Contingency plans and proposed emergency laws for pandemic emerge as UK confirms 20th case

Managing the economic and health risks of Covid-19 is difficult. In the UK, as elsewhere, ministers must step upA passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan became the first Briton to die of the Covid-19 coronavirus on Friday. Further UK cases beyond the 20 already confirmed are expected, while countries including Mexico, Nigeria and Denmark have announced their first positive tests. The World Health Organization assesses the level of risk as “very high at global level”. But the scale and impact of the Covid-19 outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, in December, remain deeply uncertain. That is because whle viral outbreaks have happened before, each one is different. While severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) had a higher death rate, Covid-19 appears to be more contagious. Its spread is already being determined in hard-to-predict ways by human behaviour.To limit the damage as far as possible, trust and information are of the essence. In the UK, as elsewhere, it is imperative that the government, and other public bodies, provide straightforward advice about travel and sanitation as well as the disease. For the health secretary, Matt Hancock, to say earlier this week that he would not travel to northern Italy was unwise because it contradicted official guidance. Instead, ministers must lead by example. Continue reading...

The president is reacting to this disaster the way authoritarians always do – by covering up the facts and dodging the blameThe coronavirus crisis is a war against a disease, but it’s also the most serious battle yet in the war on truth. That much was clear from the start, as China moved to hush up the first outbreak and gag the doctor who had spotted it. It was a classic case of what we might call Chernobyl syndrome: the tendency of authoritarian systems to react to disaster by rushing to downplay or cover up the problem, focusing more on shifting blame than tackling the threat head on. Viewers of last year’s TV dramatisation of the Chernobyl nuclear accident could recognise the pattern immediately, as the priority of those in charge becomes avoiding embarrassment rather than saving lives.Related: Coronavirus: man from Diamond Princess cruise first Briton to die from illness – latest updates Continue reading...

Man died after catching virus while quarantined on Diamond Princess cruise ship, says Japanese health ministry

The truth about the protective value of face masks and how easy it is to catch Covid-19Many individuals who get coronavirus will experience nothing worse than seasonal flu symptoms, but the overall profile of the disease, including its mortality rate, looks more serious. At the start of an outbreak the apparent mortality rate can be an overestimate if a lot of mild cases are being missed. But this week, a WHO expert suggested that this has not been the case with Covid-19. Bruce Aylward, who led an international mission to China to learn about the virus and the country’s response, said the evidence did not suggest that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. If borne out by further testing, this could mean that current estimates of a roughly 1% fatality rate are accurate. This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu, which is estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people a year globally. Continue reading...

Stock market losses deepen worldwide, as officials confirm 20 new cases in France

Boris Johnson to chair emergency Cobra meeting after first patient reported in Wales

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?

Bonds designed to provide fast funding for poor countries branded ‘obscene’ because of complex payout criteriaA flagship $500m World Bank scheme to help the poorest countries deal with a health emergency is “too little too late” for the coronavirus outbreak, say health experts.The first pandemic emergency financing (PEF) bonds were launched in 2017 by Jim Yong Kim, the bank’s president at the time, after the Ebola outbreak in west Africa. Designed to potentially “save millions of lives and entire economies” by speedily funnelling money to nations facing pandemics. Continue reading...

Politicians across Europe have been quick to exploit the outbreak by heaping suspicion on the most marginalisedWhen I give talks on Europe’s “refugee crisis” I often start by showing a photograph of a rescue boat arriving at the port of Augusta in Sicily, in 2015. It shows a teenage girl of African or Middle Eastern origin looking quizzically at a European official covered from head to toe in white protective gear, with face mask and goggles. Who, I like to ask the audience, is the threat to whom?Related: Greek authorities scramble to calm tensions over migrant detention camp Continue reading...

A recent arrival from Iran who travelled to Auckland via Bali has tested positive and is improving

Public urged to help tackle rise in nighthawking blamed on organised crimeOrganised crime is being blamed for a rise in illegal metal-detecting at heritage sites, including one of England’s finest medieval castles and the battlefield of Hastings.English Heritage said December last year was the worst month for such incidents in more than four years and there were more than double the number of incidents in 2019 as there were in 2017. Continue reading...

As cases of people infected with the coronavirus or Covid-19 grow rapidly in Italy, Iran and South Korea, the rest of the world is bracing for a pandemic Continue reading...

Gene-editing technologies have the power to change life as we know it. This week on the podcast, we’re bringing you another episode from our Common Threads series, this time about power. Who has the authority to speak for our species and to make decisions? Are we well informed, and who holds the power to inform us?To listen to episodes one and three, search ‘The Gene Gap: Common Threads’ wherever you get your podcasts Continue reading...

US share index tumbles 1,190 points, the Netherlands confirms its first case and 50 Britons are allowed to leave Tenerife hotel. This blog is closed.

Eruption in black hole 390m light years away punched cavity the size of 15 Milky WaysThe biggest cosmic explosion on record has been detected – an event so powerful that it punched a dent the size of 15 Milky Ways in the surrounding space.The eruption is thought to have originated at a supermassive black hole in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, which is about 390m light years from Earth. Continue reading...

Reports woman tested positive for a second time show there are still many unknowns

Discovery suggests screening for bug that creates toxin could prevent thousands of casesScientists have raised fresh hopes for preventing bowel cancer after discovering that a common gut bacterium drives genetic mutations that can cause the disease.Researchers found that a toxin secreted by a particular strain of the microbe E coli creates distinct mutations in DNA, which contribute to an estimated one in 20 bowel cancers in Britain. Continue reading...

Scientists say current system for labelling children with difficulties is ‘too simple’Learning difficulties are not linked to differences in particular brain regions, but in how the brain is wired, research suggests.According to figures from the Department for Education, 14.9% of all pupils in England – about 1.3 million children – had special educational needs in January 2019, with 271,200 having difficulties that required support beyond typical special needs provision. Dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and dyspraxia are among conditions linked to learning difficulties. Continue reading...

What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread from person to person, and is the outbreak a pandemic?

For decades it has been the dominant metaphor in neuroscience. But could this idea have been leading us astray all along? By Matthew CobbWe are living through one of the greatest of scientific endeavours – the attempt to understand the most complex object in the universe, the brain. Scientists are accumulating vast amounts of data about structure and function in a huge array of brains, from the tiniest to our own. Tens of thousands of researchers are devoting massive amounts of time and energy to thinking about what brains do, and astonishing new technology is enabling us to both describe and manipulate that activity.We can now make a mouse remember something about a smell it has never encountered, turn a bad mouse memory into a good one, and even use a surge of electricity to change how people perceive faces. We are drawing up increasingly detailed and complex functional maps of the brain, human and otherwise. In some species, we can change the brain’s very structure at will, altering the animal’s behaviour as a result. Some of the most profound consequences of our growing mastery can be seen in our ability to enable a paralysed person to control a robotic arm with the power of their mind. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: Hierarchies, dependence and relationships determine the birds’ comings and goingsThe bird feeder hangs from a branch a few metres from the hide. It has been placed there and filled with seed by the National Trust in woodland next to an old quarry above the road along Wenlock Edge. There’s a path from the car park that passes the hide and it’s a favourite place for children and families out for a walk. Many of those who visit it may not be familiar with the woodland birds that feed here and rarely get the opportunity to get so close to them.Sitting quietly in a shed open to the woods, looking at the feeder and the birds coming and going, seemingly oblivious to being watched as they flit and thrum about their daily lives, is like entering another world through a screen. But what do birds get out of it? The bird feeder is a metre-long Perspex tube filled with a variety of seeds. It has entry holes with little plastic perches so that several individuals can pick seeds from the feeder at any one time. Together, nuthatch, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, are bright, colourful birds that look so neat and healthy, even after their battering from storms. Each bird takes a turn, doesn’t stay long and returns regularly; there are few skirmishes and this seems the result of a carefully constructed code of behaviour. Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia bans religious tourists from entering country as WHO says virus now spreading faster outside China than in it. This blog is closed

Government planning public information campaign amid concerns of an Italy-sized outbreak

The reaction to the outbreak has revealed the unreconstructed despotism of the Chinese stateOver the past 70 years, the Chinese Communist party has subjected its country to a succession of manmade catastrophes, from the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square massacre, to the forceful suppression of rights in Hong Kong and Tibet, and the mass internment of Uighurs in Xinjiang. Official coverups and corruption have multiplied the death toll of natural calamities, from the Sars virus to the Sichuan earthquake.Xi Jinping’s mishandling of the coronavirus epidemic must now be added to the party’s shameful list of crimes. With serious outbreaks occurring in Japan, South Korea, Iran and Italy, it is clear that the virus of Xi’s totalitarian rule threatens the health and freedoms not only of the Chinese people, but of all of us everywhere. Continue reading...

Before you start stockpiling face masks, be aware that perverse perceptions of risk may help Covid-19 to spreadOur friend and fellow disaster researcher was recently asked to self-quarantine for two weeks after returning from south-east Asia. Although he hadn’t travelled to China, he had taken a plane home with others who were returning from Beijing. A few days before his voluntary quarantine was set to expire, he visited his office to fetch a library book and ran into a colleague. Why did he take the risk? And was his colleague, who knew about the situation, concerned about contagion?People are often optimistic about risks. In the field of risk perception, we call this an “optimism bias”; people may think they can control their own exposure to diseases, that they don’t need a vaccine because they aren’t susceptible to flu, or that they won’t transmit their cold to others. Our friend was confident he couldn’t be a vector for coronavirus, or Covid-19; likewise, one of our family members recently flew across the country with a severe respiratory ailment, insisting that her mask and careful handwashing would protect those around her on the plane. Continue reading...

Latest figures on new infections suggest Beijing’s strict response to the crisis is paying off

Targaryendraco wiedenrothi has been renamed after House of Targaryen in George RR Martin’s fantasy sagaGeorge RR Martin is celebrating after a palaeontologist, who named a new genus of pterosaur after the dragons of House Targaryen, agreed with him that dragons should have two, rather than four, legs.The fossilised bones of Targaryendraco wiedenrothi, which lived 130m years ago, were discovered by Kurt Wiedenroth in 1984 in northern Germany. The specimen was originally classified within the Ornithocheirus group of pterosaurs, as Ornithocheirus wiedenrothi, but the toothy pterosaur has now been reassigned to the new genus Targaryendraco. Six other already known pterosaurs were also found to be closely related to the group, which features pterosaurs with wingspans between 10 and 26 feet, and narrow snouts. Continue reading...

My friend Mike Solomon, who has died aged 52 of cancer, was a clinical psychologist at the Tavistock clinic in London, working with children and young people with social, emotional and mental health problems.He thrived on building relationships and was often to be found having a clinical “session” with young people on a football pitch or at a bus stop. Continue reading...

What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread from person to person, and when should you call a doctor?

More cases in South Korea while first suspected infection is recorded in Latin America

At least now we know how COMPLETELY UNPREPARED THE WORLD IS

Lone Kabul laboratory preparing to treat patients in the midst of political turmoil and tentative peace talks, as border with Iran closed

Herring gulls more likely to peck at items if humans pretend to eat them firstIt’s the sort a sneaky trick only a gull would learn: by watching how people handle their food, the birds can work out when there are snacks to be had.Researchers found that herring gulls were more likely to peck at items left on the ground if humans had pretended to eat them first. Continue reading...

Switzerland, Austria and Croatia report first cases as outbreak worsens across Europe

Current diagnostic method for Barrett’s oesophagus relies on invasive and costly endoscopyAn electronic device that “sniffs” breath may offer a new way to identify people with a condition that can lead to cancer of the oesophagus, researchers have revealed.Recent figures suggest there are about 9,000 new cases of oesophageal cancer, or cancer of the food pipe, every year in the UK. Continue reading...

Virus appeared in new cases in Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Croatia

Only five states can detect virus after testing kits found to be faulty – but Trump claims coronavirus ‘is going to go away’

Many experts believe this outbreak will soon be declared a pandemic. Even if it is not containable, it can still be slowedIt now appears almost inevitable that the new coronavirus outbreak will soon be identified as a global pandemic. There has been a surge in cases in Iran, South Korea and Italy, and incidents confirmed in numerous countries, in addition to the almost 80,000 cases seen in China. The World Health Organization argues that it is not a pandemic – spreading internationally in an uncontrolled way – because it is cautiously optimistic that China’s outbreak may have peaked thanks to the strict measures adopted by Beijing. Others say this is already a pandemic in all but name.The WHO’s hesitance may be partly due to its concern about the public reaction, as rational worries combine with limited medical knowledge, xenophobia and broader anxieties. “Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” the WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Monday. As concern spreads, economic effects are growing alongside the human toll. Stock markets have taken a hammering. Airlines are suffering, major international events are being cancelled, and companies dependent on Chinese-made components have halted production. Continue reading...

Sufferers found to have low levels of gut microbes that convert bile acids into other substancesHopes of developing a new treatment for ulcerative colitis have been raised by research suggesting the condition may be linked to low levels of certain bacteria in the gut.Ulcerative colitis is a long-term condition in which the colon becomes inflamed. According to the NHS, it is thought to be an autoimmune disease and affects one in every 420 people in the UK. Sufferers need to empty their bowels frequently, develop ulcers in their colon and have recurring bouts of diarrhoea with blood and pus in the faeces. Continue reading...

H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel on lockdown as first case confirmed in mainland Spain

Feverish Iraj Harirchi says disease ‘doesn’t distinguish between statesman and ordinary citizen’Iran’s deputy health minister said he has contracted the coronavirus and placed himself in isolation, a day after appearing feverish at a press conference in which he downplayed its spread in the shrine city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary.Iraj Harirchi posted a video on social media on Tuesday acknowledging he had caught the virus, which appears to be taking rapid hold in parts of Iran. The news has underscored widespread fears that the outbreak may have passed a tipping point, before authorities had been able to gauge its full extent. Continue reading...

With people trapped indoors, online activity of all sorts – funny, inspiring, government sanctioned and not – has bloomedIn many ways, the coronavirus outbreak in China has been one big social experiment, testing the thesis: what happens when an entire country goes into hibernation for weeks?Since the outbreak was officially announced more than a month ago, less than one-third of China’s 300 million migrant workers have returned to work a fortnight after the lunar new year break; 270 million children, according to China’s official news agency, are staying home as schools remain shut throughout China. Continue reading...

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

Evaluations of 26 people by Physicians for Human Rights provides first in-depth look at policy’s psychological impactThe trauma Donald Trump’s administration caused to young children and parents separated at the US-Mexico border constitutes torture, according to evaluations of 26 children and adults by the group Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).The not-for-profit group’s report provides the first in-depth look at the psychological impact of family separation, which the US government continued despite warnings from the nation’s top medical bodies. Continue reading...

UK government issues advice to people travelling from quarantine regions

What is a pandemic, why would the WHO declare the Covid-19 outbreak to be one and what comes next?Pandemics have nothing to do with the severity of a disease but are to do with its geographic spread. According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic is declared when a new disease for which people do not have immunity spreads around the world beyond expectations. Continue reading...

Political interference in scientific research has been weaponised during the past decade, and we are all suffering the consequencesPolicies matter. Good policies lead to good outcomes, while bad policies can lead to disaster. But what about where there is no policy, or a policy that is incohesive and incomplete? We only need to look at the state of science research policy in Australia to find out.Scientific research in Australia has always suffered from political influence, because research in Australia is heavily dependent on federal government funding. But political interference in scientific research has been weaponised during the past decade of Coalition governments. Continue reading...

Nation brings in ‘maximum measures’ to contain outbreak at secretive church