Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 6 Mar 2020

1. Britons told to self-isolate after Italian holidays

Anybody in the UK who has visited any part of Italy in the past two weeks should self-isolate if they feel ill, the government says. The advice previously only covered travellers returning from northern Italy and comes after the first UK death of someone with the Covid-19 disease. The Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said the victim, a woman in her 70s, had underlying health problems. A total of 116 coronavirus cases have now been reported in the UK.

Hay fever or coronavirus? The symptoms

2. Coronavirus: Premier League drops handshake

Football’s Premier League has announced that the traditional pre-match handshake between teams will be suspended until further notice as a precaution against coronavirus transmission. The move goes beyond Public Health England’s latest guidance, which says that while refraining from shaking hands may be included in future advice, “we are not there yet”. The league says the rest of the pre-game ritual will remain the same.

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Sport shorts: Premier League bans pre-match handshakes and coronavirus threatens Liverpool’s title party

3. Flybe ‘could be first of many airlines to collapse’

Collapsed regional airline Flybe may be just the first in a series of airlines to go bust as the impact of the global coronavirus outbreak is felt, analysts are warning. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that the virus could cost airlines £87bn in lost revenue in 2020.

Laura Ashley collapses – and other jobs at risk over coronavirus

4. Elizabeth Warren ends bid to be US president

The only woman left in the race to be the next US Democratic presidential candidate has dropped out. Elizabeth Warren was also the youngest candidate in the field, at 70. Announcing the end of her campaign, the Massachusetts senator said she needed time to decide whether to back Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, the two remaining candidates vying to take on Donald Trump in the presidential election in November.

What the end of Elizabeth Warren’s campaign means

5. Baby boy found dead in Hampshire woodland

A newborn baby boy was found dead in woodland in Hampshire on Thursday, police say. Officers are trying to trace the mother, who is being urged to seek urgent medical assistance. The death of the baby, discovered in Hythe, near Southampton, is being treated as unexplained.

6. Weinstein moved to jail after heart surgery

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been moved to jail in New York City after having a heart operation. The 67-year-old was sent to hospital after being convicted of rape and sexual assault last month. He is due to be sentenced next week and faces up to 25 years behind bars.

Reaction: Harvey Weinstein convicted of rape

7. Harry and Meghan together for royal visit

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared together in London last night, in one of their last engagements as a royal couple. Harry and Meghan attended the Endeavour Funds Awards ceremony for sick and injured service personnel, one of the Duke’s pet projects. Their last official duty as a royal couple will be on Monday.

8. Scotland-Northern Ireland link ‘should be tunnel’

The secretary of state for Scotland has said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s much-derided proposal for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland should be re-imagined as a tunnel. Alister Jack noted that there are longer tunnels in the world and pointed to those connecting the Faroe Islands as a model for the UK.

9. Texas: social media ice-cream licker jailed

A 24-year-old man who shared a video on social media showing him licking ice cream in a Texas supermarket and then putting the tub back in the freezer has been jailed for 30 days. D’Adrien Anderson was also given a six-month suspended sentence, 100 hours of unpaid work, a $1,000 (£770) fine, and was ordered to pay $1,565 (£1,200) to the ice cream manufacturer, after pleading guilty to misdemeanour criminal mischief. Surveillance cameras at the Walmart store showed he later took the tub back out of the freezer and bought it.

10. Briefing: why Africa seems to have few coronavirus cases

Cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria.

Yet Africa remains largely free of coronavirus infections compared with Europe and Asia - a phenomenon that has health specialists scratching their heads, given the continent’s close ties with China.

Coronavirus: why Africa seems to have few cases