Former Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev tests positive for coronavirus
Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first president of Kazakhstan, is self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus, his office said in a statement today. “Unfortunately, the last test of Elbasy for coronavirus infection showed a positive result,” the statement read, referring to Nazarbayev by his formal title, Leader...
New Zealand’s Ardern says new coronavirus cases are “an unacceptable failure”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the two new coronavirus cases from two people who traveled to the country from the UK was an “unacceptable failure of the system,” and measures have been taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again. On Tuesday, New Zealand...
Honduran President is being treated for pneumonia after coronavirus diagnosis
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is being treated for pneumonia after having “slight leaks in the lungs.” The President is “stable, in good spirits and receiving medication,” according to Francis Contreras, a spokesman for the Honduran Health Regulation Agency. President Hernández said Wednesday he and his wife...
US reports more than 25,500 new Covid-19 cases
At least 25,583 new Covid-19 cases and 755 deaths were reported in the United States on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The national totals now stand at 2,163,290 cases, including at least 117,717 virus-related fatalities, according to JHU. The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other...
Mexico nears 20,000 deaths from Covid-19
Mexico is closing in on 20,000 deaths from coronavirus, according to its health ministry Wednesday. The ministry reported 770 new deaths from the virus, bringing the country’s death toll to 19,080. Mexico also recorded 4,930 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the...
Chile tops 220,000 coronavirus infections after reporting more than 30,000 backlogged cases
Chile’s health ministry reported an additional 31,000 Covid-19 cases Wednesday that had not previously been counted after the government discovered a backlog of positive test results dating back to March. The ministry also reported 4,757 newly confirmed cases Wednesday, bringing the country’s total to 220,628....
Paulinho Paiakan: Amazon indigenous chief dies with coronavirus
One of the best-known indigenous defenders of the Amazon rainforest has died with coronavirus in Brazil, where the disease continues its rapid spread. Paulinho Paiakan, chief of the Kayapó people, came to international attention in the 1980s in the fight against Belo Monte, one of...
It’s just past 1 p.m. in London and 8 a.m. in New York. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 8 million people worldwide and killed at least 437,000. Here’s what you need to know: Beijing extends lockdowns as coronavirus spreads: Health officials in China’s capital have disinfected more than 30,000 restaurants and sealed off several residential neighbourhoods as...
African countries are still waiting for a surge in Covid-19 cases. Some health experts question whether it will happen
On January 28, at around one in the morning, Dr. John Nkengasong’s cellphone rang in Addis Ababa. Nigerian officials told Nkengasong, the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that a recently arrived Italian businessman had tested positive for Covid-19. He...
Coronavirus: Peru economy sinks 40% in April amid lockdown
Peru’s economy sank by more than 40% year-on-year in April, its worst-ever percentage drop in output, amid a lockdown imposed to curb Covid-19. Mining dropped sharply in the country – one of the world’s largest producers of copper, gold and silver. President Martín Vizcarra called...
Spain tests out Covid-19 precautions for schools reopening in September
Most of Spain’s schools will remain closed until September but the country is trying out a new normal for some students ahead of the autumn. The Colegio Virgen de Europa in Madrid is one of the few schools opening their doors to pupils — with...
Trump’s wish for an end to the pandemic contradicts reality
US President Donald Trump has no intention of accepting any new normal dictated by the coronavirus pandemic. His big return-to-the-campaign trail rally set for Saturday night is dramatic proof of that. The event in Oklahoma, will be an extraordinary moment, even in a presidency that...
India records more than 10,600 new cases
India recorded 10,667 new coronavirus cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The number of confirmed cases in the country stands at 343,091, including 9,900 deaths. India has conducted almost 6 million Covid-19 tests in total, with 154,935 taken in...
It’s just past 8 a.m. in London and 7 p.m. in Wellington, New Zealand. Here’s the latest
Global coronavirus cases have now surpassed 8 million, including more than 436,000 deaths. If you’re just joining us, here are the latest developments. China races to contain new cluster: At least 29 neighborhoods are under lockdown in Beijing as 106 Covid-19 cases linked to the...
New Zealand reports first new Covid-19 cases in more than three weeks
New Zealand recorded two new cases of Covid-19 today, the country’s Ministry of Health announced. They are the first cases to be reported in the country in 24 days. The two new infections are both women from the same family who arrived in New Zealand...
Investigations launched after Bolsonaro tells Brazilians to inspect hospitals themselves
Brazil’s attorney-general has called for an investigation into several invasions of hospitals in the country, after its President called on Brazilians to inspect the conditions of medical wards treating Covid-19 patients. Augusto Aras’ request will be sent on Monday to several state prosecutor offices, including...
Fauci on why a second wave of coronavirus cases in the US is “not inevitable”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a recent increase in coronavirus cases in a number of states is not necessarily a “second spike.” “However, when you start to see increases in hospitalization, that’s a surefire situation that...
Coronavirus: Fear of second wave in Beijing after market outbreak
An area of the Chinese capital Beijing has been put under strict lockdown measures after the city’s first coronavirus cases in more than 50 days. The outbreak has been linked to the city’s largest wholesale market. A total of 45 people out of 517 tested...
Coronavirus: How pandemic turned political in Brazil
Brazil’s handling of the pandemic has turned highly political. The country has swiftly risen up the grim leader board of coronavirus statistics and its death toll – 41,828 – is now the world’s second highest. The Americas account for around half of the number of...
Al-Shabab ‘launches Covid-19 treatment centre’
The Islamist militant group al-Shabab has dropped its initial dismissal of the Covid-19 pandemic, announcing that it has opened a “treatment centre” for people who test positive for the disease in Jilib town in southern Somalia, an area under their control. Al-Shabab’s Radio Andalus reported...
Latin America and the Caribbean surpass 1.5 million Covid-19 cases
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have recorded more than 1.5 million combined Covid-19 cases as of Thursday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. 33 countries are included in this region: Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Panama, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti,...
Brazil President Bolsonaro denies accusations of downplaying Covid-19 data
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has denied accusations that he tried to downplay the current coronavirus situation in Brazil by not reporting cumulative data. The government had stopped reporting cumulative coronavirus deaths and cases, with Bolsonaro arguing they didn’t reflect the current state of the pandemic...
India overtakes the UK to become fourth worst affected country from Covid-19
India reported 10,956 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day increase and the first time the numbers have risen by more 10,000. The total number of reported coronavirus infections now stands at 297,535 with 8,498 deaths, according to India’s Ministry of Health...
Italian PM questioned by prosecutor of Bergamo — the area hardest hit by coronavirus
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been questioned by the prosecutor of Bergamo, Lombardy, on the outbreak of coronavirus in the region. The prosecutor arrived Friday morning at Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Italian government, to question Conte as an “informed person on the...
Coronavirus mutations not expected to influence vaccine efficacy, WHO chief scientist says
All viruses mutate — including the novel coronavirus. But as the world now races to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, the coronavirus mutations are not expected to alter vaccine efficacy during this race, said World Health Organization chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan. “The mutations have not...
US surgeon general urges protesters to take coronavirus precautions
US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said he wants people who decide to protest against racial injustice to do so as safely as possible during the pandemic — and he said he understands why the protests are being prioritized. “I understand the anger, the frustration,...
Coronavirus: Fracas on Brazil’s Copacabana over Covid-19 ‘graves’
Activists angry at Brazil’s response to Covid-19 have created 100 graves on Rio’s Copacabana beach to remember the more than 40,000 people who have died. However, organisers said supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro mocked the event with one man pulling out crosses. The president’s opposition...
Coronavirus: Italy prosecutors quiz PM Conte on crisis
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is being questioned by prosecutors from northern Italy after relatives of Covid-19 victims demanded an inquiry into alleged government negligence. The prosecutors have travelled to Rome from Bergamo, the city near Milan worst hit by coronavirus before the whole country was...
Coronavirus: Why does India deny Covid community transmission?
Despite a surge in cases, India insists there is no community transmission of Covid-19 in the country. “India is such a large country and prevalence is very low,” said Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Medical Research Institute. Mr Bhargava was speaking at a press...
Hong Kong: City of two masks faces a new crisis
One year ago, black-clad youth of Hong Kong gathered outside parliament. Bricks and projectiles met rubber bullets and tear gas. Many protests and one pandemic later, the territory is facing another existential challenge. Will it survive? In the past 12 months, almost everyone in Hong...
