Scientists are tracing the path of Sars-CoV-2 from a wild animal host – but we need to look at the part played in the outbreak by industrial food productionCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhere did the virus causing the current pandemic come from? How did it get to a food market in Wuhan, China, from where it is thought to have spilled over into humans? The answers...

The behaviour of birds, reptiles and fish has much to teach us about the perilous leap into adulthood for our own offspringFor more than a decade we’ve been immersed in the chaos, exasperation and delight of adolescence. Professionally, we were researching how wild animals across the globe make the perilous leap from childhood to adulthood. Meanwhile at home, we were each raising animal...

Proponents of modern monetary theory believe that countries can and should keep printing as much money as they needTreasury officials have spent the last couple of weeks asking themselves how much the exchequer should spend fighting coronavirus. Curled up with laptops in the spare room or on the kitchen table, banished from their neoclassical headquarters, they have debated how many borrowed...

Reptiles inhabited prehistoric Morocco 100m years agoScientists have discovered three new species of flying reptiles that lived in the Sahara 100m years ago.Prof David Martill, a palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth, made the discovery with a team of researchers from Morocco and the US. Continue...

Our Italy correspondent on how the crisis went from a foreign news story to a crisis that has cost thousands of Italian livesSometimes being a journalist means having to improvise. It was Sunday 23 February when Italy announced draconian measures to stop people leaving or entering 11 towns that had been put under quarantine - 10 in the Lombardy region and one in Veneto. I got up early that day to...

Health professionals are seeing more relapses as the US takes drastic measures to limit the spread of coronavirusCoronavirus – live US updatesLive global updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople struggling with addiction in the US are more at risk of relapse as their routines get disrupted and their lives are put on pause because of the coronavirus pandemic, experts have warned.“The...

Human trials will begin imminently – but even if they go well, there are many hurdles before global immunisation is feasibleCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEven at their most effective – and draconian – containment strategies have only slowed the spread of the respiratory disease Covid-19. With the World Health Organization finally declaring a pandemic, all eyes...

Latest figures from public health authorities on the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Find out how many cases have been reported near youCoronavirus - live news updatesFind all our coronavirus coverage hereHow to protect yourself from infectionPlease note: these are government figures on numbers of confirmed cases - some people who report symptoms are not being tested, and are not...

What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus, how does it spread, and should you go to see a doctor?Find all our coronavirus coverage hereCoronavirus – latest updatesIt is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has transferred to humans from animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic....

People across Europe are finding increasingly inventive ways to protect themselves against the psychological risks of isolationIn Italy they are singing and sharing recipes. In France, humour is saving the day. In Spain, communal staircases have become the new running tracks, and in Germany, ordinarily disorderly hackers are busy coding corona-busting apps.As hundreds of millions of Europeans...

From antibody testing to virus mutations, here’s what we have learned this weekCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCoronavirus has accelerated scientific developments to a wartime pace. Here are some of the significant advances this week. Continue...

Actions taken to suppress coronavirus reveal what measures are possible in an emergency, say expertsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGovernment responses to climate breakdown and to the challenges of poverty and inequality must be changed permanently after the coronavirus has been dealt with, leading scientists have urged, as the actions taken to suppress the spread of...

Numerous warnings were issued in medical journal but not heeded, Richard Horton writesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe NHS could have prevented “chaos and panic” had the system not been left “wholly unprepared for this pandemic”, the editor of a British medical journal has said.Numerous warnings were issued but these were not heeded, Richard Horton wrote in...

Respiratory physician John Wilson explains the range of Covid-19 impacts, from no symptoms to severe illness featuring pneumoniaCoronavirus – latest global updatesAustralia coronavirus live blogSee all our coronavirus coverageWhat became known as Covid-19, or the coronavirus, started in late 2019 as a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause. The cause of the pneumonia was found to be a...