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by Dave Clark with AFP bureaus World powers scrambled on Thursday to build a global response to the human tragedy and once-in-a-century economic collapse caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as the worldwide death toll topped 90,000. In a locked-down New York, the UN Security Council was to meet on the pandemic for the first time. And, by video conference, EU finance ministers are wrangling over how to bail out their worst hit members Italy […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)– TikTok, the fast-growing mobile video app, pledged Thursday to contribute $250 million to coronavirus relief efforts around the world. TikTok, which US officials and lawmakers have assailed for potential security risks, said the funds would be for “front line medical workers, educators, and local communities deeply affected by the global crisis.” The move follows similar announcements from technology firms including Google, Facebook and Netflix as well as from leaders of Microsoft, […]
Leading software solutions company Multisys Technologies Corporation developed the first COVID-19 contact tracing system in the Philippines through its emergency response website called StaySafe.ph. Site visitors can contribute to the fight against COVID-19 by reporting the health conditions of their respective family members without disclosing sensitive information. This will help the private sector and local government units (LGUs) attend to immediate assistance needed by employees or locals under their jurisdiction—making it easier to track COVID-19 […]
by Susan NJANJI and Sofia CHRISTENSEN Agence France Presse JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — The World Bank warned Thursday that sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter of century because of the coronavirus pandemic on the world’s most impoverished continent. “We project that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4 percent in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1 percent in 2020, the first recession in the region in 25 […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic caused 6.6 million US workers to apply for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That shocking number of first-time claims for jobless benefits in the week ending April 4 was a slight decrease from the previous week’s count of 6.9 million, which was revised up by 219,000 from the original tally, according to the report. With the latest weekly data, […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — One hundred Italian doctors have died of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic reached the Mediterranean country in February, Italy’s FNOMCeO health association said on Thursday. “The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100 — perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately,” a FNOMCeO spokesman told AFP. © Agence France-Presse
(Editor’s Note: This is a first-person account of our EBC correspondent in New Jersey, Elle Aguilar, who lives with her 80-year old mother in the US. She talks about how she tries to keep the required physical distance between her and her mom at this time of the virus pandemic. From the usual hugs and kisses, she is now learning a new way of showing love – by keeping her distance so her 80-year old […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 683 on Thursday, after rising for two days, the authorities said. The country, one of the worst hit by the pandemic, has now recorded 15,238 deaths from COVID-19. The daily toll was down from 757 on Wednesday. However, there has been growing speculation that officials may have grossly underestimated the death toll. Authorities in the Madrid region acknowledged on Wednesday that the […]
by Jing Xuan TENG Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — Hairstylist “Ah Ping” is back in business now that Wuhan’s coronavirus lockdown has been lifted, but his salon has no customers, only empty chairs and lingering fears over a contagion that continues to haunt the city. Wuhan is waking from its coronavirus nightmare, loosening tight restrictions on movement and business as the global pandemic’s launchpad tries to move on. But the full recovery remains […]
(Eagle News) — Health workers who died in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 may be buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, also the presidential legal counsel, made the remark after a congressman made the suggestion, noting the contributions and sacrifices of frontliners amid the COVID-19 crisis. “Every Filipino frontliner who dies in this COVID-19 war deserves to be laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani because of […]
by Susan STUMME with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the United States and Europe, dousing the optimism of US President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel. The virus has now killed more than 87,000 people and infected over 1.5 million, according to an AFP tally on Thursday, sparing almost no country […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization chief on Thursday after he accused the island’s government of leading personal attacks against him and his agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity to fight the disease on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump criticized the global health body and threatened to cut its funding. During the press conference he spoke of the […]
