With cases spiking sharply across Europe and emergency measures in place from California to Saudi Arabia, investors have sent shares tumbling * Stock markets plunge – business live updates * Tourist sites in Asia hit by coronavirus fears – before and after * Six Nations 2020: France v Ireland called off because of coronavirus * Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should I see a doctor? * Share your experiences 1.50pm GMT With cases of the coronavirus jumping from 45 to 73 in less than 48 hours in GREECE, health authorities have announced further precautionary measures to be enforced with immediate effect. The measures, which include a two-week ban on sporting events, came as Greece’s Olympic Committee announced that for the first time since 1984 this week’s flame lighting ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 games will be held without spectators. The ceremony, which usually takes place in front of an audience of thousands, is unlikely to be seen by more than a hundred people when it gets underway in ancient Olympia on Thursday, organisers now say. 1.45pm GMT A body representing thousands of hospital doctors has postponed its annual conference so that they can help the NHS’s efforts to tackle the virus, which could lead to services becoming overloaded. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) announced that it was putting off its Medicine 2020 gathering from April to next January “so that doctors can concentrate on looking after patients with COVID-19 and avoid putting themselves at any increased risk from the virus. [The] move...signals the RCP’s concern to protect the NHS frontline workforce as best it can”. Our aim is always to protect people’s health and it simply wouldn’t be sensible to bring together hundreds of doctors from all over the UK, and other countries too, when they are already stretched, dealing with COVID-19 on top of all the other pressures on the NHS. We shouldn’t put doctors at unnecessary risk of contracting or spreading the virus so it is a wise precaution to postpone Medicine 2020. Now, as always, I want to protect the wellbeing of the NHS workforce. Continue reading...
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
