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THIMPHU, Bhutan (AFP) — The isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has reported its first case of the coronavirus after a US tourist tested positive, the prime minister said Friday. The tiny, land-locked country, famous for measuring Gross National Happiness has emerged as a popular tourist destination in recent years. But the government immediately shut borders to foreign visitors for two weeks in an effort to limit the impact of a disease that has wreaked havoc […]
by Sunghee Hwang SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Travel restrictions around the world on arrivals from virus-hit South Korea are plunging its Olympic preparations into turmoil, with some athletes considering self-imposed exile and some at risk of missing the Games altogether. South Korea is a country that takes the Olympics seriously, coming eighth in the medal table at Rio 2016 with nine golds, and fifth at London 2012 with 13. But it also has the […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian equities tumbled Friday as analysts warned the volatility that has characterized markets during the coronavirus crisis is likely to continue for some time. While governments and central banks have unleashed or prepare to roll out stimulus measures, the rapid spread of the disease and rising death toll are putting a greater strain on economies and stoking concerns of a worldwide recession. And with no end seemingly in sight — […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Thursday reported 41 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest single-day total to date, bringing the number of fatalities in Europe’s most affected country to 148. The number of cases also jumped by a new high of 769, reaching 3,858 over the past two weeks. The latest figures mean Italy has the second-most deaths behind China, where the new virus was first detected at the end of last […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Thursday announced its first death from coronavirus within the country, as the total number of confirmed cases jumped to 115. “I am very sorry to report a patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died,” England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said in a statement. The patient, being treated in the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, west of London, was elderly and had “underlying health […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — US lawmakers passed an emergency $8.3 billion spending bill to combat the coronavirus on Thursday as the number of cases surged in the country’s northwest and deaths reached 11. The Senate gave sweeping bipartisan support to the funding one day after the House passed the bill so that it could be quickly sent to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature. “The American people are looking for leadership, […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France is inexorably heading towards a coronavirus epidemic, President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday as the health ministry reported three more deaths from the disease, bringing the country’s toll to seven. “There is a moment when we all know that… an epidemic is inevitable,” Macron said. The country recorded 138 new virus cases in the biggest daily jump, bringing the total number nationwide to 423. In a sign of the growing concern […]
by Laurie CHEN BEIJING, China (AFP) — One month after makeshift hospitals opened to chaos and confusion at the epicenter of China’s coronavirus epidemic, frontline doctor Ma Yonggang is finally seeing more empty beds as fewer patients arrive. When 43-year-old Ma was first summoned to a sports stadium converted into a medical facility on February 4, it was a virtual construction site with electrical wiring and beds still being installed. Separated from his wife and […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s total number of novel coronavirus cases — the largest outside China, where the disease first emerged — approached 6,000 on Thursday as authorities reported 145 new infections. The total stood at 5,766, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, with 35 deaths. So far 36 countries and regions have imposed a blanket entry ban on people who have recently been in the South, according to the […]
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi health authorities announced on Wednesday the country’s first two deaths from the new coronavirus, one in the capital Baghdad and the other in the autonomous Kurdish region. A 70-year-old Muslim cleric died on Wednesday from the virus, the first death from the outbreak in a country where 31 people have been infected. The Iraqi preacher had been quarantined in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah before his death, a spokesman for […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The stale odor that announces a smoker’s entry into a room may be more than merely unpleasant. A new study by scientists at Yale University has found that compounds from tobacco smoke can infiltrate well-ventilated rooms by hitching a ride on peoples’ clothes, skin, and hair and then evaporating slowly over time in a process called “off-gassing.” By placing a high-tech air sampling device in the exhaust duct of a […]
by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Wednesday closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107. The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools — but not universities — taken by fellow Group of Seven (G7) member Japan. Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday — […]
