Coronavirus: UK death toll nears 43,000
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Premier League confirms six positive cases of Covid-19 after testing
Six people from three clubs have tested positive for Covid-19 out of a total of 748 players and staff who were tested for the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the Premier League said on Tuesday.
"Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days," the league said in a statement "No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided... due to legal and operational requirements."
England reports far fewer Covid-19 deaths in care homes than European states
England has reported the lowest level of deaths in nursing homes as a share of total Covid-19 fatalities compared to other European nations, a document from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) showed on Tuesday.
The EU report compared figures made available by national authorities in European countries. It did not explain why the number of deaths in facilities for elderly largely varied across Europe but stressed under-reporting of Covid-19 cases in care homes “has been a common feature” throughout the pandemic.
As of May 9, the national statistics office of England, which makes up the majority of Britain’s population, recorded nearly 7,000 deaths related to Covid-19 in care homes, which amounted to 21 percent of the more than 33,000 fatalities linked to the disease.
Britain to set out quarantine plan as soon as possible - PM's spokesman
Britain will set out its quarantine plans for arrivals from abroad as soon as it can, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday after reports sports professionals could be excluded and a minister raised the prospect of “air bridges”.
The government plans a 14-day quarantine for most arrivals to try to prevent a second peak of the pandemic. Earlier Heathrow Airport said Britain should set up “travel bubbles” with low-risk countries to allow the movement of people.
“We’ve set out what the principles are and we’ve said that we will publish it in due course,” the spokesman told reporters.
“Ultimately we will be guided by science and the health of the public will always come first.”
Canada, US agree to 30-day extension of ban on non-essential travel: PM Trudeau
Canada and the United States have agreed to extend a ban on non-essential travel between the two nations by another 30 days as part of the fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Trudeau made the announcement in remarks to reporters.
Officials from both nations said last week it was likely that the measure would be rolled over until June 21.
As coronavirus crushes small restaurants, big chains see room to move in
Prime storefronts left empty by failed businesses. Cheaper or even flexible rents. Landlords willing to add drive-thru lanes.
As the coronavirus permanently shutters some small businesses, big fast-food brands like Domino’s Pizza, Chipotle and Wendy’s that were doing well before the crisis want to grow - or continue pre-existing expansion plans - after the pandemic subsides.
David Deno, chief executive officer of Outback Steakhouse parent company Bloomin’ Brands, told Reuters in an interview that “I don’t mean to wish ill on anybody, but there’s going to be real estate opportunities,” for new stores or relocations to areas with “better visibility, better access and better parking.”
Afghan doctors protest over unpaid salaries amid coronavirus outbreak
More than 200 doctors and medical staff took part in protests in the western Afghan city of Herat on Tuesday, saying they had not been paid for three months while risking their lives to treat coronavirus patients.
Herat, war-torn Afghanistan’s third largest city, has reported a high number of COVID-19 cases since March and its 10 government hospitals have grappled with shortages of testing equipment and protective gear.
“We have been risking our lives to save people, many doctors have been infected too. The government must at least respect us and pay (our salaries) on time,” said Abdul Rauf Rahimi, a doctor in an intensive care unit allocated for Covid-19 cases.
Rahimi was among 78 doctors and over 110 medical staff who took part in the six-hour-long protest before returning to work, saying they did not want patients to suffer unduly.
Wuhan officials said they tested more than 1 million people in a week
The central Chinese City of Wuhan conducted more than 467,000 coronavirus tests on Monday, authorities said today.
Wuhan started conducting city-wide coronavirus testing on its citizens last week after health officials detected several new locally transmitted cases, reports the CNN.
A strict 76-day lockdown measure was taken to eliminate Covid-19 from the city where the virus is thought to have first emerged.
World Health Organization members agree response probe
The member states of World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to set up an independent inquiry into the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The resolution, approved without objection by the WHO's 194-member annual assembly meeting virtually in Geneva, also allows for the inquiry to look into the health body's own role, reports the BBC.
The United States in particular has been highly critical of its response.
World Bank has provided coronavirus aid to 100 countries: Malpass
World Bank Group President David Malpass said on Tuesday that the development lender has launched emergency coronavirus aid programs in 100 developing countries, with commitments for concessional financing and grants of about $5.5 billion so far.
Malpass told reporters on a conference call that the global pandemic and associated economic shutdowns could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty, erasing the previous three years of poverty alleviation, with a global economic contraction of perhaps 5 percent this year.
Russia says many coronavirus patients died of other causes. Some disagree
Before she died in a Moscow hospital earlier this month, Liubov Kashaeva, 74, twice tested positive for the new coronavirus. Her death was not attributed to the virus, however. It was put down to the cancer she had been suffering from.
“The medical death certificate ... said she died of a malignant tumour,” Kashaeva’s daughter-in-law, Daria Kornilova, said. “Coronavirus was not mentioned anywhere.”
Kashaeva is one of thousands of Russians infected with the novel coronavirus whose deaths have been put down to other causes.
Russia has registered the second highest number of infections globally, at 299,941 total cases, and 2,837 deaths. That produces a death rate of 1.88 per 100,000 Russians, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Germany and neighbors agree to gradually remove border restrictions
German chancellor Angela Merkel and the central European leaders on Tuesday agreed on gradually reopening border crossings and lifting controls as soon as the coronavirus pandemic allows.
The announcement came after Merkel and the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad nations — Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — spoke today, according to a statement by the German Chancellor's spokesperson Steffen Seibert, reports the CNN.
The leaders ''had an intensive exchange of views on the respective measures for further containment of the Covid-19 pandemic'," the statement said, adding that ''they agreed it was in their interest to gradually remove existing border restrictions and controls as soon as the pandemic situation allows.''
70 schools in France closed due to spike in suspected coronavirus cases
Seventy schools in France have closed after a spike in suspected coronavirus infections, the French Education Ministry told CNN Tuesday, adding that there have not been any confirmed cases in schools since they re-opened.
The schools "had to close their doors" after suspected Covid-19 cases appeared in the wider community, reports the CNN.
"For example, if you take the city of Sens, 25 of the 70 schools we [talked] about are in the same city, because there was one case of [Covid-19] in that city," the ministry said.
This comes as the country navigates the tricky process of restarting its economy and easing its lockdown without causing a spike in new infections. Some 40,000 schools have re-opened since last week, France's Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer told RTL radio station Monday. Of the 1.4 million students who have returned to the classroom, 186,000 are middle schoolers in "green zones," which are French districts where the government has decided the epidemic no longer warrants restrictions to free movement.
Some signs children may not transmit Covid-19, two UK epidemiologists say
There are tentative signs that children may not spread the novel coronavirus as much as adults, two top epidemiologists said on Tuesday, though they cautioned that the bad news was that human immunity may not last that long.
As Europe and the United States try to get back to work after the first deadly wave of the novel coronavirus outbreak, world leaders are trying to work out when it is safe for children and students can get back to their studies.
The signs are that children may not spread it as much as adults, Dr Rosalind Eggo, who is on committees that advise the British government on its infectious disease response, told members of parliament's upper house.
UK Covid-19 death toll nears 43,000 as scrutiny over strategy grows
The United Kingdom's Covid-19 death toll has reached nearly 43,000, underlining the country's status as the worst-hit in Europe and raising more questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the crisis.
New figures for England and Wales brought the death toll to at least 42,990, a Reuters tally showed, including earlier data from Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well recent hospital deaths in England.
Tuesday's numbers from the Office for National Statistics painted a grim picture in care homes, more than a third of which have been stricken by the novel coronavirus.
Deaths in care homes across the United Kingdom topped 10,000 as of May 8, although the increase has slowed over the last couple of weeks.
European Union backs WHO after Trump's latest funding threat
The European Union has spoken out in support of the World Health Organization, after US President Donald Trump threatened to permanently pull funding to the agency.
"The European Union backs the WHO in its efforts to contain and mitigate the Covid-19 outbreak and has already provided additional funding to support these efforts," spokesperson for the European Commission Virginie Battu-Henriksson said Tuesday, reports the CNN.
Trump on Monday threatened to permanently pull US funding from the WHO if it does not "commit to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days."
The EU spokesperson stressed that "global cooperation and solidarity through multilateral efforts" was "the only effective and viable option to win" the battle against the pandemic.
Germany's coronavirus death toll surpasses 8,000
More than 8,000 people have now died of Covid-19 in Germany, according to the country's center for disease control.
Data released Tuesday showed 72 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 8,007, according to the Robert Koch Institute, reports the CNN.
The institute also recorded an increase of 513 new infections, taking the total number of cases in the country to more than 175,000.
Bavaria, Germany’s largest federal state, remains the worst hit area, with 26 percent of Covid-19 infections in the country and 29% of the overall death tally.
Myanmar says eight coronavirus cases among returnees from Malaysia
Myanmar authorities said on Tuesday said they have found eight coronavirus cases among scores of people who returned from Malaysia, where the authorities have recently been detaining undocumented migrants.
Myanmar officials said the new cases were detected in five different places from among 120 people who flew home from Malaysia this month.
“All of them are in quarantine,” Ministry of Health spokesman Than Naing Soe told Reuters, referring to the 120 people.
Myanmar has reported 191 cases of the coronavirus and six people have died.
UK Covid-19 death toll nears 43,000: official data
The United Kingdom’s Covid-19 official death toll has reached nearly 43,000, underlining the country’s status as the worst-hit in Europe and raising more questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the crisis.
New official figures for England and Wales brought the death toll to at least 42,990, a Reuters tally showed, which includes previously published data from Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well recent hospital deaths in England.
Tuesday’s data from the Office for National Statistics also painted a grim picture in care homes, which have been especially hard hit by the virus that has killed more than 317,700 worldwide.
The death toll in care homes across the United Kingdom surpassed 10,000 as of May 8, the data showed.
Spain lifts ban on flights from Italy, but tourism still off cards
Spain lifted on Tuesday a ban on direct flights and ships from Italy imposed since March 11 to curb the coronavirus, but tourism restrictions and a 14-day quarantine for inbound travellers remained in place.
A much-reduced death rate from Covid-19 has encouraged Spain to begin easing one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, but the tourism-dependent economy is likely to have to wait until late June to welcome holidaymakers back.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is preparing to ask parliament to extend until late June a state of emergency which has helped limit infections but also brought unprecedented restrictions on borders and movement, causing huge economic damage.
UK jobless claims jump to highest since 1996 as Covid hits
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain leapt in April to its highest level in nearly 24 years, giving the clearest sign yet of the hit from the coronavirus to jobs which is set to deepen in the coming months.
Data published on Tuesday showed the claimant count rose by 856,500 — the biggest ever month-on-month jump — to 2.1 million, a 69 percent increase from March.
It was the highest level since July 1996, when Britain's economy was still recovering from a deep recession caused by its failed bid to stay in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which had pushed interest rates to 15 percent in 1992.
Bangladesh reports 21 more deaths from coronavirus, 1251 new cases
Bangladesh today confirmed 21 more deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1251 new cases of infection testing 8,449 samples in the last 24 hours.
With this, the death toll from the deadly virus rose to 370 and the number of total infections stood at 25,121, The Business Standard reported.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 513 to 175,210
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 513 to 175,210, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday, with new infections accelerating after decelerating the previous four days.
The reported death toll rose by 72 to 8,007, the tally showed, Reuters reported.
Thailand reports two new coronavirus cases, no additional deaths
Thailand on Tuesday confirmed two new coronavirus cases and no additional deaths, bringing its total to 3,033 infections, a senior official said.
The two new cases were in the south in a province bordering Malaysia, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said at a daily briefing, Reuters reported.
There have been 56 deaths since the outbreak began in January and 2,857 patients have recovered.
New Zealand reports no new coronavirus cases for second straight day
New Zealand recorded no new coronavirus cases for the second straight day on Tuesday, but authorities said it was premature to discuss moving the country to “level one” in its scale of alert.
The Pacific nation, home to more than 5 million, moved to “level 2” last week, allowing cafes, shops and restaurants to reopen under strict social distancing rules, Reuters reported.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said there was “still a long way to go” for the country to move into alert level one, which means the virus has been contained in the country.
Like neighbouring Australia, New Zealand has so far escaped a high number of casualties. The country has had just over 1,500 infections and 21 deaths, aided by a nationwide lockdown that lasted for more than a month.
New Zealand will also launch a contact-tracing app on Wednesday to help people track their movements, but the government said the data would not be shared with anyone besides the user.
The daily number of infections has been falling steadily over the last few weeks since peaking in early April, with the country registering only 19 new coronavirus cases in May. No cases were reported on eight separate days in May.
Italy says virus daily death toll under 100
The daily coronavirus death toll in Italy dropped to 99 on Monday for the first time since early March, the civil protection agency said, as the country largely lifted a lockdown.
It was the lowest toll since March 9 — the day Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced he was shutting down the country, AFP reported.
Brazil jumps to third in Covid-19 cases worldwide
Brazil has the third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases in the world, according to official figures released Monday, a troubling surge for a country struggling to respond to the pandemic.
With 254,220 confirmed cases, Brazil has now surpassed Britain, Spain and Italy in the past 72 hours on the list of total infections, and is behind only the United States (1.5 million) and Russia (290,000), AFP reported.
Brazil has registered 16,792 Covid-19 deaths, the sixth-highest toll in the world.
But experts say under-testing means the real figures could be 15 times higher or more.
The giant South American country of 210 million people is torn by a political battle over how to respond to the virus.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro compares the virus to a “little flu,” condemns the “hysteria” surrounding it and is urging the country to get back to work to stop an economic crash.
State and local authorities, however, are largely calling on citizens to stay home and practice social distancing — backed by the Supreme Court, which gave them the final say in the matter.
Bolsonaro is now seeking his third health minister since the pandemic began.
He fired the first after publicly battling over stay-at-home measures, and the second resigned last week after less than a month on the job, reportedly over the president’s insistence on widespread use of the controversial and unproven malaria drug chloroquine to treat the disease.
Hospitals in several areas are meanwhile operating close to full capacity, and the hardest-hit cities have begun burying victims in mass graves, even as the number of infections continues to soar.
India coronavirus infections surge past 100,000, deaths top 3,000
The number of coronavirus cases in India surged past 100,000 on Tuesday, with the rate of growth of new infections showing little sign of slowing despite a strict weeks-long lockdown.
India’s Health Ministry reported total cases stood at 101,139 and deaths at 3,163, Reuters reported.
New cases have continued to rise by an average of over 4,000 each day over the past week. India officially extended its lockdown on Sunday to May 31, although several states indicated they would allow businesses to reopen.
US virus deaths fall for second day, with 759 in 24 hours
The United States on Monday recorded 759 new coronavirus deaths in the previous 24 hours, marking a second day of decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The figure, at 8:30pm (0030 GMT), is one of the lowest in recent weeks and follows 820 deaths the day before, data from the Baltimore-based university showed. There have been 90,309 deaths linked to novel coronavirus in the United States and more than 1.5 million cases of infection, the tracker showed, AFP reported.
Those figures are the highest in the world.
Mexico posts 2,414 new coronavirus cases, total deaths reach 5,332
Mexico registered 2,414 new cases of the coronavirus and 155 more deaths on Monday, the health ministry said, raising its overall number of infections since Mexico recorded its first cases in late February to 51,633.
The country has tallied 5,332 overall deaths from the virus, Reuters reported.