Daegu city, South Korea, reports zero new cases for first time
The South Korean city of Daegu, which endured the first large coronavirus outbreak outside of China, on Friday reported zero new cases for the first time since late February, as new infections across the country dropped to record lows.
With at least 6,807 confirmed cases, Daegu accounts for more than half of all South Korea’s 10,450 infections. The spread of infections at a church in Daegu drove a massive spike in cases in South Korea beginning in late February.
South Korea on Friday reported 27 new cases as of the night before, a new low since daily cases peaked at more than 900 in late February, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The death toll also rose by four to 208, the KCDC said.
Early voting in South Korea’s parliamentary election kicked off on Friday, with coronavirus patients casting ballots at designated stations and candidates adopting new ways of campaigning to limit the risk of contagion.
Polling stations were disinfected on Thursday ahead of opening, and all voters are required to wear a mask, use sanitisers and wear gloves. Officials conducted temperature checks at the entrance.
The National Election Commission (NEC) set up eight polling stations to be used by more than 3,000 coronavirus patients receiving treatment as well as 900 medical staff at treatment centres in hard-hit areas, including the capital Seoul and Daegu city.
The election itself is on April 15, but officials are hoping that people will take advantage of early voting options to reduce the number of voters crowding polling locations on that day.
The government is still debating plans to allow for voting by the roughly 46,500 people who have not tested positive but are in self-quarantine.
The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus, AP reports.
The Transportation Security Administration screened 94,931 people on Wednesday, a drop of 96% from a year ago and the second straight day under 100,000.
Historical daily numbers only go back so far, but the nation last averaged fewer than 100,000 passengers a day in 1954, according to figures from trade group Airlines for America. It was the dawn of the jet age.
The de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jetliner, was just a few years old, and Boeing was running test flights with the jet that would become the iconic 707.
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An unassuming civil servant has become the unlikely hero of New Zealand’s coronavirus crisis, earning thousands of fans online and being nominated for the country’s highest honour.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield is the director-general of health and the public face of the country’s battle against the disease, alongside prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
Since March, Bloomfield has been fronting near-daily televised press conferences and has swiftly become a figure of fascination in a nation that has enjoyed early success in the global fight against coronavirus.
New Zealand writer Anna Connell jokingly changed her Twitter handle to The Ashley Bloomfield Fan Club after repeatedly admiring his cool during press conferences. Overnight, her followers began to grow, and she is now the unofficial leader of the nation’s Bloomfield devotees.
Ashley Bloomfield Fan Club
(@AnnaGConnell)Just had to rearrange my entire day to make sure I can watch Ashley Bloomfield. Lunch will now be at 1.30pm.
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It is no secret that wealthy New Yorkers have fled the city in recent weeks, hoping to ride out the pandemic at their second homes, but it might still come as a surprise to learn one businessman has paid almost $2m to rent a coronavirus hideout.
Property developer Joe Farrell told the New York Post he had rented out a sprawling mansion in the Long Island neighborhood of the Hamptons, a popular, expensive, summer retreat two hours east of New York City, to a “textile tycoon” fleeing the pandemic.
The near $2m may prove to have been ill-spent, given Long Island is now one of the worst-hit areas of New York state, but the unnamed businessman will at least have plenty of room to roam in the gigantic pile.
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The big drop-off in aircraft flights due to the coronavirus pandemic has created a problem for weather forecasting.
Aircraft make a vital contribution to forecasts by routinely sending reports of in-flight weather conditions, and more than 1m aircraft observations were collected each day last year around the world.
Thanks to Covid 19 there has been huge decline in these aircraft reports during the past month, and further reductions across the world are expected in the coming weeks. Without these reports, the quality of forecasts is likely to suffer.
Hundreds of UK care home deaths not added to official coronavirus toll
Hundreds of people are dying in care homes from confirmed or suspected coronavirus without yet being officially counted, the Guardian has learned.
More than 120 residents of the UK’s largest charitable provider of care homes are thought to have died from the virus in the last three weeks, while another network of care homes is reported to have recorded 88 deaths.
Care England, the industry body, estimated that the death toll is likely to be close to 1,000, despite the only available official figure for care home fatalities being dramatically lower. The Office for National Statistics said this week that 20 people died in care homes across the whole of England and Wales in the week to 27 March.
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