Worldwide cases pass one million Coronavirus cases and deaths have begun to plateau in some European countries, including Italy and Spain, although cases and deaths continue to accelerate in the UK and the US. More people in the UK have died with coronavirus than in China, according to today’s figures from Johns Hopkins University. In the US hospitals across the country are coming under increasing strain. In Louisiana, the death toll is mounting and there are concerns that the state could run out of hospital beds. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the National Guard to seize and redistribute any ventilators and personal protective equipment from facilities in the state. Florida has issued a stay-at-home order – over the past week cases in the state have been growing by hundreds daily. There have now been more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases diagnosed across the globe, though the true number of cases will be much higher. More than 55,000 people have died from covid-19. UK government faces questions over testing UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has pledged to have 100,000 people in England tested per day by the end of the month, following criticism of the UK’s coronavirus testing strategy. Last month, Boris Johnson promised to move up to 25,000 tests a day with a goal of 250,000, but the UK is still only carrying out around 10,000 coronavirus tests per day. The new testing target for England includes the introduction of antibody tests, to check whether people have already had the virus, in addition to the existing swab tests, which determine whether a person is currently infected. Antibody tests are still being validated and the government says they won’t roll them out if they aren’t effective. Other coronavirus developments Following widespread debate over whether people should wear masks in public spaces, a new study has found that surgical face masks could prevent people with symptoms from spreading seasonal human coronaviruses and influenza viruses. It is not yet clear whether these findings could be extended to more severe coronaviruses, such as the covid-19 virus, as the study did not include any participants with covid-19, SARS or MERS. The White House is expected to advise US citizens in coronavirus hotspots to wear non-medical cloth masks or scarves in public places to help limit the spread of the virus. Authorities in Mumbai, India, are concerned about the spread of coronavirus in Dharavi slum, one of the planet’s most densely populated areas where up to 1 million people live in cramped and unsanitary conditions. A North Korean official has claimed that “not one single person” in the country is infected with coronavirus. The claim has been met with significant scepticism, given that North Korea shares borders with China and South Korea – two of the worst affected countries globally. There are concerns that the Cheltenham Festival in the UK may have contributed to the spread of coronavirus across the country. More than 250,000 people attended the horseracing meeting between 10 and13 March. The Zaandam and Rotterdam cruise ships have docked in Florida after spending weeks at sea with passengers ill and dying of covid-19 aboard. The Coral Princess cruise ship, which was turned away from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 19 March, is expected to arrive in Florida on Sunday. source
