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Pope Francis presides over a moment of prayer on the sagrato in an empty St Peter’s Square. Photograph: Yara Nardi/AFP via Getty Images
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 denouncing 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.”
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 denouncing 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.
“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.
This is Nicola Slawson, taking over from my colleague Simon Murphy. I’ll be keeping you up to date this evening on the situation around the world. You can get in touch with me via Twitter or by email nicola.slawson@theguardian.com. I might not have time to reply but I will certainly give emails and messages a read.
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Summary
In Greece, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has jumped to 966, according to the government.
The figure marks an increase of 74 new cases that emerged last night. But experts also point out that in the absence of widespread testing (only 13,477 people have been tested for the virus so far), the real number is almost certainly higher.
Giving his daily update, Prof Sotiris Tsiodras, the health ministry spokesman on coronavirus, said the death toll had also gone up, with 28 fatalities recorded as of Friday. Of that number 23 were men, said the professor, an infectious diseases expert who is advising the centre-right government on how best to contain the spread of transmissions.
The average age of those who had died was 73, he said, adding that while 66 of the total number of patients confirmed as having Covid-19 were in intensive care, 52 people had also made a full recovery. “The fast implementation of measures [to contain the disease] has saved our country from many deaths,” he said, emphasising that although the trajectory was currently under control it was vital that the general population remained vigilant. “Every day we win small victories but the battle continues.”
Greece was among the very first countries in Europe to apply stringent restrictions, with officials recognising that after years of steep staff and budget cuts, the price of the country’s near decade-long debt crisis, the state health system was in no position to deal with a significant public health crisis.
The figure marks an increase of 74 new cases that emerged last night. But experts also point out that in the absence of widespread testing (only 13,477 people have been tested for the virus so far), the real number is almost certainly higher.
Giving his daily update, Prof Sotiris Tsiodras, the health ministry spokesman on coronavirus, said the death toll had also gone up, with 28 fatalities recorded as of Friday. Of that number 23 were men, said the professor, an infectious diseases expert who is advising the centre-right government on how best to contain the spread of transmissions.
The average age of those who had died was 73, he said, adding that while 66 of the total number of patients confirmed as having Covid-19 were in intensive care, 52 people had also made a full recovery. “The fast implementation of measures [to contain the disease] has saved our country from many deaths,” he said, emphasising that although the trajectory was currently under control it was vital that the general population remained vigilant. “Every day we win small victories but the battle continues.”
Greece was among the very first countries in Europe to apply stringent restrictions, with officials recognising that after years of steep staff and budget cuts, the price of the country’s near decade-long debt crisis, the state health system was in no position to deal with a significant public health crisis.
Updated
Nearly 300 coronavirus deaths in France in 24 hours
There have been 299 coronavirus deaths in France in the last 24 hours, it has been announced.
Releasing the latest set of figures, Jérôme Salomon, head of the French health authority, revealed there were now 32,964 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 3,809 more than the previous day. There have been 1,995 deaths in hospital, an increase of 299 in 24 hours. This is lower than the big jump of 365 deaths in 24 hours that Salomon announced on Thursday evening.
There are 15,732 people in hospital, with 3,787 in intensive care. One third are under 60 years old and 42 of those in intensive care are under 30 years old. Salomon said the “good news” was that about 5,700 people who had the Covid-19 virus had recovered.
Releasing the latest set of figures, Jérôme Salomon, head of the French health authority, revealed there were now 32,964 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 3,809 more than the previous day. There have been 1,995 deaths in hospital, an increase of 299 in 24 hours. This is lower than the big jump of 365 deaths in 24 hours that Salomon announced on Thursday evening.
There are 15,732 people in hospital, with 3,787 in intensive care. One third are under 60 years old and 42 of those in intensive care are under 30 years old. Salomon said the “good news” was that about 5,700 people who had the Covid-19 virus had recovered.
Updated
In the UK, Virgin Atlantic is applying for hundreds of millions of pounds in state aid to keep afloat during the coronavirus crisis, after the chancellor told the stricken aviation sector this week he would consider assisting firms on a case-by-case basis.
As a purely long-haul, passenger airline, Sir Richard Branson’s carrier has been hard hit by the travel bans and does not have the cash reserves of larger rivals such as British Airways or even EasyJet.
Virgin led calls for state aid for airlines two weeks ago, as bookings dropped to near zero. Virtually all staff have accepted unpaid leave and Branson has said he will inject $250m (£201m) across the group, including the unfortunately timed launch of his Virgin Voyage cruise line.
The airline declined to comment but is understood to have approached the government via bankers Rothschild for a package worth hundreds of millions of pounds in commercial loans and guarantees.
As a purely long-haul, passenger airline, Sir Richard Branson’s carrier has been hard hit by the travel bans and does not have the cash reserves of larger rivals such as British Airways or even EasyJet.
Virgin led calls for state aid for airlines two weeks ago, as bookings dropped to near zero. Virtually all staff have accepted unpaid leave and Branson has said he will inject $250m (£201m) across the group, including the unfortunately timed launch of his Virgin Voyage cruise line.
The airline declined to comment but is understood to have approached the government via bankers Rothschild for a package worth hundreds of millions of pounds in commercial loans and guarantees.
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