China reports 108 new COVID-19 cases, death toll reaches 3,341
China has reported over 100 new COVID-19 cases for the first time in recent weeks, while two more people have died in the central Hubei Province, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, taking the death toll in the country to 3,341, health officials said on Monday. According to China’s National Health Commission (NHC), a total […]
Lockdown extension: WHO commends ‘timely, tough action’ by India
The WHO on Tuesday commended India’s move to extend the national lockdown against COVID-19 until May 3. WHO Regional Director for South East Asia Poonam Khetarpal Singh said, “World Health Organization commends India’s timely and tough actions to stop COVID19. It may be early to talk about results in numbers, but a six-week nationwide lockdown to […]
Coronavirus Global Updates, April 14: France extends lockdown for four more weeks as positive cases worldwide near 2 million
Coronavirus latest updates: French President Emmanuel Macron announced the extension of France’s strict lockdown until May 11. The country has been under lockdown since March 17. Meanwhile, New York’s coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 and the worldwide number of confirmed cases hovered around 2 million even as the lack of fresh hot spots globally yielded a ray […]
Coronavirus: Trump claims ‘total’ authority to lift lockdown
President Donald Trump has claimed “total” power to lift the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, contradicting governors and legal experts. “The president of the United States calls the shots,” Mr Trump said during a combative press conference in which he feuded with reporters. But the US Constitution says the states maintain public order and safety. Ten states […]
Fighting fake news: The new front in the coronavirus battle
London, United Kingdom – The theories have spread almost as fast as the new coronavirus: Chloroquine is a proven cure, children are immune and 5G caused the pandemic. From the seemingly plausible to the predictably untrue, fake news about COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is flooding the internet as we scramble to make sense […]
Iran foreign minister raises US sanctions with India
Iran foreign minister Javad Zarif on Monday raised the issue of “illegal and unilateral US sanctions” on his country during a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar. In recent weeks, Iran’s top leadership has called on India and other countries to help defeat the US sanctions that are hampering the country’s fight against Covid-19. Iran […]
Coronavirus ‘disaster in the making’ in war-torn Syria
As Europe and the United States struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, experts warn that disaster looms in war-torn Syria, where hospitals are unable to meet existing needs and hygiene conditions are dire. The outbreak has infected more than 1.8 million people and killed more than 112,000 around the world since emerging in China in […]
Coronavirus deaths slow in Italy, France
The death rate in Italy and France – two of the countries countries worst-affected by the coronavirus – appears to be slowing, as the number of people confirmed to have the disease across the world rose beyond 1.8 million. Italy’s Civil Protection Agency reported the lowest number of coronavirus deaths since March 19, with 431 fatalities […]
Andaman & Nicobar has started conducting ‘pool tests’ for Covid-19 — first in the country
New Delhi: The Andaman and Nicobar administration has been ‘pool testing’ the samples of suspected coronavirus patients to reduce the number of test kits used, in view of the acute shortage of kits across the country. They have been conducting these Covid-19 tests for the past ten days and according to government sources, the union territory […]
Turkey imposes 48-hour curfew in major cities to curb virus
Dozens of Turkish cities, including Istanbul, have been placed under lockdown for two days from midnight on Friday to combat the spread of the coronavirus, as the country’s death toll from the pandemic crossed 1,000. The restrictions, which will last until midnight (21:00 GMT) on Sunday, were imposed in 31 provinces across the country and scaled […]
