France posts single-day record 464,000 COVID-19 cases

France's daily reported new coronavirus cases broke a new record on Tuesday with an average of over 300,000 a day in the past week, with the headline figure approaching half a million.

The latest data issued by Public Health France showed that there were 464,769 new cases in the last 24-hour period as the omicron variant of COVID-19 spread unabated.

A day earlier, 102,144 people had tested positive for the virus.

The average daily number of new cases over the past 7 days has surpassed 300,000, the latest data showed.

French teachers' unions called Monday for a second major strike this week to protest the government's COVID testing and isolation protocols, which they say are severely disrupting classes.

The move follows a 1-day walkout last week that saw half of the country's primary schools close, according to unions, who accuse authorities of failing to establish clear rules that would keep as many students in school as possible.

Teachers say class disruptions have become unmanageable with the spread of the highly contagious omicron COVID-19 variant, with many parents struggling to get vaccination appointments for their children and long lines for tests forming outside pharmacies.

In response the government promised to provide five million high-grade FFP2 face masks for school staff and to hire over 3,000 substitute teachers to replace those forced to isolate after contracting COVID or coming into contact with an infected person.

Agence France-Presse

Endemic coronavirus would not mean end of danger, says WHO

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned against the notion that the Covid-19 pandemic becoming endemic would mean the disease was no longer dangerous.

"People talk about pandemic versus endemic," the WHO's emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual session of the World Economic Forum.

"Endemic malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people; endemic HIV; endemic violence in our inner cities. 

"Endemic in itself does not mean good -- endemic just means it's here forever," Ryan told the Davos Agenda roundtable on vaccine equity.

The rapidly-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19 is much more contagious than previous strains but seems to cause less serious disease for vaccinated people.

That has triggered a debate on the virus passing from being a pandemic to becoming endemic -- with the implication that the danger will have passed.

"What we need to do is get to low levels of disease incidence with maximum vaccination of our populations, so nobody has to die," said Ryan.

"That's the end of the emergency, in my view. That's the end of the pandemic."

Ryan added that it was possible to end the waves of death and hospitalisations by the end of 2022 through vaccine-led public health measures.

But, he added: "We won't end the virus this year. We may never end the virus. Pandemic viruses end up becoming part of the ecosystem.

"What we can do is end is the public health emergency."

With the exception of the one-shot Janssen product, all the Covid-19 vaccines given emergency approval by the WHO require two injections.

Ryan raised the prospect of three to four doses at some point being considered the full course of vaccination for enduring protection against severe Covid disease.

"As knowledge develops, and as we see the way the immune system matures and responds to either re-exposure or to an extra dose of vaccine, we may end up in a future where the primary course of vaccination for a vulnerable person might be three or four doses," he said.

"They won't be called boosters. It will be seen that you need three to four doses to develop that long-lasting, robust immunity that protects you from hospitalisation and death over a prolonged period."

Agence France-Presse

New Zealand central bank hit by cyber attack

WELLINGTON - New Zealand's central bank said Sunday it was responding with urgency to a "malicious" breach of one of its data systems, a third-party file sharing service that stored "sensitive information".

Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Adrian Orr said the breach had been contained and the system was taken offline but it would take time to determine what information had been accessed.

"We are working closely with domestic and international cyber security experts and other relevant authorities as part of our investigation and response to this malicious attack," Orr said.

"The nature and extent of information that has been potentially accessed is still being determined, but it may include some commercially and personally sensitive information," he added.

"It will take time to understand the full implications of this breach, and we are working with system users whose information may have been accessed."

In its latest report, the government agency CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) said cyber attacks had increased 33 percent year-on-year in New Zealand. 

The country's stock exchange was targeted by sustained DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks last August, forcing trading to be halted on four consecutive days.

Agence France-Presse

Australian archbishop ‘deeply troubled’ by country’s Oxford vaccine deal

A senior Catholic archbishop has warned he is “deeply troubled” by Australia’s vaccine deal with AstraZeneca, saying the potential vaccine uses a fetal cell line that creates an “ethical quandary” for Christians.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher penned a letter — also signed by Anglican and Greek Orthodox religious leaders — to Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlining concerns of some Christians over the vaccine’s apparent use of a cell line derived from an elective abortion performed decades ago.

The letter, seen by AFP, calls on Morrison to ensure that if the vaccine being developed by Oxford University researchers is rolled out in Australia it is not made mandatory.

It also urges him to pursue other “ethical” vaccine candidates to ensure religious objectors have a choice.

Australia last week announced a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the “promising” vaccine if it is proven safe and effective, with plans to offer it for free to the entire population.

Morrison initially suggested it should be made compulsory for its 25 million citizens — with an exception on medical grounds — before reversing his position.

Fisher, writing in the forthcoming edition of Catholic Weekly, says he believes it would not be unethical to receive the vaccine “if there is no alternative available” but adds he is “deeply troubled by it”.

“I’m a strong advocate of vaccinations -– and not just for COVID-19 –- as long as they are safe and ethically obtained,” he adds.

In 2017, the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life decreed that vaccinations “can be used with a clear conscience” and doing so “does not signify some sort of cooperation with voluntary abortion”.

A government spokesperson told AFP that Morrison — himself a devout Christian — “respects the views of Australia’s many religious communities and understands the issues that are being raised”.

“The government is investing in research and technology that we hope will produce a range of vaccines that will be suitable for as many Australians as possible,” the official said.

Among those is the University of Queensland’s vaccine candidate, which the official said does not contain fetal cell lines and has received Aus$5 million in government funding.

It is currently in Phase 1 efficacy trials, while the Oxford vaccine is among a handful globally that have reached Phase 3.

The Australian government estimates that up to 95 percent of the population would need to be immune to the virus for it to be eradicated.

Agence France-Presse

Bar owners worry as virus surges in their workplaces

HOUSTON (AP) — The din of conversation and music that normally fills The Cottonmouth Club in downtown Houston fell silent last Friday when the owners shut it down for a second time during the coronavirus pandemic — a week before the Texas governor ordered all bars to follow suit amid a surge in infections.

Co-owner Michael Neff — questioning what he saw as a rush to reopen by the state and wondering if his industry was making things worse as some bars flouted rules on occupancy limits — said he felt he could no longer provide a safe environment for his staff or customers at the neighborhood bar with a rock ‘n’ roll vibe.

He and his staff had started hearing of workers at other bars getting sick.

“Texas was a terrible, terrible experiment because it experimented with people’s lives and this is where we are,” Neff said.

That ended Friday, with Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement that bars would again be shuttered, a day after the state reported a record high of nearly 6,000 confirmed cases and on the day that Texas surpassed 5,000 hospitalizations for the first time.

Neff said while he faulted bars that ignored the rules, he also lays blame on local and state officials for what he says was a lack of guidance and support, a lack of a statewide mask order and, until recently, a lack of enforcement.





It’s a sentiment shared by other bar and restaurant owners across the state and beyond who have been deeply hurt financially by anti-virus measures and are also struggling with tough decisions, with some shutting down again after workers became infected or closing as a precaution because of rising cases in their areas.

In a nearly eight-minute video he posted online earlier this month, Neff vented his frustration, beginning with a message directed at Abbott: “You’re leading us to die.”

An email seeking comment from a spokesman for Abbott was not immediately returned Friday. During a news conference Monday, Abbott said the goal has always been to reduce cases and keep people out of hospitals.

“Texans have already shown that we don’t have to choose between jobs and health,” he added. “We can protect Texans’ lives while also restoring their livelihoods.”

From the time bars and clubs in Texas could reopen on May 22 with indoor service, social media has been filled with photos and videos showing packed businesses that were obviously not following rules on capacity and social distancing. But the first operation by the state to suspend the alcohol permits of establishments that ignored rules didn’t happen until a week ago.

In closing bars again on Friday, Abbott said the rise in confirmed cases was “largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars.” Abbott also ordered restaurants to scale back to half capacity starting Monday.

He added that “every Texan has a responsibility to themselves and their loved ones to wear a mask” — but he has not mandated their use statewide. Last week, he did say cities and counties could order businesses to require that their customers wear masks.

A similar clampdown is happening in several states where confirmed infections are spiking. In some places, owners are doing it voluntarily, as Neff did. On Friday, Florida banned alcohol consumption at bars after confirmed coronavirus cases neared 9,000.

“What we realize is that despite exceeding the required protocols and with very little federal or state guidance, that more needs to be done,” Daniel Wright, the owner of five Cincinnati restaurants and bars that he shut down as a precaution, said in a Facebook post this week.

Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing Company, which has a popular beer garden that remained mostly closed even before Friday’s order, has also had difficulty navigating what it sees as inconsistent messaging on how to operate, said company spokesman Lennie Ambrose.

“We’re going to follow the laws or the ordinances. But even if something is allowed, maybe that’s not the right thing for Saint Arnold to do from a public health standpoint,” Ambrose said.

That feeling of uncertainty is echoed elsewhere. Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, said his organization has told officials that the hospitality industry is “just looking for consistency, transparency and forward-looking rules.” The association has pressed local governments to increase efforts to educate customers on their responsibilities when going out, Kennedy said.

An ongoing survey by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston of restaurants and bars in the Austin area found that many are frustrated that the governor has left it up to cities and counties to decide if they would mandate masks, said Mark Jones, one of the research fellows involved in the study.

Neff said he is worried about losing his bar and has worked to find other revenue streams, including selling cocktails to go, starting a podcast and holding a nightly virtual bar livestream. But he said he also feels a responsibility to let people know what went wrong and to help ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

“We are not going to be successful in reopening our economies if we do it the way we’ve been doing it,” he said. “And no one wants that kind of sacrifice both in business and in lives.”

___

Associated Press video journalist John Mone contributed to this report.

AP

Australian charged over 80s alleged hate crime murder of gay American

More than 30 years after American Scott Johnson was killed in a suspected gay hate crime in Australia, police said Tuesday they had arrested and charged a man with his murder.

Detectives arrested the 49-year-old in the leafy Sydney suburb of Lane Cove on Tuesday and laid murder charges the same day.

The suspect's name was not released.

The breakthrough in the cold case came two months after the victim's family doubled a police reward in the case to Aus$2 million (US$1.3 million).

The 27-year-old mathematician Johnson's naked body was found at the base of a cliff in the Sydney suburb of Manly in December 1988, and police at the time ruled his death a suicide.

But a coroner found in 2017 that it was likely Johnson had been killed in a hate crime, suggesting he was either pushed over the cliff or fell while trying to escape unidentified assailants.

The inquest found that gangs roamed Sydney at the time searching for gay men to attack, and had been known to rob or assault men at the "gay beat" where Johnson's folded clothing was discovered.

In 2018, police announced an Aus$1 million reward for information leading to an arrest in the case, which was doubled when Johnson's brother, Steve, matched the amount in March.

Steve Johnson, who had long pushed police to investigate his brother's death, said it was "remarkable" the alleged killer had been apprehended almost 32 years later.

"This is a very emotional day. Emotional for me, emotional for my family who... love Scott dearly," he said in a video statement.

"It's emotional, I'm sure, for the gay community for whom Scott had come to symbolise the many dozens of other gay men who lost their lives in the 1980s and '90s in a world full of anti-gay prejudice and hatred."

In 2018, New South Wales police acknowledged that at least 27 murders between the 1970s and 2000 were homophobic hate crimes, admitting the force had played a part in marginalising the LGBT community and enabling society's "acceptance of shocking violence directed at gay men" during the period.

"It is clear and beyond question that levels of violence inflicted upon gay men in particular were elevated, extreme and often brutal," police said at the time.

The suspect in Johnson's murder is due to appear in a local Sydney court on Wednesday.

Agence France-Presse

Earthquake of magnitude 6.9 strikes Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia —EMSC

JAKARTA — A powerful earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Wednesday, causing some residents to flee their homes, but there were no immediate reports of damage and the country's meteorology agency ruled out the risk of a tsunami.

The magnitude 6.9 quake struck in the Banda Sea, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said, and was at a depth of 117 km (73 miles). The US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.8.

The earthquake was not capable of generating a tsunami affecting the Indian Ocean region, the Indonesia Tsunami Service Provider said.

A resident on the island of Kisar in Maluku province said they felt the earthquake for a few minutes and said people ran out of the houses in panic.

"People were asleep, we screamed. People ran because of the quake, beds shook," said Oce Karmomyana, who said there had been no damage.

Indonesia is situated on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is frequently hit by earthquakes that are sometimes accompanied by tsunamis.

The most devastating in recent Indonesian history was on Dec. 26 in 2004, when a magnitude 9.5 quake triggered a massive tsunami that killed around 226,000 people along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, including more than 126,000 in Indonesia.

In 2018, a tsunami hit the city of Palu in Sulawesi island, killing thousands. — Reuters

Sun worshippers: Indonesians soak up the rays to battle virus

From shirtless soldiers to teens suntanning on their parents' driveways, Indonesians are soaking up rays like never before in the hope that plentiful sunshine will ward off coronavirus.

The rush to take up a practice usually associated with Bali-bound foreigners has been driven by unfounded claims on social media that sunlight -- and the vitamin D it supplies -- can slow or kill the virus.

That hope got a boost last week when a senior US official said new research showed sunlight quickly destroys the virus. The study has yet to be evaluated independently, but US President Donald Trump spoke about it enthusiastically during a press conference.

"I always avoided the sun before because I didn't want to get tanned," said Theresia Rikke Astria, a 27-year-old housewife in Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta.

"But I'm hoping this will strengthen my immune system," she added.

Medics have their doubts, but say a 15-minute burst of morning sunshine can be good for you.

"Exposing the body to direct sunlight is good to get vitamin D, not to directly prevent the disease," said Dr. Dirga Sakti Rambe at Jakarta’s OMNI Pulomas Hospital.

Vitamin D, which comes from fish, eggs, milk and sunlight exposure, is important in maintaining a healthy immune system, he said, but added: "Sunbathing does not kill the virus that causes COVID-19."

Whatever the science, one thing is for sure: there is no shortage of sunshine in the tropical 5,000-kilometre- (3,100-mile-) long Southeast Asian archipelago.


The rush outdoors has led to an Indonesian government warning about the dangers of skin cancer, and calls for novice sun-seekers to slap on protection.

It was a rare caution in a place where sunbathing is not practised widely and beauty product commercials extol the virtues of fair skin.

Across Asia, pale skin has long been associated with a higher social class and skin-lightening products are big sellers.

Muslim majority Indonesia's relatively conservative dress codes -- especially for women -- mean skimpy swimwear isn't a feature of the new craze.

- 'Asian skin tone' -

But the pandemic has made a convert of Rio Zikrizal, even if he struggles with the idea of soaking his shirtless torso in the sun.

"In normal times I'd be reluctant to sunbathe," the Jakarta resident said.

"I've got an Asian skin tone which gets dark easily so I often use products to make my skin lighter."

Nabillah Ayu, who lives on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, starts her newly adopted sunbathing routine around 10 am -- when she used to be in the office -- in the hopes of avoiding the deadly respiratory disease.

"Sunlight can't directly kill coronavirus, but it can boost the immune system and stop you from getting it," the 22-year-old said.

Bare-chested suntan sessions have been incorporated into morning exercise routines for some military and police units.

And in major cities, residents are flocking from neighbourhoods crammed with narrow, dark alleyways to open areas -- including commuter train tracks -- where they can catch some unobstructed rays.

It is a motley mix of women in head-covering hijabs with rolled up sleeves and pants, shirtless male teens and wrinkly pensioners all clamouring for a bit of sunshine as the odd train zips by.

"I've just started sunbathing regularly since the pandemic hit," Alfian, who goes by one name, told AFP near train tracks in Tangerang on the edge of Jakarta.

"Afterwards I take a shower and my body feels fitter."

Pensioner Wadianto Wadito, who suffers from heart disease and diabetes, figures he can use all the help he can get.

"I'm already taking a lot of medicines anyway, so now I'm sunbathing to get all my vitamins without taking more pills," the 65-year-old said.

Agence France-Presse

Self-isolation? Some in Georgia choose beach instead

After being locked down for weeks, many residents in Georgia are thumbing their noses at the deadly coronavirus and seeking sanctuary in the sun, sand and waves of the southern state's beaches.

Under a cloudless blue sky with balmy temperatures and soft breezes rolling off the water, Tybee Island proved a powerful weekend lure Saturday for Georgians desperate for any return to normalcy -- and an escape from self-imposed isolation.

"How long are we supposed to imprison ourselves?" a bikini-clad Mackenzie Scharf, 30, said to AFP as her five-year-old son flew a Spider Man kite.

"This is much safer than going grocery shopping."

One day after Georgia's governor allowed a limited reopening of thousands of businesses, several hundred people were enjoying Tybee Island's sprawling South Beach.

It feels great -- like it's supposed to feel," said 39-year-old mother and housewife Rachel Lilly, barely lifting her head from a watermelon-themed towel as she enjoyed her first beach trip of the year.

"I'm not concerned" about catching coronavirus, "as long as it's not packed," she said. "But if everyone does what we're doing, that's a problem."

Locals said Saturday was the busiest beach day of the year so far for Tybee Island, a laid-back tourist destination on Georgia's Atlantic coast.

Several hundred people were on the sand strolling, jogging, throwing footballs or wading in the mild waves.

Social distancing was generally in effect. But masks or other protective gear? Forget about it.

"It's just nice to, you know, come up for a little air," silver-haired attorney Brian Monroe, 49, said after throwing a Frisbee with his daughter.

"When the beach is sparsely populated like this it's not too hard to social distance."

Tybee Island authorities nevertheless were patrolling the sand on all-wheel drive vehicles, cautioning people about distancing.

One block off the sand, sun-splashed youths wearing sandals and long swim trunks scanned their phones and held red plastic cups as they rode cruiser bikes through quiet streets.

The smell of sunblock lingered. A motorcycle group rumbled down the main drag, Butler Avenue. Restaurants and smoothie shops were providing take-out for beachgoers.

- 'Get it on' -

This was not the scene that Tybee Island's Mayor Shirley Sessions envisioned.


She shut the community's beaches several weeks ago as a measure to contain viral spread. But this month Georgia Governor Brian Kemp overruled her with an order of his own.

Neighbors South Carolina and Florida have both opened some of their beaches.

But Georgia has gone further. On Friday, Kemp gave permission for some small businesses to re-open statewide, including barber shops, bowling alleys and nail salons, provided protective health measures were in place.

Restaurants and social clubs can open come Monday.

Realtor and 40-year Tybee Island resident Harold Heyman said he's all for Georgia and other states throwing the doors of their businesses wide open, health concerns be damned.

"Get it on," the bronzed and shirtless 75-year-old grinned as he walked toward his beachside home.

Heyman scoffed about the concern someone his age might have about contracting a virus which has already infected more than 925,000 people in the United States, 53,000 of whom have died.

As for defying a crisis to hang out at the beach, swim, and soak up the sun, "this is my way of being healthy," he added.

Eighteen miles (29 kilometers) inland in Savannah, Georgia's historic city that draws some 14 million visitors per year, conditions were more gloomy.

Many of Savannah's hotels and restaurants are temporarily closed, and its famed haunted tours have also been halted.

Locals rode through town on bicycles but few tourists were walking the historic streets or snapping photographs in Chippewa Square.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he believes it is "absolutely premature" to open, given the city has yet to meet White House guidelines for opening up business, including 14 straight days of declining infections.

Johnson has also urged faith leaders not to hold church services Sunday.

Agence France-Presse

The coronavirus cancels Oktoberfest in Germany

BERLIN — This year’s Oktoberfest in Munich has been called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cancellation of the world-famous annual celebration of beer, which was supposed to run from September 19 to October 4, underlines expectations that the way back to normal life will be very long.

The Oktoberfest typically draws about 6 million visitors every year to the packed festival grounds in Bavaria’s capital.

Bavarian governor Markus Soeder said after meeting Munich’s mayor Tuesday: “We agreed that the risk is simply too high.” He added that “you can neither keep your distance nor work with facial protection” at the Oktoberfest.

Soeder noted that the festival attracts visitors from around the world, raising concerns about bringing new infections to Bavaria.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said that “it is an emotionally difficult moment and of course it is also an economically difficult moment for our city.”

As it stands, major events with large audiences are banned in Germany until at least the end of August.

The country has taken the first steps toward loosening its shutdown, allowing small nonessential shops to start opening this week, but it remains unclear when bars and restaurants will be able to welcome customers again.

The Oktoberfest has previously been canceled during the two world wars; at a time of hyperinflation in Germany in 1923; and because of cholera outbreaks in 1854 and 1873, German news agency dpa reported.

Associated Press

Facebook feature lets people reach out for help in pandemic

SAN FRANCISCO–Facebook on Tuesday activated a feature allowing people impacted by the coronavirus pandemic to reach out for help from their community.

The Community Help feature was added to the social network four years ago as a way to find shelter, food or supplies during natural disasters, and this week added the COVID-19 crisis to that list.

“We’ve been seeing since the beginning people asking for help,” Facebook app head Fidji Simo told AFP.

“We’ve been working for a couple of weeks at enabling the feature.”

While Community Help has been activated for tragedies such as the recent Australian wildfires, this time the feature reaches far beyond a single country and had to be woven into the coronavirus information hub, according to Simo.

Facebook set the help radius by default to 50 miles in the US and 100 kilometers in other countries, but people can scale back the area in which they are available to be of assistance.

“You can adjust it down if you can only help in your neighborhood,” Simo said.

The feature lets Facebook users request or offer help from walking dogs or fetching groceries to psychotherapy.

People wishing to help support coronavirus relief efforts can donate money through a UN-Facebook fundraiser, with Facebook matching donations up to a total of $10 million.

The leading online social network said it was adding a way to find and donate to local fundraising campaigns.

“Since the beginning of the spread of the virus and especially as people started practicing social distancing, we’ve seen them turn to Facebook to connect with and take action to help their communities,” Facebook said.


The California-based internet giant also said it was continuing to ramp up efforts to provide reliable, timely information about the pandemic and ways to take action.

Since a COVID-19 Information Center launched two weeks ago at Facebook, more than a billion people have been showed notifications about resources from health authorities through the hub and “educational pop-up” notifications at the social network and Instagram.

AP

New Zealand extends state of emergency to stop spread of COVID-19

WELLINGTON - New Zealand is extending the state of national emergency for a further seven days to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said in a statement.

The initial declaration on March 25 lasted seven days and can be extended as many times as necessary.

"Extending the State of National Emergency ensures we have all the resources, support and powers we need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities," Henare said. —Reuters

Coronavirus could become seasonal: top US scientist

WASHINGTON, United States — There is a strong chance the new coronavirus could return in seasonal cycles, a senior US scientist said Wednesday, underscoring the urgent need to find a vaccine and effective treatments.

Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told a briefing the virus was beginning to take root in the southern hemisphere, where winter is on its way.

"What we're starting to see now... in southern Africa and in the southern hemisphere countries, is that we're having cases that are appearing as they go into their winter season," he said.

"And if, in fact, they have a substantial outbreak, it will be inevitable that we need to be prepared that we'll get a cycle around the second time.

"It totally emphasizes the need to do what we're doing in developing a vaccine, testing it quickly and trying to get it ready so that we'll have a vaccine available for that next cycle."

There are currently two vaccines that have entered human trials — one in the US and one in China — and they could be a year to a year-and-a-half away from deployment.

Treatments are also being investigated — some new drugs and others that have been repurposed, including the antimalarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

"I know we'll be successful in putting this down now, but we really need to be prepared for another cycle," Fauci concluded.

Fauci's comments suggesting the virus does better in colder weather than it does in hot and humid conditions follows a recent Chinese research paper — still preliminary and awaiting peer-review — that reached the same conclusion.

The reasons are thought to include that respiratory droplets remain airborne for longer in colder weather, and that cold weather weakens immunity.

Another potential reason is that viruses degrade more quickly on hotter surfaces, possibly because a protective layer of fat that envelops them dries out quicker.

But reduced infection rate does not mean the virus gets eliminated — Australia has had almost 2,500 confirmed cases and 8 deaths, for example.

Agence France-Presse

UK govt orders three-week lockdown to tackle virus

LONDON, United Kingdom — Britain on Monday ordered a three-week lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus, shutting "non-essential" shops and services, and banning gatherings of more than two people.

"Stay at home," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised address to the nation, as he unveiled unprecedented peacetime measures after the country's death toll climbed to 335.


The announcement came after outrage in government that recommendations about reducing social contact to minimise close-contact transmission of the virus were being ignored.

Crowds of people were seen enjoying weekend spring sunshine in parks and countryside across the country, prompting calls for tougher action to be imposed.

"From this evening (Monday) I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home," Johnson said.

"Because the critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households."

Under the new measures, Johnson said going out to shop for basic necessities was still allowed, as was exercise, medical needs, and travel to and from work.

But shops selling items such as clothes or electronics as well as libraries, playgrounds and places of worship would be shut, with the ban also extending to weddings and baptisms but not funerals.

Parks will remain open but Johnson warned: "If you don't follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce them, including through fines and dispersing gatherings."

He called the pandemic "the biggest threat this country has faced for decades" and said the already overstretched state-run National Health Service (NHS) would be unable to cope if the pace of transmission continues.

"I urge you at this moment of national emergency to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives," he said.

The restrictions will be "under constant review", he added.

"We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to," he said. 

"But at present there are just no easy options. The way ahead is hard, and it is still true that many lives will sadly be lost."

'War-footing'

Britain recorded its first death in the outbreak on March 5 but has been criticised for its light-touch approach to containing the spread compared to more stringent measures elsewhere.

Latest figures show Britain now has 6,650 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with warnings the virus is taking hold quicker than in Italy at the same point.

Italy has suffered the most coronavirus deaths worldwide, with 6,077 fatalities out of 63,927 declared infections.

Johnson had previously resisted mounting public concern that hand-washing was not enough to reduce the impact of COVID-19.

As the numbers of cases and deaths climbed, employees were laid off, and sporting and other events cancelled, he moved to try to limit the social and economic fall-out.

The Bank of England slashed interest rates to record lows, while finance minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a series of multi-billion-pound packages to help those affected.

Notably, the government has stepped in to back up employee wages up to 80 percent, give tax holidays to businesses and boost welfare payments.

But Johnson was forced to go further, and put the government on what he said was a war footing, after dire warnings from scientists that its social distancing strategy was not working.

The government's chief scientific adviser has said it was a "reasonable" estimate that 55,000 people now have the virus in Britain.

'Turn the tide'

The prime minister has promised to "turn the tide" of the outbreak within 12 weeks, urging individuals displaying symptoms to stay at home for seven days.

Schools have been closed, as have pubs, bars, nightclubs, theatres, cafes, and leisure centres, and mass gatherings have been banned.

Foreign minister Dominic Raab on Monday told British travellers overseas to return home "while you still can".

Last week, the elderly and people with underlying serious health conditions were told to self-isolate for 12 weeks.

Meanwhile, continued stockpiling that has stripped supermarket shelves prompted a fresh warning about panic-buying.

Agence France-Presse

WHO message to youth on virus: 'You are not invincible'

GENEVA, Switzerland - Coronavirus can sicken or kill young people, who must also avoid mingling and spreading it to older and more vulnerable people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a virtual press conference: "Today I have a message for young people: You are not invincible, this virus could put you in hospital for weeks or even kill you. Even if you don't get sick the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else."

Amid shortages of protective gear for health workers and diagnostic tests, "air bridges" will be needed to bring supplies to countries for vital health workers, the WHO's top emergency expert Dr. Mike Ryan said.

The WHO has distributed 1.5 million lab tests worldwide and it may need potentially 80 times that for the pandemic, he said. -- Reuters

California goes on virus lockdown as Italy death toll overtakes China

LOS ANGELES — California was placed under lockdown in the most drastic step yet by a US state to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus as Italy surpassed China as the country with the most deaths from the pandemic.

The United States, meanwhile, is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a virus treatment, President Donald Trump said, as he lashed out at China for not informing the world earlier about the original outbreak.


China, for its part, on Friday reported a second day with no new domestic cases since the virus appeared in the central city of Wuhan in December, before spreading worldwide.

While there was a glimmer of hope in China, several countries tightened their borders and imposed lockdowns, trapping tens of millions of people in their homes.

And the UN chief warned “millions” could die if the virus spreads unchecked around the globe.

Governments and central banks have unleashed a blockbuster series of measures to prop up the teetering global economy, only to see the once-in-a-century pandemic seemingly spiral further out of control.

The death toll soared in Europe as Italy announced another 427 fatalities on Thursday, taking its total to 3,405, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.

China has officially reported 3,248 deaths from the virus, which can cause respiratory failure, particularly in the elderly.

Globally, the death toll from the virus has risen to almost 10,000 with more than 232,000 cases in 158 countries and territories, according to the AFP tally.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday of the virus’s potentially devastating effects.

“If we let the virus spread like wildfire — especially in the most vulnerable regions of the world — it would kill millions of people,” Guterres said.


‘Paying a big price’

The number of infections and deaths in the rest of the world has surpassed those in China, which appears to have staunched the virus with strict measures including a complete quarantine of Wuhan since January.

Trump, who has come under fire for his response to the crisis, charged Thursday that the world was paying for China’s lack of transparency about the outbreak there.

“It could have been contained to that one area of China where it started. And certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did,” he said.

Trump said US authorities were fast-tracking antimalarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for use as a coronavirus treatment, making them available “almost immediately.”

The drugs are synthetic forms of quinine, which has been used to treat malaria for centuries.

As the toll surged in Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the national lockdown, which has been copied around Europe, would be prolonged to April 3.

France also mooted extending its two-week lockdown ordered this week by President Emmanuel Macron, as the interior minister blasted “idiots” who flout home confinement rules and put others at risk.

In Argentina, President Alberto Fernandez announced a “preventative and compulsory” lockdown from Friday to March 31, while Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state will close its famed beaches as well as restaurants and bars for 15 days to try to contain the pandemic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state’s lockdown – affecting more than 39 million people – would begin Thursday evening in a “recognition of our interdependence”.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country could “turn the tide” on coronavirus within 12 weeks – but only if people heed advice to avoid social contact. 



The disease continued to hit high-profile figures with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and at least a half-dozen NBA players in the United States among those testing positive.

Also falling victim to the pandemic was the G7 summit in June, which was meant to be hosted by Trump at the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington. The group of seven wealthy democracies will now meet via videoconference.

And as the Olympic flame arrived in Japan Friday to a muted reception, Tokyo Games organizers faced renewed calls for the event to be delayed.

“It should be postponed under the current situation where athletes are not well prepared,” Japan Olympic Committee member Kaori Yamaguchi told the Nikkei daily in an interview published the day the flame landed.

Emergency stimulus

With countries paralyzed by the pandemic and stock markets imploding, policymakers this week unleashed a wave of measures to shore up the global economy.

The European Central Bank announced a 750-billion-euro bond-buying scheme, dubbed the “big bazooka.”

In the United States, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Congress to pass a $1-trillion emergency stimulus package.

Asian equities enjoyed some much-needed gains Friday after Wall Street finished higher following a volatile session as investors weighed the government stimulus measures against some of the first data pointing to a sharp US economic slowdown.

European stocks also staged a rebound on the stimulus news.

The battle is only just beginning across the rest of the world, with the shadow of the virus lengthening across Africa. 



The Nigerian megacity of Lagos announced it would shut its schools while Burkina Faso confirmed the first death in sub-Saharan Africa.

Russia reported its first death and even the Pacific nation of Fiji said it had its first case.

Countries are taking increasingly drastic steps to stem infections, with Australia and New Zealand banning non-residents from arriving.

The United States warned against international travel due to the pandemic and advised citizens to come home if possible.

Britain closed dozens of London Underground stations and shut down schools.

EU closed its borders to outsiders and in many countries bars, restaurants and most shops have closed their doors until further notice.

Spain, which is on a near-total lockdown, on Thursday ordered all hotels to close immediately.

Agence France-Presse

US begins first human trial of coronavirus vaccine

The first human trial to evaluate a candidate vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle, U.S. health officials said Monday, raising hopes in the global fight against the disease.

But it may be another year to 18 months before it becomes available, once it has passed more trial phases to prove it works and is safe.


The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and collaborators at biotechnology company Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“The open-label trial will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks,” the NIH said. “The first participant received the investigational vaccine today.”

Funding was also provided by the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments against the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, which has infected more than 175,000 people across the world since it was first identified in central China in late December.

It has claimed 7,000 deaths, according to an AFP tally, most in China followed by Italy.

“Finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent public health priority,” said Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the NIH, using the technical name for the virus that is believed to have originated in bats.

“This Phase 1 study, launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal.”

The Seattle trial will study the impact of different doses delivered by intramuscular injection in the upper arm, with participants monitored for side-effects like soreness or fever.

Coronaviruses are spherical and have spikes protruding from their surface, giving them a crown-like appearance. The spike binds to human cells, allowing the virus to gain entry.


The Moderna candidate vaccine carries the genetic information of this spike in a substance called “messenger RNA.”

Injecting human tissue with the spike’s messenger RNA makes it grow inside the body, thereby eliciting an immune response without having actually infected a person with the full-blown virus.

Global race

Pharmaceuticals and research labs around the world are racing to develop both treatments and vaccines to the new coronavirus.

An antiviral treatment called remdesivir, made by U.S.-based Gilead Sciences, is already in the final stages of clinical trials in Asia and doctors in China have reported it has proven effective in fighting the disease.

But only randomized trials allow scientists to know for sure whether it really helps or whether patients would have recovered without it.

Another U.S. pharma called Inovio, which is creating a DNA-based vaccine, has said it will enter clinical trials next month.

Regeneron is trying to isolate coronavirus-fighting antibodies that can be administered intravenously to confer temporary immunity, and hopes to start human trials by summer.

According to the World Health Organization, 80% of COVID-19 cases are mild, 14% are severe and about 5% are critical, resulting in severe respiratory illness that causes the lungs to fill with fluid which in turn prevents oxygen from reaching organs.

Patients with mild cases recover in a week or two while severe cases can take six or more weeks.

Recent estimates suggest about 1% of all infected people die.

Agence France-Presse

'Super-spreaders': COVID19 myth or reality?

PARIS, France — Can a single COVID-19 patient infect dozens of others? Although transmission rates in the current outbreak appear to be far lower, a variety of factors can lead to an individual infecting many.

The concept of so-called "super-spreaders" — patients who typically infect far more people than the standard transmission rates — emerged in previous outbreaks of diseases such as Sars and Mers.

Amesh Adalja, an expert in emerging infectious diseases at John Hopkins University, said the term was not scientific and there was no set quantity of transmissions that would define a super-spreader.

"But, in general, it is usually a markedly higher figure when compared to that of other individuals," he told AFP.

A range of variables govern how many people an individual infects, from how fast they shed the virus to how many people they come in to close contact with.

The novel coronavirus has a typical transmission rate of 2-3 — that is, every confirmed case appears to infect between 2 and 3 other people on average.

But the pandemic has thrown up at least two patients who appear to have been super-spreaders.

Suspected super-spreaders

One suspected super-spreader, a British national, appears to have infected a dozen others when he returned from Singapore and then went skiing in the Alps.

He recovered, but may have infected another five people after returning home.

In South Korea, which has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases outside of Italy, a woman known as Patient 31 appears to have infected dozens of others.

But in an ever better-connected world, it can be challenging to definitively link transmissions to an individual patient.

"It's possible that what we call super-spreaders exist, those patients who don't only infect 2-3 others but could infect dozens," said Eric Caumes, head of infectious and tropical diseases at Paris' Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital.

"The problem is we aren't spotting them."

According to Olivier Bouchaud, head of infectious diseases at that Avicenne hospital in Paris' suburbs, variable transmission rates could be down to how fast a patient sheds the virus once infected.

"That's just a hypothesis at this point," he said. "Obviously we don't have a clear explanation, and there's nothing specific to COVID-19."

Another unknown is the role played by young children, who are less severely affected by the virus but are capable of transmitting it — part of the reason many countries have moved to close schools in recent days.

'Highly variable'

Cristl Donnelly, professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford, said all disease transmission was by nature "highly variable".

"But we are not all the same, we vary in our immune systems, in our behaviour, and in where we happen to be," she said. 

"All of these things can affect how many people we would transmit to."

Bharat Pankhania, an infectious diseases expert at Britain's Exeter University, even disputed whether super-spreaders existed.

He said that the biggest factors determining transmission were environmental, made worse in dense-populated cities.

"These circumstances often are: crowding; a confined space with poor ventilation; poor infection control, meaning lots of non-porous, hard surfaces which can keep a virus viable for a longer time; a favourable ambient humidity; and the infected person usually being in the early phase of their illness, when virus secretions are at their peak," he said.

It's due to these contributing factors that many experts are reluctant to talk in terms of super-spreaders.

Added to this, as France's health minister has pointed out, the term might be used to stigmatise individuals, when it is likely they transmitted COVID19 without realising.

Agence France-Presse

WHO declares novel coronavirus a pandemic

GENEVA, Switzerland —Three months following its discovery, the novel coronavirus spreading across the globe has reached pandemic level, a characterization the World Health Organization (WHO) finally made on Wednesday as infections rise past 100,000.

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.

"We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic," he added.

The declaration came as global health officials reported around 114,000 cases of infections covering 114 countries. More than 90% of cases were recorded in four countries including China, where the virus started spreading, and South Korea where more than 200,000 individuals had tested positive for the virus causing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

"We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus," the WHO chief said.

Global health experts are currently scrambling to develop a vaccine on the new pathogen of coronavirus, a family of viruses that causes respiratory infections typically characterized by cough and colds.

In COVID-19, WHO said recorded symptoms included fever, tiredness and dry cough, while some patients may experience nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. "These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually," WHO said in its Q&A on COVID-19 posted on its website.


What is a pandemic?

"Pandemic" itself is a loosely defined term, but can "can cause unreasonable fear" as Tedros recognized on his statement. That, and the backlash WHO suffered in the past for hastily making such declarations on diseases that appeared easily contained like H1N1 swine flu, prompted the multilateral agency to be more careful on assessing the spread of coronavirus.

A turning point for WHO was a supposed "inaction" on many jurisdictions to control the outbreak. "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction," Tedros said.

Formally, what a pandemic designation does is to call for swift and stronger coordination among countries and stop the spread of infection. It also calls on governments to have proper and effective risk communication plan before, after and during the pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

Nearly 20 trapped after China hotel used for coronavirus quarantine collapses

BEIJING, China — Rescuers are searching for 19 people who remain trapped in rubble following the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China on Saturday, state media reported.

A total of 48 people have been rescued out of the 67 initially trapped when the building first crumbled, state broadcaster CCTV said Sunday.

Footage circulating on Twitter-like Weibo showed rescue workers combing through the rubble of the 80-room Xinjia hotel in coastal Quanzhou city in the dark as they reassured a woman trapped under heavy debris and carried wounded victims into ambulances.


Other footage published by local media, purportedly from security cameras across the street, showed the entire hotel collapsing in seconds.

A total of 43 people have so far been rescued from the wreckage, state news agency Xinhua said.

The hotel's facade appeared to have crumbled into the ground, exposing the building's steel frame, and a crowd gathered as the evening wore on.

Officials have yet to confirm whether anyone died in the accident.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management said some 200 local and 800 Fujian Province firefighters had been deployed to the scene along with 11 search and rescue teams and seven rescue dogs, according to Xinhua.

Quanzhou authorities said ambulances, excavators and cranes had also been rushed to the site.

Representatives from Beijing are also en route to Quanzhou to assist in relief efforts, Xinhua reported.

Quanzhou has recorded 47 cases of the COVID-19 infection and the hotel, which opened two years ago, was repurposed to house people who had been in recent contact with confirmed patients, the People's Daily state newspaper reported.

China is no stranger to building collapses and deadly construction accidents that are typically blamed on the country's rapid growth leading to corner-cutting by builders and the widespread flouting of safety rules.

At least 20 people died in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed multi-storey buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern city of Wenzhou.

Another 10 were killed last year in Shanghai after the collapse of a commercial building during renovations.

Agence France-Presse