Babak Belurs

Kamis, 02 April 2020

Coronavirus: Health experts 'frustrated' by low UK virus testing - BBC News

Health officials say they are "frustrated" by a lack of progress in expanding UK coronavirus testing.

Prof Paul Cosford of Public Health England (PHE) said "everybody involved" is unhappy testing has not "got to the position yet that we need to get to".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to criticism of the UK's strategy by hailing screening as a solution to "unlock the puzzle" of coronavirus.

It came after the UK saw its biggest daily increase in deaths - 563.

As of 17:00 BST on Tuesday, the overall number of deaths from the virus in the UK was 2,352.

Mr Johnson, who is self-isolating in Downing Street after contracting the virus himself, has faced widespread criticism over his government's testing strategy - with around 13,000 tests available each day against a target of 25,000.

Prof Cosford said testing would hit 15,000 per day "imminently" and that PHE had played its part in ensuring tests were "available to support clinical treatment of patients who need it".

The government has confirmed that 2,000 NHS frontline staff out of half a million in England have been tested for coronavirus since the outbreak began.

Prof Cosford, PHE's emeritus medical director, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the figure was "nowhere near where we need to get to but it's a good start".

But Labour's Shami Chakrabarti said the slow pace of testing showed "a lack of clarity of what the plan is and how it is going to be executed".

Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick research institute - which will soon be able to conduct 500 Covid-19 tests a day - said a Dunkirk-style effort was needed to co-ordinate smaller laboratories and increase test numbers.

"We are a lot of little boats and the little boats can be effective," he said, referring to the evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches of the French city during World War Two.

He added: "The government has put some big boats, destroyers in place. That's a bit more cumbersome to get working and we wish them all the luck to do that, but we little boats can contribute as well."

In a video message on Twitter on Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson said that increased screening would be how the UK defeats the coronavirus.

"I want to say a special word about testing, because it is so important, and as I have said for weeks and weeks, this is the way through," he said.

"This is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle. This is how we will defeat it in the end."

Mr Johnson said more coronavirus testing would enable staff who were self-isolating - either because they had symptoms or shared a household with someone who was sick - to know if they were safe to work.

Antibody tests - which look for signs of immunity in the blood - could also show who had already had coronavirus and was therefore not at risk of being infected or passing the infection on to others, the prime minister said.

However, these tests are not yet ready for use and it is not clear when they will be.

On Wednesday, Dr Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England (PHE) medical director, said during Downing Street's daily coronavirus briefing that the "intention" was for testing for frontline staff to increase from "thousands to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks".

The prime minister's official spokesman said the government was working with NHS England, Public Health England and other organisations to boost test capacity with an additional network of labs and testing sites.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has held talks with industry figures, issuing what his department said was a "rallying call" to improve diagnostic capability.

However, some NHS trusts have said they are limited in the number of tests they can carry out due to continued shortages of swabs, reagents and testing kits.

One large English district hospital in the Midlands reported it was only able to test three staff members per day due to a lack of swabs, NHS Providers said.

Another trust in the West Midlands said that while it could carry out up to 300 tests per day, a shortage of reagent and testing kit availability meant only 20 were carried out daily.

Despite there being capacity for 12,750 daily tests, only 8,630 were taken on Monday, the prime minister's official spokesman said.

As of 9:00 on Wednesday, 152,979 people in the UK had been tested for the virus with 29,474 confirmed positive.

'Game-changer' test

Meanwhile, Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge has become the first in the UK to use a new, much quicker Covid-19 test for staff and patients.

Called Samba Two, it gives a result in just 90 minutes - as opposed to the 24 hours tests currently take - and has been adapted from an HIV test by a small Cambridge technology company.

Businessman and philanthropist Sir Chris Hohn, who is helping make the test more widely available, told the BBC it could be a "game-changer" in helping hospitals cope with the crisis.

In other developments:

Loan and credit card payments could be frozen to support those struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic
British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend around 36,000 staff due to the crisis
Some 950,000 new universal credit claims were made in just two weeks from the middle of March - the normal figure for a two-week period is 100,000
A third prisoner in the UK has died after contracting coronavirus at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire
Up to 3,000 armed forces reservists have been called up to aid the military response to the coronavirus pandemic
The Treasury is to announce changes to its emergency loans scheme for businesses by the end of the week - after thousands of struggling companies had their applications turned down
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has become the fourth cabinet minister to self-isolate
NHS 111 has responded to more than 1.7 million inquiries over the past 15 days from people concerned they might have symptoms of coronavirus
Wimbledon is cancelled and Uefa has suspended all Champions League and Europa League matches "until further notice"

Do you work in the NHS? Have you been tested? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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2020-04-02 10:30:00Z
52780704007123

'Shambles' and 'ridiculous': Why the UK media is scathing about the coronavirus-testing chaos - CNBC

London Ambulance staff members are seen with vehicles in the car park at the ExCeL London exhibition centre in London on April 1, 2020, which has been transformed into the NHS Nightingale Hospital to help with the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been forced to defend the lack of widespread coronavirus testing for frontline health professionals — a situation that has attracted widespread criticism from the public.

Making an online address on Twitter Wednesday, Johnson said testing was the key to solving the epidemic in the U.K., as it was revealed that only 2,000 frontline National Health Service (NHS) workers had been tested for the virus, out of around 500,000 NHS staff.

Johnson, who is himself self-isolating after testing positive for the virus, said that testing would be ramped up amid an outpouring of criticism from NHS workers, opposition parties and the media about the lack of testing.

'We're also massively increasing testing," Johnson said Wednesday. "This is the way through. This is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle. This is how we will defeat it in the end."

There are now 29,865 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.K. and 2,357 people have died from the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Government data released Wednesday showed that the U.K. had registered its biggest daily increase in deaths, of 563 people, in the previous 24 hours.

The two tests

There are two tests for coronavirus: one tests for antigens, which are produced by the body in response to a coronavirus infection and show if an individual has the virus; the other, an antibody test, shows whether an individual has been exposed to the virus, and has developed immunity to it.

The U.K. has been slow to implement widespread antigen testing as only a small number of U.K. laboratories have been enabled to carry out these tests. The Department of Health said yesterday that testing capacity for inpatients stands at 12,799 in England, with just over 10,000 tests being carried out Tuesday.

By contrast, in countries like Germany and South Korea, mass antigen testing has been a key strategy in their fight against the coronavirus outbreak, and appears to have kept the death rate relatively low. Germany, which has 67,377 confirmed cases of the virus but only 732 deaths, is estimated to be carrying out around 500,000 antigen tests a week. The U.K. has only been testing very symptomatic cases, unlike Germany.

Antibody tests for the frontline

So far, testing has been constrained to antigen tests that see whether an individual has the virus.

However, antibody testing is a key issue in the U.K. right now, as thousands of healthcare professionals are self-isolating at home because they — or their family members — have shown symptoms, but it is unknown whether or not they have the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Johnson said the government would "massively" ramp-up antibody testing as this test is seen as crucial to determining who is no longer vulnerable to being infected or contagious themselves, and is able to return to work. Health Minister Matt Hancock said last week that the government had ordered 3.5 million antibody tests.

Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, whose studies are informing U.K. government policy towards the pandemic, said on Monday that antibody tests were in the final stages of validation and would hopefully be ready "in days rather than weeks."

Scathing response

As well as widespread appeals from frontline healthcare professionals for more testing, the U.K. media was scathing Thursday, with even papers that are usually sympathetic to Johnson's government critical of the dire lack of testing.

The left wing Daily Mirror tabloid headlined their paper with one word: "Shambles," while the front page of the center-right paper, The Times, had the headline: "Virus testing plans in chaos."

Free daily, the Metro, called the testing strategy "ridiculous," while the Daily Mail newspaper, which generally supports the current Conservative government, headlined with the statistic of "550,000 NHS staff only 2,000 tested." The Telegraph, another center-right newspaper, also led with the headline of: "Questions without answers," referring to questions posed on the testing strategy at the government's daily press conference.

The opposition Labour Party called on the government Wednesday to publish a clear "national testing strategy."

There's already been a furor over the apparent lack of personal protective equipment (or PPE) for frontline hospital workers dealing with an influx of people suspected to have the coronavirus.

Johnson said the government had been sending 397 million separate pieces of PPE to hospitals around the country.

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2020-04-02 08:58:18Z
52780703885448

Grim one-day virus death toll for US, Spain, UK: Live updates - Al Jazeera English

Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States have all reported the highest number of deaths in a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US recorded 884 coronavirus deaths, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. It has also confirmed more than 213,000 cases of the disease.

In the UK, a further 563 people died from COVID-19, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a "sad, sad day".

In Spain, an additional 864 people died.

Globally, about 938,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, and some 194,000 have recovered. Nearly 47,000 people have died from the disease, which originated in China late last year.

Here are the latest updates:

Thursday, April 2

08:45 GMT - More than a quarter of UK firms have cut staff: Report

More than a quarter of British companies are reducing staff levels over the short term as the coronavirus crisis hits the country's economy, a newly published survey shows.

"Over a quarter (27 percent) of responding businesses said they were reducing staff levels in the short term, while 5 percent reported recruiting staff in the short term," the Office for National Statistics said.

08:30 GMT - Ugandan doctors say lockdown could cause more deaths

Ugandan health workers have accused the government of endangering the lives of expectant mothers and those in medical emergencies by requiring that all seek permission to secure transportation to hospitals.

President Yoweri Museveni imposed a virtual lockdown on Monday to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, including banning private cars from the roads during the 14-day period. He said the government would assist in transporting those who find themselves in medical emergencies to hospitals.

But there is no functioning public ambulance system for medical evacuations, with many pregnant women, as well as those injured in accidents or crime, often relying on private means to get rushed to hospitals.

"Other medical emergencies like maternal have not stopped because coronavirus has come," Ekwaro Obuku, a former head of Uganda’s national association of physicians, told Reuters news agency. "No mother in labour pains should ask for permission to deliver her baby. We will end up having unnecessary and preventable deaths."

Some countries make wearing surgical masks mandatory

08:15 GMT - Thailand to announce nationwide curfew starting Friday

Thailand is to announce a nationwide curfew between 10 pm and 4 am starting Friday to try to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the government has said in a statement.

The curfew will have some exceptions, including for the transport of medical supplies, movement of people into quarantine, patients and travel of medical personnel, according to the statement shown to reporters.

"The prime minister will make the announcement this evening on national television around 6 pm," deputy spokeswoman deputy spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek told Reuters news agency when reached by phone.

07:45 GMT - Russia cases jump to more than 3,500 in record daily rise

Russia's coronavirus case tally jumped has jumped to 3,548, a record daily increase of 771, according to Russia's crisis response centre.

Cases have been recorded in 76 of Russia's more than 80 regions, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 595 cases, the centre said. Thirty people have died across the country, it said

07:30 GMT - Top UK health official says 'everybody is frustrated' over stalled testing

One of the UK's top health officials has said there is widespread frustration within the government that the country was not testing enough people yet.

"Everybody involved is frustrated that we haven't got to the position yet that we need to get to," Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director of Public Health England, told BBC radio.

"But we've got up to almost 13,000 tests a day being available," he said.

07:20 GMT - Almost 900,000 Spanish workers lost their job since lockdown

Some 898,822 workers lost their jobs since March 12 in Spain, social security data showed on Thursday, more than half of which are temporary workers.

The number of people officially registered as unemployed in the country rose to 3.5 million in March, the highest level since April 2017.

07:15 GMT - Cyprus extends flight ban for another two weeks

Cyprus has extended a ban on commercial air links with 28 countries for another two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The ban, introduced on March 21 for a 14-day period, will remain for a further 14 days, Cypriot Minister of Transport Yiannis Karousos said in a tweet. He said the decision was dictated by the situation in Cyprus, and the "dramatic" situation in other European states.

Cyprus has recorded 320 coronavirus cases and nine deaths. It has imposed tough restrictions on movement, including a night curfew and allowing people to leave their homes only once a day with a special permit.

07:05 GMT - China says US officials made 'shameless' comments about its reporting

China's foreign ministry said US officials are making "shameless" comments casting doubt about China's reporting of coronavirus cases in the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a daily briefing that China has been open and transparent about the coronavirus outbreak that began in the country late last year, and accused the US of politicising a health issue, adding that the US should instead focus on the safety of its people.

The statement comes after the US intelligence community, in a classified report to the White House, concluded that China's reporting has been intentionally incomplete, according to media reports.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman said China has been open and transparent about the coronavirus outbreak [Aly Song/Reuters]

07:00 GMT - British Airways in union talks to suspend about 32,000 staff: Report

British Airways is in talks with its union to discuss a plan to suspend about 32,000 staff in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters news agency.

The British flag carrier has cut flights and warned it will need to cut jobs to survive the outbreak as the battered aviation sector scrambles to lower costs.

06:45 GMT - Greece quarantines migrant camp after positive test

Greece has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for coronavirus, the migration ministry has said.

Movement in and out of the Ritsona camp, 75 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Athens and home to some 2,500 people, will be restricted for 14 days the ministry said, adding that police would monitor implementation.

Sixty-three people were tested after a 19-year-old female migrant who gave birth in an Athens hospital was found to be infected, becoming the first recorded case among thousands of asylum seekers kept in overcrowded camps across the country. None of the confirmed cases had any symptoms, the ministry said.

A view of a refugee camp in Ritsona, northern of Athens, Greece, REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Thousands of asylum seekers are kept in overcrowded camps across Greece [File: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

06:40 GMT - Thailand reports 104 new cases, three new deaths

Thailand has reported 104 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 1,875 cases, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration has said.

Three new deaths in the country bring total deaths to 15, spokesman Taweesin Wisanuyothin said.

06:30 GMT - China says new deaths steady at six

China reported six new coronavirus deaths as of the end of Wednesday, the same number as the previous day.

China had 35 new cases on April 1, all of which were imported, the National Health Commission said.

06:15 GMT - New holiday for Indonesia to replace traditional Eid exodus?

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said the government is considering announcing a new national holiday to prevent the annual mass exodus that usually takes place at the end of the Muslim fasting month, Ramadan.

Widodo said at a cabinet meeting that measures could be put in place during the new holiday to help "bring some calm to the people".

Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara also told reporters that the government plans to give special assistance to residents of Jakarta this year to limit the exodus from the capital during the holiday period, which falls over April and May.

Nearly 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslim and usually return to their home villages at the end of Ramadan, buying new clothes and enjoying a feast with their families and friends.

06:00 GMT - Australia begins pre-clinical testing for vaccine

Australia's national science agency has said it commenced the first stage of testing potential vaccines for COVID-19, as it joins a global race to halt the coronavirus pandemic.

Pre-clinical testing by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), comprising injecting ferrets with two potential vaccines, was underway at its high-containment biosecurity facility near Melbourne.

The first phase will take around three months, CSIRO's director of health Rob Grenfell told Reuters news agency, adding that any resulting vaccine would not be available to the public before late next year. Human trials of one of the two vaccines being tested was expected to begin later this month or early next month.

Australia has reported around 5,200 cases and 24 deaths.

05:45 GMT - WHO expects Malaysia cases to peak mid-April

The number of coronavirus cases in Malaysia is expected to peak in mid-April, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, adding that there are signs of a flattening of the infection curve.

"Based on available data, the WHO Country Office has projected that Malaysia will see a peak in hospitalized cases in mid-April," Ying-Ru Lo, the WHO's head of mission and representative to Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore told Reuters news agency in emailed comments.

The number of critically ill patients is estimated to reach the peak within the next week, she said. There have been 2,908 confirmed cases in the country and 45 deaths.

Hello, this is Joseph Stepansky in Doha taking over from my colleague Kate Mayberry

05:30 GMT - Summary of this morning's developments

I will hand over the blog to my colleagues in Doha shortly.

A brief summary of developments this morning:

It seems the US will allow the passengers on board the Zaandam cruise ship, where there are a number of coronavirus cases, to disembark in Florida.
The US is also planning to evacuate sailors from its USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, which has reported cases of the virus. The ship is currently in Guam.
Australia is optimistic that its "stay at home" measures are helping slow the rate of infection.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being mocked for his plan to send two masks to each household in the country.

05:25 GMT - Health workers in the Philippines battle not only virus but stigma

The Philippines has the second-worst coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia, but the doctors and nurses on the front lines find themselves battling not only a virus, but the stigma of infection.

As Al Jazeera's Ana Santos reports from Manila, they have been turfed out of their homes, told not to board buses and refused service at stalls and restaurants.

05:05 GMT - Philippines ambassador to Lebanon dies of COVID-19

Bernardita Catalla, the Philippine ambassador to Lebanon, has died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Beirut.

Today, @DFAPHL lost one of its own. PH Ambassador to Lebanon Bernardita "Bernie" Catalla, a frontliner in our repatriation efforts, died from Covid19 in a Beirut hospital. A great loss to @DFAPHL & to our country. Our nation owes you a debt of gratitude. pic.twitter.com/Vh6nz96SE3
— Dodo Dulay (@dododulay) April 2, 2020

05:00 GMT - China sending flight to UK to bring students home

A chartered flight is currently on its way to London to collect a group of Chinese students who have been unable to return home. China has organised similar repatriation flights from countries including Italy and Iran.

The Chinese government says it has given out "health packages" with more than 11 million masks and 500,000 disinfecting products to Chinese students in hard-hit countries.

04:55 GMT - South Korea says 158 short-term visitors in isolation

South Korea says 158 short-term visitors have been isolated in designated facilities a day after it began enforcing two-week quarantines on everyone arriving from overseas.

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip on Thursday also said 224 South Korean nationals and 11 foreigners remained at the airport awaiting the results of virus tests after showing symptoms when they arrived in the country on Wednesday.

Eight foreign nationals were denied entry after they refused to accept the quarantine.

04:30 GMT - Germany cases rise to more than 73,500

Germany's Robert Koch Institute says the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 73,522 while 872 people have died of the disease.

Cases rose by 6,156 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 140.

04:15 GMT - Jazz great Ellis Marsalis dies from pneumonia at age of 85

Ellis Marsalis Jr, jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus, one of his sons said late on Wednesday.

"Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise," Ellis Marsalis III told Associated Press. "But it was pneumonia brought on by COVID-19."

The 85-year old jazz patriarch lived in New Orleans. Four of his six sons are musicians.

Ellis Marsalis, seen here at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival last year, died from pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus at the age of 85 [File: Sophia Germer/AP Photo]

04:00 GMT - Japan's Abe under attack over two-mask plan

People in Japan have responded to a promise by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to send two reusable cloth face masks to every household with mockery.

The hashtag "Abenomasks", a play on the prime minister's signature "Abenomics" economic policy, was trending on Twitter.

Japan Twitter reacts to Abe’s plan to distribute "2 masks per household" pic.twitter.com/m8yHipjtv7
— magdalena osumi 💁🏼‍♀️ (@jt_mag_os) April 2, 2020

02:35 GMT - Shenzhen announces sweeping ban on breeding, consuming wildlife

The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has issued the most sweeping ban yet on the breeding and consumption of wild animals.

The Shenzhen regulations permanently ban the trade in and consumption of wild animals, a step beyond the temporary ban issued by the central government at the start of the current outbreak. Along with snakes, lizards and other wild animals, it also bans the consumption of dog and cat meat.

Those who break the law risk fines reflecting the value of the wildlife seized, starting at 150,000 yuan ($21,400).

The coronavirus has been traced to a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals such as pangolins and civet cats, as well as more conventional fare such as chicken and fish.

02:30 GMT - Australia says it is slowing the spread of the coronavirus

Some good news from Australia, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the country is slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and parliament will reopen next Wednesday.

02:10 GMT - Trump says cruise ship passengers to be evacuated in Florida

US President Donald Trump says passengers on board the Zaandam cruise ship will be evacuated after it docks in Florida.

The Zaandam was anchored off Panama but was denied entry after passengers reported COVID-19 symptoms [Carlos Lemos/EPA]

The ship, where dozens have fallen ill from coronavirus, and at least two have died of it, has been barred from several South American countries.

The Zaandam and its sister ship, Rotterdam, are expected to enter US waters early on Thursday and dock in Fort Lauderdale.

Trump said the US was "sending medical teams on board the ships" and taking people off, after which non-Americans would be repatriated.

02:10 GMT - South Korea starts campaigning for parliamentary polls

South Korea started campaigning for the April 15 parliamentary elections on Thursday with the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, and its impact on the economy, expected to be among voters' key concerns.

There are 253 direct seats and 47 proportional seats up for grabs, with voters able to cast two ballots - one for a candidate and one for a political party, according to Yonhap news agency.

The government's response to the coronavirus outbreak is expected to be among voters' key concerns [Yonhap via Reuters]

01:55 GMT - HRW warns on Cambodia emergency powers

Human Rights Watch said Cambodia's emergency law could enable longtime prime minister Hun Sen to restrict all civil and political liberties, target the media and crack down on human rights defenders.

"These sweeping, undefined and unchecked powers should set off alarm bells among Cambodia's friends and donors," HRW's Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement.

The group urged Cambodia to submit a new draft prioritising public health and safeguarding basic rights. The bill is due to go to the one-party National Assembly next week.

00:15 GMT - Sailors to be taken off aircraft carrier by Friday: US Navy

Nearly 3,000 sailors on board a US aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by Friday, Navy officials said on Wednesday.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said some need to remain on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt to protect the ship and run critical systems.

He said about 1,000 have gone ashore and that number will grow to at least 2,700 in a couple of days. Just under 100 of the nearly 5,000 sailors on the ship, now docked in Guam, have tested positive for the virus.

00:00 GMT - Israel's health minister and his wife test positive for coronavirus

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus, his office said late on Wednesday.

The Health Ministry says the 71-year-old and his wife are feeling well, receiving medical care and will remain in isolation.

Litzman is the most senior Israeli official to be diagnosed with the virus and will continue to work from home.

----

I'm Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeera's continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read all the updates from yesterday (April 1) here.

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2020-04-02 09:20:29Z
CAIiEAoJ-XZZ0CPFRcDihMpgl2QqFAgEKgwIACoFCAowhgIwkDgw0O8B

Grim one-day virus death toll for US, Spain, UK: Live updates - Al Jazeera English

Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States have all reported the highest number of deaths in a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The US recorded 884 coronavirus deaths, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. It has also confirmed more than 213,000 cases of the disease.

In the UK, a further 563 people died from COVID-19, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a "sad, sad day".

In Spain, an additional 864 people died.

Globally, about 938,000 have been diagnosed with the virus, and some 194,000 have recovered. Nearly 47,000 people have died from the disease, which originated in China late last year.

Here are the latest updates:

Thursday, April 2

07:45 GMT - Russia cases jump to more than 3,500 in record daily rise

Russia's coronavirus case tally jumped has jumped to 3,548 , a record daily increase of 771, according to Russia's crisis response centre.

Cases have been recorded in 76 of Russia's more than 80 regions, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak with 595 cases, the centre said. Thirty people have died across the country, it said

07:30 GMT - Top UK health officials says 'everybody is frustrated' over stalled testing

One of the UK's top health officials has said there is widespread frustration within the government that the country was not testing enough people yet.

"Everybody involved is frustrated that we haven't got to the position yet that we need to get to," Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director of Public Health England, told BBC radio.

"We've got not as far as we've wanted to but we've got up to almost 13,000 tests a day being available," he said.

07:20 GMT - Almost 900,000 Spanish workers lost their job since lockdown

Some 898,822 workers lost their jobs since March 12 in Spain, social security data showed on Thursday, more than half of which are temporary workers.

The number of people officially registered as unemployed in the country rose to 3.5 million in March, the highest level since April 2017.

07:15 GMT - Cyprus extends flight ban for another two weeks

Cyprus has extended a ban on commercial air links with 28 countries for another two weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus.

07:05 GMT - China accuses US officials of making 'shameless' comments on data

China's foreign ministry has said that US officials are making "shameless" comments casting doubt about China's reporting of coronavirus cases in the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a daily briefing that China has been open and transparent about the coronavirus outbreak that began in the country late last year, and accused the US of politicising a health issue and that the country should instead focus on the safety of its people.

The statement comes after the US intelligence community, in a classified report to the White House, concluded that China's reporting has been intentionally incomplete, according to media reports.

People wearing face masks walk on a bridge in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak [Aly Song/Reuters]

07:00 GMT - British Airways in union talks to suspend about 32,000 staff: Report

British Airways is in talks with its union about a plan to suspend about 32,000 staff in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters news agency.

The British flag carrier has cut flights and warned it will need to cut jobs to survive the outbreak as the battered aviation sector frantically seeks to lower costs.

06:45 GMT - Greece quarantines migrant camp after positive test

Greece has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for coronavirus, the migration ministry has said.

Any movement in and out of the Ritsona camp, which is 75 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Athens and hosts up to 2,500 people, will be restricted for 14 days the ministry said, adding that police would monitor the implementation of the measures.

Tests on 63 people were conducted after a 19-year-old female migrant who gave birth in hospital in Athens was found infected, becoming the first recorded case among thousands of asylum seekers kept in overcrowded migrant camps across the country. None of the confirmed cases had any symptoms, the ministry said.

A view of a refugee camp in Ritsona, northern of Athens, Greece [File:Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

06:40 GMT - Thailand reports 104 new cases, three new deaths

Thailand has reported 104 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 1,875 cases, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration has said.

There were three new deaths in the country, bringing the total fatalities to 15 deaths, spokesman Taweesin Wisanuyothin said.

06:30 GMT - China says new deaths steady at six

China reported six new coronavirus deaths as of the end of Wednesday, the same number as the previous day.

China had 35 new coronavirus cases on April 1, all of which were imported, the National Health Commission has said.

06:15 GMT - New holiday for Indonesia to replace traditional Eid exodus?

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said the government is considering starting a new national holiday to prevent the annual mass exodus that usually takes place at the end of the Muslim fasting month.

Widodo said at a cabinet meeting that measures could be put in place during the new holiday to help "bring some calm to the people".

Minister Juliari Batubara also told reporters that the government plans to give special assistance to residents of Jakarta this year to limit the exodus from the capital during the holiday period, which falls over April and May.

Nearly 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslim and usually return to their home villages at the end of Ramadan, buying new clothes and enjoying a feast with their families and friends.

COVID-19: Hate crimes against Asians on the rise in US

06:00 GMT - Australia begins pre-clinical testing for vaccine

Australia's national science agency has it has commenced the first stage of testing potential vaccines for COVID-19, as it joins a global race to halt the coronavirus pandemic.

The first phase testing would take around three months, CSIRO's director of health Rob Grenfell told Reuters news agency, adding that any resulting vaccine would not be available to the public before late next year. Human trials of one of the two vaccine candidates being tested was expected to begin later this month or early next month.

Australia has reported around 5,200 cases and 24 deaths.

05:45 GMT - WHO expects Malaysia cases to peak in middle of April

The number of coronavirus cases in Malaysia is expected to peak in mid-April, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, adding that there are signs of a flattening of the infection curve.

The number of critically ill patients is estimated to reach the peak within the next week, she said. There have been 2,908 confirmed cases in the country and 45 deaths.

Hello, this is Joseph Stepansky in Doha taking over from my colleague Kate Mayberry

05:30 GMT - Summary of this morning's developments

I'm handing over the blog to my colleagues in Doha shortly.

A brief summary of developments this morning:

It seems the US will allowed the passengers on board the Zaandam cruise ship, where there are number of coronavirus cases, to disembark in Florida.
The US is also planning to evacuate sailors from its USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, which has also reported cases of the virus. It's currently in Guam.
Australia is optimistic that its 'stay at home' measures are helping slow the rate of infection.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become a target of mockery for his plan to send two masks to each household in the country.

05:25 GMT - Health workers in the Philippines battling not only virus but stigma

The Philippines is the location of the second worst outbreak of coronavirus in Southeast Asia, but the doctors and nurses on the front lines are battling not only a virus, but a stigma of infection.

As Al Jazeera's Ana Santos reports from Manila, they have been turfed out of their homes, told not to board buses and refused service at stalls and restaurants.

05:05 GMT - Philippines Ambassador to Lebanon dies from COVID-19

Bernardita Catalla, the Philippine ambassador to Lebanon, has died from COVID-19 at a hospital in Beirut.

Today, @DFAPHL lost one of its own. PH Ambassador to Lebanon Bernardita “Bernie” Catalla, a frontliner in our repatriation efforts, died from Covid19 in a Beirut hospital. A great loss to @DFAPHL & to our country. Our nation owes you a debt of gratitude. pic.twitter.com/Vh6nz96SE3
— Dodo Dulay (@dododulay) April 2, 2020

05:00 GMT - China sending flight to UK to bring students home

A chartered flight is currently on its way to London to collect a group of Chinese students who have beeb unable to return home, after organising similar repatriation flights from countries including Italy and Iran.

The Chinese government says it has given out “health packages” with more than 11 million masks and 500,000 disinfecting products to Chinese students in hard-hit countries.

04:55 GMT - South Korea says 158 short-term visitors in isolation

South Korea says 158 short-term visitors have been isolated in designated facilities a day after it began enforcing two-week quarantines on everyone arriving from overseas.

Eight foreigners were denied entry after they refused to accept the quarantine.

04:30 GMT - Germany cases rise to more than 73,500

Germany's Robert Koch Institute says the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 73,522 while 872 people have died of the disease.

Cases rose by 6,156 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 140.

04:15 GMT - Jazz great Ellis Marsalis dies from pneumonia at age of 85

"Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise," Ellis Marsalis III told Associated Press. "But it was pneumonia brought on by COVID-19."

The 85-year old jazz patriarch lived in New Orleans. Four of his six sons are musicians.

Ellis Marsalis, pictured during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival last year, died from pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus at the age of 85 [File: Sophia Germer/AP Photo]

04:00 GMT - Japan's Abe under attack over two-mask plan

People in Japan have responded to a promise by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to send two reusable cloth face masks to every household with mockery.

The hashtag "Abenomasks", a play on the prime minister's signature "Abenomics" economic policy, was trending on Twitter.

Japan Twitter reacts to Abe’s plan to distribute “2 masks per household” pic.twitter.com/m8yHipjtv7
— magdalena osumi 💁🏼‍♀️ (@jt_mag_os) April 2, 2020

02:35 GMT - Shenzhen announces sweeping ban on breeding and consumption of wildlife

The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has issued the most sweeping ban yet on the breeding and consumption of wild animals.

The coronavirus has been traced to a market in Wuhan that sold wild animals such as pangolins and civet cats, as well as more conventional fare such as chicken and fish.

Those who break the law risk fines reflecting the value of the wildlife seized, starting at 150,000 yuan ($21,400).

02:30 GMT - Australia says it is slowing the spread of the coronavirus

Some good news from Australia, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the country is slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and parliament will reopen next Wednesday.

02:10 GMT - Trump says cruise ship passengers to be evacuated in Florida

US President Donald Trump says passengers on board the Zaandam cruise ship will be evacuated after it docks in Florida.

The Zaandam was previously anchored off Panama but the ministry of health denied entry after people on board were reported with COVID-19 symptoms. It is expected to dock in Florida where passengers will be evacuated [Carlos Lemos/EPA]

The ship, where dozens of people have fallen ill from coronavirus, has been barred from several South American countries.

The Zaandam and its sister ship, Rotterdam, are expected to enter US waters early on Thursday and dock in in Fort Lauderdale.

Trump said the US was "sending medical teams on board the ships" and taking people off, with foreigners sent home.

02:10 GMT - South Korea starts campaigning for parliamentary polls

There are 253 direct seats and 47 proportional seats up for grabs, with voters able to cast two ballots - one for a candidate and one for a political party, according to Yonhap news agency.

An official from the National Election Commission checks candidates' posters as two weeks of campaigning gets underway for parliamentary elections on April 15 [Yonhap via Reuters]

01:55 GMT - Human Rights Watch warns on Cambodia emergency powers

Human Rights Watch has Cambodia's emergency law could enable longtime prime minister Hun Sen to restrict all civil and political liberties, target the media and crack down on human rights defenders.

"These sweeping, undefined and unchecked powers should set off alarm bells among Cambodia's friends and donors," HRW's Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement.

The group urged Cambodia to submit a new draft prioritising public health and safeguarding basic rights. The bill is due to go to the one-party National Assembly next week.

00:15 GMT - Sailors to be taken off aircraft carrier by Friday: US Navy

Nearly 3,000 sailors on board a US aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by Friday, Navy officials said on Wednesday.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said some need to remain on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt to protect the ship and run critical systems.

"We cannot and will not remove all sailors from the ship," Modly told Pentagon reporters.

At least 100 sailors on US aircraft carrier contract COVID-19

00:00 GMT - Israel's health minister and his wife test positive for coronavirus

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said late on Wednesday.

The Health Ministry says the 71-year-old and his wife are feeling well, receiving medical care and will remain in isolation.

Litzman is the most senior Israeli official to be diagnosed with the virus and will continue to work from home.

----

I'm Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeera's continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read all the updates from yesterday (April 1) here.

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2020-04-02 08:16:52Z
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Rabu, 01 April 2020

Coronavirus: UK deaths rise to 2,352 amid rush to test medics - BBC News

The government is facing growing pressure to ramp up coronavirus testing, as the UK saw its biggest daily increase in deaths.

Some 2,352 virus patients have died in hospital as of 17:00 on Tuesday - up 563 in a day, the latest figures show.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said testing was "massively increasing" and it was "the way through" the pandemic.

A doctor who came out of retirement to volunteer for the NHS became the fourth UK medic to die with the virus.

Dr Alfa Sa'adu had been volunteering at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn when he contracted coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19.

His son Dani Saadu posted online that his dad had died after "fighting the virus for two weeks".

"The NHS were amazing and did everything they could," he said.

"My dad was a living legend, worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years saving people's lives here and in Africa."

In a video message posted on Twitter, the prime minister said Wednesday had been a "sad, sad day".

Mr Johnson also reiterated the government's commitment to "ramp up" testing, saying: "This is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle. This is how we will defeat it in the end," he said.

'Up-tick' in car journeys

Dr Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England medical director, told a daily coronavirus briefing in Downing Street that the UK was not in "as severe" a position as Spain, the US or Italy, but added there was "no reason to be complacent".

She said while the spread of the virus was most advanced in London, the Midlands region - where more than 3,500 people have tested positive for the virus - was "obviously a concern" too.

Dr Doyle added while use of public transport had gone down since the government enforced social distancing measures, an "up-tick" in motor vehicle use in the last 24 hours was "slightly concerning". She urged members of the public to stay home to "protect the NHS".

'Hundreds of thousands' of tests promised

The government has been under pressure to increase the screening of medics, so that those who are self-isolating unnecessarily can return to work.

More than 3,500 NHS frontline staff in England and Wales have been tested for the virus since the outbreak began.

But cabinet minister Michael Gove said a shortage of chemicals needed for the tests meant the NHS - which employs 1.2m in England - could not screen all workers.

Dr Doyle said there was currently capacity for about 3,000 tests a day for frontline NHS staff.

She said the "intention" was for testing for frontline staff to increase from "thousands to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks".

Have things got worse?

Just yesterday health officials were talking about "green shoots" amid signs the virus maybe plateauing.

Yet today we have seen a big rise in deaths. Have things got worse?

Not necessarily. We know the number of deaths are going to go up - that is to be expected.

What matters is the trend over a few days - not what happens over the course of 24 hours.

Any signs of progress will be seen in the number of cases first.

For the past five days the new cases has been hovering between 2,500 and 3,000 each day.

Now it has gone up by 4,300. That is a substantial rise, but over the course of the past week the trajectory has still slowed from what it had been.

All eyes will be on what happens in the next few days to see if the hope of a slow down was misplaced.

The BBC's head of statistics Robert Cuffe said the latest increases in the number of patients dying with coronavirus balance out with the below-average rises on Sunday and Monday.

He said the number of new deaths has been increasing at a slightly slower rate than earlier in the epidemic, "but if that keeps up, we'd expect to see in the region of a thousand deaths a day by the weekend".

Joining Dr Doyle in the Downing Street briefing, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said financial support packages introduced by the government were beginning to help ease the economic impact of the pandemic on businesses.

He said: "Just as the taxpayer stepped in to help the banks in 2008, we will help the banks to do everything they can to repay that favour and support the businesses and people of the UK in their time of need."

Mr Sharma added Chancellor Rishi Sunak would give more information "in the coming days" on how businesses will be supported further.

Downing Street said 390 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, alcohol wipes and aprons, have been delivered to NHS staff over the last two weeks.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said the government was working with a number of suppliers which had come forward with offers of PPE, or proposals to manufacture more.

It follows criticism from some frontline workers over the lack of protective equipment, with staff at one hospital in Essex warning they could "limit services" to patients with coronavirus "to a bare minimum" over fears for their own safety.

The prime minister's spokesperson also said the NHS will be sent 30 new ventilators next week and promised "hundreds" more would follow.

The NHS is reported to have 8,175 ventilators and the government believes up to 30,000 ventilators could be needed at the peak of the pandemic.

In other developments:

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has written to Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons, to ensure Parliament can operate "virtually" in the event social distancing measures remain in place on 21 April, when MPs plan to return to work
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace became the fourth cabinet minister to have to self-isolate
In the past 15 days, NHS 111 has responded to more than 1.7 million inquiries from people concerned they might have symptoms of coronavirus
Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War Two because of the pandemic
All Champions League and Europa League matches have been suspended "until further notice" by Uefa
The Edinburgh Festival, due to take place in August, has also been cancelled
The Ministry of Defence said 80 armed forces personnel would be sent to staff ambulances and 999 call centres across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Surrey
Some of the UK's biggest banks have agreed to scrap dividend payments and hold onto the cash, which may be needed during the coronavirus crisis
New research suggests a loss of smell or taste may be a sign that you have coronavirus
The DWP say there have been 950,000 new Universal Credit claims from the mid-March shutdown until 31 March - the normal figure for a two-week period is 100,000
Pregnant prisoners could be granted temporary release from prison "within days" to protect them and their unborn children from the virus.

Do you work in the NHS? Have you been tested? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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2020-04-01 19:25:01Z
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Coronavirus: UK deaths rise to 2,352 amid rush to test medics - BBC News

A further 563 patients with coronavirus have died in the UK, taking the total number of deaths in hospitals to 2,352.

The Department of Health said 29,474 people have tested positive for the virus, up 4,324 since Tuesday.

Following criticism, the government said it hopes to increase daily tests for frontline workers from "thousands to hundreds of thousands" within weeks.

A doctor who came out of retirement to volunteer for the NHS became the fourth UK medic to die with the virus.

Dr Alfa Sa'adu had been volunteering at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn when he contracted the virus, which causes the disease Covid-19.

His son Dani Saadu posted online that his dad had died after "fighting the virus for two weeks".

"The NHS were amazing and did everything they could," he said.

"My dad was a living legend, worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years saving people's lives here and in Africa."

'Up tick' in car journeys

Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE medical director, told a daily coronavirus briefing in Downing Street that the UK was not in "as severe" a position as Spain, the US or Italy, but added there was "no reason to be complacent".

She said while the spread of coronavirus was most advanced in London, the Midlands region - where more than 3,500 people have tested positive for the virus - was "obviously a concern" too.

Dr Doyle added while use of public transport had gone down since the government enforced social distancing measures, there had been an "up-tick" in motor transport. She urged members of the public to stay home to "protect the NHS".

'Hundreds of thousands' of tests promised

The government has been under pressure to increase the screening of medics, so that those who are self-isolating unnecessarily can return to work.

More than 3,500 NHS frontline staff in England and Wales have been tested for the virus since the outbreak began but cabinet minister Michael Gove said a shortage of chemicals needed for the tests meant the NHS - which employs 1.2m in England - could not screen all its staff for the virus.

Dr Doyle said there was currently capacity for about 3,000 tests a day for frontline NHS staff, which will increase.

She said the "intention" was for testing for frontline staff to increase from "thousands to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks".

No 10 said test capacity would increase with an additional network of labs and testing sites.

The PM's official spokesman said the government was "working with NHS England, Public Health England and others to ensure that happens".

The latest increase in the number of people who have died relates to the 24 hours up to 17:00 BST on Tuesday.