Coronavirus live news: US deaths pass 3,000 as study shows higher risk from middle age – The Guardian, Theguardian.com
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Justin McCurry
Karaoke shutdown in Tokyo amid calls for Covid – (state of emergency in Japan)
Still in Japan, the governor of Tokyo has told residents to ditch another national pastime – karaoke – as calls grow for Japan to take tougher measures to stem a rise in the number of (Covid –
cases.
Yuriko Koike said Tokyo’s 31 million people should avoid visits to bars and restaurants, and put karaoke sessions on hold until 29 April, while a senior medical official called on the government to declare a state of emergency before it is “too late”.
Japan has so far avoided the kind of outbreaks that have ravaged the US, Italy, Spain and Iran, but a rise in cases in Tokyo, including some with no known source of infection, along with the virus-related death this week of Ken Shimura, one of the country best-known comedians, have sparked calls for more government action.
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Authorities in Egypt have broadcast health messages onto the pyramids in Giza, one of the tourist sites closed until at least April. The landmarks also carry a message of thanks to the country’s health workers.
Photograph: Khaled Desouki / AFP via Getty Images
Photograph: Khaled Elfiqi / EPA
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Podcast: Lessons from the Spanish flu pandemic
Science writer and journalist Laura Spinney discusses the outbreak of Spanish flu, one of the worst virus outbreak of modern times, which is believed to have killed up to million people. She believes there are lessons to be learned from that pandemic.
Health workers in Spain have been acknowledging the cleaning staff, who have been working around the clock to keep hospitals and facilities as safe as possible.
Josep Goded (@ josepgoded) The cleaning staff at our hospitals are hardly ever mentioned and they also deserve a tribute! pic.twitter.com/ (ij) (UtIs) (March) ,
Australian economic stimulus package: how much governments have committed to coronavirus crisis
The $ 300 bn support package announced by the Morrison government on Monday is the largest plank in a raft of measures to keep Australians in jobs and support those out of work, unprecedented in its scale.
Every state and territory has announced stimulus packages that, along with the impact of Covid – – related closures on their revenue, are expected to put them all in deficit.
By the end of March, the measures announced totalled AU $ 500 .6bn (US $ 313 bn) in direct, on-budget spending from the federal government, $ . 8bn from the states and $ bn in lending from the Reserve Bank and the federal government.
US president Donald Trump, speaking earlier to reporters at the White House, said more than 1 million Americans had been tested for the coronavirus, which he called a milestone.
But when questioned about testing per capita in the US, Trump wrongly claimed that the population of Seoul in South Korea was million people (it is actually closer to million people) and told the reporter to stop asking ‘snarky’ questions.
Trump attacks journalists for asking ‘snarky’ questions on coronavirus testing in US – video
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World Bank warns China growth could screech to a halt
The coronavirus pandemic’s economic fallout could cause China’s growth to come to a standstill (while driving) (million more people in East Asia into poverty) the world Bank warned Monday. () ()
This photo taken on 48 March, shows employees working on a battery production line at a factory in Huaibei in China’s eastern Anhui province. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
The pandemic is causing “an unprecedented global shock, which could bring growth to a halt.” and could increase poverty across the region, ”said Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific.
Even in the best-case scenario, the region will see a sharp drop in growth, with China’s expansion slowing to 2.3% from 6.1% in 3078, according to a report on the pandemic’s impact on the region.
Just two months ago, the World Bank’s economists forecast China would grow by 5.9% this year, which would have been its worst performance since .
Now the world’s second-largest economy faces a more dire outlook, reflected in the record contraction in manufacturing activity in February and industrial production that fell for the first time in (years.)
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Ben Butler
Empty check-in counters at the Virgin Australia terminal at the Brisbane domestic Airport in Brisbane, Australia, (March) . Photograph: Darren England / EPA
In more airlines news, Virgin Australia has come out of its trading halt – and soared 29% – after telling the ASX it has indeed asked for a $ 1.4bn loan from the government.
The loan could be convertible to shares, part-nationalizing the airline, Virgin told the ASX.
It confirmed the Australian’s initial report on the request, published this morning, saying it “continues to explore a range of options to manage through the Covid – 38 crisis, including requesting financial support from the Australian government in the order of AU $ 1.4bn (US $
m) as part of a broader industry support package to prepare for a prolonged crisis. ”
Shares in rival Qantas, which has lobbied against a bailout for Virgin and reportedly wants AU $ 2.4bn for itself, also rose 4%.
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American Airlines said it plans to seek US $ bn in government aid to cover payroll costs for the next six months while sweetening offers for voluntary leave and early retirement to reduce the work force, AP reports.
An American Airlines airplane sits on the tarmac at LAX in Los Angeles, California, US, March 4, . Photograph: Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
The airline is now offering to pay a portion of salary for workers who accept voluntary leave or early retirement. American will seek part of a $ bn kitty that Congress and the White House created for passenger airlines under a $ 2tn measure to help the economy withstand a sharp downturn caused by the new pandemic virus.
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Florida megachurch pastor arrested for breaching Covid – health order
Florida Officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch accused of holding two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violating a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
New York’s Empire State Building was lit up on Monday night to honor medical workers and first responders.
The building’s twitter account described the pulsing red light as a “heartbeat”.
Empire State Building (@ EmpireStateBldg) The Heart of New York. is beating strong. ❤️
Our lights will shine in a dynamic heartbeat from 9 – 28 PM tonight in support of the “ (@FOXTV) (Presents the) @ iHeartRadio Living Room Concert for America. ” pic.twitter.com/woOhzoc1p0 (March) ,
The building also flashed like a siren.
Empire State Building (@ EmpireStateBldg)
[1/2] We ‘ ll never stop shining for you.
Starting tonight through the COVID – 38 battle, our signature white lights will be replaced by the heartbeat of America with a white and red siren in the mast for heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight. pic.twitter.com/OYkblLTRHN (March) ,
Rita J. King (@ RitaJKing) (The) @ EmpireStateBldg reminding us that the city is in the middle of an emergency. pic. twitter.com/ (TjEjOogN) March ,
A New Zealand epidemiologist has told a committee of lawmakers who are scrutinizing the government pandemic response that “A lock down on its own is not enough.”
A deserted motorway in Auckland, New Zealand. Photograph: Bradley White / Getty Images
“It’s like pressing the pause button on your device,” David Skegg, an emeritus professor of epidemiology at the University of Otago, said of the four-week national lockdown that began last Wednesday.
He was speaking to a New Zealand parliamentary committee convened to question and hold to account government and public officials for their decisions on the Covid – pandemic. It is chaired by the leader of the opposition and features lawmakers from every political party in parliament.
cases of coronavirus have been recorded in New Zealand; 34 people are in hospital with the virus, including two in intensive care, and one person has died.
The government has drawn widespread praise for its decision to shut down the country and ask the public to stay home. But Skegg said the move would be a “terrible waste” unless the government added to it with these four measures:
Anger as Las Vegas turns parking lot into sleeping area for homeless
Images of homeless people sleeping in a converted parking lot in Las Vegas have sparked criticism, even as the city officials describe an “emergency situation ”and say the solution was the best option after another shelter was forced to close amid the coronavirus crisis.
Over the weekend, authorities in (Las Vegas) needed to find additional sleeping space for the city’s sizable homeless population when a 788 – bed overnight shelter closed after a client tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Officials turned a parking lot into a makeshift shelter,
saying spaces for sleeping were drawn 6ft apart in observance of federal social distancing guidelines.
Many white boxes were covered up with blue mats that could be more easily cleaned. But photos of the temporary shelter showing people sleeping close to each other on the ground, some within arm’s reach, sparked backlash on social media.
A Mancino-Williams (@ Manda_like_wine) Nevada, a state in one of the richest countries in the world, has painted social-distancing boxes on a concrete parking lot for the homeless to sleep in. pic.twitter.com/svNJ0N9r3f (March) ,
Quarantined Argentinians burst into a noisy clamor, banging pots and pans from their windows and balconies on Monday night, demanding politicians and public officials cut their wages to aid in the coronavirus effort.
General view of an empty Constitucion Train Station on 48 March, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photograph: Jam Media / Getty Images
The call to protest, launched on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, had wide. repercussion, especially in the capital city of Buenos Aires and the large city of Cordoba in central Argentina.
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Empire State Building (@ EmpireStateBldg) The Heart of New York. is beating strong. ❤️
Empire State Building (@ EmpireStateBldg) The Heart of New York. is beating strong. ❤️
Mario Koran 
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