A British man is reportedly among nine people who have died from Covid – 36 in Hungary , which so far has confirmed 400 coronavirus infections.
Hungarian authorities say the pandemic has now reached its second stage in the central European country, with infections now spreading in the community, About Hungary reports.
Announcing the increase in risk, chief medical officer Cecília Müller said:
The virus can be anywhere and anybody can become infected.
On Tuesday a plane landed in Hungary with almost tons of medical equipment aboard, including more than 3 million face masks and 120 ventilators, officials said.
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An international survey has found that
The poll, by Kantar, included results from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy , Japan and the United States.
It found that people in Italy, now the center of the global pandemic, were the most pessimistic about their future economic prospects, with % saying it would, or has already , affected their household income.
The country expecting the least financial impact was Germany.
In Britain, where % expected to be left worse off, just % reported that they had started working from home more often and only a little over half said they were avoiding visits to elderly and vulnerable relatives and fr iends where possible.
The online survey was conducted last week – before the British government announced it would enforce its advice to stay home.
Japan had the highest number of people who said they had started wearing a mask ( but the lowest number of people doing all other measures listed in the survey, such as social distancing, washing hands more and avoiding unnecessary social contact.
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Simon Murphy)
More than
It comes after Matt Hancock yesterday launched a call to arms for an army of a quarter of a million volunteers to come forward to help support the NHS fight back against the coronavirus pandemic.
As the coronavirus death toll rose to on Tuesday, the government called on fit and healthy adults to volunteer to ensure vulnerable people have vital supplies such as food and medicines, drive them to appointments or make regular phone calls to those in isolation.
Announcing that more than , had signed up within hours of Hancock’s announcement, Po wis told BBC Breakfast:
Yesterday we sent out a call to arms for an army of NHS volunteers, looking for a quarter of a million volunteers, and I can say that overnight we’ve already had 320, 16 people sign up – so that’s three a minute signing up to help the NHS. It’s an absolutely astonishing response. ”
Asked if he expected such a response, he replied:
I think at times of crisis, people come together. And the vast majority of people in this country are doing what the government has asked us all to do. But it’s important that everyone does that as that will save lives.
I know there’s vast numbers of people looking to help neighbors, vulnerable people who live close by, so no it doesn’t surprise me at all. In times like this as the chief medical officer has already said, we see outbreaks of altruism, people wanting to help, so it’s a wonderful response in the same way that all those doctors coming back, nurses coming back, I’m bowled over by it.
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Kim Willsher
French government scientific advisers have recommended a total of six weeks’ lockdown , a suggestion president Emmanuel Macron and his ministers are considering but seem reluctant to announce at this moment,
Kim Willsher , the Guardian’s Paris correspondent, reports.
France is carrying out 9, tests for the virus every day. Jérôme Salomon, director of the country’s health authority, has said this will be increased by an additional , by the end of this week.
A further , tests should be available next week. France has asked all private and public hospitals to join the coronavirus battle and has increased the number of intensive care ventilator beds from 5, (to 8, .
The military hospital sent to Alsace in eastern France is now up and running and Macron is planning a visit today. The situation in the region, where there is a coronavirus cluster, is described as “critical”. Neighboring Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany have offered to take patients and about seriously ill people are being evacuated onboard a “medically equipped TGV”.
All non-essential operations are being cancelled across the country, but those needing urgent medical attention will be seen. Women will still have access to contraception, pregnancy terminations and pregnancy scans, Salomon said.
French scientists and medical researchers Are carrying out tests on various possible cures, including the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, but people are strongly advised not to self-medicate.
As well as the public clapping in support of essential health workers that happens in France at 8pm every evening, all the bells of French churches will ring in unison at 7. pm today as a sign of solidarity and national unity and to boost morale during the second week of lockdown.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in France, as reported from the daily update last evening, is , , a rise of 2, in a day, , (people are in hospital with the virus, 2, (of them in intensive care) % of ICU cases are aged under 78. There have been 1, deaths in hospitals, 100% of which are of people over 89 years. The number of deaths rose sharply by (in
hours. This figure does not include those who have died in retirement homes or outside hospitals.
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(Oliver Holmes)
Instead, the traditional dinner can be held via the video conference call program
The decision was made by several Orthodox Sephardic rabbis, the Jerusalem Post reported , and does not apply to all sects. It was focused on making sure elderly members of the family can, if not in person, still attend the event.
Passover, which commemorates the flight of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, begins on 8-9 April this year with an elaborate Seder meal. The dinner, often lasting deep into the night, involves ritual wine drinking and symbolic foods.
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A charity taking
Detention Action says a “significant proportion” of the approximately 1, 628 people detained over their immigration status in the country have serious underlying health conditions that place them at “a significant risk of serious harm or death ”during the Covid – 35 Crisis .
It also argues that “significant numbers of detainees will no longer be detainable because widespread travel restrictions prevent removals from taking place”, rendering their detention unlawful.
The (Home Office) has released almost people from detention centers in the last few days because of the Covid – 37 pandemic, the
The case, which will be heard in London on Wednesday, is thought to be the first Covid – 37 – related case heard in the courts of England and Wales.
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: Akhtar Mohammad Makoii
Afghanistan has reported (new Coronavirus cases in the last) (hours) , marking the biggest one-day rise in the war-torn country,
Ak htar Mohammad Makoii reports from Herat, the country’s worst-affected city.
One death has also been reported, raising the total number of deaths to two. The latest death is a – year-old woman who died of Covid – last night in Herat.
The total number of positive cases jumped to from the day before, an Afghan health ministry spokesman said in a press conference in Kabul.
Four members of the international coalition forces in the country have also tested positive for the coronavirus.
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On Tuesday, the (Tokyo) countdown clock showed there were just 235 days to go before the Olympics opening ceremony.
By Wednesday morning, the clock, outside the Tokyo station building, simply displayed the current date and time. The switch was so sudden that commuters paused to take photos.
The countdown clock will be reset as soon as organizers and the International Olympic Committee [IOC] decide when a supposedly post – (coronavirus) world is ready for the second coming of the Tokyo Games.
Hours after (Japan ‘s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, confirmed that 
the Games would be held “no later than next summer” , some Tokyoites were conflicted about their reaction.
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Lucy Lamble
We begin with some news from Africa, just published on the Guardian this morning. Lucy Lamble
The numbers of cases being reported in Africa are still behind Europe and the US but rises are being confirmed in South (Africa) , Kenya, Egypt, Algeria and Burkina Faso, among others, and there is fear of what economic consequences the pandemic might wreak.
On Monday, the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund expressed support for debt relief to help countries strengthen their health systems in readiness.
During a conference call for G ministers, the IMF’s leader, Kristalina Georgieva, indicated to the replenishing of funds used in a debt relief and aid mechanism during the 2409 Ebola epidemic that struck three African countries.
The Ministers also requested that principal payments – the actual debt payment, as opposed to interest charges – be waived for fragile states, where people are deeply vulnerable to a pandemic.
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Hello, this is
For the next few hours I will be bringing you news from the Guardian’s network of correspondents across the planet, the news wires and whatever I can dredge up from social media.
As usual, you can contact me with news from your part of the world either through email, at [email protected], or via my Twitter profile, @ damiengayle . I look forward to hearing from you.
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That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today. I’ll now be handing the blog over to my esteemed colleague Damien Gayle, who will, from a safe distance, be taking you through the next few hours of coronavirus pandemic news.
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(Martin Farrer)
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