Saudia Arabia religious body urges all Muslims to pray at home during Ramadan; Spanish PM seeks lockdown extension. This blog is now closed. Follow our new blog below

Spotting the 10-15 meteors per hour expected at event’s peak will be challenging, but not impossibleThis week’s must-see naked-eye celestial event is the Lyrid meteor shower. This is one of the oldest meteor showers, with Chinese references dating back to more than 2,500 years ago. Modern analysis shows that the meteors are dust ejected by Comet Thatcher, which orbits the sun once every 415 years. Currently in the depths of the outer solar system, Comet Thatcher will return in the year 2276.The Lyrids are an active meteor shower from 16 to 25 April, but the peak this week could happen in the early hours of 22 April or later that night as 22 becomes 23 April. They are called Lyrids because they emanate from a point in the constellation Lyra, the lyre. Between 10-15 moderately bright meteors are expected per hour at the storm’s peak. The chart shows the view looking north-east from London on 22 April at 11pm BST. Unfortunately, Lyra never rises very high in the southern hemisphere. This will make seeing the Lyrids challenging, but not impossible. Continue reading...

Ministers have governed by press conference for too long. MPs must start to hold them to account for their actions in the Covid-19 pandemic

Hospital death toll reaches 16,060 with daily rise of 596, as government hit by claims it missed chance to lessen impact during February and March

Warning that infections could be missed amid questions about credibility of testing operation

Any vaccine has to work, but it also has to be safe. Making it happen is one of the government’s biggest priorities

It’s the data that gets all the headlines, but the two main sources of information in the UK have their own limits“Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Right? Well, not quite. As many people are discovering during the Covid-19 crisis, even something as seemingly straightforward as the count of people who have died might not be as robust as to be taken at face value. In the UK, distinctions between the data from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have led to talk of whether deaths are being underestimated and even whether the figures can be trusted.The pandemic highlights several difficulties in counting, reporting and modelling mortality data. Arguably, the most important problem is the “denominator” – what is the actual number of people who are infected by the virus? This is virtually impossible to determine, except perhaps in the unlikely scenario of real-time, continuous, population-wide testing. The absence of this figure creates problems when rescaling the outcomes – for example, deaths – to the number of people at risk, which is not known with precision. And because we cannot know for certain the total number of infected, international comparisons also become tricky: does Germany have more cases than the UK because it tests more and reports the results more systematically? 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 near you

How I learned about the pleasures of withdrawing from life and living within myselfThe first thing I do each morning is open the back door and sniff the air. It contains a surprising amount of information. Recently, it has become a little warmer. It still has a bite, but it lacks the viscosity it had in the coldest months. Now, it carries the scent of leaves and flowers, of turned earth. It is suddenly full of birdsong.I’ve spent my whole life falling in and out of isolation – and this is one of the tricks I’ve learned. Living as an undiagnosed autistic woman until I was nearly 40, I’ve regularly suffered mental and physical crashes that drag me outside of life for a while. By trying to be like everyone else, I’ve pushed myself too far, too often. Continue reading...

A simulation exercise three years ago had a ‘sobering impact’, and warned about lack of NHS capacity to deal with an outbreak

Medical researchers have been studying everything we know about Covid-19. What have they learned – and is it enough to halt the pandemic?

Experts say testing an entire urban population would suggest a way out of lockdown

After the war, a new, more just social consensus emerged. The same must happen now‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” So it seems with the economy. The world economy was slowing down before the onset of the virus, with many analysts forecasting a recession. The British economy was being held back not only by the repercussions of that, but also by the impact on business confidence in general and investment in particular of the mere prospect of Brexit.Then came the classic Yes Minister compromise: we officially left the European Union on 31 January, but we had a stay of execution – remaining in it for another year, but forfeiting, in yet another act of needless self harm, the right to have any say in its governance. Continue reading...

Sharon Moalem offers an intriguing theory on how two X chromosomes give women the edge in everything from colour vision to coronavirusIt was noticeable from the initial outbreak in Wuhan that Covid-19 was killing more men than women. By February, data from China, which involved 44,672 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease, revealed the death rate for men was 2.8%, compared to 1.7% among women. For past respiratory epidemics, including Sars, Mers and the 1918 Spanish flu, men were also at significantly greater risk. But why?Much of the reason for the Covid-19 disparity was put down to men’s riskier behaviours – around half of Chinese men are smokers, compared with just 3% of women, for instance. But as the coronavirus has spread globally, it’s proved deadlier to men everywhere that data exists (the UK and US notably – and questionably – do not collect sex-disaggregated data). Italy, for instance, has had a case fatality rate of 10.6% for men, versus 6% for women, whereas the sex disparity for smoking (now a known risk factor) is smaller there than China – 28% of men and 19% of women smoke. In Spain, twice as many men as women have died. Smoking, then, is unlikely to account for all of the sex disparity in Covid-19 deaths. Continue reading...

The government made many mistakes in its response to the pandemic. We need to know that it is learning from them

China pushes ‘comprehensive’ economic reopening; first virus case in Syria’s northeast; Germany says pandemic ‘under control’. This blog is now closed

Professor of global health at Imperial College, London warns we ‘may have to adapt’ to virus

Unless a vaccine is made available to every country Covid-19 will turn into a global threat without end

Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked mammals, but there is evidence that they were the source of the new coronavirus – which could end the trade

Further 21,ooo tests done as union says medics may walk out over lack of PPE. Follow all the day’s developments in the UK’s Covid-19 crisis

UK taskforce comment comes amid mounting pressure to provide PPE to health workers

Guardian US writers reflect on the challenges of covering the pandemic when sources and contacts are locked downWhen I pictured covering a crisis as a reporter, and I assumed one day I would, I did not imagine it would be from my kitchen table. But here I am. Stuck in a chilly apartment in Jersey City as we all, reporters included, attempt physical distancing. 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 near you

Family planning group hails Stephen Kazimba Mugalu’s break with Anglican tradition, but Catholic officials brand advice immoralThe new archbishop of Uganda has become the first primate of the country’s Anglican church to embrace the use of modern contraceptives after urging women to be “very careful” to avoid getting pregnant during the Covid-19 lockdown.The ninth archbishop of the church of Uganda, Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, said in a televised Sunday sermon he is “really concerned” that many women will get pregnant during the nationwide shutdown. On Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni extended the initial 14-day lockdown for a further three weeks. Continue reading...

NHS nurse Donald Suelto died alone in his London flat. It took his family six days to find out who had his body

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

China denies cover-up as Wuhan death toll revised up by 50%; Brazil’s president fires health minister

Medical researchers have been studying everything we know about coronavirus. What have they learned – and is it enough to halt the pandemic?

Government bodies, industry and charities to collaborate in research efforts

Government says 27 NHS staff have died from Covid-19 but true total thought to be higher

Steve Rotheram says covering face would make people more aware of coronavirus situation

Pharmaceutical company says it can produce tests in the high tens of millions by June

Governor Andrew Bailey says ‘livelihoods are at stake’ as figures show only £1.1bn lent to small firms

Stock index up more than 3% in early trading on the back of hopes for remdesivir treatment

American and Russian crew touch down in Kazakhstan after months on International Space StationThe three-person crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday morning, arriving back to a world that has been radically transformed by coronavirus in the time they were away.Space travel is often a journey into the unknown, but for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka, their return to Earth may bring more surprises than the time they spent in orbit. The trio’s landing capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe in the early hours of the morning. Continue reading...

Scientists involved in Recovery trial, with over 5,000 test subjects, hope for answers within weeks

Why is the Covid-19 virus worse than normal influenza, and how worried are the experts?

Worst GDP fall on record comes after months of paralysis as the country went into lockdown to contain coronavirus

Dismissal comes after weeks-long stand-off; almost 700 test positive on French aircraft carrier. This blog is now closed.

Intuitive Machines announces its Nova-C lander will target touchdown near Vallis SchröteriThe Houston-based company Intuitive Machines has announced the intended touchdown site for its Nova-C lunar lander. The IM-1 mission is due to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in October 2021. It will land near Vallis Schröteri, a collapsed lava tunnel in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) region of the moon. This is a site that was initially considered by Nasa in the late 1960s/early 70s for its subsequently cancelled Apollo 18 mission.The Nova-C will deliver commercial cargo and five Nasa-provided payloads to the lunar surface. It can carry 100kg of payload and generate 200 watts of power. It will also test a precision landing and hazard avoidance (PLHA) landing system, created by Intuitive Machines, that aims to be able to land within 200 metres of a designated spot. Continue reading...

Introverts may be happy at home with their quilting and sourdough but I’m angry – I want out!

‘Stink flirting’ observation may be first finding of primate sex pheromones, say scientistsAn irresistible floral scent dabbed on the body may sound like a cliche from a perfume advert, but it appears to play a role in how male ring-tailed lemurs attract a mate.Researchers in Japan say they have identified the odours males waft at females, and shown the latter’s attention is indeed captured by the pong. Continue reading...

While Germany and South Korea have tested in huge numbers, the response here is hampered by lack of political will

UK cancer specialist says leaving potentially infectious staff in hospitals is unethical

ONS March figures show 91% of those who died with Covid-19 had pre-existing condition

German chancellor excels in describing epidemiological basis of lockdown exit strategy

Politicians, faith leaders and other authority figures have been touting dubious remedies

Trend has been replicated in all nations, but scientists cannot yet fathom the cause

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

Nicola Davis speaks to Dr Jenna Macciochi about something lots of listeners have written about; immunity to Covid-19. While the jury is still out, we hear how our bodies gain immunity to something and how immunity to other pathogens might give us clues about Sars-Cov-2 Continue reading...