99 years Brazillian WW2 veteran Emanda Piveta has become the country’s oldest person to recover from Covid-19 and 106 year old Connie Titchen is thought to be Britain’s oldest survivor.
H&M has started to produce protective aprons and UK clothing brand Barbour has also changed it’s production line in order to create protective gowns.
A leading doctor is urging the government to follow his antibody testing regime, after testing 30 staff at his private cancer clinic in Reading. Professor Karol Sikora has been using inexpensive self administered kits imported from South Korea. The Sugentech kit, which costs less than £10 per unit, was widely used in South Korea and Germany – two countries who have proven to have the most efficient and effective testing regimes.
Maryland’s John Hopkins University, which is tracking the spread of the virus, has confirmed that the number of total global cases has gone over 2,000,000. The researchers also say that at least 129,000 people have died since the start of the outbreak.
G20 leaders and finance ministers have agreed to suspend the debt payments of poorer countries from 1 May until the end of 2020, as they prepare for increased spending on healthcare systems.
During the UK’s daily governmental briefing, Matt Hancock refused to accept that he missed a testing deadline which he himself set last month. Four weeks ago his department said that within one month the rate of testing would hit 25,000 a day. The government has not hit this target, as latest figures show 16,000 tests being carried out each day.
Professor Chris Witty, has stated, on the issue of the virus peak, that it is “probably reaching the overall peak, that is what the flattening shows.” However Witty went on to explain that numbers may still continue at a high rate, because after every weekend there has been a dip in reported deaths, which is then followed by a rise later in the week.
The UK government has also refused to directly criticise Trump, following his brash decision to freeze WHO funding. The PM’s spokesman told the lobby briefing that the UK would continue to support the WHO.