Health

Nintendo online gaming network back; relief for quarantined gamers

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Gamers breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after the end of a network outage that affected Nintendo’s online games, with internet-based systems under increasing pressure from people staying home over coronavirus. “The issue with our network services has now been fixed. Thank you for your patience!” tweeted Nintendo on its European Twitter account, with similar messages posted on its other accounts. The hours-long outage affected its online games but also […]

“We are stronger than this virus”- EBC interviews US doctor who stresses value of following measures to prevent virus spread

  (Eagle News) — EBC Washington Bureau interviews a geriatrician, a doctor especializing in senior health care, who tells the viewers how adjustments are made in the US to make sure that health services continue to be given to the elderly amid the rising cases there. In the video interview, Dr. Minerva Navarro from Palo Alto, California also explained how doctors are more worried about “asymptomatic cases” as these can be much more dangerous since […]

UK rolls out tougher virus action after dire science warning

by Alice RITCHIE / Phil HAZLEWOOD / Joe JACKSON Agence France-Presse London, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government on Tuesday unveiled a huge package of support for businesses to help them survive the introduction of tough new social measures to stem the coronavirus outbreak. The Conservative leader said Britain needed to act “like any wartime government”, as finance minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a £330 billion ($400 billion, 363 billion euros) package of […]

Potential breakthrough: Doctors in Australia map body’s COVID-19 immune response

by Patrick GALEY and Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP)—Researchers in Australia said Tuesday they had mapped the body’s immune response to the novel coronavirus, in a potential breakthrough in the fight against the global killer. A team of scientists were able to test blood samples from a patient who had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized with moderate symptoms. Authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, said it was the first time […]

New coronavirus can survive on surfaces for hours: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The novel coronavirus can survive on surfaces or in the air for several hours, according to a US-government funded study published Tuesday. Scientists found that the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease had similar levels of viability outside the body to its predecessor that caused SARS. This means that factors like greater transmission between people with no symptoms might be why the current pandemic is far greater than the SARS […]

Doctors map body’s COVID-19 immune response: study

  by Patrick GALEY and Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Researchers in Australia said Tuesday they had mapped the body’s immune response to the novel coronavirus, in a potential breakthrough in the fight against the global killer. A team of scientists was able to test blood samples from a patient who had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized with moderate symptoms. Authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, said it was the […]

Avoid self-medication with ibuprofen against COVID-19 symptoms: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization recommended Tuesday that people suffering from COVID-19-like symptoms should avoid self-medicating with ibuprofen after French authorities warned anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen the effects of the virus. The warnings over the weekend by French Health Minister Olivier Veran followed a recent study in The Lancet weekly medical journal that hypothesized that an enzyme that is boosted when taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen could facilitate and worsen COVID-19 infections. […]

Coronavirus drugs: Who’s doing what, and when they might come

by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pharmaceuticals and research labs across the world are racing to find vaccines and treatments for the new coronavirus, using a variety of different technologies. According to Benjamin Neuman, a virologist at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, immunizing against the pathogen is a long shot: There has never been a very successful human vaccine against any member of the coronavirus family. “This is going to be a lot of trials, […]

Air pollution ‘likely’ to cut COVID19 survival: experts

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Air pollution from petrol and diesel vehicles is likely to increase mortality from the novel coronavirus in cities, public health experts told AFP Monday. The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) warned that dirty air in urban areas that causes hypertension, diabetes and other respiratory illness could lead to a higher overall death toll from the virus currently sweeping the world. Emissions from petrol and diesel engines were still […]

Children less sick from COVID-19, but can still spread the virus, says experts

  by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS / Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse For reasons unknown, children rarely have severe symptoms when infected by COVID-19 and may even be a bit less likely to get the disease in the first place, experts told AFP. But that doesn’t mean infants, toddlers and teens are not carriers for the new coronavirus, which jumped from animals to humans in central China at the end of last year. As of Friday, there […]

On mission to eradicate virus germs, China firms see the UV light

  by Beiyi Seow with Jessica Yang in Shanghai Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Ultraviolet light is being beamed through public buses and lifts in China to wipe out any possible germs as part of efforts to clear the country of the deadly coronavirus epidemic. With companies under pressure to meet strict prevention measures for the virus, which has killed more than 3,100 people in China, some are turning to new technology to […]

WATCH: Fight COVID-19: Wash your hands properly to prevent spread of infection

(video courtesy Agence France Presse)   (Eagle News) – Proper handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands,” a WHO advisory said. It is important to wash your hands before touching the mouth, nose and eyes because these […]