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by Hazel Ward, with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain reopened parts of its coronavirus-stricken economy on Monday as slowing death tolls in some of the worst-hit countries boosted hopes the curve may be starting to flatten and lockdown restrictions could soon be eased. Watched by a world that is keen to temper a brutal pandemic-induced recession, some Spanish factory and construction staff were set to return to work within strict […]
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Three Turkish prisoners have died from the coronavirus, Turkey’s justice minister said Monday as he announced the first cases of convicts diagnosed with the disease. A total of 17 convicts in five open prisons have contracted the virus, Abdulhamit Gul told reporters in Ankara. “Three of them, unfortunately, died during their treatment in hospital,” he said. Some convicts are sent to open prisons towards the end of their sentences to serve […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s health ministry on Monday reported another 111 deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking the official overall toll in the worst-hit Middle East country to 4,585. Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 1,617 new infections took the total number of cases in the country’s outbreak to 73,303, of whom 45,983 had recovered. “The trend of relatively stable and decreasing new cases of contamination, which has been observed in recent days, has also […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The daily death toll in Spain resumed its downward trend on Monday after another 517 people died with the overall number of fatalities nearly 17,500, government figures showed. The data also showed confirmed cases rose by 3,477 — the lowest daily figure since March 20 — as Spain began reopening parts of its economy with construction and manufacturing workers returning after a two-week hibernation period. © Agence France-Presse
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — A second death from Ebola has been recorded in eastern DR Congo in the final days before a deadline, now scrapped, in which health authorities hoped to declare an end to a 20-month epidemic. Hopes had been high that the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday would officially bring the curtain down on the country’s 10th known outbreak of the notorious hemorrhagic fever. But on Friday, a 26-year-old man was […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean firms will make their first shipment of coronavirus tests to the United States this week after a request by US President Donald Trump, Yonhap news agency reported Monday. The US has more confirmed COVID-19 cases than anywhere else in the world and also has the highest toll, with more than 22,000 deaths. In contrast South Korea was once the hardest-hit country outside China, but appears to have brought […]
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador said police have removed almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes in Guayaquil, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak after the disease overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals, and funeral parlors. Mortuary workers in the Pacific port city have been unable to cope with a backlog, with residents posting videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets. “The number we have collected with the task force from people’s […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron is on Monday expected to warn France its lockdown to combat the coronavirus must go on for several more weeks at least, while also outlining how the country will recover from the crisis. At just after 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), Macron will give his third prime-time televised address to the nation on the epidemic from the Elysee palace. In his last, he announced the nationwide lockdown to […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain is “far from victory” in its fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned on Sunday as the country’s death toll from the pandemic rose again after falling for three days in a row. The nation registered 619 new deaths in the last 24 hours from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 16,972, the health ministry said, the highest in the world after the United States and Italy. The […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Sunday reported a drop in COVID-19 deaths on the previous 24 hours, with the total toll from the coronavirus epidemic in the country now 14,393, the health ministry said. It said that there were 315 deaths in hospital over the last day, compared with 345 the day earlier. The total toll includes those who have died in nursing homes. France had on April 6 recorded 605 deaths in hospitals, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — At least six people have died after tornadoes ripped through the southern US state of Mississippi on Sunday, officials said. The tornadoes caused “catastrophic” damage, according to US media, and prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue a tornado emergency, its highest level of tornado alert. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MSEMA) reported one death in Walthall County, two in Lawrence County and three in Jefferson Davis County, all […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has carried out a major reshuffle of his State Affairs Commission, official media reported Monday, replacing more than a third of its members. Kim has established an iron grip over the levers of authority in his nuclear-armed country since inheriting power in his late 20s in 2011. He is chairman of the SAC — the North’s highest decision-making body — and five of its […]
