News Headlines - 30 March 2020

▽Japanese comedian Ken Shimura dies from coronavirus - Reuters

Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, who had been hospitalised after being infected with the new coronavirus, has died, becoming the first Japanese celebrity to die of the virus... Shimura, 70, one of Japan’s best-known comedians with a career dating back to the early 1970s, reportedly had surgery for pneumonia in 2016. He developed a fever and respiratory problems on March 19 and was hospitalised, media said.
Dominating the television comedy scene in the 1970s and 1980s, one of his best-known acts was a clueless feudal lord with a face painted white with thick black eyebrows.

▽Shimura's death widely reported outside Japan | NHK WORLD

The news that Japanese comedian Shimura Ken died after contracting the coronavirus has been widely reported outside Japan.
In Taiwan, Shimura is well known among people in their late 30s and older who grew up watching Japanese TV comedy shows... Foreign news agencies also widely reported Shimura's death.

▽Coronavirus could take years to run its course, world must brace itself: PM Lee - The Straits Times

It could take several years for the coronavirus to go around the world and run its course unless something happens to abort that process, says Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, adding that the world will have to brace itself for a long battle ahead.
In an interview on Sunday (March 29) with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about Singapore's much-lauded response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Lee said he hesitates to call the Republic a "success story".

▽Italy coronavirus death toll passes 10,000. Many are asking why the fatality rate is so high - CNN

Italy's death toll is now the highest in the world at 10,023. Fatalities passed the grim milestone on Saturday, with an increase of 889 since the last figures were released on Friday, according to Italy's Civil Protection Agency.
With 92,472 confirmed cases, Italy appears to have the highest death rate on the planet. Compare it to China, the epicenter of the pandemic, which has a roughly similar number of confirmed cases at 81,997, but under a third as many deaths, at 3,299, according to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine.
Indeed Italy now has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States, which stands at 105,470. But the US has a fraction of the deaths, at just over 1,700.
As Italy enters its sixth week of restrictions, many are asking: why does its death rate seem so much higher than other countries?
Experts say it's down to a combination of factors, like the country's large elderly population which is more susceptible to the virus, and the method of testing that's not giving the full picture about infections.
Distorted numbers
Italy's number of confirmed cases is "not representative of the entire infected population," said Dr. Massimo Galli, head of the infectious disease unit at Sacco Hospital in Milan. The real figure was "much much more."
Only the most severe cases are being tested, added Galli, and not the entire population -- which in turn, skews the death rate.

▽Work starts on Birmingham Airport Covid-19 mortuary for up to 12,000 bodies - ITV News

Work has started on a temporary mortuary at Birmingham Airport with space for up to 12,000 bodies in a worst-case scenario amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The airport is next to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC), which has already been mooted as a possible location for a temporary field hospital.
The hangar facility will initially have space for 1,500 bodies “but will expand to hold more”, according to the West Midlands and Warwickshire strategic co-ordination group, made up of police, councils and other agencies.