
Britain’s health minister promised a tenfold increase in the number of daily tests for coronavirus by the end of the month after the government faced criticism for failing to roll out mass checks for health workers and the public.

The World Health Organization on Thursday reiterated its warning that children can also be affected by COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of several young people.

Uruguay's foreign and public health ministers have said that none of the over 200 people on board the cruise vessel Greg Mortimer will be allowed to disembark in Montevideo for the moment since several passengers and crew members seem to have coronavirus symptoms.

Some 86 tests for COVID-19 from Falkland Islands residents have returned negative results, it was confirmed on Wednesday. A total of 124 tests have been sent for analysis to the UK so far, with some 38 results still awaited. Thus until Wednesday, April first, the Falklands have no confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Florida officials have officially permitted the MS Zaandam and the MS Rotterdam, Holland America cruise ships with hundreds of sick on board, to dock at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades and begin disembarking guests.

On the advice of the UK Prime Minister, the Falkland Islands Government Office in London is closed and all staff is working from home. Despite this FIGO is working as normal and remains available to help all Islanders in the UK, Falkland Islands organizations, FIG, and anyone traveling to and from the Islands.

Wuhan doctor Ai Fen, who expressed early concerns about the coronavirus to the media, has disappeared and is believed detained by Chinese authorities. Fen, the head of the emergency at Wuhan Central Hospital, was given a warning after she disseminated information about the coronavirus to several other doctors.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that US authorities will evacuate passengers from a stranded cruise ship due to dock in Florida after being barred from several South American countries because of a coronavirus outbreak aboard.

With humans retreating into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of the biggest cities. Wild boar have descended from the hills around Barcelona in Spain while sika deer are nosing their way around the deserted metro stations of Nara in Japan.

Almost one million people have claimed universal credit welfare payments in the UK in the past two weeks, exposing the massive economic hit from Boris Johnson's coronavirus lockdown.