Daily Covid-19 death tolls fall in UK, Spain and Italy – as it happened

Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now – we’ve fired up a new blog at the link below, where I’ll be taking you through the latest developments worldwide for the next few hours:

18 May 202019.18 EDT

Richard Partington

Despite UK furlough scheme 6 million fear losing their job – study

As many as 6 million people in Britain fear losing their job within six months as the coronavirus outbreak causes the biggest economic shock in living memory, a study has warned.

With much of business and social life at a standstill despite gradual steps to reopen the economy, the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (Class) said workers feared the coronavirus recession would be worse than the 2008 financial crash.

As many as one in five people in a survey of 2,000 workers by Survation for the leftwing thinktank said they were worried about losing their jobs, despite government efforts to cushion the blow using its wage subsidy scheme.

That’s it from me - I’m handing over to my colleague Helen Sullivan in Sydney to guide you through the next bit of the day/night. As always, thanks very much to everyone who wrote in with tips and suggestions.

Here are some of the key points from over the last few hours.

• The global number of coronavirus cases has exceeded 4,700,000, standing at 4,702,603, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus resource center. There have been 314,476 deaths globally.
• France’s death toll has passed 28,000, with the total number of coronavirus deaths recorded in hospitals and nursing homes rising to 28,108 from 27,625 on Saturday. The latest daily toll, of 483, is the largest in several weeks, and was made up mainly of deaths in care homes: 429 deaths, compared to 54 in hospital.
• South Africa has reported its highest daily increase in cases, registering 1,160 new coronavirus infections on Sunday. The health ministry announced that the total number of confirmed cases has reached 15,515, while the numbers of deaths rose by three to 263.
• At least 121 people in Mexico have died from drinking adulterated liquor as a result of alcohol shortages during the coronavirus pandemic. Since factories producing liquor and beer were shut down, gangs specialising in bootleg booze have been taking advantage of the lack of alternative alcohol sources.
• Nigeria has seized a British plane for defying a travel ban imposed as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation minister has announced. Flair Aviation, the airline involved, was authorised to conduct humanitarian flights but was caught operating commercial flights, minister Hadi Sirika said on Twitter.
• Death tolls have fallen in UK, Spain and Italy. The UK’s daily coronavirus death toll was the lowest since lockdown began, with 170 deaths recorded - though due to hospital reporting delays, numbers reported on Sundays and Mondays are typically lower. Italy also recorded its lowest daily toll, 145, since lockdown, while Spain recorded its lowest toll in two months with 87 deaths.
• Qatar has begun enforcing the world’s toughest penalties of up to three years’ in prison for failing to wear masks in public, in a country with one of the highest coronavirus infection rates. Over 32,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the tiny Gulf country - 1.2 percent of the 2.75 million population - although just 15 people have died.
• Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has continued to disregard social distancing measures, posing for photographs with kids at a rally at the presidential palace. Brazil’s confirmed cases of the virus passed Spain and Italy on Saturday, making it the world’s fourth-largest outbreak.
• New York mayor Bill de Blasio has criticised residents who were seen gathering without masks outside city bars at the weekend. “We’re not going to tolerate people starting to congregate. It’s as simple as that,” de Blasio said. “If we have to shut places down, we will.” More than 15,000 people in New York City have died from Covid-19.
• Australia’s death toll has risen to 99, with New South Wales’s chief medical officer reporting the death of a man in his 60s who had underlying health conditions. The man is the 46th person to die with coronavirus in New South Wales.

“The political moment is now” to address the climate risks posed by the aviation industry, analysts, insiders and campaigners say, as governments across the world weigh up bailouts for airlines grounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rescue packages need to come with green strings, such as reduced carbon footprints and frequent flyer levies, they warn, or the sector will return to the path that has made it the fastest rising source of climate-wrecking carbon emissions over the past decade.

Old passenger jets also need to be rapidly retired or cheap oil prices will encourage budget airlines to run services almost empty, which could push up emissions even if passenger numbers stay low, they say.

As did banks after the 2008-9 financial crisis, many aviation companies are appealing for government support to escape from a problem they partly caused. The expansion of flight networks, packed seating and a reluctance to accept quarantine measures have contributed to the rapid transmission of the Covid-19 virus across the globe.

Have a read of Jonathan Watts’s piece on the possibility of a greener future for airlines.

More on the breakdown of France’s daily death toll, which at 483, is the highest in several weeks.

The figure was made up chiefly of deaths in care homes - 429, compared to 54 in hospitals. The health directorate was unable to provide more information on the sudden rise in care home deaths, according to AFP.

The figures bring the total number of deaths in France to 28,108.

Meanwhile, health officials meanwhile have been battling to contain two outbreaks of the virus at abattoirs that are so far known to have infected around a hundred people. One abattoir is in the central Val de Loire region near the city of Orleans, and the other is in the northwestern region of Brittany.

Scores of Mexicans are dying from drinking adulterated liquor, a consequence of the shortage of mainstream alcoholic beverages during the coronavirus pandemic, authorities say.

AFP reports that the first of at least 121 deaths in recent weeks occurred at the end of April in the western state of Jalisco, almost exactly a month after the government declared a health emergency over the spread of Covid-19.

As much of Mexico has run out of beer after factories producing liquor and beer were shut down, gangs specialising in bootleg booze are trying to take advantage of the lack of alternative alcohol sources.

Beer stocks were almost depleted within a month, and in some areas the prices of what was left doubled, according to industry sources. Many of the 53 deaths in central Puebla province have been linked to a wake where people drank moonshine containing methanol – a wood alcohol that in non-lethal doses can cause blindness and liver damage.

Twenty-three people died in the hours following the gathering in the town of Chiconcuautla, according to authorities. The town’s mayor said the popular “refino” drink, made from sugarcane, had been adulterated.

German Hernandez said his father died after being poisoned by a drink known locally as “tejon” – a blend of brandy with tejocote fruit (a type of hawthorn) in the Puebla town of Cacaloxuchitl.

“They sell it in the stores, and you can buy it and take it out. My father began trembling and feeling weak. He told us he felt bad, and we took him to the hospital,” Hernandez told AFP. “This has never happened before.”

Deaths have also been recorded in the central state of Morelos and Yucatan and Veracruz in the east.

South Africa on Sunday reported 1,160 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily number since the first case was recorded in March, AFP reports.

“As of today, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 15,515, with 1,160 new cases identified in the last 24 hour cycle of testing,” said the health ministry in a statement.

The Western Cape province, popular with tourists, accounted for nearly 60% of the national numbers.

The numbers of deaths rose by three to 263 from Saturday.

Africa’s most industrialised economy has the highest numbers of infections in Africa, followed by Egypt, which has so far recorded 11,719 Covid-19 cases, including 612 deaths.

The country has been under lockdown since March 27 and has embarked on an aggressive mass testing strategy with 460,873 tested so far.

But some health experts are beginning to see the limits of the country’s lauded mass screening strategy, with results taking up to two weeks to come through.

Now for something a little lighter: socially distant blessings delivered with a water pistol.

The priest in the photo, Father Tim Pelc, told BuzzFeed News that he was a little concerned about how the Vatican might react when the photos of him squirting holy water began circulating widely on the internet, but hasn’t heard anything about it yet.

Egypt will bring forward the start of its curfew by four hours to 5pm and halt public transport from 24 May for six days during the Eid holiday, reports Reuters.

The prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, said on Sunday that shops, restaurants, parks and beaches will be closed for the extended holiday at the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, and restrictions on citizens’ movements will remain in place for at least two weeks afterwards.

Egypt has so far reported 12,229 confirmed cases, including 630 deaths. The daily tally of cases has been rising after the government slightly eased a night curfew and other measures. The number of cases rose by 510 on Sunday, the health ministry said.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio has criticised residents who were seen gathering without masks outside bars at the weekend despite the city’s ongoing “stay at home” guidelines, saying they were putting lives in danger.

Almost 90,000 people have died in the US from Covid-19 so far during the pandemic, far more than any other country, according to Johns Hopkins. More than 15,000 of those deaths were in New York City, which is still subject to stay-at-home measures even as many other US cities begin to open up again.

“We’re not going to tolerate people starting to congregate. It’s as simple as that,” De Blasio said on Sunday. “If we have to shut places down, we will.”

Just a reminder that you can reach me on Twitter @cleaskopeliti, or by email, if you have any tips, comments or suggestions for coverage. Thanks to everyone who has already been in touch!

Nigeria has seized a British plane for defying a travel ban imposed as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation minister said Sunday.

Flair Aviation, the airline involved, was authorised to conduct humanitarian flights but was caught operating commercial flights, Hadi Sirika said on his Twitter account.

“This is callous!” he wrote. “The craft is impounded, the crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty. Wrong time to try our resolve.”

There was no immediate reaction on Sunday from either the company or the British embassy on the matter.

Nigeria has shut its airports and airspace since March to contain Covid-19, which has so far infected 5,621 people and claimed 176 lives there.

Wearing a face mask, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro posed for photographs with kids plucked out of a crowd of supporters on Sunday, disregarding public health advice aimed at containing one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, Reuters reports.

Bolsonaro’s latest flouting of social distancing guidelines comes after he lost two health ministers in a month, both of whom resisted his fight against quarantines. Brazil’s confirmed cases of the virus passed Spain and Italy on Saturday, making it the world’s fourth-largest outbreak.

In an online video, Bolsonaro said he welcomed the demonstration at the presidential palace in what has become a nearly biweekly affair, with the president and supporters defying quarantines that have the support of most Brazilians.

“Above all (the people) want freedom, they want democracy, they want respect,” he said, adding that Brazilians want to get the economy back up and running as quickly as possible.

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A poll this week showed two-thirds of Brazilians agree with the need for social distancing to contain the outbreak, which governors and health experts recommend, while Bolsonaro tries to open gyms, hair salons and other businesses.

On Friday, former health minister Nelson Teich resigned as he and the president showed themselves increasingly out of step, with Bolsonaro calling for a rollback of state quarantines and widespread use of unproven drugs, such as chloroquine to fight the virus.

“Chlo-ro-quine! Chlo-ro-quine!” chanted Bolsonaro’s supporters outside the presidential palace in Sunday, as well as “We want to work!”

Nationwide testing in Brazil still lags far behind European nations. Brazil had processed nearly 338,000 novel coronavirus tests in official labs by the beginning of the week, according to the Health Ministry. Another 145,000 tests were under analysis or waiting in line.

By contrast, Italy and Spain have each run some 1.9 million official diagnostic tests for the virus.