meeting Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, in Sydney.Hanks and Wilson have been isolated in an Australian hospital since they were both diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 12.Nine Network entertainment editor Richard Wilkins said Monday that he was tested because he met Wilson at the Sydney Opera House on March 7 and again at Nines Sydney studio on March 9. The result came back positive on Sunday, AP reports.
“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather last night when I got that call. It took me a couple of minutes to reel from the news that they gave me. But I feel fine. I feel 100%,” Wilkins told Nine by Facetime from his Sydney home.“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather last night when I got that call. It took me a couple of minutes to reel from the news that they gave me. But I feel fine. I feel 100%,” Wilkins told Nine by Facetime from his Sydney home.
The 65-year-old journalist said he could only assume that he had been infected by Wilson, a singer and actor.The 65-year-old journalist said he could only assume that he had been infected by Wilson, a singer and actor.
“We’re assuming this is from Rita. It may not be. They’ve all said it could be anyone, anywhere, any time, such is the prevalence of this thing,” Wilkins said. Wilkins was one of 37 new case confirmed over 24 hours in New South Wales state, bringing the state total to 171 by Monday. The increase was the largest for Australia’s most populous state in a day.“We’re assuming this is from Rita. It may not be. They’ve all said it could be anyone, anywhere, any time, such is the prevalence of this thing,” Wilkins said. Wilkins was one of 37 new case confirmed over 24 hours in New South Wales state, bringing the state total to 171 by Monday. The increase was the largest for Australia’s most populous state in a day.
As countries across the world scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, several cruise ships, some laden with thousands of passengers, are stranded on the high seas seeking a port at which they can dock.As countries across the world scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, several cruise ships, some laden with thousands of passengers, are stranded on the high seas seeking a port at which they can dock.
In Australia, more now on the measures in Western Australia’s AU$607m (US$375) stimulus package:In Australia, more now on the measures in Western Australia’s AU$607m (US$375) stimulus package:
A $402m freeze on household fees and charges until July 1, 2021 at least. That includes electricity, water, motor vehicle charges, emergency services levy and public transport fares.A $402m freeze on household fees and charges until July 1, 2021 at least. That includes electricity, water, motor vehicle charges, emergency services levy and public transport fares.
Energy assistance payment doubled from $300 to $600 for vulnerable Western AustraliansEnergy assistance payment doubled from $300 to $600 for vulnerable Western Australians
$114m for help for small business, including a one-off grant of $17,500$114m for help for small business, including a one-off grant of $17,500
Businesses impacted can defer payroll tax payments until July 21 2020.Businesses impacted can defer payroll tax payments until July 21 2020.
“We are in uncharted territory and there’s no doubt our economy is going to feel the effects of COVID-19,” WA premier Mark McGowan said.“We are in uncharted territory and there’s no doubt our economy is going to feel the effects of COVID-19,” WA premier Mark McGowan said.
“For the first time in 16 years, household fees and charges will be frozen, providing relief and certainty to each and every Western Australian.“For the first time in 16 years, household fees and charges will be frozen, providing relief and certainty to each and every Western Australian.
“It’s this relief and certainty that can help give Western Australians the confidence to continue to spend and support our local economy during these times.“It’s this relief and certainty that can help give Western Australians the confidence to continue to spend and support our local economy during these times.
Public sector employees in WA will also get access to 20 days of sick leave if they need to stay home.Public sector employees in WA will also get access to 20 days of sick leave if they need to stay home.
In Australia, the state government of Western Australia has “frozen all household fees and charges including electricity, water, public transport fares and motor vehicle charges,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports.
Mexico has registered its first death due to coronavirus, according to Mexican media reports on Sunday and two people familiar with the matter, Reuters reports.
Veteran broadcaster Joaquin Lopez-Doriga said on Twitter that businessman Jose Kuri had died after testing positive for coronavirus following a trip to the United States.
Two people familiar with the matter confirmed that Kuri had died, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Turkey has identified 12 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing its total to 18, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Monday, marking the highest daily rise since the country announced its first case last week.
Koca said two of the new cases were related to the first case reported in the country, seven had travelled from Europe and three from the United States, Reuters reports. Last Wednesday, Turkey became the last major economy to report an outbreak after taking what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as “vigilant” measures to delay it. Since then, the government has ramped up measures to halt the spread of the virus, closing schools and universities, holding sports events without spectators and halting flights to many countries. Thousands of Muslims returning to Turkey from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were taken into quarantine on Sunday and the Interior Ministry said that bars and nightclubs will be closed from Monday to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading.
The number of coronavirus cases in Rwanda has risen to five, from one, and included a man of Rwandese nationality with no recent history of travel, the health ministry said late on Sunday.
The east African country confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Saturday, becoming one of at least 26 countries on the African continent where the outbreak has spread. The ministry said in a statement the four additional cases included a 34-year-old man who arrived from South Sudan on March 6 and his brother, who also had a recent history of travel. A fourth person was a 22-year-old man of Ugandan nationality who arrived in Rwanda from London on Sunday.
Lululemon and Under Armour have joined Nike in saying they will close stores in the United States and other markets, joining a growing list of major retailers moving to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Under Armour was the subject of a New York Times piece in January this year titled How Under Armour Lost Its Edge, in which the author wrote the brand “has faltered, hurt by slumping sales and unflattering revelations about its corporate culture.”
The coronavirus pandemic will almost certainly add to its woes.
Nike on Sunday said it will close stores in Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand from March 16 to 27. It will continue normal operations at stores in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries.
Under Armour said it would shutter all North America stores from Monday for about two weeks. Lululemon said it would close its stores in North America and Europe for a similar period. Each said their online stores would continue to be open.
Gap Inc is temporarily reducing store hours for all of its locations in the United States and Canada, and closing over 100 stores Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc, which owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People, said on Saturday it would close its stores worldwide until at least March 28.
A few images now from Brescia, in northern Italy, where emergency structures were set up to deal with patients in the coronavirus pandemic.
Italy has had the second-highest number of confirmed cases so far, at 24,747.
There have been 1,809 deaths and 2,335 recoveries, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and China’s richest man has posted a photograph of a shipment of masks and test kits on its way from Shanghai to the US.
The Sydney stock market has closed almost 10% down on another disastrous day of trading. It dropped 9.7% to 5,002 points.
The massive losses came despite an announcement by the Reserve Bank that it will begin buying bonds in a quantitative easing operation to prop up the country’s cratering economy.
As we continue to report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re looking for stories of how this unprecedented crisis has affected couples, families, friends and communities.
If you’ve been separated from a loved one by lockdowns, have had to cancel your wedding or miss an important family event, we’d like to hear from you. We’re always interested in hearing what you may have done in response, too, or how you and your loved ones (and neighbours) are supporting each other in these trying times.
Please do include photographs if you can and are happy for us to use them.
Send me a brief message on Twitter @helenrsullivan, tag me in a tweet of your own (if you’re happy for us to include it in the blog), or email me: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Global deaths and infections from the coronavirus surpassed those inside China for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak.
The US Centers for Disease Control advised that events of 50 people or more be cancelled or postponed throughout the United States.
The US Federal Reserve announced it would cut its benchmark interest rate to near zero and said it would buy US$700bn in Treasury and mortgage-backed securities as it attempts to head off a severe slowdown.
New York City will close the largest public school system in the US on Monday, and its bars, restaurants and entertainment venues from Tuesday.
The states of California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington closed their bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, too. Food takeout and delivery are still allowed.
Most of the first hour of the US Democratic debate focused on the coronavirus crisis, as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders criticised the Trump administration’s response and emphasised the need to confront the crisis and adhere to medical experts’ guidance.
A US sailor aboard a warship ship tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time, the US Navy said on Sunday, as it disclosed the case of a sailor assigned to an amphibious assault ship.
Argentina went into a full official lockdown Sunday evening as President Alberto Fernández announced the closing of the country’s borders to all arrivals, including the closure of its land borders, and the suspension of all classes until March 31.
British over-70s will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months, in order to protect them from the virus.
Iran recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day from coronavirus on Saturday, with 113 new deaths in the past 24 hours, meaning the country’s death toll from the coronavirus has reached 724. There are 13,938 people infected across the country.
The US embassy and the British Foreign Office are advising their non-resident citizens to leave Argentina quickly while flights are still open.
The death toll in Italy increased by 25% to 1,809 from 1,441 on Sunday – a rise of 368. The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday.
Louis Vuitton owner LVMH has said its cosmetics unit would manufacture large quantities of hand disinfectant gel to help stave off a nationwide shortage across France as the coronavirus continues to spread.
South Africa declared a national disaster and introduced a series of drastic measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Luxembourg on Sunday followed its neighbours France and Belgium in closing bars and restaurants to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.