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1.54pm GMT

The New York Times has some alarming detail about the first person-to-person transmission of Covid-19 within the United States (see earlier).

A California coronavirus patient had to wait days to be tested because of restrictive federal criteria, despite doctors' suggestions.

Doctors at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center considered the novel pathogen a possible diagnosis when the person was first admitted last week.

But the federal agency that conducts the testing did not administer the test until days later because the case did not fit the agency's narrow testing criteria, university officials said in a letter to the campus community.

1.47pm GMT

The consumer healthcare giant Reckitt Benckiser (RB) says the coronavirus outbreak has helped to drive greater demand for its Dettol and Lysol hygiene products.