The coronavirus outbreak has killed 8,809 people and infected 218,631 across 157 countries and territories, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

The Imperial study looked at the effects of two containment methods: mitigation, which seeks to slow the spread of the virus; and suppression, which aims to reverse epidemic growth and maintaining that indefinitely.It found that even strict mitigation measures would still see British and American intensive care capacity overwhelmed and lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

On plastic and stainless steel, viable virus could be detected after three days. On cardboard, the virus was not viable after 24 hours. On copper, it took 4 hours for the virus to become inactivated.

As the number of coronavirus cases in South Asia ramps up – doubling to more than 500 in the last few days – experts fear unsanitary testing and quarantine centres could present a problem in the densely populated region.

“As common healthcare precaution, all kinds of meat should be thoroughly washed and properly cooked,” said the AIIMS Director. He sought to dismiss claims that the intensity of COVID-19 would taper down and ultimately vanish with temperatures going up. “The impact of the virus is as serious in hot-humid weather conditions of Singapore as in the colder environment of European countries,” he said.

The most devastating medical crisis in Italy since World War Two is forcing doctors, patients and their families to make decisions that Resta, a former military doctor, said he has not experienced even in war. As of Monday, 2,158 people had died and 27,980 been infected by coronavirus in Italy – the second highest number of reported cases and deaths in the world behind China.

“Our findings are corroborated by instances of silent transmission and rising case counts in hundreds of cities worldwide,” Meyers said. “This tells us that COVID-19 outbreaks can be elusive and require extreme measures.”

Israeli daily Ha’aretz, quoting medical sources, reported on Thursday that scientists at the Israel’s Institute for Biological Research, supervised by the Prime Minister’s office, have recently had a significant breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanism and qualities of the virus, including better diagnostic capability, production of antibodies for those who already have the virus and development of a vaccine