In the first of her weekly columns, Heather Chaney describes preparing for a course of chemo and radiotherapy that will compromise her immune system

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It’s been almost 24 hours since my surgery, and the sedation has finally worn off. I’m feeling sore, and I can’t seem to shake the feeling that there’s a stick running up the side of my neck. But I’ve heard that fades in a couple days.

I’m sitting in my backyard in Bellevue, Washington, soaking up the rare bit of Pacific north-west sunshine. I’m thinking about taking my 15-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter to the game store tonight, to pick up a copy of Animal Crossing. It’s a no-contact pickup, so we’ll be observing the distancing rules, but at least driving in the car will give us a little break from the house.

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The president of the United Arab Emirates has approved a law organising strategic stocks of food commodities in emergencies, the state news agency WAM said on Monday, amidst rising global fears for food supplies due to the coronavirus pandemic.

North Korea said on Monday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo undermined its willingness to restart stalled denuclearisation talks, criticising his recent remarks on sanctions on Pyongyang.

China ramped up efforts on Monday to heal the world's second-biggest economy as health authorities reported a further drop in new coronavirus cases, although the country remains wary of carriers of the disease coming from abroad and infected people who exhibit no symptoms.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday ordered the suspension to public transport services to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which is known to have infected 203 people in the country.

Tokyo officials said a drop in daily cases of coronavirus on Monday was not a cause for optimism, as they called on citizens to refrain from outdoor activities, especially gatherings at bars, night clubs and karaokes, through April 12.

Turkey has placed 39 residential areas in 18 cities under quarantine as of Monday to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 131 people in the country.

Manolis Glezos, a prominent Greek whose act of defiance against Nazi occupation during World War Two was a rallying cry for the country's resistance movement, died on Monday, authorities said. He was 97.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose to 11,750 on Monday from a day earlier, with 884 new cases and 93 new deaths, health authorities said.

A prominent bishop in the Serbian Orthodox Church died from a coronavirus infection less than a week after being hospitalised, his diocese said on Monday.

Singapore confirmed 35 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total tally to 879.

White House health experts argued strongly with President Donald Trump to extend a stay-at-home order for Americans fighting the spread of the coronavirus so the country could start seeing the rates of infection come down, a top U.S. health official said on Monday.

Zimbabwe began a 21-day nationwide lockdown on Monday, following neighbour South Africa in implementing some of the world's toughest anti-coronavirus measures likely to hurt an economy already suffering hyperinflation and food shortages.

Iran had 117 new coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,757, a health ministry spokesman said on Monday, prompting the Middle East's worst hit country to consider tougher curbs on movement.

Spain overtook China's total number of coronavirus cases on Monday but business leaders and regional authorities criticised the government's decision to further restrict the movement of people and keep non-essential workers at home until mid-April.

• US passes 2,500 deaths from Covid-19
  
• Fauci suggests US death toll could reach 200,000
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1.10pm BST

Trump is now talking about tests, new tests being developed and his hope that an antimalarial drug might be used to treat Covid-19. He also repeats that the US has “tested more than anybody in the world by far” – in fact the US does not lead the world in terms of tests per capita, and it is largely agreed that the Trump administration presided over a catastrophically slow start to the testing regime.

Related: Five of Donald Trump's most misleading coronavirus claims

1.08pm BST

Trump now praises Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Deborah Birx, the public health experts who convinced him not to try to reopen the economy by Easter, and the administration’s response to the crisis in New York.

He repeatedly mentions the new hospital built at the Javits Center in Manhattan by the Army Corps of Engineers, all 2,900 beds of it. He doesn’t mention that it is not for Covid-19 cases but to take pressure off the rest of the healthcare system. Nor does he repeat Sunday’s insinuation that hospitals in New York are stealing or selling face masks.

Related: Five of Donald Trump's most misleading coronavirus claims

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