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by Fran BLANDY and AFP Africa bureaus Agence France Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Women and children fell to the ground, bloodied and trampled in a desperate surge for food being handed out in a Nairobi slum, as police fired teargas and men with sticks beat the hungry. As African countries grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, observers warn that the traumatic scenes which played out last Friday will not be the last if governments fail […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s death toll from the novel coronavirus topped 18,000 on Tuesday, as the rise in new infections dropped to its lowest level since the country imposed a nationwide lockdown last month. The 567 new deaths reported by the health ministry were slightly up from Monday’s death toll and they take the total number of fatalities to 18,056 — officially third in the world behind the United States and Italy. The number […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) –Iran said on Tuesday that the number of lives lost in the country to the novel coronavirus dropped to double figures for the first time in one month. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 98 deaths from the COVID-19 disease were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall toll to 4,683. “Unfortunately, we lost 98 of our compatriots infected with the disease… but after a month of waiting, this is […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has approved clinical trials for two more experimental vaccines to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said Tuesday, as the world’s scientists race to beat the pandemic. The vaccines use inactivated coronavirus pathogens, and the approvals pave the way for early-stage human trials, Wu Yuanbin, an official from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology told a regular press briefing. China’s state food and drug administration on Monday approved one vaccine developed […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Fast asleep, swaddled in a towel and snug in a pink beanie, a baby born during a pandemic in a Thai hospital needs one last item to ensure its health — a face shield. Bangkok hospitals are using the shields on newborns in their maternity wards to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Thailand has detected 2,613 cases of the virus, with 41 deaths — a relatively low number despite being […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s death toll from the novel coronavirus topped 20,000 on Monday but its number of critically ill patients dropped for the 10th successive day. The 566 new deaths reported by the civil protection service take Italy’s fatalities total to 20,465 — officially second in the world behind the United States. The drop in patients in intensive care from a peak of 4,068 on April 3 to 3,260 on Monday confirmed a […]
by Alice RITCHIE Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government warned Monday it would not be lifting a nationwide lockdown anytime soon as the country remains in the grip of a coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 11,000 lives. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputizing for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from his own bout of COVID-19, said there were some “positive” signs of progress. But he […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France reported 574 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Monday, bringing the total to 14,967 since the coronavirus outbreak began. A total of 335 of the deaths occurred in hospitals, up from 315 the previous day, while 239 deaths were recorded in nursing homes. For the fifth day in a row, the number of patients in intensive care fell, with 24 fewer people, leaving […]
KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised a $1 million reward to the country’s scientists if they manage to develop a coronavirus vaccine, his spokeswoman said Monday. The ex-Soviet country with a population of around 42 million has confirmed 3,102 cases of COVID-19 and 93 people have died. The president “believes a million dollars is a good incentive,” his spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel said in a statement sent to AFP, with the aim […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam will urge Southeast Asian leaders to set up an emergency fund to tackle the coronavirus at a summit held online on Tuesday, as the pandemic ravages the region’s tourism and export-reliant economies. Hanoi is chairing an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting on COVID-19, with the country touting its success so far in containing the virus with extensive quarantines and social distancing. Vietnam has 265 virus cases and no […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the biggest in the world, will be extended until at least May 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday. The current three-week-old lockdown of the nation of 1.3 billion people had been scheduled to end at midnight Tuesday. “From the economic angle, we have paid a big price,” Modi said in a nationwide address. “But the lives of the people […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday brushed aside calls for an easing of tough restrictions on travel and public gatherings despite their success in curbing the spread of COVID-19. The number of new coronavirus cases in the neighbouring nations has fallen dramatically in the last two weeks, raising hopes that difficult social distancing measures may be relaxed. But Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country was still “many weeks away” […]
