As former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard self-isolates after embracing Sophie Trudeau a week before Trudeau tested positive for coronavirus, now is a helpful time to remind you to please wash your hands, this time to Gillard’s famous misogyny speech: Bonnie Malkin ✔ @bonniemalkin A worthy alternative to singing happy birthday: View image on Twitter 8 11:32 PM - Mar 7, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy See Bonnie Malkin"s other Tweets Updated at 3.38am GMT Facebook Twitter Advertisement 34m ago 03:26 The Philippine Stock Exchange was closed with no trading Tuesday after the president placed the northern part of the country including Manila in quarantine. The exchange’s CEO said the end of trading activity would be “until further notice.” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte placed the northern third of the country under an “enhanced community quarantine” that requires millions of people to stay mostly at home in an attempt to contain the coronavirus. Motorists fall in line at a health checkpoint as authorities begin implementing lockdown measures on March 16, 2020 in San Pedro, Laguna province, on the outskirts of Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government expanded Monday its lockdown on capital Manila to the whole of Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the country, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Motorists fall in line at a health checkpoint as authorities begin implementing lockdown measures on March 16, 2020 in San Pedro, Laguna province, on the outskirts of Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government expanded Monday its lockdown on capital Manila to the whole of Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the country, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images Most office work and mass transit on Luzon Island, including Manila, will be suspended for a month. Public movement will be restricted and large gatherings banned except for medical and other emergencies. Banks, hospitals, drugstores and supermarkets will remain open but only one family member can make such trips and should observe “social distancing.” The Philippines has 142 cases of infection. The 12 deaths due to Covid-19 are the most in Southeast Asia. Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he had tested positive for the virus, becoming the highest Philippine official to be infected. Facebook Twitter 43m ago 03:17 Calla Wahlquist Calla Wahlquist Still in Australia, in what appears to be a severe escalation of the supermarket wars, a man has been airlifted to hospital from the Victorian town of Rosebud after he was reportedly stabbed at a Woolworths. Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to an incident in Rosebud, which is 88km from Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, at 12.55pm and treated a man for “an injury to the lower body.” Neither paramedics nor Victoria Police — who asked Guardian Australia if we calling about the Rosebud incident almost before we’d stated our name — have provided any more information at this stage. Facebook Twitter 43m ago 03:17 Unlike many news organisations, our reporting is free and available for everyone. We need your support to keep delivering unbiased, factual journalism that’s open and independent. The events of 2020 so far have demonstrated the need for clear, reliable information that explains the news in steady, measured tones. We check facts, meticulously source information, and keep the people most impacted by the news at the heart of our reporting. Support us with as little as $1. It only takes a minute. Make a contribution - The Guardian Advertisement 43m ago 03:17 Australia looking into mass testing process Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt, says the country now has 375 confirmed cases of coronavirus. He also says the country is looking at developing a mass testing process. “We have actually one of the most advanced testing regimes in the world. We have had over 30,000 tests conducted in Australia, and I expect new figures in the next 24 hours which will be significantly in advance of that,” he says. Testing is one of his “absolute highest priorities” and he is working with the Doherty Institute to look at how to “expand beyond the individual tests,” he says. “They are looking at ways of expediting the testing process, and, indeed, some significant new mass testing processes over and above what we’re doing.” Updated at 3.18am GMT Facebook Twitter 48m ago 03:12 China"s state planner says economy will return to normal in second quarter China’s economy will return to normal in the second quarter as government support measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic take effect, the state planner said on Tuesday. Medical staff cheer themselves up before going into an ICU ward for coronavirus patients at the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China on March 16, 2020. Medical staff cheer themselves up before going into an ICU ward for coronavirus patients at the Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China on March 16, 2020. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission also told reporters during a briefing that China has ample policy tools and will roll out relevant measures at an appropriate time. Wuhan, the central Chinese city that was at one time the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, where the viral illness was first detected in December, was down to just one new case on Tuesday. Facebook Twitter 1h ago 03:00 Eleanor Ainge Roy Eleanor Ainge Roy New Zealand has recorded three more confirmed cases of coronavirus, all from New Zealanders recently returned from overseas. Two are in Wellington, having returned from the US, and one is in Dunedin, recently returned from Germany. The total of infected persons is now 11. The Dunedin man only began showing symptoms five days after arriving home. The man and two family members are in self-isolation, including a student from Logan Park High School. Dr Ashley Bloomfield, director-general of health, said all cases of the virus in New Zealand have been recorded from overseas travellers arriving in the country, and at this stage there was no community outbreak. “New Zealand has no barrier from cost to testing, nor is there a constraint on capacity.” Bloomfield said. The health-line helpline answered more than 7,000 calls on Monday, although 24,000 people had tried to get through. The 7,000 was seven times the normal volume. Five hundred tests for the virus are being undertaken in New Zealand today, with those returning from overseas travel prioritised. Facebook Twitter Advertisement 1h ago 02:54 UN Security Council halts meetings due to coronavirus The UN Security Council called off its remaining two remaining meetings for the week, Agence France-Presse reports. “Council members will maintain communication and consultation on issues on the agenda with a view to taking necessary actions as needed to fulfil the Council’s mandate,” a spokesperson for the mission said in a statement. A Philippines delegate at the UN tested positive to Covid-19 last week. Facebook Twitter 1h ago 02:50 Hong Kong will quarantine arrivals from all foreign countries Hong Kong has issued a red travel alert covering all foreign, requiring anyone entering the country to self-quarantine for 14 days. The chief executive, Carrie Lam, said in the previous two weeks, Hong Kong had recorded 57 new infections, 50 of them imported. The new restrictions would not apply to arrivals from mainland China, Macau or Taiwan. In her press conference, Lam also said it was unlikely schools would resume on 20 April. Police officers wearing face masks in Hong Kong. Police officers wearing face masks in Hong Kong. Photograph: Vincent Yu/AP Updated at 2.59am GMT Facebook Twitter 1h ago 02:40 Justin McCurry Justin McCurry Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has said that other Group of Seven leaders had agreed to support a “complete” Olympics in Tokyo, as speculation mounts that the coronavirus pandemic could force the Games to be postponed. Abe said he had told other G7 leaders during their video conference on Monday night: “We are doing everything in our power to prepare, and we want to aim for a complete event as proof that mankind can defeat the new coronavirus.” He said other leaders had backed his plan, but he would not be drawn on whether their discussions had touched on a possible postponement. Abe was speaking after the head of the French Olympic committee, Denis Masseglia, said the Olympics would not be able to open as scheduled on 24 July unless the coronavirus outbreak had peaked by the end of May. “My feeling is that if we’re still in the crisis by the end of May, I can’t see how the Games can happen (on time),” Masseglia told Reuters in Paris. “If we are beyond the peak and the situation is getting better questions will arise about who qualifies, but we will find the least worst solution.” The International Olympic Committee, which has publicly supported Japan’s insistence that the Games will go ahead as planned, is due to talk to international sports federations on Tuesday, and national Olympic committees the following day. Tokyo 2020 preparations suffered more disruption this week after organisers said spectators would be asked not to turn out to watch the first part of the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay, which is due to begin on 26 March. Organisers are expected to ask people not to line the route as the torch passes through the first three of the country’s 47 prefectures, the Kyodo news agency said. The flame was lit last week in Olympia in a low-key ceremony that was closed to members of the public. The Greek leg of the relay was called off the following day over coronavirus fears, and restrictions will be in place when the flame arrives in Japan at the end of this week. While Japan has reported comparatively few cases of the virus, some Tokyo residents said they were worried by the prospect of people arriving from overseas to watch the Games. “To be honest, even if Japan overcomes this crisis, we wouldn’t (want to) receive visitors from the world. I think we’d better not hold it,” Koki Miura, an employee at an internet company, told Agence France-Presse. “We cannot sacrifice people’s lives” for the sake of the Olympics, Miura added. Public opinion in Japan appears to be hardening against holding the Olympics in the capital in less than four months’ time. In a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted March 6-9, 45% were opposed to going ahead as planned, with 40% in favour. In a Kyodo survey released on Monday, 69.9% of respondents said they did not believe the Games would be held on schedule. Facebook Twitter Advertisement 1h ago 02:32 Ohio primary will ordered to be delayed on health grounds We are just hearing that the Ohio primary has been postponed, according to Reuters. The state’s governor, Mike DeWine, had recommended on Monday that in-person voting during Tuesday’s primary elections be postponed. But a Franklin county court of common pleas judge declined to order the postponement on Monday evening. But a tweet from DeWine said the polls will be ordered to close by the state’s director of health, Amy Acton. Governor Mike DeWine ✔ @GovMikeDeWine · 1h During this time when we face an unprecedented public health crisis, to conduct an election tomorrow would force poll workers and voters to place themselves at an unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus. Governor Mike DeWine ✔ @GovMikeDeWine As such, @DrAmyActon will order the polls closed as a health emergency. While the polls will be closed tomorrow, Secretary of State @FrankLaRose will seek a remedy through the courts to extend voting options so that every voter who wants to vote will be granted that opportunity. 3,374 4:11 AM - Mar 17, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 2,199 people are talking about this Facebook Twitter Advertisement 2h ago 02:22 China has begun using Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing to screen and test people arriving from overseas for Covid-19 . It was originally built to combat Sars in 2003 and has more than 1,000 beds. China Daily ✔ @ChinaDaily Beijing"s Xiaotangshan Hospital, originally built in 2003 to treat patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, began new operations on Monday to screen and treat people entering China from overseas with #COVID_19. https://bit.ly/38UCQCJ #coronavirus View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter 59 4:16 AM - Mar 17, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 24 people are talking about this Updated at 2.22am GMT Facebook Twitter 2h ago 02:16 Ben Smee Ben Smee Researchers at the University of Queensland could begin clinical trials on coronavirus sufferers - using HIV and malaria tablets - in Australian hospitals by the end of March. The trials would be based on test tube results that showed the drugs had effectively treated infections of the COVID-19 virus. Professor David Paterson from the University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research told Sky News the drugs were already licensed for use in Australila and had “a good safety record” “This is not a new vaccine that has to be developed from scratch,” he said. “So we’re finalising the protocol of how we’re going to do it right now, it will go to hospital ethics committees hopefully by Friday and hopefully by the end of next week we will have our first patients enrolled. “How quickly the study gets finished will depend on how many patients we see but it could be as soon as three months that we know which of these treatments - the HIV drug, the malaria drug or the two put together - is actually the best. “What we want to do is we want to get in early, as soon as a person is diagnosed in hospital with a case of COVID-19, and we want to stop them going down that path that leads them to an intensive care unit admission ... and unfortunately death.” Facebook Twitter 2h ago 01:59 As we continue to report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re looking for stories of how this unprecedented crisis has affected couples, families, friends and communities. If you’ve been separated from a loved one by lockdowns, have had to cancel your wedding or miss an important family event, we’d like to hear from you. We’re always interested in hearing what you may have done in response, too, or how you and your loved ones (and neighbours) are supporting each other in these trying times. Please do include photographs if you can and are happy for us to use them. Send me a message on Twitter @helenrsullivan, tag me in a tweet of your own (if you’re happy for us to include it in the blog), or email me: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com. Facebook Twitter Advertisement 2h ago 01:52 There’s a new social media challenge in town, the #stayhomechallenge, in which members of society reflect soberly on the difficulties of social distancing and self-isolation: Angie @angiesey02 Me going to the kitchen to eat the last of the quarantine food #stayhomechallenge Embedded video 3,083 12:36 AM - Mar 17, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 611 people are talking about this Snoubal @QRancio From Spain with love Yes, we can!!!#stayhomechallenge Embedded video 2,411 1:27 AM - Mar 17, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 723 people are talking about this Tina E 😎 @cookies1961 #stayhomechallenge Rationing Toilet Paper 🧻 View image on Twitter 3,372 12:50 AM - Mar 17, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 790 people are talking about this Facebook Twitter 2h ago 01:47 Melissa Davey Melissa Davey The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has updated its advice for pregnant women. A maternity nurse wears a mask as she cares for a newborn at a Private maternity hospital on March 12, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A maternity nurse wears a mask as she cares for a newborn at a Private maternity hospital on March 12, 2020 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Photograph: Getty Images The College says there is a lack of detailed information about the impact of Covid-19 infection on pregnant women and their babies, given the recent and novel nature of the virus. The pregnancy advice is therefore also based on learnings from influenza infection, and also the medical response to the SARS epidemic in 2003. “Some babies born to women with symptoms of coronavirus in China have been born prematurely,” the College states. “It is unclear whether coronavirus was the causative factor, or the doctors made the decision for the baby to be born early because the woman was unwell. Newborn babies and infants do not appear to be at increased risk of complications from the infection. “At the moment there is no evidence that the virus is carried in breastmilk and, therefore, the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any potential risks of transmission of COVID-19 through breastmilk. “Pregnant women are advised to avoid all non-essential overseas travel.” Facebook Twitter 2h ago 01:40 Sarah Martin Sarah Martin In Australia, only 90 MPs will come to the capital, Canberra, next week for parliamentary sittings. Ahead of an expected further crack-down on large group gatherings aimed at slowing the spread of the disease, the Coalition and Labor have agreed to limit the number of MPs coming to Canberra. Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese taunts Prime Minister Scott Morrison with a Hawaiian hand gesture during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese taunts Prime Minister Scott Morrison with a Hawaiian hand gesture during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Under the arrangement, which was thrashed out between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese in a phone discussion on Tuesday morning, 30 pairs will be agreed between the two parties, meaning 60 of Parliament’s 151 MPs will stay in their electorates. It is unclear how each side will decide which MPs come to Canberra and which will stay in their electorates. The move comes after the presiding officers of Parliament announced a range of measures to limit the number of visitors to capital hill, including restrictions on sponsored pass holders, and the closure of public galleries. Facebook Twitter 2h ago 01:37 “Game of Thrones” actor Kristofer Hivju, who played the beloved character Tormund Giantsbane on the HBO series, announced on his Instagram page that he has tested positive for coronavirus and will be isolating himself at his home in his native Norway. This, for those who might need their GoT memories jogged (we know a fair bit has happened in the world since), is Tormund: