news--2020-06-04--The coronavirus divide: Why five groups are dying more than they should

The coronavirus divide : Why five groups are dying more than they should The coronavirus divide : Why five groups are dying more than they should Fourteenth century commentators writing about the Black Death told tales of the houses of the rich lying open for anyone to plunder , as both servants and their masters had died of the plague .
Death , it has been said since Roman times , is the Great Leveller .
Coronavirus - the closest the 21st century has come to a plague sweeping across the world - has not been a leveller , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made available .
It has hit those on the margins and from disadvantaged communities the hardest .
It debunks claims by Michael Gove , made after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock came down with the virus , that it `` does not discriminate '' .
Sky News analysis has found that COVID-19 has hit people in the UK in five main categories harder than others : • Those from black and ethnic minority communities People who live in deprived areas have generally shorter life spans , and are always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seasonal illnesses .
But the difference between the most deprived and least deprived areas has been particularly stark because of COVID-19 .
Between 1 March and 17 April , analysis shows there were 55.1 coronavirus-related deaths per 100,000 in the most deprived areas compared to 25.3 per 100,000 in the least deprived - more than double the rate .
Experts like David Finch , from the Health Foundation , say the link to deprivation is not surprising .
He told Sky News : `` There are two key ways in which people can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's first off through exposure and then how well people cope if they have the virus .
`` If you look at people living in more deprived areas , they 're far more likely to have an existing health condition .
`` We would see that as a consequence of the day-to-day conditions which they live in : That could be working long hours , variable shift patterns , and the stress that can be brought on through living in insecure housing .
`` All that will have a toll on your underlying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Statistics ' ( ONS ) deprivation indices look at a range of inequalities , including levels of wealth , life expectancy , health , crime , employment and other `` domains '' which it uses to ranks areas from the most deprived to the least deprived .
In general , the most deprived areas of the country - based on the proportion of the bottom 10 % sub areas in each local authority - are places like Middlesbrough , Liverpool , Knowsley and Hull .
Among the deprived areas that have been badly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Haringey , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Sandwell , Liverpool , and Middlesbrough - many of those that are the most deprived .
Naveed Sattar , professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow , says it is partly about the virus itself .
He said : `` In the past , most viruses like pneumonia , and others that infected people , they did n't have this effect on multi-organ systems .
`` There 's something about this virus that affects more than just the lungs - for example , around a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ others , even if they do n't get deep vein thrombosis ... the blood thickens , which then affects the blood supply to your lungs , to your kidneys , to your heart , and also potentially the brain as well .
`` So , if you 've already got accelerated ageing because of obesity , smoking , poor lifestyle or accelerated age of your metabolism or your heart , if your organs are not as efficient to begin with , you 're much more likely to succumb . ''
The ONS found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in higher paid roles .
They are twice as likely to die with the virus than the average working man and four times more likely to die than those men in professional occupations .
Security guards , taxi drivers and chauffeurs , chefs , care workers and bus drivers are the male occupations with the highest death rates involving coronavirus .
Women working in care , leisure and services sectors are twice as likely to die as those in associate professional and technical occupations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have been exposed - and significantly whether they have been using personal protective equipment ( PPE ) or other barriers if they are exposed - has become apparent .
Professor Keith Neal , emeritus professor of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham , told Sky News : `` Transport workers , particularly drivers of taxis , seem to be badly affected .
And you can probably see why - if you 've got different people in your cab all the time .
`` Whether black cab drivers have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the black cab , you often have a partition up , which you would expect to reduce the risk .
`` The big surprise about the occupations was n't so much which ones were included , but which ones were not .
Healthcare workers did n't seem to be as affected as you might expect .
`` It probably means what we 've known for years - that proper use of PPE ... is highly effective .
PPE is n't easy to use . ''
Nadir Nur , 48 , from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He drove the 394 from Islington to Homerton hospital in east London every day .
In late March he caught coronavirus and later died .
His son Joseph says : At first , when we found out he was n't feeling very well , we did n't really think much of it , because you do n't really think these things will hit you .
When it started getting worse , he was struggling to breathe , struggling to do anything .
He went into hospital , then into ICU .
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we really started fearing for the worst because he was mildly asthmatic .
He got put into a coma and about three , four days after that he developed a blood clot in his lungs and went into cardiac arrest .
He died about one o'clock in the morning on 2 April .
Before he got sick , he was worried about it , but he was n't the sort of person who would hide away from anything .
He had a job to do , and he would do it .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goes through Hoxton and Hackney and then it stops there .
That 's probably part of the reason why - you 're passing the bus driver every time you get on the bus .
The response the government had - I think everyone agrees it 's quite poor - the protection they provided , the procedures that were in place .
If it was on the front of [ politicians ' ] concerns , I think a lot more would have been done .
It took a couple of people dying for them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He was a family man .
He was there for everyone in the family - holding us all together , always arranging things , helping anyone in the family who needed it .
He looked after us all really well .
He raised us into people I 'm proud to say I am .
He was just an amazing person .
It was just the biggest shock as I believed him to be the strongest person I know .
Even when he was in the hospital , I was thinking 'you 'll get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
It was apparent from early on in the epidemic that elderly people were expected to be more likely to die .
Data out of China indicated that most deaths were occurring in older people - indeed much of the criticism of the government 's handling of care homes was due to it being well known early on that old people needed to be protected .
The findings from China and later Italy have been borne out in England and Wales too .
In England and Wales , overall , one person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mentioned on the death certificate during the epidemic outbreak ( weeks 12 to 21 ) .
But this rose substantially for older age groups .
Among the over 90s , 1 in 59 died with COVID-19 during the eight weeks analysed compared to 1 in 198 of those aged 75 to 90 and 1 in 937 of those aged 65 to 74 .
Prof Neal says it has been deaths in care homes that have been responsible .
He said : `` The rate of infection among older people should be less , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so they 're less likely to catch it , but when they do catch it , it 's much worse .
`` It 's been skewed by deaths in care homes .
Very old people seem to be more likely to get it because they are in institutions .
`` It 's almost impossible to keep it out because care home workers - you 're infectious before you get symptoms - go into work , asymptomatic , and introduce the infection .
And that 's been all over Europe , not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given that only people who have tested positive or are suspected to have had the virus and died had coronavirus recorded in their death certificates , a more accurate measure of the impact of the virus is excess mortality .
This is the additional deaths in a given period above what would have been expected under normal conditions .
Many of these extra deaths ( other than those that would have been expected ) have been caused by COVID-19 , but there are other , as yet unexplained excess deaths that have also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely that many of these have occurred as a consequence of the crisis and the lockdown - e.g .
people not seeking treatment , or not being able to get treatment , for a potentially fatal condition .
Birnham Roberts , from the West Midlands town of Smethwick , had diabetes and had suffered a number of minor strokes .
In March he caught coronavirus and died in hospital , where his daughter Cherelle believes he caught the virus .
Before he was admitted with confusion , he was fit and active .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ confused - muddling his words and not making much sense when he was talking .
He had a history , so , we brought him to the hospital hoping we could get him checked out , to see if he 'd had another stroke .
The next day , they thought he had some sort of a chest infection .
He was in a bay with lots of other people .
After two or three days , they said he had COVID .
They tried various antibiotics .
Nothing seemed to be working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watching him fade away .
I got a call early in the hours of the morning .
By the time I got there , he had passed .
That was 18 March .
It took nine days .
Normally , he was fit and well .
He was still driving and active .
He 'd go to the gym , he 'd do tai chi… swimming most days .
He was very active in the church - a church warden .
He 's got grandkids and he was very active with them as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't think there was a lot of stuff out [ about coronavirus ] at the time .
I remember I planned to go and see Cheltenham and they were thinking about cancelling it , but that 's all I remember .
What might have helped would have been putting out more accessible information , because with the older folk , they 're not really tech savvy , they 're not really going to be on the internet and finding things out that way .
So , you probably need people to approach them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out and seek the advice .
Somebody would have to bring it to them .
It 's definitely something he would have picked up while he was in the hospital .
I really regret taking him .
He was someone who was just always full of energy , always very community-minded , always helping out people .
He was in his '80s , but he would still go around and make sure that friends and members of the church were okay .
He was always very caring about his community .
As with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study identified early on that people with some underlying health conditions were more likely to die from COVID-19 .
In the same way that people in Britain with some occupations have been disproportionately hit by the outbreak , those with some chronic diseases and illnesses have also died to a greater extent than the rest of the population .
90.4 % of the people who died with COVID-19 in England and Wales in March and April had at least one pre-existing condition , according to the ONS data .
That figure includes deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer 's disease , which may be because the virus is more severe in older population groups .
Meanwhile , an analysis of NHS England data , which includes only deaths occurring in hospitals , shows that 95 % of those who died in an English hospital up to 26 May had a pre-existing health condition .
While older people are more likely to suffer underlying health conditions , among younger people , the proportion who died who had a health issue was also high .
82 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in English hospitals had a pre-existing condition .
Prof Sattar said part of the problem may be linked to obesity , as fat cells can make immune proteins which can contribute to a potentially fatal hyper-immune response .
But , compounding the problem may be that underlying conditions make it harder for people 's bodies to cope if one occurs .
He said : `` Males , poorer people , tend to be more overweight and obese and have more health conditions .
`` Men compared to women tend to get cardiovascular disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 're more susceptible .
`` There are groups ... who by accelerated ageing of their cardiovascular and respiratory systems or age , have less of an ability to cope with the considerable stress that the immune response can cause on multiple organs in your body .
`` Once you get a response , the ability to cope with that response is diminished , in the sense that their capacity - of their lungs , their hearts , their blood vessels , their metabolism - to cope with it is diminished . ''
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wo n't surprise many - that COVID-19 was by far the biggest cause of death during the period .
Ajit Kumar Agarwal , 68 , from a village near Bury St Edmunds , worked in hospitals in East Anglia and the United Arab Emirates .
Two days after he retired , he came down with a fever .
He died just under three weeks later .
Nitika Agarwal , his daughter , says : My dad had had a 45-year career .
He retired from full-time work on Monday 23 March and fell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He was taken to the hospital on 1 April and then passed away two weeks later on 15 April .
He had Type 2 diabetes , but it was very well controlled on medication and he also had hypertension , which was controlled .
We thought it was very likely to be coronavirus , when he went into hospital , because he had been really feverish for a week .
At the time , people were talking about how the cough was really the thing to look out for - he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I do n't know what would have changed the outcome but he was encouraged to stay at home for quite a long time .
The virus has clearly done quite a lot of damage in the week he was at home .
He deteriorated pretty quickly after getting to hospital .
We think it 's highly likely he picked it up seeing patients .
He was being very careful .
Just before he retired , he was actually working in the UAE .
He was telling us how he was disinfecting his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It 's highly likely he would have mentioned something - so our assumption is that he was not wearing PPE at that stage .
It only really came out afterwards that diabetes was a significant risk factor .
I find it hard to believe that it would n't have been picked up through the Italian or Chinese experience which preceded ours .
Had that information been out there , I imagine some doctors who have those risk factors might have refrained from seeing patients , rightly so , and protected themselves more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He was completely and utterly dedicated to medicine , absolutely passionate about his job and had plans to bring cardiology to the community via GP practices - focusing on prevention at the primary care level .
He loved a good fancy dress party .
A romantic at heart , he was a passionate poet .
He used to write on scraps of envelopes and bits of paper , and he 'd keep them all in a bundle .
He 's got over 500 short couplets , and small poems and speeches he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real family person - happiest when he was with us .
He has two grandchildren who are obviously completely devastated .
Unlike for health issues and age , there was nothing in the early Chinese studies that identified ethnic background as a risk factor .
Yet , it has become apparent that people from a black and minority ethnic ( BAME ) background are significantly more at risk of dying from COVID-19 than white people .
It is under investigation but is already controversial - with some commentators linking it to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because of systemic racism in society .
The ONS says geographic and socio-economic factors ( such as deprivation , household composition , disability , age , among others ) account for over half of the difference in risk between males and females of black and white ethnicity .
However , these factors `` do not explain all of the difference , suggesting that other causes are still to be identified , '' the ONS analysis adds .
The experts say the causes , while still under investigation and awaiting further research , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study also concludes that death rates for BAME groups are higher than white groups .
It found that after accounting for sex , age , deprivation and region `` people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death when compared to people of white British ethnicity '' .
It added : `` People of Chinese , Indian , Pakistani , other Asian , Caribbean and other Black ethnicity had between 10 % and 50 % higher risk of death when compared to white British . ''
The PHE study says `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increased risk of acquiring the infection '' because they are more likely to live in urban areas , in overcrowded households , in deprived areas and have jobs most exposed to the risk .
And it also says they are also more likely to suffer from co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes `` which increase the risk of poorer outcomes from COVID-19 '' .
Seif Shaheen , professor of respiratory epidemiology at Queen Mary University , London , told Sky News he had just set up a new study to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be spotted by the ONS .
He said : `` The link is undisputed both in the UK and in the USA .
There 's quite a long list of possible explanations for that .
`` One is that , in this country , South Asians and Afro-Caribbeans have more in the way of comorbidities , such as diabetes , heart disease and hypertension .
`` Also higher levels of deprivation .
They may live in poorer housing .
`` And specifically ... if you take South Asians , in particular , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families , and therefore they live in very overcrowded homes .
`` This is a very contagious infectious virus .
If you 're in a very overcrowded home , you 're more likely to catch it , and also more likely to get a bigger dose of the virus , which may mean that you then get the illness more severely .
`` And being in the BAME community ... they 're more likely to be in either patient-facing occupations - in health care or social care - in public-facing jobs , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Therefore , they are more exposed ... to the infection because they come into contact with people more . ''
His comments are borne out by other ONS data The ONS found that the greatest rate of COVID-19 deaths was among people aged 20-64 in low skilled elementary occupations and in caring , leisure and other service occupations .
Other ONS data shows black workers are one and a half times as likely as white workers to be in `` elementary '' jobs - jobs like labourers , cleaners and package deliverers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , leisure and other service jobs .
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis , according to the ONS , are more than twice as likely to work in sales and customer service roles than white people and nearly three times as likely to be plant and machine operatives .
Both those fields had a much higher than average rate of death from COVID-19 .
But Prof Shaheen said there could be other , less obvious reasons , why BAME people are being so badly affected .
He said a colleague called Adrian Martineau had found , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deficiency may make people more susceptible to respiratory infections , of which COVID-19 is a type .
He added : `` People who are dark-skinned are more likely , particularly in the UK and in a temperate climate , to be vitamin D deficient . ''
In addition , he continued : `` Smoking is probably important .
Some sub groups in the BAME community , Bangladeshi men particularly , smoke an awful lot .
`` At the moment , there 's a heck of a lot we do n't know . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence does not take other factors into account .
Dr Manish Pareek , associate clinical professor in infectious diseases at the department of respiratory sciences , University of Leicester , works on a COVID-19 ward but has also done work in the community with tuberculosis .
He and a group of colleagues have been looking at the impact of culture and ways of living on the spread of coronavirus .
He also views household size and occupation as important .
But , he added : `` The other thing that we have n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if you think about how the public health messaging has been set out by the government .
It 's been very much centrally driven by the five o'clock press briefings that Boris or others do .
What we do n't know is whether people from different ethnic groups really listen to those public health messages .
`` I work in Leicester .
We are approximately 40 % foreign born .
The government 's public health messaging , which is adverts , Twitter , maybe Facebook and in the bus shelters ...
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they receive that information .
`` More likely is that they receive their information from their relatives or friends through WhatsApp messages from overseas , different news channels .
They do n't necessary watch Sky ... '' All of those things mean ...
I 'm not sure how well the messages got through . ''
What can or should be done ?
The experts Sky spoke to were adamant that more work was needed in order to understand what had caused the divide the ONS has identified .
But , also , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address some of the causes that are already apparent .
Prof Pareek said : `` There 's likely to be a second wave or certainly some spikes in the next few months .
Who knows when ?
And therefore , it 's important that we try and tease this information out now , when things are a bit quieter .
`` So we can put those public health messages out and be quite clear that we know that if you 're of black ethnicity or , say , Bangladeshi ethnicity , your risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high , you need to do X , Y and Z .
`` It 's not just ethnic minorities , it 's going to be also those who are deprived and those with underlying health conditions .
But those groups are slightly different , because if you had an underlying health condition , you were put under shielding .
I 've not seen anything relating to any of that for the ethnic minority population .
`` If you 're a bus driver , in their late 60s say , coming up to retirement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we know that you 've got diabetes etc , it may not make sense to me that they should be seeing hundreds of people .
`` If you look at the medics who 've died , some of them probably should n't have been on the frontline .
`` If we know that these groups are at higher risk , how are we going to target those higher risk populations with vaccination programmes ?
We already know that in certain ethnic minorities groups , vaccination coverage is lower .
We should proactively be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreed : `` If you sort of run through the checklist of risk factors , obviously , a lot of them ca n't be changed .
You ca n't change your ethnicity .
You ca n't change the diseases you 've got .
So it comes down to probably a limited number of modifiable risk factors linked to lifestyle .
`` The other thing would be that it 's important those in patient-facing and public-facing occupations are sufficiently well protected , which comes back to the whole PPE debate .
Many in those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the very front line , ICU and so on - often feel that perhaps they have n't had adequate protection . ''
The Health Foundation , meanwhile , believes what 's needed is a wider rethink about how people from deprived communities are treated .
David Finch added : `` From a longer-term perspective , there 's certainly a case that you could see more of a preventative approach in the health system - trying to keep healthy people healthy , so they do n't need to rely on the health care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of thrust from government around taking a preventative approach .
That 's something that 's important to prioritise in future so that we can be keeping people healthy and not relying on the NHS to step in when people become ill . ''

The coronavirus divide: Why five groups are dying more than they should
By Philip Whiteside, news reporter, and Carmen Aguilar Garcia, data journalist
Fourteenth century commentators writing about the Black Death told tales of the houses of the rich lying open for anyone to plunder, as both servants and their masters had died of the plague.
Death, it has been said since Roman times, is the Great Leveller.
Coronavirus - the closest the 21st century has come to a plague sweeping across the world - has not been a leveller, according to official data that has now been made available.
It has hit those on the margins and from disadvantaged communities the hardest.
It debunks claims by Michael Gove, made after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock came down with the virus, that it "does not discriminate".
Sky News analysis has found that COVID-19 has hit people in the UK in five main categories harder than others:
People from deprived areas
People in low-paid or low-skilled occupations
The elderly
People with underlying health conditions
Those from black and ethnic minority communities
1. The deprived
People who live in deprived areas have generally shorter life spans, and are always hit harder by outbreaks of disease or seasonal illnesses.
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But the difference between the most deprived and least deprived areas has been particularly stark because of COVID-19.
Between 1 March and 17 April, analysis shows there were 55.1 coronavirus-related deaths per 100,000 in the most deprived areas compared to 25.3 per 100,000 in the least deprived - more than double the rate.
Experts like David Finch, from the Health Foundation, say the link to deprivation is not surprising.
He told Sky News: "There are two key ways in which people can be affected by COVID-19.
"That's first off through exposure and then how well people cope if they have the virus.
"If you look at people living in more deprived areas, they're far more likely to have an existing health condition.
"We would see that as a consequence of the day-to-day conditions which they live in: That could be working long hours, variable shift patterns, and the stress that can be brought on through living in insecure housing.
"All that will have a toll on your underlying health."
The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) deprivation indices look at a range of inequalities, including levels of wealth, life expectancy, health, crime, employment and other "domains" which it uses to ranks areas from the most deprived to the least deprived.
In general, the most deprived areas of the country - based on the proportion of the bottom 10% sub areas in each local authority - are places like Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Knowsley and Hull.
Among the deprived areas that have been badly affected are: Newham, Lewisham, Haringey, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Liverpool, and Middlesbrough - many of those that are the most deprived.
Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, says it is partly about the virus itself.
He said: "In the past, most viruses like pneumonia, and others that infected people, they didn't have this effect on multi-organ systems.
"There's something about this virus that affects more than just the lungs - for example, around a third get deep vein thrombosis, and others, even if they don't get deep vein thrombosis... the blood thickens, which then affects the blood supply to your lungs, to your kidneys, to your heart, and also potentially the brain as well.
"So, if you've already got accelerated ageing because of obesity, smoking, poor lifestyle or accelerated age of your metabolism or your heart, if your organs are not as efficient to begin with, you're much more likely to succumb."
2. Lower paid, lower skilled occupations
The ONS found that people in lower-skilled, lower-paid jobs are more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in higher paid roles.
They are twice as likely to die with the virus than the average working man and four times more likely to die than those men in professional occupations.
Security guards, taxi drivers and chauffeurs, chefs, care workers and bus drivers are the male occupations with the highest death rates involving coronavirus.
Women working in care, leisure and services sectors are twice as likely to die as those in associate professional and technical occupations.
Experts say the degree to which people have been exposed - and significantly whether they have been using personal protective equipment (PPE) or other barriers if they are exposed - has become apparent.
Professor Keith Neal, emeritus professor of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, told Sky News: "Transport workers, particularly drivers of taxis, seem to be badly affected. And you can probably see why - if you've got different people in your cab all the time.
"Whether black cab drivers have been as badly affected, nobody quite knows. In the black cab, you often have a partition up, which you would expect to reduce the risk.
"The big surprise about the occupations wasn't so much which ones were included, but which ones were not. Healthcare workers didn't seem to be as affected as you might expect.
"It probably means what we've known for years - that proper use of PPE... is highly effective. PPE isn't easy to use."
Image: Nadir Nur died after testing positive for coronavirus
The bus driver
Nadir Nur, 48, from Hackney, was a father of five. He drove the 394 from Islington to Homerton hospital in east London every day. In late March he caught coronavirus and later died. His son Joseph says:
At first, when we found out he wasn't feeling very well, we didn't really think much of it, because you don't really think these things will hit you.
When it started getting worse, he was struggling to breathe, struggling to do anything.
He went into hospital, then into ICU. When it got confirmed, that's when we really started fearing for the worst because he was mildly asthmatic.
Image: Nadir Nur was a bus driver on the route to Homerton hospital, east London
He got put into a coma and about three, four days after that he developed a blood clot in his lungs and went into cardiac arrest. He died about one o'clock in the morning on 2 April.
Before he got sick, he was worried about it, but he wasn't the sort of person who would hide away from anything. He had a job to do, and he would do it.
His route was to Homerton hospital. It goes through Hoxton and Hackney and then it stops there.
That's probably part of the reason why - you're passing the bus driver every time you get on the bus.
The response the government had - I think everyone agrees it's quite poor - the protection they provided, the procedures that were in place.
If it was on the front of [politicians'] concerns, I think a lot more would have been done. It took a couple of people dying for them to look at it and realise.
He was a family man. He was there for everyone in the family - holding us all together, always arranging things, helping anyone in the family who needed it.
He looked after us all really well. He raised us into people I'm proud to say I am. He was just an amazing person.
It was just the biggest shock as I believed him to be the strongest person I know. Even when he was in the hospital, I was thinking 'you'll get through it', because it was him.
3. The elderly
It was apparent from early on in the epidemic that elderly people were expected to be more likely to die.
Data out of China indicated that most deaths were occurring in older people - indeed much of the criticism of the government's handling of care homes was due to it being well known early on that old people needed to be protected.
The findings from China and later Italy have been borne out in England and Wales too.
In England and Wales, overall, one person in 1,406 died and subsequently had coronavirus mentioned on the death certificate during the epidemic outbreak (weeks 12 to 21).
But this rose substantially for older age groups.
Among the over 90s, 1 in 59 died with COVID-19 during the eight weeks analysed compared to 1 in 198 of those aged 75 to 90 and 1 in 937 of those aged 65 to 74.
Prof Neal says it has been deaths in care homes that have been responsible.
He said: "The rate of infection among older people should be less, because they're not going to work, so they're less likely to catch it, but when they do catch it, it's much worse.
"It's been skewed by deaths in care homes. Very old people seem to be more likely to get it because they are in institutions.
"It's almost impossible to keep it out because care home workers - you're infectious before you get symptoms - go into work, asymptomatic, and introduce the infection. And that's been all over Europe, not just a British problem."
However, given that only people who have tested positive or are suspected to have had the virus and died had coronavirus recorded in their death certificates, a more accurate measure of the impact of the virus is excess mortality.
This is the additional deaths in a given period above what would have been expected under normal conditions.
Many of these extra deaths (other than those that would have been expected) have been caused by COVID-19, but there are other, as yet unexplained excess deaths that have also occurred in that period. It is likely that many of these have occurred as a consequence of the crisis and the lockdown - e.g. people not seeking treatment, or not being able to get treatment, for a potentially fatal condition.
Image: Mr Roberts used to stay fit with activities like tai chi and the gym
The 82-year-old
Birnham Roberts, from the West Midlands town of Smethwick, had diabetes and had suffered a number of minor strokes. In March he caught coronavirus and died in hospital, where his daughter Cherelle believes he caught the virus. Before he was admitted with confusion, he was fit and active. Cherelle says:
He seemed a bit confused - muddling his words and not making much sense when he was talking.
He had a history, so, we brought him to the hospital hoping we could get him checked out, to see if he'd had another stroke.
The next day, they thought he had some sort of a chest infection. He was in a bay with lots of other people.
Image: Mr Roberts was a church warden who was always doing things for others, his daughter Cherelle said
After two or three days, they said he had COVID.
They tried various antibiotics. Nothing seemed to be working. And then, you were just watching him fade away.
I got a call early in the hours of the morning. By the time I got there, he had passed. That was 18 March. It took nine days.
Normally, he was fit and well. He was still driving and active. He'd go to the gym, he'd do tai chi… swimming most days. He was very active in the church - a church warden.
He's got grandkids and he was very active with them as well.
[Before] I don't think there was a lot of stuff out [about coronavirus] at the time. I remember I planned to go and see Cheltenham and they were thinking about cancelling it, but that's all I remember.
What might have helped would have been putting out more accessible information, because with the older folk, they're not really tech savvy, they're not really going to be on the internet and finding things out that way. So, you probably need people to approach them. They're not going to go out and seek the advice. Somebody would have to bring it to them.
It's definitely something he would have picked up while he was in the hospital. I really regret taking him.
He was someone who was just always full of energy, always very community-minded, always helping out people.
He was in his '80s, but he would still go around and make sure that friends and members of the church were okay. He was always very caring about his community.
4. Underlying health conditions
As with the data on age, a Chinese study identified early on that people with some underlying health conditions were more likely to die from COVID-19.
In the same way that people in Britain with some occupations have been disproportionately hit by the outbreak, those with some chronic diseases and illnesses have also died to a greater extent than the rest of the population.
90.4% of the people who died with COVID-19 in England and Wales in March and April had at least one pre-existing condition, according to the ONS data.
That figure includes deaths in care homes and the most common pre-existing condition was dementia and Alzheimer's disease, which may be because the virus is more severe in older population groups.
Meanwhile, an analysis of NHS England data, which includes only deaths occurring in hospitals, shows that 95% of those who died in an English hospital up to 26 May had a pre-existing health condition.
While older people are more likely to suffer underlying health conditions, among younger people, the proportion who died who had a health issue was also high.
82% of those aged under 39 who died in English hospitals had a pre-existing condition.
Prof Sattar said part of the problem may be linked to obesity, as fat cells can make immune proteins which can contribute to a potentially fatal hyper-immune response. But, compounding the problem may be that underlying conditions make it harder for people's bodies to cope if one occurs.
He said: "Males, poorer people, tend to be more overweight and obese and have more health conditions.
"Men compared to women tend to get cardiovascular disease and diabetes at younger ages so they're more susceptible.
"There are groups... who by accelerated ageing of their cardiovascular and respiratory systems or age, have less of an ability to cope with the considerable stress that the immune response can cause on multiple organs in your body.
"Once you get a response, the ability to cope with that response is diminished, in the sense that their capacity - of their lungs, their hearts, their blood vessels, their metabolism - to cope with it is diminished."
It all adds up to a finding that won't surprise many - that COVID-19 was by far the biggest cause of death during the period.
Image: Dr Agarwal was working as a cardiologist when he caught COVID-19
The Asian cardiologist
Ajit Kumar Agarwal, 68, from a village near Bury St Edmunds, worked in hospitals in East Anglia and the United Arab Emirates. Two days after he retired, he came down with a fever. He died just under three weeks later. Nitika Agarwal, his daughter, says:
My dad had had a 45-year career.
He retired from full-time work on Monday 23 March and fell ill on Wednesday 25 with a fever.
He was taken to the hospital on 1 April and then passed away two weeks later on 15 April.
He had Type 2 diabetes, but it was very well controlled on medication and he also had hypertension, which was controlled.
Image: Ajit Agarwal was described by his daughter as a family man and a romantic at heart
We thought it was very likely to be coronavirus, when he went into hospital, because he had been really feverish for a week.
At the time, people were talking about how the cough was really the thing to look out for - he didn't have one, only a fever.
I don't know what would have changed the outcome but he was encouraged to stay at home for quite a long time.
The virus has clearly done quite a lot of damage in the week he was at home. He deteriorated pretty quickly after getting to hospital.
We think it's highly likely he picked it up seeing patients.
He was being very careful. Just before he retired, he was actually working in the UAE. He was telling us how he was disinfecting his keyboard and mouse and washing his hands.
It's highly likely he would have mentioned something - so our assumption is that he was not wearing PPE at that stage.
It only really came out afterwards that diabetes was a significant risk factor.
I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have been picked up through the Italian or Chinese experience which preceded ours. Had that information been out there, I imagine some doctors who have those risk factors might have refrained from seeing patients, rightly so, and protected themselves more.
Information dissemination has been an issue.
He was completely and utterly dedicated to medicine, absolutely passionate about his job and had plans to bring cardiology to the community via GP practices - focusing on prevention at the primary care level.
He loved a good fancy dress party. A romantic at heart, he was a passionate poet. He used to write on scraps of envelopes and bits of paper, and he'd keep them all in a bundle. He's got over 500 short couplets, and small poems and speeches he's delivered for friends.
He was a real family person - happiest when he was with us. He has two grandchildren who are obviously completely devastated.
5. Ethnic background
Unlike for health issues and age, there was nothing in the early Chinese studies that identified ethnic background as a risk factor.
Yet, it has become apparent that people from a black and minority ethnic (BAME) background are significantly more at risk of dying from COVID-19 than white people.
It is under investigation but is already controversial - with some commentators linking it to the poorer conditions in which BAME people live, because of systemic racism in society.
The ONS says geographic and socio-economic factors (such as deprivation, household composition, disability, age, among others) account for over half of the difference in risk between males and females of black and white ethnicity.
However, these factors "do not explain all of the difference, suggesting that other causes are still to be identified," the ONS analysis adds.
The experts say the causes, while still under investigation and awaiting further research, are complex.
Another Public Health England study also concludes that death rates for BAME groups are higher than white groups.
It found that after accounting for sex, age, deprivation and region "people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death when compared to people of white British ethnicity".
It added: "People of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean and other Black ethnicity had between 10% and 50% higher risk of death when compared to white British."
The PHE study says "BAME communities are likely to be at increased risk of acquiring the infection" because they are more likely to live in urban areas, in overcrowded households, in deprived areas and have jobs most exposed to the risk.
And it also says they are also more likely to suffer from co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes "which increase the risk of poorer outcomes from COVID-19".
Seif Shaheen, professor of respiratory epidemiology at Queen Mary University, London, told Sky News he had just set up a new study to try to examine some of the reasons that may not be spotted by the ONS.
He said: "The link is undisputed both in the UK and in the USA. There's quite a long list of possible explanations for that.
"One is that, in this country, South Asians and Afro-Caribbeans have more in the way of comorbidities, such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
"Also higher levels of deprivation. They may live in poorer housing.
"And specifically... if you take South Asians, in particular, they live in extended families, multi-generation families, and therefore they live in very overcrowded homes.
"This is a very contagious infectious virus. If you're in a very overcrowded home, you're more likely to catch it, and also more likely to get a bigger dose of the virus, which may mean that you then get the illness more severely.
"And being in the BAME community... they're more likely to be in either patient-facing occupations - in health care or social care - in public-facing jobs, for example, working on public transport. Therefore, they are more exposed... to the infection because they come into contact with people more."
His comments are borne out by other ONS data
The ONS found that the greatest rate of COVID-19 deaths was among people aged 20-64 in low skilled elementary occupations and in caring, leisure and other service occupations.
Other ONS data shows black workers are one and a half times as likely as white workers to be in "elementary" jobs - jobs like labourers, cleaners and package deliverers and twice as likely to be in caring, leisure and other service jobs.
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, according to the ONS, are more than twice as likely to work in sales and customer service roles than white people and nearly three times as likely to be plant and machine operatives. Both those fields had a much higher than average rate of death from COVID-19.
But Prof Shaheen said there could be other, less obvious reasons, why BAME people are being so badly affected.
He said a colleague called Adrian Martineau had found, through randomised trials, that vitamin D deficiency may make people more susceptible to respiratory infections, of which COVID-19 is a type.
He added: "People who are dark-skinned are more likely, particularly in the UK and in a temperate climate, to be vitamin D deficient."
In addition, he continued: "Smoking is probably important. Some sub groups in the BAME community, Bangladeshi men particularly, smoke an awful lot.
"At the moment, there's a heck of a lot we don't know."
Another expert said much of the medical evidence does not take other factors into account.
Dr Manish Pareek, associate clinical professor in infectious diseases at the department of respiratory sciences, University of Leicester, works on a COVID-19 ward but has also done work in the community with tuberculosis.
He and a group of colleagues have been looking at the impact of culture and ways of living on the spread of coronavirus. He also views household size and occupation as important.
But, he added: "The other thing that we haven't really got any idea about, is, if you think about how the public health messaging has been set out by the government. It's been very much centrally driven by the five o'clock press briefings that Boris or others do. What we don't know is whether people from different ethnic groups really listen to those public health messages.
"I work in Leicester. We are approximately 40% foreign born. The government's public health messaging, which is adverts, Twitter, maybe Facebook and in the bus shelters... I'm not sure those are the ways that they receive that information.
"More likely is that they receive their information from their relatives or friends through WhatsApp messages from overseas, different news channels. They don't necessary watch Sky...
"All of those things mean... I'm not sure how well the messages got through."
What can or should be done?
The experts Sky spoke to were adamant that more work was needed in order to understand what had caused the divide the ONS has identified. But, also, that more needs to be done to address some of the causes that are already apparent.
Prof Pareek said: "There's likely to be a second wave or certainly some spikes in the next few months. Who knows when? And therefore, it's important that we try and tease this information out now, when things are a bit quieter.
"So we can put those public health messages out and be quite clear that we know that if you're of black ethnicity or, say, Bangladeshi ethnicity, your risk of death and being infected is quite high, you need to do X, Y and Z.
"It's not just ethnic minorities, it's going to be also those who are deprived and those with underlying health conditions. But those groups are slightly different, because if you had an underlying health condition, you were put under shielding. I've not seen anything relating to any of that for the ethnic minority population.
"If you're a bus driver, in their late 60s say, coming up to retirement the next year or two, and we know that you've got diabetes etc, it may not make sense to me that they should be seeing hundreds of people.
"If you look at the medics who've died, some of them probably shouldn't have been on the frontline.
"If we know that these groups are at higher risk, how are we going to target those higher risk populations with vaccination programmes? We already know that in certain ethnic minorities groups, vaccination coverage is lower. We should proactively be thinking about this."
Prof Shaheen agreed: "If you sort of run through the checklist of risk factors, obviously, a lot of them can't be changed. You can't change your ethnicity. You can't change the diseases you've got. So it comes down to probably a limited number of modifiable risk factors linked to lifestyle.
"The other thing would be that it's important those in patient-facing and public-facing occupations are sufficiently well protected, which comes back to the whole PPE debate. Many in those sort of jobs - other than those in the very front line, ICU and so on - often feel that perhaps they haven't had adequate protection."
The Health Foundation, meanwhile, believes what's needed is a wider rethink about how people from deprived communities are treated.
David Finch added: "From a longer-term perspective, there's certainly a case that you could see more of a preventative approach in the health system - trying to keep healthy people healthy, so they don't need to rely on the health care system.
"There was a kind of thrust from government around taking a preventative approach. That's something that's important to prioritise in future so that we can be keeping people healthy and not relying on the NHS to step in when people become ill."


news--2020-06-07--George Floyd protests: Boris Johnson says anti-racism demonstrations 'subverted by thuggery'

Anti-racism protests have been `` subverted by thuggery '' that betrays their cause , the prime minister has said .
Boris Johnson was speaking after trouble flared for a second day in central London , with police drawing their batons and scuffling with protesters as they tried to force their way through to a restricted area .
Police were forced to run as bottles were thrown near the stone arches at the junction of King Charles Street and Whitehall .
Eight officers were injured after the trouble started at around 7.30pm on Sunday with the Met Police saying 12 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The prime minister tweeted : `` People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police .
`` These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve .
Those responsible will be held to account . ''
A statue of a slave trader and merchant , which has been the subject of an 11,000-strong petition to have it removed , was also pulled down and dumped in the harbour in Bristol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Out Politics podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker It came a day after 14 police were hurt in clashes on London 's Whitehall - near The Cenotaph and Downing Street , with officers on horseback forced to charge at troublemakers .
Sky correspondent Mark White said Sunday 's disorder continued into the night as several small groups set bins alight , smashed windows and threw bottles as police tried to enforce a dispersal notice in Westminster .
The earlier flare-up , involving about a few hundred protesters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peaceful demonstrations in UK cities .
People took to the streets of cities such as Edinburgh and Manchester to support the Black Lives Matter movement and call for justice over the killing of George Floyd in America two weeks ago .
Elsewhere , the operational patrol unit of Warwickshire Police tweeted that the M6 southbound was temporarily closed shortly after 6pm due to pedestrian protesters blocking the carriageway at Junction 3 .
The force said the M6 began to reopen an hour later , as demonstrators `` headed into Coventry at Junction 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ placards descended on the US embassy in London , with the crowd snaking down the road and chanting for justice and equality .
Free masks , gloves and hand gel were being given out amid concerns from the likes of the health secretary - who told Sky News the protests could lead to a rise in coronavirus infections .
In Bristol , a controversial statue of Edward Colston - who made his fortune off the back of the slave trade - was pulled down to huge cheers and dumped in the harbour .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ utterly disgraceful '' and an act that distracted from the protesters ' cause .
Police said it was toppled by a `` small group of people '' who they were working to identify and that there were `` no instances of disorder '' or arrests among the estimated 10,000 protesters .
A statue of Sir Winston Churchill was also defaced in Westminster , with the words ( Churchill ) `` was a racist '' daubed on the plinth .
Demonstrations have been going on around the world after George Floyd , 46 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes - despite his repeated pleas that he could not breathe .

Anti-racism protests have been "subverted by thuggery" that betrays their cause, the prime minister has said.
Boris Johnson was speaking after trouble flared for a second day in central London, with police drawing their batons and scuffling with protesters as they tried to force their way through to a restricted area.
Police were forced to run as bottles were thrown near the stone arches at the junction of King Charles Street and Whitehall.
Image: An officer injured during the protests in London
Eight officers were injured after the trouble started at around 7.30pm on Sunday with the Met Police saying 12 people were arrested for public order offences.
The prime minister tweeted: "People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:59 Cheers as protesters pull down slave trader statue
"These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account."
A statue of a slave trader and merchant, which has been the subject of an 11,000-strong petition to have it removed, was also pulled down and dumped in the harbour in Bristol.
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:: Listen to the All Out Politics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
It came a day after 14 police were hurt in clashes on London's Whitehall - near The Cenotaph and Downing Street, with officers on horseback forced to charge at troublemakers.
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Sky correspondent Mark White said Sunday's disorder continued into the night as several small groups set bins alight, smashed windows and threw bottles as police tried to enforce a dispersal notice in Westminster.
The earlier flare-up, involving about a few hundred protesters, came amid a second day of mainly peaceful demonstrations in UK cities.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:48 Police run from crowds in London protest
People took to the streets of cities such as Edinburgh and Manchester to support the Black Lives Matter movement and call for justice over the killing of George Floyd in America two weeks ago.
Elsewhere, the operational patrol unit of Warwickshire Police tweeted that the M6 southbound was temporarily closed shortly after 6pm due to pedestrian protesters blocking the carriageway at Junction 3.
The force said the M6 began to reopen an hour later, as demonstrators "headed into Coventry at Junction 2".
Image: Large numbers also turned out in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park
Thousands of people with cardboard placards descended on the US embassy in London, with the crowd snaking down the road and chanting for justice and equality.
Free masks, gloves and hand gel were being given out amid concerns from the likes of the health secretary - who told Sky News the protests could lead to a rise in coronavirus infections.
Image: A man takes part in protests in St Peter's Square in Manchester
In Bristol, a controversial statue of Edward Colston - who made his fortune off the back of the slave trade - was pulled down to huge cheers and dumped in the harbour.
Home Secretary Priti Patel called it "utterly disgraceful" and an act that distracted from the protesters' cause.
Police said it was toppled by a "small group of people" who they were working to identify and that there were "no instances of disorder" or arrests among the estimated 10,000 protesters.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:31 'Churchill was a racist' written on statue
A statue of Sir Winston Churchill was also defaced in Westminster, with the words (Churchill) "was a racist" daubed on the plinth.
Demonstrations have been going on around the world after George Floyd, 46, was killed in Minneapolis on 25 May when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes - despite his repeated pleas that he could not breathe.


news--2020-06-08--Ride-hailing app Gett flags down £50m in run-up to float

Gett , the ride-hailing app part-owned by Volkswagen , is in advanced talks to raise tens of millions of pounds as it steps closer to joining Uber Technologies and Lyft as publicly traded companies .
Sky News has learnt that Gett is close to finalising a $ 60m ( £47m ) funding round - its first external funding since it secured $ 200m from investors just over a year ago .
Sources said on Monday that the new funding would be structured as a loan note that would convert into shares in Gett when the company completes a stock market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its plans to become a public company , initially setting a 2019 target for an initial public offering before pushing that back to the first quarter of this year .
People close to the business now believe a 2021 flotation is more likely as the global economy tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic .
Gett , which launched in the UK in 2011 , counts PricewaterhouseCoopers , RBS and Uniqlo among its corporate customers .
The company is now aiming to become the clear leader in the business-to-business market as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the consumer ride-hailing market .
Uber , which floated in New York last year , has struggled to convince investors of its ability to become profitable in its core ride-hailing operations , and has seen its shares gyrate wildly since its IPO .
Gett has yet to decide whether to list in London or New York , although some people close to it believe a US exchange is likelier .
The company is run by Dave Waiser , its chief executive , who argues that it is markedly different to Uber and Lyft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ride-hailing services have found themselves financially squeezed by the pandemic because of national lockdowns forcing usually prolific customers to remain at home .
Gett has 17,000 corporate users , including , it says , one-third of the Fortune 500 across 100 countries .
The $ 60m convertible loan is understood to have drawn interest from a number of new investors , although their identities were unclear on Monday .
In addition to VW , Gett 's existing shareholders include the billionaire tycoon Len Blavatnik , who has just taken the record label Warner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When it raised money last year , reports said that Gett had done so at a valuation of about $ 1.5bn .

Gett, the ride-hailing app part-owned by Volkswagen, is in advanced talks to raise tens of millions of pounds as it steps closer to joining Uber Technologies and Lyft as publicly traded companies.
Sky News has learnt that Gett is close to finalising a $60m (£47m) funding round - its first external funding since it secured $200m from investors just over a year ago.
Sources said on Monday that the new funding would be structured as a loan note that would convert into shares in Gett when the company completes a stock market listing.
Gett has made no secret of its plans to become a public company, initially setting a 2019 target for an initial public offering before pushing that back to the first quarter of this year.
People close to the business now believe a 2021 flotation is more likely as the global economy tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Gett, which launched in the UK in 2011, counts PricewaterhouseCoopers, RBS and Uniqlo among its corporate customers.
Image: VW is among Gett's current investors
The company is now aiming to become the clear leader in the business-to-business market as it seeks to differentiate itself from rivals in the consumer ride-hailing market.
Uber, which floated in New York last year, has struggled to convince investors of its ability to become profitable in its core ride-hailing operations, and has seen its shares gyrate wildly since its IPO.
Gett has yet to decide whether to list in London or New York, although some people close to it believe a US exchange is likelier.
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The company is run by Dave Waiser, its chief executive, who argues that it is markedly different to Uber and Lyft because of its path to profitability.
Ride-hailing services have found themselves financially squeezed by the pandemic because of national lockdowns forcing usually prolific customers to remain at home.
Gett has 17,000 corporate users, including, it says, one-third of the Fortune 500 across 100 countries.
The $60m convertible loan is understood to have drawn interest from a number of new investors, although their identities were unclear on Monday.
In addition to VW, Gett's existing shareholders include the billionaire tycoon Len Blavatnik, who has just taken the record label Warner Music Group public in New York.
When it raised money last year, reports said that Gett had done so at a valuation of about $1.5bn.
A Gett spokeswoman declined to comment.


news--2020-06-08--Coronavirus: Father of three who searched for 5G conspiracy theories online jailed for arson attack

Coronavirus: Father of three who searched for 5G conspiracy theories online jailed for arson attack on phone mast

A man who searched for 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories online has been jailed for setting fire to a phone mast .
Michael Whitty , 47 , carried out internet searches that linked 5G to COVID-19 before he set fire to an equipment box linked to a Vodaphone mast in Kirkby , Merseyside , on 4 April , Liverpool Crown Court heard .
The arson attack caused between £10,000 and £15,000 worth of damage and left the mast out of service for 11 days , prosecutor Simon Christie said .
It was one of 13 attacks on phone masts in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Whitty , a father-of-three from Kirkby , was sentenced to three years in prison over videolink from HMP Altcourse after pleading guilty to arson at an earlier hearing .
Three people were seen running away from the scene , but the other two have not been found , the hearing was told .
After Whitty was arrested , police officers searched his home and found firelighters similar to ones left at the mast .
When they looked through his mobile phone , they found searches about 5G technology , including posts on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and videos of phone masts in the local area .
Judge Thomas Teague QC said : `` In my view there was here a high degree of planning and premeditation . ''
Andrew Alty , defending , added that Whitty had a genuinely held view about the potential dangers of 5G masts .
He said : `` That view may or may not be correct , time will tell .
He acknowledges his response was wrong and disproportionate . ''
Whitty volunteered for a charity called Centre 63 delivering food parcels as well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ John Lennon Airport .
His lawyer said he had struggled to come to terms with the death of his nephew in 2014 and the subsequent acquittal of a defendant tried for his murder .
He said he believed Whitty had showed genuine remorse and his charitable work showed a `` positive side '' to his character .
Whitty had 29 previous convictions , including ones for assault and posession of a firearm , but none for arson , Judge Teague added .
Speaking after the sentencing , Ben Ryder , from Merseyside Fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There is no scientific evidence of any link between 5G and coronavirus .
Arson is a very serious crime and we will always work with our police colleagues to seek justice . ''
Detective Inspector Steve Ball added : `` More than ever all members of the public are dependent on technology , including their mobile phones , to keep in touch with loved ones .
`` People may also need their phone lines to contact the emergency services when they are in need and stupidity like this could put someone 's life @ @ @ @

A man who searched for 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories online has been jailed for setting fire to a phone mast.
Michael Whitty, 47, carried out internet searches that linked 5G to COVID-19 before he set fire to an equipment box linked to a Vodaphone mast in Kirkby, Merseyside, on 4 April, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
The arson attack caused between £10,000 and £15,000 worth of damage and left the mast out of service for 11 days, prosecutor Simon Christie said.
It was one of 13 attacks on phone masts in the area at the time, he added.
Whitty, a father-of-three from Kirkby, was sentenced to three years in prison over videolink from HMP Altcourse after pleading guilty to arson at an earlier hearing.
Three people were seen running away from the scene, but the other two have not been found, the hearing was told.
After Whitty was arrested, police officers searched his home and found firelighters similar to ones left at the mast.
When they looked through his mobile phone, they found searches about 5G technology, including posts on internet forums, as well as pictures and videos of phone masts in the local area.
Judge Thomas Teague QC said: "In my view there was here a high degree of planning and premeditation."
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Andrew Alty, defending, added that Whitty had a genuinely held view about the potential dangers of 5G masts.
He said: "That view may or may not be correct, time will tell. He acknowledges his response was wrong and disproportionate."
Whitty volunteered for a charity called Centre 63 delivering food parcels as well as working in parking facilities near Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
His lawyer said he had struggled to come to terms with the death of his nephew in 2014 and the subsequent acquittal of a defendant tried for his murder.
He said he believed Whitty had showed genuine remorse and his charitable work showed a "positive side" to his character.
Whitty had 29 previous convictions, including ones for assault and posession of a firearm, but none for arson, Judge Teague added.
Speaking after the sentencing, Ben Ryder, from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said: "There is no scientific evidence of any link between 5G and coronavirus. Arson is a very serious crime and we will always work with our police colleagues to seek justice."
Detective Inspector Steve Ball added: "More than ever all members of the public are dependent on technology, including their mobile phones, to keep in touch with loved ones.
"People may also need their phone lines to contact the emergency services when they are in need and stupidity like this could put someone's life at risk."


news--2020-02-06--What do we know about the coronavirus victims?

The coronavirus outbreak has infected thousands and killed hundreds - but there has been secrecy surrounding many of the cases .
So what do we know so far about the victims , and are Chinese authorities trying to silence discussion ?
What do we know about the victims ?
The first person to die from the new coronavirus was a Wuhan man identified only as 61-year-old Mr Zeng .
He was taken to Wuhan Puren Hospital on 26 December with a fever and difficulty breathing , and died on 9 January .
A report by the Wuhan Health Commission said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Huanan market , where the virus spread from , and already had chronic liver disease and a tumour in his abdomen .
Most of the deaths have been recorded in China 's Hubei province .
So far , only two people have died outside of mainland China - a 44-year-old man in the Philippines who was from Wuhan , and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who had travelled to the Chinese city .
Most of those killed were older and had pre-existing health conditions , but a number of `` outliers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ records list at least five victims under the age of 60 who did not have any known medical conditions .
The youngest outlier was a 36-year-old man and it was unclear why he had succumbed to the illness .
Dr Li Wenliang , 34 , one of the first doctors to warn about the coronavirus , died on Friday after testing positive for the virus , the Wuhan hospital where he worked said in a statement .
Dr Li first told members of his medical school alumni group through Chinese messaging app WeChat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital .
The opthalmologist was later visited by police and told to stop .
Dr Li contracted the coronavirus himself after treating a woman for glaucoma who had the illness at Wuhan Central Hospital .
: : Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker Have any children been affected ?
A newborn baby who tested positive at 36 hours old is the youngest known person infected with the virus .
The child was born at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on 2 February , but precisely how they became infected was unclear .
Zeng Lingkong , director of neonatal diseases at Wuhan Children 's Hospital , told Chinese TV : `` There was no close contact with the parents , yet it was diagnosed with the disease . ''
Mr Zeng said other infected mothers have given birth to babies who tested negative , so it is not yet known if the virus can be transmitted in the womb .
According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus in children have been rare .
However , there have been several reports of children infected with the virus , including a 10-year-old who had travelled with his family to Wuhan from Shenzhen .
A report published in The Lancet said other members of the child 's family had experienced symptoms such as fever and pneumonia , but the child had showed no outward symptoms - despite doctors finding signs of viral pneumonia in his lungs .
A nine-year-old British child was diagnosed with coronavirus on 9 February in France after staying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walsh , who has been linked to 11 British cases after he contracted the virus in Singapore .
Where else has the virus spread to ?
Cases of the coronavirus have been reported in 27 countries outside mainland China , although there is still little detail on those infected .
Eight people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus , with all but two linked to Mr Walsh , who is thought to be a `` superspreader '' .
Why do n't we know more about the victims ?
China has vowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dealing with the coronavirus .
However , campaigners and journalists have claimed that Chinese authorities have tried to play down the true scale of the outbreak by deleting social media posts and news articles from the internet .
Chinese Human Rights Defenders , a nonprofit that tracks human rights , says it has compiled a list of at least 254 people punished by authorities for `` spreading rumours '' about the crisis .
Renee Xia , a spokesperson for Chinese Human Rights Defenders , told Sky News : `` Authorities have issued ordinances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or 'sharing misinformation ' about the virus or discussing government responses to the virus outbreak .
`` Until today , police have continued to knock on doors to take away or intimidate people who discuss the outbreak online in WeChat groups , or posting messages in Twitter , or videos on Facebook . ''
She added : `` The Chinese political system lacks transparency .
It 's hard to know precisely when and how much authorities knew about the spread of the virus . ''
: : Listen to the Daily podcast on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Spreaker A news article published by Caijing about people who had died without being tested for coronavirus , and who may have gone `` uncounted '' , apparently disappeared from the internet .
Meanwhile , Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported several journalists had been stopped while filming outside Jinyintan Hospital , taken to a police station and asked to delete their footage .

The coronavirus outbreak has infected thousands and killed hundreds - but there has been secrecy surrounding many of the cases.
So what do we know so far about the victims, and are Chinese authorities trying to silence discussion?
What do we know about the victims?
The first person to die from the new coronavirus was a Wuhan man identified only as 61-year-old Mr Zeng.
He was taken to Wuhan Puren Hospital on 26 December with a fever and difficulty breathing, and died on 9 January.
A report by the Wuhan Health Commission said Mr Zeng had been a regular visitor of Huanan market, where the virus spread from, and already had chronic liver disease and a tumour in his abdomen.
Most of the deaths have been recorded in China's Hubei province.
So far, only two people have died outside of mainland China - a 44-year-old man in the Philippines who was from Wuhan, and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong who had travelled to the Chinese city.
Most of those killed were older and had pre-existing health conditions, but a number of "outliers" have been recorded.
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Chinese government records list at least five victims under the age of 60 who did not have any known medical conditions.
The youngest outlier was a 36-year-old man and it was unclear why he had succumbed to the illness.
Dr Li Wenliang, 34, one of the first doctors to warn about the coronavirus, died on Friday after testing positive for the virus, the Wuhan hospital where he worked said in a statement.
Image: Dr Li Wenliang had been treating patients at his hospital. Pic: Dr Li Wenliang
Dr Li first told members of his medical school alumni group through Chinese messaging app WeChat that a number of patients had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital.
The opthalmologist was later visited by police and told to stop.
Dr Li contracted the coronavirus himself after treating a woman for glaucoma who had the illness at Wuhan Central Hospital.
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Have any children been affected?
A newborn baby who tested positive at 36 hours old is the youngest known person infected with the virus.
The child was born at the Wuhan Children's Hospital in Hubei province on 2 February, but precisely how they became infected was unclear.
Zeng Lingkong, director of neonatal diseases at Wuhan Children's Hospital, told Chinese TV: "There was no close contact with the parents, yet it was diagnosed with the disease."
Mr Zeng said other infected mothers have given birth to babies who tested negative, so it is not yet known if the virus can be transmitted in the womb.
Image: The baby was diagnosed with the coronavirus 36 hours after its birth. Pic: Weibo
According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), cases of the coronavirus in children have been rare.
However, there have been several reports of children infected with the virus, including a 10-year-old who had travelled with his family to Wuhan from Shenzhen.
A report published in The Lancet said other members of the child's family had experienced symptoms such as fever and pneumonia, but the child had showed no outward symptoms - despite doctors finding signs of viral pneumonia in his lungs.
A nine-year-old British child was diagnosed with coronavirus on 9 February in France after staying in a ski chalet with businessman Steve Walsh, who has been linked to 11 British cases after he contracted the virus in Singapore.
Where else has the virus spread to?
Cases of the coronavirus have been reported in 27 countries outside mainland China, although there is still little detail on those infected.
Eight people in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, with all but two linked to Mr Walsh, who is thought to be a "superspreader".
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:20 Coronavirus survivor jokes outside hospital
Other countries affected include Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Australia, Germany, United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, France, United Arab Emirates, Canada, India, Philippines, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Spain, Cambodia and Finland.
Why don't we know more about the victims?
China has vowed repeatedly to be open and transparent in dealing with the coronavirus.
However, campaigners and journalists have claimed that Chinese authorities have tried to play down the true scale of the outbreak by deleting social media posts and news articles from the internet.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a nonprofit that tracks human rights, says it has compiled a list of at least 254 people punished by authorities for "spreading rumours" about the crisis.
Image: Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station in Hunan province
Renee Xia, a spokesperson for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, told Sky News: "Authorities have issued ordinances to warn people from 'spreading rumours' or 'sharing misinformation' about the virus or discussing government responses to the virus outbreak.
"Until today, police have continued to knock on doors to take away or intimidate people who discuss the outbreak online in WeChat groups, or posting messages in Twitter, or videos on Facebook."
She added: "The Chinese political system lacks transparency. It's hard to know precisely when and how much authorities knew about the spread of the virus."
:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
A news article published by Caijing about people who had died without being tested for coronavirus, and who may have gone "uncounted", apparently disappeared from the internet.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported several journalists had been stopped while filming outside Jinyintan Hospital, taken to a police station and asked to delete their footage.


news--2020-02-07--Coronavirus: Britons on new flight from Wuhan to be quarantined in Milton Keynes facility

British citizens flying back on Sunday from the Chinese city of Wuhan , the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak , will be quarantined at a facility in Milton Keynes , Sky News understands .
It came as the UK stepped up its preparation for coronavirus , with the number of laboratories which can test for the deadly disease being increased from one to 12 in the coming weeks .
Earlier , a British man on board a cruise ship has been diagnosed with the coronavirus while on his honeymoon .
The flight arriving Sunday will be the third one that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wuhan in recent days .
The first plane , carrying 83 UK evacuees , arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 31 January before they were taken into quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a fortnight .
Another 11 British nationals were on a second plane that flew back to the military base on 2 February .
Ten were then taken to the same NHS site to be quarantined , while the 11th went to a different hospital as they were unwell on the flight .
Meanwhile , Alan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Princess which is quarantined off the coast of Japan , said he had contracted the illness and was being taken to hospital .
`` Just to let you all know I have been diagnosed as having the virus and am being shipped to hospital , '' he wrote on Facebook .
`` [ I ] would also like to say that at the moment I am not showing any symptoms so just possible ( sic ) a carrier .
`` Will let you know how I am going on when possible . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 636 , with more than 31,000 people infected globally • Public Health England 's stepped up preparations will increase testing capacity to more than 1,000 people a day • The World Health Organisation ( WHO ) warned of a chronic shortage of gowns , masks , gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against the spreading epidemic • The head of the WHO said a drop in the number of new virus cases for two days is `` good news '' but warned `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • Hong Kong said it may jail or fine anyone who fails to observe the two-week quarantine for arrivals from mainland China • A doctor who tried to warn others about the coronavirus outbreak in December died from the infection .
Mr Steele , 58 , told the Washington Post he married his wife Wendy last month - and the couple from Wolverhampton had been celebrating with a cruise on the Diamond Princess .
Mrs Steele , a 51-year-old nurse , told the paper that her husband was due to start a new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have demanded that they test me , '' she said .
`` I will not be separated from Alan . ''
The ship 's operator Princess Cruises said a total of 61 people on board , including the one Briton , had tested positive for coronavirus .
Twenty of those infected passengers have been escorted off the luxury cruise liner for further treatment .
British passenger David Abel said he had been dining with Mr Steele before his diagnosis .
In a video on Facebook , he added : `` He will almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real , real shame .
`` I have no idea how he must be feeling ... they 're on their honeymoon .
`` He will be going off in to quarantine in a medical facility and she has to stay on board the ship because she 's not displaying symptoms .
`` That 's going to be really , really tough for him so just bear a thought for these passengers who just do n't know what is going to be lying ahead of them . ''
About 3,700 passengers and crew on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the port city of Yokohama , about 25 miles from Tokyo .
Many have been consigned to their cabins , with one stranded tourist comparing the atmosphere to a `` floating prison '' .
Princess Cruises said the quarantine on the ship is due to end on 19 February , barring `` unforeseen developments '' .
: : Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker Of the 41 people who have most recently tested positive for the coronavirus , 21 are Japanese , eight American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one Argentinian and one British .
The latest British case of the coronavirus comes after a third person in the UK was diagnosed with the illness , and is believed to have caught it in Singapore .
It is understood the man called the NHS 111 number and he was given clinical advice after self isolating .
The man was then told to go to his local hospital in Brighton , who were expecting his arrival , and he was then transferred to St Thomas ' Hospital in London .
Two people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus - one of them is a student at the University of York , while the other is related to them .
They are being treated at a specialist hospital unit in Newcastle .

British citizens flying back on Sunday from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, will be quarantined at a facility in Milton Keynes, Sky News understands.
It came as the UK stepped up its preparation for coronavirus, with the number of laboratories which can test for the deadly disease being increased from one to 12 in the coming weeks.
Earlier, a British man on board a cruise ship has been diagnosed with the coronavirus while on his honeymoon.
The flight arriving Sunday will be the third one that has brought Britons to the UK from Wuhan in recent days.
The first plane, carrying 83 UK evacuees, arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 31 January before they were taken into quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a fortnight.
Another 11 British nationals were on a second plane that flew back to the military base on 2 February. Ten were then taken to the same NHS site to be quarantined, while the 11th went to a different hospital as they were unwell on the flight.
Image: The first plane brought Britons back to the UK from Wuhan on 31 January
Meanwhile, Alan Steele, a passenger on the Diamond Princess which is quarantined off the coast of Japan, said he had contracted the illness and was being taken to hospital.
Image: Alan Steele with his wife on their wedding day
"Just to let you all know I have been diagnosed as having the virus and am being shipped to hospital," he wrote on Facebook.
"[I] would also like to say that at the moment I am not showing any symptoms so just possible (sic) a carrier.
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"Will let you know how I am going on when possible."
Image: A total of 61 people who were on the ship have been diagnosed with coronavirus
The news came as:
The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 636, with more than 31,000 people infected globally
Public Health England's stepped up preparations will increase testing capacity to more than 1,000 people a day
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against the spreading epidemic
The head of the WHO said a drop in the number of new virus cases for two days is "good news" but warned "the numbers could go up again"
Hong Kong said it may jail or fine anyone who fails to observe the two-week quarantine for arrivals from mainland China
A doctor who tried to warn others about the coronavirus outbreak in December died from the infection.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:29 Doctor killed by coronavirus 'a symbol of transparency'
Mr Steele, 58, told the Washington Post he married his wife Wendy last month - and the couple from Wolverhampton had been celebrating with a cruise on the Diamond Princess.
Mrs Steele, a 51-year-old nurse, told the paper that her husband was due to start a new job on 10 February.
"I have demanded that they test me," she said. "I will not be separated from Alan."
Image: Around 3,700 passengers and crew are being kept on the ship
The ship's operator Princess Cruises said a total of 61 people on board, including the one Briton, had tested positive for coronavirus.
Twenty of those infected passengers have been escorted off the luxury cruise liner for further treatment.
British passenger David Abel said he had been dining with Mr Steele before his diagnosis.
In a video on Facebook, he added: "He will almost certainly be leaving the ship today - real, real shame.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:47 Briton describes cruise quarantine
"I have no idea how he must be feeling... they're on their honeymoon.
"He will be going off in to quarantine in a medical facility and she has to stay on board the ship because she's not displaying symptoms.
"That's going to be really, really tough for him so just bear a thought for these passengers who just don't know what is going to be lying ahead of them."
About 3,700 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess are being kept at the port city of Yokohama, about 25 miles from Tokyo.
Many have been consigned to their cabins, with one stranded tourist comparing the atmosphere to a "floating prison".
Princess Cruises said the quarantine on the ship is due to end on 19 February, barring "unforeseen developments".
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Of the 41 people who have most recently tested positive for the coronavirus, 21 are Japanese, eight American, five Canadian, five Australian, one Argentinian and one British.
The latest British case of the coronavirus comes after a third person in the UK was diagnosed with the illness, and is believed to have caught it in Singapore.
It is understood the man called the NHS 111 number and he was given clinical advice after self isolating.
The man was then told to go to his local hospital in Brighton, who were expecting his arrival, and he was then transferred to St Thomas' Hospital in London.
Two people in York have also been diagnosed with the virus - one of them is a student at the University of York, while the other is related to them.
They are being treated at a specialist hospital unit in Newcastle.


news--2020-02-07--Coronavirus outbreak: Burberry warns epidemic hitting demand

British luxury brand Burberry has warned the coronavirus outbreak is hitting sales in both mainland China and Hong Kong .
The upmarket fashion label said 24 of its 64 stores in China were closed as a result of the deadly infection , and there had been a significant fall in the number of shoppers visiting its remaining outlets , which were operating on reduced opening hours .
The firm also pointed out that while spending by Chinese visitors to Europe and other tourist destinations had so far have been less affected , given the widening travel restrictions , it expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks '' .
Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti said : `` The outbreak of the coronavirus in mainland China is having a material negative effect on luxury demand .
`` While we can not currently predict how long this situation will last , we remain confident in our strategy .
`` In the meantime , we are taking mitigating actions and every precaution to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees .
`` We are extremely grateful for the incredible effort of our teams and our immediate thoughts are with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency . ''
So far the epidemic has claimed 636 lives in mainland China , while the number of cases has hit 31,161 .
The country has sealed off cities , cancelled flights and closed factories to try to contain the virus .
Burberry , famed for its trench coats and trademark check scarves , had already been suffering from the widespread protests which have rocked Hong Kong over the last seven months , although mainland demand had been taking up some of the slack before the epidemic struck .
The company said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the benefit in the current year will be limited given the proximity to our March year end .
`` We also intend to continue our key growth initiatives in preparation for a recovery in luxury demand . ''
: : Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker Meanwhile , a number of Chinese manufacturers including the electronics giant Foxconn , which makes the Apple iPhone , have revamped their production lines to make masks and medical clothing in a bid to meet shortages , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ firm , which is China 's single biggest employer , said it has begun trial production of surgical masks at its plant in Shenzhen , and expects to produce two million masks daily by the end of the month .
The carmaker SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co Ltd has also announced it will set up 14 production lines with the goal of making 1.7 million masks a day , while the clothing manufacturer Hongdou Group Co Ltd has also refitted a factory to make disposable medical suits .

British luxury brand Burberry has warned the coronavirus outbreak is hitting sales in both mainland China and Hong Kong.
The upmarket fashion label said 24 of its 64 stores in China were closed as a result of the deadly infection, and there had been a significant fall in the number of shoppers visiting its remaining outlets, which were operating on reduced opening hours.
The firm also pointed out that while spending by Chinese visitors to Europe and other tourist destinations had so far have been less affected, given the widening travel restrictions, it expected this "to worsen over the coming weeks".
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:34 Economic impact of coronavirus becoming clearer
Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti said: "The outbreak of the coronavirus in mainland China is having a material negative effect on luxury demand.
"While we cannot currently predict how long this situation will last, we remain confident in our strategy.
"In the meantime, we are taking mitigating actions and every precaution to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees.
"We are extremely grateful for the incredible effort of our teams and our immediate thoughts are with the people directly impacted by this global health emergency."
So far the epidemic has claimed 636 lives in mainland China, while the number of cases has hit 31,161.
The country has sealed off cities, cancelled flights and closed factories to try to contain the virus.
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Burberry, famed for its trench coats and trademark check scarves, had already been suffering from the widespread protests which have rocked Hong Kong over the last seven months, although mainland demand had been taking up some of the slack before the epidemic struck.
The company said: "We are taking mitigating actions but the benefit in the current year will be limited given the proximity to our March year end.
"We also intend to continue our key growth initiatives in preparation for a recovery in luxury demand."
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Meanwhile, a number of Chinese manufacturers including the electronics giant Foxconn, which makes the Apple iPhone, have revamped their production lines to make masks and medical clothing in a bid to meet shortages, as the deadly infection spreads.
The firm, which is China's single biggest employer, said it has begun trial production of surgical masks at its plant in Shenzhen, and expects to produce two million masks daily by the end of the month.
The carmaker SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co Ltd has also announced it will set up 14 production lines with the goal of making 1.7 million masks a day, while the clothing manufacturer Hongdou Group Co Ltd has also refitted a factory to make disposable medical suits.


news--2020-02-07--Jaguar Land Rover to cut output at two UK factories to cut costs

Jaguar Land Rover is to cut production at two of its UK factories as the firm seeks to slash costs in response to falling demand .
Britain 's biggest carmaker posted a 2.3 % fall in retail sales in the three months to the end of December and is looking to realise billions of pounds worth of savings in the face of the reduced call for diesel on the European market and a tough trading environment in China .
The firm will halt production on selected days over a four-week period from late February at its Castle Bromwich factory in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some half or full days at its nearby Solihull facility until the end of March .
The company said in a statement : `` The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success .
`` The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success . ''
The move is not connected to the coronavirus outbreak in China , the firm said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chrysler to warn a European plant could shut down within two to four weeks if Chinese parts suppliers can not get back to work .

Jaguar Land Rover is to cut production at two of its UK factories as the firm seeks to slash costs in response to falling demand.
Britain's biggest carmaker posted a 2.3% fall in retail sales in the three months to the end of December and is looking to realise billions of pounds worth of savings in the face of the reduced call for diesel on the European market and a tough trading environment in China.
The firm will halt production on selected days over a four-week period from late February at its Castle Bromwich factory in the West Midlands and stop production on some half or full days at its nearby Solihull facility until the end of March.
Image: The company said the trading environment 'remains challenging' for the industry
The company said in a statement: "The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success.
"The external environment remains challenging for our industry and the company is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success."
The move is not connected to the coronavirus outbreak in China, the firm said.
The deadly epidemic has led Fiat Chrysler to warn a European plant could shut down within two to four weeks if Chinese parts suppliers cannot get back to work.