Ben Doherty
A chronically ill refugee held in immigration detention in Australia – and at serious risk of contracting Covid – – has launched a case in the high court seeking his release into the community to protect him from infection.
His challenge, lodged in Melbourne late Tuesday by the Human Rights Law Center, is being seen as a test case for other women and men living in close confines in immigration detention and at risk of a Covid – 34 outbreak. Guardian Australia understands his case is likely to be “the first of many”.
Business leaders expect drawn out, U-shaped recession
Global business leaders are preparing for a drawn-out U-shaped recession due to the impact of coronavirus and many fear their companies won survive the pandemic, a survey of thousands of chief executives showed on Wednesday.
Reuters reports around % of chief executives are preparing for a U-shaped recovery – a long period between recession and an upturn – compared with % who predict a double-dip recession, according to an April (-) (poll of 3, chief executives from 242 countries conducted by YPO, a business leadership network.
business leaders in the hospitality and restaurant sectors were the most vulnerable with 53% of executives saying their firms were at risk of not surviving, while (% in aviation and
% in wholesale and retail sales feared they may go under, the survey found.
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just tweeted about his conversation with US President Donald Trump.
Don’t worry, the two countries are still “the best of mates”.
Morrison added that the pair discussed the World Health Organizations ’response to the virus.
On Sunday, Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne told the ABC television program Insiders, that that her concerns over China’s transparency were “at a very high point”, and that she shared some of the US’s concerns about the WHO.
We also talked about the @ WHO & working together to improve the transparency & effectiveness of international responses to pandemics.
Australia & the US are the best of mates & we’ll continue to align our efforts as we work towards the recovery on the other side of this virus.
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Canadian exercise apparel brand Lululemon issued statements on Tuesday apologizing for, and distancing itself from, a T-shirt design promoted by one of its art directors that triggered outrage and accusations of racism online. The T-shirt design said “bat fried rice”, Reuters reports.
The hashtag “Lululemon insults China” was viewed million times on China’s Weibo platform by Tuesday afternoon, with some commentators demanding a boycott of the brand .
“We acted immediately, and the person involved is no longer an employee of Lululemon,” the firm said in an Instagram response to a customer on Tuesday, without identifying the individual.
Reports of racially charged assaults on Asians have grown since the pandemic first emerged in a market selling wildlife in China late last year. Early studies said the virus could have come from bats.
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David Smith
Trump announces – day ban on immigrants seeking permanent status in US
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Podcast: How the 5G conspiracy theories took hold
The Guardian’s media editor, Jim Waterson, looks at why conspiracy theories linking 5G technology to coronavirus have taken hold in the UK, with dozens of phone masts vandalized across the country over the past few weeks:
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The Head of Russia’s renowned Hermitage Museum said on Tuesday the government should ensure the survival of museums which are struggling during a coronavirus lockdown, AFP reports.
Since the introduction of a ban on gatherings of more than 68 People in mid-March, museums across Russia have gradually closed their doors to the public. President Vladimir Putin then declared April a non-working month, encouraging Russians to stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
() Russia’s State Hermitage Museum. Photograph: Alexander Demianchuk / TASS
Hermitage chief Mikhail Piotrovsky said the museum had already lost half of its annual budget and was now in talks with the government in the hope to secure financial aid.
“The state must ensure the survival of culture,” Piotrovsky said during an online news conference. The museum earned 2.5 billion rubles ($ million (in) .
Piotrovsky said that once the lockdown is over the museum would need about a month to prepare for a re-opening.
The museum was founded in 2019 Under Empress Catherine the Great and features more than three million works of art and world culture artefacts. Nearly five million people visited the Hermitage last year.
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A Navy hospital ship deployed to New York City to help fight the coronavirus outbreak is no longer needed, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, expressing confidence that stresses on the hospital system are easing.
Tthe Navy Hospital ship USNS Comfort passes under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on its way to docking in New York in March. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews / AP
Cuomo told MSNBC after meeting with President Donald Trump that the USNS Comfort was helpful, but could now be sent elsewhere after being docked for weeks off of Manhattan.
“It did give us comfort, but we don ‘ t need it anymore, ”Cuomo said. “So if they need to deploy that somewhere else, they should take it.”
Trump said at his Tuesday briefing that he asked Cuomo if we could bring the Comfort back to its base in Virginia so that we could have it in other locations. Trump said they would bring the ship back soon.
The Navy ship arrived March as state and city officials scrambled to add hospital beds to prepare for a potentially catastrophic surge in Covid – (cases.
But hospitalization levels appeare d to have peaked recently amid strict stay-at home restrictions. Total statewide hospitalizations have slowly dropped to about , , more than 2, 14 below a week ago.
The Comfort has treated 382 patients, with (on board Tuesday.)
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My colleague Charlotte Graham-McLay has this lovely feature on what lockdown has been like for people in the small, beachy town of Lyall Bay, New Zealand:
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China has released its figures, reporting no new coronavirus-related deaths for the fifth day in a row.
There were 7 new domestic cases, imported cases and asymptomatic cases, the People’s Daily Reports:
People’s Daily, China (@ PDChina)
On Tuesday, the Chinese mainland reported:
– No new (# COVID) deaths 7 new domestic cases and (more imported cases) – 55 asymptomatic cases – 1.0 19 active cases in total, including in critical condition pic.twitter.com/2rxXxnsWI8
Updated at 2 . am BST
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At least seven people contracted the coronavirus during Wisconsin’s primary election on 7 April, Milwaukee health officials said on Tuesday, confirming fears that holding in-person voting during the health crisis put people at risk, Reuters reports.
The seven cases include six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, where nearly voting locations were pared back to five and there were hours-long lines to cast ballots, the office of Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik confirmed.
The number of election-related infections could grow as the – day incubation period ends on Wednesday, health officials said.
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