Tag Archives: Coronavirus

China has pledged to invest millions of additional dollars into the World Health Organisation (WHO) after Donald Trump announced he was cutting off US funding for the group while reviewing its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing said it would contribute an additional $30m as the United Nations organization battles …

Bill Gates has compared tackling the coronavirus pandemic to fighting a world war. In a memo on his website, Gates Notes, the co-founder of Microsoft wrote that the whole world is in a fight against the virus. “The coronavirus pandemic pits all of humanity against the virus. The damage to …

Spain’s daily coronavirus deaths fell to the lowest in more than a month on Friday, prompting the government to declare the most acute phase of the epidemic was over as it prepared criteria to ease one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. The 367 registered deaths in the previous 24 hours represented …

Armed police were scrambled after a gunman opened fire at a funeral in Manchester, England, attended by hundreds of mourners despite COVID-19 social distancing orders. The attacker was reportedly stabbed by some of the crowd. The shocking incident took place at Gorton Cemetery on Thursday, where family and friends were …

The last patient in Wuhan with severe COVID-19 has been cured, a health official has declared. The now-global disease was first detected in the Chinese city. The patient, who was the last person in Wuhan and the whole of Hubei Province to experience difficulty overcoming the virus, was released from …

The coronavirus can linger in patients’ eyes for several weeks and could act as a way of spreading the COVID-19 disease, according to a new study from Italy. Scientists at Italy’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases hospital in Rome studied the symptoms of an unnamed 65-year-old woman who developed the …

Doctors and health experts urged people not to drink or inject disinfectant on Friday after US President Donald Trump suggested scientists should investigate inserting the cleaning agent into the body as a way to cure COVID-19. “(This is an) absolutely dangerous crazy suggestion,” said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine …

African nations that lack ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients will receive some from the Jack Ma Foundation, an African Union official said on Thursday, as Nigeria stressed Africa’s dependence on a properly-funded World Health Organization (WHO)to help it fight the pandemic. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than …

Hunger protests are increasing across Colombia as millions of people find themselves unable to obtain food due to the anti-coronavirus lockdown. In the capital, Bogota, scores of people demonstrated outside the office of Mayor Claudia Lopez on Wednesday, demanding that the authorities urgently deliver aid that has been promised to …

In Iraq, the World Health Organization has called on the government to continue to tighten its preventive measures against the coronavirus. The representative of the organization, Adham Ismail, said in a statement today, Thursday, that “the first day of lifting the partial ban was not good indicators, regarding adherence to …

The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council on Thursday announced that more than 20,000 detainees had been released so far as part of measures to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak. The council’s statement said that this decision came “in line with the decisions of the [Iraqi] Crisis Cell regarding reducing the risks …

In a reversal of prevailing COVID-19 wisdom, a French study appears to show smokers are less at risk from the virus, affirming the results of an earlier Chinese study. The data aren’t conclusive – but they’re certainly surprising. Nicotine may protect smokers against the coronavirus, according to a paper published …

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Thursday to show endurance and discipline to get through the coronavirus pandemic that is “still at the beginning”, and called for a bigger European Union budget to support economic recovery in the bloc. Merkel is worried that Germans are relaxing their social distancing efforts …

The coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions that came with it have severely reduced the supply of illegal drugs entering France, sending prices skyrocketing and users turning to cheaper alternatives. The go-to land routes for drug traffickers crossing into France from the Netherlands and Spain have largely been closed off, …

The incredible flora and fauna of the Venetian canals have been caught on video as the lack of boats on the waterways leaves the water to clear and natural life to thrive. The Italian city world-renowned for its canals has been in lockdown since early March, having been among the …

Trump says he will force Harvard to give back emergency coronavirus funding Harvard says it did not receive aid from a congressional relief fund created for small businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic after Donald Trump alleged the university took the money “meant for workers”. In a statement posted to Twitter, …

Authorities in the Brazilian city of Manaus have begun burying people who died from COVID-19 in mass graves after the number of people falling victim to the virus dramatically increased. In a somber statement, Manaus City Hall said that the number of burials in public cemeteries spiraled significantly over the …

Australia sought support for an international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and major powers, but France and Britain said now was the time to fight the virus and not apportion blame. Australia’s push for an independent review of the origins …

In a bustling meat market on a tourist island in Indonesia on 7 April, a pile of dead bats is laid out for sale on a table next to cuts of fresh pork while a butcher angrily shoos away a customer trying to take pictures of the scene on his …

U.S. health regulators on Tuesday OK’d the first coronavirus test that allows people to collect their own sample at home, a new approach that could help expand testing options in most states. The test from LabCorp will initially only be available to health care workers and first responders under a …