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Coronavirus live news: Trump threatens to stop WHO funding as global cases pass 1.4 million Coronavirus live news: Trump threatens to stop WHO funding as global cases pass 1.4 million
(32 minutes later)
Boris Johnson still in intensive care; top EU scientist resigns over bloc’s response to virus; cases in Africa pass 10,000; Follow the latest updates.Boris Johnson still in intensive care; top EU scientist resigns over bloc’s response to virus; cases in Africa pass 10,000; Follow the latest updates.
Trump threatens to hold WHO funding, then backtracks, amid search for scapegoat
Donald Trump hunted for a new scapegoat on Tuesday in an increasingly frantic attempt to shift blame for thousands of American deaths from the coronavirus, accusing the World Health Organization (WHO) of having “called it wrong” and being “China-centric”.
The US president contradicted himself within minutes, first vowing to put “a very powerful hold” on his government’s funding of the WHO, then insisting such a freeze was only under consideration.
Trump’s early inaction has come under renewed scrutiny in the past day after a New York Times report that Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, warned in a memo in late January that the virus could put millions of Americans at risk and cost trillions of dollars. Susan Rice, a former national security adviser, told the Washington Post that Trump’s missteps “cost tens of thousands of American lives”.
The president has repeatedly denied responsibility and sought to blame China, the Obama administration and the media. On Tuesday, with the US death toll exceeding 12,000, he unleashed a tirade at the WHO, even though it raised the alarm in January, after which he made statements downplaying it and comparing it to the common flu.
“They’ve been wrong about a lot of things,” Trump said at the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing. “And they had a lot of information early and they didn’t want to – they seemed to be very China centric” – implying that the WHO had toed the line of Beijing’s early efforts to minimise the scale of the outbreak.
Moving away from that sad news now to Hong Kong, where authorities accidentally hospitalised a virus-free man instead of his sick son.
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the Centre for Health Protection said it was investigating the mix-up. CHP controller, Dr Wong Ka-Hing, said a Nepali man and his family were close contacts of confirmed cases, and were sent to a government quarantine centre. The son tested positive for the Covid-19 disease, but authorities took his father to hospital instead.
“We have sent an apology to the family and we will investigate how it happened,” said Wong. “It may be too early to tell the exact reason behind [it] but I do not think this particular incident will affect the other people who are staying in the quarantine centre because the family itself stayed in a unit.”
It comes as Hong Kong authorities ramp up their testing and restrictions, in response to a growing number of cases fuelled by large numbers of people returning to Hong Kong in recent weeks.
From today, all inbound travellers will be tested for Covid-19 on arrival at a nearby testing facility.
Beauty and massage parlours have been ordered to close for 14 days from this Friday, and an earlier ban on more than four people gathering has been extended until 23 April. Nightclubs, bars, cinemas and gyms were already shut down.
Hong Kong has confirmed at least 935 cases, the vast majority in the past few weeks.
John Prine has been called the Mark Twain of songwriters by USA Today and Rolling Stone.
In a 2017 profile of Prine, called “Inside the Life of John Prine, the Mark Twain of American Songwriting”, Rolling Stone wrote:
Here is Prine singing Angel from Montgomery:
John Prine: this extraordinarily gifted songwriter was the envy of all
As John Prine often pointed out, he missed the height of the 1960s. Drafted into the US army, but fortunate enough to escape a tour of duty in Vietnam, he spent the Summer of Love stationed in Germany. Prine arrived back in the US at the end of 1967, just as rock music began to leave psychedelic experiments behind and head earthbound again, which suited him just fine.
He was born in 1946 and learned to write songs during the early 60s folk revival by imitating the Carter Family. Eighteen months after he returned to civilian life in Chicago, he saw Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash performing together on the latter’s TV show. “I thought the music I was playing and writing, it’d fit straight in-between the two of ’em,” he recalled in 2019. “I thought, ‘That’s exactly where I want to be.’”
Almost uniquely among the glut of early 70s singer-songwriters, Prine – who has died aged 73 – seemed untouched by the countercultural events of the preceding years: he seemed to tap into an earlier musical tradition, “an authentic, rather catchy extension of Nashville and Appalachia”, as critic Robert Christgau noted of Prine’s eponymous 1971 debut album.
He was not given to writing starry-eyed paeans to the denizens of the Woodstock festival. His albums never sounded as if they had emerged from the stoned, eucalyptus-scented idyll of Laurel Canyon. There was something tough and austere about them, perhaps because of Prine’s voice – a rough, artless, nasal rasp that Dylan suggested sounded as if Prine had swallowed a jew’s harp. It got more gravelly as the years progressed and he recovered first from neck, then from lung cancer.
Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash’s daughter has tweeted about John Prine’s death:
Other prominent singers and celebrities have also taken to Twitter to pay tribute to Prine:
John Prine, the US folk and country singer beloved of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and more, has died aged 73 due to complications from Covid-19.John Prine, the US folk and country singer beloved of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and more, has died aged 73 due to complications from Covid-19.
Prine was hospitalised on 26 March, and was in intensive care for 13 days before dying on Tuesday, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Prine’s family confirmed his death to several US media outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Variety.Prine was hospitalised on 26 March, and was in intensive care for 13 days before dying on Tuesday, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Prine’s family confirmed his death to several US media outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Variety.
Prine was born and raised on the outskirts of Chicago, and, on either side of a spell in the US army working as a mechanic in Germany, had a day job as a mail carrier while playing guitar and writing songs as a hobby. At a Chicago open mic night, he was heard complaining about the lack of talent on stage and was challenged to do better by one of the performers; his rapturously received three-song set earned him a $1,000-a-weekend residency and allowed him to quit the postal service.Prine was born and raised on the outskirts of Chicago, and, on either side of a spell in the US army working as a mechanic in Germany, had a day job as a mail carrier while playing guitar and writing songs as a hobby. At a Chicago open mic night, he was heard complaining about the lack of talent on stage and was challenged to do better by one of the performers; his rapturously received three-song set earned him a $1,000-a-weekend residency and allowed him to quit the postal service.
His career was given a boost by Kristofferson, who saw him play in Chicago. When Prine was visiting New York, Kristofferson invited him to play a gig for a room of record-label staff – Prine was signed to Atlantic Records the next morning. “Luck has a good deal to do with it, luck and timing,” he said of his swift success. “But when the luck and timing comes along, you’ve got to have the goods.”His career was given a boost by Kristofferson, who saw him play in Chicago. When Prine was visiting New York, Kristofferson invited him to play a gig for a room of record-label staff – Prine was signed to Atlantic Records the next morning. “Luck has a good deal to do with it, luck and timing,” he said of his swift success. “But when the luck and timing comes along, you’ve got to have the goods.”
He released his debut album in 1971, and put out 19 studio albums in all. While wider mainstream success eluded him for years, he earned a sizeable following, including some of the 20th century’s greatest songwriters. Bob Dylan said in 2009: “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.” Bonnie Raitt has celebrated his songwriting as “deceptively insightful. It’s at once playing on words and imagery, but expressing something deeper in such a succinct way, in such an exceptional way.”He released his debut album in 1971, and put out 19 studio albums in all. While wider mainstream success eluded him for years, he earned a sizeable following, including some of the 20th century’s greatest songwriters. Bob Dylan said in 2009: “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.” Bonnie Raitt has celebrated his songwriting as “deceptively insightful. It’s at once playing on words and imagery, but expressing something deeper in such a succinct way, in such an exceptional way.”
Prine won two Grammy awards from 11 nominations, and was also given a lifetime achievement award at the 2020 ceremony.Prine won two Grammy awards from 11 nominations, and was also given a lifetime achievement award at the 2020 ceremony.
Stepping away from that news for a moment while we wait for further confirmation to Equatorial Guinea, where two Brazilian pastors face expulsion, after the pair held unauthorised masses in contravention of Covid-19 restrictions, the justice ministry told AFP Tuesday.Stepping away from that news for a moment while we wait for further confirmation to Equatorial Guinea, where two Brazilian pastors face expulsion, after the pair held unauthorised masses in contravention of Covid-19 restrictions, the justice ministry told AFP Tuesday.
The pair “must be expelled from national territory as soon as circumstances allow with no possibility of returning,” the president’s office had decreed Sunday, banning their congregations from further gatherings.The pair “must be expelled from national territory as soon as circumstances allow with no possibility of returning,” the president’s office had decreed Sunday, banning their congregations from further gatherings.
The pair had ministered at masses on April 3 and 4 and in so doing “were, through their actions, insensitive to the fate of citizens,” the presidency said, adding both their ministries would be shut down.The pair had ministered at masses on April 3 and 4 and in so doing “were, through their actions, insensitive to the fate of citizens,” the presidency said, adding both their ministries would be shut down.
Equatorial Guinea has joined several other nations in central Africa in adopting strict measures designed to limit the spread of the virus including closing national borders and limiting movement across provincial boundaries as well as access to the capital Malabo.Equatorial Guinea has joined several other nations in central Africa in adopting strict measures designed to limit the spread of the virus including closing national borders and limiting movement across provincial boundaries as well as access to the capital Malabo.
Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue announced in mid-March that authorities were closing all schools and entertainment venues to prevent the virus spreading as it began to take a foothold on the continent.Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue announced in mid-March that authorities were closing all schools and entertainment venues to prevent the virus spreading as it began to take a foothold on the continent.
The New York Times is reporting that singer John Prine has died of complications caused by coronavirus. He was 73 years old.The New York Times is reporting that singer John Prine has died of complications caused by coronavirus. He was 73 years old.
On 30 March, Prine’s family announced that he had coronavirus and had been hospitalised.On 30 March, Prine’s family announced that he had coronavirus and had been hospitalised.
Prine won the Grammy award for best contemporary folk album in 1992 and 2006, and a lifetime achievement award this year. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.Prine won the Grammy award for best contemporary folk album in 1992 and 2006, and a lifetime achievement award this year. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019.
We will have more information soon.We will have more information soon.
In parts of Mexico, doctors, nurses and other health workers are being harassed to the point that federal authorities have pleaded for Mexicans to show solidarity, AP reports. While tributes to courageous medical personnel putting themselves in the virus’ path circle the globe, Mexico and some other places have seen disturbing aggression born of fear.Recently, a hospital in Guadalajara Mexico’s second-largest city were told to wear civilian clothes to and from work rather than their scrubs or uniforms because some public buses refused to allow them to board. Other medical personnel have reported attacks and this week someone threw flammable liquid on the doors of a new hospital under construction in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon.In parts of Mexico, doctors, nurses and other health workers are being harassed to the point that federal authorities have pleaded for Mexicans to show solidarity, AP reports. While tributes to courageous medical personnel putting themselves in the virus’ path circle the globe, Mexico and some other places have seen disturbing aggression born of fear.Recently, a hospital in Guadalajara Mexico’s second-largest city were told to wear civilian clothes to and from work rather than their scrubs or uniforms because some public buses refused to allow them to board. Other medical personnel have reported attacks and this week someone threw flammable liquid on the doors of a new hospital under construction in the northern border state of Nuevo Leon.
“There have been cases, you could say isolated, but all outrageous,” Mexican undersecretary of health Hugo López-Gatell said Monday night. “Fear produces irrational reactions, reactions that make no sense, have no foundation and have no justification when they have to do with respecting the dignity and the physical integrity of people.”It also comes as the Mexican government has embarked in a massive recruiting drive to bolster the thin ranks of its public health system before the virus hits with its full force.“There have been cases, you could say isolated, but all outrageous,” Mexican undersecretary of health Hugo López-Gatell said Monday night. “Fear produces irrational reactions, reactions that make no sense, have no foundation and have no justification when they have to do with respecting the dignity and the physical integrity of people.”It also comes as the Mexican government has embarked in a massive recruiting drive to bolster the thin ranks of its public health system before the virus hits with its full force.
Mexico has 2,439 confirmed cases of the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University figures, and 125 people have died.Mexico has 2,439 confirmed cases of the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University figures, and 125 people have died.
Human impact on wildlife to blame for spread of viruses, says studyHuman impact on wildlife to blame for spread of viruses, says study
Hunting, farming and the global move of people to cities has led to massive declines in biodiversity and increased the risk of dangerous viruses like Covid-19 spilling over from animals to humans, a major study has concluded.Hunting, farming and the global move of people to cities has led to massive declines in biodiversity and increased the risk of dangerous viruses like Covid-19 spilling over from animals to humans, a major study has concluded.
In a paper that suggests the underlying cause of the present pandemic is likely to be increased human contact with wildlife, scientists from Australia and the US traced which animals were most likely to share pathogens with humans.In a paper that suggests the underlying cause of the present pandemic is likely to be increased human contact with wildlife, scientists from Australia and the US traced which animals were most likely to share pathogens with humans.
Taking 142 viruses known to have been transmitted from animals to humans over many years, they matched them to the IUCN’s red list of threatened species.Taking 142 viruses known to have been transmitted from animals to humans over many years, they matched them to the IUCN’s red list of threatened species.
Domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, dogs and goats shared the highest number of viruses with humans, with eight times more animal-borne viruses than wild mammal species.Domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, dogs and goats shared the highest number of viruses with humans, with eight times more animal-borne viruses than wild mammal species.
Wild animals that have adapted well to human-dominated environments also share more viruses with people. Rodents, bats and primates – which often live among people, and close to houses and farms – together were implicated as hosts for nearly 75% of all viruses. Bats alone have been linked to diseases like Sars, Nipah, Marburg and Ebola.Wild animals that have adapted well to human-dominated environments also share more viruses with people. Rodents, bats and primates – which often live among people, and close to houses and farms – together were implicated as hosts for nearly 75% of all viruses. Bats alone have been linked to diseases like Sars, Nipah, Marburg and Ebola.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that the spillover risk was highest from threatened and endangered wild animals whose populations had declined largely due to hunting, the wildlife trade and loss of habitat.The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that the spillover risk was highest from threatened and endangered wild animals whose populations had declined largely due to hunting, the wildlife trade and loss of habitat.
‘If it comes, it will be a disaster’: life in one of the only countries without coronavirus
Vanuatu – a nation of just under 300,000 people, whose 80 islands are strung across the ocean, 1,800km east of Australia – remains one of the few countries in the world without any confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
But even here, in this remote archipelago, which feels as far as possible from the lockdowns of Wuhan and dire scenes in Italy and New York, the shadow of the coronavirus hangs across the nation.
Yasmine Bjornum writes about the measures that have been taken to protect the country, whose low incomes and weak health system would make an outbreak utterly devastating.
The country closed its border in March. Many restaurants and hotels have voluntarily closed down while others are trying to operate within the government’s restrictions, closing at 7.30pm before a curfew kicks in, which forbids anyone from being outside their homes between 9pm and 4am.
Along the main street of the capital of Port Vila, handwashing stations have been set up outside shops, banks and restaurants. Under the state of emergency rules, all businesses have been required to set up handwashing facilities at their own cost to promote hygienic practices.
“We know how the virus spreads and when we look at our culture and how we live, it’s in favour of this virus. If it comes, it would be a disaster,” said Russel Tamata, the lead spokesman for the government’s Covid-19 advisory team.
“The slightest mistake will impact us very badly.”
Republican congressional candidate touts AR-15s to fight ‘looting hordes from Atlanta’
Why do Americans need AR-15 rifles during a global pandemic? To shoot “looting hordes from Atlanta”.
That’s the campaign message from a former Republican congressman from Georgia, Paul Broun, who is now running for congress again.
Broun lives in Gainesville, Georgia, a city that is 87% white, and that is about an hour outside of Atlanta, the state capital, which is majority-black.
In a new campaign video, Broun promises to give away an AR-15 rifle “to one lucky person who signs up for email updates” from his campaign website.
More businesses in the UK are laying off staff as they start to run out of cash and struggle to get access to emergency coronavirus financial support from the government, a leading employers’ organisations has said.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said its weekly survey of how firms were coping with the Covid-19 crisis found an increase in the number planning to furlough workers as a result of the economic lockdown.
The employers’ organisation said only 1% of firms responding to its survey had secured a loan under the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) while 7% had received one of the grants offered by the Treasury for small businesses.
The survey found little change in the dire cashflow problems facing many companies, with 57% of firms having three months’ cash in reserve or less, and 6% reporting they had already run out of money.
Walt Disney Co might require theme park visitors to have their temperatures checked when they reopen after coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings are lifted, Executive Chairman Bob Iger said in an interview published on Tuesday.
Disney operates Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California as well as theme parks in China, Hong Kong, Japan and France. All are currently closed to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. The company has not said when they will re-open, Reuters reports. Walt Disney World, the most-visited theme park in the world, attracted 58.4 million visitors in 2018, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.
Iger said Disney is studying China’s efforts to let people return to everyday activities.
Mainland China reported on Wednesday 62 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, up from 32 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said, as the number of infections from people arriving from abroad surged. Mainland China’s imported cases stood at 1,042 as of Tuesday, up 59 from day earlier, according to the health authority. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 81,802 so far.
After 11 weeks of lockdown, the first train departed Wednesday morning from a re-opened Wuhan, the origin point for the coronavirus pandemic, as residents once again were allowed to travel in and out of the sprawling central Chinese city, AP reports.
Wuhan’s unprecedented lockdown served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world. With restrictions now lifted, Hubei’s provincial capital embarks on another experiment: resuming business and ordinary life while seeking to keep the number of new cases down.As of just after midnight Wednesday, the city’s 11 million residents are now permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus. The occasion was marked with a light show on either side of the broad Yangtze river, with skyscrapers and bridges radiating animated images of health workers aiding patients, along with one displaying the words heroic city,” a title bestowed on Wuhan by president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Along the embankments and bridges, citizens waved flags, chanted Wuhan, lets go! and sang a capella renditions of Chinas national anthem.
North Korea, one of only a handful of countries not to have reported confirmed cases of Covid-19, has said that it continues testing and has more than 500 people in quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters on Tuesday.
The WHO, which said it had been receiving “weekly updates” from the health ministry, said that the reclusive country had the capacity to test coronaviruses in its national reference laboratory in the capital Pyongyang. “As of 2 April, 709 people - 11 foreigners and 698 nationals - have been tested for Covid-19. There is no report of a Covid-19 case. There are 509 people in quarantine, two foreigners and 507 nationals,” Dr. Edwin Salvador, the WHO Representative to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), said in an email reply. “Since 31 December, 24,842 people have been released from quarantine, which includes 380 foreigners,” he said. The WHO has been informed that North Korea received primers and probes for use with PCR diagnostic tests from its ally China in January, he added. The WHO has sent supplies of protective equipment.
Some foreign experts have expressed doubts that North Korea, which shares borders with China and South Korea, both hard-hit by epidemics, has not detected any infections.
North Korea has stepped up border checks and imposed quarantine measures. The head of US forces in South Korea said in mid-March that North Korea had its military forces on lockdown for about 30 days and had recently resumed training.
The disruption to the world’s economies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of this year – the equivalent of 195 million jobs worldwide, according to the UN’s labour body.
More than four fifths of workers globally live in countries affected by full or partial lockdown measures, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report on Tuesday.
The agency welcomed fiscal and monetary measures applied so far but urged countries to take steps to keep people connected to jobs they are no longer able to do, so fewer will end up unemployed.
Here’s a summary of US news from the past few hours from my colleague Maanvi Singh in San Francisco.
Donald Trump threatened to stop funding the World Health Organization and once again touted an unproven anti-malarial drug as a quick fix for coronavirus. The president also alleged widespread voter fraud and insisted that he was getting along swimmingly state governors, who have increasingly found themselves at odds with him as they respond to the crisis.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the crisis has shined “a bright light” on the racial disparities in the US. Data from some states and cities suggest that the pandemic is disproportionately killing Black Americans.
Memos revealed that Trump was warned in January of the severity of the coronavirus crisis. The president insisted he never saw the warnings from his economic adviser Peter Navarro.
Acting navy secretary Thomas Modly resigned over insulting comments he made about Captain Brett Crozier, the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt who raised concerns about the spread of coronavirus on the ship.
Trump removed a Pentagon official tapped to oversee the coronavirus relief effort from his post. Acting Pentagon inspector general Glenn Fine was supposed to oversee implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus bill, but an agency spokesperson confirmed he is no longer in the role.
New York11reported the largest single-day increase in its coronavirus death toll yet. The state has recorded 5,489 deaths linked to the virus, up from 4,758 a day earlier, governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing today.
The White House announced an overhaul of its communications team. Press secretary Stephanie Grisham is returning to the first lady’s staff after never having held a single White House briefing in more than nine months. She will be replaced by Kayleigh McEnany, who currently serves as a spokesperson for Trump’s reelection campaign.
Congress is seeking to allocate additional funds to the small business loan program established by the stimulus package. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would ask Congress to add $250 billion to the program, which was originally given $350 billion under the stimulus package passed last month.
Seal the deal: amorous mammals forced to contend with cruise ships
Cruise ships are drowning out the roars of seals that are important for bagging a mate, researchers have found in the latest study to reveal the consequences of human activity on wildlife.
Ships are known to produce low-frequency sounds which can overlap with calls made by marine creatures. But now researchers studying harbour seals say such noise could be taking its toll.
“As it gets noisier, it becomes harder for harbour seals to be heard,” said Dr Michelle Fournet, a co-author of the research at Cornell University, noting the animals’ roars serve a number of purposes – including advertising to females and establishing underwater territories.