ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — Millions of lost jobs, mounting debt woes and plunging remittances are among the economic hardships African countries can expect because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Union said in a study published Monday. “Nearly 20 million jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors, are threatened with destruction on the continent if the situation continues,” said the study, which noted that countries relying heavily on tourism and oil production […]
Tag: Virus
Bronx zoo tiger tests positive for coronavirus
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A tiger at New York’s Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19, the institution said Sunday, and is believed to have contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at the time. The four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia along with her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions all developed dry coughs and are expected to fully recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society that runs the city’s […]
US navy captain fired for voicing virus concern tests positive: report
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US naval commander whose widely publicized plea for help for his coronavirus-affected crew led to his dismissal has reportedly himself tested positive for the disease. Captain Brett Crozier’s COVID-19 test result was reported Sunday by the New York Times, just hours after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the captain’s firing. Esper told ABC that Navy Secretary Thomas Modly had “made a tough decision, tough call” in deciding to […]
Malacanang says there is “emerging consensus” for quarantine extension for another 2 weeks
(Eagle News) – Malacanang said that “there is an emerging consensus” from medical experts, businessmen, government officials and other individuals to extend the enhanced community quarantine for another two weeks. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said this in a statement as the quarantine period is set to end on April 12 in Luzon. Panelo said that President Rodrigo Duterte is observing and studying the situation, while consulting experts, as he wants the virus pandemic to […]
Spain sees third daily drop in coronavirus deaths
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain saw its third consecutive daily decline in the number of people dying from the coronavirus pandemic as the country recorded another 674 fatalities on Sunday. The health ministry said total deaths were now 12,418, the highest in the world after Italy, since the pandemic emerged in China in December. The 674 fatalities, which were sharply down on the record 950 declared on April 2, represented an increase of 5.7 percent […]
Haiti reports its first coronavirus death
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti on Sunday reported its first novel coronavirus death, a 55-year-old man who had underlying health conditions. The health ministry said the man suffered from diabetes and hypertension. He was one of only 21 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Haiti, a demographically young country where over half those diagnosed with the disease have been under age 45. Only 218 tests for the new coronavirus have been carried out […]
After the virus: What world will we live in?
by Didier LAURAS Agence France Presse One day, the battle against the novel coronavirus will be won. But the world that emerges may look very different from the one we lived in before the pandemic began. Over 60,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 and there are a more than a million confirmed cases with the outbreak yet to reach its peak across the developed and emerging world. But on top of the tragic […]
Ecuador VP apologizes after virus corpses left on streets
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador’s vice president Otto Sonnenholzner has apologized after scores of bodies were left on the streets of Guayaquil as the coronavirus ravages the horror-struck port city. Residents had published videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets in the Latin American city worst hit by the pandemic. Authorities collected at least 150 corpses from streets and homes earlier this week, but did not confirm how many of the […]
PHL COVID-19 cases reach 3,246 with eight new virus-related deaths
(Eagle News) — The total coronavirus cases in the country climbed to 3,246 with the addition of 152 new confirmed cases, according to the Department of Health on Sunday, April 5, 2020. Aside from the added cases, the DOH also reported eight new COVID-19 related deaths bringing the total to 152. “DOH also reports 7 additional recoveries which brings the total number of recoveries to 64,” the department said in a statement posted on […]
Coronavirus pandemic ‘amplifying’ poverty in UK
by Jean-Baptiste OUBRIER Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The coronavirus pandemic is increasing poverty in Britain, where levels are already high after a decade of austerity triggered by the global financial crisis, according to experts. Official data shows that more than 14 million people in the UK are classed as living in poverty, or nearly one-quarter of the population. Some 4.2 million children are poor, or around 30 percent of the […]
130 Hong Kong police to be quarantined after colleagues infected with COVID-19
HONG KONG, Chinaa (AFP) — About 130 of Hong Kong’s frontline riot police officers will be sent to quarantine camp after two of their colleagues were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, a police source told AFP late Saturday. A 46-year-old sergeant, stationed in the city’s Kowloon West region, was confirmed to be infected early on the same day. He was deployed in a crowd control operation during a protest on Tuesday. Another officer, […]
FIFA cancels all June internationals over virus
PARIS, France (AFP) — All international football matches scheduled for June were postponed on Friday following the first meeting of FIFA’s coronavirus working group. It was also decided to hold discussions with confederations to draw up a revised schedule for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers which have been shelved. “The FIFA-Confederations working group… has unanimously approved a series of recommendations following its first meeting, which was organised via conference call today,” said a FIFA statement. […]





