The Brick Castle: COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 6th June 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 6th June 2020.

The UK added 1,557 cases today and now has reported a total of 284,868 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 218,187 tests yesterday.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we lost another 204 people who have tested positive to COVID-19. We now very sadly have a total of 40,465 losses of life in all settings.

England 154,680 / 36,127

Northern Ireland 4,790 / 536

Scotland 15,603 / 2,409

Wales 14,356 / 1,393

Rep. Of Ireland 25,183 (+20) cases and 1,678 (+8) losses of life.

There have now been a total of 6,914,107 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 399,910. Already 3,384,451 people have recovered.

How to wear a non medical mask safely page 2

No UK briefings at weekends any more, they're taking the weekend off, and I'm taking tomorrow off too!

The WHO have updated their advice on facemasks:

1. They advise medical masks for all people working in clinical areas of a health facility, whether they work with COVID-19 patients or not.

2. In areas where there is community transmission, people over 60, or those with medical condition, should wear a medical mask when physical distancing is not possible.

3. "In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission, and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops or in other crowded or confined environments.

4. Based on new evidence, "WHO advises that fabric masks should consist of at least 3 layers of different material.

There's a reminder: "Masks are not a replacement for physical distancing, hand hygiene and other public health measures.

Councils have been quick to react to news that the R in the North West seems likely to be around or even above 1. Authorities in Bury, Tameside, Bolton and Wigan are among those advising schools not to reopen to more pupils this week, and other authorities are making decisions in coming days.

If you watch them, you'll notice the English briefing always has a message which they repeat day after day. First it was 'Stay Home, Protect The NHS, Save Lives', then it was 'Stay Alert, Control The Virus, Save LIves', then it was the 5 tests. Then they tried to hammer home test and trace, but that's fallen a bit stale now it's not ready and doesn't really seem to work properly. They don't talk about the 5 tests so much now either. If you recall, they were essential to reducing lockdown, and they were:

1. We don't overwhelm the NHS, we must have sufficient capacity to cope.

2. A sustained and consistent fall in COVID-19 cases.

3. Reliable data to show that the rate of infection is decreasing across the board.

4. We have enough testing and PPE in place for everyone who needs it.

5. We mustn't risk a second wave.

Trump yesterday declared:

"Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying, 'this is a great thing that's happening for our country.' This is a great day for him."

No, no it wasn't. It would be much better if he was breathing and with his family. You have a unique definition of the word great. Your entire country has spent the last week protesting and on fire, the world is stunned at your lack of care for your own citizens, and there are worldwide protests against your authorities' systematic and institutional racism. Your police and national guard in some places are behaving no better than hired thugs, and there are hundreds of videos online of police brutality. If you call that great, you can only be referring to the size of the mess you are in.

Banksy has drawn a new image for Block Lives Matter. I've shown it below, alongside his NHS drawing, and his own accompanying words.

Donald Trump did also mention coronavirus. He said the US is "largely through" the pandemic.

Best of luck with that one because you've been on a plateau for 8 weeks and cases aren't about to drop now. Any spike from the protests will start to hit around the end of the month....

The G20 countries have pledged more than $21 billion towards diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and research and development.

The UK have stopped use of Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine in their RECOVERY trial after it was found not to work. The Data Monitoring Committee also checked the findings and announced:

"We have concluded there is no beneficial effect of Hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalised with COVID-19."

After 28 days, 25.7% of patients treated with Hydroxychloroquine had succumbed, compared to 23.5% with usual care.

The Californian Governor has released detailed guidance for reopening Hollywood.

"Music, TV and film production may resume in California, recommended no sooner than June 12, 2020 and subject to approval by county public health officers within the jurisdictions of operations following their review of local epidemiological data including cases per 100,000 population, rate of test positivity, and local preparedness to support a health care surge, vulnerable populations, contact tracing and testing."

That'll be a relief to a lot of people. There are only so many repeats we can watch, although socially distanced versions of some regular shows might be a bit weird...

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A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Jun 6, 2020 at 3:30am PDT

President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organisation. The WHO have repeated their warnings for countries lifting restrictions while they have active outbreaks (*cough* UK *cough*).

Bolsonaro continues to argue with state governors and demand restrictions are lifted, even while cases numbers are rising dramatically. He believes the economic costs will be greater than the health costs. Brazil have now officially reported 600,000 cases, including over 30,000 each of the last 2 days alone.

Good news for football fans. Qatar have said the 2022 World Cup will go ahead as planned.

Cyprus reopens to tourists on Tuesday. For now all arrivals need to have a negative COVID-19 test, and in return all hospital, food and accommodation costs will be covered if guests become ill while in Cyprus, including for any companions who would then need to isolate.

The Palace of Versailles and other public venues are reopening today in France.

Some people. Different shapes and sizes, likes and dislikes, but all people:

Countries / Cases / Losses of life (some states /provinces yet to report):

USA 1,975,122 (+9,414) 111,629 (+239)

Brazil 650,504 (+4,498) 35,139 (+92)

Russia 458,689 (+8,855) 5,725 (+197)

Spain 288,390 (+332) 27,135 (+1)

UK 284,868 (+1,557) 40,465 (+204)

India 245,962 (+9,778) 6,933 (+284)

Italy 234,801 (+270) 33,846 (+72)

Peru 187,400 not yet reported today 5,162

Germany 185,466 (+52) 8,766 (+3)