As we worry about how much updates from within the White House administration can be trusted my colleague Jim Waterson has this update from Buckingham Palace: Queen Elizabeth II has issued a message of support to the British newspaper industry, praising traditional media outlets. The monarch said that “having trusted, reliable sources of information, particularly at a time when there are so many sources competing for our attention, is vital”. In a letter to the News Media Association, the industry organisation that represents all major national and local newspaper publishers, the Queen said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has once again demonstrated what an important public service the established news media provides, both nationally and regionally. “The efforts of the news media to support communities throughout the United Kingdom during the pandemic have been invaluable – whether through fundraising, encouraging volunteering, or providing a lifeline for the elderly and vulnerable to the outside world”: Back to Trump news now: Sean Conley, White House physician, reportedly told co-workers in the spring, before the president contracted Covid-19, that he was feeling intense personal stress in his current job, according to a new report from the Washington Post. Conley, a 40-year-old Navy commander, joined the White House medical staff in December 2016 after serving as a Navy emergency physician and serving in a trauma unit in Afghanistan. He was tapped as White House physician in 2018. The Post reports that those who have worked with Conley believe that the public statements he has given appear to be dictated by politics. “Every statement he is giving appears to be political, dictated by the White House or the president,” one anonymous source who has worked with Conley told the Post. “These are not statement a medical doctor gives.” After painting an upbeat picture of the president’s health on Saturday, Conley today admitted that the president’s oxygen levels had dropped at one point. He said that he was “trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, over his course of illness, has had.” In the UK, thousands of work coaches will be hired under a new government employment programme to help those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, amid fresh warnings of an unemployment crisis as the furlough scheme ends. The £238m job entry targeted support (Jets) scheme will help jobseekers who have been out of work for at least three months. It will be available to people receiving the “all work related requirements” universal credit payment, or the new style jobseeker’s allowance: Like most of Europe, Ireland has seen a steady increase in infections since the end of July after emerging slowly from one of Europe’s most severe shutdowns. It reported the highest number of daily cases since late April on Saturday. However Ireland’s 14-day cumulative case total of 104.6 per 100,000 people represents only the 14th-highest infection rate out of 31 European countries monitored by the European Centre for Disease Control. Europe’s worst infection hotspot Spain has an infection rate three-times higher than Ireland and while it severely tightened confinement measures in hard-hit Madrid on Friday, restaurants, gyms and shops can still open at limited capacity. Ireland has a relatively low hospital bed capacity compared to other European countries. The number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients has risen steadily to 132, but peaked at 881 in April during the first lockdown. Ireland’s main business lobby, Ibec, reacted with dismay, calling for the evidence underpinning the advice to be published. “It is intolerable that after six months we are still receiving both vague and changing criteria to advance such serious restrictions,” Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy said in a statement. Irish health chiefs recommend return to full lockdown Ireland’s health chiefs recommended to the government on Sunday that the country enter a second nationwide lockdown for four weeks in a surprise move that cabinet will discuss on Monday, two government sources said. Reuters: Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team recommended a leap to the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions, Level 5, from current Level 2 controls in 24 of Ireland’s 26 counties and stricter Level 3 measures in Dublin and Donegal. The government has almost entirely adopted their health chiefs’ advice throughout the pandemic, but one of the sources said a return to lockdown would have a serious economic and societal impact. Prime Minister Micheal Martin and the leaders of his two coalition partners will meet the country’s chief medical officer on Monday ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss the recommendations. Under level 5, people are asked to stay at home, except to exercise within 5 kilometres, with only essential retailers allowed to stay open. Unlike the first lockdown, schools and crèches would not have to close. Nine New York neighbourhoods headed for lockdown New York City’s mayor said Sunday that he has asked the state for permission to close schools and reinstate restrictions on nonessential businesses in several neighbourhoods because of a resurgence of the coronavirus. The action, if approved, would mark a disheartening retreat for a city that enjoyed a summer with less spread of the virus than most other parts of the country, and had only recently celebrated the return of students citywide to in-person learning in classrooms. Shutdowns would happen starting Wednesday in nine ZIP codes in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. About 100 public schools and 200 private schools would have to close. Indoor dining, which just resumed a few days ago, would be suspended. Outdoor restaurant dining would shut down in the affected neighbourhoods as well, and gyms would close. Houses of worship would be allowed to remain open with existing restrictions in place, de Blasio said. Over the past two weeks, the number of new cases of the virus has been rising in pockets of the city, predominantly in neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Queens that are home to the city’s large Orthodox Jewish population. Nearly 1,100 people have tested positive in Brooklyn in just the last four days, according to state figures. As many as 500,000 people live in the neighborhoods affected by the proposed shutdown, de Blasio said. He said the lockdown could be lifted in 14 days or 28 days if the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 declines. Richard Luscombe More now on doctors condemning Trump for his surprise drive-by visit to supporters outside the Walter Reed military medical center, where the president is being treated for an infection of Covid-19. At least two other people, probably Secret Service agents, wearing respirators and eye protection, were seen on video in the vehicle accompanying Trump, who was also masked, during the short drive. James Phillips, doctor of emergency medicine at George Washington University, who is an attending physician at Walter Reed, called the stunt “insanity”. “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die,” he wrote in a tweet. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University school of medicine and health services, said in a tweet: “By taking a joy ride outside Walter Reed the president is placing his Secret Service detail at grave risk”: Trump signalled his intention to visit his flag-waving supporters in a video tweet of his own, released only moments before a cavalcade of black SUVs drove through the gates of the Maryland medical center. Trump was seen waving animatedly through a fully-closed window, before the vehicles doubled back into the hospital grounds. Walter Reed physician calls Trump drive "insanity" Shortly after a masked US President Donald Trump climbed into a car driven by a secret service agent – wearing a medical gown, face shield and mask – an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Centre, where Trump is currently being treated for coronavirus, condemned the drive, calling it “insanity”. At least one other secret service agent was also in the car. In a second tweet he said: “the irresponsibility is astounding.” Dr James Phillips is a full-time emergency medical physician at Walter Reed. Summary Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Helen Sullivan and in this blog, I’ll be bringing you the latest coronavirus developments from around the world as well as key Trump developments. For an all-Trump blog, head here. Send me questions, comments or news on Twitter here. Speaking of the US President: an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Centre, where Trump is being treated for coronavirus, has condemned the president’s decision to be driven pas fans waiting outside the hospital, calling it “insanity”: Moments ago, Dr James Phillips tweeted, “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.” Meanwhile, the global coronavirus case total has passed another milestone, with 35 million infections confirmed by Johns Hopkins University – the US president’s one among the staggering total. So far, 1,035,208 people have died. Here are the other key developments from the last few hours: The UK reported 22,961 new cases on Sunday – a staggering figure that Public Health England has said is ‘artificially high’ due to case reporting backlogs. This has meant the 15,841 cases that went unreported between 25 September and 2 October were added onto Saturday and Sunday’s figures, with worrying implications for the country’s contact tracing system. Donald Trump did not disclose his positive test result immediately, according to the Wall Street Journal. The president said on Fox News Thursday night that he was awaiting test resultswhen he already knew about his positive rapid test result, only making the disclosure following the more thorough Covid-19 screening. Trump, who has been hospitalised after testing positive for the coronavirus, made a brief drive-by appearance where he waved at supporters from a car. It reportedly lasted about a minute. Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team has recommended the entire country transitions to the highest level of restrictions, Level 5. It follows 364 new coronavirus cases being reported on Sunday. All bars in Paris will close from Tuesday after the capital was put on maximum alert level, Reuters reported. It comes as France’s caseload rose by 12,565 to 619,190. Brazil has reported 8,456 more cases, taking the total to 4,915,289. Deaths rose by 365, bringing the toll to 146,352, the health ministry said. South Africa’s health minister said a further 1,573 coronavirus cases were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total up to 681,289. Deaths rose by 38 to 16,976.