PUSH HARDER
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected U.S. pandemic death toll by 26% to 60,000. The downward revision in the death toll in the University of Washington model – often cited by U.S. […]
Hundreds of African residents and businessmen in China’s southern city of Guangzhou have been evicted from hotels and apartments as local health officials rollout a testing campaign for Covid-19, community leaders have told the BBC. Those evicted say they are being discriminated against. “They are accusing us of having the virus,” said Tobenna Victor, a […]
He calls himself a shoe manufacturer who majors in the production of different shoes, locally made, for mass consumption. He is passionate about what he does but beyond that, he is a problem solver, who looks around for an opportunity to help in whatever situation wherever he finds himself. It was such an occasion that […]
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting worsening coronavirus symptoms in an intensive care unit on Tuesday, leaving his foreign minister to lead the government’s response to the accelerating outbreak. Johnson’s personal battle with the virus has shaken the British government just as the United Kingdom enters what scientists say is likely […]
Ghana has confirmed 73 new cases of the novel Coronavirus, bringing the total count to 287. The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in a statement said with the institution of the enhanced contact tracing and testing measures, Ghana has recorded an increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. “As of 6 April 2020, 23:30 hr, a […]
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who through the Ghana Prisons Service granted some 808 prisoners amnesty over the deadly coronavirus pandemic, has shockingly said he is not in a position to grant “amnesty” to some radio stations shut down by the National Communications Authority (NCA), and order their return on air to aid the fight against the […]
(Reuters) – A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo’s chief veterinarian said on Sunday. Nadia, the 4-year-old Malayan tiger that tested positive, was […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Engineers at Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) showed a prototype for a ventilator on Sunday evening in a video published on the company’s YouTube channel, as hospitals around the country overwhelmed by coronavirus patients face device shortages. The design for the ventilators relies heavily on Tesla car parts, one of the engineers said, enabling the […]
It is a cry from the heart and the stomach that is reverberating across African towns and cities reeling under lockdowns and curfews to contain the spread of the coronavirus. “How can anyone stay home without anything to eat?” asked Garcia Landu, a motorcycle taxi driver in the bustling Angolan seaside capital of Luanda. He […]
Nigerian actress Funke Akindele has been criticised for holding a party during the lockdown as part of the measures made to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The party was held in her Lagos mansion to celebrate the birthday of her husband, producer JJC Skillz. Akindele was part of the video made by the Nigeria Centre […]
Captain Planet has landed himself in the pit of trolls on Twitter for a misleading and backfired comment attacking the health ministry’s report about Coronavirus recovery cases. The Ghanaian musician known as one of the members of the defunct 4×4 music group, took to Twitter to question reports that some Coronavirus patients in Ghana have recovered. Sharing a screenshot of […]
CAF president Ahmad Ahmad has confirmed the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals will not be played in Cameroon during June/July. This has put the future of the tournament in doubt after the continent’s football governing body postponed it because of the coronavirus outbreak. Ahmad told the French newspaper Le Monde: ”Our desire is to […]
All health workers in Ghana are to enjoy tax holiday for three months as part of government motivation for their sacrifices in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, frontline health workers will receive a 50% allowance on their March to June basic salary. They are also to enjoy free rides to and from work on Ayalolo […]
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday in what Downing Street said was a “precautionary step” because he was showing persistent symptoms of coronavirus ten days after testing positive for the virus. “On the advice of his doctor, the Prime Minister has tonight been admitted to […]
(Reuters) – The United States enters one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis with the death toll exploding in New York, Michigan and Louisiana and some governors calling for a national order to stay at home. New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that there were nearly 600 new […]
As governments race to stem the spread of coronavirus through an unprecedented closing of schools, businesses and travel, some specialists fear the long term public health impacts of a depressed economy and shuttered society. It’s the most dramatic government intervention into our lives since World War II. To fight the coronavirus outbreak, governments across the […]
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is looking at ordering airlines to cut back on domestic flights in an effort to quell the spread of the coronavirus between cities already under siege by the pandemic. But Trump said he isn’t ready to issue a national stay-at-home order, saying it isn’t needed in some states. Some governors have tried to take […]
The U.S. topped 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day for the first time Wednesday, a daily death toll more than double that of two of America’s most deadly illnesses – lung cancer and the flu. Death counts from the virus are difficult to keep up to date, but the Johns Hopkins coronavirus database – whose sources include […]
Reuters) – Macy’s Inc (M.N) will be removed from the benchmark S&P 500 stock index (.SPX), the S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Tuesday, as coronavirus-induced store closures compound the retail sector’s struggles with a shift to online shopping. The company’s shares have plunged more than 70% so far this year, leaving Macy’s with a market value of […]
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan remains on the brink of a state of emergency as the rate of new coronavirus cases accelerates across the country, its top government spokesman said on Wednesday, amid reports the capital may order public schools to stay closed for a second month. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that controlling […]
The coronavirus pandemic continues around the world, satellites in space are revealing a radical shift in human behavior. Countries including the United States, Italy and China have advised against nonessential travel and many people around the world are either quarantined or self-isolated to reduce the spread of the disease, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This has led to […]
As we know, coronavirus doesn’t discriminate. People of all races, backgrounds and incomes have tested positive for COVID-19, and as celebrities with coronavirus show, anyone can be affected. But that isn’t a reason to be scared. As we’ve said before, we’re all in this together (à la High School Musical), and it’s going to be OK. It’s unclear […]
In an unusually blunt memo, the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier has warned top Navy leaders that most of his ship’s crew of 5,000 needs to be quarantined ashore in Guam — because he’s concerned that keeping them on the ship would continue the spread of the novel coronavirus. A week after an […]
DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients afflicted with the coronavirus. Ford said the simplified ventilator design, which is […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed past 3,000 on Monday, the deadliest day yet in the country’s mounting crisis, while New York cheered the arrival of a gleaming 1,000-bed U.S. Navy hospital ship as a sign of hope in the city’s desperate fight. In a grim new milestones […]
MILAN (Reuters) – The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy barrelled past 10,000 on Saturday, a figure that made an extension of a national lockdown almost certain. Officials said 889 more people died in the previous 24 hours, the second highest daily tally since the epidemic emerged on Feb. 21, and that […]
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating at his Downing Street residence but said he would still lead the government’s response to the accelerating outbreak. Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday – a day after he answered at the prime minister’s weekly question-and-answer session in […]
OTTAWA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canada on Thursday slammed a U.S. proposal to deploy troops along their undefended border to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, saying the idea was unnecessary and would damage relations. The uncompromising comments were a surprise, since Ottawa has enjoyed smooth relations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over the past […]
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Two cruise ships were ordered to leave Australian waters on Thursday, after a liner that docked in Sydney Harbour last week became the primary source of infection for the country’s coronavirus outbreak. While remaining well below the levels seen elsewhere in the world, the number of cases in Australia is starting to […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously backed a $2 trillion bill aimed at helping unemployed workers and industries hurt by the coronavirus epidemic, as well as providing billions of dollars to buy urgently needed medical equipment. After bitter negotiations, the deeply divided Senate came together and passed the bill by a 96-0 […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has tested positive for coronavirus, his household said. Charles, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth, is 71 years old. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” Clarence House said in a statement. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good […]
(Reuters) – An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck offshore 218 kilometers south-southeast of Severo in Russia’s Kuril Islands, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Tuesday. The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said it was analyzing the event.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc will lower video streaming quality on its platform and on Instagram in Latin America, replicating measures adopted in Europe, to ease network congestion in a region that is starting to feel the grip of the coronavirus. On Sunday, the world’s largest social network followed the steps of Netflix, Alphabet […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday he is considering how to reopen the U.S. economy when a 15-day shutdown ends next week, even as the highly contagious coronavirus is spreading rapidly and hospitals are bracing for a wave of virus-related deaths. “America will again and soon be open for business,” Trump told […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned. The American disease expert, a medical epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency, left her post in July, according to four sources […]
MANILA (Reuters) – Filipino teacher Raven Kate De Leon is in demand, spending up to 10 hours a day at her home computer surrounded by mini cars and stuffed toys that she uses as props to inject fun into her English classes for students far away in China. Since the coronavirus took a hold in […]
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported 65 new positive cases of coronavirus disease on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in Southeast Asia’s largest economy to 579, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto told reporters. The number of people killed by the virus rose by one on Monday to 49, he said, while 30 patients have […]
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Mainland China on Monday reported a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases, reversing four straight days of increases, as the capital, Beijing, ramped up measures to contain the number of infections arriving from abroad. China had 39 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said, down from […]
HAVANA (Reuters) – Communist-run Cuba said it dispatched a brigade of doctors and nurses to Italy for the first time this weekend to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus at the request of the worst-affected region Lombardy. The Caribbean island has sent its “armies of white robes” to disaster sites around the world […]
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Sunday he will this week deliver an extraordinary “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing – normally given only at Christmas and Easter – and called for worldwide prayer to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Francis made the surprise announcement in his weekly Angelus […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Countries can’t simply lock down their societies to defeat coronavirus, the World Health Organization’s top emergency expert said on Sunday, adding that public health measures are needed to avoid a resurgence of the virus later on. “What we really need to focus on is finding those who are sick, those who have […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United States’ offer to help Iran in its fight against the new coronavirus pandemic is strange, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Sunday, describing U.S. leaders as “charlatans and liars”. Washington has offered humanitarian assistance to its longtime foe, the Middle Eastern country most affected […]
NAIROBI/FREETOWN/LAGOS (Reuters) – Hand sanitizer replaced holy water at Nairobi’s Holy Family Basilica Catholic Church, and attendance was far lower than usual, but Sunday Mass went ahead. “God’s intention is that we worship him in the church,” preached Father David Kamumue to about 300 people, instead of his usual congregation of some 5,000. “Let us […]
ROME (Reuters) – The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has leapt by 793 to 4,825, officials said on Saturday, an increase of 19.6% — by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion emerged a month ago. On Thursday, Italy overtook China as the country to register most […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first rapid coronavirus diagnostic test, with a detection time of about 45 minutes, as the United States struggles to meet the demand for coronavirus testing. The test’s developer, California-based molecular diagnostics company Cepheid, said on Saturday it had received an emergency use authorization from the FDA […]
Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) said on Friday it will close most of its company operated cafes across north America for two weeks, limiting its services to drive-throughs, to help stem the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. “Let’s be real. Lattes aren’t ‘essential’,” Rossann Williams, president of U.S. company-operated and Canada businesses, said in a letter. […]
ROME (Reuters) – The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has leapt by 627 to 4,032, officials said on Friday, an increase of 18.4% – by far the largest daily rise in absolute terms since the contagion emerged a month ago. The total number of cases in Italy rose to 47,021 from […]
LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – California issued an unprecedented statewide ‘stay at home” order on Thursday for its 40 million residents and Washington warned Americans to return home or stay abroad indefinitely, as the number of corona virus deaths in the country hit 200. Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive, effective immediately, marks the largest and most sweeping […]
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc on Thursday ended a standoff with local California authorities concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, saying it will suspend production at its San Francisco Bay Area vehicle factory on March 24. The company said its New York solar roof tile factory will also temporarily suspend production, while operations at its […]
The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in the new epicentre Europe, with the number of deaths in Italy outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus originated. With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the epidemic has stunned the world and drawn comparisons […]
