No national report has been made public, but many staff are infected.
The resuscitation service at Jacques-Cartier Hospital in Massy (Essonne).Yann Castanier / Hans Lucas via AFP
General practitioners or hospital doctors, emergency doctors, nurses, nursing assistants … For weeks, they have been on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. And the National Academy of Medicine is concerned: “More and more hospitals are reporting contamination of nursing staff in the departments treating Covid-19 patients”, she said Tuesday in a statement.
While in Italy, the professional federation announces the death of a hundred doctors, in France, fifteen deaths of caregivers have so far been made public, either by a press release from the establishment in which they worked, or by the local press. Among them, at least eight hospital and liberal doctors, mainly in the Grand Est region. The first, Jean-Jacques Razafindranazy, died on March 21 at the age of 67. Retired for two years, this emergency doctor continued to provide several guards a week at Compiègne hospital in Oise.
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The European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) has changed guidelines on the use of masks, admitting that they can be used by those who are not sick. A hypothesis especially intended for when someone visits spaces with a lot of people or closed, such as shops, shopping centers, supermarkets or, among others, on public transport.
In a new document published this Wednesday, the European Union center that advises States on matters related to public health opens the door to the use of these masks in a more generic way than before, although not as generic as in Asian countries or even in the United States of America, whose authorities recently also changed their position on the matter.
ECDC now concludes that the use of masks in public can be a means of controlling the expansion of Covid-19 by individuals already infected but without symptoms, even though it is not yet known whether this measure is better or worse than others that have the same goal (halt the progress of the disease).
Cloth masks
For the first time, ECDC refers not only to surgical masks, underlining that these should be used primarily by healthcare personnel, but also cloth masks.
“The use of non-medical masks made of various types of tissue can be considered”, especially if healthcare professionals need to be given priority in accessing surgical masks and if they are not available in sufficient quantity for everyone.
The previous recommendation is made even with ECDC admitting that the scientific evidence that exists on the effectiveness of these cloth masks is “indirect and limited”.
The European agency leaves, however, a warning: the use of masks in the community, as in other regions of the world, such as Asia, “should only be considered as a complementary measure and not a substitute for others, such as distance physical, respiratory etiquette, hand hygiene and avoid touching the face, eyes and mouth “. The use of masks correctly is also essential for it to be worth, in fact, wearing them.
Finally, any recommendation by national health authorities to wear masks in the community must carefully take into account the limited scientific evidence on the subject, the offer of masks for everyone and their potential negative effects.
There are still two days, ECDC had responded to TSF who continued to advise against the use of masks for those who are not sick, fearing that this could increase the risk of infection due to a false sense of security.
The singer, who became famous during the “swinging London” scene of the 1960s and has had a respected (and occasionally troubled) career since, is said to be stable and responding to treatment, according to her representatives.
Her friend, the performer Penny Arcade, told Rolling Stone Faithfull had self-isolated following a cold, and then checked herself into hospital last Monday, where she tested positive for Covid-19. She has since contracted pneumonia.
Faithfull, who is 73, has had various health issues in the past. She suffered from anorexia during a spell of homelessness in central London in the early 1970s, when she was also addicted to heroin. In 2006, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent successful surgery. In 2007, she announced she had hepatitis C, diagnosed 12 years previously. She also has arthritis, and has had other joint issues, including a hip injury which became infected after surgery and forced her to cancel a 2015 tour.
Apart from a decade-long fallow period following her 1960s breakthrough, she has steadily released music throughout her life. Her most recent album was 2018’s Negative Capability, described as “a masterly meditation on ageing and death” in a five-star Observer review.
ROME –
Italy saw a smaller daily increase in new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day, officials said Monday warning that it was too early to know if the worst is behind the country with the second largest workload in the world.
The data released by the Italian civil protection agency showed 4,789 new cases compared to the previous day, almost 700 less than the daily increase of 5,560 new cases reported on Sunday.
Even the death toll has not increased much. On Monday, just over 600 viruses were registered in Italy, compared to 651 on Sunday.
Italy has been anxious to see daily numbers for new cases and deaths decrease as it begins a third week under a national blockade and its health system struggles under the weight of the world’s largest COVID-19 outbreak outside the China.
As of Monday, Italy has recorded a total of 59,138 virus cases compared to China’s 81,496 and the country is about to have twice as many deaths soon.
It was only Saturday when the Italian authorities reported another series of one-day peaks since the epidemic that swept northern Italy for the first time since last month: 793 other deaths and 6,557 new cases.
Health authorities have warned that a few more days will pass before knowing if Italy is at the beginning of a positive trend.
“These are crucial days. Woe to anyone who drops their guard,” said Health Minister Roberto Speranza of Monday’s numbers. “Now more than ever everyone’s commitment is needed ..”
A senior national health official, Silvio Brusaferro, resisted being overly optimistic, stating that the improvements recorded on Monday were due to actions taken earlier in the month, not in recent days.
“We need more consecutive results to confirm the trend, to be more certain that we are in a favorable situation,” said Brusaferro.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever or cough. But for some older people and people with existing health problems, it can cause more serious illnesses, including pneumonia. Over 100,000 people have recovered, including nearly 60,000 in China and over 7,000 in Italy.
A government decree that came into effect on March 10 prohibits people from leaving home except to go to work, shop for food or other necessities, exercise or take dogs for short periods of time or carry out essential tasks such as care of an elderly relative. In the Lombardy region, where the epidemic began, there are even more stringent restrictions.
In Milan, the capital of Lombardy. which is by far the most affected region in Italy, regional health officials were moderately optimistic after the daily increases in both positive test results and hospitalizations of new COVID-19 patients were smaller. But they expressed renewed concern about the urgent need for additional ICU beds.
Lombard health commissioner Giulio Gallera said Monday that the number of cases increased to 29,761, with a daily increase of 1,555 compared to the daily jump of 3,200 recorded on Saturday. The cities of Bergamo and Milan both showed signs of improvement, but the number of cases has increased significantly in Brescia, another hard-hit Lombard city that recorded 588 new cases on Monday.
“Maybe this is the first positive day of this very difficult month,” said Gallera. “This is not the time to relax. We have to be even more consistent.”
The northern region has requisitioned a 300-room hotel for people who need to self-quarantine and are unable to distance themselves from family members at home. The governor of Lombardy signed an ordinance on Saturday that requires all guests to leave hotels within 72 hours to vacate their accommodation for possible use in the event of a public health emergency.
——
Colleen Barry contributed to Soave, in Italy
Correction:
This version has been corrected to show that the national blockade in Italy entered into force on March 10, not March 3.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared Tuesday morning to be close to an agreement on a coronavirus stimulus bill, although Donald Trump has shown his desire to reopen l economy and continued to attack the speaker of the Chamber Nancy Pelosi for his own stimulus proposal.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Mnuchin told Capitol Hill reporters shortly before midnight on Monday. “There are still a couple of open problems, but I think we really hope this can be closed [on Tuesday]”.
Mnuchin said that he and Schumer have consulted with the president and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on the details of the deal, believed to guarantee approximately $ 2 million in aid for workers and businesses.
“We expect to have an agreement tomorrow morning,” said Schumer. “There are still a few small differences. None of us think we can hinder a final deal in any way.”
He also added that Trump looked “very positive” about the talks.
The Trump administration has severely compromised efforts to contain the coronavirus epidemic by eliminating most of the staff in charge of identifying global health problems in China while repeatedly attempting to cut funds for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a new report by an environmental watchdog.
Over the past three years, the Trump administration has drastically reduced a team working in China to identify global health threats such as Covid-19, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The 11 CDC staff members of the initiative were reduced to three people, while 39 workers classified as “local employees” were reduced to 11 people.
The administration disbanded the National Security Council leadership accused of global health and tried to go even further, asking for budget cuts of up to 20% for each of the past three years, only to be rejected by Congress. Trump’s effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act would also cut CDC funding by around 8% per year.
The CDC still suffered a “budget and staff erosion under Trump”, but without the challenge of Congress “thousands of Americans would probably die in the coming months due to the even smaller capacity at the CDC”, according to the report, compiled by the Data Environmental and Governance Initiative (EDGI).
“If we cannot learn lessons here for our future, then the risks Americans face for both emerging and chronic diseases will become truly incalculable,” warns the report.
The report, which is based on publicly available federal government documents, highlights a long list of Trump administration actions that risked turning the spread of the coronavirus into an even greater disaster.
The administration proposed a 20% cut to the CDC’s emerging and zoonotic disease program, which investigates and prevents new diseases. He also attempted to cut funding to help countries in Africa still affected by the Ebola epidemic, overseeing the loss of 61 employees from the CDC’s disease prevention program and proposed profound cuts to the CDC’s environmental health work.
Christopher Sellers, an environmental and health expert at Stony Brook University and lead author of the report, said that the Trump administration’s actions slowed the response to the virus and likely influenced the preparation of hospitals and various government agencies for the crisis.
“The administration has repeatedly and systematically corroded critical parts of the CDC,” said the sellers. “This was just asking for an epidemic to hit us. It was a perfect storm of lack of preparation. “
The sellers added, “It’s amazing that they are now trying to rewrite history to say that we have a lot of resources when they have systematically targeted them. They should be held accountable by the American people for being outrageous.”
Donald Trump initially reacted to the coronavirus’ forward march by calling it a “hoax” before then, even incorrectly, claiming that the United States had completely contained the disease.
Since then the president has declared a national state of emergency, but the federal response has been haunted by a serious lack of testing, a shortage of crucial medical supplies such as fans and false and misleading statements by Trump about the need to avoid large-scale gatherings. people.
On Sunday, the president was asked at a press conference on the administration’s cuts to the CDC, particularly on the removal of an epidemiologist incorporated into China’s CDC equivalent.
Trump said: “We actually gave CDC more money, not less money. They said we reimbursed. It turned out that it was more money. Each of those things that were said were 100% wrong, and this sounds like another of them. “
Trump therefore tried to blame China for the crisis. “I wish they had told us three months before this was a problem,” said the president about a disease that surfaced in December and then reported from China to the World Health Organization in January. “We didn’t know.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will propose a one-year postponement for the Tokyo Olympics during talks with IOC President Thomas Bach.
Abe said that a postponement is inevitable if the 2020 Games cannot be held completely in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Abe held telephone talks with Bach after the IOC said he would make a decision on the Tokyo Games in the next four weeks.
Until a few days ago the IOC, together with the organizing committee of Tokyo and the Japanese government, had insisted that there were no plans to delay the Olympics since they should not have opened for another four months, but the Japanese public television NHK Tuesday reported that Abe wants a one-year delay.
The fate of Tokyo 2020 was actually sealed this week when Canada and Australia said they would not send the athletes to Japan in July, while the British and French governments called on the IOC to make a quick decision.
“I know this is excruciating for so many people, athletes, coaches, staff and fans, but this was absolutely the right choice and everyone should follow suit,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee followed suit, citing the enormous “upheaval” caused by the training pandemic and qualification process.
“Our most important conclusion from this broad response from the athlete is that although current significant health concerns could be alleviated by the end of the summer, huge disruptions in the training environment, doping controls and the process of qualification cannot be passed satisfactorily, “the committee said in a statement.
World Athletics, the Olympic committees of Brazil, Slovenia and Germany, USA Swimming, USA Track and Field had joined the growing chorus of invitations for a new date for the event.
London 2012 health and safety chief Lawrence Waterman urged the IOC to postpone the Games for the first time in their 124-year modern history, saying they could not be saved this year.
“These games must be postponed, and the sooner the IOC and the Japanese government deal with it, the better. It is simply not safe to put the games on during a global pandemic,” Waterman said in a statement.
“The safety and health of people should precede the costs of delay in contracts. The London Games were the first in history to be completed without a single fatality, we set health and safety standards for the Olympics.”
The Olympics were never delayed, but were canceled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during the two world wars.
The hypothesis that an announcement was imminent increased on Monday when IOC member Dick Pound stated that the body had decided to postpone the Olympics by one year, describing it as the most likely solution to the biggest crisis of the Olympic movement since Moscow’s political boycott in 1980 and Los Angeles four years later. “This is my conclusion,” Pound told Reuters.
Pound said the IOC did not rush to an announcement so he could present a clear alternative plan to Japanese guests, sports federations and sponsors.
“Probably what has changed the situation in the past two days is the curve of the Covid-19 virus. It is getting very, very steep now and this is clearly not something that will be under control from June or July and probably not later this year, “he said.
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk in front of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games logo displayed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Photography: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP via Getty Images
The postponement will come as a blow to the host country, which spent more than $ 12 billion on the event, while huge sums are up for sponsors and broadcasters. Goldman Sachs estimated this month that Japan would lose $ 4.5 billion (550 billion yen) in domestic and incoming consumption in 2020 if the Olympics did not take place as expected.
Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper, said Monday that G7 leaders had agreed to a postponement during their conference call last week, after Abe persuaded them that cancellation was not an option.
Abe told the group that he was determined to keep the Games “in their full form” – with the full share of athletes and spectators – as a symbol of the world’s triumph over the coronavirus, Nikkei said. Boris Johnson reportedly responded with a thumbs up, while other leaders nodded their approval.
Abe this week hinted that the postponement was a possibility, a few hours after the IOC had said it would take up to four weeks to decide the fate of the Games.
“If the IOC decision means that it becomes impossible to keep the Olympics in their full form, a decision may have to be made to postpone them,” he told parliament on Monday.
The Japanese public had already accepted the inevitable. According to a Kyodo poll last week, nearly 70% of respondents said they did not expect the Games to go on this summer.
MADRID, SPAIN –
Spanish soldiers deployed to help fight the new coronavirus outbreak found elderly patients who were abandoned, and sometimes died, in rest homes, while a skating rink inside a mall in Madrid was being turned into a temporary morgue to help facing a wave of cases.
The army has been accused of helping to disinfect retirement homes in Spain, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. Dozens of COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in facilities across the country.
“We will be strict and inflexible when we deal with the way older people are treated in these residences,” Defense Minister Margarita Robles said in an interview with the private television channel Telecinco.
“The army, during some visits, found some elderly people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds,” he added.
An investigation has been launched, the Prosecutor General announced.
The death toll from coronavirus in Spain rose to 2,182 on Monday after 462 people died within 24 hours, according to data from the ministry of health.
Meanwhile, the skating rink on the Palacio de Hielo, or Palazzo del Ghiaccio, Madrid’s commercial center has been transformed into a temporary morgue to deal with a wave of deaths in the capital, a spokesman for the Madrid city hall told AFP .
Earlier, the town hall said that the city’s 14 public cemeteries would stop accepting more bodies because the staff did not have adequate protective equipment.
The improvised morgue would begin to be used “in the next few hours,” said the regional government of Madrid.
“This is a temporary and exceptional measure that aims to mitigate the pain of the families of the victims and the situation that Madrid’s hospitals are facing.”
A nearby convention center has been converted into a field hospital for coronavirus patients which will have a total of 5,500 beds.
Elders are particularly vulnerable in the global pandemic and officials around the world are demanding ever more extreme measures to protect them.
Retirement homes are “a top priority for the government,” Health Minister Salvador Illa said in a press conference.
“We will exercise the most intense monitoring of these centers.”
According to coronavirus protocols, healthcare professionals were asked to leave the bodies in place in the event of suspected COVID-19 deaths until a doctor arrives. But given the increase in deaths, the delay can be long.
The advice to Australians not to travel abroad will become a travel ban, starting tomorrow.
Announcing a series of new measures and restrictions designed to curb the country’s coronavirus epidemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced tonight that Australians would no longer be able to leave the country.
“Previously we received a warning not to travel for smart travelers in terms of all overseas travel, which will turn into a ban,” said Morrison.
“People shouldn’t be doing it right now, that’s the advice. Nobody should get on a plane and go abroad. We have clarified the point for some time.
“Management is being processed overnight. As soon as the direction is signed by the Minister of Health, it will come into force then and it will happen tomorrow. “
He said the directive includes exceptions that include people who provide aid to the Pacific, compassionate travel and essential business travel.
Morrison said the ban is needed because of a small number of Australians who challenge the council. He said he was impressed by how many Australians were still going overseas, even though the number had “shrunk dramatically”.
“The number of people and the number that are leaving Australia is now very, very low. However, I am struck by the fact that there are people who challenge that advice and try to go abroad for leisure travel, “said the Prime Minister.
“They can’t, because when they come home they put Australians at risk. I thought he would be fully respected and the Australians are good enough, but we have to put the agreements in place.”
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Morrison also had harsh words for Australians returning to the country who were breaking self-isolation rules.
“All those who are coming – and the numbers that are coming, are falling every day – all are required to isolate themselves from the public health order at the state level. They are required to do it. It’s the law, “he said.
“That’s where they have to go. That’s where they have to move immediately, don’t go through the shops, don’t go in and see a friend on the way home, don’t go for a walk in the park.
“Go straight home and isolate yourself for 14 days. This is the law. This is the greatest protection we have. This applies to every institution, every Australian, returning citizen or resident. “
Professor Brendan Murphy, Chief Medical Officer, echoes Morrison’s disappointment, calling for the return of Australians to “stay home”.
“Don’t go anywhere on the road from the airport or cruise ship or wherever you come,” said Professor Murphy.
“It is so important. The other important thing, if you are identified as a case contact and you are told by a state and public official, and you are told to isolate for 14 days, you must isolate. “
The professor. Murphy said some people were told they had tested positive for the virus, but they were still stopping at the supermarket or chemist on their way home.
“If you are isolating yourself because you are a positive case or you are a contact, go home and isolate yourself and respect these rules. This is a very, very important part of the control,” he said.
Good morning. The British woke up this morning in what in many ways will feel like a new country, following the imposition of unprecedented travel and trade restrictions in peacetime. Here’s our nighttime story about Boris Johnson’s announcement last night.
Here is the two-page document (pdf) released by the government last night that explains the new rules, “Complete guide to staying home and away from others.” And here is the six-page document (pdf) of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government which says which businesses should close.
Today ministers will spend some of their time clarifying these rules and we have already seen an unsuccessful challenge. Last night the sports chain Sports Direct he claimed that his stores should be allowed to remain open because exercise is vital, and released this open letter to the Prime Minister.
Now the company is respecting. This is from Sky Tamara Cohen.
Tamara Cohen (@Tamcohen)
Sports Direct executives told their CFO that they won’t open until they get the go-ahead from the government. @michaelgove clear this morning does not think they should be open. pic.twitter.com/FHMI5xFmyJ
Gove released a series of interviews this morning. I will publish the highlights soon.
Here is the agenda of the day.
09:30: Boris Johnson chairs the cabinet, with many ministers participating via teleconference.
half past eleven: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, asks questions in the municipalities.
12:00 pm: Briefing on the Downing Street lobby.
half past one: The Trussell Trust, the British Retail Consortium and the UK Hospitality provide evidence to the Commons environmental committee; and at 2.30 pm George Eustice, the environmental secretary, provides evidence of coronavirus and food supply.
02:30: Public Health England, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine provide evidence to the Commons health committee; and at 3:30 PM the Association of Adult Social Services Directors, the Local Government Association, the Care and Support Alliance and Care England provide evidence.
Afternoon: The government is expected to hold its regular coronavirus press conference.
We will cover all UK coronavirus developments throughout the day. You can read all the latest Guardian Coronavirus articles here, you can read all the latest Guardian policy articles here and here is the roundup of Politician Europe’s political news this morning.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer the questions and, if they are of general interest, I will post the question and answer over the line (ATL), although I cannot promise to do it for everyone.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter.
