Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has called on Iranians to respect health protocols aimed at containing the new coronavirus as “low-risk” economic activities resumed in most of the country. Rouhani made the plea in a meeting of senior officials in charge of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus …
Read More »Six New Strains of Bat-Borne Coronavirus Discovered in Myanmar
The new types of coronavirus have been found in three bat species. They are thought to have no close links to the strains that cause lethal diseases like SARS, MERS or COVID-19, and it is yet unclear whether they can spill over to other species including humans. Scientists have discovered …
Read More »War-torn Yemen reports first new coronavirus case amid poor medical sector
Yemen has reported its first case of infection with the novel coronavirus in a southern province under the control of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to the country’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. This has raised fears of an outbreak in an impoverished country where five years of a bloody campaign …
Read More »Chinese government reveals a draft list of animals which can be farmed for meat
The Chinese government has issued a new draft list of livestock that can be farmed for meat in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic, which is suspected to have originated from wild animals in a Wuhan wet market. Beijing temporarily banned all trade in wild animals for food following the …
Read More »EU agrees €500bn rescue package
EU finance ministers have agreed on a €500bn (£430bn;$540bn) rescue package for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The chairman of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, announced the deal, reached after marathon discussions in Brussels. It comes as Spain’s prime minister said the country was close to passing the …
Read More »Boris Johnson must rest up, says PM’s father
Boris Johnson “must rest up” after he was moved from intensive care with coronavirus, his father has said. “He almost took one for the team and we’ve got to make sure we play properly now,” Stanley Johnson said. Scientific adviser Prof Neil Ferguson, who was asked about coming out of …
Read More »New York using mass graves amid virus outbreak
Images have emerged of coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise. Workers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked. The location is Hart …
Read More »Italian prime minister fears EU could collapse because of pandemic
Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has warned that the EU could fail over the response to coronavirus. He said that the union has to work in a more co-ordinated way to fight the outbreak, or risks collapsing altogether. With the Italian economy set to contract and debt set to inevitably …
Read More »Iran presses IMF for swift processing of loan request
Iranian authorities have called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to accelerate processing Tehran’s request for an emergency loan which requires fighting a pandemic. The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati said on Thursday that the IMF is expected to consider Iran’s request for a $5 …
Read More »US weekly jobless claims hit 15mn as corona crisis deepens
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has hit a staggering 15 million as the coronavirus pandemic has brought the United States to a halt. The country recorded 5.250 million claims for state unemployment benefits for the week ended April 4, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The data …
Read More »The World Health Organization speaks out after Trump’s threats
The World Health Organization on Wednesday criticized US President Donald Trump’s plan to suspend the contributions of the United States government to its budget in light of the crisis of the outbreak of the Corona virus “emerging Covid-19”. Senior officials at the World Health Organization have pushed back at calls …
Read More »Oil holds near $32 ahead of OPEC-led talks on output cuts
Oil steadied near $32 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by hopes that a meeting between OPEC members and allied producers on Thursday will trigger output cuts to shore up prices that have collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday’s videoconference meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) …
Read More »Italy, Spain ICU pressures decline, but emotional toll rises
Maddalena Ferrari lets herself cry when she takes off the surgical mask she wears even at home to protect her elderly parents from the coronavirus that surrounds her at work in one of Italy’s hardest-hit intensive care units. In the privacy of her own bedroom, where no one can see, …
Read More »Coronavirus: Iran appeals for $5bn IMF loan as deaths pass 4,000
Iran has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $5bn (£4bn) emergency loan to help fight the coronavirus, as its death toll passed 4,000. President Hassan Rouhani warned that “there should be no discrimination” in approving requests. The US reportedly opposes the loan, with officials saying Iran has …
Read More »India ‘corona-car’ aims to accelerate awareness
A man in Hyderabad has manufactured a single-seater vehicle shaped like the coronavirus under the microscope to spread awareness about COVID-19 among Indians. “I’ll take this on the road and show the people the dangers of the coronavirus,” says Sudhakar Yadav.
Read More »China lifts 76-day lockdown on Wuhan
China has ended its lockdown of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, as the city, reemerges from a deadly outbreak that is now raging across the globe. But even as Wuhan reopens its borders after 76 days, some restrictions within the city will remain in place, and officials …
Read More »Poll: 55% of Americans say federal govt has done poor job preventing virus spread
A majority of Americans — 55% — now say the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread of coronavirus in the United States, up to eight points in about a week, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS as the nationwide death toll from the …
Read More »Boris Johnson spends second night in intensive care
Boris Johnson has spent a second night in intensive care as he continues to receive treatment for coronavirus. Mr. Johnson is being kept in St Thomas’ Hospital in London “for close monitoring”, Downing Street said. The PM is “comfortable, he’s stable, he’s in good spirits”, said health minister Edward Argar …
Read More »WHO denies being ‘China-centric’ after Trump comment
World Health Organization officials on Wednesday denied that the body was “China-centric” and said that the acute phase of a pandemic was not the time to cut funding after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would put contributions on hold. The United States is the top donor to the Geneva-based …
Read More »North-South divide ahead of key EU meeting
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed deep divides in Europe, with EU member states arguing over how to tackle the economic fallout. Italy and Spain have accused northern nations – led by Germany and the Netherlands – of not doing enough. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has even warned that if …
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