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Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported in each of England’s local authorities

This week, Musk’s SpaceX will launch the first US astronauts into space in nine years. We’re meant to be inspired, but back on the ground the workers are struggling

Pan American Health Organization warns of ‘very tough’ weeks ahead; US approaches 100,000 deaths; New Zealand has fifth day with no cases

Sarah Boseley talks to Prof Susan Lanham-New about vitamin D and whether it could play a role in protecting us against Covid-19 Continue reading...

WHO warns of second peak as global cases pass 5.5m; Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar denies picnic with friends was rule breach; world health leaders urge green recovery. This blog is closed

Government scientific adviser warns rejection of guidance raises risk of virus resurgence

Drug pioneered for Ebola to be used in UK under emergency medicines provision

NASUWT urges ministers to clarify they will fulfil their legal duties under the Equality Act

Medics including Royal College of Ophthalmologists say cases of impaired vision alongside coronavirus infection ‘rare’See all our coronavirus coverageSpeaking to the press on Monday, Dominic Cummings said he drove, with his wife and child, on a 30-mile trip to Barnard Castle during lockdown to see if he could drive safely, concerned that his eyesight might have been affected by coronavirus.In a press conference later the same day, Boris Johnson also claimed to have experienced problems with his eyesight following Covid-19, brandishing a pair of glasses and saying: “I’m finding that I have to wear spectacles for the first time in years … I think that’s very, very plausible that eyesight can be a problem associated with coronavirus.” Continue reading...

Millions of people with underlying health conditions have not left the house for more than two months

Boris Johnson’s adviser is a fan of game theory, so he should know how selfish decisions sabotage the common good

Fiona Harvey’s obituary of Sir John Houghton reminded me of the humility of this distinguished scientist. After meeting Sir John at a Welsh government event, I tentatively wrote to him asking if he would address a public meeting in my local town of Narberth in Pembrokeshire. To my surprise and delight he responded positively.A few weeks later, we greeted Sir John, who had travelled from his home in North Wales, and walked to the Queens Hall, where the Weight Watchers group was clearing up, having just finished their session. On seeing this, Sir John promptly grabbed hold of a broom to help and then happily joined us in setting out the seating for the meeting. Continue reading...

But Michael Gove says pubs, cafes and restaurants will not return to normal any time soon

Wednesday will see the launch of the first crewed space flight from the US into orbit in almost a decadeWednesday’s crewed SpaceX launch will be the first time since the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis, on 8 July 2011, that astronauts have blasted off from US soil into orbit.Here are the key things you need to know: Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, in partnership with Nasa, to launch Falcon 9 rocket from Florida carrying two American astronautsIn a historic moment a decade in the making, the skies above Florida will light up on Wednesday when the launch of a rocket born from a groundbreaking public-private partnership returns the United States to the business of human spaceflight.Not since the retirement of Nasa’s space shuttle fleet in 2011 has the US possessed the capability to send its own astronauts into orbit, and the success of this week’s mission, formally known as SpaceX Demo-2, is likely to shape the direction of the space agency’s near-Earth ambitions for a generation. Continue reading...

Global competition for kits and national constraints cause concern as lockdowns ease

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, many hospitals have suspended routine cancer surgeries and chemotherapies

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported in each of England’s local authorities

Mission terminated early in flight over Pacific Ocean off coast of southern CaliforniaRichard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has failed in its first test launch of a new rocket carried by a Boeing 747 and released over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.The inaugural launch had appeared to be going well until moments after the rocket was dropped from beneath the left wing of the jumbo jet dubbed “Cosmic Girl”. Continue reading...

Having two copies of e4 variant of ApoE gene linked to double risk of severe Covid-19, study suggests

Dominic Cummings will not resign; WHO drops hydroxychloroquine from global study into experimental coronavirus treatments. This blog is now closed

Malaria drug taken by Trump could raise risk of death and heart problems, study shows

People told to self-isolate will be less willing to comply with advice, scientists say

The question is not whether the prime minister will forgive his adviser, but whether people will forgive this government for failing to keep us safeWe must shield the vulnerable. This is what most of us have understood for the past 10 weeks. Most families have been split apart, often in dire circumstances. For adults and parents of children with compromised immune systems, this remains a frightening time. To be in touch with your own vulnerability is profoundly unsettling. Even on a sunny day, the mood you detect is one of anxiety. “Let’s have a socially distanced picnic and pretend it’s all OK,” is one reaction; another is refusing to edge out of lockdown without the kind of reassurance that can never be given.In this clammy emotional climate, it is unbelievable that Boris Johnson’s interpretation of shielding the vulnerable meant shielding Dominic Cummings. Contempt for the public has been met with contempt from the public. The anger is real, and it will not dissipate. Cummings’ situation is untenable and Johnson is fatally damaged, whatever happens next. Continue reading...

As a paramedic I’m working harder than ever, and constantly double-guessing whether to risk exposing patients to Covid-19

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported in each of England’s local authorities

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

Chile’s president says hospitals are ‘very close to limit’, France records lowest number of daily Covid-19 cases since March, India restarts domestic flights

World’s top drug firms turned down proposals for work on pathogens like coronavirus

France asks citizens to avoid foreign trips; US likely to impose travel restrictions on Brazil; Afghanistan cases top 10,000. This blog has closed

This week our satellite passes close to Spica, the constellation’s only bright star

Whether PM’s chief adviser contravened regulations depends on definition of ‘reasonable excuse’

The very message that was at the core of the government’s plan to suppress Covid-19 – stay at home – has been underminedThe lockdown was a nationwide policy: everyone was expected to follow the same rules. It has nevertheless exposed some stark inequalities. Elites have been able to endure the period in comfort, often in remote, spacious holiday homes. Those with office jobs have found themselves stuck in their flats, juggling restless children and Zoom meetings. And at the lower end of the income scale, there are people still showing up for their essential jobs as cleaners, delivery drivers and nurses, with scant childcare support and constant worry about exposure to the virus.These are tense times, with millions of us making sacrifices, some large, some small. Whether’s it’s cobbling together a home-schooling programme while ill yourself, being deprived of the support of extended family or missing a loved one’s funeral, the toll has been significant. It’s no surprise then, that news the prime minister’s chief adviser travelled from London to Durham with his family while lockdown measures were in place has set off a wave of fury. While the British people have been remarkably forgiving of special privileges for senior members of the government – such as access to priority testing and tracing for themselves and their families, and early medical support upon diagnosis – extending this to an exemption from lockdown rules feels like a step too far. Continue reading...

Your questions answered based on current knowledge and the latest research from scientists

Women’s bodies are different from men’s from cellular level upwards, yet the same treatments are usually prescribed for both sexes – to the detriment of women. Dr Alyson McGregor raises the alarmTowards the end of her training in emergency medicine at Brown University, Rhode Island, Dr Alyson McGregor was asked what her “specialism” would be.“You are expected to have a niche so my answer was, ‘Well, I like women’s health,’” says McGregor. “From that, people thought, ‘Oh, she’s into obstetrics/gynaecology.’” So on busy shifts in the emergency department of Rhode Island Hospital, the state’s major trauma centre, the newly qualified McGregor became everyone’s go-to doctor for pelvic examinations because this was believed to be her special interest. “I laugh about it now, but it’s when I started to realise that there’s this assumption that women’s health is wrapped up in their reproduction. Women were men with ‘boobs and tubes’.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sohail Hughes accused of spreading Covid-19 and violating visa regulations

An aerial search in the Peruvian desert has revealed intriguing figures of humans and animals that predate the nearby Unesco world heritage siteA faded decades-old black-and-white photograph was the only lead Johny Isla had when he set out on the trail of a sea monster.The Peruvian archaeologist spotted the image at a 2014 exhibition in Germany about the Nazca Lines, the vast and intricate desert images which attract tens of thousands of tourists every year. Continue reading...

Scientist who oversaw the response to Sars says country has failed the vulnerable

Trials could be speeded up by using risky strategy of deliberately introducing the virus

The Royal Society president says scientists must not be made scapegoats for policy failures

Pressure is growing inside and outside parliament for the resignation of the No 10 chief adviser after claims that he flouted lockdown rulesIt was Mother’s Day – 22 March – and as Covid-19 spread across the country, Boris Johnson was urging families not to mark the occasion as normal. “This Mothering Sunday,” he said, “the single best present we can give – we who owe our mothers so much – is to spare them the risk of catching a dangerous disease. The sad news is that that means staying away. This time the best thing is to ring her, video-call her or Skype her – but avoid any unnecessary physical contact or proximity.”The following day Johnson imposed a full lockdown on the country. Pubs and restaurants had to close. Johnson banned all but essential travel. The message was crystal clear, and was repeated day after day by government ministers. It was to stay at home wherever possible, however painful and difficult doing so might seem. Continue reading...

The Swedes were the Brexiters’ poster nation, but now have Europe’s worst death rate

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many confirmed cases have been reported in each of England’s local authorities

Have a ‘kaffeeklatsch’ until you become ‘unsoulclogged’: archaic soothing terms to use in troubling timesLike language, our emotions are universal and whatever fears and anxieties we are now experiencing, someone else in centuries gone by has felt the same way. Here is an A-Z of archaic and forgotten words that at some point in the past exactly described an elusive sense of peace, calm and delight. So, if you want to know your agathism from your euneirophrenia, read on and draw comfort from these linguistic odditiesAgathism It’s hard to be an optimist knowing that there are tough times ahead. But in lieu of optimism, there’s always agathism – a word coined in 1830 for the belief that all things eventually get better, though the means by which they do is not always easy. It is a word to remind us that though we may be in for hard times, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Continue reading...

The transformation of dough into a loaf is chemistry in action. With a bit of physics and microbiology. And love…

Japanese farming folklore says lightning makes mushrooms multiply – and research shows there is truth in itA few years ago, I attempted to grow my own shiitake mushrooms. I purchased a special log, which had been seeded with mushroom spores, and followed the instructions to soak it and then keep it in a shady spot. Sadly no mushrooms ever fruited on my log, but maybe I would have had more luck if I’d given my log an electric shock.According to Japanese farming folklore, lightning makes mushrooms multiply. Previous research has demonstrated that there is some truth in this tale, and now scientists are closer to understanding why. Continue reading...

It is time Australian governments started to listen to experts when it comes to climate change and pandemics

Archaeologists face surfeit of mammoths after bones found at airport under construction north of Mexico CityArchaeologists have found the bones of about 60 mammoths at an airport under construction just north of Mexico City, near human-built “traps” where more than a dozen mammoths were found last year.Both discoveries reveal how appealing the area – once a shallow lake – was for the mammoths, and how erroneous was the classic vision of groups of fur-clad hunters with spears chasing mammoths across a plain. Continue reading...

Herd immunity represents the percentage of people in a population who need to be immune to a disease in order to protect those who aren’t. Early on in the pandemic, researchers estimated the herd immunity threshold for Covid-19 to be 60%. Following a question from a listener, Ian Sample speaks to Rachel Thomas to explore the maths and find out exactly how herd immunity is calculated Continue reading...