Category: World

The U.S. President said the WHO had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus and been too lenient with Beijing.

Reuters

Republican U.S. lawmakers echoed President Donald Trump’s criticism of the World Health Organisation on Thursday, with some suggesting he withhold aid until the U.N. agency’s director general resigns while others called for an international investigation of its handling of the coronavirus.

Seventeen of Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee wrote a letter to Mr. Trump supporting his announcement this week that he was withholding funding for the WHO, and saying he should make the resumption of contributions conditional on the resignation of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Mr. Trump drew immediate condemnation on Tuesday from many world leaders and health experts, as well as U.S. Democrats, after saying he would halt U.S. funding of the Geneva-based WHO over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

They said the WHO may need reorganisation but that Mr. Trump should have waited until after the current crisis, which has killed more than 1,38,000 people globally and devastated economies.

The U.S. President, who has reacted angrily to criticism of his own handling of the virus outbreak, said the WHO had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus and been too lenient with Beijing.

‘Lost faith in WHO chief’

In their letter, the House Republicans said they had lost faith in Mr. Tedros and blamed the WHO and Chinese Communist Party for the extent of the current global health crisis, although they praised the “vital role” the WHO plays around the world.

“However, it is imperative that we act swiftly to ensure the impartiality, transparency, and legitimacy of this valuable institution,” said the letter, led by Representative Mike McCaul, the committee’s ranking Republican.

Also on Thursday, a group of eight Senate Republicans wrote to Mr. Trump asking him to work with countries such as Japan, South Korea and European nations to investigate the origins of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and WHO decision-making.

Their letter, led by Senator Marco Rubio, did not include any specific recommendation, such as Mr. Tedros’ dismissal.

The country has recorded the highest number of cases in the world, with over 6,37,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 30,826 deaths.

PTI

The United States has “passed the peak” on new Coronavirus cases, President Donald Trump has said and predicted that some states would reopen this month.

The U.S. has over 637,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 30,826 deaths, the highest for any country in the world.

At the daily White House coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said new guidelines to reopen the country would be announced on Thursday after he speaks to governors.

“We’ll be the comeback kids, all of us,” he said. “We want to get our country back.”

The Trump administration has previously fixed May 1 as a possible date to reopen the world’s largest economy, but the president said some states may be able to return to normalcy earlier than that.

“The battle continues, but the data suggest that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases. Hopefully, that will continue, and we will continue to make great progress,” Mr. Trump said.

These encouraging developments, he said, has put the US in a very strong position to finalise the guidelines for states on reopening the country.

“Hopefully that will continue, and we will continue to make great progress,” Mr. Trump said.

Dr. Deborah Brix, a member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus, said that over the last five or six days there has been decline in new cases across the country.

“This has been very reassuring for us. At the same time, we know that mortality and the fatalities that we are facing across the United States continue,” she said.

Reduced cases in 9 States

Nine States have less than 1000 cases and less than 30 new cases per day. Some states like California and Washington State, Oregon never really had a peak because of so much work that their populations did to decrease and keep the new cases down, she said.

Two states, Rhode Island and Providence are in a unique situation, she said. First, they had increasing cases from the New York City area and now they have new increasing cases from the Boston area. They are caught between two incredible hotspots in the country, she said.

Reiterating that this is a highly contagious virus, Ms. Brix said in social gatherings and coming together there is always a chance that asymptomatic person can spread the virus unknowingly.

No one is intending to spread the virus. We know if you are sick you will stay home. But to all of you that are out there that would like to join together and just have that dinner party for 20 don’t do it yet. Continue to follow the presidential guidelines. We really appreciate the work of the American people,” Ms. Brix said.

Asked why the U.S. accounted for such a significant proportion of the global death toll of 136,908, Mr. Trump accused other countries of lying about their mortality rate.

“Does anybody really believe the numbers of some of these countries?” he said, in an apparent reference to China where the pandemic originated and spread across the world.

Noting that this has been a horrible time to see such death and destruction in the country, the President said the medical and healthcare advances the US has made are critical to the continued progress.

Rapid tests

The U.S. has rapidly developed the most expansive and accurate testing system anywhere in the world and have completed more than 3.3 million tests.

“To date, we have authorised 48 separate coronavirus tests and the FDA is working with 300 companies and labs to widen our capacity still further,” Mr. Trump said.

The Abbott Labs on Wednesday announced that it is has developed an antibody test that will determine if someone has been previously infected with the coronavirus and potentially developed immunity.

“It is a great test. The company says these tests could be available to screen up to 20 million people in a matter of weeks,” he added.

The administration, he said, is also distributing vast amounts of medical supplies to states across the country. Through project air bridge, which has been an amazing success they have completed 44 flights, and an additional 56 like scheduled in the near future. he said.

In total, through all channels, the federal government has developed and delivered 39.4 million N95 masks, 431 million gloves, 57 million surgical masks and 10.2 million gowns. It ordered 500 million masks and they will be coming shortly and have distributed 100 million masks, he said.

Mr. Trump said his administration is using every available authority to accelerate the development, study and develop therapies and treatments. “Ultimately, what we want to come up with is a safe vaccine, but frankly, the therapies to me are the most important because it takes care of people right now,” he said.

“The vaccines have to be tested because it takes a longer period of time, but we have some great potential therapies already, and we will see how they are working. We will be able to report on that over the next week or two,” he said, adding that at least 35 clinical trials of promising therapies are now underway.

AFP

This brings the total number of deaths to 28,326 — higher than any other nation

The United States on April 15 posted nearly 2,600 additional deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours, a new record and the heaviest daily toll of any country, Johns Hopkins University said.

A running tally from Johns Hopkins showed 2,569 victims at 8:30 pm Eastern Time (0030 GMT Thursday), compared with the same time the previous evening, bringing the total number of U.S. deaths to 28,326 — higher than any other nation.

The figures came after President Donald Trump earlier in the evening said “the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases,” and he will announce Thursday the first plans for lifting coronavirus lockdowns.

According to Johns Hopkins, the number of cases in the U.S. reached 636,350.

The country’s death toll stands at 126 people. Officials considering third lockdown for Memorial and Independence days

AP

Israelis are entering the final days of Passover under coronavirus restrictions similar to Seder night that require the public to stay in their homes and celebrate only with their nuclear families.

The government unanimously approved that until 5 a.m. on Thursday, Israelis will not be permitted to leave their towns and cities. In Jerusalem, movement will be restricted within pre-defined neighborhoods.

Moreover, to prevent crowding following the conclusion of Passover on Wednesday evening, bakeries and supermarket bread departments will not reopen until Thursday morning.
As Passover ends, the government, the National Security Council and the Health and Defense ministries are supposed to hold a series of meetings to decide on the first phase of the country’s exit strategy.

However, even if the economy is opened more in general, it was reported that a Passover-like lockdown is likely to be implemented for Memorial Day through the end of Israeli Independence Day, the Hebrew website N12 reported.

Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron in Hebrew, starts April 27 at night and Independence Day ends April 29 at sundown.

The purpose of the expected move is to prevent people from attending memorial ceremonies en masse, holding large gatherings in cemeteries or throwing barbeques and other parties in large groups and in public spaces, as is common on Independence Day.

The decision to implement restrictions will be based in part on how well the public does or does not adhere to the Passover restrictions and whether the number of people infected with coronavirus per day continues at its current rate or decreases or increases.

The country’s death toll rose to 126 people Wednesday morning, as Soroka Medical Center reported an elderly patient had died from the disease.

A total of 12,200 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed by the Health Ministry, including 176 patients in serious condition, 132 requiring ventilation. Some 2,309 individuals have recovered from the virus.

Wolfson Medical Center in Holon confirmed that among those infected is an eight-day-old baby, who was born at Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The baby was brought to Wolfson because he had a high fever, but he is currently in good medical condition. His mother shows no sign of coronavirus.
A total of 7,680 tests were carried out between Sunday and Monday morning, the Health Ministry said, up from less than 6,000 a few days before. The ministry said it is targeting 10,000 daily tests during the Passover holiday.

The concern is that if there is not a near-full closure on Memorial and Independence days, then social distancing and other restrictions will be difficult to enforce.

All state ceremonies are already planned to be held without audiences and with limited participation.

But the number of people in intensive care units fell to 6,730 from 6,821 over 24 hours – declining for a sixth consecutive day, suggesting the national lockdown put in place on March 17 is having some success in containing the disease.

Reuters

France said its total death toll from COVID-19 infections rose above 15,000 on Tuesday, becoming the fourth country to exceed that threshold after Italy, Spain and the United States, while the rate of increase in cases and fatalities is re-accelerating.

But the number of people in intensive care units fell to 6,730 from 6,821 over 24 hours – declining for a sixth consecutive day, suggesting the national lockdown put in place on March 17 is having some success in containing the disease.

On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron announced a second extension of this lockdown until May 11, saying that progress had been made but also that the country had not been sufficiently prepared early on to surmount the challenges posed by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, told a news conference that the number of COVID-19 deaths in French hospitals and nursing homes had risen by 5% in a day to a cumulative total of 15,729, versus 4% on Monday and Sunday.

He added that the total number of confirmed infections had climbed by 5.3% to 103,573, compared to a rate of increase of 2.8% on Monday and of 1.7% on Sunday.

There were also 26,680 suspected coronavirus cases in nursing homes, taking the total to more than 130,000 confirmed and possible cases, the fifth highest in the world.

According to various running simulations, Mr. Salomon said that, depending on calculations for different regions, 5%-10% of the French population had probably contracted the disease.

Such an announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seen as a major relief to hundreds and thousands of international students, including those from India, who have been facing a tough situation for the past several weeks now.

PTI

Washington Stranded international students in the US facing economic hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic can apply for off-campus work authorisation, a federal agency said on Tuesday.

Such an announcement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seen as a major relief to hundreds and thousands of international students, including those from India, who have been facing a tough situation for the past several weeks now.

“If you experience severe economic hardship because of unforeseen circumstances beyond your control, you may request employment authorisation to work off-campus (if you meet certain regulatory requirements),” the USCIS said in a statement.

All applications are subject to approval in a case-by-case basis, it said.

Examples of unforeseen circumstances include, but are not limited to, loss of financial aid or on-campus employment through no fault of their own; substantial fluctuations in currency value or exchange rate; and inordinate increases in tuition or living costs.

Unexpected changes in the financial condition of the source of support; and medical bills have also been listed by the USCIS as unforeseen circumstances.

A large number of international students, including those from India, have been left stranded and in many cases are facing financial distress after their education institutions were shut down after the announcement of social mitigation measures by the White House on March 13.

The students were also asked to vacate their dorms for the rest of the academic session. The academic session only begins in late August.

There are an estimated 250,000 Indian students in the US.

Many of them were able to get back home before India shut down its airspace on March 22. However, hundreds of Indian students, many with meager resources, have been left stranded.

Indian-American hotel owners have come to their rescue by offering them free accommodation and free meals in many cases.

The USCIS said that their off-campus work authorisation application, which would allow them to work anywhere in the US, must be signed by their educational institution.

Under normal circumstances, international students are allowed to work within the university campus and that too for a limited number of hours per month.

Your Form I-20 (application) must include the employment page completed by your Designated School Official, certifying your eligibility for off-campus employment due to severe economic hardships caused by unforeseen circumstances beyond your control.

If your request is approved, you may be able to work off-campus in one-year intervals up to the expected date of completion of your current course of study, the USCIS said.

It said that Special Student Relief is the suspension of certain regulatory requirements by the secretary of Homeland Security for F 1 students from parts of the world that are experiencing emergent circumstances.

Examples of emergent circumstances include natural catastrophe, war and military conflicts, and national or international financial crises.

The President said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.

Reuters

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed his administration to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis.

Trump, at a White House news conference, said the WHO had ”failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.” He said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.

The United States is the biggest overall donor to the Geneva-based WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.

The hold on funding was expected. Trump has been increasingly critical of the organization as the global health crisis has continued, and he has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response.

The decision drew immediate condemnation. American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris called it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier” and urged Trump to reconsider.

The Republican president has accused the WHO of being too lenient with China in the earliest days of the pandemic, causing unnecessary deaths by failing to impose a travel ban on China.

“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump said.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the virus, topped 25,700 on Tuesday, out of more than 600,000 known U.S. infections, according to a running Reuters tally.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and the U.S. economy has been crippled as citizens have stayed home and businesses were ordered to close, casting a shadow over Trump’s hopes of being re-elected in November.

WHO needs more resources

The World Health Organization is a U.N. specialized agency – an independent international body that works with the United Nations. A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trumps announcement.

The WHO has been appealing for more than $1 billion to fund operations against the pandemic. The agency needs more resources than ever as it leads the global response against the disease.

Trump said Washington would discuss with global health partners what it will do with the millions of dollars that would normally go to the WHO and said the United States would continue to engage with the organization.

Trump has long questioned the value of the United Nations and scorned the importance of multilateralism as he focuses on an “America First” agenda.

Since Trump took office, he has quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO, a global accord to tackle climate change and the Iran nuclear deal and opposed a U.N. migration pact.

The Trump administration cut funding in 2017 for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in 2018 and put on hold its contribution to the U.N.’s aviation agency last year.

Under the WHO’s 2018-19 biennium budget, the United States was required to pay $237 million – known as an assessed contribution, which is appropriated by Congress – and also made some $656 million in voluntary contributions that were tied to specific programs.

According to the WHO website, China’s contribution for 2018-2019 was almost $76 million in assessed contributions and some $10 million in voluntary funding.

As of Tuesday, more than 6,05,000 Americans had tested positive for the novel coronavirus

PTI

The coronavirus death toll in the United States crossed 25,000 on Tuesday with the country witnessing the highest single-day tally of 2,129.

As of Tuesday, more than 6,05,000 Americans had tested positive for the novel coronavirus — more than the other top three countries taken together — according to Johns Hopkins University.

A record number of 2,129 of Americans died in one single day, the previous highest being 2,074 on April 10. New York has become the epicentre of the country’s outbreak with 2,03,020 confirmed cases and 10,842 deaths so far.

In total, 25,981 Americans have died due to the deadly virus, Johns Hopkins University said.

“The United States is continuing to make substantial progress in our war against the virus. We grieve at every precious life that has been lost to the invisible enemy, but through the darkness, we can see the rays of light, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters during his daily White House news conference on the pandemic.

“We see that tunnel, and at the end of that tunnel, we see light. We are starting to see it more than ever before. We have held our numbers, everything we have done we have been very, very strong on it and very powerful on it, he said.

Mr. Trump said the United States has far more ICU beds per capita than any other nation. We have 34.7 ICU beds per 100,000 people, which is the best there is compared with roughly 12.5 beds per 100,000 in Italy, 11.6 beds in France, 9.7 beds in Spain, he said.

There are more than 16,000 ventilators at hospitals and other healthcare facilities that are not in use at this moment, he said referring to the steps he has taken to fight coronavirus in the country.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, he said, has now authorised the first test developed by researchers from Rutgers University that can use saliva from patients.

It is the first one. These test can be self-administered by patients in healthcare settings, which will reduce exposure for medical workers and save personal protective equipment. Rutgers will begin processing 10,000 test daily, he added.

Authorities close all Zamzam water dispensaries and ban food in holy mosques to help prevent spread of virus

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of measures to protect the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina from the coronavirus.

According to Saudi officials, the new rules include the closure of both mosques between the evening Isha prayers and morning Fajr prayers, and a ban on food entering the two complexes.

Mount Safa and Mount Marwa inside the Great Mosque in Mecca will also be closed until a ban on Umrah pilgrimages is lifted. Zamzam water dispensaries within both mosques will also be closed off.

The measures come after local authorities closed off the interior of the Great Mosque in Mecca until Friday morning prayers to allow cleaning teams to disinfect the tawaf area near the Kaaba, a black boxed structure in the mosque complex.

Pictures posted online showed the tawaf area empty as pilgrims were barred from entering the mosque, known as Masjid al-Haram, during the cleaning exercise.

Saudi authorities have cleared the tawaf area in the Kabah in Mecca to give it a "deep clean" – never seen it so empty. pic.twitter.com/swXXGmkq3O

— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) March 5, 2020

Earlier this week, Riyadh introduced a ban on Saudi citizens, residents and foreigners hoping to visit Mecca and Medina for the Umrah pilgrimage.

Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of the year and is not considered compulsory. Pilgrims often visit the Prophet’s mosque, also known as Masjid al-Nabawi, before or after visiting the Great mosque in Mecca.

Riyadh reported its first case of the coronavirus on Monday. Local authorities said the patient was a Saudi national returning from Iran, which has reported the most deaths outside of China.

A health ministry spokesperson said Saudi Arabia was preparing 25 hospitals to handle any coronavirus cases that might be detected.

The kingdom, which hosts the two holiest sites of Islam, welcomes millions of Muslim visitors throughout the year with a peak for the Hajj pilgrimage.

Almost seven million people visit Mecca annually to perform Umrah. Prior to visiting Saudi Arabia, pilgrims are required to provide certificates of vaccinations in their visa applications.

It remains unclear how long the ban on Umrah pilgrimages will be implemented, but travel agencies told MEE that Saudi Arabia introduced the restrictions to prepare for the coronavirus.