News

Coronavirus UK live: Lockdown could shrink GDP by 35% and see unemployment rise by 2m, says OBR Coronavirus lockdown in the UK could last at least another month, as Dominic Raab says country has not passed the peakTwo of UK’s largest care home providers report 521 coronavirus deathsCoronavirus pushes England and Wales death rate to record highCoronavirus latest: at a glance Coronavirus global updates – liveSee all our coronavirus coverage 12.44pm BSTNicola Sturgeon has announced Tuesday’s daily figures for Covid-19: a further 291 positive cases, taking the total to 6358, and a further 40 deaths, taking that total to 615. She added that there was likely to be a lag in figures because of under-reporting over the Easter weekend. 12.42pm BSTSinn Féin president Mary ...

Growth in surveillance may be hard to scale back after pandemic, experts say Coronavirus crisis has led to billions of people around the world facing enhanced monitoring Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage The coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented global surge in digital surveillance, researchers and privacy advocates around the world have said, with billions of people facing enhanced monitoring that may prove difficult to roll back.Governments in at least 25 countries are employing vast programmes for mobile data tracking, apps to record personal contact with others, CCTV networks equipped with facial recognition, permission schemes to go outside and drones to enforce social isolation regimes. Continue reading... Go to Source

Trump claims 'total authority' and attacks media in chaotic coronavirus briefing In a bizarre tirade, the president bristled at a suggestion by one of the media that his power was restrictedDonald Trump has declared in a White House briefing that his “authority is total” when it comes to lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic, and he denied that he was weighing firing Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost infectious diseases expert who sits on the coronavirus task force.After a weekend reprieve from presidential briefings that have been likened to Trump rallies for their uninterrupted flow of Trumpian id, the president returned to the lectern on Monday to deliver one of his most bizarre performances yet. Continue reading... Go to Source

Coronavirus live news: cases worldwide near 2 million as Trump repeats WHO funding threat UK daily deaths likely to rise this week; France to ease lockdown starting 11 May; Russia told to prepare for ‘extraordinary’ crisis. Follow the latest updatesSpain relaxes lockdown as daily coronavirus death toll falls to 517Trump turned a briefing into a presidential tantrumAustralia coronavirus – liveCoronavirus latest: at a glance 6.55am BSTIn a televised address on Tuesday morning, prime minister Narendra Modi announced that India’s nationwide lockdown is to be extended till 3 May.The lockdown in India, imposed on its population of 1.3bn people, is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world and has been the cause of enormous amounts of human suffering since it was fi...

Medical unions warn UK stock of protective gowns is critically low Doctors performing highest-risk procedures on Covid-19 patients lack vital suppliesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSupplies of protective gowns used to safely treat coronavirus patients have become so depleted that they are no longer available to many doctors in high-risk roles, a medical union has warned.Only 52% of clinicians carrying out aerosol-generating procedures – those with the greatest risk of transferring the virus – said they had access to the kind of full-sleeve gowns that are mandatory for jobs such as intubating patients so that they can be treated with a ventilator, according to a survey by the Doctors’ Association UK. Continue reading... Go to Source

How coronavirus almost brought down the global financial system The crisis has brought the economy to a near halt, and left millions of people out of work. But thanks to intervention on an unprecedented scale, a full-scale meltdown has been averted – for now. By Adam ToozeIn the third week of March, while most of our minds were fixed on surging coronavirus death rates and the apocalyptic scenes in hospital wards, global financial markets came as close to a collapse as they have since September 2008. The price of shares in the world’s major corporations plunged. The value of the dollar surged against every currency in the world, squeezing debtors everywhere from Indonesia to Mexico. Trillion-dollar markets for government debt, the basic foundation of the financial system, lur...

UK missed three chances to join EU scheme to bulk-buy PPE Exclusive: Britain did not take part in €1.5bn order for kit to protect against Covid-19 despite shortages in NHSCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBritain missed three opportunities to be part of an EU scheme to bulk-buy masks, gowns and gloves and has been absent from key talks about future purchases, the Guardian can reveal, as pressure grows on ministers to protect NHS medics and care workers on the coronavirus frontline.European doctors and nurses are preparing to receive the first of €1.5bn (£1.3bn) worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) within days or a maximum of two weeks through a joint procurement scheme involving 25 countries and eight companies, according to intern...

Raab suggests UK lockdown could last at least another month PM’s deputy backs chief scientific adviser, saying public must stay in until peak has passedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople in Britain have been warned that there is “a long way to go” before lockdown measures to curb the spread of coronavirus are likely to be relaxed, with the UK’s chief scientific adviser suggesting they could last another month.As the country entered its fourth week of rules compelling the public to stay at home except for essential work, shopping or exercise, Sir Patrick Vallance said he expected the number of deaths from coronavirus to continue rising this week before hitting a plateau that could last up to three weeks. Continue reading... ...

NHS coronavirus app: memo discussed giving ministers power to 'de-anonymise' users Exclusive: draft plans for contact-tracing app said device IDs could be used to identify users Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage A draft government memo explaining how the NHS contact-tracing app could stem the spread of the coronavirus said ministers might be given the ability to order “de-anonymisation” to identify people from their smartphones, the Guardian can reveal.The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced on Sunday that the UK planned to introduce an app that would enable people who developed Covid-19 symptoms to “anonymously” alert other users to whom they had been in close proximity. “All data will be handled according to the hig...

Coronavirus latest news: death toll in Italy passes 20,000; more than 1.87m cases reported worldwide Spain records another drop in daily death toll; Singapore sees biggest daily jump in infections; China reports highest daily cases in over five weeksSpain relaxes lockdown as daily coronavirus death toll falls to 517Half of coronavirus deaths happen in care homes, EU data suggestsUS coronavirus latest – live blogCoronavirus latest: at a glance 6.51pm BSTKey developments in the global coronavirus outbreak on Monday include: 6.37pm BSTBrazil’s health minister has publicly defied President Jair Bolsonaro over coronavirus, accusing him of sowing doubt in Brazilian minds over the need for physical distancing, Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro reports.In a Sunday night interview with ...

Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo details 'horrific level of pain' as deaths pass 10,000 in New York Concerns US lawmakers are using briefings to make stock decisionsDeath penalty states urged to release stockpiled drugs for patientsLive global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSupport the Guardian’s independent journalism. Make a contribution 6.46pm BSTThe White House said Trump has no intention of firing Dr Anthony Fauci, even though the president reshared a tweet last night that called for the health expert’s dismissal.NEW: WH Statement on Dr. #Fauci per @hogangidley45: “ The media chatter is ridiculous— President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci.” pic.twitter.com/0HU2YptyW4 6.33pm BSTThe White House Correspondents’ Association has rescheduled it...

Experts divided over comparison of UK and Ireland's coronavirus records Analysis showing lower death rates in Ireland provokes debate on differences between two countriesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageComparing how the Covid-19 outbreak is playing out in Ireland and the UK is a complex task, researchers have said after a Twitter thread by a former historian on the issue went viral.Writer and researcher Dr Elaine Doyle penned a series of tweets comparing the situations in the UK and Ireland, noting that both countries had similar numbers of intensive care beds per 100,000 people before the crisis began. Continue reading... Go to Source

Have I already had coronavirus? How would I know and what should I do? Covid-19 symptoms, when they occur, vary widely and undertesting means many people have probably been unwittingly infectedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCovid-19 symptoms vary widely, and undertesting in many countries means that many people may have already had the coronavirus without having received a positive diagnosis. Is it possible to find out, and how should you behave if you think you may have been infected? Continue reading... Go to Source