health crisis
A national upswing of cases threatens dire shortages of supplies, medical staff and hospital beds.
Men at the heart of government could have learnt many lessons from women leaders around the world on how it should be done, writes Yvette Cooper MP.
There was no social distancing – and few masks – in the Mount Rushmore crowd as the president ignored the public health crisis consuming the country.
As UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of “the worst public health crisis in a generation”, world leaders are coming into close contact with Covid-19. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in self-isolation after his wife Sophie tested positive for coronavirus, and a Brazilian official who was recently pictured with Donald Trump also has the virus. Elsewhere, Disneyland has closed its parks in the US and France, and the Nepalese government have closed off Mount Everest to climbers until the end of April, to help combat the spread of the virus.
"This is not a drill. This is not a warning. This is a real public health crisis”
Britain's Wellcome Trust global health charity is injecting £80 million into new research about treating snake bites, calling it a “hidden health crisis”. Snake bites kill 120,000 people a year and up to 400,000 people suffer life-changing injuries form bites, including amputations. Researchers point to the over 100-year-old process of making antivenom which is expensive and unreliable. The trust hopes the money will lead to some new innovations around the treatment and accessibility of treating snake bites, which overwhelmingly affect the poorest communities in Africa, Asia and South America.