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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — At least 48 crew aboard a cruise ship docked in the Japanese city of Nagasaki has tested positive for coronavirus, local authorities said Thursday after confirming 14 additional cases. The Costa Atlantica first arrived in Nagasaki in January to undergo repairs, with around 600 crew on board. Officials said they hoped to test all crew members by the end of the week with “some 200 to 300” tests likely to be […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran announced on Wednesday 94 new deaths from the novel coronavirus but said the cases of people infected in the country was on the way down. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the fatalities detected in the past 24 hours took Iran’s overall death toll to 5,391. The number of people infected with the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease rose by 1,194, bringing the total to 85,996. “The gradual downward […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Eight babies and toddlers at a Tokyo care centre have tested positive for the coronavirus after a staff member contracted the disease, its operator said on Wednesday. Tokyo Saiseikai Central Hospital, which operates the facility, said the affected children had been hospitalised, while another 21 tested negative and were under observation. The facility is for orphans or children separated from their parents because of possible abuse or neglect. A staff member […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — New clusters of coronavirus infections in northeastern China near the Russian border forced officials Wednesday to tighten restrictions on movement as they seek to prevent a second outbreak of the contagion. China has largely curbed the spread of the deadly virus, but there are growing fears of a second wave of cases and Heilongjiang province has emerged as a new front in the battle. The region has seen an influx of […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — At least 34 crew members aboard a cruise ship docked in the Japanese city of Nagasaki have tested positive for coronavirus, local authorities said on Wednesday. The Costa Atlantica first arrived in Nagasaki in January to undergo repairs, with several hundred crew on board. Over the weekend, the ship’s operator contacted local authorities seeking help to test suspected cases on board. An initial four tests carried out on the ship revealed […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday defended its naming of 80 islands and other geographical features in the South China Sea in a move likely to anger neighbors as the country asserts its territorial claims. A joint announcement of the names on Sunday from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Civil Affairs came a day after China established new administrative districts for the contested Spratly and Paracel island chains. The notice […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — G20 agriculture ministers on Tuesday pledged to ensure “sufficient” global food supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic as the UN warned the number of people facing acute hunger globally could nearly double. “We will work together to help ensure that sufficient, safe, affordable, and nutritious food continues to be available and accessible to all people, including the poorest, the most vulnerable, and displaced people,” said the ministers from the 20 most […]
SANAA, Yemen (AFP) — At least seven people have been killed and 85 injured in flash flooding in Yemen this month, the UN said Tuesday, as the war-torn nation braces for the spread of the novel coronavirus. Yemen’s prime minister Moeen Abdulmalik Saeed declared the southern city of Aden, where the government is based, a “disaster zone”. Yemen announced its first case of COVID-19 on April 10 and aid organizations have warned that its health […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Tuesday announced 88 new deaths from the novel coronavirus as the country said it had released more than 1,000 foreign prisoners over the outbreak. According to health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, the latest fatalities in the past 24 hours brought the total to 5,297, in one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks. The foreign prisoners were among 100,000 inmates temporarily released in several stages since March. They included British-Iranian woman […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore reported a record daily jump of more than 1,400 coronavirus cases Monday, taking its total to over 8,000, with almost all new infections linked to dormitories housing foreign laborers. The city-state was initially successful in keeping its outbreak in check with a strict regime of testing and contact-tracing, but is now facing a fast-moving second wave. Health authorities in the financial hub, which now has the highest number of infections […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The coronavirus pandemic has exposed “systemic weaknesses” in global health systems, the G20 said Monday, but there was no mention of Washington’s contentious decision to halt World Health Organization funding. The statement came after health ministers from the 20 most advanced economies held a virtual meeting on Sunday hosted by the group’s current president Saudi Arabia following criticism the institution was slow to address the pandemic. “Health Ministers recognized that […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese medics are warning more must be done to prevent the coronavirus from overwhelming the country’s healthcare system as confirmed cases passed 10,000, despite a nationwide state of emergency. Experts have been alarmed by a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, with hundreds detected daily. Japan’s outbreak remains less severe than in hard-hit European countries, but its caseload is one of Asia’s highest after China and India, and is roughly on par […]
