Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Roland JACKSON / Ben PERRY LONDON, United States (AFP) — British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca on Thursday said it had secured more than $1.0 billion from the United States to help fund production of its coronavirus vaccine. AstraZeneca is partnering with University of Oxford to develop and distribute a vaccine being trialled in the UK. It comes amid concerns that the United States — which has the world’s highest official death rate from COVID-19 — […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A yellow robot dog called Spot which found fame online for dancing to hit song “Uptown Funk” has been deployed to patrol a Singapore park and ensure people observe social distancing. The hi-tech hound is remote-controlled and can clamber easily over all types of terrain, which its creators say means it can go where wheeled robots cannot. As it trots through the park, Spot — who has the same name as […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States recorded 1,561 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 93,406, according to the latest real-time tally Wednesday reported by Johns Hopkins University. The country — hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of the number of fatalities — has now confirmed a total of 1,550,959 cases, the Baltimore-based school reported. © Agence France-Presse
by Fran BLANDY and AFP Africa bureaus PICTURES BY SIMON MAINA AND NIPAH DENNIS Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP)— Watching from afar as much of the world was brought to its knees by the coronavirus, African scientists, engineers and innovators have turned to homegrown solutions to prepare for the worst case scenario. By the time the virus hit Africa, where cases have risen relatively slowly, images of overwhelmed hospitals and stories of health workers strapped for […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP ) — Sweden, which has controversially taken a softer approach to the coronavirus pandemic, said Wednesday that more than one in five people in Stockholm were believed to have developed antibodies to the virus. An ongoing study by the country’s Public Health Agency showed that 7.3 percent of a sample of randomly selected people in Stockholm — Sweden’s worst-hit region — had antibodies when they were tested in the last week of […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru has become the second Latin American country after Brazil to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, according to health ministry figures out Wednesday. The number of dead from COVID-19 has also passed 3,000, with only Brazil and Mexico having suffered more. Both cases and deaths have tripled since April 30. The dire statistics come even though Peru has been in lockdown for nine weeks, paralyzing the economy. The vast majority of cases […]
LANSING, United States (AFP) — After mass rallies featuring armed protesters, those angry over the restrictive anti-virus lockdown in the US state of Michigan launched “Operation Haircut” Wednesday, with barbers using their scissors and clippers outside the state capitol. Several hundred demonstrators — some not wearing face masks or practicing social distancing — lined up in Lansing under sunny skies for a free trim from hairstylists. Chairs were disinfected after each haircut. It was the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — NBA teams expect the league office to issue guidelines around June 1 allowing teams to begin recalling far-flung players in anticipation of resuming the coronavirus-disrupted season, ESPN reported Wednesday. The US sports broadcaster said teams expect to be told about the same time when they can expand individual workouts — already underway at some clubs — to include more team personnel. And ESPN said, citing unnamed sources, many owners […]
PHL must do its best to prevent another major wave, says health expert (Eagle News) – The Department of Health said that the country is actually already on the second wave of COVID-19 cases, and that it had actually started by the first week of March. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told a Senate hearing that the first wave happened last January when the country had three cases from Chinese tourists who came to […]
by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — If the United States is the first to develop an effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus, it has to quickly share it with the world, the head of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, told AFP in an interview. President Donald Trump’s administration has suggested that while it would share its scientific knowhow, it would prioritize the production of doses for the US […]
Thanks Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo for Church’s help in gov’t’s fight against COVID-19 (Eagle News) – The Philippine government conducted its final inspection on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, of the mega swabbing center at the Philippine Sports Stadium inside the Ciudad de Victoria compound in Bocaue Bulacan. Once operational, the mega-swabbing center can accommodate up to 1,500 swab tests per day, which will make it the biggest […]
by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Monday made the surprise announcement that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government experts say is not suitable for fighting the novel coronavirus. Trump, noting that he has tested negative for the virus and shows no symptoms, said he’d been taking the drug as a preventative measure for about a week and a half. “I take […]
