May 19 coronavirus news

An international study of global carbon emissions found that daily emissions declined 17% between January and early April, compared to average levels in 2019, and could decline anywhere between 4.4% to 8% by the year's end. Emissions haven't been this low since 2006. 

The study, which appeared today in the journal Nature Climate Change, centered on 69 countries, all 50 US states and 30 Chinese provinces, which account for 85% of the world population and 97% of all global carbon dioxide emissions.

By the numbers: By the end of April, carbon emissions are estimated to have declined by 1,048 metric tons, according to the researchers -- that's roughly 2,312,649 pounds. 

The decline is largest in China, where the pandemic began, where emissions dropped 533,500-plus pounds. In the US, carbon emissions declined by 456,350-plus pounds. China and the US are the two largest carbon emitters globally.

By the end of the year, emissions will have declined somewhere between 4.4% and 8%, the researchers predict. It's the most significant decline in over a decade, but it's the result of forced changes, not the restructuring of global economies and energy.

According to United Nations Environment projections, to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% every single year between now and 2030.

Unclear trend: It's not clear how long or severe the coronavirus pandemic will be, which makes it difficult to predict how emissions will be affected long-term. And, because the changes driving reduced emissions haven't fundamentally changed the economy or the energy much of the world relies on, the declines are likely to be temporary. Plus, 2020 is still on track to be one of the top five hottest years on record.

More than 20,400 health care workers in Germany have contracted coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak, the country's center for disease control said Tuesday.

Out of the infected workers, 61 have died and an estimated 19,100 have recovered from it, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Around 11% of the total coronavirus infections in Germany have been among the group, official data shows.

More than 8,000 people have now died of Covid-19 in Germany as of Tuesday, according to the institute.

Bavaria, Germany’s largest federal state, remains the worst hit area, with 26% of Covid-19 infections in the country and 29% of the overall death tally.

The central Chinese City of Wuhan conducted more than 467,000 coronavirus tests on Monday, authorities said today.

Wuhan started conducting city-wide coronavirus testing on its citizens last week after health officials detected several new locally transmitted cases despite a strict 76-day lockdown that was intended to eliminate Covid-19 from the city where the virus is thought to have first emerged.

Wuhan has now conducted over 1.3 million coronavirus tests since May 12, the city's Municipal Health Commission said.

The latest numbers: China reported six new cases of novel coronavirus Monday, including three locally transmitted cases, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

The three locally transmitted cases include two infections in Jilin province, and one infection in Wuhan, Hubei province, authorities said.

In addition, 17 new asymptomatic cases have been reported, it said.

The total number of reported cases in the country is now more than 84,000, according to a Johns Hopkins tally.

One of the world's most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has responded to US President Donald Trump's recent letter to the World Health Organization.

In a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, threatening to permanently withdraw funding and cancel US membership, Trump also name-checked The Lancet as warning of the virus in early December. In a statement today, the Lancet said it did not publish a report about the new virus in December.

"The Lancet published no report in December, 2019, referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China," the statement read.

A resolution sponsored by the EU, among others, calling for a global inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic response has been adopted with no objections at the WHO’s World Health Assembly today.

The part of the resolution that had been considered contentious called for “a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” at “the earliest appropriate moment”, with the purpose “to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to Covid-19”.

About Trump's letter to WHO: Meanwhile, President Trump on Monday redoubled his criticism of the WHO, threatening to permanently withdraw funding and cancel US membership even as it deals with a devastating global pandemic.

In a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump said he would permanently halt financial contributions if the WHO does not "commit to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days." Trump temporarily suspended funding to the organization last month.

The World Health Organization today acknowledged receipt of the letter from Trump.

China called on the US to "stop the blame game" on Tuesday, while the EU said "it is not the time for finger pointing". Leaders of several countries, including France and Germany, also stressed the importance of the WHO's work in battling the pandemic during the World Health Assembly meeting.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and the central European leaders on Tuesday agreed on gradually reopening border crossings and lifting controls as soon as the coronavirus pandemic allows.

The announcement came after Merkel and the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad nations — Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — spoke today, according to a statement by the German Chancellor's spokesperson Steffen Seibert.

The leaders ''had an intensive exchange of views on the respective measures for further containment of the Covid-19 pandemic'," the statement said, adding that ''they agreed it was in their interest to gradually remove existing border restrictions and controls as soon as the pandemic situation allows.''

In a subsequent bilateral meeting between Merkel and Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the two leaders confirmed they want to reduce restrictions on people and businesses in border regions as soon as infection rates allow. The two countries share a 817-kilometer (or 506-mile) border. 

Almost 10,000 people with Covid-19 died in care homes in England and Wales in care homes in England and Wales up to May 8, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Tuesday in a report.

A total of 37,375 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in England and Wales between December 28, 2019 and May 8, 2020, it added.

In England, the number of deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes -- which were registered by May 8 -- was 9,495, while in Wales the number of deaths was 480, the report said.

These figures are provisional and may not show a complete picture of the number of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales. 

There have been more than 22,000 excess deaths among care home residents in England and Wales as a direct or indirect result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the London School of Economics (LSE).

The ONS registered a decrease in deaths occurring in private homes and hospitals, but the percentage of deaths in care homes increased by 42.4% in the week ending May 8, the ONS said.

For the second week running, all regions in England and Wales showed a decrease in the percentage of deaths involving coronavirus, the ONS added.

CORRECTION: This post has been updated with care home death totals through May 8.

Seventy schools in France have closed after a spike in suspected coronavirus infections, the French Education Ministry told CNN Tuesday, adding that there have not been any confirmed cases in schools since they re-opened.

The schools "had to close their doors" after suspected Covid-19 cases appeared in the wider community, a ministry press officer told CNN.

This comes as the country navigates the tricky process of restarting its economy and easing its lockdown without causing a spike in new infections.

Some 40,000 schools have re-opened since last week, France's Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer told RTL radio station Monday.

Of the 1.4 million students who have returned to the classroom, 186,000 are middle schoolers in "green zones," which are French districts where the government has decided the epidemic no longer warrants restrictions to free movement.

Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Tuesday that his country is not interested in a trade war with China, after China announced crippling tariffs on Australian barley exports – a trade that is worth close to $600 million a year.

The tariffs are the latest development in the deteriorating relationship between Canberra and Beijing, which began when Australia called for an international inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.

Even though the two sides say barley tariffs and the coronavirus inquiry aren’t linked, some are questioning whether Beijing’s latest move is economic payback.

Australia's Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said Tuesday that Australia reserves its right to go to the World Trade Organization to mediate in the decision.