36 million Americans unemployed – as it happened

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below. Head there for the latest news in the coronavirus pandemic from around the world:

Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:

• Global death toll passes 300,000. The global death toll from Covid-19 has passed 300,000, with nearly 4.5 million people infected. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, at least 301,370 people have now died as a result of the outbreak and there are 4,426,937 confirmed cases worldwide. It’s important to point out that the actual death toll is believed to be far higher than the tally compiled from government figures.
• Sanofi will no longer prioritise the US if it develops a vaccine. The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi rowed back on a promise to prioritise the US market if the company develops a coronavirus vaccine. The company’s CEO Paul Hudson sparked controversy by saying the US had “the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk”.
• Nearly 600,000 Australians have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Almost 600,000 Australians lost their jobs between March and April, unemployment rose to 6.2%, the underemployment rate increased by 4.9 points to 13.7% and the underutilisation rate increased by 5.9 points to 19.9%.
• Doctors in Italy and France report spike in rare inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus. Doctors in northern Italy, one of the areas hardest hit by coronavirus, and in France have reported spikes in cases of a rare inflammatory syndrome in young children that appears similar to one reported in the US, Britain and Spain, according to a report in the Lancet.
• Donald Trump visits a mask distribution centre without wearing a mask himself. Donald Trump toured a mask distribution centre in the political swing state of Pennsylvania on Thursday but without wearing a mask himself.
• Concern is mounting in the Rohingya refugee camps after man tests positive for Covid-19. A Rohingya man has become the first person to test positive for Covid-19 in the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that is home to almost one million people, officials said Thursday.
• 36 million Americans are now unemployed as another 3 million filed for benefits. The latest figures from the Department of Labor show the rate of claims is slowing but the record-breaking pace of layoffs has already pushed unemployment to levels unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
• Mental health problems sparked by the pandemic need urgently addressing. Governments, health authorities and civil society groups should urgently address mental health problems sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN secretary general has said.
• A quarter of Covid-19 patients who have died in England had diabetes. A quarter of Covid-19 patients who have died in hospitals in England had diabetes, according to figures released by NHS England.

15 May 202019.12 EDT

Lauren Gambino

Donald Trump goes maskless to tour medical equipment facility

Donald Trump traveled to a medical equipment distribution facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, to tout a plan to replenish and upgrade the vital federal stockpile.

According to the pool report, “the president and his entourage were led around by Owens and Minor employees, who explained their distribution system and the products they handle.

“Trump and [White House chief of staff] Mark Meadows did not wear masks. Everyone else did.”

Last week in Arizona, which like Pennsylvania will be a battleground state in November, Trump did not wear a mask while he toured a facility which made masks.

Then, to widespread comment, the James Bond theme song Live and Let Die played in the background.

The Pennsylvania event had the trappings of a campaign rally. For his remarks, Trump approached the podium to the sound of God Bless the USA.

Augsburg head coach to miss restart after breaking quarantine for toothpaste

The Augsburg coach, Heiko Herrlich, will miss the restart of the German season on Saturday after he broke strict quarantine rules by leaving the team hotel to buy toothpaste.

Augsburg host Wolfsburg as the Bundesliga becomes the first of Europe’s major leagues to resume since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

The club said in a statement that, by leaving the hotel, Herrlich had broken rules set up by a German Football League task force.

“I made a mistake by leaving the hotel,” said Herrlich, who was due to coach Augsburg in a match for the first time on Saturday. “Even though I followed all hygiene measures both when I left the hotel and otherwise, I cannot undo this.

“In this situation I did not live up to my role model function towards my team and the public. I will therefore be consistent and stand by my mistake. Because of this mistake I will not lead the training tomorrow and I will not coach the team in the match against Wolfsburg on Saturday.”

Hi, Helen Sullivan with you now. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Qatar’s interior ministry has announced that wearing masks will be mandatory to go outside starting Sunday, and those who do not comply will be fined up to 200,000 riyals (£45,000).

Violators could also be jailed up to three years, or either of those punishments, according to a statement on the ministry’s Twitter account.

The statement added that the only exception will be if the person is alone driving in a vehicle.

Qatar reported 1,733 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours for a total of 28,272 cases and a total of 14 deaths.

Teachers in the UK can legally refuse to return when schools reopen unless they get the same protections against coronavirus as other frontline staff, one of the country’s leading teaching unions has warned.

There are plans for primary schools in England to start a gradual reopening from the start of next month, with the youngest children in formal schooling – four and five-year-olds in reception – among the first expected to return. However many teachers are unhappy at the plans with the UK’s death toll, the second worst in the world, still climbing.

A Rohingya man has become the first person to test positive for COVID-19 in the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that is home to almost one million people, officials said Thursday.

Health experts have long warned that the virus could race through the cramped alleys of the camps in the Cox’s Bazar district, where the persecuted Muslim minority have been housed in canvas and bamboo shacks since they fled a military offensive in neighbouring Myanmar more than two years ago.

Local health coordinator Abu Toha Bhuiyan initially said two refugees had been put into isolation. The World Health Organisation later said one case was of a Rohingya man, and the other was of a local man who lived near the camp and was being treated at a clinic inside the area.

“One patient is from the refugee population and the other one from the surrounding host population,” WHO spokesman Catalin Bercaru told AFP.

Bercaru said “rapid investigation teams” were being deployed to follow up on the two cases. The patients’ contacts are being traced for quarantine and testing.

Doctors in northern Italy, one of the areas hardest hit by the new coronavirus, and in France have reported spikes in cases of a rare inflammatory syndrome in young children that appears similar to one reported in the United States, Britain and Spain, according to a report in The Lancet.

The condition shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease including fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation.

Reports of cases have raised concerns that Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, could pose a greater risk to children than had been understood. It has so far taken its greatest toll on the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.

In the UK, people have come out again for their weekly “clap for carers” to celebrate the NHS and other key workers on the coronavirus frontline. They were joined by Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, at Downing Street.

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