# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The rising death toll from coronavirus is never far from the headlines, but hidden behind the daily figures is what public health experts refer to as the "parallel epidemic".

This is the wider impact on people's health that is the result of dealing with a pandemic.

UK chief medical adviser Prof Chris Witty has been referring to this with increasing frequency during the daily briefings, speaking about the "indirect" costs of coronavirus.

But what is it, and how significant could it be?

Not getting NHS care

The focus on ensuring there were enough beds in hospitals to care for coronavirus patients led the NHS to carry out a series of unprecedented steps.

Routine treatments, such as hip and knee replacements, were cancelled across the UK. This alone will have a significant impact on people's lives, though it is unlikely to kill anyone.

Prof Derek Alderson, of the Royal College of Surgeons, said this will be having a "major impact" with patients left in pain and suffering disability.

The backlog in surgical work will be "gigantic", with more than 700,000 routine treatments a month affected.

The pandemic has also had a knock-on effect on emergency care.

Data collected by Public Health England from a sample of A&E departments in England shows attendances have halved since the pandemic started. The trend has prompted NHS leaders to urge patients to come forward for treatment.

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has urged people to use the health service when needed, and this week Health Secretary Matt Hancock signalled he wanted to see services slowly restored.

The fear is that people who are suffering serious problems, such as heart attacks and even strokes, may be put off seeking treatment.

There is evidence this has happened for children too, with doctors reporting children were being brought in late with conditions such as ruptured appendixes and blood poisoning.

Disease and illness not being prevented

The most obvious fear is over cancer - screening has been suspended in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and drastically cut back in England.

Cancer Research UK estimated that a drop-off in both screening and urgent referrals from GPs meant 2,700 fewer people were being diagnosed every week.

Richard Sullivan, professor of cancer and global health at King's College London, said the impact on years of lost life "could be quite dramatic", given cancer patients tend to be younger than those dying of coronavirus.

It has been announced that thousands of cancer patients will be operated on at new centres designed to be kept clear of coronavirus, in a bid to address the problem.

But this is not just an issue for cancer.

Others have pointed to the difficulties people with chronic conditions like diabetes or kidney disease may face trying to manage their conditions remotely without the regular face-to-face contact they would have with health professionals.

School vaccinations have been paused and while pre-school programmes, including the MMR jab, are still being offered, there is concern there may be a drop in uptake.

The UK had already lost its World Health Organization measles-free status before the pandemic.

'Perfect storm' for mental ill-health

It should not come as a surprise that people report finding lockdown difficult.

A recent Ipsos MORI poll found half of people felt anxious or depressed, with one in seven saying they were unable to cope.

The issue has also been raised by a group of 24 leading psychiatrists and psychologists in a paper published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.

Rory O'Connor, one of the report authors, says increased social isolation, loneliness, health anxiety, stress and an economic downturn are a "perfect storm" to harm mental health and wellbeing.

The Institute of Health Visiting has warned about the impact on vulnerable families in particular.

Health visitors have been forced to carry out nearly all their work remotely, either on the phone or via video technology.

The IHV said it was worried that the early signs of a host of problems, from child abuse and domestic violence to maternal mental ill-health, were being missed.

Calls to the National Domestic Violence Helpline have risen by half three weeks into lockdown.

How many lives could be lost?

Health experts say the best way to judge the impact of this is to look at the total number of people dying to see if that is going up.

This information is published by the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales and its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Before the outbreak really took hold in the UK, the number of deaths was below the average for the previous five years.

But, according to latest figures, the number of deaths is now more than 20,000 above that average.

Coronavirus is mentioned on some of these death certificates, but certainly not all.

Under-reporting of the virus could certainly be a factor, but it does suggest the indirect cost may be having some impact.

The full impact could take years to unravel

While some of the indirect impact on health is immediate, a lot may take years to become apparent. Later diagnoses for conditions like cancer may not show up in death figures for another year or two.

Other consequences of the pandemic could take even longer to emerge.

An analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that economic downturns have an impact on health as well as wealth.

It said the relationship was "complex" but that increased unemployment, falls in income and uncertainty over jobs would have an affect on health in the long term.

It pointed to research showing a 1% drop in employment leads to a 2% increase in chronic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, with the poorest in society the most at risk.

University of Bristol researchers have tried to quantify this even further. They have said the benefit of a long-term lockdown in reducing premature deaths could be outweighed by the lost life expectancy from a prolonged economic dip.

The tipping point, they say, is a 6.4% decline in the size of the economy - on a par with what happened following the 2008 financial crash.

It would see a loss of three months of life, on average, across the population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The rising death toll from coronavirus is never far from the headlines, but hidden behind the daily figures is what public health experts refer to as the "parallel epidemic". This is the wider impact on people's health that is the result of dealing with a pandemic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
New cases of the novel coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December are being reported daily around the world.

More than 227,670 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, while some 3.1 million infections have been confirmed in at least 185 countries and territories. More than 973,460 people have recovered to date.

More:

Here are the countries that have so far confirmed coronavirus cases:

United States - 1,039,909 cases, 60,966 deaths

Spain - 236,899 cases, 24,275 deaths

Italy - 203,591 cases, 27,682 deaths

France - 169,053 cases, 23,694 deaths

United Kingdom - 166,440 cases, 26,166 deaths

Germany - 160,479 cases, 6,374 deaths

Turkey - 117,589 cases, 3,081 deaths

Russia - 99,399 cases, 972 deaths

Iran - 93,657 cases, 5,957 deaths

China - 83,940 cases, 4,637 deaths

Brazil - 74,493 cases, 5,158 deaths

Canada - 51,299 cases, 3,000 deaths

Belgium - 47,859 cases, 7,501 deaths

Netherlands - 38,998 cases, 4,727 deaths

India - 31,787 cases, 1,008 deaths

Peru - 31,190 cases, 854 deaths

Switzerland - 29,407 cases, 1,703 deaths

Portugal - 24,505 cases, 973 deaths

Ecuador - 24,258 cases, 871 deaths

Saudi Arabia - 21,402 cases, 157 deaths

Sweden - 20,302 cases, 2,462 deaths

Ireland - 19,877 cases, 1,159 deaths

Mexico - 16,752 cases, 1,569 deaths

Israel - 15,782 cases, 212 deaths

Singapore - 15,641 cases, 14 deaths

Pakistan - 15,525 cases, 343 deaths

Austria - 15,402 cases, 580 deaths

Chile - 14,885 cases, 216 deaths

Japan - 13,736 cases, 394 deaths

Belarus - 13,181 cases, 84 deaths

Poland - 12,640 cases, 624 deaths

Qatar - 12,564 cases, 10 deaths

Romania - 11,978 cases, 688 deaths

United Arab Emirates - 11,380 cases, 89 deaths

South Korea - 10,761 cases, 246 deaths

Ukraine - 9,866 cases, 250 deaths

Indonesia - 9,771 cases, 784 deaths

Denmark - 9,206 cases, 443 deaths

Philippines - 8,212 cases, 558 deaths

Norway - 7,680 cases, 207 deaths

Czech Republic - 7,563 cases, 227 deaths

Bangladesh - 7,103 cases, 163 deaths

Australia - 6,746 cases, 90 deaths

Dominican Republic - 6,652 cases, 293 deaths

Serbia - 6,630 cases, 125 deaths

Panama - 6,200 cases, 176 deaths

Colombia - 5,949 cases, 269 deaths

Malaysia - 5,945 cases, 100 deaths

Egypt - 5,268 cases, 380 deaths

South Africa - 4,996 cases, 206 deaths

Finland - 4,906 cases, 199 deaths

Morocco - 4,321 cases, 168 deaths

Argentina - 4,127 cases, 207 deaths

Algeria - 3,848 cases, 444 deaths

Moldova - 3,771 cases, 107 deaths

Luxembourg - 3,769 cases, 89 deaths

Kuwait - 3,740 cases, 24 deaths

Kazakhstan - 3,138 cases, 25 deaths

Thailand - 2,947 cases, 54 deaths

Bahrain - 2,869 cases, 8 deaths

Hungary - 2,727 cases, 300 deaths

Greece - 2,576 cases, 139 deaths

Oman - 2,274 cases, 10 deaths

Croatia - 2,062 cases, 67 deaths

Uzbekistan - 1,969 cases, 8 deaths

Afghanistan - 1,939 cases, 60 deaths

Armenia - 1,932 cases, 60 deaths

Iraq - 1,928 cases, 92 deaths

Cameroon - 1,806 cases, 59 deaths

Iceland - 1,795 cases, 10 deaths

Azerbaijan - 1,766 cases, 23 deaths

Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1,677 cases, 65 deaths

Ghana - 1,671 cases, 16 deaths

Estonia - 1,666 cases, 50 deaths

Nigeria - 1,532 cases, 44 deaths

New Zealand - 1,474 cases, 19 deaths

Cuba - 1,467 cases, 58 deaths

Bulgaria - 1,447 cases, 64 deaths

North Macedonia - 1,442 cases, 73 deaths

Slovenia - 1,418 cases, 89 deaths

Slovakia - 1,391 cases, 22 deaths

Lithuania - 1,375 cases, 45 deaths

Guinea - 1,240 cases, 7 deaths

Ivory Coast - 1,183 cases, 14 deaths

Djibouti - 1,077 cases, 2 deaths

Bolivia - 1,053 cases, 55 deaths

Tunisia - 975 cases, 40 deaths

Senegal - 882 cases, 9 deaths

Latvia - 849 cases, 15 deaths

Cyprus - 843 cases, 15 deaths

Albania - 766 cases, 30 deaths

Andorra - 743 cases, 41 deaths

Honduras - 738 cases, 66 deaths

Kyrgyzstan - 729 cases, 8 deaths

Lebanon - 721 cases, 24 deaths

Niger - 709 cases, 31 deaths

Costa Rica - 705 cases, 6 deaths

Burkina Faso - 638 cases, 42 deaths

Sri Lanka - 630 cases, 7 deaths

Uruguay - 625 cases, 15 deaths

Somalia - 582 cases, 28 deaths

San Marino - 563 cases, 41 deaths

Guatemala - 557 cases, 16 deaths

Georgia - 517 cases, 6 deaths

Kosovo - 510 cases, 12 deaths

Democratic Republic of the Congo - 491 cases, 30 deaths

Mali - 482 cases, 25 deaths

Malta - 463 cases, 4 deaths

Jordan - 451 cases, 8 deaths

Taiwan - 429 cases, 6 deaths

Kenya - 384 cases, 14 deaths

Jamaica - 381 cases, 7 deaths

El Salvador - 377 cases, 9 deaths

Occupied Palestinian territories - 344 cases, 2 deaths

Mauritius - 334 cases, 10 deaths

Venezuela - 329 cases, 10 deaths

Montenegro - 322 cases, 7 deaths

Sudan - 318 cases, 25 deaths

Tanzania - 299 cases, 10 deaths

Equatorial Guinea - 351 cases, 1 death

Vietnam - 270 cases

Maldives - 269 cases

Paraguay - 239 cases, 9 deaths

Gabon - 238 cases, 3 deaths

Rwanda - 212 cases

Republic of the Congo - 207 cases, 8 deaths

Myanmar - 149 cases, 5 deaths

Liberia - 141 cases, 16 deaths

Brunei - 138 cases, 1 death

Madagascar - 128 cases

Ethiopia - 130 cases, 3 deaths

Cambodia - 122 cases

Trinidad and Tobago - 116 cases, 8 deaths

Cape Verde - 114 cases, 1 death

Sierra Leone - 104 cases, 4 deaths

Togo - 109 cases, 7 deaths

Monaco - 95 cases, 4 deaths

Zambia - 97 cases, 3 deaths

Liechtenstein - 82 cases, 1 death

Bahamas - 80 cases, 11 deaths

Barbados - 80 cases, 6 deaths

Uganda - 79 cases

Haiti - 76 cases, 6 deaths

Mozambique - 76 cases

Guyana - 74 cases, 8 deaths

Guinea-Bissau - 73 cases, 1 death

Eswatini - 71 cases, 1 death

Benin - 64 cases, 1 death

Libya - 61 cases, 2 deaths

Nepal - 54 cases

Chad - 52 cases, 2 deaths

Central African Republic - 50 cases

Syria - 43 cases, 3 deaths

Eritrea - 39 cases

Mongolia - 38 cases

Malawi - 36 cases, 3 deaths

Zimbabwe - 32 cases, 4 deaths

Angola - 27 cases, 2 deaths

Antigua and Barbuda - 24 cases, 3 deaths

East Timor - 24 cases

Botswana - 23 cases, 1 death

Laos - 19 cases

Belize - 18 cases, 2 deaths

Fiji - 18 cases

Grenada - 18 cases

Dominica - 16 cases

Namibia - 16 cases

Saint Kitts and Nevis - 15 cases

Saint Lucia - 15 cases

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 15 cases

Nicaragua - 13 cases, 3 deaths

Burundi - 11 cases, 1 death

Seychelles - 11 cases

Gambia - 10 cases, 1 death

Vatican - 10 cases

Suriname - 10 cases, 1 death

Papua New Guinea - 8 cases

Sao Tome and Principe - 8 cases

Bhutan - 7 cases

Mauritania - 7 cases, 1 death

South Sudan - 6 cases

Western Sahara - 6 cases

Yemen - 1 case

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed cases?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
New cases of the novel coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December are being reported daily around the world. More than 227,670 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, while some 3.1 million infections have been confirmed in at least 185 countries and territories.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A council boss has urged the government to reveal how it is monitoring the rate of BAME coronavirus infections after two Filipino hospital porters died.

Oxford City Council deputy leader Linda Smith wrote to Health Secretary Matt Hancock about the "disproportionate" impact on BAME communities.

Oscar King Jr and Elbert Rico were two "popular and hard-working men", Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital said.

Ms Smith said she was also concerned about protective equipment supplies.

However she said the "disproportionate ratio" of BAME communities being affected by Covid-19 was "particularly apparent amongst NHS staff and care-givers who have lost their lives".

The Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) found last week that 34% of critically ill coronavirus patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were from black or minority ethnic backgrounds.

According to the 2011 Census, just 14% of the UK population is from those backgrounds.

Ms Smith wrote: "We would like some reassurance about what urgent monitoring is being conducted into why this is happening [and] what is being done to ensure the protection of all citizens but particularly any who are especially vulnerable, for instance through their frontline work with patients infected with Covid-19."

Ms Smith also said residents had raised concerns that supplies of PPE "may not be sufficient" to "those working in social care, primary care, as well as non-clinical and outsourced staff in hospitals".

The BBC revealed it had seen leaked emails which showed some protective gowns and masks could be reused by health workers under "last resort" Public Health England plans to preserve stocks.

The British Medical Association said it "underlines the urgency" of protective equipment shortages but Public Health England said no decisions had been made.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virus 'has disproportionate impact on BAME groups'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A council boss has urged the government to reveal how it is monitoring the rate of BAME coronavirus infections after two Filipino hospital porters died. Oxford City Council deputy leader Linda Smith wrote to Health Secretary Matt Hancock about the "disproportionate" impact on BAME communities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Stark statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans.

Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population.

Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.

The US has recorded nearly 370,000 virus cases and almost 11,000 deaths.

Globally there have been nearly 75,000 deaths and more than 1.3m cases total.

What do Chicago's statistics show?

As of 5 April, 1,824 out of Chicago's 4,680 confirmed Covid-19 cases were black residents, said city officials on Monday.

That compared with 847 white, 478 Hispanic and 126 Asian Chicagoans.

Chicago has seen a total of 98 deaths as of Sunday, with 72% of them black residents.

The disparity is reflected across the state, where black people account for 41% of Covid-19 deaths, despite making up 14% of the population of Illinois.

Chicago public health commissioner Dr Allison Arwady told reporters that black city residents already lived on average about 8.8 years less than their white counterparts.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the coronavirus was "devastating black Chicago".

She said city inspectors would be sent into shops to ensure everyone was adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Mayor Lightfoot also raised the possibility of curfews in areas where people gathered outside liquor stores, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

What's the picture nationally?

Though the coronavirus has been called the "great equalizer", data suggests that vulnerability to the infection may vary by neighbourhood.

In Michigan, African Americans make up 14% of the population, but they account for 33% of the coronavirus cases and 41% of deaths, figures from the state health department showed on Monday.

White residents account for about 23% of recorded cases in Michigan and 28% of deaths, according to the data.

Detroit, Michigan, is about 80% black, and the city together with its surrounding suburbs accounts for around 80% of confirmed coronavirus cases.

A similar disparity has emerged in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the most segregated cities in the US.

African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County's nearly 1,000 cases as of last Friday and 81% of its 27 deaths, despite black people accounting for 26% of the population there, according to a study by ProPublica.

In hard-hit Louisiana, more than 70% of the people who have died of Covid-19 are black, despite African Americans making up 32% of the Gulf state's population.

Some 40% of Louisiana's coronavirus deaths have occurred in the New Orleans area, where the majority of residents are black.

Health officials have previously said the Big Easy's residents suffer from rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension that are higher than the national average, making them more vulnerable to Covid-19.

What's behind the disparity in Chicago?

Mayor Lightfoot said diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illness were "really prevalent" in black communities.

Dr Arwady told reporters that even if everyone in the city did have access to a doctor, "we would still see significant health disparities because of food deserts and lack of walkable streets".

Dr Cameron Webb, an African-American physician who is running for Congress in the US state of Virginia, told BBC News that US racial and economic disparities were being amplified by the pandemic.

"It really exposes our society's fault lines," he said.

Alderman Jason Ervin, who chairs Chicago council's black caucus, told the Chicago Tribune that "rates of non-compliance in some parts of the city with the stay-at-home orders" might also be contributing to the statistics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus wreaks havoc in US black communities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stark statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans. Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population. Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Stark statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans.

Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population.

Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.

The US has recorded nearly 370,000 virus cases and almost 11,000 deaths.

Globally there have been nearly 75,000 deaths and more than 1.3m cases total.

What do Chicago's statistics show?

As of 5 April, 1,824 out of Chicago's 4,680 confirmed Covid-19 cases were black residents, said city officials on Monday.

That compared with 847 white, 478 Hispanic and 126 Asian Chicagoans.

Chicago has seen a total of 98 deaths as of Sunday, with 72% of them black residents.

The disparity is reflected across the state, where black people account for 41% of Covid-19 deaths, despite making up 14% of the population of Illinois.

Chicago public health commissioner Dr Allison Arwady told reporters that black city residents already lived on average about 8.8 years less than their white counterparts.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the coronavirus was "devastating black Chicago".

She said city inspectors would be sent into shops to ensure everyone was adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Mayor Lightfoot also raised the possibility of curfews in areas where people gathered outside liquor stores, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

What's the picture nationally?

Though the coronavirus has been called the "great equalizer", data suggests that vulnerability to the infection may vary by neighbourhood.

In Michigan, African Americans make up 14% of the population, but they account for 33% of the coronavirus cases and 41% of deaths, figures from the state health department showed on Monday.

White residents account for about 23% of recorded cases in Michigan and 28% of deaths, according to the data.

Detroit, Michigan, is about 80% black, and the city together with its surrounding suburbs accounts for around 80% of confirmed coronavirus cases.

A similar disparity has emerged in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the most segregated cities in the US.

African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County's nearly 1,000 cases as of last Friday and 81% of its 27 deaths, despite black people accounting for 26% of the population there, according to a study by ProPublica.

In hard-hit Louisiana, more than 70% of the people who have died of Covid-19 are black, despite African Americans making up 32% of the Gulf state's population.

Some 40% of Louisiana's coronavirus deaths have occurred in the New Orleans area, where the majority of residents are black.

Health officials have previously said the Big Easy's residents suffer from rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension that are higher than the national average, making them more vulnerable to Covid-19.

What's behind the disparity in Chicago?

Mayor Lightfoot said diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illness were "really prevalent" in black communities.

Dr Arwady told reporters that even if everyone in the city did have access to a doctor, "we would still see significant health disparities because of food deserts and lack of walkable streets".

Dr Cameron Webb, an African-American physician who is running for Congress in the US state of Virginia, told BBC News that US racial and economic disparities were being amplified by the pandemic.

"It really exposes our society's fault lines," he said.

Alderman Jason Ervin, who chairs Chicago council's black caucus, told the Chicago Tribune that "rates of non-compliance in some parts of the city with the stay-at-home orders" might also be contributing to the statistics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus wreaks havoc in US black communities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stark statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans. Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population. Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Dharshini David & Daniele Palumbo Global trade correspondent, Data Journalist

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus: Four ways the economy has been affected

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The impact of the virus on the UK economy has been analysed by the UK’s official number crunchers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On 12 January - less than three months ago - the coronavirus was confined to China. Not a single case had been found outside the country where it emerged.

And then, on 13 January, the virus became a global problem. A case was recorded in Thailand before Japan, South Korea and the United States soon followed.

Across the world, a trickle of cases became a flood.

There have now been more than a million Covid-19 cases worldwide, in countries from Nepal to Nicaragua. But as the death tolls rise, and the hospitals overflow, is anywhere still coronavirus-free?

The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes.

There are 193 countries which are members of the United Nations.

As of 2 April, 18 countries had not reported a Covid-19 case, according to a BBC tally using data from Johns Hopkins University.
The 18 countries without Covid-19
Comoros; Kiribati; Lesotho; Marshall Islands; Micronesia; Nauru; North Korea; Palau; Samoa; Sao Tome and Principe; Solomon Islands; South Sudan; Tajikistan; Tonga; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Vanuatu, Yemen

Some, experts agree, are likely to have unreported cases. North Korea, for example, is officially on zero, as is war-torn Yemen.

But there are countries where the virus has not landed. Most are small islands with few visitors - in fact, seven of the world's 10 least-visited places, as per UN data, are free of Covid-19.

That remoteness means one thing: in this age of social-distancing rules, island nations are the original self-isolators.

But the president of one such place is not complacent. In fact, he tells the BBC, Covid-19 is already a national emergency.

Nauru, in the Pacific Ocean, is almost 200 miles (320km) from anywhere - Banaba Island, part of Kiribati, is the nearest land. The nearest "major" city with direct flights is Brisbane, 2,500 miles south-west.

It is the second-smallest UN state in terms of land (after Monaco) and, with just over 10,000 people, the second-smallest in terms of population (after Tuvalu).

It is also one of the least-visited places on Earth. Although it does not appear in the most recent UN data, one tour operator says the country has just 160 tourists a year.

You may think such a distant place would not need to distance itself further. But a country with one hospital, no ventilators, and a shortage of nurses, cannot take any chances.

On 2 March, travellers were banned from China, South Korea, and Italy. Five days later, Iran was added to the list

In mid-March, Nauru Airlines suspended flights to Fiji, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands, and its only other route - Brisbane - was reduced from three times a week to once a fortnight

After that, all those arriving from Australia (mainly returning residents) were ordered into a 14-day quarantine in local hotels

And, although there have been none recently, any asylum seekers - Australia has a migrant processing centre on the island - will also be quarantined for at least two weeks.

The policy, says President Lionel Aingimea, is called "capture and containment".

"We're keeping things at the border," he says. "We're using our airport as the border and our transit facilities as part of our border."

Those in quarantine are checked for symptoms every day. When some developed fever, they were isolated further and tested for Covid-19. The kits were sent to Australia, but all came back negative.

Despite living through a crisis, ordinary Nauruans are "calm and collected", says the president. As for himself, he is grateful to other countries for their help - particularly Australia and Taiwan, which Nauru has full relations with - and to his religion.

"When we started doing this capture and containment policy, I went to God in prayer, and he gave me a scripture which I've kept to heart, which is Psalms 147, verses 13 and 14. That has kept me in good stead as we walk through - as the Bible says - this valley of death."

And, while he tries to keep Nauru's Covid-19 tally on zero, he knows the rest of the world is not as fortunate.

"Every time we look at the [Covid-19] map it looks like the world has got a measles outbreak - there's red dots all over the place," he says.

"So we're making sure as a nation...we believe that our prayers will be helping all the other nations going through these tough times."

Nauru is not the only small Pacific country to have declared a national emergency - Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, and others, have done the same.

Dr Colin Tukuitonga, from Niue in the South Pacific, is sure it is the right policy.

"Their best bet without a doubt is to keep the bloody thing out," he says from New Zealand. "Because if it gets in then you're stuffed, really."

Dr Tukuitonga is a public health expert, a former World Health Organization commissioner, and is now an associate dean at the medical school at Auckland University.

"These places don't have robust health systems," he says. "They're small, they're fragile, many don't have ventilators. If an outbreak did occur it would decimate the population."

And, he says, many Pacific islanders are already in poor health.

"Many of these places have high rates of diabetes, heart disease and chest conditions - all those conditions [are linked to] a more severe form of the virus."

If there were a severe outbreak in any of the small Pacific nations, they would have to send their patients abroad. But that is easier said than done, when countries are locking down their borders.

So, Dr Tukuitonga says, their best bet is to stay on zero for as long as possible.

"The very isolation of small populations across a big ocean - which has always been a problem for them - has come to be a protection," he says.

A small number of countries with land borders have also until now been spared coronavirus cases.

It was only on Thursday that Malawi, a landlocked country of 18 million people in east Africa, reported its first cases. But it had prepared for them.

The country has declared a "state of disaster", closed schools, and cancelled all visas issued before 20 March. It is also "ramping up testing", says Dr Peter MacPherson, a public health expert from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, whose work is funded by the Wellcome Trust and who is based in Malawi.

He says the "extra week or two we've had to prepare" has been valuable, and he is "quietly confident" that Malawi will cope.

"We have been very affected by the HIV epidemic over the past 30 years and also the TB pandemic," he says.

"A lot of that very effective response has been basic but effective public health - well-functioning programmes at district level, doing the basics, but doing them very, very well."

Evidence says coronavirus will come to every country, says Dr MacPherson. So if not Malawi, where might the last place in the world to catch Covid-19 be?

"It's likely to be those South Pacific, very remote islands, I would put my money on that," says Andy Tatem, a professor in spatial demography and epidemiology at the University of Southampton.

"But in our globalised economy I'm not sure there's anywhere that will escape such an infectious disease."

The lockdowns - such as those in Nauru - may work, he says, but they cannot last forever.

"Most of these countries rely on some kind of importation from outside - whether it's food or goods or tourism - or exporting their own goods. It's possible they can lock down completely, but it will be damaging - and they'll have to open up eventually."

And, he warns, the number of cases is nowhere near peaking.

"We all have these lockdowns, so it's not burning through the population, and we still have a very large proportion [of people] not getting it.

"It's great for health systems, but it means we have a lot of susceptible people in the world. We are going to have to live with this virus for quite some time."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Where will be the last place to catch Covid-19?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On 12 January - less than three months ago - the coronavirus was confined to China. Not a single case had been found outside the country where it emerged. And then, on 13 January, the virus became a global problem. A case was recorded in Thailand before Japan, South Korea and the United States soon followed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There are three main symptoms of coronavirus.

If you get just one of them, you should get a test.

What are the symptoms?

New and continuous cough - coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

Fever - a temperature above 37.8C

Change in smell or taste - either you cannot taste or smell anything, or these senses are different to normal.

People infected with new variants may be more likely to have other symptoms, such as headache, sore throat or a runny nose, according to research from the Zoe Covid Symptom study and a recent ONS survey.

Is Covid the same in everyone?

No - it can affect multiple organs and has several less common symptoms.

Flu-like with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever

Flu-like with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite

Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough

Fatigue (severe level one): Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue

Confusion (severe level two): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain

Abdominal and respiratory (severe level three): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, abdominal pain

If I have a cough, is it definitely Covid?

Public Health England says just under half of people who have one of the three main Covid symptoms will not have it.

What should I do if I have Covid?

You must stay away from other members of your household, who must also self-isolate for at least 10 days.

Most people will have only mild symptoms, which can be managed with pain relief (like paracetamol), bed rest and plenty of fluids.

You should not even go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

When should people go to hospital?

If you are seriously unwell and you have a medical emergency you should call 999 - this includes feeling so breathless that you cannot speak more than a few words.

If you are concerned your symptoms are getting worse, use the NHS 111 website England, NHS Inform in Scotland or the equivalents in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The main reason people need hospital care is for difficulty breathing where they may be given oxygen.

The most seriously ill patients may require ventilation - where patients are sedated and air is pushed into their lungs.

Older people, and those with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure), are more likely to become severely ill. Men are at slightly higher risk of dying from the virus than women.

How do I protect myself?

Coronavirus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes small droplets - packed with the virus - into the air. These can be breathed in, or cause an infection if you touch a surface they have landed on, then your eyes, nose or mouth.

So, coughing and sneezing into tissues, not touching your face with unwashed hands, and avoiding close contact with infected people are important.

People will be most infectious when they have symptoms, but some may spread the virus even before they are sick.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Covid symptoms: What are they and how do I protect myself?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are three main symptoms of coronavirus. If you get just one of them, you should get a test. What are the symptoms? New and continuous cough - coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours Fever - a temperature above 37.8C Change in smell or taste - either you cannot taste or smell anything, or these senses are different to normal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There are three main symptoms of coronavirus.

If you get just one of them, you should get a test.

What are the symptoms?

New and continuous cough - coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

Fever - a temperature above 37.8C

Change in smell or taste - either you cannot taste or smell anything, or these senses are different to normal.

People infected with new variants may be more likely to have other symptoms, such as headache, sore throat or a runny nose, according to research from the Zoe Covid Symptom study and a recent ONS survey.

Is Covid the same in everyone?

No - it can affect multiple organs and has several less common symptoms.

Flu-like with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever

Flu-like with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite

Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough

Fatigue (severe level one): Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue

Confusion (severe level two): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain

Abdominal and respiratory (severe level three): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, abdominal pain

If I have a cough, is it definitely Covid?

Public Health England says just under half of people who have one of the three main Covid symptoms will not have it.

What should I do if I have Covid?

You must stay away from other members of your household, who must also self-isolate for at least 10 days.

Most people will have only mild symptoms, which can be managed with pain relief (like paracetamol), bed rest and plenty of fluids.

You should not even go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

When should people go to hospital?

If you are seriously unwell and you have a medical emergency you should call 999 - this includes feeling so breathless that you cannot speak more than a few words.

If you are concerned your symptoms are getting worse, use the NHS 111 website England, NHS Inform in Scotland or the equivalents in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The main reason people need hospital care is for difficulty breathing where they may be given oxygen.

The most seriously ill patients may require ventilation - where patients are sedated and air is pushed into their lungs.

Older people, and those with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure), are more likely to become severely ill. Men are at slightly higher risk of dying from the virus than women.

How do I protect myself?

Coronavirus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes small droplets - packed with the virus - into the air. These can be breathed in, or cause an infection if you touch a surface they have landed on, then your eyes, nose or mouth.

So, coughing and sneezing into tissues, not touching your face with unwashed hands, and avoiding close contact with infected people are important.

People will be most infectious when they have symptoms, but some may spread the virus even before they are sick.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Covid symptoms: What are they and how do I protect myself?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are three main symptoms of coronavirus. If you get just one of them, you should get a test. What are the symptoms? New and continuous cough - coughing a lot for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours Fever - a temperature above 37.8C Change in smell or taste - either you cannot taste or smell anything, or these senses are different to normal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lockdown measures are increasing across China's Hubei province to try to control the spread of a new virus that has left 18 people dead in the country.

Wuhan, Hubei's capital of 11 million people where the virus first emerged, has no trains or planes in or out.

At least five other provincial cities are seeing clampdowns on transport.

There are more than 500 confirmed cases of the virus, which has spread abroad, with Singapore and Vietnam the latest affected.

The new strain of coronavirus is believed to have originated at a market in Wuhan. One resident of the city said the atmosphere there felt like "the end of the world".

The lockdowns come as millions of Chinese people travel across the country for the Lunar New Year holiday.

What's the latest in China?

All the fatalities bar one so far have been in Hubei province. Most of the 17 victims there were elderly and suffered from other chronic diseases including Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

An 18th victim, an elderly patient, was announced on Thursday in Hebei province, near the capital, Beijing.

Wuhan's public transport lockdown came into force as of 10:00 local time (02:00 GMT), leaving normally busy train stations and airports empty.

One Wuhan resident said on social media site Weibo that people were on the "verge of tears" when they heard about the closures.

Health authorities are reported to have made wearing a mask mandatory in the city. They are advising people to avoid crowds and public gatherings.

Demand for rubber gloves and surgical masks has soared. Taobao, the Chinese online retail giant, has warned sellers not to profit from the outbreak by raising prices.

Also in Hubei province:

Huanggang, a city east of Wuhan, suspended bus and rail services and encouraged people not to leave the city. Cafes, cinemas, theatres and exhibitions are also being shut

Ezhou, just south of Huanggang, has shut its train stations

Xiantao has cancelled gatherings, suspended transport and set up temperature detection stations

Chibi and Lichuan are suspending transport, AFP news agency reports

Beijing announced it had cancelled all major Chinese New Year celebrations.
A doctor at a hospital in Wuhan spoke to the BBC
The virus is now spreading at an alarming rate. The hospitals have been flooding with thousands of patients, who wait hours to see a doctor. You can imagine their panic.

Normally Wuhan is a great place to live and we are proud of our work. Specialists here have developed a guide for coronavirus diagnosis and treatment.

But I am scared because this is a new virus and the figures are worrying.

Two days ago we were told not to go to work because of the risk of contamination. If we leave our home on the hospital campus, we are required to wear masks.

We don't want to take our two-year-old son outside. He's sleeping now, and we are trying to protect him as much as possible: handwashing, airing the apartment, avoiding contact with people.

Outside I can barely see anyone on the streets. We have been told to avoid gatherings.

I went to the supermarket to buy food, but there was nothing left, no vegetables or biscuits. Some Lunar New Year celebrations are cancelled.

People had bought tickets to go home for Lunar New Year but they can't go now. Everyone is stuck here and can't leave.

What do we know about the virus?

Currently known as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans. The Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus that killed nearly 800 people globally in the early 2000s was also a coronavirus, as is the common cold.

Authorities have said this new virus originated in a seafood market in Wuhan that "conducted illegal transactions of wild animals". The market has been shut down since the beginning of the year.

There is evidence of human-to-human transmission, with the virus spreading from patients to family members and healthcare workers.

But understanding more about how the virus transmits between people is one of the major outstanding questions.

The virus infects the lungs, and symptoms start with a fever and cough. It can progress to shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

What's the picture globally?

The World Health Organization (WHO) emergency committee said on Thursday that it was not the time to declare an "international emergency" over the new virus, although it was "an emergency in China".

Its 16-member experts' panel was divided 50-50 on the issue, the WHO said, but had decided overall that it was too early because of the limited number of cases abroad, the efforts made by China to control the virus and the fact there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China.

A global emergency is the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound, and has previously been used in response to swine flu, Zika virus and Ebola.

Authorities around the world have announced screening measures for passengers from China.

Thailand has confirmed four cases of the virus, the most outside China. The US, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea have all reported one case each.

The first US case was confirmed on Tuesday. President Donald Trump said the situation was "totally under control" and that he trusted the information being provided by Chinese authorities

On Thursday, two more nations confirmed cases:

Singapore, where a 66-year-old man who had travelled from Wuhan is being held in an isolation room, and there is also another suspected case

Vietnam, where the health ministry has confirmed two Chinese citizens in the country have the virus

An earlier report that an Indian nurse working in the city of Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia had tested positive was altered by the Indian consulate in Jeddah. It said the nurse was suffering from Mers-CoV, also a coronavirus.

Learn more about the new virus
Are you in Wuhan? Have you been affected by the lockdown? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lockdowns rise as China tries to control virus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lockdown measures are increasing across China's Hubei province to try to control the spread of a new virus that has left 18 people dead in the country. Wuhan, Hubei's capital of 11 million people where the virus first emerged, has no trains or planes in or out.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The countdown has begun to the launch of one of the world's boldest attempts to tackle air pollution.

From next Monday, thousands of drivers face paying a new charge to enter central London.

The aim is to deter the dirtiest vehicles in an effort to reduce diseases and premature deaths.

The initiative comes as scientists say the impacts of air pollution are more serious than previously thought.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told the BBC the threat of air pollution, which is mostly invisible to the naked eye, was "a public health emergency".

He added: "One of the things that has troubled me is that because we can't see the particulate matter, the nitrogen dioxide, the poison, you don't take it seriously."

But over the last few decades, research has revealed how gases like nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles, known as particulate matter or PM, can reach deep into the body with the danger of causing lasting damage.
How polluting are idling cars and buses? Wood burners under fire in clean air plan
Asthma attack

The most obvious effects are on our breathing - anyone suffering from asthma, for example, is more likely to be at risk, because dirty air can cause chronic problems and also trigger an attack.

"I had to stay up one night because my chest was really bad because [of] all the polluted air," 10-year-old Alfie told me. "I couldn't go to sleep and my mum had to stay awake."

"All that polluted air can hurt your lungs, it can even damage you brain, it can damage nearly everything in your body," he said.

A pupil at Haimo Primary School in Eltham, close to London's busy South Circular Road, Alfie is one of 300 children across the capital taking part in unique research.

The project involves each child wearing an air-monitoring backpack, specially built by Dyson and fitted with instruments to measure nitrogen dioxide and the smallest particles, called PM2.5.

One motivation for the work is that breathing in dirty air at an early age can have implications that last a lifetime.

Research has shown that children growing up in heavily polluted streets have smaller lung capacity than those in cleaner areas - on average by 5% according to a study in London - a limitation that cannot be reversed.

Greater challenges

And air pollution can exacerbate other respiratory conditions too, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer is thought to be linked as well.

Dr Ben Barrett of King's College London, who is running the backpack research, says that children born in a more polluted environment face greater challenges in life.

"It's not necessarily that there's a particular disease that they develop but their body is less able to cope with those challenges as they go into adolescence and into old age."

Another pathway to harm is opened up when the smallest particles find their way into the depths of the lungs, to the alveoli, from where oxygen is transferred into the bloodstream.

It's been established that PM2.5 particles are small enough to make that transition as well, entering the cardiovascular system and circulating throughout the body.

The risks of this include the potential for blocking the arteries, increasing the danger of stroke, along with heart disease and heart attacks.

Beyond that, there's evidence that the particles can reach the brain so researchers are investigating the potential effects on conditions such as dementia.
London's dirty air: How bad is it? Major cities move to ban diesel vehicles
Body of evidence

A major Chinese study last year proposed a connection between pollution and lowered cognitive performance, while a British study published last week suggested a link to psychotic episodes in teenagers.

According to Prof Jonathan Grigg of Queen Mary University London, a leading figure in research into the effects of air pollution on children, the evidence for wide-ranging impacts is growing.

"We're absolutely certain that air pollution is associated with respiratory disease such as asthma and with cardiovascular disease with heart attacks and strokes, and in five years we'll be more certain about other conditions like dementia and obesity."

One new area of research is the hunt for an explanation for why babies in the most polluted areas tend to be born more prematurely and underweight compared with those born elsewhere.

A small study, still under way, is investigating placentas and has found black dots that look similar to pollution particles spotted in lung cells.

One of the researchers involved in the work, Norrice Liu, also at Queen Mary University, said the placenta would be expected to provide a sterile environment so the sight of black dots was a surprise.

"We know what pollution particles look like when they're in the cells elsewhere in the body particularly in the lungs, and the black bits that we're seeing in the placenta are a very similar shape and colour to those what making us think they could be pollution particles."

Their presence does not prove a link with premature birth or lower birthweight but it does suggest a possible mechanism.

Fifteen young mothers have so far agreed to donate their placentas to the study, and one of them, Rachel Buswell, told me that of all her concerns while pregnant, air pollution was not one of them.

"It's pretty scary," she said, "you protect yourself when you find out you're pregnant in as many ways as you can and that's going to be something people can't protect themselves as easily, living in London especially, it is quite frightening."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What does air pollution do to our bodies?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The countdown has begun to the launch of one of the world's boldest attempts to tackle air pollution. From next Monday, thousands of drivers face paying a new charge to enter central London. The aim is to deter the dirtiest vehicles in an effort to reduce diseases and premature deaths.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ebola may soon be a "preventable and treatable" disease after a trial of two drugs showed significantly improved survival rates, scientists have said.

Four drugs were trialled on patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is a major outbreak of the virus.

More than 90% of infected people can survive if treated early with the most effective drugs, the research showed.

The drugs will now be used to treat all patients with the disease in DR Congo, according to health officials.

On Tuesday, two people cured of Ebola using the experimental drugs were released from a treatment centre in Goma, eastern DR Congo, and reunited with their families.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-sponsored the trial, said the results are "very good news" for the fight against Ebola.

The drugs, named REGN-EB3 and mAb114, work by attacking the Ebola virus with antibodies, neutralising its impact on human cells.

They are the "first drugs that, in a scientifically sound study, have clearly shown a significant diminution in mortality" for Ebola patients, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.

The drug mAb114 was developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola while REGN-EB3 comes from antibodies generated within mice infected with the disease.

Ebola has killed more than 1,800 people in DR Congo in the past year.

Two other treatments, called ZMapp and Remdesivir, have been dropped from trials as they were found to be less effective.

What were the results of the trial?

The trial, conducted by an international research group co-ordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), began in November last year.

Since then, four experimental drugs have been tested on around 700 patients, with the preliminary results from the first 499 now known.

Of the patients given the two more effective drugs, 29% on REGN-EB3 and 34% on mAb114 died, NIAID said.

In contrast, 49% on ZMapp and 53% on Remdesivir died in the study, the agency said.

The survival rate among patients with low levels of the virus in their blood was as high as 94% when they were given REGN-EB3, and 89% when on mAb114, the agency said.

The findings mean health authorities can "stress to people that more than 90% of people survive" if they are treated early, said Sabue Mulangu, an infectious-disease researcher who worked on the trial.

What impact could the drugs have?

Hailing the success of the study, Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, said the treatments would "undoubtedly save lives".

The findings, Mr Farrar said, indicate scientists are getting closer to turning Ebola into a "preventable and treatable" disease.

"We won't ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics," he added.

A sense that Ebola is incurable, paired with widespread mistrust of medical workers in the DR Congo, has hampered efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

It is hoped that the effectiveness of the drugs, made by US-based pharmaceutical firms, will make patients feel "more comfortable about seeking care early", said Dr Fauci.

But the best way to end the outbreak, he added, is "with a good vaccine". A vaccine is a type of medicine that improves immunity to a particular disease, as a preventative measure.

The World Health Organization (WHO) say vaccines developed to protect against Ebola, which are allowed for "compassionate use" before official licensing, have proven highly effective.

How serious is the DR Congo outbreak?

The current outbreak in eastern DR Congo began in August last year and is the biggest of the 10 to hit the country since 1976, when the virus was first discovered.

In July, the WHO declared the Ebola crisis in the country a "public health emergency of international concern".

But it is dwarfed by the West African epidemic of 2014-16, which affected 28,616 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. About 11,310 people died in what was the largest outbreak of the virus ever recorded.

However, attempts to contain the latest outbreak are proving difficult. In particular, militia group violence and suspicion towards foreign medical assistance have hindered efforts.

Earlier this month, three Congolese doctors were arrested in DR Congo over the killing of a WHO medic.

About 200 health facilities have been attacked in the country this year, causing disruption to vaccinations and treatments. In one incident, family members assaulted health workers who were overseeing the burial of their relative.

A 2018 study published in the Lancet medical journal says "belief in misinformation was widespread" concerning the Ebola outbreak.

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a virus that initially causes sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat

It progresses to vomiting, diarrhoea and both internal and external bleeding

People are infected when they have direct contact through broken skin, or the mouth and nose, with the blood, vomit, faeces or bodily fluids of someone with Ebola

Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ebola drugs trial shows '90% survival rate'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ebola may soon be a "preventable and treatable" disease after a trial of two drugs showed significantly improved survival rates, scientists have said. Four drugs were trialled on patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is a major outbreak of the virus.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cities around the world are grappling with air pollution but the small capital of Mongolia is suffering from some of the worst.