Category: World

Maritime and Mercantile International, a subsidiary of the government-owned Emirates airline known as MMI, and African & Eastern partnered to create the website offering home delivery.

AP

The Champagne corks no longer pop at Dubai’s infamous alcohol-soaked brunches. The blaring flat-screen televisions stand silent in the sheikhdom’s sports bars. And the city-state’s pubs have shrink-wrapped their now-idle beer taps.

This skyscraper-studded desert metropolis on the Arabian Peninsula has long been one of the wettest places in the Mideast in terms of alcohol consumption, its bars and licensed restaurants serving tourists, travelers and its vast population of foreign workers.

Up until the global coronavirus pandemic, that is. With the virus now threatening a crucial source of tax and general revenue for its rulers, Dubai’s two major alcohol distributors have partnered to offer home delivery of beer, spirits and wine, yet another loosening of social mores in this Islamic city-state.

“Luxury hotels and bars have been the worse impacted within the sector and this had a direct impact on the alcohol consumption … in the United Arab Emirates,” said Rabia Yasmeen, an analyst for market research firm Euromonitor International.

Maritime and Mercantile International, a subsidiary of the government-owned Emirates airline known as MMI, and African & Eastern partnered to create the website offering home delivery. Its products range from a $530 bottle of Don Julio 1942 Tequila to a $4.30 bottle of Indian blended whiskey, with beers and wines in between.

Their website legalhomedelivery.com, a nod toward the online bootleggers long operating in the gray margins of Dubai, describes the service as needed “in these unprecedented times”.

Tourists, the few remaining here, can use their passports to buy the alcohol. Residents, however, need an alcohol license, a plastic red card issued by Dubai police that requires annual renewal. Only non-Muslims 21 and older can apply for a license — though bartenders across the city never check for them before pouring drinks.

Text-message alerts give imbibers a predicted delivery time within a few hours, though a crew showed up some six hours early for one delivery Tuesday, wearing masks and disposable gloves.

Officials at African & Eastern, a private company believed to be at least partially held by the state or affiliated firms, and MMI both acknowledged that the pandemic will likely affect their revenues for the year. Most of their physical stores also remain open, though Dubai now is under a 24-hour lockdown that requires the public to have police permission to go to the grocery store.

“We are in the early days of the service and interest has been high already,” Mike Glen, MMI’s managing director for the UAE and Oman, told in an emailed statement.

Glen and Sean Hennessey, African & Eastern general manager for UAE and Oman, declined to offer any sales statistics to the AP. Hennessey also declined to say who owned African & Eastern.

A push to keep alcohol shops open during the pandemic may be surprising to some, especially as drinking is illegal in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah and the nations of Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. But alcohol sales long have been a canary in the coal mine — or in this case, the cocktail lounge — for the wider economy of Dubai, one of seven sheikhdoms in the United Arab Emirates.

There’s a 50% import tax on a bottle of alcohol, as well as an additional 30% tax in Dubai on buying from liquor stores. Dubai Duty Free, which is also government owned, sold 9 million cans of beer, 3.1 million whiskey bottles and 1.5 million bottles of wine to those passing through airport terminals in 2019. Duty-free sales, while limited, never require an alcohol license.

Even before the pandemic, lower global energy prices, a 30% drop in the city’s real estate market value and trade war fears have seen employers shed jobs. Dubai now is trying to postpone its Expo 2020, or world’s fair, to next year, another major blow.

Overall sales of alcohol by volume fell sharply in 2019 to 128.79 million litres, down some 3.5% from 133.42 million litres sold the year before, according to Euromonitor’s latest statistics. The 2019 sales are down nearly 9% from 2017, which saw 141.51 million litres sold.

Those lower sales affect everyone from waitresses to Dubai’s ruling Al Maktoum family, which has worked over decades to make the city a major tourist destination, home to the world’s tallest building.

That weakened economy may prove to be a threat long after the pandemic. The Mideast’s hotel sector took longer to recover from the Great Recession for instance, Ms. Yasmeen said. Most bars in Dubai are attached to hotels.

The home service also charges 50 dirhams ($13.60) per delivery. That’s additional revenue for the stores, even as bars and restaurants remain closed. While some aid groups have sprung up to offer help to out-of-work bartenders elsewhere, there’s been no similar measure here in the UAE, whose waitstaff comes from all across the world.

“We do have a long and significant relationship with the on-trade, that we will be looking to support through what is a trying time for all parts of the industry,” Hennessey of African & Eastern said in a statement.

Iran has become one of the world’s coronavirus epicenters, with more than 60,000 people infected and over 3,800 deaths.

PTI

The U.S. has no objection to Europe sending medical supplies to Iran, which has been badly hit by the deadly coronavirus, President Donald Trump has said.

The Trump administration has imposed one of the toughest economic sanctions on Iran alleging that it is going ahead with its nuclear ambition and it is supporting terrorist organisations to destabilise the Middle east.

“They (Europeans) are sending medical goods to Iran. That doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a White House news conference.

Iran has become one of the world’s coronavirus epicenters, with more than 60,000 people infected and over 3,800 deaths.

Mr. Trump was responding to a question on the call made by French President Emanuel Macron to his Iranian counterpart that Europe has started to ship the medical goods to Iran.

“Medical good?… That doesn’t bother me,” Mr. Trump said.

Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the U.S. has offered humanitarian assistance to Iran.

“I regret that they chose not to take that. I’ve heard people talking about sanctions,” he said.

“The world should note there are no sanctions that prevent humanitarian assistance, pharmaceutical medical supplies, pharmaceuticals from going to Iran. We offered American assistance; we try to help other countries get assistance in there as well. We had some ability to do that,” Mr. Pompeo said.

On March 30, the UK, Germany and France circumvented Iran sanctions by using Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges for the first time to send medical goods to Iran in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iran has the sixth highest number of fatalities after Italy, Spain, the U.S., France and the UK.

In March, Iran became the first major COVID-19 hotspot outside Asia. It has now suffered more deaths than China, where the outbreak originated.

U.S. deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,600 on Wednesday, the second-highest reported number in the world behind Italy. New York has accounted for nearly half of them.

Reuters | 09 April 2020

New York, the hardest-hit state in America, on Wednesday reported its highest number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day with even veteran doctors and nurses expressing shock at the speed with which patients were declining and dying.

The number of coronavirus cases in New York state alone approached 150,000 on Wednesday, even as authorities warned the state’s official death tally may understate the true number.

“Every number is a face, ” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ordered flags flown at half-staff across New York in recognition of the toll. “This virus attacked the vulnerable and attacked the weak and it’s our job as a society to protect the vulnerable.”

Doctors and nurses say it isn’t just elderly or patients with underlying health conditions who appear to be fine one minute and at death’s door the next. It can happen for the young and healthy, too.

Patients “look fine, feel fine, then you turn around and they’re unresponsive,” said Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, where the virus has infected more than 415,000 people. “I’m paranoid, scared to walk out of their room.”

Cuomo said 779 people died in the past day in his state. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said 275 had died there. Both totals exceeded one-day records reported just a day earlier.

Despite the grim tally, Cuomo said overall trends still appeared positive. Cuomo cited a drop in new hospitalizations and other data points as evidence that New York was “bending the curve” and gaining some control over the infection rate.

Cuomo said the death count would continue at the current level or increase in the coming days as critically ill patients, who have been hospitalized for more than a week and on ventilator machines to assist in breathing, die.

Scaling back toll

U.S. deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,600 on Wednesday, the second-highest reported number in the world behind Italy, according to a Reuters tally. New York has accounted for nearly half of them.

Officials have warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected U.S. pandemic death toll by 26% to 60,000.

Dr. Craig Smith, surgeon-in-chief at Presbyterian Hospital’s Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan, heralded encouraging numbers that suggested a turning tide in Wednesday’s edition of his daily newsletter to staff.

There were more discharges of patients than admissions for two days running, he said, adding: “Hosanna!”

But that comes as cold comfort to some healthcare workers on the front lines of the war against COVID-19, who told Reuters they have treated patients while experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus but couldn’t get tested.

In Michigan, one of the few hospital systems conducting widespread staff testing found more than 700 workers were infected with the coronavirus – more than a quarter of those tested.

The continued test shortages – even for the workers most at risk – is “scandalous” and a serious threat to the patients they treat, said Dr. Art Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

U.S. President Donald Trump has boasted that the United States has tested more people for the novel coronavirus than any other country.

‘Big bang’

Trump said on Wednesday he would like to reopen the U.S. economy with a “big bang” but not before the death toll is on the down slope.

Trump did not give a timeframe but his chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said on Tuesday it was possible this could happen in four to eight weeks.

Louisiana is “beginning to see the flattening of the curve” with the number of new coronavirus cases reported in the past 24 hours – 746 – lower than recent days, Governor John Bel Edwards said. Louisiana had been one of the nation’s hot spots for the virus.

California, like New York, had one of its highest single-day death tolls with 68 people dying of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, Governor Gavin Newsom said. The state may not see its cases flattening until the end of May and need to maintain social distancing measures for weeks ahead, California officials say.

New York City officials said a recent surge in the number of people dying at home suggests the most populous U.S. city may be undercounting how many have died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the pathogen.

“I think that’s a very real possibility,” Cuomo told his daily news briefing.

So far New York City’s announced death toll has reflected only laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses. More than 200 people are dying at home in the city daily during the pandemic, authorities said.

Last week Mr. Trump said he has sought help from PM Modi to allow the sale of hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.

PTI

A sizeable chunk of the 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine bought by the U.S. to combat the coronavirus pandemic is from India, President Donald Trump has said as he acknowledged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “great” when he sought his help to allow the sale of the anti-malaria drug to treat the growing number of COVID-19 patients in America.

Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Mr. Trump requested Mr. Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York. Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Mr. Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

“I bought millions of doses (of hydroxychloroquine). More than 29 million. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of it (hydroxychloroquine) comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was great. He was really good,” Mr. Trump told Sean Hannity of the Fox News on Monday night.

“You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India,” Mr. Trump said responding to a question on the usage of hydroxychloroquine.

India on Tuesday allowed the export of hydroxychloroquine to the U.S., which has emerged as the global hotspot of COVID-19.

By Tuesday night, nearly four lakh Americans tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the fatalities was more than 12,850. During the interview, Mr. Trump described hydroxychloroquine as a powerful malaria drug. The drug is being tested on hundreds of coronavirus patients in New York.

But there are a lot of good things coming from that, Mr. Trump said.

“Lot of people are looking at it and saying, you know I don’t hear bad stories, I hear good stories. And I don’t hear anything where it is causing death,” said the U.S. President.

Hydroxychloroquine, an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria, is seen as a viable therapeutic solution by President Trump to coronavirus.

Last week Mr. Trump said he has sought help from Prime Minister Modi to allow the sale of hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.

India has received similar requests from several other countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal. India has said that it is reviewing its export ban order.

Notably, India’s decision to ban the exports of hydroxychloroquine is driven by its desire to take stock of the domestic requirements and ensure that the country has enough of the drug.

“I would be surprised if he would, you know, because India does very well with the United States,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a press briefing at the White House on Monday.

India on Monday agreed to lift the ban on export of hydroxychloroquine to the US. Three Gujarat-based companies would export these tablets to the U.S., Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday.

India manufactures 70% of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain.

The country has a production capacity of 40 tonnes of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) every month, implying 20 crore tablets of 200 mg each. And since the drug is also used to auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, manufacturers have good production capacities that can also be ramped up.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Donald Trump told reporters he was “going to put a very powerful hold on” funding to WHO, the UN body whose biggest funding source is the US.

Agence France-Presse

Washington: President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward China during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump told reporters he was “going to put a very powerful hold on” funding to WHO, the UN body whose biggest funding source is the United States.

“We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO,” said Trump, who pursues an “America First” agenda and has previously criticized other UN and multilateral agencies.

He gave no details about how much money would be withheld and minutes later during the same press conference he said: “I’m not saying I’m going to do it.”

“We will look at ending funding,” he added.

According to Trump, the WHO “seems to be very biased toward China. That’s not right.”

His comments built on an earlier statement on Twitter in which he accused the WHO of being “very China centric.”

Trump asked why the WHO had given “such a faulty recommendation,” apparently referring to the UN body’s advice against curtailing international travel to stop the virus which first spread from China.

“Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on,” Trump wrote, referring to his decision to ban travel from the country.

China faces criticism in Washington, particularly from Republicans, over the way it handled the pandemic and Trump has expressed doubt over the accuracy of Chinese statistics for cases and deaths.

However, Trump himself has been widely criticized for initially downplaying the virus, which he likened to an ordinary flu and said was under control in the United States, before later accepting that it was a national emergency.

More than 12,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Wuhan once the epicentre of #Covid lifts outbound travel restrictions.

Cars queued up at expressway toll gates and passengers prepared to board trains as Wuhan ended nearly 11 weeks of lockdown at midnight

Reports Xinhua

But the country faces a second wave of infections brought in from overseas

AFP

China on Tuesday reported no new coronavirus deaths for the first time since it started publishing figures in January, the National Health Commission said.

Cases in mainland China have been dwindling since March, but the country faces a second wave of infections brought in from overseas, with health officials reporting nearly 1,000 imported cases in total.

China’s health authorities reported 32 new cases nationwide, all of which were imported.

There were also 30 new asymptomatic infections, health officials said, bringing the national total to 1,033. Around a quarter of the current total of asymptomatic cases were also imported from overseas.

Last week, China began disclosing the number of asymptomatic cases for the first time, after growing public concerns over the potential of “silent” carriers to spread the disease.

Fears have also been growing over a potential resurgence in the epicentre of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected late last year.

After a number of asymptomatic cases were confirmed in the central Chinese city, local authorities revoked the “epidemic-free” status of 45 residential compounds on Monday.

To date, 81,740 people have been infected and 3,331 have been killed by the deadly virus in China, with the vast majority in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

Meanwhile, the global death toll from the pandemic has surpassed 70,000 as the virus ravages numerous countries in Europe and the U.S.

“The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary.”

Reuters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit on Monday after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, but his Downing Street office said he was still conscious.

Britain has no formal succession plan should the prime minister become incapacitated, but Johnson, 55, asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him.

Mr. Johnson was admitted to hospital on Sunday night and had been undergoing tests after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature, for more than 10 days.

Downing Street had said he was in good spirits and still in charge, though at about 1800 GMT he was moved to an intensive care unit – where the most serious cases are treated – at St Thomas’ hospital, across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament in central London.

“Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” a spokesman for his office said.

“The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary,” Downing Street said. “The PM remains conscious at this time.”

Downing Street said he had been moved to the intensive care unit as “a precaution should he require ventilation to aid his recovery”.

Mr. Johnson, 55, tested positive for the virus on March 26.

His spokesman had earlier urged caution about media reports that Johnson was receiving oxygen treatment, but refused to answer directly after being asked whether he had pneumonia.

The Times newspaper and ITV correspondent Robert Peston said Johnson had received oxygen.

Mr. Raab, 46, chaired the government’s emergency COVID-19 meeting on Monday.

Carrie Symonds has not been tested

Mr. Johnson’s pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, moved out of Downing Street after some staff fell ill. But she said on Saturday she had just spent a week in bed with symptoms, although she has not been tested.

Mr. Johnson’s spokesman would not confirm a report in The Times newspaper reported that the prime minister had been given oxygen treatment.

“Doctors will be monitoring important vital signs such as oxygen saturations,” said Rupert Beale, group leader at the cell biology of infection laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute.

He said they would also check Mr. Johnson’s blood to “see what the immune response to the virus looks like, and to assess liver and kidney function”, and may also perform an electrocardiogram to check the heart.

Below are some immediate comments from health experts:

1. Derek Hill, a professor of medical imaging at University College London (UCL): “There is no doubt this turn of events means Boris Johnson is extremely sick. “One of the features of COVID-19 in all countries seems to be that many more men become seriously ill than women – especially in the over 40 age group. Also we know that people under about 60 seem to have a higher chance of making a recovery from critical illness with COVID-19 than older people.”
2. Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh: “The admission of the Prime Minister to intensive care is of huge concern and illustrates just how indiscriminate this virus is. Anyone anywhere, including the most privileged in our society, can be affected and can become seriously ill. “It is imperative now, more than ever that the rest of us comply with government guidelines to stay at home and not put others at risk.”

Below is reaction to the news:

KEIR STARMER, LEADER OF THE MAIN OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY: “Terribly sad news. All the country’s thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family during this incredibly difficult time.”

LONDON MAYOR SADIQ KHAN: “Praying for the Prime Minister’s swift recovery tonight. @GSTTnhs (Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS) has some of the finest medical staff in the world, and he couldn’t be in safer hands.”

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH TRADE MINISTER: “My thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family as he is moved into intensive care this evening. Wishing him a speedy recovery.”

ED DAVEY, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: “Thoughts are with Boris Johnson & his family at this latest news – best wishes for an early full recovery. Thanks to all NHS & social care staff looking after anyone who is ill tonight. “Together we must beat #Covid_19”

IAN BLACKFORD, WESTMINSTER LEADER OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY: “So sorry to hear that @BorisJohnson is now in intensive care. This is very worrying news. Thoughts and prayers with Boris (his fiancşe) @carriesymonds and all their family. This is such a terrible virus that we all must take seriously. Get well soon Boris, look forward to you being back.”

RISHI SUNAK, FINANCE MINISTER: “My thoughts tonight are with Boris Johnson and (his fiancee) Carrie Symonds. I know he’ll be getting the best care possible and will come out of this even stronger.”

LINDSAY HOYLE, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: “This is terrible news. I know the thoughts and prayers of everyone across the House are with the Prime Minister and his family right now. We all wish him a speedy recovery.”

PRITI PATEL, INTERIOR MINISTER: “My love & thoughts are with Boris Johnson, Carrie Symonds & the Prime Minister’s family. Folded hands (emoji) for you & thinking of you.”

Here are some of his tweets:

If #Modi focused more on addressing the #PPE, #Testing, & #Ventilator shortages, #India would be better prepared for #Coronavirus. His rhetoric has spread ignorance like wildfire. Quite literally. This is more #ModiMadness. Fireworks & lamps are useless.pic.twitter.com/BSrhSUS7KT

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) April 6, 2020

Really? Anti-#Coronavirus rally’s in #India? I doubt #COVID19 will listen to these demands. #Modi’s rhetoric is peddling misinformation & putting Indians in harms way. As Ataturk said, “the biggest battle is the war against ignorance.”pic.twitter.com/Sy6z10af35

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) April 6, 2020

#Modi called for #India to light candles & lamps. I hope this shined some light at the terrifying #Testing, #Doctor, #Ventilator, & #PPEShortage. Rhetoric & singing kumbaya around the campfire accomplishes very little. Rapid action delivers. Is this how #IndiaFightsCoronavirus? pic.twitter.com/TVv1nh9UcB

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) April 6, 2020

It is estimated that there are at least 75K #Coronavirus cases in #India. Much higher than the official figure of 4,288. Why? Because the #Testing is inadequate. The 123 state-run labs are operating at 36% capacity. #COVID19 is spreading like wildfire.https://t.co/hfeHw2l7ml

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) April 6, 2020