Coronavirus news – live: WHO says everyone must wear face masks in public as Matt Hancock urges people not to attend George Floyd protests
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Your support makes all the difference.The World Health Organisation has updated its coronavirus guidance in response to recent research to say everyone should wear face coverings in public where there is a risk of virus transmission.
The change came as Matt Hancock, the health secretary, announced all hospital visitors would have to wear face coverings from 15 June and urged the public to not attend upcoming George Floyd protests due to concerns about the potential for large gatherings to spread Covid-19.
Meanwhile, as the official UK death toll passed 40,000, scientists halted a trial of the anti-malaria drug touted by Donald Trump after researchers at the University of Oxford found hydroxychloroquine was ineffective as a treatment for coronavirus.
Follow the latest developments in the liveblog below:
WHO will continue hydroxychloroquine trial after UK scientists halt tests
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it will continue its clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, after British scientists halted a large trial when initial results showed no evidence of benefit from the drug for coronavirus patients.
“There are two distinct trials with their own protocols, their own oversight committees. Therefore we will continue for now,” Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO's chief scientist, told an online news briefing when asked about the British trial.
“Our committee will consider the data that becomes available...look at the data within our trial but also consider evidence that is coming out of other randomised trials, and we will continue to update you on the progress of the Solidarity Trial.”
Italy records 85 new coronavirus deaths and 518 new cases
Italy has recorded 85 new coronavirus deaths, down from 88 the day before, as its daily tally of cases jumped by more than 500 on Friday, the country’s Civil Protection Agency said.
Figures showed the 518 new infections - up from 177 on Thursday - were mainly recorded in the northern region of Lombardy which has been hardest hit by Italy’s epidemic.
Lombardy recorded 402 new cases, while the only other regions to register more than 10 new cases on Friday were Piedmont with 49, Emilia Romagna with 17 and Liguria with 14.
The latest data could fuel unease over the government's decision to end restrictions on movement between regions which became effective on Wednesday.
Some regional governors have complained that allowing people to travel freely out of Lombardy could spark new areas of contagion elsewhere in the country.
China advises against travel to Australia, citing racial discrimination
China has advised its citizens against travelling to Australia, citing racial discrimination and violence against Chinese people in connection to the coronavirus pandemic.
“There has been an alarming increase recently in acts of racial discrimination and violence against Chinese and Asians in Australia, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a statement.
It did not give any specific examples of such discrimination or violence.
Covid-19 epidemics in India and South Asia growing but not exploding, WHO says
The number of coronavirus cases in India has been doubling every three weeks but the epidemic is not growing exponentially in the country and the South Asia region yet, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
“In South Asia, not just in India, but in Bangladesh and... Pakistan and other countries of South Asia with large dense populations, the disease has not exploded, but there is always the risk of that happening,” Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, told a news conference.
Soumya Swaminathan, WHO's chief scientist, said that the 200,000 reported cases “look big but for a country of this size it's still modest”, noting India’s population of 1.3 billion people.
Investors must seize ‘enormous’ opportunity to shift to green future, UN envoy says
Investors have an “enormous” opportunity to finance a shift to a low-carbon future in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, UN envoy Mark Carney has said.
With November’s major climate summit postponed until 2021, the UK is backing a “Race to Zero” initiative to spur investors, cities and companies, as well as countries, into making bolder pledges to cut emissions.
Mr Carney, who took on the UN climate finance and diplomacy role after stepping down as Bank of England governor in March, said governments must learn from their failure to use the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis to rapidly decarbonise.
“You can't wish away systemic risks and it's much cheaper to deal with them upfront and mitigate them,” he said, speaking alongside business minister Alok Sharma.
With major polluting countries still nowhere near cutting emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate accord, diplomats are aiming to build momentum by securing commitments from business, finance and regional or municipal authorities.
At the "Race to Zero" launch, officials said almost 1,000 companies, 449 cities, 21 regions, and 38 major investors had pledged to cut their net carbon emissions to zero by 2050 - a marked increase since the last climate summit in December.
People are sleeping less well under lockdown, according to a new study conducted by King’s College London and Ipsos MORI.
Anthony Cuthbertson explains the reasons researchers believe this is happening:
Cumbria public health director warns against complacency
The director of public health in Cumbria has warned people not to be "complacent" after new data suggested the reproductive rate of coronavirus is now around one in the North West.
Colin Cox warned a tightening of restrictions in the area could be possible if the R value increases. The value used by the government remains between 0.7 and 0.9 for the UK as a whole - but it is higher in the North West and South West.
Mr Cox said: "The R number is very significant and something we have to pay close attention to.
"For the North West, the median R number is marginally above 1, showing the epidemic could potentially still be growing. This really underlines the importance of people maintaining social distancing and continuing to follow Government guidance as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.
"We will be monitoring the R number very carefully and a tightening of lockdown restrictions could be possible if the R number increases. This is something we all want to avoid, so we cannot be complacent."
Home secretary Priti Patel has reiterated health secretary Matt Hancock's call for people not to attend Black Lives Matter protests this weekend.
She tweeted: "Please for the safety of all of us, do not attend large gatherings - including protests - of more than six people this weekend.
"As @Matt Hancock said, coronavirus remains a real threat and people must protect themselves and their families from this horrific disease."
Third of Americans admit misusing disinfectants in bid to prevent Covid-19
More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants in a bid to prevent infection by the coronavirus, according to a US survey taken shortly after president Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat Covid-19.
Washing food with bleach, using household cleaning or disinfectant products on bare skin, and intentionally inhaling or ingesting these products were some of the most commonly reported "high-risk" practices in a 4 May online survey of 502 US adults, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
The survey's lead author said it was undertaken following a "sharp increase" in calls to poison control centres for exposure to cleaners and disinfectants during the pandemic.
Some 39% of people surveyed reported intentionally engaging in at least one high-risk practice not recommended by the CDC to prevent coronavirus infection, including using bleach to clean food, misting the body with a disinfectant spray, and drinking or gargling with diluted bleach solutions and soapy water.
A quarter of those surveyed reported having at least one adverse health effect during the previous month that they believed resulted from using these products.
Reuters
China claims Wuhan has no existing cases of coronavirus
China’s English-language newspaper has reported the city of Wuhan, the original epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, has cleared all existing cases of Covid-19.
Global Times reported the city’s province of Hubei had accomplished seven “zeroes” of:
- Zero new Covid-19 cases
- Zero new suspected cases
- Zero new deaths
- Zero silent carriers
- Zero imported cases
- Zero existing confirmed cases
- Zero existing suspected cases
The Wuhan authority also said all districts in the city were now considered low risk for coronavirus, according to the newspaper.
However, information from China has been disputed before and the claims have not been independently verified.
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