Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s deputy health minister confirmed on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic. Iraj Harirchi coughed occasionally and wiped sweat from his brow repeatedly during a news conference in Tehran on Monday with government …
Read More »Coronavirus a ‘game changer’ for globalisation: French minister
Athens, Greece | AFP | The new coronavirus is a “game changer” that will require a rethink of global supply networks especially in the health, medicine, and auto industries, the French finance minister said on Tuesday. “The coronavirus epidemic is a game changer for globalisation,” Bruno Le Maire said during a visit to Athens, adding …
Read More »‘No one cares’: Locked-in Wuhan residents adapt to find food
Beijing, China | AFP | The lockdown of Guo Jing’s neighbourhood in Wuhan –- the city at the heart of China’s new coronavirus epidemic –- came suddenly and without warning. Unable to go out, the 29-year-old is now sealed inside her compound where she has to depend on online group-buying …
Read More »Alone and frightened
Ugandan students in Wuhan-China cry out Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Thomas Kanzira, a 25 old Ugandan is a student in Wuhan; the Chinese city in Hubei Province which is the epicenter of the new coronavirus that has infected over 60,000 people and killed about 2000. Wuhan which is …
Read More »COVID-19: what we know and what we don’t
Paris, France | AFP | Researchers want to know everything about the latest coronavirus, from its mortality rate to its origins, incubation period and much more, and they still have blanks to fill in. – Mortality rate? – COVID-19, as the disease is known, is more lethal than the average …
Read More »Inter Milan game among three postponed over coronavirus in Italy
Rome, Italy | AFP | Title-chasing Inter Milan’s clash against Sampdoria on Sunday was one of three Serie A football matches postponed over coronavirus fears in northern Italy. Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona versus Cagliari in the top flight were also pushed back to avoid the spread of the virus …
Read More »Health Ministry defends self on isolating people returning from China in their homes
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Health Ministry has defended its decision to isolate people returning from China or any of the countries with confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID – 19), saying it is the only way to key the disease at bay. The virus has affected …
Read More »China cuts loan rate as it battles coronavirus impact
Beijing, China | AFP | China on Thursday announced it would cut interest rates in a bid to boost the economy, as it battles the economic fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak. The reduction in the loan prime rate (LPR) — one of the preferential rates commercial banks give to …
Read More »Flu has killed 10,000 Americans
So why is the world more worried over the Coronavirus? | THE INDEPENDENT | Whether you’re watching TV or reading the news, you’d be hard-pressed to avoid a story about coronavirus. And it’s no wonder, since the outbreak — which now affects more than 27 countries outside of China, where …
Read More »Pangolin link to coronavirus
Researchers have long suspected that the virus was passed from an animal to a human | THE INDEPENDENT | The endangered pangolin may be the link that facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China, Chinese scientists said Friday. Researchers have long suspected that the virus, which had killed …
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