Spain enters period of mourning as coronavirus deaths continue to spike
Spain officially entered a period of mourning on Sunday as the coronavirus death toll jumped to an estimated 6,606. The government ordered that flags be flown at half-staff and a minute of silence be observed every day to pay respects for the dead even as...
Italy’s coronavirus death toll passes 10,000; doubles in one week
Italy’s coronavirus fatalities have crossed 10,000, according to officials — more than double the number of deaths reported just one week ago. In the past 24 hours, Italy suffered 889 additional deaths, bringing the country-wide total to at least 10,023 as of Saturday, and the...
Netanyahu goes into quarantine after aide tests positive for coronavirus
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going into self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus, his office confirmed Monday to Fox News. The prime minister’s office said Netanyahu and his staff will go into quarantine, “until the epidemiological investigation regarding his adviser is...
Italy’s poorer south preps potential explosion of coronavirus, threatens students with ‘flamethrowers’
Italy’s poorer south appears to be readying for war, expecting a sudden explosion in coronavirus cases within the next 10 days, as the novel illness advances down the peninsula from the northern, affluent Lombardy region. One of the first cases of the coronavirus in Italy...
World Health Organization under the microscope: what went wrong with coronavirus?
As coronavirus started seeping from its origins in a Wuhan wet market in China late last year, the information coming from the World Health Organization (WHO) was one of dismissal, in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s muzzling of the disease’s potency. “Preliminary investigations conducted...
Spain overtakes China for number of coronavirus cases – over 85,000 infections declared
Spain has overtaken China for the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, reporting a total of 85,195 on Monday. The new daily total of 812 deaths was a slight decrease on Sunday’s record of 838, bringing the overall number of fatalities to 7,340. Spain joins Italy...
Coronavirus: Is the UK testing enough people?
Testing is seen as key to tackling coronavirus and the UK hopes to rapidly increase the number of people tested in the coming weeks. But how does the UK’s approach compare with that of other countries and who can get tested? How many tests is...
Trump says Harry and Meghan must pay for security
President Donald Trump says the US will not foot the bill for Prince Harry and Meghan’s security amid reports that the pair have moved to the US from Canada. Mr Trump tweeted he was “a great friend and admirer of the Queen and the United...
Albania sends 30 doctors and nurses to Italy to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic
Albania has sent 30 doctors and nurses to Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Albanian Prime minister announced on Saturday. The Albanian medical team was escorted to theTirana aiport by Albania’s PM Edi Rama, the leader announced on his Facebook...
Five stories you may have missed this week because of COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across Europe, the US and started to appear in Africa this week, the crisis dominated headlines, leaving little space for other news. Here are five coronavirus-free stories you might have missed: Kosovan government falls amid global pandemic Kosovo’s government fell...
More French COVID-19 patients flown to Germany and Switzerland
More French patients infected with COVID-19 have been transferred to hospitals in Germany and Switzerland, authorities have confirmed. The German Air Force confirmed on Twitter that one of its planes flew two patients from Strasbourg, in eastern France, to Ulm, in the southeastern German region...
Germany ‘increases its COVID-19 tests to 500,000 per week’
Germany has increased its number of COVID-19 tests to 500,000 per week, a German scientist said on Thursday. “The reason why Germany has so little deaths compared to its number of confirmed cases can be explained by the fact that we have a lot of...
‘Blank cheque’: Hungary expected to pass controversial COVID-19 law
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is expected to be given sweeping new powers to manage the country’s coronavirus epidemic on Monday. A government spokesman told AP that the “extraordinary measures” – which have no limit and allow Orban’s government to bypass parliament – were needed...
Netherlands recalls hundreds of thousands of defective Chinese face masks
The Netherlands has recalled hundreds of thousands of face masks imported from China after they were found to be defective, the health ministry announced on Saturday. Dutch authorities received 1.3 million face masks from China on March 21 and distributed some of them to health...
Coronavirus: Portugal grants temporary citizenship rights to migrants
The Portuguese government is granting citizenship rights to all migrants and asylum seekers who have residency applications underway. The move is intended to ensure everybody who needs it has access to social security and health care while the country battles the spread and effects of...
Coronavirus: Belarus Premier League attracts global attention as it plays on
Football is suspended in the UK and across most of world because of the coronavirus pandemic – but the game rolls on in Belarus. The Belarusian Premier League rarely gets a mention in normal circumstances yet it is attracting attention from foreign fans as one...
Coronavirus: Brazil’s Bolsonaro in denial and out on a limb
As the world tries desperately to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Brazil’s president is doing his best to downplay it. Jair Bolsonaro has largely struggled to take it seriously. Going against his own health ministry’s advice earlier in March, and while awaiting the results of a...
Coronavirus in F1: Red Bull’s Helmut Marko told team’s drivers to become infected
Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko said he advised his drivers to become infected with coronavirus while the season is in hiatus. The 76-year-old said he had the idea to bring his Formula 1 drivers and juniors together in a camp, which “would be the...
More French COVID-19 patients flown to Germany and Switzerland
More French patients infected with COVID-19 have been transferred to hospitals in Germany and Switzerland, authorities have confirmed. The German Air Force confirmed on Twitter that one of its planes flew two patients from Strasbourg, in eastern France, to Ulm, in the southeastern German region...
German state finance minister Thomas Schäfer found dead
Police suspect Thomas Schäfer died by suicide after his body was found on train tracks near Wiesbaden. He was the finance minister for the state of Hesse, where Germany’s financial center Frankfurt lies. The body of a man identified as Thomas Schäfer, the finance minister...
Here’s How COVID-19 Compares to Past Outbreaks
SARS, the 1918 flu pandemic, and Ebola have all helped public health officials prepare for major outbreaks. Each major outbreak is different though, and experts have a hard time predicting how they will end. The fallout of each disease largely depends on other circumstances —...
Britain’s coronavirus lockdown on course to ‘reduce death rate from 260,000 to 5,700’
BRITAIN’S lockdown is on course to reduce the coronavirus death rate from 260,000 to 5,700, experts have said. Boris Johnson announced on Monday new government measures to curb the spread of the killer bug, by halting non-essential travel and shuttering thousands of pubs and businesses....
Five stories you may have missed this week because of COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across Europe, the US and started to appear in Africa this week, the crisis dominated headlines, leaving little space for other news. Here are five coronavirus-free stories you might have missed: Kosovan government falls amid global pandemic Kosovo’s government fell...
COVID-19: Spain reports record daily death toll as UK opens two new hospitals
Spanish authorities announced on Saturday that a record 832 people had succumbed from COVID-19 since yesterday, bringing the country’s total death toll to 5,690. Italy, however, remains the hardest-hit country in the world and reported its own record 919 fatalities on Friday. The death toll...
Domestic violence cases jump 30% during lockdown in France
France’s interior minister says that reports of domestic violence across the country have jumped by more than 30% since the country went into lockdown on March 17th. Christophe Castaner revealed on Thursday that in Paris alone, cases were up by 36%. France’s anti-coronavirus lockdown has...
‘The future of the European project is at stake’: EU in crosshairs of coronavirus pandemic
The European Union has come under fire for its slow response in the coronavirus outbreak. The bloc’s early missteps set the stage for heavy criticism at a time when people are looking to governments to protect them from an invisible enemy. At yesterday’s EU video...
UK PM Boris Johnson and health minister Hancock both have coronavirus
UK PM Boris Johnson and his health minister Matt Hancock have bother tested positive for coronavirus, it emerged on Friday. “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus,” Johnson said in a video posted to Twitter. “I am...
British prime minister Boris Johnson says he has tested positive for coronavirus
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating. “Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus,” he said in a video posted to Twitter. “I am now self-isolating, but I will...
Coronavirus: Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus. Mr Johnson said he developed mild symptoms over the past 24 hours, including a temperature and cough. He said he will now self-isolate in No 10 but will “continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference...
Coronavirus: Italian police arrest two men for stealing over 8,000 face masks
Italian police have arrested two men in Brindisi on suspicion of stealing 12,000 face masks during the COVID-19 quarantine. The brothers, aged 23 and 30, from Erchie, are being held on charges of aggravated robbery and the assault of a Chinese shopkeeper. They are accused...