In the US, Democratic lawmakers want police departments to be vigilant about any racially biased policing during the coronavirus pandemic, as people in communities of color express fears of being profiled while wearing masks or other face coverings in public.
Senator Kamala Harris of California was among several senators to write to the Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray urging agencies to give anti-bias training to officers.
With the ongoing public health emergency, it is more important than ever for law enforcement to build trust with communities of color, the senators said in the letter, which was first shared with the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people who go out in public wear a surgical mask or a cloth covering their nose and mouth to prevent the spread of the virus. And already, some black men have reported incidents of racial profiling while following the recommendations.
, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga, will be broadcast across the US television networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as being streamed online, at 8pm EST tonight. In the UK, BBC One will show an adapted version of the concert on April.
The concert is being held in support of the World Health Organization’s Covid – (solidarity response fund and in celebration of health workers around the world.)
The lineup includes Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Lizzo, J Balvin, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Burna Boy, Andrea Bocelli, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Elton John, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban and Lang Lang.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@ DrTedros)
SAVE THE DATE: (APRIL) One World:
(# TogetherAtHome
is a historic, global broadcast to support the fight against (# COVID) . @ GlblCtzn @ WHO @ ladygaga
Watch here @ WHO
👉 https://t.co/LCAOftqqGq pic.twitter .com / UFZfgHopuW ) April ,
4). (am) (BST) :
Walmart said on Friday it would hire
, 13 more workers at its stores, clubs and distribution centers to meet a surge in demand for groceries and household essentials from consumers stockpiling during the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters has reported.
The retailer said it had reached its earlier target of h iring 508, (workers six weeks ahead of schedule, taking in 5, 12 people per day on average at a time when mill ions of Americans are losing their jobs amid unprecedented “stay-at-home” orders.
Walmart said it had worked with more than 120 companies that furlored workers due to the pandemic to hire its , 11 new employees, many of whom came from the restaurant and hospitality industries. The majority of workers being hired are going into temporary or part-time roles.
Skyrocketing demand for food, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and other household products has also prompted retailers Kroger, Target and Amazon to hire by the thousands.
Updated
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Japan’s emergency medical system pushed to the brink
In one recent case, an ambulance carrying a man with a fever and difficult breathing was rejected by 122 hospitals and forced to search for hours for a hospital in downtown Tokyo that would treat him. Another feverish man finally reached a hospital after paramedics unsuccessfully contacted (clinics.)
The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Emergency Medicine say many hospital emergency rooms are refusing to treat people including those suffering strokes, heart attacks and external Injuries.
Japan initially seemed to have controlled the outbreak by going after clusters of infections in specific places, usually enclosed spaces such as clubs, gyms and meeting venues. But the spread of virus outpaced this approach and most new cases are untraceable.
Apart from a general unwillingness to embrace social distancing, experts fault government incompetence and a widespread shortage of the protective gear and equipment medical workers need to do their jobs.
Japan lacks enough hospital beds, medical workers or equipment. Forcing hospitalization of anyone with the virus, even those with mild symptoms, has left hospitals overcrowded and understaffed.
Updated at 4. am BST
Migrants on US deportation flight were infected with coronavirus, Guatemala says
Here is some further detail from Guatemala, where President Alejandro Giammattei
has said that migrants who arrived in the country on Monday were infected with Covid – .
Giammattei said 24 randomly selected migrants who took the deportation flight from the US tested positive for coronavirus when examined by the centers for disease control and prevention, the US health protection agency.
He suggested more on the flight had tested positive for the virus. “A large part of it was infected,” the president said in a televised address.
Flights deporting Guatemalan migrants from the United States were on Thursday once again temporarily suspended after reports of the mass infection. Deportation flights had only started again on Monday following a five-day suspension.
An Argentine official has given some on-air sex education for onanistic lovers in the time of the coronavirus, Reuters has reported.
Jose Barletta, a doctor with the country’s health ministry, said in a televised broadcast that people needed to wash their hands after sex – whether it was in person or, as is equivalent the case, over digital channels.
“It’s more important than ever to wash your hands after having sexual relations, after masturbation, or virtual sex,” Barletta said. “It is important to disinfect keyboards, telephones, sex toys and whatever else you might be using, whether or not you are sharing these things with others.”
The coronavirus lockdown has led to an increase in sales of sex toys in countries ranging from Denmark to Colombia.
Argentina’s lockdown began on March and will run until at least April . The country has recorded 2, (confirmed cases of the coronavirus so far, of them fatal.
A report by the
The country is likely welcome only million international tourists this year – far below the pre-coronavirus target of million . The number of domestic trips is also down dramatically: from 480 million expected trips to million, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT governor told the Bangkok Post:
This revised forecast assumes tourism activities can resume in May, with the outbreak in Thailand levelling off while overseas infections subside … The industry needs to watch the situation closely before commencing business. ”
Thailand has recorded 2, 784 cases, with infections appearing to slow in recent weeks. Limited testing means the actual number of cases may be higher.
Updated (at 4.) (am BST)
Syria’s Kurdish- led northeast confirms first case of coronavirus
The Kurdish -led administration in Syria’s northeast has said that the World Health Organization had found the area’s first case of coronavirus earlier this month after samples were tested in Damascus, Reuters has reported.In a statement the regional administration said a 78 -year-old man had died at Qamishli National Hospital on April 2 and that a sample sent to Damascus had tested positive for COVID – , the lung disease caused by the coronavirus.
But it said health authorities in the northeast, a region ruled autonomously from Damascus, had not been made aware of the results, which emerged on the same day as the patient’s death.
A WHO regional spokesperson said the positive test result was reported by the Syrian government health ministry on April 2, and that active surveillance was being carried out in northeast Syria to probe for other potential cases.
“Contact tracing of the patient’s close contacts was conducted, and all were reported negative. However, another family member is currently reportedly also in hospital with symptoms of COVID – 36 with test results pending, ”said WHO spokesperson Inas Hamam.
The Kurdish-led administration said it was “dangerous” that their health authorities had not been informed directly when the case was first confirmed.
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Guatemala President, Alejandro Giammattei, says a large number of migrants on a US deportation flight to Guatemala on Monday were infected with the coronavirus, Reuters has reported.
I’ll bring you more information about this later.
2. (am) (BST) : All airline passengers must wear masks, says Canada’s transport regulatorTransport Canada said on Friday that all airline passengers would be required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering during travel to curb the spread of coronavirus.
:
The regulator said travelers must cover their mouth and nose during the boarding process and flights. The rule goes into effect at noon ET on Monday. Air Canada , the country’s largest carrier, had previously recommended that customers wear a face-covering over their mouth and noses while onboard its flights.Mexico’s president said on Friday that Trump has promised Mexico will be able to buy 1, ventilators and other intensive-therapy equipment used in treating severe cases of Covid – .
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called it a new gesture of solidarity with Mexico and said, “I made the proposal that we could meet in June or July to personally express our appreciation.”
Such a visit would be unusual, especially if it implied the Mexican leader would travel to the United States. López Obrador has eschewed trips abroad since he took office in December .
Mexico, which has releatively few ventilators, currently has 6, confirmed coronavirus cases and (deaths.)
Andrés Manuel (@ lopezobrador _) Me llamó el presidente Donald Trump para responder a la solicitud que le hicimos sobre la adquisición de ventiladores y equipo médico de terapia intensiva. (April) ,
At Friday’s White House briefing, president Donald Trump
defended his recent series of “liberate” tweets, which appeared to stoke protests against stay-at-home measures in three states led by Democratic governors.Asked to address the tweets, Trump said he is “very comfortable” with what he posted, and said that some states are going too far with social distancing measures. States are currently following (federal guidelines) encouraging Americans to stay home.
Protestors who gathered around the country and flouted distancing measures, Trump said, “seem to be very responsible people”.
Also during the briefing,
Dr Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health
, said the US will need to conduct at least 4.5m tests a month before its safe to move into Phase 1 of the administration’s Opening Up America Again plan . was less measured in his assessment, insisting that many states were ready to reopen, despite a lack of testing and evidence that the number of cases are decreasing.Updated (at 2.) am BST
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China pushes for reopening of the economy
At a meeting on Friday, China’s politburo said that the government must pursue comprehensive reopening of China’s economy while take steps to restrict the spread of coronavirus, it was reported by China’s state-run Global Times this morning.
The meeting also said government spending should be increased and the central bank should cut market loan rates to support business.
China has reported that on Friday 37 new coronavirus cases were confirmed, of which were linked to foreign travel. No new fatalities were recorded.
:
Hello this is Rebecca Ratcliffe, bringing you the latest global coronavirus updates.
China will push ahead with reopening its economy, state media reported on Saturday morning, just one day after it emerged the country economy had
shrank 6.8% in the first three months of ,
, the country’s first such contraction on record.
Here are the latest developments from elsewhere around the world:
Trump defended a series of incendiary “liberate” tweets which appeared to stoke protests against physical distancing measures, saying he is “very comfortable” with what he posted.
An unprecedented US policy that uses the pandemic as grounds to summarily expel people who have migrated to or sought asylum in the country violates international law, the United Nations has warnedChile will become the first country to issue “Immunity cards ” to those who have recovered from Covid – , exempting holders from quarantine so that they can return to work.
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