April 22 coronavirus news

Britain's first virtual sitting of Parliament began with the First Secretary of State coming under intense scrutiny over the UK's jarring shortage of coronavirus testing.

Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson while the Prime Minister recovers from Covid-19, said the government is making "good progress" and would meet its target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

But opposition leader Keir Starmer, making his first appearance in the House of Commons since winning the Labour leadership election earlier this month, criticized the government's pace and pointed out the UK is "way behind" other European nations on testing.

He noted that a mere 18,206 tests were carried out on Monday, with just over a week until the end of April -- to which Raab responded that the UK's capacity for tests is at 40,000 a day.

"I think it’s really important that we fully understand what the First Secretary just said," Starmer said. "That means that the day before yesterday, 40,000 could have been carried out, but only 18,000 tests were actually carried out."

"All week I’ve heard from the frontline, from care workers, who are frankly desperate for tests for their residents and for themselves," Starmer said. "They would expect every test to be used every day … so there’s clearly a problem. Why isn’t the government using all the tests available?"

Criticism over the number of tests carried out, and over shortfalls in protective equipment for health care workers, has been leveled at the government throughout its coronavirus response.

Raab and Starmer, along with a handful of other MPs, were present in the chamber and sat a safe distance from each other. Most lawmakers joined the session remotely, via a video-conference service.

Ukraine will extend coronavirus lockdown measures until May 11 after projections show it peaking early next month, the country’s Cabinet of Ministers said Wednesday.

“We need to tell people exactly when and what will be opened, and what the government’s plan of action is,” a statement from President Volodymyr Zelensky's office read. “Peak incidence is expected in early May. People need to understand whether it will be possible to walk in the parks, go to hairdressers, notaries, lawyers and other businesses." 

The government was considering various options for modifying coronavirus restrictions to boost the morale of citizens and to help restart the economy, according to the statement.

Female medical staff in the UK are struggling to find personal protective equipment (PPE) which fits them correctly, according to the British Medical Association (BMA). Most of the equipment is designed to fit men.

The Indian government has introduced an urgent executive order to discourage violence against health workers.

The country's Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, has been amended, and those found guilty now face imprisonment from 6 months to 7 years.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Medical Association withdrew its two-day protest, following a video conference with India’s Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

The protesting doctors demanded an urgent law to protect the healthcare workers from violent attacks.

Two coronavirus-related deaths confirmed in Northern California's Santa Clara County from early February are the earliest known deaths from the virus in the US.

The deaths were from February 6 and February 17 -- up to three weeks before the first known US death in Kirkland, Washington, on February 29.

A third death in early March was also confirmed to be virus-related, the statement said.

Further details on the victims were not provided.

Read more here.

The Spanish government has made a U-turn on its updated restrictions for children and will now allow them out for walks after six weeks of confinement, starting this Sunday.

Speaking in Parliament Wednesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the change in the relaxation of restrictions for children. Sanchez made the statement less than a day after his government insisted that kids would only be allowed limited outings to places like supermarkets, pharmacies and banks, accompanied by an adult.

The negative response to the initial decision was immediate and loud, with people across Spain showing disapproval by banging pots and pans from windows and balconies on Tuesday evening. 

Many politicians and health professionals also swiftly criticized the rules set out on Tuesday, forcing a response from the government within hours, with Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa saying those rules would be adjusted to allow “walks under specific conditions.”

In an apparent effort to control the damage, Spain’s Prime Minister said “this is a government that listens” and recognizes the “tremendous effort that the confinement has been for the young ones, as well as mothers and fathers, and families.” But he added that the “exception to this small relief, which allows the young ones to go out, does not change the most important thing – the rule of general confinement that continues in place.”

Spain has the strictest confinement measures in Europe, and the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases, after the United States.

The Socialist Party Prime Minister was accused of mishandling the coronavirus crisis in a fiery speech in Parliament by the conservative opposition leader, Pablo Casado, head of the Popular Party.

"You are sinning from incompetence," Casado said. “You do not mess with our children. And you do not mess with the health of Spaniards."

Sanchez made his announcement ahead of a vote in Parliament to extend Spain’s state of alarm for the third time, until May 9. Parliament is expected to approve the extension, which would make the lockdown order a total of eight weeks.

The Spanish Prime Minister said “this extension is different than the others. It is one that will begin to de-escalate the rules of confinement.”

As Spain looks ahead to a return to normality with the number of coronavirus cases decreasing, Sanchez warned “the return to normality will be slow and gradual, because it has to be secure.” The country has been hard hit economically by the pandemic.

Sanchez also emphasized the so-called new normality demands that “we must talk about the health system, revitalize the pulse of our economy, and take social protection measures. It is essential to prioritize being in line with Europe. The pacts in Spain will be the pacts in Europe. This is the new politics.”

The first clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine has been approved in Germany, the country's Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Drugs has said.

The potential vaccine is being developed by biotech company BioNTech in Mainz, Germany.

The Paul Ehrlich Institute, the Federal Agency, says it was able to complete the approval process in four days.

Another human vaccine trial is set to get underway at Oxford University in the UK on Thursday, the British health secretary confirmed this week.

And a separate trial at London's Imperial College is also in the pipeline for June, with researchers asking for volunteers.

At least 825,306 people in the United States have been diagnosed with coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases. The total includes 45,075 deaths.

As states begin to include “probable deaths” in their counts, so will John Hopkins. In the upcoming days, these reporting changes may look like surges of deaths in the United States.

CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases here: https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-us-maps-and-cases/

The world is facing multiple famines of "biblical proportions" in just a matter of months, the UN has said, warning that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation.

Famines could take hold in "about three dozen countries" in a worst-case scenario, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a stark address on Tuesday. Ten of those countries already have more than 1 million people on the verge of starvation, he said.

He cited conflict, an economic recession, a decline in aid and a collapse in oil prices as factors likely to lead to vast food shortages, and urged swift action to avert disaster.

"While dealing with a Covid-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic," David Beasley told the UN's security council. "There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of Covid-19 than from the virus itself."

The WFP had already warned that 2020 would be a devastating year for numerous countries ravaged by poverty or war, with 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Their updated projections nearly double that number.

Read more here.