Friday briefing: Alert in Wuhan to avoid second Covid-19 wave

Top story: Tories face scrutiny over ‘immunity passport’

Hello – Warren Murray here, let’s wash our hands and then get straight into it.

Residents of Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, have been warned to stay indoors and strengthen protection measures, as Chinese authorities seek to prevent a second wave of infections before they are due to lift travel restrictions on the city. Around the world more than a million people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and more than 51,400 people have died. Australia’s chief medical officer has said the real level of infection might be more like five to 10 million and much higher in the US than reported – while China’s rapid containment also brings a risk of new outbreaks because “their population is not immune” .

No 10 is facing fresh questions over its coronavirus testing plan as it emerged the government is hoping to exit the lockdown through controversial “immunity passports” and antibody tests that are still not proven to work. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has pledged there will be 100,000 tests performed a day in England by the end of the month. The Chinese state is ramping up English-language media campaigns, seeking to use coronavirus to raise its standing on the world stage. Photographs have been promoted to UK audiences by the Xinhua news agency of Chinese aid – dubbed “facemask diplomacy” – arriving at Heathrow. Chinese diplomats have used English-language Twitter, which is banned within China, to spread false suggestions that the virus may have been started by the west. The WHO has said Middle Eastern governments needed to act fast to limit the spread after cases nearly doubled in a week to almost 60,000.

Prince Charles, recently recovered from Covid-19, will today appear by videolink from Scotland to open the new NHS Nightingale hospital at the ExCeL conference centre in London Docklands. Natalie Grey, head of nursing at NHS Nightingale, will unveil a plaque marking the occasion. Four more Nightingale hospitals are being set up: in Bristol, Harrogate, at the Manchester Central complex, and at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. After British Airways said it was moving to suspend more than 30,000 staff from duties, Heathrow airport has announced it is closing one of its two runways due to flight reductions and Cathay Pacific is making cutbacks. We have just posted our latest at-a-glance summary and will have more news throughout the day at our live blog.

There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.

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‘Votes do not match seats’ – Labour’s next leader should pledge to bring in election of parliament by proportional representation, the Green party has urged. Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley, co-leaders of the Greens, write: “We cannot continue to allow our democracy to be warped by a system where many are excluded, policy is not led by those whose voices should be heard, and where votes do not match seats.” Three-quarters of Labour members support proportional representation, according to a YouGov poll shortly after December’s general election. The Labour leadership campaign closed on Thursday and the winner out of Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy is due to be announced tomorrow.

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Stick to the back garden – Temperatures are forecast to reach 20C (68F) in some parts of the UK from Saturday but health officials and police have warned people not to make the most of it – at least not in public spaces. The authorities have stressed it is vital people stay at home. Ten days into the formal lockdown, Andy Slattery, assistant chief constable of Cumbria, said he was concerned that “boredom and frustration” were setting in and people were getting back into their cars, ignoring guidance to exercise locally. “We’ve stopped and spoken to day-trippers from the north-east and the north-west thinking it’s still OK to come to the Lake District – it isn’t.” One senior officer told the Guardian the bigger concern was Easter weekend, when forces are considering boosting patrols dedicated to policing the lockdown.

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Hickory dickory shock – Mice show a range of different facial expressions when experiencing pleasure, pain, fear, sickness and other sensory states or emotions, researchers have found. Gives new meaning to “Say cheese” …

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Nosh knowledge – How well do you know the foods of the world? To start off your Friday take our travel picture quiz and find out.

Coronavirus Extra

> Europe’s fruit and vegetable crops are at risk of rotting in the fields because seasonal workers are unavailable, writes Rory Carroll. Food supply chains are robust and supermarkets are keeping shelves stocked but fresh food harvests are the problem. Strawberry producers are cooling their plants to delay ripening. Asylum-seekers have been hired and volunteers recruited for harvests of berries and asparagus in France and Germany. Britain’s Country Land and Business Association has called for a “land army” of new farm workers. The hope is that students, refugees, the newly unemployed and others – what France’s agriculture minister calls a “shadow army” of workers – will flock from cities to save harvests.

> In the Netherlands, passersby stepping out for exercise in the spring sun, workers and hospitals are being handed tulips, roses and chrysanthemums after more than 10,000 companies signed up to buy more than 1m flowers from the struggling floral industry and simply give them away.

> Every time we read an article telling us not to be selfish and ransack the supermarkets, it triggers the thought that food is running out and we must urgently stock up. There is plenty of food to go round – which means there is no need for panic buying. But who said our relationship with food was fully rational, asks Bee Wilson.

Today in Focus podcast: New York’s Covid-19 catastrophe

Guardian US health reporter Jessica Glenza reports on how medical facilities and staff are being overwhelmed by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Lunchtime read: Dua Lipa – ‘You have to be made of steel’

Two years after New Rules made her a global star, Dua Lipa is back with an album of sheer disco pop perfection – and plenty to say about sex, politics and her night in a strip club with Lizzo. Interview by Laura Snapes.

Sport

Dina Asher-Smith will have a shot at an unprecedented world, Commonwealth and European treble in the summer of 2022 after Sebastian Coe confirmed that all three championships would be squeezed into a six-week window. Some British sporting bodies, including those sending athletes to next year’s Olympics, fear they could go under because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Guardian can reveal. The Jockey Club, the owner of the Cheltenham Festival, has defended its decision to proceed with last month’s event after Andrew Parker Bowles became the latest high-profile attendee to report subsequent Covid-19 symptoms. Premier League players may be willing to pay the wages of their non-playing colleagues, the Professional Footballers’ Association has signalled. And the BBC is preparing to unleash the power of nostalgia in a bid to help self-isolating fans through a summer of no sport.

Business

After a record-breaking jump of 24% yesterday, oil prices have fallen back in overnight trading after hopes of a deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia over production cuts faded. Donald Trump talked up the prospect of the pair reining in output and boosting prices after their precipitous falls last month. Asian stocks have suffered as a result this morning and the FTSE100 is on course to shed 0.87% today. The pound is on $1.237 and €1.141.

The papers

Testing times continue … “Don’t fail this test, minister” warns the Mail, while the Express has more of a cheerleading tone: “Virus pledge to test 100,000 a day”, with a boosterish strapline for the health minister who has “come back fighting” by the paper’s assessment. The Mirror is much less charitable towards Matt Hancock: “Heroes face test wait”. It says he “sparked fury” (let’s call that an anti-Kondo) by “admitting” the tests won’t come until the end of the month.

In the Times it’s “100,000 virus tests a day” with a front-page picture collage of celebrities holding up #ThankYouNHS signs. The Telegraph has a similar line appended with “ministers seek to end lockdown” – as the paper seeks to move the story along to “how and when the lockdown can be ended”. The Guardian is comprehensive: “No 10 admits mistakes over testing as it sets new target”.

“Bad to wurst”, puns the Sun, because coronavirus swabs are having to be sent to Germany for analysis. “UK death toll racing ahead” – alarming stuff in the Metro, which says Britain’s rate is worse than Spain at the same stage of its outbreak. The FT has a gloomy but unsurprising splash: “Jobless claims surge in Europe and US as global economy stalls”.

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