Europe

France to tighten virus lockdown rules on exercise, markets: PM

PARIS, France (AFP) — France is to tighten its lockdown imposed to battle the coronavirus, strictly limiting physical exercise and closing most open-air markets, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Monday. Philippe told TF1 TV in a live interview that he would later sign a decree banning from Tuesday physical exercise such as jogging more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) from a person’s place of residence and also halting open-air markets, although local authorities could […]

Italy sees second successive drop in virus deaths

by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Monday reported a second successive drop in daily deaths and infections from a coronavirus that has nevertheless claimed more than 6,000 lives in a month. The Mediterranean country has now seen its daily fatalities come down from a world record 793 on Saturday to 651 on Sunday and 601 on Monday. The number of new declared infections fell from 6,557 on Saturday to 4,789 on Monday. […]

France coronavirus death toll jumps 186 to 860: official

PARIS, France (AFP) — The coronavirus has killed another 186 people in France, the health minister said on Monday, bringing the death toll in the country to 860. Health Minister Olivier Veran said that 19,856 people had been registered as testing positive for the virus in France, with a total of 8,675 hospitalized of whom 2,082 people are in intensive care. Officials believe that the published number of those infected largely underestimates the real figure, […]

German state to take in Italian virus patients

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Hospitals in the German state of Saxony will take on at least six Italian coronavirus patients who are unable to receive treatment in their own country, state premier Michael Kretschmer said Monday. “The Italian government asked us a few days ago whether we could help by taking care of patients who are not being taken care of in Italy,” Kretschmer said. Following consultation with doctors over hospital capacity in the eastern […]

Britain orders lockdown as WHO warns pandemic ‘accelerating’

by Phil Hazlewood with Chris Lefkow in Washington LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain ordered a three-week lockdown on Monday in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus as world health officials warned that the pandemic is “accelerating” around the globe. As Britain joined other nations in imposing strict stay-at-home orders, the number of virus deaths worldwide surged past 16,000 and the number of confirmed cases surpassed 360,000. The death toll in New York […]

Four more doctors die from coronavirus in France: official

PARIS, France (AFP) — Four more doctors have died after contracting the coronavirus in France, officials said on Monday, a day after the country reported the first death of a doctor treating COVID-19 patients. One of the doctors, a 66-year-old gynaecologist in Mulhouse near the border with Switzerland and Germany, was infected by a patient during a consultation, according to his clinic. Another was a 60-year-old general practitioner at a hospital in Saint-Avold near Metz, […]

COVID-19 pandemic ‘accelerating’: WHO chief

by Nina Larson and Robin Millard GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The new coronavirus pandemic is clearly “accelerating”, the World Health Organization warned Monday, but said it was still possible to change its trajectory by going on the attack. The remarks came as the number of deaths soared past 15,000, with more than 341,000 people infected worldwide, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources. “The pandemic is accelerating,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […]

EBC Exclusive: Filipina patient recovering from COVID-19 in Spain tells story to give hope to others

(Eagle News) – A Filipina who has been living in Spain for eight years and who was recently confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus was interviewed by Eagle Broadcasting Corporation in Barcelona after she had been discharged from the hospital to recover at home. Arianne Canopio, 25, said she decided to come out to tell her experience to give hope to those with COVID-19.  Her message, they can beat the virus and recover. In […]

Merkel ‘doing well’ in home quarantine

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Angela Merkel is “doing well” in self-imposed quarantine and awaiting the results of her coronavirus test, her spokesman said Monday, as the veteran chancellor joined millions of Germans in working from home. Merkel decided to self-isolate as a precaution after learning on Sunday that a doctor who vaccinated her last Friday was infected with the novel coronavirus. “The chancellor is doing well,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters. Dialling in from […]

Norway proposes UN corona fund to help poor countries

OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway said Monday it wanted to start a United Nations donors’ fund to help poor countries fight the new coronavirus pandemic. “We are concerned about the way the virus will affect developing countries which have fragile healthcare systems,” Norway’s Development Aid Minister Dag-Inge Ulstein said in a statement. “International solidarity across borders is more important than ever. That’s why it is important for us to contribute financially to such a fund […]

Greece calls for health volunteers to combat virus

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Greece on Monday put out a call for healthy volunteers to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, a government official said. There are 17 recorded deaths and 624 officially announced infections from the coronavirus in Greece, which has a population of 11 million. “The volunteer program is addressed to whoever can offer services, such as doctors, medical staff, psychologists, medical students, and retired health scientists,” acting government spokeswoman Aristotelia Peloni […]

Two more doctors die from coronavirus in France : officials

PARIS, France (AFP) — Two more doctors have died after contracting the coronavirus in France, officials said on Monday, a day after the country reported the first death of a doctor treating COVID-19 patients. One of the doctors, a 66-year-old gynaecologist in Mulhouse near the border with Switzerland and Germany, was infected by a patient during a consultation, according to his clinic. The other was a 60-year-old general practitioner at a hospital in Saint-Avold near […]