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Coronavirus live news: US states start to reopen as detained Wuhan journalist reappears Coronavirus live news: US states start to reopen as detained Wuhan journalist reappears
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World has ‘a long way to go’, warns WHO chief; Singapore cases pass 10,000; first case among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Follow the latest updates.World has ‘a long way to go’, warns WHO chief; Singapore cases pass 10,000; first case among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Follow the latest updates.
The world-famous song “Pata Pata”, a South African dance hit from 1967, is being re-released with new lyrics to spread information about coronavirus to vulnerable communities.Meaning “touch touch” in the Xhosa language, “Pata Pata” was written by Grammy-winning singer Miriam Makeba who named it after a dance move popular in Johannesburg at the time:
The new version sung by Beninese artist Angelique Kidjo includes lyrics such as, “We need to keep our hands clean so ‘no-Pata Pata’... Don’t touch your face, keep distance please and ‘no-Pata Pata’”:
It will be played on more than 15 radio stations across African countries on Thursday, said the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), which organized the release.
Caelainn Barr, Niko Kommenda, Niamh McIntyre and Antonio Voce have this report for the Guardian:
The UK government has been urged to recognise that race and racial inequalities are a risk factor for Covid-19 after Guardian research which has revealed that ethnic minorities in England are dying in disproportionately high numbers compared with white people.
The revelation that people from minority groups appear to be over-represented among the coronavirus deaths, by as much as 27%, “confirmed the worst fears” of campaigners who said there was now no question of an excessive toll.
The Guardian analysis found that of 12,593 patients who died in hospital up to 19 April, 19% were Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) even though these groups make up only 15% of the general population in England.
And the analysis revealed that three London boroughs with high BAME populations - Harrow, Brent and Barnet – were also among the five local authorities with the highest death rates in hospitals and the community.
More than 232,000 people might have been infected in the first wave of Covid-19 in mainland China, four times the official figures, according to a study by Hong Kong researchers.
Mainland China reported more than 55,000 cases as of 20 February but, according to research by academics at Hong Kong University’s school of public health published in the Lancet, the true number would have been far greater if the definition of a Covid-19 case that was later used had been applied from the outset.
China has now reported more than 83,000 cases. Globally, the death toll from the coronavirus has exceeded 183,000, with the number of cases worldwide standing at more than 2.6 million.
China’s national health commission issued seven versions of a case definition for Covid-19 between 15 January and 3 March, and the study found these changes had a “substantial effect” on how many infections which were detected as cases.
It comes as China’s ambassador to the US called for “a serious rethink of the foundations” of the two countries’ relationship, while also criticising US politicians for ignoring scientists and making “groundless” accusations.
Thanks for following along. A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.Thanks for following along. A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
At least 183,441 people have lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with the number of confirmed cases worldwide at more than 2.6 million.At least 183,441 people have lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with the number of confirmed cases worldwide at more than 2.6 million.
The US accounts for more than 842,000 cases and almost 47,000 deaths.The US accounts for more than 842,000 cases and almost 47,000 deaths.
The UK has more than 134,000 cases and more than 18,000 deaths.The UK has more than 134,000 cases and more than 18,000 deaths.
As the coronavirus lockdown continues, many of us holed up at home with family will be wondering how much more of it we can take. But what is it like if you have 11 kids or live with your extended family? We asked some of Britain’s biggest families how they are coping.As the coronavirus lockdown continues, many of us holed up at home with family will be wondering how much more of it we can take. But what is it like if you have 11 kids or live with your extended family? We asked some of Britain’s biggest families how they are coping.
Here’s the full story on the Australian billionaire who was allowed to self isolate at home, despite the Australian government having ordered 11 days earlier that everyone arriving from overseas would be held in a hotel or other accommodation for a period of supervised quarantineHere’s the full story on the Australian billionaire who was allowed to self isolate at home, despite the Australian government having ordered 11 days earlier that everyone arriving from overseas would be held in a hotel or other accommodation for a period of supervised quarantine
Australian media mogul Kerry Stokes and his wife were allowed to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine on medical grounds when they arrived in the state of Western Australia by private jet two weeks ago, and instead spent 14 days holed up in their Perth mansion.Australian media mogul Kerry Stokes and his wife were allowed to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine on medical grounds when they arrived in the state of Western Australia by private jet two weeks ago, and instead spent 14 days holed up in their Perth mansion.
Stokes is one of the richest and most powerful men in Australia, with interests in mining, construction and media, and an estimated net worth of US$2.4bn.Stokes is one of the richest and most powerful men in Australia, with interests in mining, construction and media, and an estimated net worth of US$2.4bn.
The exemption was granted despite the couple having been in the Colorado ski fields at the time of a coronavirus outbreak in luxury ski resort villages in mid-March.The exemption was granted despite the couple having been in the Colorado ski fields at the time of a coronavirus outbreak in luxury ski resort villages in mid-March.
On the same day the Stokeses landed, authorities in WA launched an inquiry into how a 71-year-old man in mandatory hotel quarantine with his wife ended up in intensive care in a coma after waiting nine hours for a response to his wife’s request for medical assistance.On the same day the Stokeses landed, authorities in WA launched an inquiry into how a 71-year-old man in mandatory hotel quarantine with his wife ended up in intensive care in a coma after waiting nine hours for a response to his wife’s request for medical assistance.
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,352 to 148,046, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, marking a third consecutive day of new infections accelerating. The reported death toll rose by 215 to 5,094, the tally showed.Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,352 to 148,046, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, marking a third consecutive day of new infections accelerating. The reported death toll rose by 215 to 5,094, the tally showed.
Hydroxychloroquine and coronavirus: a guide to the scientific studies so farHydroxychloroquine and coronavirus: a guide to the scientific studies so far
With endorsements from a controversial French physician, Fox News, and Donald Trump, hydroxychloroquine – an old anti-malarial drug that is today more commonly used to treat lupus – has received a disproportionate amount of attention as a potential treatment for Covid-19.With endorsements from a controversial French physician, Fox News, and Donald Trump, hydroxychloroquine – an old anti-malarial drug that is today more commonly used to treat lupus – has received a disproportionate amount of attention as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
The limited evidence around hydroxychloroquine so far has come in a steady stream of scientific studies, often as soon as they are posted online as “preprints” – ie before they have gone through the rigorous vetting process known as peer review. None of the studies that have been released meet the gold standard for demonstrating a drug’s effectiveness – a large-scale, double-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT), though multiple trials of that kind are under way.The limited evidence around hydroxychloroquine so far has come in a steady stream of scientific studies, often as soon as they are posted online as “preprints” – ie before they have gone through the rigorous vetting process known as peer review. None of the studies that have been released meet the gold standard for demonstrating a drug’s effectiveness – a large-scale, double-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT), though multiple trials of that kind are under way.
While the world awaits those results, here’s a guide to some of the studies released thus far:While the world awaits those results, here’s a guide to some of the studies released thus far:
The government must not ignore the “slave-like” conditions of migrant workers making rubber medical gloves in Malaysia in its rush to source protective equipment to keep frontline NHS staff safe from coronavirus, human rights groups say.
Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of rubber gloves, but the industry has been accused of grossly exploiting its workforce, mostly impoverished migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal.
Illegal recruitment fees, long hours, low pay, passport confiscation and squalid, overcrowded accommodation are commonplace, workers have claimed. Experts say such conditions leave them vulnerable to forced labour and debt bondage, which are modern forms of slavery.
Thailand reported 13 new coronavirus cases on Thursday and one more death, a 78-year-old woman who had other health complications.Of the new cases, five were linked to previous cases and five had no known links, Reuters reports. Three other new cases were reported from the southern island of Phuket where the authorities are aggressively testing the population because the infection rate there is severe, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,839 cases and 50 fatalities, while 2,430 patients have recovered and gone home.
How Covid-19 poured cold water on Netherlands’ EU romance
Isolated in a recent European Union council of ministers, with attitudes described by European leaders past and present as “repugnant”.
It sounds like an old script of Britain in the EU. Yet it is the Netherlands that has found itself at the heart of the union’s most bitter row during the coronavirus pandemic. As EU leaders meet on Thursday for their fourth virtual crisis summit in seven weeks, the Dutch will once again be in the vanguard of opposition to plans for big spending on the recovery:
Podcast: how do you find drugs to treat the Covid-19?
The world is on track for a recession of “unprecedented depth in the post-war period”, ratings agency Fitch says with world gross domestic product to tumble by 3.9% in 2020. “This is twice as large as the decline anticipated in our early April GEO [global economic outlook] update and would be twice as severe as the 2009 recession,” said Fitch’s chief economist.
South Korean economy shrinks 1.4% over coronavirus. South Korea’s economy saw its worst performance in more than a decade in the first quarter as the coronavirus epidemic raged across the country, the central bank said Thursday.
Trump signs immigration order. Trump said he had signed the order halting immigration to the US just before coming into the room to deliver the White House press briefing.
Trump also said his discouraged Georgia’s governor from reopening. The US president says he told Georgia governor Brian Kemp that he disagreed “very strongly” with the decision to reopen businesses in the state. “I think it’s too soon,” he says.
The US government will assess whether the World Health Organization is being run the way that it should be, the US Agency for International Development’s Acting Administrator John Barsa said on Wednesday.
Australia says all WHO members should participate in a coronavirus inquiry. All members of the World Health Organization (WHO) should cooperate with a proposed independent review into the spread of coronavirus, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Two pet cats in New York state have tested positive for the coronavirus, marking the first confirmed cases in companion animals in the US, federal officials said Wednesday.
Missing Wuhan citizen journalist reappears. A Chinese citizen journalist who was missing for almost two months after posting videos from Wuhan during the coronavirus outbreak has re-appeared, claiming that he was detained by police and forcibly quarantined.
World has ‘a long way to go’, warns WHO chief. The director general of the World Health Organizsation has said that there is still “a long way to go” in tackling the coronavirus crisis around the world.
Covid-19 infections in Singapore pass 10,000. The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Singapore has passed 10,000, despite concerted and strenuous attempts to contain the spread of the infection in the city state.
“US handling Covid-19 like 3rd world country,” says Nobel prize economist. Donald Trump’s botched handling of the Covid-19 crisis has left the US looking like a third world country and on course for a second Great Depression, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said.
The first coronavirus case has been recorded at among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The outbreak of the virus at crowded camps has been feared since the start of the crisis.
Spain announced it plans to phase out its lockdown in the second half of May. The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, also asked lawmakers to extend the country’s state of emergency until 9 May.
Germany approved its first human trials for a Covid-19 vaccine. 200 healthy people between 18 and 55 will receive several variants of the vaccine candidate.
Pope Francis called for unity among EU member states on the eve of European Ccouncil summit to discuss a huge but divisive economic stimulus package to respond to the coronavirus crisis. EU states have clashed repeatedly over financial responses to the epidemic.
At least 34 crew members have tested positive for coronavirus on a cruise ship docked in Japan for maintenance. The outbreak onboard the Italian-operated Costa Atlantica adds to concerns about testing and hospital capacity in Nagasaki, where only 102 beds are available.
Half of France’s working population has signed up to the country’s temporary unemployment scheme, according to the minister of labour, Muriel Pénicaud. 10.2 million private sector workers have applied for support, or one employee out of two and six companies out of 10, she said.
Coronavirus-related deaths in the UK may be as high as 41,000, according to a Financial Times analysis of the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Their findings include deaths that occurred outside hospitals updated to reflect recent mortality trends.
The European commission has said the UK was well aware of its coronavirus procurement initiative when it decided not to participate. Its account contradicts the UK government claim that a “misunderstanding” was to blame for the UK not getting involved.
Officials in Beijing dismissed the US state of Missouri’s move to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak as “nothing short of absurdity” and lacking any factual or legal basis.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, and need a little something to pick you up, this video, showing the perils of videoconferencing is truly one for the ages.
Wales’s health minister, Vaughan Gething apparently left his microphone live after addressing the assembly, the minister could be heard loudly decrying his fellow Labour assembly member Jenny Rathbone.
“What the fuck is the matter with her?” he said, before complaining about Rathbone’s questions in an earlier part of the session, which was held via Zoom.
Elin Jones, the assembly’s llywydd – equivalent to speaker – attempted to rescue the situation as Gething continued his rant.
“I think Vaughan Gething needs to turn his microphone off,” she said, to no avail.
Asian stock markets rose on Thursday as the combination of a rebound in crude prices from historic lows and the promise of more US government aid to cushion the coronavirus-ravaged economy helped calm nervous markets, Reuters reports.
Better-than-expected US corporate earnings also lifted equities, analysts said, though overall sentiment remained fragile as the pandemic cut a destructive path through the world economy.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan bounced from two-week lows to be up 0.5% at 460.43 points.Australian S&P/ASX added 0.4%, Chinese shares opened firm with the blue-chip index up 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.8%.The gains followed a strong overnight lead from Wall Street with the Dow up 2%, S&P 500 adding 2.3% and Nasdaq rising 2.8%.
All members of the World Health Organization (WHO) should cooperate with a proposed independent review into the spread of coronavirus, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.Morrison on Wednesday spoke with several world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump to canvass support for a review into the origins and spread of coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, Reuters reports. Escalating his calls, Morrison said all members of the WHO should be obliged to participate in a review.“If you’re going to a member of a club like the World Health Organization, there should be responsibilities and obligations attached to that,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.“We’d like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses... I would hope that any other nation, be it China or anyone else, would share that objective.”
And here’s South Korea’s response to the coronavirus pandemic explained in video form:
Test, trace, contain: how South Korea flattened its coronavirus curve
Late last week millions of South Koreans queued patiently at polling stations to cast their votes for a new national assembly.
Going out for dinner, let alone voting in a national election, would have seemed almost inconceivable weeks earlier when the coronavirus threatened to exact the same relentless toll on South Koreans as it has in the US and parts of Europe.
Long before politicians in Britain accepted that the illness posed a serious threat to public health, South Korea watched the rise in reported daily infections with growing alarm. After the country reported its case on 20 January, numbers initially remained low before climbing sharply, reaching a peak of 909 daily infections on 29 February.
Then something extraordinary happened. The steep rise in cases began to plateau. By late March, daily infections were being counted in the dozens, and then in single digits. In the space of a few weeks, South Korea had flattened the curve.