Tag: Virus

Dar assures adequate food supply for Metro Manila as month-long community quarantine starts

  (Eagle News) – There is adequate food supply for everybody so there is no need to panic, the Department of Agriculture said as it mobilized all regional offices to ensure food supplies are regularly moved to Metro Manila. Agriculture Secretary William Dar gave this assurance to the consuming public as the month-long community quarantine started in the nation’s capital. The DA said that the rice supply in the country is good for nine, and […]

Strutting the ramp in ‘masks’ as coronavirus meets fashion week

https://youtu.be/eLRtQnOmbI0   CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — Models strutted the ramp with adhesive glittering rhinestones stuck around their mouths arranged in the shape of surgical face masks as the coronavirus pandemic took centre stage at a fashion week in Cape Town. Veteran South African designer Gavin Rajah on Thursday night used the stage at the African International Fashion Week in Cape Town, to highlight to the division and potential racism that protective surgical masks […]

Germany says, virus vaccine research not for sale

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s foreign minister said Monday the rights to coronavirus vaccine research were not for sale, following reports Donald Trump wanted the US to buy exclusive access to a potential vaccine developed by a German biotech firm. The comments, made in an interview with media group Funke, come as scientists raced to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has killed some 6,000 people, seen millions placed under lockdown and devastated […]

Australia supermarkets start ‘elderly hour’ to counter panic-buying

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian supermarket chain will start opening its doors exclusively to customers over 60-years-old for one hour a day as part of an effort to ease the burden of panic-buying on the most vulnerable. “Woolworths Supermarkets will be opening exclusively for the elderly and those with a disability to shop from 7am to 8am,” the company said in a statement Monday. The measure is expected to come into effect on Tuesday […]

Most Malaysia coronavirus cases linked to Islamic gathering

  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia said Sunday that more than half the country’s 428 coronavirus cases were linked to an international Islamic gathering held last month. The Southeast Asian nation announced a spike of 190 new infections over the weekend, mostly linked to a global Islamic event attended by almost 20,000 people. “Of the 428 cases, 243 are participants from the religious event in Sri Petaling mosque,” Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of the […]

Portugal to close border with Spain to tourists

LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — Portugal will close its border with Spain to tourists for at least a month to curb the spread of coronavirus, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said Sunday. Goods and people traveling for work will still be allowed to cross the border but not those on leisure trips, he told a news conference after speaking by videoconference with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez. “There will be no tourism between Portugal and Spain […]

Italy hits one-day record with 368 new coronavirus deaths: official data

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Sunday recorded 368 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, its highest one-day increase to date, taking the total to 1,809, the most outside China, official data showed. The number of infections has reached 24,747, a count released to the media by Italy’s civil protection service said. The northern Lombardy region around Milan remained the European epicenter of the pandemic, officially reporting 1,218 deaths or 67 percent of the Italian […]

With store shelves emptying, Trump assures US has ‘no shortages’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Food has been quickly disappearing from US supermarket shelves in signs of panic-buying but President Donald Trump and other government and industry officials assured on Sunday that the supply chain is intact and there’s plenty of food. “You don’t have to buy so much… Relax,” Trump said at a press conference of his new-coronavirus task force, after speaking with CEOs of major US supermarkets and food companies such as Walmart […]

Major banks move to calm coronavirus fears as toll passes 6,000

by Joseph BOYLE with AFP bureaus PARIS, France (AFP) — The US Federal Reserve and other central banks announced on Sunday a bold set of measures to shore up confidence hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, as the number of deaths around the world passed 6,000. Faced with a growing economic shutdown from the pandemic, the US Federal Reserve said it was slashing the key interest rate to virtually zero, at a range of 0-0.25 […]

Seychelles confirms first cases of coronavirus

VICTORIA, Seychelles (AFP) — Seychelles has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, which has now hit 25 countries in Africa, largely spared by the pandemic until recently. Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon announced late on Saturday that two citizens returning from Italy on March 11 had tested positive for the virus. “As we learnt these two people had been in contact with a sick person, we decided to do the tests this morning and […]

New York city closes public schools over virus concerns

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday announced the closure of public schools in America’s biggest city, bowing to pressure after strongly resisting the move aimed at curbing the coronavirus pandemic. “I regret to announce that as of tomorrow our public schools will be closed,” de Blasio told a news conference, saying they would stay shuttered until April 20, and potentially for the remainder of the school year. […]

Recession risk calls for joint response: UN chief

LISBON Portugal (AFP) — UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged governments to work together to stop the coronavirus pandemic from plunging the global economy into recession. “No country can face it alone,” the secretary-general wrote in an opinion article in the Publico daily. “More than ever, governments must cooperate to revitalize economies, expand public investment, promote trade and ensure that people and communities affected by the disease are supported,” he said. The virus was […]