Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Trump announces WHO funding is suspended, as experts warn thousands of virus deaths may be being under-reported

The latest on the impact of the virus across the world

A woman is loaded into an ambulance by paramedics Chateau at Brooklyn Rehabilitation & Nursing Centre during the outbreak of coronavirus in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, 14 April 2020. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

The global coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 2 million people worldwide and an estimated 124,000 deaths have been recorded. 

In the UK, more than 93,873 people have been confirmed to have caught Covid-19 and 12,107 people have died in hospital after contracting the disease. 

As the virus continues to cause an impact around the world, here’s your daily briefing of recent news items you may have missed. 

 

Thousands of virus deaths may be being under-reported, warn experts

Experts have warned the number of deaths as a result of the coronavirus outbreak could be even higher than official statistics suggest because of under-reporting by doctors.

Concerns have been raised that patients may be dying of other causes as a result of not seeking healthcare when they feel unwell during the pandemic. There are also fears some deaths caused by Covid-19 had not been attributed to the virus.

The data has been released amid concerns care homes and hospices are being hit hard by the virus and the sector lacks staff, protective equipment and funding to cope.

Trump announces WHO funding is suspended and blames organisation for coronavirus deaths

Donald Trump announced the United States is suspending funding to the World Health Organisation while his administration reviews what he described as the group’s “disastrous” role in “covering up” the outbreak of the coronavirus in China.

“The reality is the WHO failed to obtain, vet and share information in a timely fashion,” Mr Trump said. “The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable.”

The US president, who has been accused ignoring warnings from his own intelligence agencies of the virus’s severity as well as failing to act in a timely manner, said “delays the WHO experienced in declaring a public health emergency cost valuable time, tremendous amounts of time”.

Stray dogs eating bat meat could have sparked pandemic, scientist claims

A study suggested Covid-19 could have been transmitted to humans by stray dogs which had eaten bat meat.

A Canadian biologist proposed the disease may have rapidly evolved in the intestines of dogs that consumed bats carrying an ancestor coronavirus.

The research is the latest in a string of theories put forward by scientists investigating the origin of the virus, which has spread around the world and infected two million people since the first cases were reported in December.

Coronavirus lockdown could see 35% hit to UK GDP, Treasury forecaster warns

The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasury’s official forecaster, has warned UK GDP could fall by 35 per cent in the coming months due to the coronavirus lockdown.

In a new scenario of how government measures to counter the spread of Covid-19 could affect the economy, the OBR also shows unemployment rising by more than 2 million to 10 per cent in the second quarter of 2020.

Furthermore, it has the government’s deficit soaring to £273bn in 2020-21, or 14 per cent of GDP, considerably higher than during the financial crisis a decade ago.