International

US prison COVID-19 infections hit 30,000: university

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US prisons have reported 30,000 cases of coronavirus among inmates and guards, a US university research group reported Wednesday, as a government study said prison guards could be instrumental in the spread of the disease. Data compiled from official sources by the COVID-19 Behind Bars Project of the UCLA law school showed that out of more than two million people incarcerated nationwide, there were 21,007 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 295 […]

Russia sees over 10,000 new virus cases for fourth day in row

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia recorded more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, surpassing Germany to become the country with the sixth-highest number of confirmed infections. Russia has emerged as a new hotspot for the virus and in recent days has been recording the highest number of new infections in Europe. Health officials on Wednesday reported 10,559 new cases over the last 24 hours, bringing the total […]

Trump urges US to reopen as daily death toll spikes

    by James Pheby, with Brendan Smialowski in Phoenix, Arizona Agence France Presse US President Donald Trump made his first major foray out of the White House since the coronavirus lockdown began in a push for economic reopening as the daily US death toll from the disease spiked. It came as Britain became the country with the second most deaths in the world at 32,000, putting it above Italy in the grim ranking of […]

China warns Hong Kong protesters against ‘stirring up trouble’

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China warned Hong Kong protesters Wednesday it would not tolerate them “stirring up trouble again” in the semi-autonomous territory that was rocked by months of pro-democracy demonstrations last year. Mass arrests of protesters and a ban on large gatherings due to the coronavirus outbreak in the financial hub have stifled the protest movement, but small demonstrations have been held in recent weeks as contagion fears ease. Hong Kong police used pepper […]

LA virus testing center offers quick results for peace of mind

by Laurent BANGUET Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — For two weeks now, Dr Matthew Budoff has been overseeing a coronavirus antibody testing site in Los Angeles, offering people a rapid answer to a question on everyone’s mind. “It’s the only medical screening that people generally want to be positive,” says Budoff, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The procedure is quick and simple. A prick […]

Students in China’s virus centre Wuhan return to school

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese youngsters in the global virus epicenter of Wuhan filed back to class on Wednesday, wearing masks and walking in single file past thermal scanners. Senior school students in 121 institutions were back in front of chalkboards and digital displays for the first time since their city — the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic — shut down in January. “School is finally reopening!” posted one user of Weibo, China’s Twitter-like […]

South Korea returns largely to normal as outbreak controlled

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea returned largely to normal Wednesday as workers went back to offices, and museums and libraries reopened under eased social distancing rules after new coronavirus cases dropped to a trickle. The South endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China and while it never imposed a compulsory lockdown, strict social distancing had been widely observed since March. Employees were urged to work from home where […]

Remember the disabled during virus crisis, UN chief says

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on governments around the world to specifically take into account the billions of people with disabilities in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are less likely to access education, healthcare and income opportunities or participate in the community,” Guterres said in a statement released in support of a UN study on people with disabilities. “The […]

Brazil husband-wife doctors fight virus at work, home

by Florence GOISNARD Agence France Presse SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Neither of the Sztajnboks is getting much sleep these days. Dr. Jacques Sztajnbok, head of intensive care at one of the main coronavirus hospitals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says the stress of being on the front line of the pandemic often wakes him up in the middle of the night. His wife, Dr. Fabiane Sztajnbok, an infectious disease specialist in the hospital’s emergency room, […]

France daily coronavirus deaths rise to 330

PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Tuesday recorded 330 new coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours, a rise in the daily toll as the country prepares to begin easing lockdown measures in less than a week. The latest deaths brought the total toll from the epidemic in the country to 25,531, according to top health official Jerome Salomon. The 330 new deaths are also higher than 306 new fatalities recorded Monday, which in turn […]

New York reports 15 child cases of rare disease linked to COVID-19

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Fifteen children have been hospitalized in New York with a rare inflammatory disease possibly linked to coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, in the latest reports of the worrying syndrome. Kawasaki disease is a mysterious illness that primarily affects children up to the age of five and causes the walls of arteries to become inflamed, resulting in fever, skin peeling and joint pain. Britain’s National Health Service first sounded the alarm […]

Doctor who treated first US COVID patient fears second wave

by Alina DIESTE Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The doctor who treated the first COVID-19 patient in the United States said Monday he fears a second outbreak of the disease when lockdown measures are lifted. George Díaz’s first patient, diagnosed in January in Washington state, has already recovered after receiving remdesivir, an experimental drug that the US approved on Friday for emergency use. While he feels encouraged by this anti-viral, Diaz emphasized […]