Coronavirus: Global cases top 1.6 million

CNN says there are now more than 1.6 million cases of the novel coronavirus and 95,000 deaths globally. The US now has more than 466,000 cases. 

The main US model is now showing fewer projected deaths down to about 60,000 people by August. And top doctor Anthony Fauci said Americans may be able to take summer vacations if mitigation strategies continue.

Read the full story on CNN

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Japanese ICUs understaffed and overlooked as coronavirus influx looms

Japan Times says intensive care is set to play a critical role as the coronavirus spreads in Japan, but finite resources and a shortage of specially trained staff in intensive care units have cast doubt upon the country’s ability to withstand a surge in patients.

The nation’s health care system may be world-class but fully staffed ICUs in the country are few and far between, said Satoru Hashimoto, a hospital director of intensive care medicine. “Intensive care requires endurance and an extremely high level of skill that few people have,” he said.

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Hundreds of UK care home deaths not added to the official coronavirus toll

The Guardian says hundreds of people are dying in care homes from confirmed or suspected coronavirus without yet being officially counted, the Guardian reports. 

More than 120 residents of the UK’s largest charitable provider of care homes are thought to have died from the virus in the last three weeks, while another network of care homes is reported to have recorded 88 deaths. 

Read the full story on The Guardian

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Easter can’t be normal, Britons told

BBC News says Britons are being urged not to undo the success of social distancing over the Easter bank holiday, as Boris Johnson begins his coronavirus recovery. 

A publicity campaign tells people to stay home to have a “safe Easter” even as temperatures are set to rise to 26C. The PM is now out of intensive care and in “extremely good spirits” at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Read the full story on BBC News

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Singapore bans teachers from using Zoom after lessons get ‘porn-bombed’

RT News says Singapore has ordered teachers to stop using the video chat program Zoom after hackers ‘spiced up’ school lessons with pornography. The move comes as the app’s security woes led to a ban by NASA and others. 

In one incident, a student’s mother said hackers commandeered a Zoom stream, posting obscene images in the chat before asking girls in the class to “flash their chests,” according to a local report. 

Read the full story on RT News

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Lebanon to continue repatriation of coronavirus-stranded citizens abroad

Arab News says the Lebanese government will continue with its repatriation of stranded citizens from abroad because of tighter travel restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus. 

Flights scheduled for next Monday to bring back the Lebanese abroad were still on, according to Michel Najjar, the country’s minister for Public Works and Transportation, in a report by state news agency NNA.

Read the full story on Arab News