The UK added 4,324 cases today and now has reported a total of 29,474 positive cases of COVID-19. We had in total tested 152,979 people as of 9am this morning.
As of 5pm yesterday, of those hospitalised in the UK, we have lost another 563 people to COVID-19. We now sadly have a total of 2,352 losses of life.
Total cases are: England 24,638, Scotland 2,310, Wales 1,837 and Northern Ireland 689. Already 135 of the UK's positive testing cases have recovered (it'll be more than that, they just aren't spending time testing people to see if they've recovered).
Rep. Of Ireland have 3,447 cases and 85 losses of life.
There have now been 912,097 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is now 45,539. Already 190,933 people have recovered.
“None of us can say when this will end, but end it will”
Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Baron of Renfrew.
Today's Government Press Briefing terrified victim at a podium was Alok Sharma, Secretary Of State, who repeated the fact that we need to try and keep the curve long and low, so that we don't run out of hospital beds. 10,767 people are in hospital, including 3,915 in London and 1,918 in the midlands.
He talked a lot about business, mainly reiterating promises already made and saying they will be implemented as swiftly as possible. £12b has been delivered already to Local Authorities to support business.
He was joined by Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director for Public Health England (PHE) who showed the UK has had a big increase in car usage in the last 2 days. Behave or they will lock you in further! Press questions were mainly about when testing will increase and how many tests we will perform. The answers were a bit vague, and we have short supply of a component, but they do intend to increase it as much and as quickly as possible.
Hospitals in Scotland are to receive equipment from South Korea to enable them to increase COVID-19 testing. South Korea are world-leaders at testing.
A 13 year old boy from South London, without any known pre-existing conditions, has died of COVID-19.
Donald Trump really has realised COVID-19 isn't a hoax, and someone must have explained exponential growth to him:
“I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead.”
“This is going to be one of the roughest two or three weeks we’ve ever had in our country... We’re going to lose thousands of people.”
The White House has projected 100,000-240,000 Americans will lose their lives to COVID-19 with the restrictions on population that are in place already.
Saudi Arabia has asked Muslims to postpone any plans they have for the Haj pilgrimage.
3.6 billion people - almost half of the humans on our entire planet, are currently under lockdowns and stay at home orders.
Most people who die from any dangerous infectious disease will die without their family beside them. There are very important reasons for this and it has to be so.
When a patient is very ill, they shed a lot of virus. Their coughs contain billions of virus, every breath can contain billions of virus.
The amount of actual virus (viral load) when you very first become infected is important. When your body sees an unknown enemy it starts a non-specific defence and attack immediately. The more unknown virus it finds, the bigger your body's initial reaction. If your body's reaction is too great, you may not be able to survive.
Close to a severely ill patient is a dangerous place to be.
Like balloons in a room, the virus has some weight and won't travel far by itself. The less people in the room breathing and moving, the less the virus is spread and held in the air, the less danger for everyone.
Health care workers, even with protective equipment, are especially at risk, as being exposed to virus from multiple sources can also make the reaction bigger. Even so, they won't leave a patient by themselves for long, and rarely ever does anyone die without someone holding their hand.
I know how heartbreaking it is to lose a loved one, but it would be even worse for the rest of your family or friends to lose two, or to know you risked the lives of other people.
Health Workers are particularly at risk from COVID-19:
China - over 3,300 healthcare workers infected.
Italy - over 6,205 healthcare workers infected.
Spain - over 6,500 healthcare workers infected.
Edinburgh have reluctantly cancelled all Summer festivals, including Edinburgh Tattoo and Fringe.
Wimbledon has been cancelled.
The Department for International Trade have "removed tariffs and barriers on essential medical supplies imported into the UK to ensure our frontline workers have everything they need to treat people suffering from coronavirus".
You'd have thought they'd have done that earlier really.
Taiwan is donating 10 million masks to the US, 11 EU countries and other allies.
Famous People With COVID-19:
Newsreader and Cancer patient, George Alagiah
CNN Presenter Chris Cuomo
Lost Their Fight:
Singer, songwriter and The Arrows frontman Alan Merrill
Retired NHS Doctor, Dr Alfa Sa'adu
Star Wars actor Andrew Jack
New Zealand have an outbreak of 23 cases linked to a single St Patrick's Day pub celebration.
Ethiopia have postponed their August elections.
The CDC are considering advising everyone to cover their face.
Virginia are extending their 'stay at home' order until June 10th
Lagos, Ogun and Abuja are going to have a 14-day lockdown.
The World Health Organisation have counted 47 different vaccine candidates in development, and 2 have started human trials already. There are 8 different types of vaccine among them, and because SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is a slower mutating virus than flu for example, it's hoped that any which prove effective could give us immunity for a very useful period of time. It will still be around 12 to 18 months before we can be sure any are entirely safe for us to use.
Further restrictions have been necessary in Spain and Italy, but they are both finally showing reductions in cases and appear to be over their peak. This is excellent news and while we know we are still to reach the peak of our infection, we can look to them and know that it will get better after it gets worse.
Sweden hope to start antibody (did I have it?) testing in around 10 days.
Even Minecraft is part of this. The latest update has messages including "Don't touch your face", and "Gamers Unite. Separately. In Your Own Homes".
NUS (National Union of Students) has called for all non-essential formal exams to be cancelled for first and second year degree students, asking institutions to find flexible solutions to help these students progress to their next stage of learning. They have also written to the providers of student rented accommodation across the UK, demanding action on behalf of student renters - many of whom are paying for housing they aren't going to use.
The group Turbans 4 Australia, from Canberra's Sikh community, are delivering over 100 meals per day to people self-isolating. They have so far donated over 1 1/2 tons of food.
A 103 year old Iranian woman is now the oldest person to survive coronavirus.
Don't forget your kids might want to talk to their mates too. This is a stressful time for everyone, and knowing their friends are okay and talking about fortnite or boy bands, or strictly come talent in their eyes (on ice) adds a touch of normality to a world that went weird.
Because it's April 1st - all of today's images feature COVID-19 hoaxes, and there are over 800 of them in all! All around the world people are trying to convince you to give them your bank details or try their own zany cure for COVID-19.
Some numbers. Most of them at some point have laughed until they cried at a practical joke...
(South Korea, Iceland and Germany are mass testing contacts to find asymptomatic cases, it looks like Israel may be too. Switzerland have tested a lot of people, Sweden have not.)
USA 205,035 (+16,505) 4,516 (+463)
Italy 110,574 (+4,782) 13,155 (+727)
Spain 102,136 (+6,213) 9,053 (+589) Second report is later on
China 81,554 (+36) 3,312 (+7)
Germany 76,544 (+4,736) 858 (+83) More reports later
France 52,128 ( Not yet reported) 3,523
Iran 47,593 (+2,988) 3,036 (+138)
UK 29,474 (+4,324) 2,352 (+563)
Switzerland 17,137 (+532) 461 (+28)
Belgium 13,964 (+1,189) 828 (+123)
Netherlands 13,614 (+1,019) 1,173 (+134)
S. Korea 9,887 (+101) 165 (+3)
Brazil 5,868 (+151) 203 (+2)
Israel 5,591 (+233) 23 (+3)
Sweden 4,947 (+512) 239 (+59)
Thailand 1,771 (+120) 12 (+2)
Saudi Arabia 1,720 (+157) 16 (+6)
Indonesia 1,677 (+149) 157 (+21)
India 1,637 (+240) 45 (+10)
Iceland 1,220 (+85) 2
Mexico 1,215 (+121) 29 (+1)
Sources:
World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Mythbusters
https://www.worldometers.info/
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/sars-cov-2-viral-load-and-the-severity-of-covid-19/
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/record-setting-speed-vaccine-makers-take-their-first-shots-new-coronavirus#
Viral Load
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-questions-about-covid-19-and-viral-load/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/cluster-covid-19-cases-linked-st-patricks-day-celebration-in-waikato
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-news-live-coronavirus-update-white-house-live-press-conference-cases-a9439936.html
https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/01/woman-90-dies-refusing-ventilator-saying-good-life-keep-younger-12490521/?ITO=squid
https://t.co/aCpO9P3d8x
https://twitter.com/JamieTravers/status/1245285406444154881
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