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Wednesday briefing: Testing time for Raab as crisis mounts

<span>Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA</span>
Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Top story: Fears of power vacuum as PM stays in ICU

Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this morning.

Boris Johnson has spent a second night in intensive care in a “stable” condition with coronavirus symptoms as questions about who was running the country continued to rage. The prime minister was said to be breathing without any assistance and was conscious at St Thomas’ hospital in London. Dominic Raab, who is the prime minister’s “designated survivor”, led the daily government briefing yesterday and said the PM would “pull through”. But it remains unclear how long Johnson will be in hospital and Raab said he would need cabinet agreement to reach any major decision such as lifting the lockdown. No 10 said last night that there would be no review of the curbs next week as promised by Johnson when he introduced them three weeks ago.

It was a testing day for Raab as Britain recorded its biggest daily death toll so far and an American university forecast that the UK would be the worst-hit country in Europe. It also saw chief medical officer Chris Whitty admit that the UK must learn from Germany, where the death rate has been far lower.

Depressing figures also emerged on the other side of the Atlantic where New York state posted its highest daily death toll and the governor of hard-hit Louisiana acknowledged that African Americans made up 70% of the more than 500 deaths so far. Donald Trump caused a furore when he vowed to withdraw US funding for the World Health Organization, but then withdrew his withdrawal threat. He also flatly denied ever seeing memos weeks ago from a senior adviser warning him that the virus could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. Meanwhile, the lockdown in Wuhan has been lifted.

Today marks the 100th day since the virus was first reported to the WHO and we have an interactive timeline on the 100 days that changed the world. In that time Covid-19 has killed at least 82,000 people and infected more than 1.4 million. Here is our latest at-a-glance summary and we will have all the developments throughout the day on our coronavirus live blog.

There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.

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Viruses tracked – Increased human contact with wildlife is the underlying cause of the coronavirus pandemic as more hunting, farming and urbanisation has led to a fall in biodiversity. Examining the origin of 142 viruses known to have been transmitted from animals to humans over many years, scientists from Australia and the US found that domesticated animals such as cattle and dogs were most likely to share pathogens with humans. But rodents, bats and primates – wild animals that have adapted well to human-dominated environments – were implicated as hosts for nearly 75% of all viruses. Bats alone have been linked to diseases like Sars, Nipah, Marburg and Ebola.

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Car crash – Fears are mounting that the economic shock caused by the pandemic could destabilise the UK’s £75bn car loan market. Around 6.5m vehicles are paid for by leasing deals with monthly payments that are already proving difficult for some people to meet as companies furlough staff in the emergency. The Finance and Leasing Association said “the number of forbearance requests has grown significantly in recent weeks”. Volkswagen and Ford have introduced emergency measures to help customers with dealers desperate to avoid a wave of cars being handed back.

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Moon shot – Despite the unfolding Covid-19 emergency, Donald Trump still found time to sign an order saying that the US would not comply with any international ban on mining the moon for minerals. The US presidential decree says: “Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space.”

Coronavirus Extra

There are some glimmers of hope from Italy that the worst of the crisis could be over. A doctor in Lombardy says his hospital is no longer at “maximum emergency” but is returning to “ordinary” levels.

In the south Atlantic, an Antarctic cruise ship has reported that 60% of the almost 220 people on board have the disease. The Greg Mortimer has been stranded off Uruguay for 10 days awaiting clearance to dock in Montevideo. The mostly Australian and New Zealand passengers will be repatriated.

John Prine, the legendary singer-songwriter, has died aged 73 from complications related to the coronavirus. The envy of more celebrated peers such as Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson for his deft, compassionate and often very funny lyrics, Prine died in Nashville after being taken ill almost two weeks ago. In cheerier news from the US, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is donating $1bn to fight the disease. A graduation ceremony in Japan has used avatar robots to replace students. And in one of the few countries in the world not to have any cases, Vanuatu in the Pacific, people wait in fear that it might one day arrive.

Today in Focus podcast

Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland joins Anushka Asthana to discuss how the prime minister’s illness leaves a gap at the top of government amid a major crisis. Health editor Sarah Boseley describes how the disease progresses.

Lunchtime read: How Twin Peaks redefined television

It’s 30 years since the first episode of Twin Peaks aired. It was like nothing we had ever seen on television, writes Scott Tobias, who explores how the show redefined the small screen and its array of characters such as Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) drew viewers into a weird and wonderful rabbit hole.

Sport

José Mourinho and members of his Tottenham squad have been pictured on Hadley Common in north London, having ignored government rules to train there during the coronavirus lockdown. Tottenham’s all-time top scorer, Jimmy Greaves, is receiving treatment in hospital, the club have confirmed. Warren Gatland has raised the tantalising prospect of a “decider” between the British & Irish Lions and New Zealand in the UK next summer – possibly at Twickenham. Premiership Rugby has drawn up contingency plans, knowing the competition is unlikely to be given the all-clear to resume until the middle of summer at the earliest. Royal Ascot is ready to run races behind closed doors if it goes ahead in June. Formula One Group has placed half of its staff on furlough as the sport addresses the serious financial implications of coronavirus. The 2022 football World Cup is highly unlikely to be moved from Qatar despite the latest criminal indictment by the US justice department. And a GoFundMe page set up by Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie aimed at alleviating hardship for bagmen on the European Tour during the coronavirus crisis has raised £10,000 in less than a day.

Business

The International Labour Organisation says Covid-19 disruption could wipe out 6.7% of working hours across the world in the second quarter of this year – the equivalent of 195 million jobs worldwide. Markets in Asia have seen a choppy day of trading with some of the optimism of recent days draining away. The FTSE100 is seen falling more than 1% at the opening bell while the pound is buying $1.23 and €1.134.

The papers

Boris Johnson’s health is the main concern for most of the papers with Dominic Raab’s optimistic prognosis proving an irresistible headline for many. The Mail takes his words for its headline “‘Boris is a fighter… he’ll pull through’”, as does the Express “Boris ‘will pull through’” and the Scotsman “‘I’m confident that he will pull through’”.

The Guardian is concerned about the wider politics – “Power vacuum fears as PM remains in intensive care” – as is the Telegraph – “Who will make call on lockdown?” – and the i thinks “Caretaker PM may be needed”. The Times headline reads “Britain sends message of hope to battling Johnson” and the Sun issues a call to prayer: “He stayed at work for you... now pray at home for him”. The FT goes off piste with “UK admits German testing model offers route out of virus lockdown”.

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