Health News at Your Fingertips

Following Trump’s decision to be driven past fans standing outside Walter Reed, the hashtag “#25thammendmentnow” is trending at number two on Twitter in the US.

Here is a reminder of what that refers to:

Under the 25th amendment to the US constitution the president himself – or the vice-president with the agreement of eight cabinet officers, supported by Congress – can ask the vice-president, in this instance Republican Mike Pence, to take over as acting president.

Adopted by the US Congress in 1967 after John F Kennedy’s assassination, the 25th cleared up a vagueness in the constitution over succession in event of resignation, death or conviction in impeachment.

The least tricky part of the amendment is section 4, which stipulates what would happen should Donald Trump be indisputably physically debilitated either from an injury or ailment, so much so that he couldn’t communicate but remained alive.

Then the vice-president is in charge unless and until the president recovers.

If Pence is also unable to assume control, then under the constitution powers are delegated to the speaker of the House of Representatives, in this case, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic California congresswoman. In the US Congress, the Democrats currently control the House, while the Republicans are in a majority in the Senate.

This is now the place to go for all Trump-coronavirus updates, as well as global Covid-19 developments.

I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be steering the blog for the next few hours. Say hi and send me anything you think might be interesting on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

Here is a brief summary from my colleague Lauren Aratani of the key Trump news from the last few hours:

• The White House’s medical team said that Donald Trump, who is currently being treated for Covid-19 at a military hospital, “has continued to improve” since Saturday. The team confirmed the president had lowered oxygen levels at one point and refused to answer questions about whether the president has suffered lung damage. Continuing to take an “upbeat” perspective, one member of the team suggested that Trump could be released as early as tomorrow.
• Trump made an impromptu appearance outside of the hospital this afternoon, waving from inside an SUV to a crowd of supporters who gathered outside the hospital. Concerns were raised about the other people who were in the car with Trump, who was wearing a mask, given that Trump is contagious with the virus.
• A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed the widest lead in a month that Joe Biden has over Trump. The poll, taken Friday and Saturday, showed Biden with a 10-point lead over Trump. A separate poll indicated a majority – 65% – of Americans believe that Trump would not have been infected with the virus if he took it more seriously.
• A report from the Wall Street Journal said that Trump had a positive Covid-19 rapid test on Thursday but did not disclose it immediately to the public and carried on business-as-usual. Trump told Fox News that night that he was waiting for test results and then tweeted later that night that he has the virus.

Trump’s schedule for Monday has just been published – and it is completely clear.

The daily guidance and press schedule for Monday 5 October says “The President has no public events scheduled”.

Earlier on Sunday, Dr Brian Garibaldi, another member of the medical team said Trump was feeling well and his condition was improving.

“If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today, our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House where he can continue his treatment course,” Garibaldi said.

The drive taken by Trump today outside Walter Reed also wasn’t scheduled either, so it’s unclear from the below if we can expect anything like that tomorrow.

Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 761,665 on Sunday with a total reported death toll of 79,088, according to the health ministry.

Authorities reported 3,712 new cases and 208 deaths, but the true figures are likely significantly higher due to limited testing.

Mainland China reported 20 new Covid-19 cases on 4 October, all imported, up from 16 reported a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Monday.

The National Health Commission said in a statement all new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed Covid-19 cases, rose to 27 from 26 a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 85,470, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

As we worry about how much updates from within the White House administration can be trusted my colleague Jim Waterson has this update from Buckingham Palace:

Queen Elizabeth II has issued a message of support to the British newspaper industry, praising traditional media outlets.

The monarch said that “having trusted, reliable sources of information, particularly at a time when there are so many sources competing for our attention, is vital”.

In a letter to the News Media Association, the industry organisation that represents all major national and local newspaper publishers, the Queen said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has once again demonstrated what an important public service the established news media provides, both nationally and regionally.

“The efforts of the news media to support communities throughout the United Kingdom during the pandemic have been invaluable – whether through fundraising, encouraging volunteering, or providing a lifeline for the elderly and vulnerable to the outside world”:

Like most of Europe, Ireland has seen a steady increase in infections since the end of July after emerging slowly from one of Europe’s most severe shutdowns. It reported the highest number of daily cases since late April on Saturday.

However Ireland’s 14-day cumulative case total of 104.6 per 100,000 people represents only the 14th-highest infection rate out of 31 European countries monitored by the European Centre for Disease Control.

Europe’s worst infection hotspot Spain has an infection rate three-times higher than Ireland and while it severely tightened confinement measures in hard-hit Madrid on Friday, restaurants, gyms and shops can still open at limited capacity.

Ireland has a relatively low hospital bed capacity compared to other European countries. The number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients has risen steadily to 132, but peaked at 881 in April during the first lockdown.

Ireland’s main business lobby, Ibec, reacted with dismay, calling for the evidence underpinning the advice to be published.

“It is intolerable that after six months we are still receiving both vague and changing criteria to advance such serious restrictions,” Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy said in a statement.

Ireland’s health chiefs recommended to the government on Sunday that the country enter a second nationwide lockdown for four weeks in a surprise move that cabinet will discuss on Monday, two government sources said.

Reuters: Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team recommended a leap to the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions, Level 5, from current Level 2 controls in 24 of Ireland’s 26 counties and stricter Level 3 measures in Dublin and Donegal.

The government has almost entirely adopted their health chiefs’ advice throughout the pandemic, but one of the sources said a return to lockdown would have a serious economic and societal impact.

Prime Minister Micheal Martin and the leaders of his two coalition partners will meet the country’s chief medical officer on Monday ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss the recommendations.

Under level 5, people are asked to stay at home, except to exercise within 5 kilometres, with only essential retailers allowed to stay open. Unlike the first lockdown, schools and crèches would not have to close.

New York City’s mayor said Sunday that he has asked the state for permission to close schools and reinstate restrictions on nonessential businesses in several neighbourhoods because of a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The action, if approved, would mark a disheartening retreat for a city that enjoyed a summer with less spread of the virus than most other parts of the country, and had only recently celebrated the return of students citywide to in-person learning in classrooms.

Shutdowns would happen starting Wednesday in nine ZIP codes in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

About 100 public schools and 200 private schools would have to close. Indoor dining, which just resumed a few days ago, would be suspended. Outdoor restaurant dining would shut down in the affected neighbourhoods as well, and gyms would close.

Houses of worship would be allowed to remain open with existing restrictions in place, de Blasio said.

Over the past two weeks, the number of new cases of the virus has been rising in pockets of the city, predominantly in neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Queens that are home to the city’s large Orthodox Jewish population.

Nearly 1,100 people have tested positive in Brooklyn in just the last four days, according to state figures.

As many as 500,000 people live in the neighborhoods affected by the proposed shutdown, de Blasio said. He said the lockdown could be lifted in 14 days or 28 days if the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 declines.

Meanwhile in England: a new three-tier lockdown system is being planned, with leaked government documents paving the way for potential harsher restrictions including the closure of pubs and a ban on all social contact outside of household groups.

The draft traffic-light-style plan, seen by the Guardian, is designed to simplify the current patchwork of localised restrictions, which apply to about a quarter of the UK. It also reveals tougher measures that could be imposed by the government locally or nationally if Covid cases are not brought under control.

On Sunday the number of cases jumped by 22,961 after it emerged that more than 15,000 test results had not previously been transferred on to computer systems, including for contact tracers.

Called the “Covid-19 Proposed Social Distancing Framework” and dated 30 September, it has not yet been signed off by No 10 and measures could still be watered down.

Alert level 3 – the most serious – contains tougher measures than any seen so far in local lockdowns since the start of the pandemic. They include:

• Closure of hospitality and leisure businesses.
• No social contact outside your household in any setting.
• Restrictions on overnight stays away from home.
• No organised non-professional sports permitted or other communal hobby groups and activities, such as social clubs in community centres.
• Places of worship can remain open.

Jessica Elgot and Heather Stewart report:

Shortly after a masked US President Donald Trump climbed into a car driven by a secret service agent – wearing a medical gown, face shield and mask – an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Centre, where Trump is currently being treated for coronavirus, condemned the drive, calling it “insanity”. At least one other secret service agent was also in the car.

In a second tweet he said: “the irresponsibility is astounding.”

Dr James Phillips is a full-time emergency medical physician at Walter Reed.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

I’m Helen Sullivan and in this blog, I’ll be bringing you the latest coronavirus developments from around the world as well as key Trump developments.

For an all-Trump blog, head here.

Send me questions, comments or news on Twitter here.

Speaking of the US President: an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Centre, where Trump is being treated for coronavirus, has condemned the president’s decision to be driven pas fans waiting outside the hospital, calling it “insanity”:

Moments ago, Dr James Phillips tweeted, “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

Meanwhile, the global coronavirus case total has passed another milestone, with 35 million infections confirmed by Johns Hopkins University – the US president’s one among the staggering total.

So far, 1,035,208 people have died.

Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:

• The UK reported 22,961 new cases on Sunday – a staggering figure that Public Health England has said is ‘artificially high’ due to case reporting backlogs. This has meant the 15,841 cases that went unreported between 25 September and 2 October were added onto Saturday and Sunday’s figures, with worrying implications for the country’s contact tracing system.
• Donald Trump did not disclose his positive test result immediately, according to the Wall Street Journal. The president said on Fox News Thursday night that he was awaiting test resultswhen he already knew about his positive rapid test result, only making the disclosure following the more thorough Covid-19 screening.
• Trump, who has been hospitalised after testing positive for the coronavirus, made a brief drive-by appearance where he waved at supporters from a car. It reportedly lasted about a minute.
• Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team has recommended the entire country transitions to the highest level of restrictions, Level 5. It follows 364 new coronavirus cases being reported on Sunday.
• All bars in Paris will close from Tuesday after the capital was put on maximum alert level, Reuters reported. It comes as France’s caseload rose by 12,565 to 619,190.
• Brazil has reported 8,456 more cases, taking the total to 4,915,289. Deaths rose by 365, bringing the toll to 146,352, the health ministry said.
• South Africa’s health minister said a further 1,573 coronavirus cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total up to 681,289. Deaths rose by 38 to 16,976.