The UK's confirmed number of cases since the start of the outbreak is set to top 4,000.
The figure was 3,983 yesterday and an update is expected this afternoon.
It comes as thousands of pubs, cafes and restaurants usually bustling with weekend customers are empty today after the coronavirus prompted sweeping closures.
While Rishi Sunak announced a swathe of economic measures aimed at supporting those unable to work due to the sweeping closures.
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Streets and roads across the UK left empty
Usually bustling areas were desolate today as people hunkered down amid the coronavirus crisis.
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'Hard to convey enormity of crisis'
A respiratory consultant in the Ulster Hospital in Co Down, Dr Julia Courtney, said:
It is hard to actually convey just the enormity of the crisis that is looming for the NHS, and so for everyone, in the next few weeks.Huge numbers of people will die and the only thing that will have any impact on this impending catastrophe is slowing the spread of this virus.This is the week that the most people who are infected without knowing it will cause the virus to spread.What you do today will affect the intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the hospitals in the next two to three weeks.So please, please, please, stay at home if you can.
New measures for Wales
A series of measures aimed at tackling the coronavirus crisis in Wales have been announced by the Welsh Government – including calling retired doctors and nurses back to work and increasing testing.
Vaughan Gething, the minister for health and social services, said pharmacies can restrict their opening hours to protect staff.
He also reassured health and social care workers there would be enough personal protective equipment (PPE) available for those who need it.
Mr Gething, who was self-isolating because his son had developed a cough, revealed plans to increase testing for coronavirus with capacity to complete 9,000 a day in Wales by the end of April.
Three people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospitals in Swansea, Bridgend and North Wales.
One was in their 60s, with the others 71 and 96. All had underlying health conditions.
Public Health Wales said 89 more people had tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total to 280.
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Ali Milani, the Labour parliamentary candidate who ran against Boris Johnson in the 2019 general election, says his father has passed away after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Mr Milani tweeted:
In the early hours of this morning, my father tragically passed away after having contracted COVID-19.Please keep him in your prayers. This virus is taking millions all across the world. Please ISOLATE and listen to medical advice!A few friends have kindly set up a donation page in my Dad’s memory. Please give (only if you can) and help others in need of urgent assistance.It is only through solidarity, kindness and the strength given to us by Allah SWT that we will get through.
Spain has seen more than 300 coronavirus patient deaths and nearly 5,000 more cases.
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Nearly half of Brits think they'll be infected
Almost three-quarters of people say they have changed their behaviour in response to Government guidance on coronavirus, with almost half believing they will become infected, a survey found.
The survey found that 77 per cent of people were concerned about the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, with 48 per cent of adults who have not tested positive for Covid-19 believing it is likely they will become infected.
The YouGov survey, commissioned by Imperial College London’s Patient Experience Research Centre, was carried after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new social distancing measures to control the spread of Covid-19.
The survey, which aimed to capture public sentiment towards the recommendations announced on March 16, found that 93 per cent of adult respondents took at least one measure to protect themselves from infection.
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Guidance for medical staff
Guidelines to help doctors and nurses know the best course of treatment for patients amid the coronavirus pandemic have been published.
The first three so-called rapid guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) consider patients in critical care, those having kidney dialysis and people being treated for cancer.
There have been concerns the UK does not have enough intensive care beds to cope with the number of people who will fall ill, and that the country could end up in a similar situation to Italy, where doctors have been forced to choose which patients get a bed.
Recent footage from inside the main hospital in Bergamo, the country’s epicentre, showed doctors and nurses rushing between patients in a packed ward, with others on trolleys in a corridor.
Earlier this week, Health Select Committee chairman Jeremy Hunt asked whether the “absolutely heartbreaking” scenes from northern Italy would happen in England and about guidance for medics.
In response, NHS national medical director Stephen Powis said the health service and Government were doing “everything we possibly can not to get into that circumstance”.
Dozens of toilet rolls thought to be have been stolen were recovered by police in Essex, amid supermarket shelves being emptied in coronavirus panic buying.
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Hotels to put up rough sleepers
Hotels in central London will offer beds to rough sleepers to help protect them against coronavirus.
An initial trial will take place over the weekend, offering 300 rooms to vulnerable people known to homelessness charities.
The mayor’s office is working with Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) to block book rooms, at a discounted rate, for the next 12 weeks.
Rough sleepers are significantly more likely to have underlying health conditions – including respiratory problems – than the wider population.
Help for those in debt in Scotland
Evictions from properties have been suspended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic by the government body that handles bankruptcies in Scotland.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) said it has also suspended sales of properties until further notice.
The move is part of emergency measures being introduced by the Scottish Government agency in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The AiBi is seeking to simplify the procedures for those seeking to become bankrupt, with greater flexibility also promised for those who need more time to pay back cash owed through a Debt Arrangement Scheme.
US President Donald Trump was accused of having a "meltdown" after he hit out at a reporter and publicly disagreed with the country's top doctor on live TV over coronavirus guidance.
Overnight #TrumpMeltdown was trending on Twitter, as people criticised the president's outburst.
Read more here.
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I want to work as soon as possible but in my country the whole country are still in strict quarantine restrictions
ReplyDeleteEven I got the the job there is no airplane to go to the country to work they open the local flight but strict limitations on plane flight.