A man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a firearm as part of the investigation into the fatal shooting of New Zealand-born police officer Matiu Ratana in London.
Matiu Ratana was fatally shot as a handcuffed suspect was being taken into custody in Croyden, London, on Friday. Photo: Hackney Police
The 54-year-old custody sergeant died in hospital after being shot at the Croydon custody centre as a handcuffed suspect was taken into custody on Friday morning. The man is then believed to have turned the gun on himself, and remains in hospital.
"He is in a critical condition and consequently we are not able to speak to him," the police said.
Police said another man was arrested in the early hours of Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk, on suspicion of supplying a firearm.
The second arrest came as Sgt Ratana was remembered by friends and teammates at East Grinstead Rugby Club, where he was head coach.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report Police Commissioner Andrew Coster was in contact with his counterpart in the UK over the "tragic loss" of Ratana, who had family here and other ties to New Zealand.
If his family were to travel there for the funeral and return, the cost of their managed isolation would be covered by the 'humanitarian reasons' exemption, Ardern said.
The West Sussex club's vice chairman Matt Marriot said they had to arrange two separate minute's silences because the "interest has been pretty enormous", with "people coming from all over the country".
He said Sgt Ratana, who was known as Matt, had been "a role model, a mentor and often a father figure", and the club mourned him "as a family member".
PC Sarah D'Silva, who plays for the club's women's team as well as working at Croydon Police Station, said it felt "extremely poignant" joining the minute's silence.
She wore her police uniform to pay her respects to Sgt Ratana, who she described as "an absolutely fantastic character, full of life, with the biggest smile you've ever seen".
Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, speaking at the National Police Memorial in central London earlier, said she "hadn't been surprised at all" by the number of tributes paid to him.
"Matt was an extraordinary person... he had a wonderful personality and he was very good at his job," she said, adding that he was a "proud Kiwi".
Prince Charles also paid tribute to Sgt Ratana during a National Police Memorial Day service, saying his death was the "latest heartbreaking evidence of the risks".
Searches continue at Croydon Custody Centre, where the shooting happened, an address in Park Road, Banstead, Surrey, and an address in Southbrook Road, Norbury.
Residents near one of the search areas, in Banstead, Surrey, reported hearing a loud noise on Saturday morning. and were later told that a controlled explosion had taken place.
The Banstead address is down a long driveway and its land contains a series of concrete bunkers. A marked police car has been guarding the entrance to the property.
- Reuters / BBC / RNZ
Residents of Lake Jackson, Texas, have been urged not to use tap water because it might be contaminated with a deadly brain-eating microbe.
File photo. Photo: 123RF
The local water authority warned of the potential contamination of its supply to the town - home to about 27,000 people - by Naegleria fowleri.
The amoeba typically infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. It is usually fatal.
Infections are rare in the US, with 34 reported between 2009 and 2018.
Eight Texas communities were told on Friday night not to use their water supply for any reason except to flush toilets. But the warning was lifted on Saturday for everywhere but Lake Jackson.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said residents of Lake Jackson should continue to avoid using tap water "until the water system has been adequately flushed and samples indicate that the water is safe to use".
It said it is not yet known how long this will take.
Naegleria fowleri is found around the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the majority of infections in the US have been caused by contaminated freshwater in southern states.
The CDC says people cannot get infected by swallowing contaminated water, and it cannot be passed from person to person.
Those infected with Naegleria fowleri have symptoms including fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as a stiff neck and headaches. Most die within a week.
An infection was previously confirmed in the US state of Florida earlier this year. At the time, health officials there urged locals to avoid nasal contact with water from taps and other sources.
- BBC
Susan Ryan, a trailblazing figure for women in politics who later served as Australia's first age discrimination commissioner, has died aged 77.
Susan Ryan, former Australian minister. Photo: Supplied / Twitter
Ryan served as a minister in Bob Hawke's Labor government, holding titles including special minister of state, minister for education and minister assisting the prime minister for the status women.
She was the first woman to hold the portfolio relating to women's affairs, and the first female minister from the Labor Party.
Key laws enshrining opportunity and rights for women were legislated on her watch, including the Sex Discrimination Act.
She would later be quoted as calling the Sex Discrimination Act "probably the most useful thing I've done in my life".
Ryan was elected to the Senate in 1975 as one of the first representatives for the ACT after it was granted two seats in the Senate.
She remained in Parliament for 12 years before retiring in 1987.
In 2011 she was appointed Australia's first age discrimination commissioner, later also serving as disability discrimination commissioner.
- ABC
US President Donald Trump announces Amy Coney Barrett as his nomination for the Supreme Court. Photo: Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has announced conservative appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett as his third US Supreme Court appointment, setting off a scramble in the Republican-led Senate to confirm her before Election Day in five-and-a-half weeks.
Barrett appeared at the White House with Trump as he made the announcement. Trump called her "one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds."
If confirmed to replace liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on 18 September, Barrett would become the fifth woman ever to serve on the top US judicial body and push its conservative majority to a commanding 6-3. With Trump's fellow Republicans controlling the Senate, confirmation appears certain, though Democrats may try to make the process as difficult as possible.
Barrett, 48, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is a favourite of religious conservatives, a key Trump voter bloc. Conservative activists have hailed Trump's selection, which surfaced on Friday night, while liberals have voiced dismay.
Like Trump's two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades. Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court nominee since conservative Clarence Thomas was 43 in 1991.
The White House ceremony was decorated with American flags arranged in a way similar to the day when President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg in 1993.
A makeshift memorial in honour of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in front of the US Supreme Court Photo: AFP
The selection kicks off a flurry of activity that must take place before the final confirmation vote, including public hearings in the coming weeks before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A White House source said the nominee on Tuesday will begin the traditional courtesy calls on individual senators in their offices, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell up first. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is expected to shepherd the nomination.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who mounted an angry defense of Kavanaugh during tense confirmation hearings in 2018, has signalled he expects to have Barrett confirmed as a justice by the 3 November election in which Trump is seeking a second term.
Democrats are still furious over McConnell's 2016 refusal to consider President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland because it came during an election year. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said the winner of the election should get to replace Ginsburg.
Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority. Only two Republican senators have opposed proceeding with the confirmation process.
Abortion rights advocates have voiced concern that Barrett, a devout Roman Catholic, could cast a vote for overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalising abortion nationwide.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, an anti-abortion group, in a statement on Saturday expressed confidence that Barrett "will fairly apply the law and Constitution as written, which includes protecting the most vulnerable in our nation: our unborn children."
Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, a faith-based advocacy group, added, "Catholics are thrilled with the expected nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and believe she represents the best choice to protect the rule of law and our constitutional rights."
Abortion rights groups and other liberal-leaning organisations announced plans for a protest against her nomination on Sunday in front of the Supreme Court.
Barrett has staked out conservative legal positions in three years on the bench, voting in favor of one of Trump's hardline immigration policies and showing support for expansive gun rights. She also authored a ruling making it easier for college students accused of campus sexual assaults to sue their institutions.
Amy Coney Barrett. Photo: AFP / University of Notre Dame / Julian Velasco
She and her lawyer husband have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti. Born in New Orleans, Barrett received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, a Catholic institution in Indiana.
The other finalist mentioned by Trump to fill the vacancy was Barbara Lagoa, a Cuban-American federal appeals court judge from Florida who he appointed last year.
Trump has said he wants his nominee confirmed before the election so she would be able participate in any election-related cases that reach the justices, potentially casting a key vote in his favor. A US presidential election's outcome only once has been determined by the Supreme Court, in 2000 when it clinched Republican George W. Bush's victory over Democrat Al Gore.
Trump has repeatedly without evidence said voting by mail, a regular feature of American elections, will lead to voter fraud. He also has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election.
This marks the first time since 1956 that a US president has moved to fill a Supreme Court vacancy so close to an election. In that year, President Dwight Eisenhower three weeks before winning re-election placed William Brennan on the court using a procedure called a "recess appointment" that bypassed the Senate, a tactic no longer available for installing justices.
An emboldened Supreme Court conservative majority could shift the United States to the right on hot-button issues by, among other things, curbing abortion rights, expanding religious rights, striking down gun control laws, and endorsing new restrictions on voting rights.
The United Kingdom's police watchdog is investigating the death of New Zealand-born officer Matiu Ratana.
For years this man, this hero, this skipper was the centrepiece of community policing in Hackney. He shaped the lives of many. Be that victims, suspects or colleagues.Sgt Ratana was the best. Gone, but most definitely not forgotten#SgtMattRatana pic.twitter.com/YGnIzAV6Ww
— Hackney Police (gov.uk/coronavirus) (@MPSHackney) September 25, 2020
Sergeant Matiu Ratana, 54, who was working in south London, died in hospital on Friday after being shot as a handcuffed suspect was being taken into custody.
Police investigating the fatal shooting have said four crime scenes are being "painstakingly" searched.
The 23-year-old suspect, who is thought to have then shot himself, remains in a critical condition, police said.
The murder investigation is expected to focus on the motive for the killing.
On Saturday evening, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the Metropolitan Police was focusing on four crime scenes.
He added: "We have recovered the gun from the custody suite where Matt was shot.
"We also have CCTV from that custody suite which shows the events, and we have body-worn video of our police officers who were involved in the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the suspect."
Police officers paying their tributes at the Croydon Custody Centre where Matt Ratana was shot. Photo: AFP
Yesterday, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "incredibly sad", telling those who knew Sgt Ratana that "we share your sorrow".
UK leaders have also been paying tribute to Sgt Ratana, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressing his "deepest condolences".
Sgt Ratana was shot in the chest at Croydon Custody Centre at about 02:15 BST on Friday.
The suspect had initially been arrested for an alleged drugs offence and possession of ammunition.
The shots were fired as officers prepared to search the suspect - who was still handcuffed - with a metal detector, according to watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). He remains in a critical condition in hospital.
"Several crime scenes" were established on Friday and a cordon remains in place around the Anderson Heights building in Norbury, south-west London, the Met has said.
A concierge in the building told the BBC the 23-year-old suspect did not live in the block but was arrested outside it.
Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, told the BBC: "It's very callous and it's obviously going to cause a lot of fear for police officers. It's very upsetting for them as it makes them feel so vulnerable."
He said the circumstances surrounding the death appeared to be "incredibly unusual", adding: "There are procedures of searching prisoners before they are taken to police stations in vans or in cars; they're searched again when they get to police stations and there are additional procedures because of screening for Covid.
"It will be important to get out fairly quickly the circumstances to see if there's anything that can be learnt about it."
Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida said the shooting was not terror-related.
It is believed the suspect was known to counter-terrorism police and his background may feature prominently in police inquiries, BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.
The suspect had been referred to the anti-extremism government's Prevent programme, aimed to stop people joining extremist groups and carrying out terrorist activities.
As part of the IOPC investigation it is examining CCTV and police bodycam footage to establish how the shootings took place.
The watchdog said the suspect was in handcuffs, with his hands behind his back.
A key part of that IOPC investigation will be to find out how thoroughly the suspect was searched before he was taken into custody.
Sergeant Matt Ratana has been described as a "talented officer". Photo: AFP / Metropolitan Police
Sgt Ratana came to the UK in his early 20s in 1989 and joined the Met Police two years later.
He was originally from Hawke's Bay and was educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School.
Sgt Ratana, who had a partner and an adult son from a previous relationship, would have been eligible for retirement in two months.
Speaking on Friday evening, Dame Cressida described Sgt Ratana as a "talented officer".
"As a colleague, he was big in stature and big-hearted, a friendly, capable police officer," she said.
"A lovely man, highly respected by officers and staff, and by the public, including suspects he arrested or dealt with in custody.
"He was very well known locally and will be remembered so fondly in Croydon, as well as in the Met and the rugby world."
She added: "I understand the great concern about how this happened and we will establish the facts. We owe it to Matt, his loved ones and all other officers."
Boris Johnson was among those who reacted to the news, tweeting: "My deepest condolences go to the family, friends and colleagues of the police officer who was killed in Croydon last night.
"We owe a huge debt to those who risk their own lives to keep us safe."
In a statement, Jacinda Ardern said: "To all Matiu's whānau across the world, we share your sorrow and have all our condolences."
New Zealand Police - where Sgt Ratana worked between 2003 and 2008 before returning to the UK - also sent their condolences, adding: "Policing is a family."
When he was not working, Sgt Ratana was heavily involved in rugby coaching.
Ryan Morlen, assistant head coach at East Grinstead Rugby Club in West Sussex, described him as "an absolutely lovely bloke".
"He is a bloke who is just so passionate about what he does - it does not matter whether you're the most talented or least talented, he will treat you equal," he said.
Crystal Palace Football Club held a minute's silence before their match against Everton at 15:00 on Saturday, to "pay our respects to local police officer Sgt Matt Ratana".
A minute's silence was also held before the London derby between Millwall and Brentford.
England Rugby also paid tribute to the 54-year-old, saying he "gave so much for our sport".
Neil Donohue, a friend of Sgt Ratana who runs a gym he used to attend, described him as "inspirational" and "the nicest, most generous man you could meet".
He told the BBC the 54-year-old had gone into "the custody side [of policing] purely because he had had enough out on the streets and he thought it was his safest option, just to see him through to his retirement".
"It's just absolutely tragic," he said.
A number of police officers have been turning their social media profile pictures black with a blue stripe to pay their respects.
John Davies, a retired officer who worked with Sgt Ratana when he was based in Hillingdon, west London, said he was "a truly remarkable, strong and unique individual" who "left an impression on all those he came into contact with".
Former police sergeant Alistair Livingstone told BBC Breakfast: "It's just utterly tragic. It almost gives all police officers, whether serving or not, the ultimate reality check that although perhaps we feel invincible when we go out and do the job everyone expects of us, in fact the risks are very real and it stops you in your tracks.
"The police are incredibly good when things go wrong like this. Some of the best support police officers get is from each other. Mental health is such a big issue across society so I hope the officers get all the support they need."
- BBC
The winners of this year's Nobel Prizes will miss out on a swanky gala in Stockholm surrounded by royalty and Sweden's glitterati, but 2020 will at least not be added to the war years when no awards were given.
A visitor stands in front of a bust of the Nobel Prize founder, Alfred Nobel, prior to the Nobel awards ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, in December 2019. Photo: AFP
Yet as the coronavirus pandemic rapidly enveloped much of the world earlier this year, that was far from certain.
Lars Heikensten Photo: AFP
"When we were thinking about this in March and April this year, we were worried that it wouldn't be possible to award any prizes at all," Lars Heikensten, head of the Nobel Foundation that administers the prizes founded by dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, said.
While Sweden has not imposed a rigid lockdown like many European countries, Heikensten said the committees that decide the various prizes had to switch to working digitally to make the selection process work.
But the foundation was determined that the awards - worth $US1.1 million ($NZ1.6m) this year - would go ahead.
"We thought it was particularly important in a year like this, when the importance of science is so obvious," Heikensten said.
The awards were cancelled during parts of World War 1 and World War II. Some prizes have not been given in individual years, with the most recent example being the postponement of the Literature prize in 2018 over a sex scandal.
The awards attract huge attention every year, shining a light, if only briefly, on scientists who work mostly in academic obscurity, while burnishing the reputations of often better-known authors who receive the Literature award.
Dr Johannes Georg Bednorz, from Germany, is a Nobel Prize winner for physics. Photo: AFP
But the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed almost a million lives globally, has meant that the Nobels will have a lower profile this year with many of the traditional celebrations postponed or re-jigged as digital events.
The foundation has cancelled the banquet, highlight of the celebrations that takes place every December, and the traditional prize-giving ceremony in Stockholm's Concert Hall will be replaced by a televised event where winners receive their prizes in their home nations.
This year's first prize - for Physiology or Medicine - will be announced on 5 October. Heikensten said if restrictions allowed by the end of next year, the 2020 winners would be invited to celebrate alongside the 2021 laureates.
"The traditional celebrations are important and part of what we are, but they are not the most important thing, which is the prize winners and what they embody," he said.
-Reuters
The recent disastrous fire season in Australia has made people more receptive to drawing on Aboriginal knowledge, including lighting fires, as part of a more holistic approach to the landscape, an author says.
Photo: AFP
Last year's Australian fire season was the worst on record, with 34 deaths, more than 3500 homes lost and billions of animals harmed.
It also wasn't a surprise to Victor Steffensen, a specialist in indigenous fire management. He correctly saw the amount of vegetation on the land combined with the drying effects of climate change as a bomb waiting to go off.
Steffensen believes the practice of cultural burning should be utilised more widely to reduce the threat of more catastrophic bushfires.
The idea that fire can be used to prevent fire is challenging - but is based on generations of indigenous knowledge of "reading" and responding to land.
He has written a memoir called Fire Country - How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia.
He told Saturday Morning that the knowledge is thousands of years old and he's been fortunate that elders have transferred it on to him.
In Australia, he said, there are a lot of eco-systems that need fire which encourages animals to return and to have sufficient food.
An injured koala receives treatment at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie after a bushfire. Photo: AFP
There was still a place for modern ways but it needed to draw on the knowledge of elders.
Steffensen said governments and communities had been more receptive to Indigenous ideas since the last fire season, "but we've still got a long way to go".
"Even today we struggle to be heard and to be sitting at the round table and making decisions and being part of mainstream decisions. It's only evident that Aboriginal knowledge is the leader and professional when it comes to environment in our own country. We've been living here for thousands of years...
"(We've) lived with fire in a way that it's not a fear of fire but farming and looking after the country. It's like permaculture, very selective and very careful burning in certain systems and burning for food."
There had been critics over the years, who said it wasn't relevant because it wasn't based on science or it could not be transferred to different regions of Australia - both those claims had been disproved, he said.
Other opponents said it was too expensive to use Aboriginal systems despite the billions of dollars of damage that had been caused around Australia in recent times.
"The health of our environment is priceless. You can't compare that with the dollar sign... it's just ridiculous."
Locking up land into conservation estates has contributed to the fire damage in Australia, he said. "Conservation excluded fire from the landscape and as a consequence the land that always had fire and always had people in the land, a part of that land, stopped and it was left to be neglected ...at the end of the day it overgrows with weeds and it gets wildfires and it slowly starts to destroy the land..."
Complex knowledge of land required
He said last summer's fires had awoken many to the need to tap into Indigenous knowledge and do things differently. The fire agencies were also starting to listen but it wasn't part of their training and they would need to learn some complex knowledge around soils, trees, weeds and cleared land. Trees were especially crucial in understanding the land, he said.
Firefighters would need a new approach to training, Victor Steffensen says. Photo: AFP
Steffensen has run workshops in communities all over Australia introducing them to Indigenous teaching methods.
People are trained to read their landscape and helped with planning to light fires.
"Everyone needs to go on the land to learn - you can't learn it sitting inside a meeting room or looking at maps....The country is living, the country is the boss..."
He has advised some communities that were scared of the flammability of the areas in which they lived.
"That's where they need to allow us to come in and show them."
Damage from the latest bushfires to ravage Western Australia Photo: Twitter / Murray Cowper
His aim is to have 1000 fire practitioners who are skilled in understanding the landscape and can heal it both with and without fire.
He said Indigenous people around the world had a similar knowledge structure, approach and connection to the land which underpinned their identity.
Listening to Indigenous elders worldwide sounded like listening to your own elders.
Problems with youth, environment and governments were also similar among Indigenous communities.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has resigned in the wake of Premier Daniel Andrews' testimony to the hotel quarantine inquiry in which he said she was responsible for the programme.
Jenny Mikakos says she does not believe it is her fault Covid-19 has hit Victoria so badly. Photo: AFP
In a statement posted to social media Mikakos said she had written to Victoria's Governor to resign as minister, and will also be resigning from the Parliament.
But she defended her handling of the pandemic, and said she disagreed with parts of Andrews' statement to the inquiry.
"I have never wanted to leave a job unfinished," she said.
"But in light of the Premier's statement to the board of inquiry and the fact that there are elements in it that I strongly disagree with, I believe that I cannot continue to serve in this Cabinet."
Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry was launched after it emerged that the state's second wave was fuelled by Covid-19 jumping from guests in the programme to workers, then spreading through the community.
Genomic sequencing data in July showed more than 99 percent of Victoria's coronavirus cases could be traced back to returned travellers.
Yesterday the Premier told the inquiry that he viewed Mikakos as accountable for the programme, but said he did not know who decided to use private security contractors to guard guests' rooms.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has upset his Health Minister by saying she should be held accountable for the state's quarantine programme. Photo: AFP
Not one person who gave evidence to the inquiry was able to say who made that decision.
Mikakos said she took responsibility for the department, but said the hotel quarantine programme was not her responsibility alone.
"I am deeply sorry for the situation that Victorians find themselves in," she said. "In good conscience, I do not believe that my actions led to them."
Melbourne streets remain virtually empty as a result of a lengthy lockdown due to the resurgence of Covid-19. Photo: AFP
Minister not fully briefed
Earlier this week the Coate inquiry heard Mikakos was kept in the dark on major issues surrounding the hotel quarantine programme throughout the year.
The top bureaucrat in Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, Kym Peake, said she did not pass all reports about concerns with the programme on to the Minister.
In her resignation statement, Mikakos said "with the benefit of hindsight" there were issues her department should have briefed her on.
"Whether they would have changed the course of events, only the [hotel quarantine inquiry] board and history can determine," she said.
Mikakos also told the inquiry she was not consulted on the establishment of the programme, and said she only became aware private security guards were being used in late May.
Mikakos stood beside Jobs Minister Martin Pakula at a press conference on 29 March when he confirmed security guards would be used to guard hotel quarantine, and those details were also included in a briefing note to caucus on 8 April.
However, the former Health Minister stood by her testimony, saying she did "not recall" becoming aware of security guards' involvement until late May.
'Andrews must go': O'Brien
Victoria's Opposition had called for Mikakos's resignation, blaming her for contact tracing issues and giving "dodgy evidence" to the inquiry.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien has also called for Andrews to step down, saying the Premier was ultimately responsible for the debacle.
"Mikakos did not say 'no' to ADF. She did not bring in private security for hotel quarantine," he said on Twitter.
"These decisions caused our second wave. Andrews is responsible. He must go."
- ABC
It can be tempting to think of Covid-19 patients as falling into one of two categories.
Covid-19 patients have reported 'brain fog' months after being infected Photo: 123RF / Olga Yastremska and Leonid Yastremskiy
Category 1: young, otherwise healthy individuals who experience mild symptoms and recover at home.
Category 2: older people and people with pre-existing health conditions who become seriously ill and go to hospital.
While it's true that there is a spectrum of risk when it comes to severity of disease, it's become increasingly clear that not everyone fits neatly into one of these categories.
For many people, the labels of "mild" or "severe", "sick" or "recovered" are blurred by their experience of ongoing, sometimes debilitating symptoms weeks or months after they first were infected.
Both anecdotal reports and a growing body of research suggest persistent fatigue, breathlessness, "brain fog" and muscle aches, among other symptoms, are plaguing people some time after their infection has cleared.
So what do we know about the lingering health effects of coronavirus, and how concerned should we be?
Health effects can linger for months
It's difficult to say what proportion of people with Covid-19 face medium- to long-term health impacts given how new the virus still is, said Dr Kirsty Short, a virologist at the University of Queensland.
"It's definitely happening, I just don't think we have a grip on how common it is," Short said.
In July, researchers in Italy found almost 90 per cent of patients with acute infections were still experiencing symptoms two months later.
Research from the US and UK, following a much broader group of people affected by Covid-19, suggests symptoms persist in about 10 to 15 per cent of cases.
In the same way the virus can sometimes cause serious illness in young, otherwise healthy individuals, lingering symptoms appear to affect people of all ages, including those with no underlying health conditions.
Lasting effects are also not restricted to those who experience severe illness when they're first infected.
People who are asymptomatic or have a mild case of Covid-19 can also face prolonged illness. Sometimes, these symptoms take weeks or months to appear.
The virus affects multiple organs
SARS-CoV-2 is primarily thought of as a respiratory virus, but the damage caused by Covid-19 is not always restricted to the lungs.
The virus binds to the body's ACE2 receptors, which are found in large numbers in the respiratory tract, but also in the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, liver and gastrointestinal tract.
In some cases, it may be that the virus itself is causing damage to the body's organs.
But researchers suspect it's high levels of inflammation in the body - triggered by the immune system trying to get rid of the virus - that's wreaking havoc, even after the infection has cleared.
"Most likely, they've had this overwhelming inflammatory response - which we know happens in COVID-19 patients - and then that's had knock-on effects."
Covid-19 can damage multiple organ systems, including:
Lungs: Lungs can be damaged when the virus enters the cells of the airways. It can cause scarred, stiff tissue that makes it difficult for the lungs to do their job of oxygenating the blood - leaving people breathless.
Heart: The virus can cause inflammation of the heart muscle or heart failure when the organ doesn't pump blood as well as it should. The heart can also fail from lack of oxygen.
Brain: If the virus enters the brain, it can cause a sudden and severe infection. Neurological symptoms may also be a result of inflammation in the brain or strokes caused by blood clots.
Covid-19 coronavirus particles. Photo: AFP
Symptoms seen in other infections
Self-described as Covid-19 "long haulers", some patients describe debilitating fatigue, difficulty exercising, and general "brain fog" months after their infection has cleared.
Short said post-viral fatigue is seen in other viral infections too.
"We know that Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever, has also been linked to chronic fatigue syndrome," she said.
Similarly, there is evidence to suggest Covid-19 can cause heart damage, which is not unusual for a virus, said Dr Linda Gallo of the University of Queensland.
"We know from SARS that there was evidence of cardiovascular involvement," said Gallo, who is researching how coronavirus affects the heart.
"However it was generally considered to be pretty self-limiting, and not persisting beyond the period of recovery.
While research on long-term cardiovascular effects is limited, Gallo said some of the preliminary evidence is concerning.
"The fact there are people who [have] recovered at home and had fairly mild symptoms are now showing evidence of heart damage is problematic, and surprising."
Gallo is part of a study investigating the longer-term effects of Covid-19, especially on people with diabetes, and is currently looking for people who have had coronavirus to participate in a study.
Although it's too early to say what the impact is on people with existing diabetes, she said there is a possibility Covid-19 might be linked to the onset of diabetes.
"The thought is that the virus directly attacks the pancreas. That's just a hypothesis - there's not direct evidence of that at this point," she said.
"It could be multifactorial, so a combination of direct virus effects as well as an overall hyperinflammatory response."
A timely reminder
There are multiple studies now underway to investigate whether Covid-19 leaves a lasting health impact, and if so, to what extent.
Short said without long-term studies, it's difficult to know how concerned we should be about Covid-19 in contrast to other existing viral infections.
"The question is: If you took a virus of similar severity and similar duration, would you also see long-term complications?" she said.
"It's very possible that we're just seeing this with SARS-COV-2 because of the sheer numbers of people being infected."
Even still, the emergence of symptoms down the track is a reminder of why it's important to take precautions.
"I think it's just another reason as to why we're taking all these measures ... because you just don't want to get this virus if you don't have to."
- ABC
US President Donald Trump has revealed his nomination to fill the vacancy on the US Supreme Court left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Amy Coney Barrett Photo: AFP / University of Notre Dame / Julian Velasco
His choice federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett, 48, is known for her conservative religious views.
Trump has said he will formally announce on Saturday his choice to replace Ginsburg, the liberal icon who died on 18 September at age 87. The Republican president had multiple times this week mentioned Barrett as under consideration.
Two sources confirmed on Friday that Trump plans to nominate Barrett, but warned that Trump could change his mind. Trump himself told reporters on Friday that he had made his decision, but declined to say who his pick was.
Barrett was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is known for her conservative religious views. Supreme Court justices are given lifetime appointments.
If confirmed, Trump's nominee would give conservatives a commanding 6-3 majority on the court at a time of intense political divisions in the United States.
Barrett has been viewed as a frontrunner throughout, along with fellow federal appeals court judge Barbara Lagoa. Barrett previously served as a clerk to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016.
Trump said he did not meet with Lagoa during a campaign trip to Florida.
Trump's nominee has what appears to be a clear path to Senate confirmation before the 3 November presidential election, with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the chamber and only two senators in his party indicating opposition to moving forward with the process.
Democrats have objected to the Senate acting on Trump's nominee in light of the decision by Republicans in the chamber in 2016 to refuse to consider Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Scalia after he died during a presidential election year.
Trump has made two previous Supreme Court appointments: Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality and various liberal causes, made history again on Friday as the first woman and first Jewish person to lie in state in the US Capitol. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden attended the ceremony a day after Trump was greeted with jeers and boos by a nearby crowd as he visited Ginsburg's flag-draped coffin outside the Supreme Court building.
- Reuters
