International

One dead as Italian prisons revolt over virus outbreak measures

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Inmates in four Italian prisons have revolted over new rules introduced to contain the coronavirus outbreak, leaving one prisoner dead and others injured, a prison rights group said Sunday. Prisoners at jails in Naples Poggioreale in the south, Modena in the north, Frosinone in central Italy and at Alexandria in the northwest had all revolted over measures including a ban on family visits. Rights group Antigone said an inmate had died at […]

Virus-hit US cruise ship to dock as New York declares health emergency; virus death toll in US hits 19

  by Jocelyne ZABLIT Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A US cruise ship hit by coronavirus was given permission late Saturday to dock, while New York announced a state of emergency as confirmed cases across the country surged past 400. The fast-spreading virus has already spread to 30 US states, killing at least 19 people, while the American capital announced its first case Saturday and citizens were coming to terms with […]

Italy coronavirus toll tops 230, cases near 6,000

  ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose by 36 to 233 on Saturday while the number of infections shot up by a single-day record of 1,247 to hit 5,883. Italy has recorded the most deaths of any country outside China and the third-most COVID-19 infections after China and South Korea. Official figures showed the number of people receiving intensive care in hospitals jumped to 567 from 462 on Friday. […]

Quarter of Italian population put under virus lockdown; virus spreads to all regions in Italy

ROME, Italy (AFP) — More than 15 million people were placed under forced quarantine in northern Italy early Sunday as the government approved drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus that is sweeping the globe. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Twitter he had signed off on plans to strictly limit movement in and out of large areas including Venice and the financial capital Milan for nearly a month. […]

Updated: China quarantine hotel collapse kills six

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least six people were killed in the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China, the Ministry of Emergency Management said Sunday. Rescuers retrieved 43 people from the rubble, of whom 37 are still alive, the ministry said on its firefighting department’s social media account. The coastal city of Quanzhou has recorded 47 cases of the COVID-19 infection and the hotel had been repurposed […]

NBA mulls games without fans over virus fears: report

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The NBA has reportedly told teams to look into strategies on how to play games without fans in the arena amid concerns over the new coronavirus outbreak. As fears grow over the spread of the virus, and sports leagues formulate contingency plans, the NBA on Friday sent a memo to its teams telling them to start “developing” plans on how to play games with only “essential staff” in […]

Florida reports two coronavirus deaths, the first in eastern US

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Florida health authorities confirmed Friday two deaths from the new coronavirus, the first US fatalities outside the west coast states of Washington and California. Both had traveled abroad, Florida Department of Health said in a statement announcing the two deaths and a total of 12 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the southeast state. They brought the US death toll to 16, including 14 reported earlier, according to a tally by Johns […]

Confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide reach 102,180; virus deaths almost 3,500

  (Eagle News) — The number of confirmed novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections worldwide is now at 102,180 with reported deaths succumbing to the virus complications at almost 3,500, as of Saturday, March 7, 2020. Based on the monitoring by the John Hopkins University compiling information from various official sources, those who died from COVID-19 is at 3,491 as before noon Saturday, with those recovering from the disease at 57,389. Mainland China still has […]

Spain virus toll hits 5 as infections jump

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain registered its fifth victim from the deadly coronavirus epidemic on Friday as the number of people infected with the virus jumped to 365, health officials said. So far, all of the victims have been people in high-risk categories, elderly or suffering from a pre-existing condition, said Fernando Simon, the health ministry’s chief coordinator for emergencies. Since Thursday evening, 102 new cases have been confirmed in the biggest single-day jump since […]

Slovakia confirms first coronavirus case

VILNIUS, Slovakia (AFP) — Slovakia reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday, after a man whose son visited Venice in COVID-19 hotspot Italy, tested positive. “Today, a 52-year-old patient was confirmed to be infected,” Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini told journalist Friday. He said the man, who has not been named, is currently hospitalized in Bratislava. “The patient did not travel anywhere recently but his son returned from Venice a couple of weeks […]

Egypt detects 12 new coronavirus cases on Nile cruise boat

CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egypt detected 12 new cases Friday of the novel coronavirus among workers aboard a Nile cruise boat heading from Aswan to Luxor, a healthy ministry statement said. “Twelve new cases tested positive for the coronavirus among Egyptian staff on the cruise boat without showing any symptoms,” the joint statement with the World Health Organization said. Authorities were alerted after it was found that a Taiwanese tourist who traveled on the ship […]

Catholic Church’s Pope Francis accepts resignation of French cardinal

The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, whose conviction for shielding an alleged child-molesting priest was overturned on appeal last month, the Catholic church in Lyon said Friday. Barbarin, who will now step down as Archbishop of Lyon, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence last March for not reporting a priest in his diocese who had allegedly abused dozens of boy scouts in the 1980s and 1990s. […]