International

Locked in by virus, Iraq hit with new pandemic: domestic abuse

by Ammar Karim Agence France Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — “More morphine!” Malak’s mother cried, her 20-year-old daughter hospitalized after a marital dispute left her severely burned — the latest victim of domestic violence exacerbated by confinement in Iraq. The nationwide lockdown since mid-March is meant to keep coronavirus cases down in the country, but it has led to a spike in another sad statistic: domestic violence. The head of Iraq’s community police, Brigadier General […]

WHO warns over virus immunity as global death toll tops 200,000

  by Gaël Branchereau with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse The World Health Organization warned on Saturday that recovery from coronavirus might not protect a person from reinfection as the global death toll from the pandemic surpassed 200,000. Hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world spent the second day of the Ramadan holy month out of mosques and avoiding large family meals to break the fast because of sequestration and social distancing policies. And […]

COVID-19 deaths worldwide near 200,000 as UN pushes for global vaccine effort

  by Paul Handley with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse The global coronavirus death toll approached 200,000 on Saturday as the United Nations launched an international push for a vaccine to defeat the pandemic. Governments around the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people and left half of humanity under some form of lockdown. The scale of the pandemic has forced medical research […]

Canada says 1 million masks from China did not meet its standards for frontline workers

  MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — The Canadian government said Friday that one million KN95 masks imported from China did not meet its strict standards and so could not be distributed to frontline health workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Public Health Agency of Canada “has identified approximately one million KN95 masks as non-compliant with specifications for healthcare settings,” a spokesman told AFP. “These items were not distributed to provinces and territories for frontline health care […]

US death toll tops 50,000 as some Georgia businesses reopen

  by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse Gyms, hair salons and tattoo parlors had a green light to reopen Friday in the state of Georgia as the United States surpassed the grim milestone of 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. As the southern state lifted restrictions on a list of businesses that also included nail salons and bowling alleys, President Donald Trump warned that Governor Brian Kemp may be moving too fast. “Spas, beauty salons, […]

DFA reports 63 new COVID-19 cases among overseas Filipinos, total now close to 1,200

(Eagle News) – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported 63 new COVID-19 cases involving overseas Filipinos, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,185 as of Friday, April 24. In a statement, the DFA also reported 177 deaths and 319 recoveries involving Filipinos across 43 countries and regions worldwide. “In contrast to yesterday’s figures, the rates of new confirmed cases at 5.61% and new deaths at 9.62% as of today are higher than […]

Is Nevada ready to reopen?

Eagle News — “When will we reopen our economy?” — is the biggest question that hangs over business owners and politicians. Time lost, is money lost. The Las Vegas strip,  is an economic powerhouse. Not only for the city of Las Vegas but for the entire state of Nevada. The impacts of visitor (tourism/conventions) spending in 2018, Southern Nevada’s tourism industry contributed $57.6 billion in total output. It’s no wonder that Mayor Carolyn Goodman, wants […]

UK virus death toll climbs to 18,738 as govt expands testing

by Joe JACKSON Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Thursday said another 616 people had died in hospital from the novel coronavirus, as the government detailed a new testing regime that could allow the country to ease its lockdown. The latest death count — recorded in the 24 hours to 1600 GMT on Wednesday — was lower than the 759 from the previous day and follows other signs the virus may […]

S.Africa to gradually ‘ease’ virus lockdown from May 1

by Sofia CHRISTENSEN Agence France Presse PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s five-week coronavirus lockdown will be slowly eased from next month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday as he sought a balance between protecting people and letting them “earn a living.” Ramaphosa rolled out strict confinement measures on March 27, under which people were only allowed to leave their homes for groceries, pharmaceuticals and medical appointments. Though infections rose to nearly 4,000 cases on […]

Weekly US jobless claims 4.4 mn, virus total hits 26.4 mn

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Job losses from the coronavirus pandemic deepened last week with data Thursday showing another 4.4 million US workers filed new claims for jobless benefits, bringing the total to 26.4 million since mid-March. The total for the week ending April 18 is a drop from the initial claims filed in the previous three weeks, but remains at staggeringly high levels due to government-ordered shutdowns to stop the pandemic from spreading […]

Spain’s virus death toll tops 22,000

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain said Thursday 440 people died in the past 24 hours from the new coronavirus, a slight increase for the third day running, bringing the overall death toll to 22,157. The country has suffered the third-highest number of deaths in the world from the pandemic after the United States and Italy, with infections now more than 213,000 cases, health ministry figures showed. Spanish health officials believe the epidemic peaked on April […]

Italy launches antibody tests for virus immunity

by Alexandria SAGE Agence France Presse ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy began conducting antibody tests in the northern region of Lombardy on Thursday, seeking information about coronavirus immunity to help guide authorities as they reopen the long locked-down country. Lombardy, the region hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis in Europe’s worst-affected country, is betting that the science about “herd immunity” derived from the blood tests will help the prosperous industrial region return to work faster and […]