International

Under-fire Johnson says, UK will ‘massively increase testing’

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain would “massively increase testing” amid a growing wave of criticism on Thursday about his government’s failure to provide widespread coronavirus screening. In a video message posted online on Wednesday night from Downing Street, where he has been in self-isolation since announcing on March 27 that he had contracted the virus, Johnson said testing was the “way through”. “We’re also massively increasing testing. As I […]

At US food banks, a cupboard increasingly bare

by Cyril JULIEN WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Volunteers are staying home and donations have dried up. The coronavirus pandemic is pressuring US food banks, just as the number of people in need increases. With Americans told to stay home to help slow the virus’s spread, the number of volunteers to sort, package and distribute food for the needy has fallen from 100 to around 40 each day at Washington’s Capital Area Food Bank. Rob […]

China county in lockdown as fears grow over second wave of virus

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese county of around 600,000 residents has gone into lockdown after a woman who visited the area tested positive for the coronavirus, underscoring concerns over the second wave of domestic infections. The tightening comes as China reported 35 new confirmed cases on Thursday, drastically down from the peak of the crisis. But they were all imported, bringing the tally of such cases to 841 and adding to fears about infections […]

Italy extends lockdown as toll passes 13,000

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Wednesday extended its economically-crippling lockdown until April 13 to help stem coronavirus infections that have claimed 13,115 lives. “If we start loosening our measures now, all our efforts will have been in vain,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the nation in a nationally televised address. The extension had been expected. Italy’s health minister said on Monday that businesses across the nation of 60 million would remain shuttered and public […]

US virus cases more than 216,000 as deaths hit 5,137, says John Hopkins University tracker

  (Eagle News) — The number of coronavirus cases in the United States hits more than 216,000 on Thursday as the death toll continued to rise and breach 5,000, according to the virus dashboard of the Johns Hopkins University tracking global COVID-19 cases. As of Thursday noon, April 2 (PST), the US remains as the country with the most number of COVID-19 cases at 216,721, with reported coronavirus-related deaths at 5,137. The biggest number came […]

N. Korea insists it is free of coronavirus

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea remains totally free of the coronavirus, a senior health official in Pyongyang has insisted, despite mounting skepticism overseas as confirmed global infections near one million. The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut down its borders in January after the virus was first detected in neighboring China, and imposed strict containment measures. Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department of the North’s Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, insisted that […]

WHO troubled by ‘near-exponential’ growth of pandemic

by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Wednesday it was deeply concerned about the near-exponential escalation of the new coronavirus pandemic, with the number of deaths doubling in a week. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged citizens around the globe to stand together to fight COVID-19, as he braced for the millionth confirmed case. “As we enter the fourth month since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am deeply […]

In Cuba, medical students provide door-to-door virus care

by Katell ABIVEN HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Student doctors in Cuba are trudging from house to house trying to identify cases of the coronavirus pandemic to stop it from spreading in the Caribbean island nation. “How many people live here? Have you been in contact with foreigners? Do you know the health rules to follow?” they ask. Some 28,000 students repeat the same questions dozens of times a day, all across the country. In the […]

Iran floods leave 21 dead

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Flooding in Iran caused by heavy rainfall has left 21 people dead and one missing, an emergency services spokesman said Wednesday, even as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic. Mojtaba Khaledi told Iran’s ISNA news agency that 22 people had also been injured, with most of the casualties in southern or central provinces. He said 11 people had died in Fars province, three each in Hormozgan and Qom, two in Sistan […]

France reports record 509 more coronavirus deaths, toll tops 4,000

PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of deaths from COVID-19 since the coronavirus epidemic began, saying 509 more people had died in the hospital to bring the toll to 4,032. There are now 24,639 people hospitalized in France with COVID-19, with 6,017 of them in intensive care, health official Jerome Salomon told reporters in his daily update. The death toll on Tuesday had risen by 499. The French figures […]

Six-week-old newborn dies of coronavirus in US: state governor

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A six-week-old infant has died of complications relating to COVID-19, the governor of the US state of Connecticut said Wednesday, in one of the youngest recorded deaths from the virus. Governor Ned Lamont tweeted that the newborn was “brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived.” “Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive,” Lamont said. “This is absolutely heartbreaking. We believe […]