Chief medical officer adds that 80% of UK could contract virus, with half a million people dyingCoronavirus – latest updatesUp to 10,000 people may already have coronavirus in Britain and many families should expect to lose loved ones before their time, Boris Johnson warned on Thursday as he set out measures less stringent than those taken by other countries.Medical, scientific and public health...

Medical and scientific experts react to Boris Johnson’s press conference as the UK moves into the delay phaseProf Deenan Pillay, professor of virology, University College LondonThe ways these measures are developed and issued will be balancing the urgency of trying to flatten the curve of the peak versus activities that are sustainable and realistic. The purpose of staying at home for seven days...

IEA warns that Covid-19 could cause a slowdown in world’s clean energy transitionThe coronavirus health crisis may lead to a slump in global carbon emissions this year but the outbreak poses a threat to long-term climate action by undermining investment in clean energy, according to the global energy watchdog.The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the economic fallout of Covid-19 to wipe...

The UK is adopting a much more limited response than other countries. It may be ignoring essential lessons from elsewhereHow quickly the unthinkable can become reality. We are all entering a new world as the Covid-19 pandemic takes hold. Many more families in the UK will lose loved ones, the prime minister has warned: while 590 cases have been identified, officials say the true number is probably...

Findings mean that isolating people once they start to feel ill is less effective than hopedCoronavirus – latest updatesTell us: have you been affected by the coronavirus?Many coronavirus infections may be spread by people who have recently caught the virus and have not yet begun to show symptoms, scientists have found.An analysis of infections in Singapore and Tianjin in China revealed that...

The WHO has declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. But what does that mean?Coronavirus latest - live updatesDeclaring a pandemic has nothing to do with changes to the characteristics of a disease, but is instead associated with concerns over its geographic spread. According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic is declared when a new disease for which people do not have immunity...

From questions on how the virus spread to concerns about whether schools should shut, our experts answer your questions on coronavirus 2.02pm GMT Our live Q&A has now ended. Thank you to everyone who submitted a question either in our form or in the comments. You can continue to follow our live updates here. Related: Coronavirus live updates: Ireland closes all schools and universities 2.00pm...

Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen urge ‘cooperation rather than unilateral action’Coronavirus – latest newsThe EU has condemned Donald Trump’s unilateral ban on travel from 26 European countries as urgent efforts to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic continued to upend daily life for millions of people around the world.Ireland became the latest country to close all...

My former colleague David Ware, who has died aged 80, was a university and college lecturer and biological sciences researcher.Born in Brighton, East Sussex, to Henry, a chief petty officer in the Royal Navy, and Florence (nee May), a nurse, he attended Varndean grammar school. At the age of 18 David was called up for national service, training as a radar operator in Cyprus. There followed a...

If retail workers like me work sick, then you get sick. But not going to work can mean not paying the rentIt’s a strange time to be working at a prominent high-street fashion retailer. For many in the UK, this week has been one of self-isolation: staying away from work, stocking up on essential items, sealing themselves off from the threat of infection. Yet for many others, self-isolation is an...

Alcohol-based disinfectants are also effective, but soap is a highly efficient way of killing the virus when it’s on your skinViruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Disinfectants, liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol are all useful at getting rid of them – but they are not quite as good as normal soap. Related: With Italy in lockdown, fear over coronavirus...

What is Covid-19, how does it spread, what are the symptoms, and at what point should you call a doctor? Coronavirus - live news updatesFind all our coronavirus coverage hereHow to protect yourself from infectionIt is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. Continue...

There are too many unknowns to make reliable predictions, but Hong Kong and Singapore should be Britain’s role modelsAre we doing Covid-19 right? With the number of new reported cases of infection declining rapidly in China, but soaring in what is now a semi-locked-down Italy, it’s worth looking at the experiences and strategies of countries to see what can be learned. Governments are faced...

Following our first Covid-19 episode last week, we received an incredible response, with so many interesting new areas to explore. One of those was what exactly happens once someone is infected with this new virus. As Nicola Davis find outs, whilst scientists are still racing to figure the exact details out, insights can be gleaned from other viral infections like influenza Continue...

Opposition argues the ‘public health emergency’ requires urgent, even ‘draconian’, social distancing measuresAustralia should immediately close schools and cancel mass events, the federal opposition has said, arguing the “public health emergency” requires urgent, even “draconion” action.Shadow cabinet minister Bill Shorten said Australia needed to implement social distancing “not...

American actor, who is starring in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film, and his wife say they are to be isolated while they recover • Coronavirus live updates: US suspends all travel from Europe for 30 days, excluding UKThe US actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have been diagnosed with coronavirus while filming in Australia.The 63-year-old Academy Award-winning actor is currently on the Gold...