Live Coronavirus News Updates – The New York Times


Coronavirus Live Updates: Boris Johnson Moved to Intensive Care and the U.S. Death Toll Surpasses 10,000

Glimmers of hope, and new challenges, as the world struggles to beat back the virus.

The grim, grinding news from the worldwide struggle with the coronavirus has begun to be leavened by scattered indications that the spread of the scourge might be slowing.

While Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain remained in intensive care Tuesday morning, New York officials expressed cautious optimism that the state and city might be reaching a turning point, and Italy yet again reported a lower daily death toll. China, where the pandemic began late last year, claimed its first day since January with no coronavirus deaths at all.

A top White House adviser starkly warned Trump administration officials in late January that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain remained in the intensive care unit of a London hospital on Tuesday morning battling coronavirus symptoms, raising questions not just about the state of his health but about who would lead the country, gripped by a major coronavirus outbreak, in his stead if that became necessary.

Mr. Johnson was transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his illness worsened. Aides said he had been moved in case he needed a ventilator to help his recovery. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Johnson’s office said he was in stable condition and had received “standard oxygen treatment” but did not require a ventilator. He was in good spirits and did not have pneumonia.

As Britain has no written Constitution and no standard line of succession in the case of illness or death of the head of the government, it was for Mr. Johnson to decide who should stand in for him if he became ill. But the man he nominated, Dominic Raab, has been relatively untested, serving as the country’s foreign secretary for less than a year.

While Mr. Johnson remains as the head of the government from his hospital bed, the seriousness of his illness means that could change quickly. At a time of extraordinary challenge, Mr. Raab is already serving as chairman of a key committee on the pandemic as the government battles to control the spread of the coronavirus and stabilize an economy hit hard by the lockdown measures it has imposed.

Previous British prime ministers, including Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, have had health issues while in power, but had brief periods of absence for planned procedures.

Mr. Johnson could be hospitalized for some time, and at a moment when the government must make major decisions about its coronavirus response. Though some British prime ministers have nominated deputies, Mr. Johnson chose not to do so when he took the role last year.

The last time Britain experienced such a power vacuum was in 1953, when Winston Churchill suffered a stroke and the truth of his condition was kept from the British public.

Before going into intensive care, Mr. Johnson asked Mr. Raab to stand in for him “where necessary.”

Another senior minister, Michael Gove — who has had a lead role in coordinating the government’s coronavirus response, including giving interviews on Mr. Johnson’s state of health — announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he was self-isolating. He felt well, he said, but a member of his family showed symptoms of the virus.

France’s health minister said on Tuesday that the country had not reached the peak of its epidemic and was “still in a worsening phase.” The country has recorded some 74,390 cases in total and 8,911 deaths, with the toll still steadily rising. Monday marked its highest 24-hour death toll yet, with 613 fatalities reported in hospitals.

Turkey has ordered all citizens to wear masks when shopping or visiting crowded public places and announced it will start to deliver masks to every family, free of charge, as coronavirus infections sharply increase in the country of 80 million.

Here’s how to help from home.

Sitting at home, it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing you can do to help those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. But there are many things you can do to help medical professionals, the people affected directly by the virus and your local businesses.

The border with Pakistan, shut for weeks, was temporarily opened on Monday to allow measured return of Afghans stuck on the other side. On the first day, officials even showed pictures of circles drawn on the ground to enforce distancing as returnees were checked to see if they had any symptoms. But early on Tuesday, the scenes were chaotic.

“Between 8,000 and 10,000 people rushed in all at once,” said Rahat Gul Ziarmal, the mayor in the border town of Torkham.

Reporting was contributed by Carlotta Gall, Aurelien Breeden, Martin Selsoe Sorensen, Christopher F. Schuetze, Marc Santora, Megan Specia, Iliana Magra, Maggie Haberman, Mike Baker, Declan Walsh, Andrew Higgins, Carlotta Gall, Patrick Kingsley, Stephen Castle, Mark Landler, Adam Liptak, Sheila Kaplan, Katie Thomas, Motoko Rich, Mike Ives, Richard C. Paddock, Hannah Beech, Jason Gutierrez, Muktita Suhartono and Elaine Yu.




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