Category: World

The UN warns pandemic, which has killed more than 208,000 people, may cause a ‘human rights disaster’.

Reuters

ISTANBUL: President Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will send medical gear including protective suits and masks to the United States on Tuesday to help its efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

“At a time when even developed countries are asking for Turkey’s support, we have offered our support to a wide geography, from the Balkans to Africa,” Erdogan told reporters following a cabinet meeting.

“Most recently, we are sending medical aid to the United States on Tuesday, consisting of surgical masks, N95 masks, hazmat suits and disinfectants,” Erdogan said, adding that the shipment would be delivered via a Turkish military plane.

Erdogan also said a three-day lockdown would be imposed in 31 cities as of Friday, May 1, and that weekend lockdowns would continue until after Eid al-Fitr in late May. He said a schedule for returning to normal would be announced soon.

Turkey’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by 2,131 in the past 24 hours, and 95 more people have died, taking the death toll to 2,900, Health Ministry data showed on Monday.

Ahead of move to level-3 lockdown, PM says country must remain vigilant

The Guardian

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said the country has stopped the “widespread, undetected community transmission” of Covid-19, as tough lockdown restrictions are scheduled to ease on Monday night.

Ardern said New Zealand had “avoided the worst” in the pandemic, but must continue to fight the virus.

“There is no widespread undetected community transmission in New Zealand. We have won that battle. But we must remain vigilant if we are to keep it that way,” she said.

At 11.59pm on Monday, New Zealand will lift its level-4 lockdown which has been in place for more than four weeks. During that time, almost all businesses have been closed, along with schools while the population has been asked to remain in their homes for all but supermarket visits and short walks.

Ardern said there was no way of knowing what may have happened without the level-4 lockdown.

But she warned that in level-3 there were new risks – namely people coming into more contact with others.

Level 3 will see retailers, restaurants and schools allowed to reopen on a smaller scale. Schools will reopen on Wednesday for children up to Year 10 who cannot study from home, or whose parents need to return to work.

Workers will also be able to resume on-site work, provided they have a Covid-19 control plan in place, with appropriate health and safety and physical distancing measures. It is expected one million New Zealanders will return to work on Tuesday.

However, Ardern warned the public of bringing too many people into expanded family “bubbles”.

“We are opening up the economy, but we’re not opening up people’s social lives,” Ardern said.

The director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said that the transmission of the virus had been “eliminated”. This did not mean zero cases, but that health officials knew where all new cases were coming from.

Ardern was also optimistic – asked if New Zealand had eliminated Covid-19, she replied “currently”.

New Zealand’s transmission rate – the number of people each infected person can pass the virus to – was now under 0.4, compared to the average overseas transmission rate of 2.5.

Bloomfield said Covid-19 was a “tricky virus” and New Zealanders needed to remain vigilant. He reported one more Covid-19 related death on Monday. The nation’s 19th victim was a woman in her 90s. There was one new confirmed case and four probably cases, he said.

Ardern said the country would remain at level 3 for two weeks before cabinet decided on whether to move to level 2.

“We can only do this if we continue to pull together. If we need to stay at level 3 [for longer] we will.”

She also said she was hopeful that New Zealand and Australia might be able to create a trans-Tasman bubble at some time in the future, possibly allowing travel between the two countries, but the focus was making sure both countries were domestically managing the virus.

Despite the optimistic numbers, both Bloomfield and Ardern warned against complacency.

“To succeed we must hunt down the last few cases of the virus,” said Ardern. “This is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

To that end, a contact tracing app for Covid-19 would also be available in the next fortnight, however, Ardern said that had limitations.

After more than three months of fight against the deadly virus, Wuhan, where coronavirus first emerged, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospitals on Sunday.

PTI

The last COVID-19 patient in Wuhan has been discharged and the hospitals in the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic in the central Chinese city have no coronavirus cases for the first time after more than three months of arduous battle against the deadly virus that infected over 80,000 people on the mainland, health officials said.

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced on Monday that three new confirmed coronavirus cases, including two from the Chinese returning from abroad and one local transmission were reported on Sunday.

The overall death toll stood at 4,633 and no new fatalities were reported on Sunday. The overall confirmed cases in China reached 82,830 by Sunday, including 723 patients still being treated and 77,474 people who had been discharged.

Altogether 80 patients were discharged from the hospitals after recovery on Sunday, while the number of severe cases increased by one to 52, the NHC said.

Meanwhile, after more than three months of fight against the deadly virus, Wuhan where coronavirus first emerged in December last and became a pandemic, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospitals on Sunday.

The outcome was earned through the hard work of medical workers in Wuhan and those sent from across the country, Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the NHC, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

This came as a 77-year-old man tested negative for the second time for coronavirus in the capital city of Hubei Province, the report said.

He no longer had clinical symptoms and was able to be discharged, an official with Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said.

Sunday’s announcement was a new testament that the local spread of COVID-19 in the country has basically been curbed, it said.

It was also a milestone for Wuhan. This came five days after its cases dropped to double digits and less than 70 days after daily hospitalised cases peaked at 38,020, Xinhua reported.

“It is a historic day,” said Shang You, a critical care unit doctor in Wuhan. “We have been waiting for this day for so long.”

As of Sunday, 627 Chinese who has returned from abroad were being treated with 22 in severe condition, the NHC said.

Also on Sunday, 25 new asymptomatic cases, including one from abroad, were reported on the mainland.

The NHC said 974 suspected asymptomatic cases, including 131 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. They are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others.

The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan and first emerged in December before spreading quickly worldwide.

Beginning January 23, Wuhan was put under a lockdown that lasted 76 days.

In Wuhan, scores of hospitals were designated to treat COVID-19 patients and 16 temporary hospitals were set up, opening up 60,000 hospital beds to meet the surging demand.

Over 42,000 medical workers were sent to Hubei from across the country, as well as key medical supplies such as ventilators, protective suits, masks and daily necessities.

Since February 18, the cases in Wuhan have been on the decline.

As of the end of Saturday, Wuhan had reported a total of 50,333 confirmed cases and 3,869 deaths. The recovery rate has topped 92 per cent.

In Hubei, no new confirmed cases have been reported for over 20 days, and the number of remaining cases dropped below 50, the report said.

Life is returning to normal. Hubei’s work resumption rate of major industrial firms has reached 98.2 percent and most of their workers have got back to work.

Schools will soon open. Students in the final year of senior high schools in Hubei are expected to return to classes on May 6, it said.

Officials said for the next step Wuhan must keep guarding against imported cases while preventing a resurgence of the outbreak.

The 70-year-old supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, is currently in London for medical treatment.

PTI

Pakistan’s anti-graft body has issued an arrest warrant against embattled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a 34-year-old land related corruption case.

The 70-year-old supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, is currently in London for medical treatment.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials, Mr. Sharif illegally leased the land to Jang Group editor-in-chief Mir Shakilur Rehman in 1986, when the three-time premier was the Chief Minister of Punjab province.

“The NAB has issued arrest warrants of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in the land case involving Jang Group editor-in-chief Rehman. Sharif was served notices and questionnaires in this case but no response came from him who is in London for his medical treatment,” a NAB official told PTI on Sunday.

The three-time premier is facing multiple graft charges.

The official said the NAB would move the accountability court to declare Mr. Sharif a proclaimed offender over non-cooperation in the investigation.

On March 27, the NAB sent a questionnaire to Mr. Sharif and summoned him to the bureau office on March 31 to record his statement. Again on March 15, NAB’s Lahore office summoned Mr. Sharif to appear before the bureau on March 20, but no response came from him, Dawn reported.

Jang Group, also known as Geo Group, is a subsidiary of Dubai-based company Independent Media Corporation.

On March 12, the NAB arrested Mr. Rehman in the case. He is in the bureau’s custody on a physical remand till April 28.

Mr. Rehman, the editor-in-chief of Jang/Geo media group, was arrested on charges that he illegally acquired 54-Kanal (6.75 acres) land on a prime location in Lahore at a throwaway price in 1986 during the tenure of then-chief minister of Punjab Sharif.

“Once Sharif is declared a proclaimed offender then we will pursue the process of his repatriation,” the official said on Sunday.

“The decision to issue Sharif’s arrest warrants has been taken on his non-cooperation with NAB in the 54-Kanal land in Lahore he had awarded illegally to Mir Shakilur Rehman in 1986 when he was chief minister of Punjab,” the official said.

Mr. Sharif left for London in November last for treatment after the Lahore High Court allowed him to go abroad on medical grounds for four weeks.

According to Mr. Sharif’s physician Dr. Adnan Khan, the top leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is suffering from complex multi-vessel coronary artery disease and substantial ischemic and threatened myocardium for which he is due to undergo surgery.

In a latest tweet, Dr. Khan said: “As a high risk patient, former PM #NawazSharif’s cardiac catheterisation/coronary intervention was postponed to be rescheduled at a later date amidst COVID-19 pandemic, as public/private hospitals limited their admissions/procedures. Presently managed on aggressive medical therapy.”

The Lahore High Court had, in October last year, granted bail to Mr. Sharif on medical grounds for four weeks, allowing the Punjab government to extend it further in the light of his medical reports.

The Islamabad High Court had also granted bail to Mr. Sharif in the Al Azizia Mills corruption case, in which the former prime minister was serving a seven-year jail term, clearing his way to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Mr. Sharif has given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court to return to Pakistan citing his record to face the process of law and justice within four weeks or as soon as he is declared fit to travel.

Mr. Sharif, who was diagnosed with an immune system disorder, has been advised by a PTI government’s panel of doctors to go abroad for treatment.

Activities in each region will be restricted accordingly, so an area that has been consistently free of infections or deaths will be labelled white and mosques could be reopened with Friday prayers resuming.

Reuters

Iran plans to reopen mosques in parts of the country that have been consistently free of the coronavirus outbreak as restrictions on Iranians gradually ease, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.

Iran, one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the pandemic, will be divided up into white, yellow and red regions based on the number of infections and deaths, Mr. Rouhani said, according to the presidency’s website.

Activities in each region will be restricted accordingly, so an area that has been consistently free of infections or deaths will be labelled white and mosques could be reopened with Friday prayers resuming, Mr. Rouhani said.

He said the label given to any region in the Islamic Republic could change and he did not say when the colour-coding programme would come into force.

Iranians have returned to shops, bazaars and parks over the past week as the country eases coronavirus restrictions with the daily increase in the death toll below 100 since April 14.

The toll rose by 60 over the past 24 hours to 5,710 with 90,481 confirmed cases, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV on Sunday.

Seeking a balance between protecting public health and shielding an economy already battered by sanctions, the government has refrained from imposing the kind of wholesale lockdowns on cities seen in many other countries.

But it has extended closures of schools and universities and banned cultural, religious and sports gatherings.

The Turkish television series Resurrection: Ertugrul is an “interesting” drama which shows Islamic culture, said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan shares his views over PTV telecast of famous Turkish drama serial Diriliş: Ertuğrul; it will make our youth learn about Islamic history and ethics pic.twitter.com/pymAPbJFLr

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) April 24, 2020

“It is part of history in which values of Islamic culture have been showcased,” Khan told journalists in Islamabad on Friday.

Click here to watch the Serial

State-run Pakistan Television (PTV) late Saturday launched the first episode of the popular Turkish drama series that highlights Muslim history during 13th century to coincide with first day of Ramadan.

Khan said a “third-hand culture was being promoted in Pakistan due to Hollywood and Bollywood.”

“I want our children and youth to learn where is the difference and that we also have our own culture,” he said, referring to the release of the series.

PTV dubbed the series in Urdu after Khan visited Turkey last year and was informed about the importance of the series.

Expressing “disappointment” about content generated by Bollywood, he said “it is badly effecting our children; schools and drug culture was flourishing while sex and crimes related to children were increasing.”

The broadcast of Resurrection: Ertugrul in Urdu aims to inform viewers that there is “another way and style of life laced with values,” Khan said. “It directly impacts our family system … remember, the family system collapses when immorality rises in the society.”

Often described as the Turkish Game of Thrones, the series is woven around 13th century Anatolia and tells the story prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, father of the empire’s first leader.

Shortly after the 45-minute long first episode was broadcast, #ErtugrulUrduPTV was trending with viewers welcoming the series as they shared “scenes” from the first episode on social media.

“Great initiative taken by PMIK [Prime Minister Imran Khan] to make the younger generation know the magnificent and historical past of the Muslims. Indeed a visionary leader,” wrote Twitter user Dr Uzair Noor.

“Every Muslim feels proud of Ertugrul series irrespective of the nationality,” a Pakistani citizen reflecting on the series told Anadolu Agency.

Turkey-Pakistan Parliamentary group Chairman and Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker Ali Sahin thanked Khan for the launch of the series for an Urdu-speaking audience.

“In the name of our nation I kindly thank to The Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI and @PTVHomeOfficial for airing @DirilisDizisi [Ertugrul Gazi] in Urdu,” said Sahin, who studied in Pakistan and speaks Urdu.

PTV management took to Twitter to thank viewers.

“Dear PTV viewers, the PTV management would like to thank you for the most encouraging feedback for Episode 1, and for making it the TopTrend on Twitter Pakistan!,” it said.

Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia agreed last September to fight the rising global trend of Islamophobia, mainly in the West.

The trio of nations decided to launch a television channel dedicated to confronting challenges posed by Islamophobia and to produce films on Muslim heroes.

AFP

The United States recorded 2,494 more coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, according to figures reported Saturday night by Johns Hopkins University.

The country now has an overall death toll of 53,511, with 936,293 confirmed infections, according to a tally by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday).

The United States is by far the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, in terms of both confirmed infections and deaths.

The toll of 2,494 was a jump from Friday, when the US recorded the lowest number of virus deaths —1,258 — in nearly three weeks

United Nations has joined world leaders to speed up development of a vaccine, but effective treatments for COVID-19.

AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Saturday that recovering from coronavirus might not protect people from reinfection as the death toll from the pandemic crossed 200,000 around the globe.

Governments are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and reported infections approaching three million

The United Nations has joined world leaders to speed up development of a vaccine, but effective treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, are still far off.

But with signs the disease is peaking in the US and Europe, governments are starting to ease restrictions, weighing the need for economic recovery against cautions that lifting them too soon risks a second wave of infections.

The WHO warned on Saturday that there was still no evidence that people who test positive for the new coronavirus and recover are immunised and protected against reinfection.

The warning came as some governments study measures such as “immunity passports” or documents for those who have recovered as one way to get people back to work after weeks of economic shutdown.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” WHO said in a statement.

“People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice,” it said.

With more than four billion people still on lockdown or stay-at-home orders, governments are debating how to steadily lift curbs, reopen schools, restart businesses and reboot economies without causing a spike in virus cases.

Some of that discussion centres on new mobile phone apps to alert people to infections, mass antibody testing — to determine who has had the virus and may be immune — and the public use of facemasks to stop transmission.

“If I’ve already had corona then I’m not infectious,” said Berlin resident Lothar Kopp, hoping to test positive for antibodies as it could allow him to visit his elderly mother.

Germany has carried out tens of thousands of tests and other countries are also working on determining what may be their so-called level of immunity.

But on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for international organisations, world leaders and the private sector to join an unprecedented effort to speed up development and distribution of a vaccine.

“We face a global public enemy like no other,” the UN chief told a virtual briefing. “A world free of COVID-19 requires the most massive public health effort in history.”

Any vaccine should be safe, affordable and available to all, Mr. Guterres said at the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of Germany and France.

Absent though were the leaders of China, where the virus first emerged late last year, and the United States, which has accused the WHO of not warning quickly enough about the original outbreak.

Early stages

The daily death toll in Western countries seems to be falling, a sign hopeful epidemiologists had been looking for, but the WHO has warned that other nations are still in the early stages of the fight.

Global COVID-19 deaths have climbed past 197,000, according to an AFP tally, but new reported cases appear to have levelled off at about 80,000 a day.

The United States is the hardest-hit country by far in the pandemic, recording more than 51,500 deaths and over 890,000 detected infections.

In a sign of potential risks of reopening, Iranian health officials Saturday also raised fears of a “fresh outbreak” with another 76 fatalities declared, bringing Iran’s official death toll to 5,650.

Iran has steadily allowed the restarting of businesses that were closed to stop the virus spread. But Alireza Zali, a health coordinator for the capital, criticised “hasty reopenings” that could “create new waves of sickness in Tehran”.

The UN push for a quick vaccine came a day after US President Donald Trump prompted outcry and ridicule with his suggestion that disinfectants be used to treat coronavirus patients.

As experts — and disinfectant manufacturers — rushed to caution against any such dangerous experiment, the president tried to row back on his comments, saying he had been speaking “sarcastically”.

The world’s biggest economy has been hammered by the pandemic, with 26 million jobs lost since the crisis began, and US leaders are under pressure to find ways to ease social distancing measures.

The governor of Georgia allowed some businesses, including nail salons and bowling alleys, to reopen on Friday.

The mayor of the state’s capital Atlanta condemned the “irresponsible” move, telling ABC News: “There is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley or giving a manicure in the middle of a pandemic.”

Lifting lockdown

The unprecedented situation has left the world staring at its worst downturn since the Great Depression, and beyond the US, other countries have already started loosening restrictions to get back to work.

Italy — with the second highest virus death toll at nearly 30,000 — announced plans Saturday to set price limits on face masks and ramp up antibody testing as it nears the end of the world’s longest active national coronavirus lockdown.

Italians are awaiting a decision this weekend about which of its restrictions will be lifted and they will probably be allowed to leave their homes freely for the first time since March 9 by early May.

Some professional Italian cyclists like Umberto Marengo have already adapted to long lockdown by turning to making food deliveries on his bike across the northern city of Turin as a way to stay fit and help out.

“The customers are all amazed,” Marengo said. “Especially since I always try to go up by the stairs to stay that little bit fitter.”

Sri Lanka said it would lift a nationwide curfew on Monday after more than five weeks, as Belgium joined other European nations to announce an easing from mid-May.

In France, which will be on lockdown until May 11, residents still confined to home have taken to praising health workers and protesting their frustrations with officials on painted banners hung outside their windows.

“Thank you to the caregivers, shame on the leaders” read one banner hanging outside a building in a Paris suburb.

On the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, people held vigils from the isolation of their own driveways to pay tribute to their war veterans on Anzac Day. Official memorials were behind closed doors.

Across the Muslim world, hundreds of millions of faithful also opened the Ramadan holy month under stay-at-home conditions, facing unprecedented bans on prayers in mosques and on the traditional large gatherings of families and friends to break the daily fast.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, noted that bats are natural carriers of coronaviruses

PTI

Different groups of bats have their own unique strains of coronavirus, a family that includes the COVID-19 causing virus, according to a study which reveals that the flying mammal and coronaviruses have been evolving together for millions of years.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, noted that while bats do a lot of good for the world such as pollinating plants, eating disease-carrying insects, and dispersing seeds of tropical forest trees, they are also natural carriers of coronaviruses.

To understand this diverse family of viruses, scientists, including those from Chicago’s Field Museum in the US, compared the different kinds of coronaviruses living in 36 bat species from the western Indian Ocean and nearby areas of Africa.

“We found that there’s a deep evolutionary history between bats and coronaviruses,” said study co-author Steve Goodman from Chicago’s Field Museum.

“Developing a better understanding of how coronaviruses evolved can help us build public health programs in the future,” Goodman said.

According to the researchers, there are a vast number of types of different coronaviruses, potentially as many as bat species, and most of them are unknown to be transferred to humans and pose no known threat.

The coronaviruses carried by the bats part of the study are different from the one behind COVID-19, the scientists cautioned, adding that learning about these viruses in bats can help better understand the pandemic causing virus.

They said that all animals have viruses living inside them, and bats, as well as a range of other mammal groups, happen to be natural carriers of coronaviruses.

While these coronaviruses don’t appear to be harmful to the bats, the researchers warned that there’s potential for them to be dangerous to other animals if the viruses have opportunities to jump between species.

In the study, the researchers assessed the genetic relationships between different strains of coronaviruses and the animals they live in.

Goodman and his colleagues took swabs, and in some cases blood samples, from more than a thousand bats representing 36 species found on islands in the western Indian Ocean and coastal areas of the African nation of Mozambique.

They found that eight per cent of the bats they sampled were carrying a coronavirus.

“This is a very rough estimate of the proportion of infected bats. There is increasing evidence for seasonal variation in the circulation of these viruses in bats, suggesting that this number may significantly vary according to the time of the year,” said Camille Lebarbenchon, Disease Ecologist at the Universite de La Reunion.

By comparing the coronaviruses isolated and sequenced in this study with ones from other animals like dolphins, alpacas, and humans, they built a family tree showing how different kinds of the virus are related to each other.

“We found that for the most part, each of the different genera of families of bats for which coronavirus sequences were available had their own strains,” Goodman said.

“Based on the evolutionary history of the different bat groups, it is clear that there is a deep coexistence between bats — at the level of genus and family — and their associated coronaviruses,” he added.

Citing an example, he said fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae from different continents and islands formed a cluster in their tree.

The coronaviruses they carried were genetically different than the strains of other groups of bats found in the same geographical zones, the study noted.

In rare cases, the researchers said, bats of different families, genera, and species that live in the same caves and have closely spaced day roost sites shared the same strain of coronavirus.

But the study said transmission between bat species is the exception, not the rule.

“It is quite reassuring that the transmission of coronavirus in the region between two bat species seems to be very rare given the high diversity of bat coronaviruses,” said Lea Joffrin, a disease ecologist who worked on bat coronavirus during her PhD at the Universite de La Reunion.

“Next, we need to understand environmental, biological, and molecular factors leading to these rare shifts,” Joffrin said.

The scientists believe that learning how different strains of coronavirus evolved can help prevent future outbreaks.

“Before you can actually figure out programs for public health and try to deal with the possible shift of certain diseases to humans, or from humans to animals, you have to know what’s out there,” Goodman said.

He also noted that despite the fact that bats carry coronaviruses, we shouldn’t respond by harming or culling of bats in the name of public health, adding that the good they do, outweighs potential negatives.

“There’s abundant evidence that bats are important for ecosystem functioning, whether it be for the pollination of flowers, dispersal of fruits, or the consumption of insects, particularly insects that are responsible for transmission of different diseases to humans,” he said.