Science | The Guardian

Prime minister says from June some pupils could return to school in England; official UK death toll rises to 31,855

This week is a good time to see red giant Arcturus and bright white Vega, with the Corona BorealisThe northern hemisphere’s spring constellations are now well placed in the evening sky. The chart shows the view looking south from London throughout the evenings this week. The jewel is the orange star Arcturus in Böotes, the herdsman. It can be most easily located by identifying the Plough and following the curve of the handle around and down. Arcturus is a red giant star, fully 25 times the radius of the sun. At a distance of about 37 light years, it is also fairly nearby. It is by far the brightest star in this part of the sky. Continue reading...

System will mirror independent terror alerts, categorising threat level on scale of one to five

UK companies accused of undermining promise to stop advertising during lockdown

While protesters call for further relaxing of social restrictions, scientists warn of new dynamicWith the Covid-19 pandemic stretching into its third month in Europe, Germany is discovering that a competent handling of the crisis in the early stages can become a burden later on.As the kind of dramatic scenes of overstretched health services witnessed in Italy or Spain never fully materialised in Germany, politicians have increasingly struggled to convince the public of the need for strict adherence to social distancing. Now this phenomenon, which the virologist Christian Drosten has called the “prevention paradox”, is fuelling fears of a second wave of the pandemic. Continue reading...

First minister hits out at No 10’s latest coronavirus messaging as ‘vague and imprecise’

Global infections surpass 4m; cluster detected in Dordogne, new cases highlight risks as lockdowns eased

Adapting, picking battles and bribery aid home schooling from Bulgaria to Bondi Beach during the coronavirus pandemic

Testing falls below daily target of 100,000 for seventh consecutive day

As schools and businesses get set to reopen some citizens urge caution, wary of a spike in infections

UK will either ‘adapt’ contact-tracing app or change to decentralised model favoured by other countries

The last of Newfoundland’s Beothuk was thought to have died in 1829 but new research indicates the bloodline did not die out – as Mi’kmaq tradition has always maintainedWhen a woman named Shanawdithit succumbed to tuberculosis in Newfoundland nearly 200 years ago, it was widely believed that her death marked a tragic end to her people’s existence.For centuries, the Beothuk had thrived along the rocky shores of the island, taking on a near-mythical status as descendants of the first people encountered by Norse explorers in what is now Canada. But their population was devastated by decades of starvation and diseases, and when she died in 1829, Shanawdithit was believed to be the last of her line. Continue reading...

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 could be the perfect time for couples to boost their sex lifeFor many of us right now, sex couldn’t be further from our minds. Our usual routines have been turned upside down and the way we are living can be challenging for even the most harmonious of relationships. But what if we viewed this time as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset and refresh our sex lives?The fact that sex isn’t a priority for a large proportion of people fits with findings from sex research along with, well, common sense. Stress and anxiety are known to reduce our sexual desire and a preoccupation with the news, our finances, the health of our loved ones, or how much is in our store cupboards, can understandably slow the wheels of our sex life to a standstill. Continue reading...

As an appeal is launched to boost support, counselling and education for ICU workers, one doctor describes how they strive to save lives

Employers face a logistical nightmare as staff return

Bankuet sees massive growth as the lockdown clears long-life items from supermarket shelves

Since the UK confirmed its first case, its response has proved one of the least effective

Follow the science, they say… So here are 12 new ‘observations’ about life in a post-pandemic worldApologies in advance: this column will be distressing to scientists (including those in my own family, but thankfully none of them read what I write).The rules of the physical world seem to be abandoning us. The virus acts like no other pathogen. Two metres is entirely subjective now, expanding and contracting to meet our needs. Time is non-Newtonian, like the cornflour you’ve probably resorted to if you have small children to entertain, stiff and fluid at once. Numbers are basically meaningless: in pandemic maths, a figure such as 413 deaths – the one released on the day I am writing, an unthinkable catastrophe at another time – is encouraging, a cause for some optimism. Continue reading...

The Labour MP and A&E doctor on her run-in with the health secretary and her shifts on the hospital frontline

Coronavirus crisis reveals weakness in supply chain as medicines in export ban rise from 29 to 196 this year

As hundreds of test kits claim to offer accurate results on previous Covid-19 infection, scientists around the world are working hard to assess their accuracy

Bundesliga suffers huge setback after footballers test positive; Belarus leader holds parade prompting safety concerns as other nations curb WW2 events. This blog has now closed. Follow our continuing coverage below

Only US is judged to have dealt with it worse, after it was reported the UK has the highest death toll of any country in Europe

Leaders of Unison, Unite, the GMB and Usdaw join TUC in calling for radical overhaul of health and safety in the workplace

State reports 73 cases of children falling severely ill with toxic shock-like reaction that has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease

Letter seeks to dispel view that Prof Neil Ferguson was single architect of lockdown idea

Islanders are coming to terms with unexpected publicity from the contact-tracing pilot project

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

British medical journal’s editorial says the Brazilian president’s disregard for lockdown measures is damaging

20m Americans lost their jobs in April; Donald Trump says virus will ‘go away without a vaccine’. This blog is now closed, follow our new blog below

The chance to put biodiversity and the environment at the heart of recovery from the pandemic should not be squanderedOne night in April, birdwatchers from around Britain stepped outside their doors and listened intently to something most of them had never experienced before: the fluting, mysterious, melancholy cry of the common scoter on the wing.Flocks of these dusky sea ducks were beating their way over Britain on their long migratory journey towards their Arctic breeding grounds, easily audible to the naked ear. The first great wave was heard on the Wirral before being picked up in the Peak District, and at last by the Humber. A second wave was made out as flocks made their way along the line of Hadrian’s wall, from the Solway Firth in the west to Northumberland in the east. A third wave flew above listeners from the Severn estuary to the Wash. The birds were heard in urban Blackburn, Stalybridge, Bristol and London. It was thanks to social media that so many listeners were alert to the birds’ progress – and thanks to the silence of lockdown that they could be heard. Continue reading...

Detailed pictures of planet glowing through clouds were taken with telescope in HawaiiAstronomers have captured some of the highest resolution images of Jupiter ever obtained from the ground using a technique known as “lucky imaging”.The observations, from the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s dormant volcano Mauna Kea, reveal lightning strikes and storm systems forming around deep clouds of water ice and liquid. The images show the warm, deep layers of the planet’s atmosphere glowing through gaps in thick cloud cover in a “jack-o-lantern”-like effect. Continue reading...

Lawyers say failure to provide adequate PPE may amount to corporate manslaughter

Latest deaths also include leading cancer specialist and a ‘legendary’ market trader

‘Challenge’ studies would deliberately give coronavirus to healthy volunteers

Psychologist whose 50-year study transformed attitudes to people with Down’s syndromeIn 1964, Janet Carr, a clinical psychologist, was asked to work on a follow-up study of 54 six-week-old babies with Down’s syndrome at the Maudsley hospital in London. Initially Carr, who has died aged 92, was going to track the children only until they were four, but it became one of the longest follow-up studies in the world.In 2014, a party was held at the House of Lords to celebrate the study running for 50 years. Chris Oliver, the director of the Cerebra centre for neurodevelopmental disorders at Birmingham University, commented: “The longest follow-up studies we have are usually five to seven years. So that 50-year follow-up is absolutely remarkable.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: report criticising government lockdown proposals heavily redacted before release

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

Some were passed for use in health service but 170,000 await tests in Turkey

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing the stages to be determined by the states

Head of oversight and reform committee suggests move to seek overseas funding was potentially a violation of the US constitution

Madrid health official resigns over plans to ease lockdown and Russia overtakes Germany and France after record rise in cases. This blog is now closed.

Government misses 100k testing target for fifth day in a row as death toll reaches 30,615

Study based on small number of patients opens up chance of sexual transmission

Researchers say cannibalistic tendency may help explain why the invasive creatures thriveWhen the going gets tough, most parents try to protect their offspring. But the warty comb jelly takes a different tack: it eats them.Despite initial appearances, comb jellies are not jellyfish but belong to a different group of animals, ctenophora, which swim using tiny hair-like projections called cilia. Continue reading...

Official figures show that wide disparity not just due to health and economic differences

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

Handing out contracts out to firms like Serco and G4S is now second nature to those in power. We need to rebuild state capacity