E3: Coronavirus news: death toll in Italy rises by 16% in 24 hours – live updates
UK measures to last at least ‘several months’; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed temporarily; Saudi Arabia to stage virtual G20 summit. Follow the latest updates
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
- UK: £330bn of guaranteed loans to be made available for businesses
- Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed temporarily from Iranian prison
- How to look after yourself and others in self-isolation
- Share your experiences
Readings of Shakespeare plays will be streamed online by a group seeking to entertain those who “do not like Netflix” after all major British theatres closed their doors.
Lucy Aarden, a professional actor who has been cast in the lead role of Julia for the hastily organised production of The Gentleman of Verona, believed to be the screenwriters first play, said three different companies cancelled her upcoming work this morning and she was delighted to be cast in the unpaid role.
The streamed performance on Thursday, she said, would continue weekly with the playwrights’ works in chronological order, and allow actors and theatre makers to stay connected with each other.
Bafta has postponed its annual television and TV craft awards. The former were were due to go ahead on May 17, while the craft awards, which celebrate technical achievement in television, were due to take place on April 26.
On the day that Royal Mail workers have voted hugely in favour of strikes in a long-running dispute over job security and the company’s future direction, they have also offered to serve as an additional coronavirus emergency service in the UK.
A statement reads:
If we can agree the introduction of the very best health and safety provisions and equipment that can guarantee our members safety, they will become an additional emergency service.
Postal workers can play a crucial role in to keep everyone in this country connected & informed, delivering medical aid, checking on the elderly and vulnerable, delivering local to local services and supporting people working from home. We could also assist with food bank collections and the delivery of food parcels to those most in need.
Public crowds of more than 10 people will be banned in Denmark starting Wednesday at 10am local time in a move to curb the spread of coronavirus, the country’s prime minister said.
All restaurants, bars, cafes, night clubs as well as gyms, tanning centers and tattoo parlors will be required to shut down for two weeks until March 30, Mette Frederiksen said told a press conference.
Jordan’s King Abdullah has approved a law that gives the government sweeping powers to enforce a state of emergency to help it combat the spread of coronavirus, state media said.
The royal decree gives the prime minister, Omar Razzaz, extraordinary powers under a defence law enacted in times of war and disasters to enforce curfews, closing businesses and placing restrictions on freedom of movement of people.
Edinburgh city council has announced the closure of galleries and museums, along with the cancellation of events at its venues, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
A spokeswoman for the council confirmed that events at the Usher Hall, Assembly Rooms, Church Hill Theatre and Ross Bandstand to be held before the end of April will not go ahead.
The Olivier Awards, which were due to take place on April 5, have been cancelled.
A statement from the Society Of London Theatre said: “Following the government’s new advice on social distancing yesterday, and the subsequent closing of many theatres and public venues, we no longer feel that it is feasible to host the ceremony that we had planned to deliver.
Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc began suspending shared rides on their ride-hailing platforms in the United States and Canada to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Uber also said it has suspended its shared rides services in London and Paris.
Oman has closed all tourist sites, sports clubs, mosques, all shops in malls except food stores and pharmacies, traditional and local souqs, and has banned gatherings in public places over coronavirus fears, state tv reports.
Tesco is expected to announce all its 24-hour stores will from tonight reduce their hours to open between 6am and 10pm, PA understands.
The Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the Cheltenham Science Festival have both been cancelled, in response to what senior management called “the worst public health crisis in a generation”.
John McDonnell MP, the shadow chancellor, responding to Rishi Sunak’s coronavirus update, said:
People are being laid off today and losing their incomes. We are disappointed that this package does not address their concerns.
The further announcements laid out by the chancellor lack the certainty required amidst growing public anxiety, and still do not go far enough in protecting workers, renters and those who are losing their jobs, or in fully supporting businesses at the scale necessary.
The Science Museum Group has announced its sites will be closed from Tuesday evening until further notice.
This includes its five museums: the Science Museum in London, National Railway Museum in York, Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, and Locomotion in Shildon, County Durham.
Curzon cinemas will be closed on 19 March onwards.
CEO Philip Knatchbull said in a statement:
At Curzon, the health and safety of our staff and customers is paramount, and we have therefore made the difficult decision to close all our cinemas from the end of play tomorrow until further notice.
Curzon head office will also be closed during this time with all staff now fully equipped to work from home.
The Royal Academy will be closed from 6pm.
A statement said:
Like our peer organisations, our aim is to ensure the health and wellbeing of our friends, visitors and staff - as well as the general public - during this unprecedented time.
While our front doors will close, we plan to stay open in other ways.
UK high street coffee chain Pret a Manger has become the latest to announce that from today (Tuesday) it is no longer accepting customers’ own reusable coffee cups (typically made of plastic, glass or bamboo material) because of the risk of contamination for staff and customers. It will hand out cardboard disposable cups instead, although customers are still eligible for the 50p discount per cup.
Bulgaria put its ski resort of Bansko under a two-week lockdown after three people there tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, the deputy prime minister, Tomislav Donchev, said.
Access to the resort, home to some 10,000 people and located in south-western Bulgaria, will be curtailed until the end of the month. Some 200 foreign tourists currently in Bansko will be escorted to Sofia airport if they opt to leave.
Luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co has said it would temporarily close several stores, including its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York, and reduce working hours at other outlets, in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Earlier in the day, L Brands Inc, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle Outfitters announced temporary store closures, joining a spate of retailers, including Nike Inc, which have made similar announcements in recent days.
The foreign ministry of Guatemala has temporarily suspended flights of deported Guatemalans and other nationalities returned from the United States, Reuters reports.
Visits to Scottish prisons will continue to operate as normal amidst the coronavirus outbreak, as prisoners with symptoms are told to self-isolate in their cells.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s Justice Minister, confirmed on Twitter on Tuesday that the Scottish Prison Service has a Coronavirus Response Group that has been implementing its national pandemic plan. Governors in charge of prisons have been overseeing local delivery plans as advice is given to every prisoner via letters and in-cell TV messages.
Another major casualty of the film calendar, Disney has delayed the release of Marvel film Black Widow, as well as The Woman In The Window and the US release of The Personal History Of David Copperfield. New dates have not yet been finalised.
Nespresso is the latest company to announce it has closed all stores in the UK and Ireland in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
We have made the decision to temporarily close all Nespresso boutiques in UK&ROI and are offering compensation to our retail team. We are continuing to navigate the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic and determining the best ways to keep employees, customers and partners safe. pic.twitter.com/FmukUul2fK
There’s more bad news for the UK’s beer drinkers. The Campaign for Real Ale, which runs over 180 local beer festivals across the country, has cancelled all events – including local beer festivals - planned between now and the end of June following the new advice on mass gathering.
All physical events, festivals and meetings, from branch to national levels, have been cancelled for an initial three-month period, with further cancellations to be considered regularly as the situation evolves.
In the second daily coronavirus press conference, the UK chancellor Rushi Sunak has announced that he will make £330bn available in lending to keep firms in business.
You can follow all the latest political developments over on Andy Sparrow’s politics live blog.
Related: Coronavirus UK: £330bn of guaranteed loans to be made available for businesses – politics live
The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy has risen to 31,506, from 27,980 on Monday, Reuters reports.
The death toll also increased by 16% in the last 24 hours, by 345 to 2,503.
Following in the footsteps of Italy, the Spanish government has vowed to suspend mortgage payments for workers and self-employed affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
The government will also prohibit the cutting off of basic utilities such as electricity, water, gas and telecommunications for vulnerable groups during the crisis.
A crown court judge has gone into self-isolation, the judiciary has confirmed.
A spokesman for the judiciary said: “Following the latest government advice, a judge at Canterbury crown court has taken the decision to self-isolate.”
Richard Radcliffe said unlike other prisioners given temporary release, his wife has to wear an ankle tag, which her parents had to hire from the authorities, and her movements will be restricted to 300 metres from her parents’ home.
Eleven hours ago, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto emerged from a 12-day silent retreat in the desert to a very different world.
His post on Instagram certainly put things into perspective:
Public buildings are rapidly closing across Scotland as authorities announced the second death from the coronavirus outbreak.
The second person to die was an elderly patient with underlying health conditions. This follows the first death of a patient in Scotland with coronavirus on 13 March.
The UK is eligible to take part in a European Union wide-scheme on buying ventilators and other medical equipment needed in the coronavirus crisis.
A European commission spokesperson confirmed the UK was “eligible to participate in these joint procedures” despite leaving the EU on 31 January.
The British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is among thousands of prisoners temporarily released from prison in Iran because of the coronavirus outbreak, her husband has said.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said:
I am relieved that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was today temporarily released into the care of her family in Iran. We urge the regime to ensure she receives any necessary medical care. While this is a welcome step, we urge the government now to release all UK dual nationals arbitrarily detained in Iran, and enable them to return to their families in the UK.
New photo of Nazanin after being temporarily released from Iranian jail. She has to still wear an ankle tag. pic.twitter.com/DND2l6NtWM
NEW: Here's a picture of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who has been released from prison in Iran for two weeks.
Note the ankle tag - she is required to wear this and her movements are restricted to 300m from her parents’ home. pic.twitter.com/siJTUgA36a
The British Museum will close temporarily from March 18.
Director Hartwig Fischer said: “We have taken this decision with a heavy heart but our absolute priority is the health and safety of our staff and visitors.
A further 14 people have died after being diagnosed with coronavirus in England, the Department of Health said, bringing the death toll in the UK to 67.
The patients were aged between 93 and 45 and had underlying health conditions, it added.
In an address to the nation, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has called the battle against coronavirus “a war against an invisible but not invincible enemy”.
“If we manage to curb the spread of transmission, we’ll give time to our health system to handle urgent cases. Our first priority is non-negotiable: to save lives,” he told Greeks in a televised speech from his Maximos office. “That is why, much earlier than other European countries, we enforced measures that are unprecedented in peacetime. And we are continuing in that direction.”
Center Parcs has said it is closing all its UK villages from Friday.
In light of the latest government advice regarding coronavirus, the decision has been taken to close all of our UK villages from 20 Mar - 16 April 2020. 1/4
Brazil has reported its first confirmed death from the coronavirus outbreak, as Congress cancelled a joint session due to a lack of quorum and the country braced for the mounting epidemic, reports Reuters.
The Natural History Museum has closed its buildings in South Kensington and Tring.
Following UK Government advice to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum will be closed from 13.00 today, Tues 17 March.
Read our full statement below or visit the website for more details.
Thank you for your ongoing support, patience and understanding.#COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/GgjiPyaGfj
The number of Greece’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 387 from 352 with the death toll increasing to five, health officials confirmed.
The French Open has been postponed until late September amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Guardian Sport has the developing story here:
Related: French Open tennis postponed until late September due to coronavirus
Talks on a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU will not take place on Wednesday as planned.
A government spokesman said: “In light of the latest guidance on coronavirus, we will not formally be convening negotiating work strands tomorrow in the way we did in the previous round.
Gatwick airport said it has terminated the employment of 200 staff as part of “decisive action to protect the business”, PA Media reports.
It will also be closed to flights between midnight and 5.30am with immediate effect, except for emergency landings.
The UK communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced £3.2m of emergency funding to help rough sleepers self-isolate to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The funding, to be available to all local authorities in England, will reimburse them for the cost of providing accommodation and services to help rough sleepers self-isolate.
Public safety and protecting the most vulnerable people in society from coronavirus is this Government’s top priority. We are working closely with councils and charities to ensure they have the support they need throughout this period.
The initial funding that I’ve announced today will ensure councils are able to put emergency measures in place to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society to successfully self-isolate.
It’s important that we care for #roughsleepers at this time.
Today I’ve announced an initial £3.2m of funding to ensure accommodation is available should individuals need to self-isolate.
And with @PHE_uk we’ve published guidance for local authorities, charities and others.
Apple Inc said it is closing all its retail stores in the Unites States until further notice.
That follows an announcement by the iPhone maker on Saturday that it was closing retail stores globally, except in Greater China, for the next two weeks due to the fast-spreading coronavirus.
The National Portrait Gallery in London will close temporarily from 18 March, it has announced.
A statement from the gallery said: “In line with UK government guidance, the National Portrait Gallery, London, will temporarily close from Wednesday March 18 2020 until further notice, in order to help contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our visitors and staff.
Saudi Arabia will no longer allow Muslims to conduct their five daily prayers and the weekly Friday prayer inside mosques as part of efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus, the state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.
The prayers will continue only at the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina, the holiest places in Islam, SPA said, citing a decision from the Council of Senior Scholars, the kingdom’s highest religious body.
A second person in Wales has died after testing positive for Covid-19, the chief medical officer for Wales, Frank Atherton, has said.
“I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends, and ask that their request for privacy is respected. The patient, who had underlying health conditions, was 96 years old and was being treated at the Morriston hospital.”
Turkey has detained 19 people over “unfounded and provocative” social media posts about the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, the interior ministry has said.
A statement late on Monday said that 93 suspects have been identified for social media posts “targeting officials and spreading panic and fear” by suggesting that the virus had spread widely in Turkey and that officials had taken insufficient measures.
Islington food bank in north London has announced it is to close after running low on food stocks and losing many of its volunteers who have been forced to self-isolate to avoid coronavirus infection.
The food bank, part of the Trussell trust network, is understood to be the first of the trust’s 426 food banks to close. The trust said no others had yet reported difficulties but it was carrying out a rapid survey of its members to gauge “pressure points”.
We understand that we provide a service to vulnerable people who may need us more now than ever, but still feel this is the best course of action for several reasons:
Our main priority is ensuring the safety of everyone who comes to a food bank – whether it’s someone needing help, someone volunteering their time, or someone making a donation. Food banks sometimes run low on certain items, but we’ve not yet heard that any food bank in our network is running out of all food donations. A crisis can often bring out the best in people, and we encourage everyone to carry on donating after checking with their local food bank which items are most needed.
Schools across England are announcing full or partial closures because of staff shortages, suggesting that widespread closures and government intervention may not be far off. The UK and Belarus are alone in Europe in requiring all schools to remain open.
Among those closing is City of London School for Girls, which announced it would close from Wednesday, “in the face of unsustainable pupil and staff absence from the site over the past couple of days”. Pupils will be given remote learning in all subjects, while those whose parents are “key frontline staff” will be offered supervision at the independent school.
Meanwhile, Maiden Erlegh school in Berkshire announced that most pupils will be able to attend only every second day because of staff shortages. “We just cannot operate the school safely with the numbers of staff now absent,” the school’s head has told parents.
Headteachers say that the government’s announcements about increased isolation has forced many teachers to stay home, along with other workers such as bus drivers and catering staff, placing them in a difficult position.
Full story here:
Related: Schools across England struggle as coronavirus hits attendance
A biopharmaceuticals company in southern Germany, which has been working on a coronavirus vaccination has just given an insight into the frontline fight to find a solution to the current global health crisis.
CureVac in Tübingen, held a dial-in press conference for journalists at which it laid out details of its work on a vaccine. Its main challenge is how to mass produce it, and at speed, company bosses told journalists. Trials of the drug, which are necessarily thorough, including checking its efficacy and potential side effects, mean that even if approved, it is not likely to be available until next spring.
• The EU is set to endorse the strictest travel ban in its history as France joined Italy and Spain in full lockdown and Donald Trump told Americans to change their behaviour, acknowledging for the first time that beating the coronavirus could take months.
EU leaders are expected on Tuesday to suspend all travel into the passport-free Schengen zone by non-EU nationals for at least 30 days in a bid to instil uniformity across the bloc after some member states, including Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, unilaterally began imposing border checks.
• Donald Trump has referred to the coronavirus as “the Chinese virus”, escalating a deepening US-China diplomatic spat over the outbreak.
After giving an address on Monday warning of a possible recession, the US president posted on Twitter: “The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Trump should take care of his own matters first.
A claim by Britain’s chief scientific adviser in testimony to MPs ( reported earlier) that Taiwan has been successful in containing coronavirus without closing schools is at best somewhat disingenuous, at worst inaccurate.
Taiwan was already on winter break for the Chinese Lunar new year holiday when the scale of the threat became evident to its leadership, which includes an epidemiologist, the vice-president, Chen Chien-jen.
Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, must be released from a British prison before the coronavirus spreads among inmates, according to campaigners for him.
The Don’t Extradite Assange (DEA) campaign added that prison authorities had signalled that prison inmates will be especially vulnerable to the virus.
Far from taking the coronavirus threat seriously, thousands of Argentinians, rather than going into self-isolation during the government-mandated two-week leave of absence from non-essential jobs, are rushing to the beach in the last days of Argentina’s southern
hemisphere summer.
A line of cars two kilometres long queued outside the Atlantic beach
resort of Monte Hermoso on Monday, waiting to get in and take advantage of the warm weather.
Alguien me puede explicar a qué está yendo tanta gente a Monte Hermoso a esta hora? Es cuarentena.. no vacaciones! No aprendemos más! pic.twitter.com/W3IaXM4Phb
A letter has been sent to UK hospitals postponing all non-urgent elective surgery from the middle of April, reports James Illman of the Health Service Journal.
BREAKING: NHS to postpone all non-urgent elective operations from 15th April at the latest, for a period of at least three months. - letter sent to all hospitals pic.twitter.com/WVloPnkf4K
People need to urgently change their behaviour in order to limit how coronavirus is transmitted, according to academics whose research in the UK suggests that workplaces were “hotspots” for transmission by younger people. But for the over-65s, it’s shops and restaurants.
That comes from a piece in the Guardian by Petra Klepac, assistant professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
What we have found in this data is that adults aged 20-50 make most of their contacts in workplaces. If those of us who can work remotely start doing so now, it will contribute to lowering overall transmission in the population.
Another important finding is that people over 65 – who are particularly at risk from severe Covid-19 illness – make over half of their contacts in other settings (not home, school or work), such as shops, restaurants and leisure centres.
The sensible thing at the moment would be to avoid ibuprofen in cases of people who have coronavirus amid some uncertainty about its impact, MPs have been told by the UK’s chief scientific adviser.
Take something else such as paracetamol, added Sir Patrick Vallance.
The number of people to test positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Tuesday is 1,950, up from 1,543 on Monday, the country’s Department of Health has said.
A total of 50,442 people have been tested with 48,492 negative results. The department said an update on the number of deaths would be announced later on Tuesday.
This summer’s European Championship has been postponed until the summer of 2021, Uefa has decided, as it contemplates the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus.
European football’s governing body held its scheduled conference call with Europe’s 55 national football associations at 12pm UK time, and 17 minutes later the Norwegian FA was the first to tweet the news that the tournament had been postponed until next year. Shortly after 2pm GMT, Uefa confirmed the news in a statement.
Related: Euro 2020 postponed for a year by Uefa because of coronavirus crisis
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has been providing his daily update, which you can follow here:
In Albany with an update on #Coronavirus. WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/ifz17mk2w2
School closures have all sorts of complicating effects, including leading to children being with grandparents and having an impact on the workforce, MPs have been told by the chief scientific adviser.
He points out that Taiwan - which has been very successful in suppressing the virus - has not closed their schools. But it is still on the table here in the UK and one of the levers which could be pulled.
Britain needs a big increase in testing, MPs have been told by Britain’s chief scientific adviser, who added that he is “pushing for it very hard”
“The quicker we can get to a true community-based test the better,” said Sir Patrick Vallance.
The social distancing measures that have now been introduced in the UK should reduce the peak of the spread by around 50%, MPs have been told by Britain’s chief scientific adviser.
Sir Patrick Vallance also answered a particular question that has been exercising the minds of many people: why Britain has not continued with the mass testing in place in some other countries.
The travel and tourism sector is in a fight for its very survival and governments should pursue a raft of measures to preserve as many as 50 million jobs at risk globally, a global trade body has warned.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has implored governments around the world in an open letter to take drastic and immediate action to protect and preserve the travel & tourism sector.
Firstly, financial help must be granted to protect the incomes of the millions of workers in the sector facing severe economic difficulties.
Secondly, governments must extend vital, unlimited interest-free loans to global travel & tourism companies, as well as the millions of small and medium sized businesses as a stimulus to prevent them from collapse.
In Britain, the archbishop of Canterbury has announced that public worship is “suspended until further notice”, but a Church of England spokesman said weddings and funerals could still go ahead.
Justin Welby, who is the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said in a joint statement with John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, that it was now necessary to put public services on hold until further notice
Archbishops call for Church of England to become radically different as public worship put on hold to help stem spread of coronavirus.
Read more: https://t.co/MtN90ryzJ3
Iranian police have dispersed crowds who forced their way into two popular shrines soon after they were closed because of the threat from the coronavirus outbreak.
Shia Muslims entered the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad and the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom on Monday night, protesting at the closures announced earlier in the day on Iranian state television.
Another day has brought another raft of cancellations and postponements of high-profile sporting events. But one sport is determined to carry on.
The two-week-long Candidates chess tournament, the final eliminator for the world chess championship, kicked off in Yekaterinburg, Russia, this morning, despite a country-wide ban on sports events.
Health authorities in Switzerland estimate that around 2,650 people had tested positive for coronavirus and said that 19 people had died, Reuters reports.
After criticism over a perceived failure to act early enough, the Swiss federal government yesterday declared an “extraordinary situation”, including a ban on all private and public events and the closure of restaurants and bars.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the multibillionaire Michael Bloomberg’s charitable foundation, has announced it is to fund a $40m global initiative to fight the spread of coronavirus in low- and middle-income countries.
Announcing the plan, Bloomberg, who recently spent about 14 times that amount in an abortive bid for the Democrat presidential nomination, said:
Millions of lives depend on getting the coronavirus response right – and so does the economic and social health of communities around the world. We need to slow transmission of the virus and minimize the impact of the outbreak in all countries.
As we launch the Coronavirus Local Response Initiative this week here in the U.S., we also are creating a new effort to prevent its spread globally, particularly in Africa. I know from my experience as mayor of New York City that giving public health professionals the tools to protect the public is vital to saving lives – and to help mitigate the kind of economic and social damage that could make this crisis even more debilitating for families and communities.
The governor of Rio de Janeiro state and mayor of São Paulo have both declared an “emergency situation” over coronavirus as numbers of confirmed cases in Brazil rose to 234.
Rio’s famous Sugar Loaf mountain was also closed to visitors but its Christ the Redeemer statue remains open – for now.
We are trying to avoid what happened in other countries with many deaths, like Italy and Spain.
Hello, this is Damien Gayle taking over the live blog for the next hour or so while Ben Quinn takes a break.
The Queen has cancelled five garden parties at Buckingham palace in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus, the Press Association reports.
The Euro 2020 football tournament has been postponed to 2021 as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the Norwegian Football Association has announced.
The tournament was due to have been held this year from 12 June to 12 July across 12 countries, including England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.
UEFA har bestemt at EM utsettes til 2021. Det skal spilles fra 11. juni til 11. juli neste år. Mer informasjon kommer.
British people are being advised by the government against all non-essential travel abroad.
Dominic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, has been making making a statement to MPs about new travel advice. You can follow my colleague Andy Sparrow’s coverage of that here.
BREAKING: British nationals are advised against all non-essential travel anywhere in the world, says U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raabhttps://t.co/lF4G63MhwA pic.twitter.com/SVBLmyRRwp
Lothar Wieler, the president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, the National Public Health Institute in Germany, has said the risk to Germans was now “high”, adding that is the highest gradation there is.
He told a daily conference said that 99% of registered cases had so far survived the illness, and although he had “no idea” what the death rate would eventually be, at the moment all evidence points to the fact that only 1/5 of persons infected will be seriously ill.
Stanley Johnson, father of the UK prime minister, has indicated he would ignore official advice to tackle the spread of coronavirus and still go to the pub.
His comments came a day after Boris Johnson urged everyone to “avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues”.
This is a pandemic that will open up sinkholes in society and volunteers may have to help out in services from deliveries to education, writes Gaby Hinsliff in the Guardian today.
Referring to the UK – although it’s as relevant to other places as well – she adds:
People whose jobs have vanished from beneath their feet need money to live on but soon they’ll also need a purpose, something to do for months on end.
Related: We are at war with coronavirus. Everyone will have to muck in | Gaby Hinsliff
In Scotland, no new jury trials will begin until further notice as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Scottish courts and tribunals announced today that no new criminal jury trials would be commenced or new juries empanelled until further notice. The measure follows yesterday’s extraordinary advice that the general public stay at home as much as possible and avoid unnecessary social contact.
In a statement, the Scottish authorities said jury trials that have already commenced would run to conclusion of the trial, if practical to do so.
“It is likely that further measures will be announced in the coming days,” the statement notes.
Saudi Arabia, the current chair of the group of the 20 most industrialised nations, is to stage a virtual G20 summit in the coming days in a bid to show world leaders have coordinated medical and economic plans to control coronavirus.
It was an eloquent exhortation: “We are asking our people, in order to pull together, to stay apart.”
The words of Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, captured Ireland on St Patrick’s day when deserted streets, shuttered pubs and silence – a thick silence, stripped of cheers and speeches and marching bands – showed a communion of spirit.
Page One Photo: Elena (7) and Lucy (5) Tintori visit their grandmother Sheela. It has been seen as critical to maintain social distancing during the spread of the coronavirus in Ireland. Photograph: Tom Honan (@tom_honanphotos)#irishtimespage1 #CoronaIreland #CoronavirusOu ... pic.twitter.com/i1u1Ci3SCO
In the UK, the network coverage website Down Detector is showing a surge in reports of issues with most of the country’s major mobile networks.
It comes as many Britons are working from home and, presumably, much more reliant on their mobile devices to make work calls, emails and other communications.
Saudi Arabia, the current chair of the group of the world’s 20 most industrialised nations, is to stage a virtual G20 summit in the coming days in a bid to show global leaders have coordinated medical and economic plans to control coronavirus.
Some members of the G20, mainly western nations and Japan, held a smaller virtual summit on Monday promising to do whatever it takes to bring the west through the crisis.
Several sources are reporting that UK mobile phone networks including EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and GiffGaff are reporting problems and connectivity issues.
I’m investigating and will give you more information as soon as I have it.
The government of Italy has announced it is to renationalise the former national carrier Alitalia to make sure Italian nationals are never again left stranded overseas by a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.
The takeover, part of a €25bn coronavirus response plan, will cost taxpayers up to €600m, AFP reports. Deputy economy minister Laura Castelli told Italian radio on Tuesday:
At a time like this, a flag carrier gives the government more leeway. We all saw the difficulties our compatriots faced in returning to Italy. Our decision stems from this.
The Pakistan Super League has seen its knockout stages called off after Alex Hales, the England batsman, returned home early from the tournament and went into self-isolation due to symptoms that could indicate Covid-19.
Hales was among the overseas cricketers who opted to leave the PSL last week due to uncertainty over travel restrictions. On Monday the 31-year-old Nottinghamshire opener stated on Twitter: “Self-isolation begins… TV series to binge-watch please?!”, with that post subsequently deleted.
Related: England batsman Alex Hales in self-isolation due to coronavirus symptoms
A leading scientist behind the modelling of the spread of the coronavirus has said that shutting schools would reduce the transmission of the disease, as pressure grows on the government to introduce closures.
Prof Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London and director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, said that while it was not fully understood whether children transmitted the virus in the same way as other illnesses, school closures was a measure that could have an effect.
Related: Shutting schools would reduce coronavirus transmission – expert
Huge numbers of cinemas across the UK and Ireland are shutting down due to the coronavirus, Andrew Pulver reports.
Major chains, including Odeon, Cineworld and Picturehouse, as well as BFI Southbank, the screening complex operated by the British Film Institute, have announced they are closing their doors with largely immediate effect.
Related: Cinemas across the UK to shut in response to coronavirus
The latest figures from Iran show 135 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak - a 13% rise - raising the death toll to 988 in what is one of the world’s worst affected countries.
Iranian health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who reported the latest number at a televised news conference on Tuesday, said there were 16,169 infections in the country, which has temporarily freed 85,000 prisoners in an effort to stop the virus spreading through jails.
The postponement of soccer’s Euro 2020 Championship may already have been decided after Uefa last week cancelled its hotel bookings in Copenhagen, one of the host cities, reports Reuters.
The CPH Hotel told the news agency over the phone that Uefa had booked 80 of its 102 rooms but cancelled them just over a week ago. The Marienlyst Strandhotel, where the Danish team usually bases itself, told Reuters in an email that Uefa had cancelled the rooms booked on behalf of the Danish side.
Related: Euro 2020: what will Uefa's video conference realistically decide?
Australians are being urged to fly home as soon as possible to avoid being stranded overseas due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Travel advice issued on Tuesday evening by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australians should return home before the virus caused more borders to close.
Happy St Patrick’s Day - and apologies for taking a little bit of time before saying that.
It’s certainly a national day like no other - even with personal childhood memories of cold days watching some particularly outlandish floats making their way through Donegal Town - and the traditional parades and festivities across Ireland are all obviously cancelled (or perhaps postponed).
#GlobalGreening to go ahead to mark #StPatricksDay https://t.co/sY0dP54vHa via @rte
So: the #StPatricksDay parades might not be happening but with your help we'll create a virtual parade of our own.
You could be twirling a baton, dancing a jig or donning the green ... just use #RTEVirtualParade for all your pix or vids@RadioRayRTE @zuroph @RyanTubridyShow pic.twitter.com/76TgHuNfDU
Kazakhstan will effectively close its capital Nur-Sultan and biggest city Almaty from March 19 after both reported coronavirus cases, the state emergency commission said on Tuesday.
In addition to restricted movement of people and vehicles, the authorities instructed restaurants to switch to delivery-only mode and said they may shut down public transport, Reuters reports.
The move by Britain’s Tate galleries to close (reported earlier) has been welcomed by people including Professor Ian Donald, a prominent psychologist specialising in behavioural factors in anti-microbial resistance.
All #Tate Galleries are closing from today. It’s not the most important event today, but good to see Organization staking immediate action in support of the govt new instructions. And #TateModern is one of the most visited sites in London. Looking forward to the reopening.
This makes my heart hurt but it's absolutely the right thing to do. Tate Modern has been my sanctuary for a long time and I can't wait to visit again ❤️ https://t.co/IgwObURxmU
Iran has temporarily freed a total of 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners, a spokesman for its judiciary said on Tuesday, adding that the prisons were responding to the threat of a coronavirus epidemic in jails.
“Some 50% of those released are security-related prisoners. Also in the jails we have taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak,” the spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.
The #Iranian government feels it is appropriate to release 80k+ prisoners due to #Covid_19 ,including murderers&drug dealers,but continuously refuse to release the innocent political prisoners,because they hold too much value as bargaining chips #freeanoosheh
On the island of Jamaica, political and social messages have long been spread through the dancehalls and music, and so it is with coronavirus.
Just days after the island’s first confirmed case, an educational single, New Hail, was released to teach listeners how to avoid spreading the virus.
Mi just ah think, we cyan a guh roun’ and touch touch people like we used to. Then me link wid one of my G dem - and you know da likkle supm deh weh we ah rub off big finga? Mi seh dah hail deh now, it haffi guh cut out. Because dis nuh good fi we health, right now. Right deh so now, di song pop inna mi head, like yow, we need fi hail wid we foot enuh.
It a affect yuh, and it nuh care ‘bout race, riches or gender. A nuh everything make fi gimmick and joke ‘bout. As an artiste, I’m all about the fun, but this is not a fun thing and me coulda never do a dance fi some people siddung and joke and laugh about. Yuh know how much street dance cancel over this thing, how many people livelihood affected? Yuh know how much a my show dem get cancel because no travelling nah gwaan?
Britain’s Tate - one of the UK’s major tourist attractions - has become one of the first national museums and galleries to announce closure.
It said it would close Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool from 18 March until 1 May.
We believe that access to art is a universal right. Now more than ever, art can lift our spirits, brighten our days and improve our mental health. So whilst our galleries are shut, we’ll be sharing some ideas for how you can still enjoy the best of Tate wherever you are.
The safety of our staff, visitors and community is our top priority. So, in line with the latest advice from Public Health England, Tate's four galleries will all be temporarily closed from this evening until 1 May. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/YaFi28HXm9
UK airports may shut down “within weeks without government intervention”, according to the Airport Operators Association, which represents companies running British hubs.
The trade body’s chief executive, Karen Dee, said: “Governments across the world are supporting their national aviation industries as many parts of the global travel industry have come to a halt.
Britain is facing a wartime scenario for its public finances as it seeks to offset the coronavirus hit to companies through higher public spending and borrowing, the country’s independent budget office said on Tuesday.
Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, told MPs today that Britain’s budget deficit hit 20% of economic output during World War Two and he said now was not the time for the government to be squeamish about higher debt.
It's our second evidence session on #Budget2020 this morning.
We'll hear from the Office for Budget Responsibility's Robert Chote, Prof. Sir Charlie Bean and Andy King.
Watch it live from 9.30am here ➡️ https://t.co/lOd6xGV9wN pic.twitter.com/T9IuM06mdJ
The health damage inflicted on people by long-standing air pollution in cities is likely to increase the death rate from coronavirus infections, experts have said.
Dirty air is Back Original Source