Category: World

The declaration from the Health Ministry comes for the first time since February 28.

Reuters

New Zealand has no active cases of COVID-19 in the country for the first time since February 28, the country’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The last person who was being monitored for coronavirus has now been released from isolation as he’s been symptom-free and is regarded as recovered, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in a statement.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that all coronavirus measures in the country will be lifted from Tuesday, barring border closure restrictions, as the virus had been eliminated from the country.

The country would move to national alert level 1 from midnight on Monday, Ardern said in a news conference.

Public and private events, the retail and hospitality industries and all public transport could resume without social distancing norms still in place across much of the world, she said.

“While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone … Thank you, New Zealand,” Ardern told reporters.

“We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort.”

The South Pacific nation of about five million people is emerging from the pandemic while big economies such as Brazil, Britain, India and the United States grapple with the spreading virus.

This was largely due to 75 days of restrictions including about seven weeks of a strict lockdown in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay at home.

“Today, 75 days later, we are ready,” Ms. Ardern told a news conference, announcing the government would drop social distancing restrictions from midnight on Monday and move to a level 1 national alert from Level 2.

Border controls would remain and everyone entering the country would be tested, she said.

There were no active cases in New Zealand for the first time since the virus arrived in late February, the Health Ministry said. New Zealand has reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths from the disease.

New Zealand vowed to eliminate, not just contain, the virus. This means stopping transmission for an extended period after the last known case is cleared, while being ready to quickly detect and isolate any new cases including from abroad.

New Zealanders cheered the lifting of curbs and the topic quickly trended on Twitter. Rugby fans in particular were looking forward to attending stadiums to watch the opening games of the domestic competition this weekend.

Ms.Ardern said she did a “little dance” when she was told there were no more active COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, surprising her two-year-old daughter, Neve.

“She was caught a little by surprise and she joined it having absolutely no idea why I was dancing around the lounge. She enjoyed it nevertheless,” Ardern said.

Economic rebuild

Ms. Ardern, 39, has won global praise for her leadership during the pandemic and her popularity has seen stratospheric growth over the last few months.

She is well placed to win a second term in office in September elections, according to recent opinion polls.

Even so, the government will need to show it is up to the task of reviving the economy, which is expected to sink into recession.

Opposition parties have criticised Ms. Ardern’s decision to keep restrictions for so long despite there being no new cases for over two weeks.

Ardern did not commit to a timeline for a proposed ‘travel bubble’ to open with Australia, although the tourism industries in both countries have been pushing for it.

“We will need to move cautiously here. No one wants to jeopardize the gains New Zealand has made,” she said.

It helped combat COVID-19 in Wuhan

Nepal is expected to host a large delegation of personnel from the medical unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army to deal with the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, a source familiar with the discussion inside the Nepal Communist Party has said. The decision is influenced by the leading role played by the PLA’s medical teams in containing the pandemic in Wuhan and nearby areas which were the epicentre of the crisis in China.

The Hindu has learnt that Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has discussed the possibility of hosting the medical delegation from China during a recent video call with the head of the international liaison department of the Chinese Communist Party, Song Tao.

“Nepal needs to stop the spread of the COVID-19 and an extensive operation to test and contain the virus is urgently required. It is not yet clear what will be the total number of personnel that Nepal will ultimately get as the testing will have to be done across the country. As per current estimate such an operation will require at least a few thousands of workers,” said a source familiar with the internal discussions in the Nepal Communist Party which maintains fraternal ties with its Chinese counterpart.

Nepal at present has 3,348 COVID-19 cases with 13 recorded deaths. Kathmandu is worried about the further spread of the pandemic as the government has begun repatriation of all Nepalese expat workers on humanitarian grounds. Nepal is likely to receive around two lakh citizens from India alone in the next few weeks apart from several others from other parts of the world.

“The Chinese team is likely to be stationed here for a week or so and carry out an extensive and fast operation of the kind carried out in the affected parts of China,” said the source.

The deliberations in Kathmandu are significant, reflecting China’s growing COVID-19 diplomacy.

Bangladesh is set to receive a major delegation of medical personnel from Beijing on Monday. The delegation, drawn from the National Health Commission of China, will travel to all the COVID-19 affected areas of the country. Beijing’s global health diplomacy has covered Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the major COVID-19 affected countries in the west.

With inputs from The Hindu

Gulf News

Saudi authorities have closed down 39 mosques anew in the kingdom after coronavirus infections were suspected among worshippers or those in charge of the sites, Saudi-owned television Al Arabiya reported.

The decision was taken by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Call as part of strict health measures to curb the spread of the highly contagious disease.

Those mosques are being sterilized, the television added without specifying their locations.

Last week, Saudi Arabia reopened mosques except in Mecca, in line with a plan to gradually return to normal life.

Authorities have put in place a set of precautions for performing group prayers in mosques. They include opening mosques 15 minutes before the Adhan and close them 10 minutes after the end of the prayer with the interval between the Adhan and the start of the prayer shortened to 10 minutes.

Worshippers are kept apart with a distance of two metres. Children under 15 are barred from going to mosques as a preventive measure.

Toilets and ablution places are closed with a ban on the distribution of water and food inside mosques. Likewise, mosque classes and the Holy Quran memorisation gatherings are suspended.

Worshippers have their temperatures checked before they are allowed into the mosques.

In March, the kingdom closed the mosques as part of strict measures to curb the spread of the virus.

PTI

Islamabad: Pakistan has approved the strategic USD 7.2 billion railway line upgradation project between Peshawar and Karachi under the CPEC, paving the way for the final negotiations with China for the finance, a media report said on Sunday.

The approval of the project to upgrade the 1,872 km-long railway track from Peshawar to Karachi is a big milestone for the second phase of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said Lieutenant General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa, chairman of the CPEC Authority.

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Saturday approved the Pakistan Railways’ Mainline-I (ML-1) Project, The Express Tribune reported.

The approval by the key government body has set the stage for the final negotiations with China for financing the project and talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address its concern over a big loan from Beijing.

Pakistan will also have to seek relaxations from the IMF, as under the existing deal with the global financial body, it does not have space to provide sovereign guarantees to the tune of Rs 1.2 trillion (USD 7.2 billion), the report said.

It was for the fourth time that the project came before the CDWP for approval. The CDWP considered the project for the first time in 2016.

After the approval, the project would go to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council for further approval, the Ministry of Planning said.

It would be finally approved by the Cabinet but the initial approval of the CDWP is considered as a key for any big project.

Once completed, the speed of passenger trains will increase from 65/110 km/h to 160 km/h on the track.

The speed of the freight trains will also increase to 120km/h from 80 kilometer per hour.

The package-1 of the ML-I will be completed between January 2021 to December 2024 and will cover the construction of 527 km-long track between Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Package 2 will be completed from January 2022 to December 2026 and will upgrade 521 km-long track from Lahore to Hyderabad while package 3 will upgrade the 740 km-track of Rawalpindi-Peshawar and Hyderabad-Multan.

Pakistan gives high priority to the ML-1 project due to its strategic importance and the CDWP’s clearance will also pave the way for its inauguration by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to the country this year, the report said.

Earlier, the Pakistan Railways proposed the construction of the project at a cost of USD 9.2 billion. However, the transport and communication wing of the planning ministry reduced the cost by USD 2 billion, the report said.

However, the World Bank linked the success of the project to bringing governance reforms in the railways and warned that the project’s debt servicing was not sustainable, the paper added.

The multi-billion dollar CPEC is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking China’s resource-rich Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.

The project was launched in 2015 when Chinese President Xi visited Pakistan and it now envisages investment of over USD 60 billion in different projects of development in Pakistan.

India has objected to the CPEC as it is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

British pharma giant AstraZeneca is “on track” to begin rolling out up to two billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine in September if ongoing trials prove successful, its chief executive said on Friday.

The company is partnering with Oxford University, which has pioneered the vaccine, and is already manufacturing doses before seeking final regulatory approval once testing concludes in the coming months.

“So far we’re still on track… we are starting to manufacture this vaccine right now, and we have to have it ready to be used by the time we have the results,” AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot told BBC radio.
“Our present assumption is that we will have the data by the end of the summer, by August, so in September we should know whether we have an effective vaccine or not.”

The firm announced this week it had struck agreements with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India to double production capacity of the COVID-19 vaccine to two billion doses.

The partnership with the Indian institute — one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers — will help supply it to a large number of low- and middle-income countries.

AstraZeneca has established separate supply chains for the vaccine in Europe, the United States, India and is also looking at setting up production in China, Soriot said.

He added AstraZeneca, which is undertaking the work on a non-profit basis, could lose money if trials prove disappointing.

But he said the company was sharing the financial risk with organisations such as CEPI.

“We’re manufacturing indeed at risk — and that’s the only way to have the vaccine ready to go if it works,” he added.

Oxford University began initial trials of its COVID-19 vaccine with hundreds of volunteers in April, and is now expanding them to 10,000 participants.

It said last month they were “progressing very well”.

Researchers announced this week they will also start tests in mid-June in Brazil, the first country outside Britain to take part in the study, as the South American country’s virus infection rate spirals while the UK’s falls.

AFP

President Hassan Rouhani warned Iranians on Saturday to prepare to live with the novel coronavirus “for a long time”, as the country gradually rolls back restrictions imposed to curb the outbreak.

People should not assume that “this disease will be eliminated in 15 days or a month: we must therefore follow the instructions for a long time,” Mr. Rouhani said during a weekly meeting of the coronavirus taskforce.

“We must end all gatherings, be it marriage, mourning, or family visits, until told otherwise by the Health Minister,” he added.

Authorities have progressively lifted restrictions imposed to tackle the virus, and activity has almost returned to normal in most of the country’s 31 provinces.

The rising trajectory of infection figures since a low in early May and the lack of observance of physical distancing measures have authorities worried. According to Mr. Rouhani, there is no “second path” for Iran and economic activity across the country must continue.

The officers have been suspended without pay and are being investigated.

Reuters

Two Buffalo police officers were arraigned on Saturday on felony assault charges after a viral video showed them shoving an elderly protestor who remains critically injured after falling at a march against racism.

Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were part of a unit in tactical gear enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew on Thursday during the protest involving long-time community activist Martin Gugino, 75, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement.

“The two defendants, who are Buffalo Police officers, pushed a protestor outside of City Hall, causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk,” Flynn said.

Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault during the virtual arraignment before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah. They were released on their own recognizance and are due back in court on July 20.

If convicted of the charge, they face up to 7 years in prison.

Members of the Buffalo Police Department’s Emergency Response Team, the officers have been suspended without pay and are being investigated after a local radio station released video of the incident involving Gugino, which went viral and had more than 78 million views by midday Saturday.

He remains in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center, where he was treated for a head injury, loss of consciousness and bleeding from the right ear, Flynn said.

The western New York state city saw pockets of looting after dark like many cities across the United States, where countless otherwise peaceful protests were staged in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

The video shows Torgalski pushing Gugino before he fell and McCabe about to kneel toward the man sprawled on the sidewalk before being moved along by a supervisor, the Buffalo News reported. Police initially said the man tripped.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said he has not asked for the officers to be fired.

“It is very important that the officers know they are getting due process,” Brown said. “Our information was that individual was an agitator.”

It will give legal status to the updated map of the country that claims parts of Indian territory

Nepal is expected to pass the Second Constitution Amendment Bill next week, giving the legal status to the updated map of the country that claims parts of the Indian territory. The Bill was introduced in parliament on May 31. It is learnt that the government of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli will try to get the Bill cleared on June 9.

When asked by The Hindu, a Nepalese source said the amendment would “most likely” be passed with the required two-thirds majority on June 9. It has already secured the support of the main Opposition Nepali Congress, and is expected to go through smoothly.

The passage of the Bill will intensify the diplomatic crisis between India and Nepal as Kathmandu claims Kalapani, which is part of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. It is understood that Nepalese and Indian diplomats are in contact, but there is yet to be any substantial dialogue on the dispute.

A Bill brought before the Nepalese parliament for amendment must go through a process whereby it can be improved upon. This includes a month-long phase when the public can write to the parliament secretariat to modify the Bill. Members of parliament can also bring in additional changes in the text.

The Madhesi parliamentarians have attempted a change in the amendment, asking parliament to take up amendments related to their region along with the Second Constitution Amendment. But it is not yet clear whether this will be accepted by parliament where the Nepal Communist Party enjoys majority.

With inputs from The Hindu

PTI

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that countries like India and China would have much more coronavirus cases than America, the worst-hit country in the world, if they conduct more tests.

Trump, in his remarks at Puritan Medical Products in Maine, said that the US has carried out 20 million tests.

Compared to the US, Germany is at four million and much talked about South Korea is about three million tests, he said on Friday.

According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the US has reported nearly 1.9 million cases and over 1,09,000 deaths, making America the worst affected country, while the total number of coronavirus cases in India and China stand at 2,36,184 and 84,177 respectively.

India has so far conducted over 4 million coronavirus tests, according to the health ministry.

Commenting on the COVID-19 tests in the US, Trump said: We will be well over 20 million tests. Remember this, when you test more, you have more cases.

I say to my people every time we test; you find cases because we do more testing. If we have more cases, if we wanted to do testing in China or in India or other places, I promise you there would be more cases you are doing a fantastic job in getting out the swabs .

Puritan is one of the only manufacturers in the world producing the high-quality medical swabs that are crucial for rapid testing.

And every swab you make at Puritan is proudly stamped with the beautiful phrase made in the USA.

Thanks to the testing capacity that you are making possible, our country is reopening and our economy is recovering like nobody would’ve thought possible, he said.

Referring to the latest monthly employment numbers, Trump said that the economy is now back on track.

We absolutely shattered expectations, and this is the largest monthly jobs increase in American history, think of that; that’s a long time.

I think it’s more than double or about double of what our highest was before so this is the largest monthly job increase in American history. And we’re going to have a phenomenal next year. We’re going to have a tremendous couple of months prior to the election on November 3 very, very important date, the president said.

Seeking re-election for his second consecutive term, Trump is pitted against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in November 3 presidential elections. Most of the opinion polls shows that Biden is several points ahead of Trump.

It’s going to be a very important election because the only thing that can screw it up is if you get the wrong president and they raise your taxes, and they open up your borders so that everybody pours into our country, Trump said.

Reiterating that he has built a strong economy in the last three years, Trump vowed to bring the economy back on track, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Describing the fight against coronavirus as the greatest national and industrial mobilisation since the World War II, Trump said that his administration has marshaled the full power of the US government and US industry to defeat the invisible enemy.

It is indeed an enemy. It came from China, should have been stopped in China. They didn’t do that, he alleged.

The administration, he said, has delivered over 1.5 billion pieces of personal protective equipment to doctors and nurses on the front lines.

We slashed the red tape to speed up the development of vaccines. And vaccines are coming along incredibly well, wait till you see, and therapeutics. And we partnered at private sector leaders such as Puritan to build the largest and most advanced testing capacity on the face of the earth, like this one, he said.

The Puritan factory in Maine, he said, quickly ramped up the production to produce nearly 20 million foam tipped swabs each month.

Then in April, my administration invoked the Defence Production Act to help you scale up even more. Under a USD 75 million public-private partnership, Puritan will soon double production to 40 million swabs per month, Trump added.

China calls it hypocrisy, asks Washington to ‘put its own house in order’

AFP

The White House said on Thursday that China’s “slaughter” of protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989 has not been forgotten, urging Beijing to give its first accurate accounting of the bloodshed.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s slaughter of unarmed Chinese civilians was a tragedy that will not be forgotten,” President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. “The United States calls on China to honour the memory of those who lost their lives and to provide a full accounting of those who were killed, detained, or remain missing in connection with the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989.” Beijing’s city government claimed weeks after the crackdown that around 200 people had died, the vast majority soldiers, with only 36 university students killed. China’s Central government has never released a full official toll, but estimates have put the figure between several hundred to over 1,000.

Open discussion of the brutal suppression is forbidden in mainland China. In Hong Kong, where Beijing is tightening its central rule, a mass vigil to mark the anniversary was banned, though tens of thousands of people defied the decision.

Every year, the U.S. issues a statement demanding China be held accountable. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with survivors, including Wang Dan, perhaps the most prominent of the student leaders from the protest.

China on Friday accused the U.S. of hypocrisy. “The U.S. has always bragged about so-called democracy and human rights, but the facts repeatedly show that the U.S. record in this area is full of stains,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing. He said Washington should “put its own house in order” and defended China’s political system.