Page QQQ Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020
virus panic spreads
Supermarkets are
hit by panic buying
corona
latest
UK experts team
up with Bill Gates
in vaccine search
Outbreak game
in playground
Avoid holy water
warn bishops
BRITISH scientists are leading the
hunt for the world’s first coronavirus
vaccine in a deal with a research body
funded by Bill Gates.
UK firm GlaxoSmithKline – one of the
largest vaccine manufacturers in the
world – has provided its expertise to
teams around the globe in the hunt for
an effective jab.
It has struck an agreement with the
Bill Gates-funded Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness Innovations to share its
secret for mass producing vaccines.
More than 20 different teams around
the world are now working on a vaccine,
but it will be at least 18 months before a
jab will be ready for general use.
Modern DNA technology – and the
decision of the Chinese authorities to
make the genetic code of the virus pub-
licly available at the beginning of the
outbreak – meant it took just three hours
for scientists to work out how to develop
the vaccine. But it will take months of
animal testing and then human trials
before health authorities judge that it is
safe to give to millions of people.CHILDREN are playing a game in which
they pretend a friend has coronavirus
and banish them ‘for the rest of lunch-
time with no human rights’.
BBC journalist Celia Hatton said she
learned of the playground game from
a fellow parent in central London. Their
child had explained: ‘You breathe on
people and they have to be locked in
“the zone” for the rest of lunchtime
with no human rights.’
Miss Hatton told a BBC podcast: ‘It’s
funny but also heartbreaking.’ The game
has also been reported in other areas.THE Roman Catholic Church has
warned against use of holy water in serv-
ices because of coronavirus.
Worshippers should also stop taking
communion wine from the chalice, says
guidance from the Bishops’ Conference
of England and Wales.
Other things which could ‘help trans-
mit the virus’, such as shared hymn
books and passing the collection plate,
should also be avoided. The guidance
adds: ‘Public veneration of relics and the
Cross on Good Friday should NOT be by
kissing or physically touching them.’Banknotes can
harbour virus
SHOPPERS are being warned to wash
their hands after using banknotes to
prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The virus can remain on notes for sev-
eral days, the World Health Organisa-
tion said last night.
The Bank of England said notes ‘can
carry bacteria or viruses’ and also
advised shoppers to wash their hands.
China and Korea started to disinfect
and isolate used banknotes last month
to slow the spread of the virus. They
were sterilised before being withheld
from circulation for up to 14 days.THE life of British mother
Nazanin Zaghari-Rat-
cliffe ‘hangs in the bal-
ance’ after she contracted
suspected coronavirus in
her Iranian jail.
M i n i s t e r s h a v e u r g e d
Tehran to release her on
medical grounds after she
developed a ‘strange cold’.
Iran has the highest coronavi-
rus death toll in the world after
China, with more than 1,
confirmed cases and over 60
fatalities. Last night there was
confusion over whether Mrs
Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been
tested for the killer virus.
She is being held on false spy-
ing charges in Tehran’s notori-
ous Evin jail where there has
already been at least one cor-
vid-19 death.
Her MP, Tulip Siddiq, yester-
day raised her case in Parlia-
ment, calling for ministers to
medical condition mentioned?
Nazanin’s life hangs in the bal-
ance and I would urge the Gov-
ernment to act and to act now.’
Mr Adams replied: ‘I think
things may have moved on a lit-
tle bit today in terms of the
testing’ – though her husband
disputed this, saying that she
had not been tested.
He said the Government was
in ‘close contact’ with the Ira-
nian authorities to push for a
‘temporary release on medical
grounds’, adding: ‘We clearly
don’t think she should be in
prison in the first place.’ Hesaid: ‘We are offering Iran a
comprehensive package of both
material and financial support
to stem the rapid spread of the
disease.
‘Today a plane departed the
UK with vital materials, such as
equipment for laboratory tests
as well as other equipment
including protective body suits
and gloves.’
All non-essential staff were
p u l l e d o u t o f t h e B r i t i s h
embassy yesterday. Former for-
eign secretary Jeremy Hunt
said it was ‘absolutely essential’
that the Government makerepresentations to the Iranian
government. The debate was
watched by Mr Ratcliffe and
their daughter Gabriella from
the public gallery.
Earlier, Mr Ratcliffe said his
wife was ‘desperate’ to get
tested, but added: ‘The prison
is obviously under orders not to
test anyone.’
His wife was arrested at
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini air-
port in April 2016. She was sen-
tenced to five years in prison
over allegations, which she
denies, of plotting to overthrow
the Tehran government.By Claire Ellicott
Political Correspondent
‘Seriously ill
with symptoms’
Nazanin’s
life ‘is
in the
balance’
in Iran jail
PHONE screens are ‘portable
petri dishes’ and should be
disinfected twice a day to
stop coronavirus spreading.
Scientists claim the virus
can live for up to 96 hours on
flat surfaces, such as the
screen of a smartphone and
urged users to invest in
alcohol wipes to clean their
screens throughout the day.
Professor Mark Fielder, a
microbiologist at KingstonUniversity, backed the sug-
gestion and said ‘don’t share
your phone around’.
Last week Professor Peter
Hall from the University of
Waterloo in Canada called
smartphones a ‘portable
petri dish, accumulating
bacteria and viruses’.
Research by Dscout in 2016
found that people tap their
phone screen an average of
2,617 times a day.Clean mobile twice a day
S H O P S h a v e s e e n a
s u r g e i n p a n i c b u y i n g
fuelled by the corona-
virus crisis.
With two chains already
rationing sales, a former
Tesco executive said a major
outbreak in Britain would
‘q u i c k l y l e a d t o e m p t y
shelves and food riots’.
Ocado has emailed customers
to warn it is running out of
home delivery slots due to
‘exceptionally high demand’
supermarkets have contingency
plans to cope with a worst-case
scenario and, despite the pres-
sure, will ensure food remains
on shelves.
However, senior food markets
analyst Bruno Monteyne, a
former Tesco executive, warned:
‘If a major [coronavirus] out-
break happens, that will quickly
lead to panic buying, empty
shelves and food riots.’
Mr Monteyne, who now works
for stockbrokers Bernstein, told
industry magazine The Grocer:‘Plans are surely being drawn
up with suppliers to rationalise
product ranges when necessary.
The objective isn’t to scare-
monger. On the contrary: the
industry has plans to deal with
this. Yes, it will be chaotic – and
e x p e c t p i c t u r e s o f e m p t y
shelves – but the industry will
reduce complexity to keep the
country fed.’
The British Retail Consor-
tium, which speaks for super-
markets, said there was ‘no evi-
dence’ to justify claims of chaosand food riots. Its director of
food and sustainability, Andrew
Opie, insisted: ‘Disruption to
supply chains has been limited,
and the availability of products
remains good.
‘Retailers are working closely
with their suppliers and moni-
toring consumer behaviour to
a n t i c i p a t e c h a n g e s i n
future demand.’
Ian Wright, chief executive of
the Food and Drink Federation,
added: ‘At this stage supply
chains have experienced dis-
ruption but there is no evidence
of significant disruption to
food supplies.’
However, Ged Futter, a former
senior buyer at Asda, said
supermarkets were reluctant to
admit to shortages for fear of
making matters worse.
Mr Futter, now director at
consultancy firm The Retail
Mind, said: ‘The last thing
retailers will want to talk about
is rationing. As soon as you
mention rationing it becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy and the
food equivalent of a run on
the banks.’
Fears of shortages from the
Far East to Australia, Europe
and the US have already seen
shelves being emptied.By Sean Poulter
Consumer Affairs Editor
‘We will keep the
country fed’Health fear:
Mrs Zaghari-
Ratcliffe with
Gabriellaand ‘particularly large orders’.
Waitrose reported ‘seeing more
demand for... cleaning products
a n d h a n d s a n i t i s e r s ’ , a n d
Tesco’s website has sold out of
hand gel.
Lidl said it is ‘experiencing a
significant increase in demand
for durable products and disin-
fectants’. It has now limited
sales of hand sanitisers to two
per customer – as has Boots.
Industry experts insist that
‘act, and act now’. ‘The Gov-
ernment has important choices
over Nazanin’s case in the com-
ing months and they must do
everything possible to secure
her release and bring her back
home,’ she said.
‘She is seriously ill and dis-
playing symptoms associated
with the virus. Her family are
desperately worried about her
and I cannot blame them.’
Foreign Office minister Nigel
Adams said that the UK, France
and Germany had pledged over
£4million of aid to Iran to help
it cope with the crisis.
But Mrs Siddiq added: ‘In the
negotiations [over aid], was my
constituent Nazanin Zaghari-
Ratcliffe’s potentially fatal