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Here is a summary of the latest news in response to the coronavirus pandemic in Friday, May 15.
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Confirmed cases worldwide: 4,526,934
Confirmed deaths: 303,407
Recoveries / confirmed downloads: 1,705,678.
In Wales, ten more Covid-19-related deaths were reported to bring the total to 1,164.
Public Health Wales also announced that the number of people who tested positive for the virus has now reached 11,834 after an increase of 128.
Outbound closure plan for Wales
More details on the plan to break the blockade in Wales will be published later.
Prime Minister Mark Drakeford will explain more about his ‘traffic light’ roadmap that will emphasize the need for caution. It will hold the Welsh government press conference at 12:30 p.m. about the coronavirus.
Previously, he said the Welsh government has established seven tests that must be met before it eases the blocking restrictions.
He has described the process of lifting the lock as a “reverse light.” The red phase would only see “the most careful and controlled lifting of restrictions”, amber would see more restrictions lifted and if the virus does not resurface, Wales could move to the green zone.
Today, Drakeford will explain how the constraints on everyday life, schools, and businesses could begin to ease.
But, as in Northern Ireland earlier this week, the Welsh government is not expected to give any dates.
It is essential “that we recognize that this is not a short-term crisis,” the prime minister will say.
In the daily briefing, he is expected to warn that until effective vaccines or treatments are available, “we will have to live with the disease in our society and try to control its spread and mitigate its effects.”
It is likely to differ from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for the blockade in England.
Last week Drakeford made some minor changes to the closing rules in Wales, with people now able to exercise more than once a day, provided they remain local in their area and were given permission for libraries, recycling centers in household waste and garden centers. to start opening again.
One in 400 people have coronaviruses in England at the moment
One in 400 people in England is infected with coronavirus, suggests a survey of 11,000 people in households by the Office for National Statistics.
The study was carried out for two weeks in early May and will now be replicated across the UK’s four nations.
Only 33 out of 11,000 people tested in 30 households were positive in the instant survey.
The survey did not include hospital patients or people living in nursing homes, where Covid-19 rates are likely to be much higher.
Deaths in Italy could be much higher than reported
Official reports of Covid-19 deaths in some Italian regions could be a “substantial understatement” of the actual number of people dying from the disease, a study suggests.
The researchers examined the change over time in the total number of deaths, known as all-cause mortality, in Nembro, a city of about 11,500 people in Lombardy.
The northern region of Italy has been one of the areas most severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The researchers found that more Nembro residents died in March 2020 than in the entire previous year or in any year since 2012.
But they also found that only about half of the deaths that occurred during the recent coronavirus outbreak were reported as confirmed deaths from Covid-19.
The authors added: “Our findings imply that Covid-19’s report of specific confirmed deaths represents, at least for some Italian regions, a substantial underestimation of the actual number of deaths from the disease.”
Schools should be able to make their own decisions
The Association of Local Governments (LGA) in England has said that schools should be allowed to make their own decisions about reopening, especially in areas where there is a higher proportion of black, Asian and ethnic minority residents.
Councilwoman Judith Blake, chair of the LGA board of children and youth, said parents were “eager” to send their children back to school and more needed to be done to reassure families.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announcing his plans to remove England from the closure, said that the reception, Y1 and Y6 students could return as soon as next month.
And England’s education secretary Gavin Williamson said this week that the medical and scientific council “said the time is right to start bringing schools back in a gradual and controlled manner.”
But the LGA is asking that some schools, in consultation with the councils, be given more flexibility locally about the reopening, as they argue that some communities are at greater risk.
Mary Bousted, joint secretary general of the National Education Union, said “a broader opening of schools, too soon, raises many unanswered questions about risks in poor communities.”
Antibody test details expected
More updates are expected in the coming days on how the next antibody test will work.
Public Health England approved a new test from pharmaceutical giant Roche after experts at its Porton Down facility gave it the green light.
Although the test has not yet received a green light in Wales, the NHS Wales chief executive said it is a “very positive development” for the Welsh Government’s testing, tracking and protection strategy announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Welsh Government coronavirus briefing on Thursday, Dr. Andrew Goodall said the accuracy of the test regimen must be validated and then a trade arrangement would need to be ordered before the test is available.
He said officials in Wales will participate in the discussions and make an announcement in due course.
The test, which the Prime Minister has previously called a “game changer,” detects cases where someone has had coronavirus in the past and can be used on people who have not experienced symptoms.
Professor Van-Tam said it was clear that people who had Covid-19 generated an antibody response, but that it would “take time” to understand whether people developed immunity to the coronavirus in all cases.
Issue 10 said the new antibody test would “surely” be available on the NHS, but business talks with Roche are ongoing.
Roche said it could supply hundreds of thousands of tests each week.
The pharmaceutical company said it would prioritize distribution testing through the NHS before looking at how it can be sold to people.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said the idea of a “certificate of immunity” was also being considered if science showed that people developed immunity to Covid-19.
Work continued from home after closing
Maintaining social distancing at work after the closure is alleviated will require substantial changes in travel patterns and allow people to continue working from home, a new study suggests.
Reopening the hospitality sector will create a particular challenge since many workers are unable to work from home and were relatively heavy users of public transport, said an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Compared to other forms of transport, the use of public transport is concentrated at particular times, so the IFS has said that encouraging people to work different shifts or using other forms of transport will be particularly important in urban areas.
Younger workers rely more on public transportation to get to work, and almost a fifth of those ages 16-24 use it compared to just 9% of workers age 55 and older.
Workers in industries such as finance are more able to work from home and are more likely to have taken public transportation to work in normal times, so it will be important to get workers in these sectors to continue working from home, the report said. .
Alex Davenport, a research economist at IFS, said: “Going back to work, while maintaining social distancing, will clearly be difficult for those traveling by public transit.
“Fortunately, many of those who previously used public transportation can work from home, like those who work in finance.
“If you want to achieve social distancing on public transport, it will be very important that these workers continue to work from home.”
Amazon recruits thousands of people who have lost jobs
Online giant Amazon has recruited thousands of employees as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, including workers who have lost their jobs in recent weeks in sectors ranging from education to travel and tourism.
More than 15,000 full-time and part-time positions have been filled in Amazon’s logistics and logistics network.
New recruits range from an arborist, architect, beautician, and lifeguard to a pilot, scientists, a singer, and tattoo artists.
A professional speed racing cyclist Ricky Wells, who grew up in California, is working at the Amazon site in Doncaster.
He said: “Due to Covid-19, the race track across Europe was canceled in late March along with most other professional sports.
“The closure of the competition has caused my sponsors to withdraw from the sport, in addition to losing my wages based on the performance I earned through career completion positions.”
“I’ve never worked in a warehouse before, but I like it because it’s always busy.”
Laws need to control application information
A parliamentary committee has stepped up pressure on new laws to protect the privacy of personal information collected by coronavirus tracking applications.
The Joint Human Rights Committee wants a draft law it has drafted to be brought before Parliament to ensure that the information collected is not misused.
The Covid-19 contact tracking app is being tested on the Isle of Wight before a national launch.
Ministers see it as a key part of the government’s “test, track and trace” strategy.
Using Bluetooth, the app keeps an anonymous record of other people who also use the app who have been in close contact with the user.
If someone shows symptoms, you can inform the app, which will instruct anyone who has been near them to isolate themselves.
However, MPs and colleagues are concerned about how the information could be used.
The provisions of the bill presented by the committee include establishing who can access the data and who cannot.
It would also legally prohibit the information from being used for any purpose other than coronavirus tracking.
The bill also requires the creation of a supreme privacy role for the independent contact tracking application to monitor the situation and address complaints.
Long lines at Starbucks begin to reopen
Starbucks has reopened multiple stores in Wales, which has generated many queues at drive-thrus, where eager customers waited to get their coffee.
Coffee fans will be able to grab a takeaway cup at one of yesterday’s sites.
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
The popular chain had closed its stores in March after the coronavirus closed, with 150 stores due to reopen starting Thursday.
Long queues were seen in Cardiff stores Thursday morning as people waited to get their first Starbucks in weeks
Prime Minister joins applause for caregivers
New parents Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds led the applause for key caregivers and workers this week.
The nation came to the door for the eighth consecutive week to applaud NHS caregivers and key workers who have risked their lives fighting Covid-19.
The Prime Minister and his fiancee were seen together for the first time since the birth of their son, Wilfred, in late April.
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