I’m handing over to the team in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me. Here are the developments in the global coronavirus outbreak this evening:
Following the news that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, had tested positive for Covid-19, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, confirmed that he too has coronavirus. Both are experiencing mild symptoms and are in self-isolation. The chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, says he is also experiencing symptoms and has gone into isolation.
Tests for healthcare workers in the UK will be rolled out next week, allowing them to confirm whether they have been infected or are safe to work, the British government has announced.
Social distancing appears to be keeping the coronavirus at bay in British Columbia — a rare moment of positive news as cases around the world continue to surge. The daily rate of growth of coronavirus cases in the Canadian province has been cut from 24% to 12%, far lower than that of China and Italy during their severe outbreaks.
Brazil’s polemicist president Jair Bolsonaro has sparked further outrage by insinuating that the number of coronavirus cases is being inflated for political purposes and declaring: “Some people will die. I’m sorry. That’s life.”
After many delays, and then a series of tweets earlier today, US President Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to built ventilators for hospitals, he announced at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing.
The Defense Production Act gives the president powers to direct domestic industrial production to provide essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis. It allows the president to require businesses and corporations to prioritize and accept contracts for required materials and services.
While Trump likes to work cooperatively with the private sector, he said, “Where an emergency exists and it’s very important that we get to the bottom line and quickly, we will do what we have to do.”
“It’s been a brutal pandemic,” Trump said at the beginning of the briefing.
Read more from the White House briefing in our US liveblog:
The Irish government has announced sweeping restrictions that will put Ireland in a de facto lockdown to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said on Friday evening that from midnight people should stay home for two weeks, until 12 April, in a significant tightening of curbs on social and commercial life.
People will be allowed to leave home to shop for food and exercise briefly within 2km of their homes, he said in a televised address.
All public or private gatherings are banned, as are visits to hospitals and prisons, with some exceptions on compassionate grounds. People aged over 70 and vulnerable groups must “cocoon” and travel to offshore islands will be limited to residents.
There are exceptions for farming, travel to and from work for essential work that cannot be done from home, caring for elderly or vulnerable people, and collecting medicine and attending medical appointments.
Brazil’s polemicist president Jair Bolsonaro has sparked further outrage by insinuating that the number of coronavirus cases here is being inflated for political purposes and declaring: “Some people will die. I’m sorry. That’s life.”
Bolsonaro is facing furious criticism for his slaphappy handling of the coronavirus crisis, which he continues to dismiss as overblown and has called a media “trick”.
But on Friday afternoon — as the death toll here rose to 92, with 3,417 cases — he doubled down on his position telling Brazilian television he suspected those figures were being inflated by a political rival and denounced coronavirus “alarmism”.
Bolsonaro subsequently admitted lives would be lost but added: “That’s life.”
“You can’t shut down a car factory because people die in traffic accidents,” Bolsonaro said.
Brazil’s far-right leader — who is pushing for tough lockdown measures to be lifted in states across the country — is facing growing fury from across the political spectrum and the country’s media.
In an article titled “Trial of the future”, the Brazilian writer Ruy Castro captured the revolt: “There’s a sense that, if Jair Bolsonaro isn’t tied to a tree and gagged, before making any more disastrous moves, the cost in lives will be incalculable. But one day these lives will be counted.”
Castro added: “Every single member of the government who, with their deeds or words, opposed the policy of social distancing and helped coronavirus spread will have to pay the price ... It isn’t right to call Jair Bolsonaro irresponsible. He is the person most responsible for whatever happens in Brazil — and he will have to answer for it.”
Social distancing appears to be keeping the coronavirus at bay in a Canadian province — a rare moment of positive news as cases around the world continue to surge.
“I’m trying not to over-call it, but I do believe we’ve seen a flattening, a falling-off of that curve,” said Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s top medical officer.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Henry said the extreme measures taken by the province in recent weeks—shutting down schools, non-essential businesses— have shown promising results.
“What we need, though, is for everybody to continue to pay attention to these measures so we can continue to prevent transmissions in our communities ... for the coming weeks.”
The daily rate of growth of coronavirus cases in the province has been cut from 24% to 12%, far lower than that of China and Italy during their severe outbreaks.
The updated figures comes amid a report from the province that suggests it is well-equipped to handle a Hubei-like breakout of infections. A level of spread similar to that of Italy’s Lombardy region, however, would stress the system— but the province nonetheless believes it has sufficient ventilators.
More than 4,600 cases have been reported in Canada, with 725 in British Columbia as of Thursday.
Syria said on Friday it was banning travel between cities and governorates as part of tightening measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, state-run Ikhbariya TV reported, citing the interior minister.
Syria has recorded five cases of corona virus so far but relief agencies worry that any outbreak could be lethal after years of conflict that has ravaged its healthcare system, Reuters reports.
The travel restriction, effective from Sunday, comes on top of a curfew announced this week from 6pm to 6am and after the country has halted flights and ordered the closure of most businesses.
Humanitarian agencies have expressed deep concern over the prospect of coronavirus spreading in Syria’s northwest, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by war live in tightly packed camps and have severely limited access to healthcare.
In the UK, the Principality Stadium in Wales is to be converted into a temporary hospital providing around 2,000 additional beds to support the NHS, PA media reports.
The Welsh Rugby Union, which owns and operates the venue, has been working with the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board as part of contingency planning around the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The facility is now being assessed by specialists and contractors to complete the transformation. This follows the news that Birmingham’s NEC arena and Manchester’s G-Mex will also be converted into field hospitals.
US President Donald Trump has publicly ranted at car-manufacturing giant General Motors over a delay in its production of ventilators.
There has been some suggestions he could invoke the Defense Production Act, which allows the federal government to direct industries.
General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! @GeneralMotors@Ford
His tweet comes a day after he dismissed demands from governors for more ventilators and said New York, which is the epicentre of the crisis in the US, was exaggerating the need.
The state of New York pleaded to be sent 30,000 ventilators to help with its growing numbers of coronavirus patients.
