(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
A measured approach
Britons wake up to at least three more weeks of lockdown as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab laid out five conditions that need to be met before restrictions can be eased.
These focus on making sure that the NHS is not overwhelmed and has the ability to provide sufficient care, including testing capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment. A sustained and consistent decrease in the rate of deaths and infection is also a priority.
U.S. President Trump similarly laid out guidelines for states to emerge from the shutdown in a staggered, three-stage approach, a more measured approach than the “big bang” he had spoken about earlier this month.
The U.S. plan recommends states ascertain a “downward trajectory” of cases or positive tests for two weeks before progressively resuming activities from elective surgeries and non-essential travel to reopening schools, workplaces and large venues like sporting arenas and houses of worship.
In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison cautioned that public life could be constrained with social distancing for several months. The debate in Australia has centred on reopening schools, something New South Wales state is considering.
Gilead antiviral drug trial
A Chicago hospital treating COVID-19 patients with the Gilead antiviral medication remdesivir as part of a trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, according to medical news website STAT.
There are other trials being run concurrently at other institutions. Gilead did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Coronavirus epicentre revises up death toll
China’s Wuhan city, the epicentre of the global coronavirus outbreak that has now caused over 143,000 deaths globally, said it had revised up its total death toll by 50%, addressing incorrect reporting, delays and omissions of cases.
That would take China’s total death figures to over 4,500.
(For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)
Wuhan lifted restrictions on the movement of people last week and aims to fully resume rail, flight and freight operations by the end of April.
(For an interactive graphic tracking how coronavirus spread from Wuhan through China, click https://reut.rs/2XDMFmp)
In India, government distrust undermines efforts
Efforts by health workers to identify and track cases have been a source of suspicion in India where there is a deep-rooted distrust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The distrust has been fuelled in particular by a new citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims and a crackdown by India in the Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir.
Some Muslims believe the health workers are secretly collecting data for a proposed national database aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, according to community leaders and interviews with residents.
A spate of viral videos carrying false information depicting Muslims attempting to spread the virus by spitting or blowing their noses with currency notes is inflaming the situation.
Cramped dorms to cruise ships?
Singapore is considering placing recovered migrant workers on cruise ships for their safety after COVID-19 cases surged in sprawling housing complexes where the foreign labourers live.
Cruise ships have been the centre of some mass outbreaks, including the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined for over a month in Yokohama with more than 700 people becoming infected.
“Cruise ships are being considered as they have readily available rooms and en-suite toilets to minimise person-to-person contact,” Singapore’s tourism board said in a statement on Friday.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh)
