LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.
A cyclist passes by a graffiti alluding to the coronavirus, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 11, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in 210 countries since the first cases were identified in China in December last year and British aid minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said assisting the poorest nations now would help prevent the virus returning to the United Kingdom.
Britain has reported almost 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus so far, the fifth highest national number globally.
“While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK,” Trevelyan said in a statement.
“Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too.”
The British government said 130 million pounds would go to United Nations’ agencies, with 65 million for the WHO. Another 50 million pounds would go to the Red Cross to help war-torn and hard to reach areas, and 20 million pounds going to other organisations and charities.
The cash would help areas with weak health systems such as war-ravaged Yemen, which reported its first case on Friday, and Bangladesh, which is hosting 850,000 Rohingya refugees in crowded camps, it said.
Britain’s support for the WHO contrasts with the view of U.S. President Donald Trump who has criticised its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with suggestions his administration might re-evaluate U.S. funding
“The United Kingdom’s generous contribution is a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director General said.
“We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK.”
Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.
A cyclist passes by a graffiti alluding to the coronavirus, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 11, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in 210 countries since the first cases were identified in China in December last year and British aid minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said assisting the poorest nations now would help prevent the virus returning to the United Kingdom.
Britain has reported almost 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus so far, the fifth highest national number globally.
“While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK,” Trevelyan said in a statement.
“Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too.”
The British government said 130 million pounds would go to United Nations’ agencies, with 65 million for the WHO. Another 50 million pounds would go to the Red Cross to help war-torn and hard to reach areas, and 20 million pounds going to other organisations and charities.
The cash would help areas with weak health systems such as war-ravaged Yemen, which reported its first case on Friday, and Bangladesh, which is hosting 850,000 Rohingya refugees in crowded camps, it said.
Britain’s support for the WHO contrasts with the view of U.S. President Donald Trump who has criticised its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with suggestions his administration might re-evaluate U.S. funding
“The United Kingdom’s generous contribution is a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director General said.
“We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK.”
Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.
A cyclist passes by a graffiti alluding to the coronavirus, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 11, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in 210 countries since the first cases were identified in China in December last year and British aid minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said assisting the poorest nations now would help prevent the virus returning to the United Kingdom.
Britain has reported almost 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus so far, the fifth highest national number globally.
“While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK,” Trevelyan said in a statement.
“Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too.”
The British government said 130 million pounds would go to United Nations’ agencies, with 65 million for the WHO. Another 50 million pounds would go to the Red Cross to help war-torn and hard to reach areas, and 20 million pounds going to other organisations and charities.
The cash would help areas with weak health systems such as war-ravaged Yemen, which reported its first case on Friday, and Bangladesh, which is hosting 850,000 Rohingya refugees in crowded camps, it said.
Britain’s support for the WHO contrasts with the view of U.S. President Donald Trump who has criticised its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with suggestions his administration might re-evaluate U.S. funding
“The United Kingdom’s generous contribution is a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director General said.
“We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK.”
Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge
The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in London
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it was pledging 200 million pounds ($248 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and charities to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in vulnerable countries and so help prevent a second wave of infections.
More than 1.6 million people are reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and deaths have topped 100,000 according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in 210 countries since the first cases were identified in China in December last year and British aid minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said assisting the poorest nations now would help prevent the virus returning to the United Kingdom.
Britain has reported almost 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus so far, the fifth highest national number globally.
"While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK," Trevelyan said in a statement.
"Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too."
The British government said 130 million pounds would go to United Nations' agencies, with 65 million for the WHO. Another 50 million pounds would go to the Red Cross to help war-torn and hard to reach areas, and 20 million pounds going to other organisations and charities.
The cash would help areas with weak health systems such as war-ravaged Yemen, which reported its first case on Friday, and Bangladesh, which is hosting 850,000 Rohingya refugees in crowded camps, it said.
Britain's support for the WHO contrasts with the view of U.S. President Donald Trump who has criticised its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with suggestions his administration might re-evaluate U.S. funding
"The United Kingdom’s generous contribution is a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director General said.
"We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK."
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, while one senior minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will need time off as he recovers from being seriously ill with the virus.
Britain has now reported 9,875 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the fifth highest national number globally. Saturday’s increase was the second day running that the number of deaths had increased by more than 900.
Almost 80,000 people in Britain have tested positive for the virus, among them Johnson, who is in the early stages of recovery on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care.
Downing Street said Johnson “continues to make very good progress”, but interior minister Priti Patel said it was vital he took time to fully recover.
“The message to the prime minister is that we want him to get better and he needs some time and some space to rest, recuperate and recover,” Patel said.
“And the whole of cabinet would support that message,” she told a news conference in Downing Street.
Foreign minister Dominic Raab is currently deputising for the prime minister.
Johnson’s office said on Friday that he was back on his feet and British newspapers reported he was watching films and reading letters sent to him by his fiancee Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant and who herself has suffered COVID-19 symptoms.
The government’s main focus in recent days has been trying to ensure Britons comply with stay-home orders and a ban on social gatherings, especially over a sunny Easter weekend.
FILE PHOTO: A sign of support for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been in hospital since Monday as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Swynnerton, Britain, April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carl Recine/File Photo
Police said only a small minority of people were ignoring the message and early data showed officers in England and Wales had issued 1,084 on-the-spot fines so far for people breaking the restrictions. Police powers to enforce came in on March 26 - after the start of lockdown measures
‘NO MAGICAL SOLUTION’
However, the government has come under increasing pressure to detail how long the strict curbs on movement will last, with the shutdown meaning many businesses are unable to operate.
Ministers have said Britain needs to pass the peak of the outbreak before any changes can be made. Health minister Matt Hancock said that although the rise in numbers of hospital admissions had started to flatten out, the judgement was they had not reached that point.
“There is no magical solution that doesn’t require difficult decisions,” said Stephen Powis, the medical director of the National Health Service in England.
“This was never going to be a sprint over a few weeks; this is going to be longer, it is going to be a marathon.”
There was mounting criticism on Saturday from doctors and nurses who said they were having to treat patients without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
Some 19 health care workers including 11 doctors have died after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said medics were facing a “heart-breaking” decision over whether to treat patients without proper protection and so put themselves at risk.
Slideshow (3 Images)
The Royal College of Nursing said it was getting calls about shortages, saying some staff were “petrified”.
Hancock said 761 million items of PPE had been delivered to the National Health Service but there were issues in ensuring it reached the people who needed it.
“I’m sorry if people feel that there have been failings,” Home Secretary Patel said.
Editing by Toby Chopra, David Evans and Frances Kerry
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, while one senior minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will need time off as he recovers from being seriously ill with the virus.
Britain has now reported 9,875 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the fifth highest national number globally. Saturday’s increase was the second day running that the number of deaths had increased by more than 900.
Almost 80,000 people in Britain have tested positive for the virus, among them Johnson, who is in the early stages of recovery on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care.
Downing Street said Johnson “continues to make very good progress”, but interior minister Priti Patel said it was vital he took time to fully recover.
“The message to the prime minister is that we want him to get better and he needs some time and some space to rest, recuperate and recover,” Patel said.
“And the whole of cabinet would support that message,” she told a news conference in Downing Street.
Foreign minister Dominic Raab is currently deputising for the prime minister.
Johnson’s office said on Friday that he was back on his feet and British newspapers reported he was watching films and reading letters sent to him by his fiancee Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant and who herself has suffered COVID-19 symptoms.
The government’s main focus in recent days has been trying to ensure Britons comply with stay-home orders and a ban on social gatherings, especially over a sunny Easter weekend.
FILE PHOTO: A sign of support for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been in hospital since Monday as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Swynnerton, Britain, April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carl Recine/File Photo
Police said only a small minority of people were ignoring the message and early data showed officers in England and Wales had issued 1,084 on-the-spot fines so far for people breaking the restrictions. Police powers to enforce came in on March 26 - after the start of lockdown measures
‘NO MAGICAL SOLUTION’
However, the government has come under increasing pressure to detail how long the strict curbs on movement will last, with the shutdown meaning many businesses are unable to operate.
Ministers have said Britain needs to pass the peak of the outbreak before any changes can be made. Health minister Matt Hancock said that although the rise in numbers of hospital admissions had started to flatten out, the judgement was they had not reached that point.
“There is no magical solution that doesn’t require difficult decisions,” said Stephen Powis, the medical director of the National Health Service in England.
“This was never going to be a sprint over a few weeks; this is going to be longer, it is going to be a marathon.”
There was mounting criticism on Saturday from doctors and nurses who said they were having to treat patients without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
Some 19 health care workers including 11 doctors have died after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said medics were facing a “heart-breaking” decision over whether to treat patients without proper protection and so put themselves at risk.
Slideshow (3 Images)
The Royal College of Nursing said it was getting calls about shortages, saying some staff were “petrified”.
Hancock said 761 million items of PPE had been delivered to the National Health Service but there were issues in ensuring it reached the people who needed it.
“I’m sorry if people feel that there have been failings,” Home Secretary Patel said.
Editing by Toby Chopra, David Evans and Frances Kerry
The growth in the total number of new deaths has stalled in the last four days.
In other some other countries that implemented lockdown, the numbers of reported deaths stopped growing about three weeks into lockdown.
But it is too soon to know for sure whether we have reached that point.
There have been reporting lags at weekends and it is possible that a Bank Holiday weekend will include deaths that go unreported until next week.
The government is urging people to stay at home over Easter to curb the spread of the virus, despite warm and sunny weather across parts of the UK.
At the Downing Street briefing, NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said: "It is a bank holiday weekend, it is a time of year when typically we would be celebrating or getting together with relatives and close friends.
"But I'm afraid this year it has to be, for all of us, a stay-at-home Easter."
Police have issued more than 1,000 fines to people not following social distancing measures, according to early figures released at the government briefing.
Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, said most spoken to by officers had understood the rules but a "small minority" had refused to comply.
Also at the briefing, Home Secretary Priti Patel said people suffering from domestic abuse during the lockdown would still be able to get support from the police.
For those people, Ms Patel said, "Home is not the safe haven that it should be."
She said she had worked with law enforcement, charities, schools, businesses and councils to address the issue.
"Anyone in immediate danger should call 999 and press 55 on a mobile if you are unable to talk," she said.
"Our outstanding police will still be there for you."
Mr Johnson, 55, had three nights in intensive care before returning to a ward on Thursday.
No 10 said he was receiving daily updates and pregnancy scans from his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and had been passing the time with films and sudoku.
For several weeks the government and NHS leaders have insisted there are enough stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) and that the problem lay in the distribution from warehouses to the front line.
Some hospitals have reported receiving higher consignments of gloves, masks, gowns and aprons. But doctors and nurses have continued to report shortages.
Care homes, pharmacies, GP practices and community health teams feel they are at the back of the queue for equipment to protect staff who may come into contact with patients who have Covid-19.
There has also been confusion over how safety guidelines should apply.
Matt Hancock has admitted there are global supply problems and says it is a "Herculean effort" to get deliveries to health workers and a "huge task" to keep it going. He set out a series of measures to step up provision of equipment.
He may be given credit for acknowledging the scale of the problem. But NHS and care staff won't take much notice of plans until they are reflected in reality on the ground. Some are also irritated at the suggestion that PPE is a "precious resource" and should only be used when it is needed.
In other developments:
"Much-loved" nurse Julie Omar, 52, has become one of the latest NHS workers to die with symptoms of Covid-19. The trauma and orthopaedics nurse, who worked for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, died at home on Friday
The news came shortly after the death of another nurse, 47-year-old Leilani Dayrit, in Rugby. Mary Dayrit, 19, said her mother was "selfless until the very end"
Police have apologised after a man was threatened with spray and arrested in Manchester as he dropped off food for vulnerable relatives
Ministers have agreed to give £200m to developing countries in a bid to prevent "future waves" of coronavirus infections hitting the UK
The World Health Organization has warned of a "deadly resurgence" in infections if restrictions are lifted too early.
