COVID-19 International Media Brief
* A written summary of all notable coronavirus articles found on newsnow.co.uk
COVID-19 International Media Brief: 14th of March (16:00 GMT)
On the 14th of March the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre recorded the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases rise to 149,293, the number of deaths was at 5,609 and the total recoveries 72,042.
According to the World Health Organization, Europe is now the ‘epicentre’ of the global coronavirus pandemic. The Spanish government plans to declare a state of emergency ‘ordering people to stay at home unless they need to buy food, medicine, or go to work or a hospital’. Spain has the second most Coronavirus cases with 5,753 and 136 deaths. Following the decision to ban foreign travel and foreigners, the Czech Republic pledged to close most shops and restaurants. In the United Kingdom the level of deaths doubled in 24 hours to 21. The BBC posted uplifting videos of Italian’s singing from their windows amidst a countrywide lockdown. Denmark pledged to shut borders to everyone aside from its own citizens.
In the United States a Coronavirus relief bill passed the House permitting ‘two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid leave for workers affected by the virus, giving small and mid-sized businesses a tax credit to pay for the benefits’. According to Reuters the US military plan to halt all domestic travel. CNN ran an article describing how Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is increasingly influencing White House policy on the coronavirus. Articles indicated that Ohio and Washington State were the states leading the rest of the U.S in understanding how to effectively deal with COVID-19. Canada announced the closing of parliament for five weeks and enhanced screening measures at airports.
New Zealand announced the world’s toughest border controls enforcing a fortnightly self-isolation for all travellers entering the country. The Daily Mail reported how ‘In Victoria Australia, jury trials were ‘suspended indefinitely for the first time in history’.
In Africa, Ethiopia and Namibia saw its first cases of Coronavirus and Sudan saw its first death.
In Brazil, it was claimed that Bolsonaro would be tested again after his first test came back negative.
In the Economy, Apple chose to shut all stores outside of China. Vice reported that Amazon Prime would likely falter as the supply goes up from isolation and the delivery service goes down because of a workforce damaged by Coronavirus. Forbes described how shares in sports teams had plummeted as games were cancelled and players continued to receive wages. The share price of Manchester United and the New York Nicks was down by a third since the end of December. Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire and owner of Alibaba, has pledged to deliver two million protective masks throughout Europe.
In politics the Coronavirus has led to a change in procedures and attitudes. In China, the New York Times wrote journalists have defied censorship to criticise the Communist Party over its failures in the healthcare system leading to ‘passionate calls for press freedom’. In Britain the Coronavirus has limited the amount of time Boris Johnson has to strike a trade deal with the EU and may lead to an extension beyond December 31st. CNN and NPR speculated the legislative impact of Coronavirus, with the former focusing on how the Supreme Court is now shut until further notice yet will still carry out a ‘number of consequential and controversial cases’.
In medical news drugs were experimented, vaccination testing scheduled and approaches questioned. The Mirror reported how an American woman survived from Corona Virus following the administration of ‘remedesivir’ which had previously only been used on monkeys. The Daily Mail reported how ‘the first human trials of coronavirus could start within days in the US after it bypassed animal testing’, this came after a British scientist they would begin human testing by June. NPR and the Mirror provided stories on how long viruses can last on certain materials. The latter gave evidence from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that the virus could survive up to four hours on copper, 24 hours on cardboard, and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel. Psychology Today questioned Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ approach.
Advice on Coronavirus was provided by major media companies. The Independent gave platform to child psychology experts that urged parents to be reassuring and truthful when answering their kids questions. The Mirror provided instructions on self-isolating. The Guardian gave opinions on Corona from journalists in China, Italy and the UK and also had a Doctor providing answers on who was the most vulnerable to Coronavirus. Forbes ran an article detailing the most important people to follow during the COVID-19 outbreak. These included Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) the Director General of the World Health Organisation. Propublica ran an article emphasising the danger of comparing Coronavirus, something that was ‘unlike anything in our lifetime’, to flu, citing how flu killed just 1% of people who are over the age of 65 whereas COVID-19 killed 8% of those infected between 70-79 and almost 15% of those infected over the age of 80.
In Tech news, Time reported how Google were in the early stage development of a website where high risk individuals can be directed to testing sites based on the latest guidance from public health authorities. In Iran an app called Café Bazaar promised to tell citizens if they had coronavirus but was in fact a veil used to hoover up huge amounts of data on citizens, including names, addresses, dates of birth and location tracking. The Huffington Post ran a story explaining how groups were exploiting the crises by spreading ‘disinformation to millions’.
In Sports, t