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by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Friday backed the use of fabric facemasks in places where the new coronavirus is widespread and physical distancing is difficult, in a change of advice. As the deadly virus continues to spread, the WHO issued updated guidance on who should wear a mask, when it should be worn and what it should be made of. The use of masks […]
by Camille LAFFONT PICTURES BY FLORENT VERGNES Agence France-Presse BAYANGA, Central African Republic (AFP) — Dzanga-Sangha, a wildlife sanctuary in southwest Central African Republic, is a remote place, linked to the rest of the world by a narrow trail that becomes impassable in heavy rain. But for the region’s Pygmies—outcasts in a country already ranked among the poorest in the world—Dzanga-Sangha’s isolation could be a blessing. As coronavirus spreads in the CAR, with more than 1,000 […]
by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday intensified efforts to clean up a major fuel spill that environmentalists say is the worst such accident in the Arctic, as investigators made their first arrest. A diesel reservoir collapsed at a power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk on Friday, releasing 15,000 tonnes of fuel into a river and 6,000 tonnes into the soil, according to Russia’s state environmental watchdog. […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Patients with high blood pressure admitted to hospital with coronavirus infections are twice as likely to die as those without the condition, researchers said on Friday. For in-patients with the virus who had stopped taking medication for high blood pressure, the risk of dying doubled again, they reported in the European Heart Journal. “It is important that patients with high blood pressure realize that they are at increased risk of dying […]
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche said Thursday the US authorities had given it emergency clearance for a test identifying patients most at risk of a dangerous immune response to coronavirus infection. Some of those worst affected display a very severe inflammatory response to COVID-19 as the body tries to combat the infection but ends up also destroying healthy tissue and even organs such as the kidneys with life-threatening implications. Very ill patients […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Falling fossil fuel demand coupled with mounting risk for investors could slash the value of oil, gas and coal reserves by two thirds, sending shock waves through the global economy, energy analysts warned Thursday. The value of projected profits for the sector could also fall by two thirds, according to a report from Carbon Tracker, a non-profit financial think tank focused on aligning capital markets with […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Taking hydroxychloroquine shortly after being exposed to COVID-19 does not help prevent infection in a statistically meaningful way, scientists reported Wednesday following a clinical trial. The medicine has been touted by US President Donald Trump, who has said he used it as a prophylaxis against the novel coronavirus. But an experiment involving 821 people across the United States and Canada showed it did not work significantly better than a placebo […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — A Malaysian university is considering using robots dressed in gowns and mortarboards to act as stand-ins at graduation ceremonies to prevent coronavirus infections — but students have blown a fuse at the idea. A video of the planned ceremonies released by the university shows two elegantly attired, waist-high robots being handed diplomas by high-ranking university officials. The students’ faces appear on screens mounted on the robots’ heads. Associate professor Engku […]
by Stuart GRAHAM Agence France-Presse OBAN, United Kingdom(AFP) — In a field overlooking the Lorn and Islands Hospital in the town of Oban on Scotland’s remote west coast, an anxious Duncan Walker trained his eyes above a nearby hill. Walker, chief executive of drone delivery company Skyports, is working with Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to trial whether medical supplies like COVID-19 tests and protective equipment can be flown from the hospital to the Isle of […]
by Elia VAISSIERE PICTURES BY DENIS CHARLET Agence France-Presse BOURBOURG, France (AFP) — Nathalie Szczepaniak caresses the hand of her husband Joseph, a care home resident, as the couple reunites after weeks without a visit because of France’s coronavirus lockdown. But this is no ordinary reunion. The couple meets in an anti-virus “bubble” at Joseph’s nursing home in Bourbourg, northern France, separated by a clear plastic sheet that allows them some physical contact, face-to-face, without the […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — One in 10 diabetics with coronavirus dies within seven days of hospital admission, according to a study of more than 1,300 patients published Friday in the journal Diabetologia. Two-thirds of the patients were men, and the average age across both sexes was 70, the study found. “The presence of diabetic complications and increased age increase the risk of death,” the researchers said in a statement. “Increased BMI” — body mass index, […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India is wilting under a heatwave, with the temperature in places reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and the capital enduring its hottest May day in nearly two decades. The hot spell is projected to scorch northern India for several more days, the Meteorological Department said late Tuesday, “with severe heat wave conditions in isolated pockets”. As global temperatures rise, heatwaves are a regular menace in the country — […]
