
Sometimes no news is good news so we are pleased to say that there is nothing to report in Glastonbury today.
National
- The death toll in UK from Covid-19 has risen to 16,060. As of 9am today, 372,967 people have been tested of which 120,067 tested positive. The Department of Health and Social Care added that 482,063 tests have concluded, with 21,626 tests undertaken on 18 April. NHS England said 482 people with Covid-19 have died, which is the lowest daily number since 6 April.
- Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said there are “currently no plans to have schools open over the summer period”. He added that he cannot give a date for schools to reopen following reports suggesting that they could reopen in three weeks.
- A delivery of 84 tonnes of personal protective equipment destined for front line NHS staff has been delayed. The shipment – including 400,000 gowns – was due to arrive in the UK from Turkey on Sunday afternoon. Williamson said the shipment should be arriving tomorrow and manufacturers willing to produce PPE would be contacted in the next 24 hours.
- Williamson listed a number of measures the government was introducing for disadvantaged children trying to learn at home, including buying laptops for those preparing for exams and giving 4G routers for those without internet.
- Michael Gove conceded that Boris Johnson missed five consecutive emergency meetings in the buildup to the coronavirus crisis and that the UK shipped protective equipment to China in February.
National updates from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/apr/19/uk-coronavirus-live-lifting-lockdown-restrictions-boris-johnson-death-tollcovid-19-latest-updates
International
- Europe’s death toll has passed 100,000, excluding Russia. The global death toll has reached 162,070, while the total number of infections worldwide is at 2,356,475, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
- New York hospitalisations continue to fall, with governor Andrew Cuomoannouncing that the total number of Covid-19 hospitalisations is down to 16,213, marking the sixth consecutive day that number has dropped.
- Italy’s infection curve appears to have begun to decline, as the number of fatalities from coronavirus rose by 433 on Sunday, 49 less than on Saturday, taking the death toll to 23,660. The number of people currently infected has risen by 486 in a day, representing a drop of 323 on Saturday.
- Hospitalisations have declined in France for the the fifth consecutive day, while the number of people in ICU units fell for the 11th consecutive day.
- Chile passes 10,000 coronavirus cases, making it the third-highest tally in Latin America after Brazil and Peru.
- Pakistan has started repatriating citizens from United Arab Emirates, which had threatened to review labour ties with countries refusing to take back their nationals during the pandemic.
- Zimbabwe has extends its lockdown by two weeks after the president said the country had not yet met conditions set by the WHO to lift the measures.
- The Netherlands has reported its smallest daily death toll in over three weeks, with the number of deaths rising by 83, the lowest daily increase since 26 March.
- Switzerland’s coronavirus death toll has reached 1,135, rising from 1,111 on Saturday.
International updates from https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/19/coronavirus-live-news-europe-deaths-approach-100000-as-us-looks-to-lift-restrictions