Science | The Guardian

Boris Johnson has shown a woeful lack of responsibility as the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated

The new ‘Cbils’ scheme is much improved. But many of its shortcomings could have been identified at the startBanks are wicked and Rishi Sunak walks on water. That, at least, was the narrative that prevailed until the end of last week. The dashing new chancellor, the cabinet star of the coronavirus moment, had assembled the Treasury’s armoury to provide lending to British businesses on unprecedented scale. It was only the damn banks that were stopping the cash reaching intended recipients.This storyline now looks wrong. Sunak and the Treasury’s “further action”, announced on Thursday night to support struggling British firms, was not a mere tweak. It was a sweeping redesign of a lending scheme that had glaring flaws. Continue reading...

Coronavirus has changed Britain’s social and political orthodoxies. But not every crisis results in a revolutionAs a classical scholar, our prime minister will be all too aware of some uncanny parallels between the onset of coronavirus and the plague that beset Athens in 430BC.The immortal historian Thucydides wrote: “At the beginning the doctors were quite incapable of treating the disease because of their ignorance of the right methods … In fact, mortality among the doctors was the highest of all since they came more frequently in contact with the sick.” Continue reading...

With more than 250 artworks sourced from cold war-era Russian magazines, Alexandra Sankova’s book Soviet Space Graphics: Cosmic Visions from the USSR (Phaidon £24.95), produced with the Moscow Design Museum, explores “the dream of conquering space”.One of the most vibrant publications was Tekhnika Molodezhi (Technology for the Youth) its “unearthly palettes of pink-violet and ochre-scarlet colours”, says Sankova, pulling readers into stories of “inventions and innovations, the mysterious and unknown”. Continue reading...

Coronavirus RNA was found on a cruise ship 17 days after passengers left. What are the risks of handling packages and groceries?

Covid-19 symptoms, when they occur, vary widely and undertesting means many people have probably been unwittingly infected

Everyone from dog walkers to flower sellers have been singled out but online humiliation may not shift behaviour

Ministers must take steps to track down possible infections, says new grouping of health experts

This party has undermined, underfunded and sold off bits of the NHS. Coronavirus has not changed that simple fact

Our political correspondent on the bombshell briefing that changed the mood across the countryI was in the midst of the usual reporter’s juggle, trying to write on a notepad balanced on one thigh while resting a dictation machine on the other, when the prime minister’s tone suddenly changed, prompting me to look up. Standing in front of me at the lectern in Downing Street, Boris Johnson said: “I must level with you...”. What was coming next could only be bad news: these aren’t words typically used by a prime minister who trades in bluster, bluff and optimism.He continued: “More families, many more families, are going to lose loved ones before their time.” It was a chilling remark and that was the moment everything changed in terms of reporters’ understanding of the crisis’s severity and unprecedented scale. You could hear a pin drop as we listened to the rest of Johnson’s address. Just inside Downing Street’s side door, where we retrieved belongings such as phones and laptopsthat are not allowed in the main building, we hurriedly rang newsdesks to double-check they had heard Johnson’s startling words for themselves. The next day I travelled to Northumberland to see my parents, who are in their 60s, and asked them to take the advice very seriously. We washed our hands so much that weekend we ended up with cracked skin. Continue reading...

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many cases have been reported near you

What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?

Lack of testing and failure to report on cases means scale of outbreak could be far greater than thought, doctors warnCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBrazil is bracing for a surge in coronavirus cases as doctors and researchers warn that underreporting and a lack of testing mean nobody knows the real scale of Covid-19’s spread.“What’s happening is enormous underreporting,” said Isabella Rêllo, a doctor working in emergency and intensive care in Rio de Janeiro hospitals, in a widely shared Facebook post challenging official numbers. “There are MANY more,” she wrote. Continue reading...

As mayor of Tehran I have seen lives lost as a result of medical shortages. This is no time for vindictive politics• Coronavirus latest updates

The figure we are all watching is likely to be an under-report, which is skewing the curve

German politician adds to chorus of complaints about American tactics to source protective gear

High court to hand down George Pell verdict, water flows into the Menindee Lakes and Victoria renews loggingAs Australia’s coronavirus outbreak continues – but with the cautious optimism of a slowing rate of infection – a lot of important news has slipped under the radar.Here are the stories you may have missed over the past week. Continue reading...

One nurse in north London resigns after being prevented from wearing mask she bought herself

Health secretary says trials are being set up with ‘breathtaking speed’ to find treatments

The British public are being patient over the coronavirus crisis, but they will not forgive governmental confusion for everBoris Johnson and his government are on probation, watched by a public whose mood could turn rapidly and brutally. For now, and on paper, Johnson has the people with him: his poll ratings have surged north of 50%, a feat last managed by a Tory government at the height of the Falklands war nearly 40 years ago. But the wisest heads in Downing Street will not be turned by those numbers. They know that there’s always a “rally around the flag” effect at moments of extreme crisis: when citizens are frightened, they want to believe their leaders have got things under control. That’s why incumbents around the world, even useless and immoral ones such as Donald Trump, have enjoyed an initial corona bounce in their ratings, almost regardless of their actions. At the start of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 Jimmy Carter saw his approval numbers leap from 32% to 61% – only for him to crash to defeat a year later. Johnson will know that one day, and perhaps quite soon, he, too, will be judged.He can point to some concrete achievements. The opening today of what is a giant field hospital in east London’s ExCeL centre, constructed within nine days, is the prime example. Those who drooled with totalitarian envy at China’s ability to throw up a hospital in Wuhan within a week were adamant that a western democracy like Britain could never match that accomplishment, and they have been proved wrong. Rishi Sunak’s promise that the state will pay 80% of workers’ wages has won plaudits around the world, even if the chancellor has had to return repeatedly to his economic rescue package, tweaking it to catch those groups he left behind first time around. And the government has imposed a national lockdown that has been largely observed, one that might even see a flattening of the infection curve in the next week or so. Continue reading...

Britain has good expertise in diagnostics, but few firms with enough capacity to produce

Tests alone are no good. We urgently need a community surveillance programme to stop the spread of Covid-19• Coronavirus latest updates

Mayor says NEC field hospital will be ready to take patients as data shows 21% of deaths in England were in Midlands

A million people, myself included, have turned to UC in Britain’s lockdown. Now we will see the ordeals claimants face• Coronavirus latest updates

UK government accused of over-promising and under-delivering on a variety of claims in the past few weeks

‘Grandfather of allergy’ survived three years in Japanese POW camp before pioneering medical careerDr William Frankland, a pioneering British immunologist who transformed the world’s understanding of allergies, has died aged 108.Frankland improved the lives of millions of hay fever sufferers by developing the idea of a pollen count. Until his death the oldest survivor of the Japanese prisoner of war camps, he published a scientific paper in September 2017 aged 105. Continue reading...

Full PPE is crucial in the fight against coronavirus. Public Health England’s advice has not gone far enough

Certificates to prove people are immune to Covid-19 could ease restrictions. How would such as scheme work in Britain?

Face masks are effective and vital in hospitals, but this doesn’t mean they’re useful for the general publicWe all want to protect ourselves from coronavirus – but we need to make sure the things we’re doing are effective. There are several measures we can all take to reduce the spread of Covid-19, including physical distancing, thorough handwashing, keeping surfaces clean, protecting the most vulnerable by staying home, and isolating ourselves if we have symptoms. We know from scientific evidence, as well as what we have learned from other countries further ahead in their epidemics, that these things work.But what does the evidence say about how well face masks work, and who should wear them? Continue reading...

Health restrictions have already hit some long-term projects but routine monitoring could be affected if the pandemic drags on

Human trials will begin imminently – but even if they go well and a cure is found, there are many barriers before global immunisation is feasible

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many cases have been reported near you

What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?

Pandemic forces even the most conservative companies to rethink their practices and let employees work from home

China announces day of mourning for ‘martyrs’ as city at centre of outbreak seeks to avoid second wave before travel bans lift

Respiratory physician John Wilson explains the range of Covid-19 impacts, from no symptoms to severe illness featuring pneumonia

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Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment aims to pinpoint places where giant particle storms are launched into spaceNasa has selected a new mission that will study how space weather forms on the sun and launches radiation storms into space.Called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), the mission consists of six small CubeSats that will provide three dimensional maps of solar activity to pinpoint the places where giant particle storms are launched into space. Continue reading...

Communication Workers Union estimates half of sorting offices have insufficient PPE and sanitiserMany Royal Mail sorting offices are not providing workers with sufficient protection from coronavirus infection, according to a trade union, which argues that some depots should close until staff are safe.The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents thousands of postal workers, told members they should stay away if their local sorting office had not provided equipment such as masks, gloves and hand sanitiser, or implemented government guidelines of two-metre social distancing at all times. It estimates that at as many as half of sorting offices did not have sufficient protection in place. Continue reading...

Concern that centres were too far from both work or home for those working in London

After initially pursuing a centralised policy, the government has now switched to a ‘Dunkirk-style’ effort utilising smaller research units

Health secretary ‘determined’ to reach six-figure goal for England by end of April

Salley Vickers, 70, says those with immunity could ‘lend a hand’ and suggests idea could appeal to Dominic Cummings

Fossil shows the first of our ancestors existed up to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought, researchers sayThe earliest known skull of Homo erectus has been unearthed by an Australian-led team of researchers who have dated the fossil at two million years old, showing the first of our ancestors existed up to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.The lead researcher Prof Andy Herries said the skull was pieced together from more than 150 fragments uncovered at the Drimolen Main Quarry, located about 40km north of Johannesburg in South Africa. It was likely aged between two and three years old when it died. Continue reading...

Country seen as a model for its response is told it is not doing nearly enough

In 1915 a shortage of shells for soldiers brought down the government. A century on, the prime minister faces a similar challenge

Ex-government adviser says substances such as psilocybin could have medical valueRestrictions on the use of psychedelic drugs in research should be relaxed to help find new treatments for conditions including mental health disorders, the former government adviser Prof David Nutt has said.Nutt was sacked as chair of the advisory committee on the misuse of drugs in October 2009 over his views that ecstasy and LSD are less dangerous than alcohol. Continue reading...

As scientist David Nutt campaigns for drug rules to change, we look at artists who said yes to psychedelic cultureWhile the neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt and colleagues campaign for rules around psychedelics to change to aid research, such drugs have a long history in creative circles.LSD was important to the Beatles, whose song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is thought to be a nod to the drug, with psychedelics referred to in Day Tripper among others. LSD is also thought to have played an important role in the creation of the album Revolver. John Lennon and George Harrison were enthusiastic about taking the drug, whereas it took Paul McCartney some time to begin taking it. Continue reading...

Grim milestone approaches as WHO chief says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about spread

I can’t tell if my optimism is misguided when experts disagree on everything from mortality rates to preventive measures