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Refrigerated tractor trailers serve as temporary morgues in New York City The US has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day. Figures from Johns Hopkins University show 2,108 people died in the past 24 hours while there are now more than half a million confirmed infections. US death toll passes 2,000 in a single day The US could soon surpass Italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths worldwide. But experts on the White House Covid-19 task force say the outbreak is starting to level off across the US. Dr Deborah Birx said there were good signs the outbreak was stabilising, but cautioned: "As encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak." President Donald Trump also said he expects the US to see a lower death toll than the initial predictions of 100,000 fatalities, adding: "We're seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives". In other developments: The World...

In Italy, an epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, the death rate at the end of March stood at a sobering 11%. Meanwhile in neighbouring Germany, the same virus led to fatality rates of just 1%. In China, it was 4%, while Israel had the lowest rate worldwide, at 0.35%. When the first Covid-19 case in Vò, Italy was confirmed, testing was rolled out to the entire village (Credit: theconversation news) At first it can seem surprising that the same virus – which doesn’t seem to have mutated significantly as it has spread – can lead to such widely differing reported mortality rates. And even within one country, the rate appears to change over time. So what’s going on? Covid-19 is markedly higher than elsewhere in the world, which is largely down to how cases are detected (Credit: Worldometer/BBC) Several main factors account for much of the difference we’re seeing – and perhaps the most important come down to simply how we’re counting, as well as testing, cases. Differing death rates F...

These days, nothing hits better than a genuine laugh. With Netflix subscribers everywhere continuing to socially distance themselves, it can feel like we're missing out on a lot. Thankfully, the streaming service has a huge archive of killer comedy to help us fill our days and nights with jokes, disasters, and mayhem. From hidden gems to legendary favorite films, here are our top 15 picks (plus, two honorable mentions) for the best comedies on Netflix streaming right now. Enjoy! 15. While We're Young Before Adam Driver starred in Marriage Story, director Noah Baumbach cast him in the hidden gem of a movie, While We're Young. Driver and Amanda Seyfried appear opposite Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts in this touching look at what it means to grow older while staying young at heart. How to watch: While We're Young is now streaming on Netflix. 14. Good Burger "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger! Can I take your order?" Starring Kel Mitc...

There is a reason why humans are susceptible during disease outbreaks like that of Covid-19 – we keep touching our faces. Why, and what can we do about it? Humans have a rather unusual habit we don’t share with many other animals, and, unfortunately, it makes us particularly susceptible during certain disease outbreaks – we keep touching our faces. Our species is one of the few in the animal kingdom known to touch their faces regularly, and we often do it without even noticing. Studies have shown that we are particularly prone to touching our chins and the areas around the mouth, nose and eyes. When it comes to a disease like the new coronavirus, Covid-19, that is a recipe for fast transmission. (Read more about how Covid-19 can be transmitted by surfaces.) One 2015 observational study analysed the behaviour of medical students in Australia. Mary-Louse McLaws, an infection control expert at the University of North South Wales, Sydney, and her colleagues found that the studen...

You don't have to have symptoms to do some serious spreading.You don't have to have symptoms to do some serious spreading. First, the obligatory caveat: There's still so much we don't know about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease that results from the virus. New genetic developments are coming everyday — so fast that even the CDC can't keep up. During the latest coronavirus press conference Saturday, Dr. Deborah Birx shared new findings about the virus that may contradict what the CDC currently says about transmission. Birx, the highly experienced coronavirus response coordinator at the White House, said that there may be a group of people who are asymptomatic yet spreading the virus. Birx's task force of experts does not believe that people under 20 are immune from coronavirus, so they may have it and not show symptoms. "Are they a group that are potentially asymptomatic and spreading the virus?" Birx asked. "Because of tha...

In a press conference at the White House, President Trump today announced that 1,700 Google engineers were working on a coronavirus screening site. That site was supposedly the first step in a new screening process that would lead people from figuring out if their symptoms warranted more testing to the location of new “drive through” testing stations. But Trump was wrong. This screening site isn’t being developed by Google . Instead, it’s being built by Verily, Alphabet’s life science division — and it’s not ready to launch yet either. While both share the same parent company in Alphabet,  these are two very different companies. In addition, as Verily  noted in a statement it provided almost three hours after Trump made the announcement, this site isn’t quite ready yet. “Verily is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. We are in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more...

Some of the world’s top experts tracking the spread of the coronavirus predict that in a matter of weeks, much of Europe could be facing a similar surge in cases that has locked down Italy, overwhelmed its hospitals in the north and brought the country of 60 million to a standstill. Mathematical models developed by epidemiologists to track the virus show a sharp trajectory of infections in Germany, France and Britain. Spain showed particularly concerning exponential growth, some experts said. The modelers in Europe say a similar arc is likely in the United States, but anticipating the spread is made more difficult by the lack of widespread testing of suspected cases there. “Italy is about two weeks ahead of Britain and the rest of Europe,” said Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London. Observations by epidemiologists show that if unchecked, the number of infections double approximately roughly every five days, with infected individuals, ...

Some the biggest technology companies in the U.S. have agreed to pay wages for hourly employees impacted by the ongoing corporate response to the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the right thing for companies to do, from both a health and safety perspective, and to ensure that the hourly workers who are most impacted by work stoppages and shortages are not adversely affected by events that are beyond their control. As we reported earlier today, Facebook committed to pay its “contingent” workers. And according to a report in Axios, Amazon, Google and Twitter are joining them. We’ve reached out to Apple but have yet to receive a comment. In a statement to Axios, Amazon made the same commitment for its employees. “We will continue to pay all hourly employees that support our campus in Seattle and Bellevue – from food service, to security guards to janitorial staff – during the time our employees are asked to work from home,” the company said in a statement. “In addition, we will sub...

Exploiting a public health crisis for personal gain is the dastardly crime of our times. The research arm of security firm Check Point has found that cybercriminals around the globe have launched phishing and other malware deployment schemes that ride on people's thirst for information about the coronavirus. In its most recent report, it found that coronavirus-related websites created in January and February of this year are "are 50% more likely to be malicious" than other websites created in the same time period. That means that if you search for information about the coronavirus, you could stumble onto a website that has the sole aim of stealing your information. Criminals have also sent out email phishing campaigns purporting to contain coronavirus information. One campaign in Italy masqueraded as an official email from the World Health Organization. In truth, it contained a malicious attachment — and got sent to 10 percent of organizations within Italy. ...

Numerous tech companies have asked their Seattle-based employees to work from home to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Both Amazon and Facebook have shut down offices in the area after confirming that their Seattle-based employees have indeed contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. As the outbreak continues to spread in the US, including in California and New York, the situation has worsened in Washington where the virus was first discovered Stateside. The state now has at least 70 confirmed cases and 10 deaths. Here are the work-from-home policies for some Seattle tech company offices that The Verge is aware of: Amazon has told employees based in Seattle and nearby Bellevue that it recommends employees work from home until the end of March, according to CNBC. The recommendation comes after Amazon confirmed on March 2nd that one of its Seattle-based employees was quarantined with the novel coronavirus. That employee left work on Febru...