Merkel in quarantine; Spain set to extend state of emergency – as it happened

Hi, this is Helen Sullivan. We are closing this blog. Thanks for following along. I will be bringing together all of the latest developments at our new coronavirus live blog here:

That’s all from me, Clea Skopeliti. Handing over to my colleague Helen Sullivan to take you through events as they develop.

Here’s a summary of today’s coronavirus developments.

• A European clinical trial involving some 3,200 people has been launched to test four possible experimental coronavirus treatments.
• First cases of the virus have been confirmed in Syria, Grenada and Mozambique.
• The International Olympic Committee is considering postponing Tokyo 2020, saying cancellation is “not on the agenda”.
  
• About 1.5 million UK residents who are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus will be contacted by the NHS and advised to stay at home for 12 weeks.
• There have been 48 new deaths in the UK and 112 in France.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into quarantine after a doctor who gave her a vaccine tests positive for coronavirus.
  
• Germany has banned meetings of over two people.
  
• 23 people have died and 83 have been left injured in overnight prison riots in Bogota as inmates demanded better protection against the virus.
  

A European clinical trial involving some 3,200 people has been launched to test four possible experimental coronavirus treatments, French public health research body Inserm has said.

Participants will have been hospitalised with coronavirus and are expected to be drawn from Belgium, the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and the Netherlands.

UK residents have been told that “essential travel” does not include visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks, whether for isolation purposes or holidays and that they should remain in their primary residence.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport updated its guidance to avoid non-essential travel in the UK, saying: “This guidance is for people planning to visit second homes or holiday premises during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Essential travel does not include visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks or similar, whether for isolation purposes or holidays. People should remain in their primary residence. Not taking these steps puts additional pressure on communities and services that are already at risk.”

The update follows a wave of people travelling to rural and remote areas to self-isolate. The trend has been condemned by Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who underlined that it meant “extra pressure on essential services and on health services that are already more distant from people”. Similarly, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has said self-isolaters should be prohibited from travelling to rural parts of Wales during the crisis.

The Welsh government has warned that people will face a tough crackdown if they refuse to self-isolate and continue with non-essential travel during the outbreak.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said it is important members of the public follow the official advice to prevent further deaths.

“Self-isolation for those who have symptoms and social distancing by everyone is absolutely essential at this stage if we are to delay the spread of this virus and save lives,” the First Minister said.

“We all need to follow this advice now to protect each other and our families and to help ensure our NHS is not overwhelmed. Social distancing includes avoiding all but essential travel and if people don’t follow this advice we will have no choice but to use powers to enforce it.”

The First Minister’s warning follows a similar message from Boris Johnson, where he outlined that stricter measures would be enforced if social distancing was not observed.

Across Wales, 12 people with Covid-19 have died and a further 347 have tested positive for the virus.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced that the government is shutting down the municipalities of Marneuli and Bolnisi, south to capital city of Tbilisi. The move comes as reportedly the Georgian healthcare authorities could not identify the source for the latest case confirmed in Marneuli, and follows the country’s declaration of a state of emergency yesterday.

22 Mar 202017.04 EDT

Tom Phillips

Brazil has just announced its latest coronavirus statistics. Twenty five dead and 1,546 confirmed cases as of today. That is up from 18 and 1,128 yesterday.

South-east Brazil has so far borne the brunt of the crisis and of the fatalities 22 were in Brazil’s most populous state, São Paulo and three in the neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro.

Both states are now in a state of partial shutdown with São Paulo set to enter a two-week period of quarantine on Tuesday. Streets were eerily empty on Sunday in parts of Rio although supermarkets and some shops remain open.

Brazil’s far-right president - whose response to the crisis has been widely criticised - has attacked the governors of Rio and São Paulo - who he sees as potential presidential rivals in the 2022 election - for the drastic steps they are taking.

“They are creating a climate of terror,” by trying to shut airports and keep people at home, Bolsonaro said on Saturday.

But there have now been five nights of protests against Bolsonaro’s administration and his handling of coronavirus here and many observers believe his reaction has already wrecked any hope of re-election.

McDonald’s has said it is closing all its UK and Ireland restaurants from Monday night. In a statement, its UK CEO, Paul Pomroy, said: “I am incredibly grateful to our brilliant employees who have been working hard to continue to serve you safely in difficult circumstances.

“Over the last 24 hours, it has become clear that maintaining safe social distancing whilst operating busy takeaway and Drive Thru restaurants is increasingly difficult and therefore we have taken the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March.

“We will be working closely with community groups across the UK and Ireland to distribute food from our restaurants to those most in need, and ahead of closing tomorrow evening, will ensure frontline health workers and emergency services personnel do not have to pay for any food or drink in our restaurants on sight of their work pass.

“Take care of one another in these unprecedented times, we look forward to seeing you again as soon as it is safe for us to reopen.”

Paul Pomroy

Our Australian team have launched their blog today to follow all the developments there.

NHS healthcare workers received a round of applause and flowers from Tesco staff in a show of support for their work against the pandemic.

Tesco told the PA news agency that staff at stores across the country independently decided to make the gesture as part of the ‘NHS hour’ it has introduced. This will allow healthcare workers to arrive an hour earlier every Sunday to buy supplies.

Grenada has reported its first case of coronavirus, local sources report. The patient is said to have recently travelled from the UK.

A 95-year-old Czech man infected with the new coronavirus has died, the country’s first victim of the pandemic, the chief of the Czech crisis committee said.

Reuters reports that the patient is said to have been suffering from a series of other conditions.

The Czech Republic has reported 1,120 cases of coronavirus infection.

22 Mar 202015.59 EDT

Patrick Greenfield

The Costa Rican government has announced 17 more Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 134. President Carlos Alvarado said the virus how now spread to all parts of the country and urged Costa Ricans not to drop their guard against the virus.

There is still hope coronavirus can be contained in the Central American country amid a nationwide lockdown. Costa Rica has the second largest outbreak in the region behind Panama, where cases have surged over the weekend to 245 and three deaths.

Further north, Guatemala has started an eight day curfew to prevent the spread of the virus after the country recorded 17 cases on Saturday.

From PA Media: A fourth patient diagnosed with Covid-19 in Ireland has died. The patient is reported to have had an underlying condition.

Syria’s health minister Nizar Yazigi has announced the country’s first confirmed coronavirus case, AP reports.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has started a call to prayer on Twitter amidst the pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee is considering a postponement of Tokyo 2020, with four weeks until it has to make a decision.

The BBC reports the IOC saying that cancellation is “not on the agenda”, but a ‘scaled-down’ Games will be considered.

France’s coronavirus death toll rose by 112 on Sunday to 674, senior health official Jerome Salomon said. The number of confirmed infections increased by 1,559 to 16,018, according to Reuters.