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Coronavirus live news: Sweden sees third consecutive day of over 1,000 new cases; virus 'under control' in France Coronavirus live news: WHO reverses stance on masks and urges countries not to relax
(32 minutes later)
Brazil death toll passes Italy; New York urges protesters to get tested; Turkey announces weekend lockdown in 15 cities Sweden sees third consecutive day of over 1,000 new cases; virus ‘under control’ in France; Brazil death toll passes Italy; New York urges protesters to get tested
The World Health Organization’s eastern Medit Hydroxychloroquine does not work against Covid-19 and should not be given to any more hospital patients around the world, say the leaders of the biggest and best-designed trial of the drug, which experts will hope finally settle the question, writes Sarah Boseley, the Guardian’s health editor.
“If you are admitted to hospital, don’t take hydroxychloroquine,” said Martin Landray, the deputy chief investigator of the Recovery trial and professor of medicine and epidemiology at Oxford University. “It doesn’t work.”
Many countries have permitted emergency use of the drug for Covid-19 patients in hospitals, following claims from a few doctors, including Didier Raoult in France, that it was a cure and the ensuing clamour from the public. President Donald Trump backed the drug, saying it should be given to patients and later said he was personally taking it to protect himself from the virus.
Landray said the hype should now stop. “It is being touted as a game-changer, a wonderful drug, a breakthrough. This is an incredibly important result because worldwide we can stop using a drug that is useless.”
The first results from the Recovery trial, which has been testing seven therapies for Covid-19, swiftly followed the retraction of a paper in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday night that claimed hydroxychloroquine was linked to an increased risk of death in Covid-19 patients. The authors of the paper withdrew it after the US company Surgisphere refused to cooperate with an independent audit of the data it had supplied for the study. A Guardian investigation had showed serious errors in the data and raised questions about Surgisphere and its CEO.
The World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterreanean office has tweeted a breakdown of coronavirus statistics from member states.
The politicisation of the coronavirus crisis and the Brazilian government’s deliberate “torpedoing” of social distancing efforts has condemned South America’s largest country to a historic tragedy that will most punish the poor, Brazil’s most respected medical voice has said, writes Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, in Rio de Janeiro.The politicisation of the coronavirus crisis and the Brazilian government’s deliberate “torpedoing” of social distancing efforts has condemned South America’s largest country to a historic tragedy that will most punish the poor, Brazil’s most respected medical voice has said, writes Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, in Rio de Janeiro.
As Brazil’s death toll surpassed that of Italy, Drauzio Varella told the Guardian that historians would be unkind to president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing international condemnation for his handling of the pandemic.As Brazil’s death toll surpassed that of Italy, Drauzio Varella told the Guardian that historians would be unkind to president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing international condemnation for his handling of the pandemic.
“I think history will ascribe to him a level of guilt that I really wouldn’t want for myself,” said Varella, an oncologist, author and broadcaster who is a household name thanks to decades of public health activism.“I think history will ascribe to him a level of guilt that I really wouldn’t want for myself,” said Varella, an oncologist, author and broadcaster who is a household name thanks to decades of public health activism.
Only two countries, the US and the UK, have lost more lives, and Brazil seems poised to overtake the latter. Brazil has confirmed 615,000 cases, second only to the US.Only two countries, the US and the UK, have lost more lives, and Brazil seems poised to overtake the latter. Brazil has confirmed 615,000 cases, second only to the US.
“Because in Brazil we are already the third country in the world in terms of deaths, we will soon become the second, and we are going to come close to the level of mortality in the US, which has 330 million citizens – that’s 60% larger than Brazil’s population,” predicted Varella.“Because in Brazil we are already the third country in the world in terms of deaths, we will soon become the second, and we are going to come close to the level of mortality in the US, which has 330 million citizens – that’s 60% larger than Brazil’s population,” predicted Varella.
“The situation couldn’t be worse. It just couldn’t.”“The situation couldn’t be worse. It just couldn’t.”
The coronavirus crisis “is not over” and will not be “until there is no virus anywhere in the world,” the World Health Organization said on Friday, as it warned of “upticks” in some countries.The coronavirus crisis “is not over” and will not be “until there is no virus anywhere in the world,” the World Health Organization said on Friday, as it warned of “upticks” in some countries.
The epicentre of the pandemic is currently in countries of central, south and north America, particularly the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.The epicentre of the pandemic is currently in countries of central, south and north America, particularly the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
“On upticks (in cases), yes we have seen in countries around the world - I’m not talking specifically about Europe - when the lockdowns ease, when the social distancing measures ease, people sometimes interpret this as ‘OK, it’s over’,” Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva.“On upticks (in cases), yes we have seen in countries around the world - I’m not talking specifically about Europe - when the lockdowns ease, when the social distancing measures ease, people sometimes interpret this as ‘OK, it’s over’,” Harris told a UN briefing in Geneva.
“It’s not over. It’s not over until there is no virus anywhere in the world,” she said.“It’s not over. It’s not over until there is no virus anywhere in the world,” she said.
Referring to demonstrations since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis 10 days ago, Harris said that protesters must take precautions. “We have certainly seen a lot of passion this week, we’ve seen people who have felt the need to be out and to express their feelings,” she added. “We ask them to remember still protect yourself and others.”Referring to demonstrations since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis 10 days ago, Harris said that protesters must take precautions. “We have certainly seen a lot of passion this week, we’ve seen people who have felt the need to be out and to express their feelings,” she added. “We ask them to remember still protect yourself and others.”
There were 85 new coronavirus fatalities in Italy on Friday, down from 88 on Wednesday, while new infections leapt by 518, up from 177 within the last 24 hours, writes Angela Giuffrida, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent.There were 85 new coronavirus fatalities in Italy on Friday, down from 88 on Wednesday, while new infections leapt by 518, up from 177 within the last 24 hours, writes Angela Giuffrida, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent.
The majority of the new infections – 402 – were in the worst affected Lombardy region, according to the figures from the civil protection authority. Over 19,000 tests were carried out in Lombardy in a day, compared to 3,410 on Thursday.The majority of the new infections – 402 – were in the worst affected Lombardy region, according to the figures from the civil protection authority. Over 19,000 tests were carried out in Lombardy in a day, compared to 3,410 on Thursday.
Since 18 May, people have been able to go to bars, restaurants and shops and since Wednesday they have been free to travel beyond their regions. The infection rate across Italy’s 19 other regions has so far been steadily declining, with several registering zero daily cases.Since 18 May, people have been able to go to bars, restaurants and shops and since Wednesday they have been free to travel beyond their regions. The infection rate across Italy’s 19 other regions has so far been steadily declining, with several registering zero daily cases.
The number of people currently infected with the virus decreased by 1,453 to 36,976 on Friday. Italy has so far registered 234,531 coronavirus cases, including 33,774 deaths 163,781 recoveries.The number of people currently infected with the virus decreased by 1,453 to 36,976 on Friday. Italy has so far registered 234,531 coronavirus cases, including 33,774 deaths 163,781 recoveries.
A major trial of hydroxychloroquine has found it has “no benefit” for patients hospitalised with the coronavirus, researchers said Friday, announcing they had stopped tests of the drug.A major trial of hydroxychloroquine has found it has “no benefit” for patients hospitalised with the coronavirus, researchers said Friday, announcing they had stopped tests of the drug.
The chief investigators in the Recovery trial, which is run by the University of Oxford and is testing a number of potential treatments for the new coronavirus, said in a statement:The chief investigators in the Recovery trial, which is run by the University of Oxford and is testing a number of potential treatments for the new coronavirus, said in a statement:
Hydroxychloroquine, an old malaria and rheumatoid arthritis drug, has been touted by many, including the US president, Donald Trump, as a potential treatment or prophylactic for coronavirus infection.Hydroxychloroquine, an old malaria and rheumatoid arthritis drug, has been touted by many, including the US president, Donald Trump, as a potential treatment or prophylactic for coronavirus infection.
The announcement comes in the same week that the World Health Organization (WHO) restarted its trials of hydroxychloroquine after they were temporarily halted because of a now-retracted study in The Lancet medical journal.The announcement comes in the same week that the World Health Organization (WHO) restarted its trials of hydroxychloroquine after they were temporarily halted because of a now-retracted study in The Lancet medical journal.
The UK became the second country to officially record more than 40,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, as health officials said another 357 people who had tested positive for the virus have died.The UK became the second country to officially record more than 40,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, as health officials said another 357 people who had tested positive for the virus have died.
So far, 40,261 deaths due to the virus have been recorded, giving the UK the world’s second-highest pandemic death toll behind the United States.So far, 40,261 deaths due to the virus have been recorded, giving the UK the world’s second-highest pandemic death toll behind the United States.
The actual Covid-19 death toll is widely considered to be higher as the total only includes those who have tested positive for the virus.The actual Covid-19 death toll is widely considered to be higher as the total only includes those who have tested positive for the virus.
According to the department of health, 1,650 more people were recorded as testing positive for the coronavirus, pushing the country’s total caseload up to 283,311.According to the department of health, 1,650 more people were recorded as testing positive for the coronavirus, pushing the country’s total caseload up to 283,311.
On Friday, leading medics and scientists called on the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to order a public inquiry to prepare Britain for a second wave of the coronavirus this winter, warning that many more will die unless the country improves its response.On Friday, leading medics and scientists called on the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to order a public inquiry to prepare Britain for a second wave of the coronavirus this winter, warning that many more will die unless the country improves its response.
Universities and colleges will reopen in Zambia next week, more than two months after they were closed as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.Universities and colleges will reopen in Zambia next week, more than two months after they were closed as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.
On Friday the minister for higher education, Brian Mushimba, said classes would resume from 8 June, with graduating students who are writing final examinations the first to go back.On Friday the minister for higher education, Brian Mushimba, said classes would resume from 8 June, with graduating students who are writing final examinations the first to go back.
Other students would have to continue with online learning for the time being, Mushimba was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua news agency.Other students would have to continue with online learning for the time being, Mushimba was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua news agency.
Covid-19 preventative measures would still be mandatory, including instructions to students to bring their own face masks, hand sanitisers and soap with them to campus.Covid-19 preventative measures would still be mandatory, including instructions to students to bring their own face masks, hand sanitisers and soap with them to campus.
Police in Paris cited ongoing health risks related to the coronavirus pandemic as they banned a demonstration against police brutality planned to take place outside the city’s US embassy on Saturday, Reuters reports.Police in Paris cited ongoing health risks related to the coronavirus pandemic as they banned a demonstration against police brutality planned to take place outside the city’s US embassy on Saturday, Reuters reports.
Trouble broke out at another anti-police demonstration in the French capital on Wednesday. Thousands had turned up despite a police ban on the event in memory of Adama Traore, a 24-year old black Frenchman who died in a 2016 police operation which some have likened to Floyd’s death.Trouble broke out at another anti-police demonstration in the French capital on Wednesday. Thousands had turned up despite a police ban on the event in memory of Adama Traore, a 24-year old black Frenchman who died in a 2016 police operation which some have likened to Floyd’s death.
On Monday, more than half of Spain will enter the fourth and final phase of the country’s lockdown de-escalation, the government announced on Friday, writes Sam Jones, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent.On Monday, more than half of Spain will enter the fourth and final phase of the country’s lockdown de-escalation, the government announced on Friday, writes Sam Jones, the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent.
However, the 52% of Spaniards in the last stage will not include those in the Madrid region or the Barcelona metropolitan area - the two parts of the country hit hardest by Covid-19.However, the 52% of Spaniards in the last stage will not include those in the Madrid region or the Barcelona metropolitan area - the two parts of the country hit hardest by Covid-19.
Along with many other regions, they will instead proceed to the penultimate phase, in which groups of up to 15 people can meet.Along with many other regions, they will instead proceed to the penultimate phase, in which groups of up to 15 people can meet.
People living in areas in the final phase, such as Andalucía, the Balearic islands and the Canary islands, can once again eat inside restaurants as long as social distancing is practised, while shops, cinemas and theatres can open at 50% capacity.People living in areas in the final phase, such as Andalucía, the Balearic islands and the Canary islands, can once again eat inside restaurants as long as social distancing is practised, while shops, cinemas and theatres can open at 50% capacity.
Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, appealed for people to continue to behave responsibly so that the progress made during the lockdown was not squandered, adding: “The virus is still around.”Spain’s health minister, Salvador Illa, appealed for people to continue to behave responsibly so that the progress made during the lockdown was not squandered, adding: “The virus is still around.”
On Wednesday, the Spanish congress approved a sixth and final extension of the state of emergency, which is now set to end on June 22.On Wednesday, the Spanish congress approved a sixth and final extension of the state of emergency, which is now set to end on June 22.
Spain is due to reopen to foreign tourists from 1 July.Spain is due to reopen to foreign tourists from 1 July.
People over 60 or with health issues should wear a medical-grade mask when they are out and cannot socially distance, according to new guidance from the World Health Organization, while all others should wear a three-layer fabric mask, writes Sarah Boseley, the Guardian’s health editor.
The UK may have to rethink its advice following the significant change of stance by the WHO, which until now has been reluctant to advocate the wearing of masks by the public because of limited evidence that they offer protection.
On Thursday, UK ministers announced it would be mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport from 15 June, but these coverings can be simply T-shirts or scarves.
The new WHO guidance, announced on Friday, is a result of research commissioned by the organisation. It is still unknown whether the wearers of masks are protected, say its experts, but the new design it advocates does give protection to other people if properly used.
The fashion question de nos jours would have been unimaginable four months ago,. Namely: how do I quickly find a face mask that does not scare my children or make me look like Bane in the Dark Knight Rises?
Clearly the use of face masks is primarily a public health issue, and not a style one writes Hannah Marriott, the Guardian’s fashion editor. But it would be better if your face mask – your de facto first impression for the next who-knows-how-long – did not make you feel any weirder than you already do.
In the US, Donald Trump is giving a press conference to celebrate the unexpectedly good unemployment news there. You can follow that live on our US live blog here:
Figures released today showed Covid-19’s devastating assault on the US economy waned in May as the unemployment rate dipped to 13.3% and the US added another 2.5m jobs.
The latest tally follows the loss of 20m jobs in April when unemployment hit 14.7%. In February the unemployment rate was just 3.5%.
Some had predicted an increase in unemployment to about 20% today.
Ireland is accelerating the relaxation of lockdown restrictions by expanding the travel limit and reopening shops, playgrounds, libraries and other facilities from Monday.
The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, struck an upbeat tone in Ireland’s fight against Covid-19 by quoting Samwise Gamgee, a hobbit in Lord of the Rings. “But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.”
The announcement on Friday came amid a sharp fall in new cases - fewer than a hundred each day for the past 12 days – and evidence the reproduction number remains well below 1. Some business leaders, politicians and commentators had voiced concern that the lockdown exit strategy was too slow and conservative.
Varadkar said the roadmap will be speeded up and shortened from five to four phases. “Summer is not lost and this can be a summer of hope if we keep the virus at bay.”
From Monday, the start of the second phase, all retail stores can reopen, but with staggered opening times. The 5km travel limit will expand to let people travel within their county or up to 20km from home, whichever is greater.
Groups of up to 6 people will be able to interact indoors or outdoors as long as they keep at least 2m apart. Groups of up to 15 can meet for outdoor sporting activities. Those aged over 70 or medically vulnerable can receive a small number of visitors at home.
Public libraries, playgrounds, outdoor camps for children, marts and greyhound racing can also resume. Up to 25 people will be allowed to attend funerals. Hairdressers, beauticians and barbers must wait until 20 July to reopen.
In earlier, more sombre pandemic-related speeches Varadkar quoted Seamus Heaney. On Friday he quoted Cicero before channeling JRR Tolkien.
Patients who have died or been admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 have been found to be deficient in a vitamin found in spinach, eggs and hard and blue cheeses, raising hopes that dietary change might be one part of the answer to combating the disease, writes Daniel Boffey in Brussels.
Researchers studying patients who were admitted to the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital in the Dutch city of Nijmegen have extolled the benefits of vitamin K after discovering a link between deficiency and the worst coronavirus outcomes.
Covid-19 causes blood clotting and leads to the degradation of elastic fibres in the lungs. Vitamin K, which is ingested through food and absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, is key to the production of proteins that regulate clotting and can protect against lung disease.
The Dutch researchers are now seeking funding for a clinical trial, but Dr Rob Janssen, a scientist working on the project, said that in light of the initial findings he would encourage a healthy intake of vitamin K, except to those on blood-clotting medications such as warfarin.
He said: “We are in a terrible, horrible situation in the world. We do have an intervention which does not have any side effects, even less than a placebo. There is one major exception: people on anti-clotting medication. It is completely safe in other people.”
The EU has pledged to lift border controls inside its territory by the end of the month while extending a ban on travellers coming from outside the bloc until 1 July.
The extension of the ban on non-essential travel by foreign nationals into the EU’s border free-travel zone was approved by the EU’s 27 home affairs ministers on Friday by video conference.
The travel ban, which had been due to expire on 15 June, applies to all non-EU countries, with exemptions for citizens from EU-associated countries – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. British travellers also remain exempt from the ban but face two-week quarantine requirements from some European governments.
The EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, told journalists that “almost all member states” had expressed “a strong preference for a further but short prolongation” of the travel ban. Countries had agreed a “gradual and strictly coordinated lifting” of the restriction from July, she said.
The commander of US forces in Japan has accused China of using the coronavirus crisis as a cover for a surge in naval activity to push territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In a telephone interview with the Reuters news agency, Lieutenant General Kevin Schneider said there had been a surged of activity by China, with navy ships, coast guard vessels and a naval militia of fishing boats in harassing vessels in waters claimed by Beijing.
“Through the course of the Covid crisis we saw a surge of maritime activity,” he told Reuters in a phone interview. He said Beijing had also increased its activity in the East China Sea, where it has a territorial dispute with Japan.
Beijing’s increased level of activity would likely continue, predicted Schneider: “I don’t see troughs, I see plateaus,” he said.
China says its maritime activities in the area are peaceful. The press office at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo was not immediately available to comment outside of normal business hours, Reuters said.
Japan hosts the biggest concentration of US forces in Asia, including an aircraft carrier strike group, an amphibious expeditionary force and fighter squadrons. In addition to defending Japan, they are deployed to deter China from expanding its influence in the region, including in the South China Sea.
Peru is beginning the second phase of its economic reopening on Friday, even as its ongoing coronavirus outbreak showed little signs of slowing, with 4,284 new confirmed cases reported on Thursday.
The president, Martin Vizcarra, announced the second phase of lockdown easing on Thursday, after his council of ministers approved a presidential decree calling for the restart of economic activity.
Peru is the second-worst affected country in Latin America, the region which the World Health Organisation has said is now at the centre of the global coronavirus pandemic. In spite of an early and strictly enforced lockdown it has so far reported a total of 183,198 coronavirus infections and 5,031 deaths from Covid-19 - 137 of which were reported on Thursday.
The economic shutdown has caused widespread hardship in Peru, where much of the population survives from working in the informal economy. Vizcarra’s plan is for 80% of the country’s economy to resume operation from Friday. During lockdown, the economy has been operating at 50% capacity, which Vizcarra said was “not enough to sustain 100%” of the country’s needs.
“We want to raise it to 100% and then even see growth on top of that,” Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Vizcarra as saying.
Among the sectors scheduled to return to work from Friday were small and medium-size mining enterprises, feed-making for animals, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, footwear production, printing, and medical tools manufacturing and repair, services including legal and accounting firms, architecture and engineering companies, as well as some retail.
Sweden reported another large rise in new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with the 1,056 positive tests reported by the public health agency marking the third day the country’s caseload had increased by more than a thousand.
While a bumper report of 2,214 cases on Wednesday was partly explained by a lab releasing a backlog of results, on Thursday, after another 1,084 cases were reported, the public health agency said the rise in cases could not wholly be explained by increased testing.
The agency’s chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, told a news conference on Thursday that the increases in new cases was seen primarily in Western Sweden and among younger people.
Sweden has now recorded 42,939 cases of coronavirus, and 4,639 deaths after another 77 deaths were reported on Friday - not all of which will have occurred within the past 24 hours due to reporting delays from local areas. The death rate remains well below a peak reached towards the end of April.
The Swedish approach to tackling the coronavirus has been described as “light touch”, with shops, gyms and restaurants allowed to stay open, and the public simply asked to avoid non-essential travel or venturing out if unwell.
Lockdown sceptics who thought that the kinds of lockdown measures seen elsewhere in Europe had gone to far have hailed the strategy. But criticism has been mounting after the per capita death rate in the country far exceeded its close neighbours.
Earlier this week, Sweden’s coronavirus death rate surpassed that of France. However, it remains well below the UK, Italy, Spain and Belgium - all countries which have enforced curbs on freedoms in attempts to contain the spread of the disease.
Covid-19’s devastating assault on the US economy waned in May as the unemployment rate dipped to 13.3% and the US added another 2.5m jobs, writes Dominic Rushe, for the Guardian US, in New York.
The surprise news follows the loss of 20m jobs in April when unemployment hit 14.7%. Economists had been expecting a rise to as high as 20%.
But the rate is still historically high. In February the unemployment rate was just 3.5%. A decade’s worth of gains made in the labor market since the last recession have been erased in just three months.
All 50 states have now begun easing quarantine restrictions and the pace of this unprecedented hollowing has now slowed as some have returned to work but uncertainties remain.
Weekly unemployment claims have plummeted from a frightening peak of 6.6m in April to 1.9m last week but Jason Reed, a professor of finance at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said the numbers were still huge. He worried America is now witnessing a shift from temporary to permanent layoffs.
While the unemployment rate remains well above the 10% peak in the last recession, president Donald Trump was quick to hail victory. “Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!” he wrote on Twitter.