March 30 coronavirus news

The coronavirus outbreak in the UK is showing early signs of slowing, according to Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London.

“We think the epidemic is just about slowing in the UK right now,” he told BBC Radio on Monday. “It is the result of the actions people have taken and governments have taken.”

However he cautioned that the outbreak is in different stages in different parts of the country.

In central London, Professor Ferguson says it’s possible 3-5% of the population has been infected. However the figure is more likely 2-3% in the UK as a whole.

The UK had more than 19,500 positive cases as of Sunday, according to figures from the department of health and social care. At least 1,228 of those hospitalized have died.

Need for antibody test: He says the development of an antibody test will be “critical” to getting more accurate data on the extent of the outbreak.

Junior Health Minister Helen Whately told BBC Radio that she is aware of work being undertaken to develop the test, but would not confirm when it would be available.

She also defended the UK’s record on testing for coronavirus, while conceding there are a “handful” of countries that are doing more testing.

First UK doctor dies of coronavirus: An ear, nose and throat consultant has become the first UK medical practitioner to die of the coronavirus. Health authorities wouldn't confirm his age, but said he died Saturday at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, England.

Zimbabwe started a three-week lockdown on Monday as part of the government’s efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, but critics are calling for more action.

Police are driving around using loudspeakers asking people in Harare to stay indoors. Their message: “Please do not force the police to show you the way to your homes. Kindly go back now.”

On Friday President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he said he feared the situation would worsen with winter around the corner, despite Zimbabwe having few cases of Covid-19. The country had seven confirmed cases, including one death, as of Monday

Most supermarkets are open, Monday. The country’s largest brewing company, Delta Corporation, was given an essential services letter by the government, allowing it to continue to operate during the three-week lockdown.

Concern over lockdown impact: Meanwhile, workers are concerned about how the lockdown will affect Zimbabweans and their livelihoods.

Mnangagwa is expected to meet business leaders Monday.

“I hope they find a way to help us. I have no other way to get money if I remain at home,” said Shadrick Muhovo a vegetable vendor. “I will comply with the directive though to stay home.”

Malaysia will only allow shops selling daily necessities to operate between 8am and 8pm, as the country steps up its measures to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The measures apply to outlets such as supermarkets and petrol stations.

Speaking during a press conference Monday, Minister of Defence Ismail Sabri said all restaurants and food delivery services will also be restricted to the same business hours, according to state-run news agency Bernama. The new measures will be implemented on April 1.

Sabri also announced a ceiling price for face masks. Masks cannot be sold for more than US$0.34 (RM1.5) per piece starting from April 1, Bernama reported.

Since March 18, Malaysia has been under a nationwide lockdown, although essential services such as healthcare, transportation and the food industry can still operate.

The country has at least 2,470 cases of coronavirus.

A man has been sentenced to three months in prison for falsifying his name and home address in an attempt to evade Hong Kong's mandatory home self-isolation measures, according to the city's Department of Justice. 

The 31-year-old arrived in Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Bay port on the evening of March 8.

He was sentenced two weeks later for giving false information to an authorized officer, according to a charge sheet seen by CNN.

Travelers arriving in Hong Kong must self-isolate in a place assigned by or agreed upon by an authorized officer.

According to the charge sheet, the man knowingly gave false information regarding the address of the place he was going to self-isolate in. 

The sentencing comes after the Hong Kong's government announced last week that it would be stepping up enforcement against breaches of quarantine orders and appealed to the public to report breaches.

Hong Kong currently has 641 confirmed cases of coronavirus including four deaths.

British researchers have redesigned a breathing aid so that it can be used to treat people with coronavirus-related breathing problems -- and keep them out of intensive care beds.

The machines are normally used to treat patients with sleep apnea.

According to University College London, the design process took less than two weeks and has been approved for use by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

The university says the redesigned CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines will help relieve pressure on hospital ventilator capacity by treating patients who need less intensive support.

The machines were designed in collaboration with clinicians, along with engineering support from UK-based Formula 1 teams.

Professor Tim Baker from UCL’s Mechanical Engineering department said this in a statement:

Health-care workers in many parts of the world are having trouble getting enough critical supplies, such as masks, gloves and ventilators, to deal with the influx of patients suffering from the highly contagious virus.

In the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, $81 million has been transferred into the bank accounts of over 2.75 million workers.

That's an average of $29.45 per worker, although it's unclear how the money will be shared out.

For context, $29.45 is about the equivalent of seven days of minimum daily wages. In India, a flight from New Delhi to Mumbai costs around $70, while a liter (34 fluid ounces) of milk is a little less than $1.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, made the announcement at a news conference on Monday. He also spoke with some of the workers via video conference to tell them about the bank transfers.

Adityanath also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to enforce a 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Why workers are getting cash: Last Tuesday, Modi announced that the country was going into lockdown. All shops, factories, offices, markets, religious spaces and construction sites are closed. Only essential services -- including hospitals and grocery stories -- remain in operation.

But the shutdown has created a problem for India's migrant workers, with many of them left without a job or pay. Some have attempted to leave India's major cities. Over the weekend, a 40-year-old migrant worker died as he attempted to walk 179 miles from New Delhi to his hometown, according to police.

Trump extends federal social distancing guidelines to April 30: Americans will be encouraged to avoid leaving their houses and keep working from home, as infections rise across the country. "The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end," President Donald Trump said Sunday.

Up to 100,000 people could die of virus, expert says: The coronavirus could infect more than a million Americans and kill up to 100,000 people in the country, Dr Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the US coronavirus taskforce, told reporters Sunday. "What we’re trying to do is not to let that happen," he said.

Only two US states have no coronavirus deaths: West Virginia reported its first death from the coronavirus on Sunday, leaving Wyoming and Hawaii as the only two states without a fatality. There are currently 2,425 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in the US, according to CNN's count.

New Yorkers could be fined for going outside: New York has one of the country's largest clusters of coronavirus and authorities are working hard to reduce the risk of further spread. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that anyone who violates social distancing policies could face a fine of up to $500.

FDA issues limited emergency use authorization for two drugs: Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can now be used to treat patients hospitalized with Covid-19 after a limited emergency use approval by the FDA. The drugs are usually used to treat malaria. In a statement, the US Department of Health and Human Services said, “Anecdotal reports suggest that these drugs may offer some benefit in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.”

For more than a week, Pakistan's largest city Karachi has been in lockdown -- and an eerie silence has fallen over the city of almost 15 million.

Except, that is, in the market areas, where pets abandoned in shuttered shops have been howling for help.

The Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF) -- one of Pakistan’s largest animal rescue organizations -- has been working with the provincial government of Sindh to provide the animals with food and water and take the most severely affected ones to a rescue center.

That was made possible after the government issued a special provincial order allowing pet shops to open at certain times of the day.

ACF founder Ayesha Chundrigar told CNN that when they entered the pet shops, animals were screaming in agony and locked in cages together.

Along with other organizations, she said she had rescued animals from about 100 pet shops, but many more remain.

Vets volunteered to help the animals, while rescuers have worn masks and gloves and practiced social distancing while going about their work.

Pakistan has at least 1,625 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.

UPDATE: This post was updated to reflect that other organizations were involved in rescuing animals.

A total of 26 Los Angeles Police Department employees and six Los Angeles Fire Department employees have tested positive for coronavirus.

All of the individuals are self-isolating at home and recovering, according to the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department. 

Los Angeles is the largest city in California. The state has at least 4,643 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 101 deaths, according to CNN's tally.