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MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 4,089 after 655 people died within 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday. It was a 19 percent increase in figures released Wednesday by the authorities in Spain, which has the world’s second-highest death toll from the disease after Italy. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 56,188, the ministry said. Despite a national lockdown imposed on March 14, which […]
BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) — Romania’s Health Minister Victor Costache resigned on Thursday following criticism of the government over its handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Costache did not give a reason for his resignation while Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said it was for “personal and professional reasons.” Orban added: “I regret his resignation, I understand it and I want to thank him for the good collaboration.” The government has come under fire as Romania’s hospitals […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Hospitals in the British capital are being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, the head of an organization representing bosses in the state-run National Health Service said on Thursday. The chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, told BBC radio that London hospitals had seen an “explosion of demand… in seriously ill patients”, likening it to a “continuous tsunami”, with numbers predicted to surge in the next fortnight. “They talk about the […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany has boosted its coronavirus test rate to 500,000 a week, a virologist said Thursday, adding that early detection has been key in keeping the country’s death rate relatively low. “The reason why Germany has so few deaths compared to the number of infected people can be explained by the fact that we carry out an extremely large number of laboratory diagnostic tests,” said Christian Drosten, who heads the Institute of […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Metro and rail services in Paris and its suburbs will be cut to a minimum as part of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, officials said Wednesday. Both Paris transport operator RATP and national rail group SNCF have already sharply reduced services since the home confinement orders came into effect on March 17. They apply to all but essential employees and those who cannot work from home. Starting Thursday, about 50 of the […]
by Hazel WARD, with Philippe RATER at the United Nations MADRID, Spain (AFP) — More than three billion people are living under lockdown measures as soaring death tolls in Europe and the US on Wednesday underlined a United Nations warning that the coronavirus pandemic threatens all of humanity. As the global death toll soared past 20,800, Spain joined Italy in seeing its number of fatalities overtake China, where the virus first emerged just three months […]
by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s coronavirus infections rate slowed for a fourth successive day Wednesday as fresh evidence emerged that long and painful lockdowns against pandemics will work. The latest data from the epicenter of the once-in-a-century outbreak comes with more and more nations weighing whether to shutter their own stores and factories — and for how long. Analysts at one of the big US investment banks said evidence from Italy this […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain has signed a multi-million-euro contract with China to acquire medical supplies to fight the coronavirus epidemic, Health Minister Salvador Illa said Wednesday. Worth some 432 million euros ($467 million), the deal will cover 550 million masks, 5.5 million rapid test kits, 950 respirators and 11 million pairs of gloves to address shortages in Spain. The announcement came as Spain saw the number of deaths surge to 3,434 after more than […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s coronavirus death toll overtook that of China on Wednesday, rising to 3,434 after 738 people died over the past 24 hours, the government said. Across the world, only Italy now has a higher death toll than that of Spain. In China, where the virus emerged late last year, 3,281 people have died. The spiralling number of deaths came as Spain entered the 11th day of an unprecedented lockdown to try […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Around 170,000 people signed up within hours of a British government call for volunteers to help those stuck at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, the health minister said Wednesday. Matt Hancock unveiled a plan on Monday to create a 250,000-strong volunteer force to help deliver groceries and medicines to the most vulnerable people instructed by the government to self-isolate. This is larger than Britain’s armed forces, which currently stand […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prince Charles, the eldest son, and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is showing mild symptoms of the new coronavirus but “otherwise remains in good health”, his office said on Wednesday. The 71-year-old and his wife Camilla — who does not have COVID-19 — are currently self-isolating in Scotland, Clarence House said. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” it said in a statement, using his official title. “He […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French police removed hundreds of migrants from a camp just north of Paris on Tuesday in the first such move aimed at limiting coronavirus spread among homeless people around the capital. The migrants began boarding buses in Aubervilliers at dawn, with officials saying they were headed for gyms and hotels in Paris and a nearby suburb. Prefect Michel Cadot, the government’s top official for the Paris region, announced the evacuation last […]
