Category: World

Over the last few days, 5G towers in Birmingham, Liverpool and Melling in Merseyside have been targeted over rumours that they are spreading the novel coronavirus.

India Today

HIGHLIGHTS

• Rumours allege a link between 5G networks and spread of Covid-19
• Several 5G towers have been burnt down in the UK over such fears
• Government officials denied any link between the technology and the virus

The on-going Covid-19 outbreak has already claimed the lives of thousands and left many more in hospitals in its wake. This has understandably created a lot panic and fear in the minds of people across the globe. However, some are dealing with these fears in the worst way possible.

Case in point, some miscreants in the United Kingdom who heading to baseless conspiracy theories have begun targeting 5G networks across the country. The BBC reports that over the last few days, cellular towers in Birmingham, Liverpool and Melling in Merseyside have been set ablaze, all in an attempt to stop the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

The report goes on to add that a video, allegedly of an incident in Aigburth, was also shared on YouTube and Facebook. The video claimed a link between the next-gen 5G technology and the current Covid-19 outbreak.

The seemingly farcical situation is threatening to turn ugly, and has even forced the hand of the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which has had to Twitter to explain that “there is absolutely no credible evidence of a link between 5G and coronavirus.”

The incident even elicited a response from the UK government, with Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, calling such rumours “dangerous nonsense”. He further went on to add that conspiracy theories linking 5G with Covid-19 were “just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well.”

5G causes coronavirus because it’s sucking the oxygen out of your lungs, according to a video being spread on Facebook. I want to 😂 but the fact people believe this bullshit is genuinely scary pic.twitter.com/kY3g5MJtu9

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 3, 2020

While there are many conspiracy theories floating on the web, with some even blaming the Russians for the spread, the most popular ones revolve around claims that Covid-19 originated in Wuhan when the country started to roll-out 5G in the city.

The virus is now claimed to be spreading to other cities where infrastructure is being laid down for the next-gen telecom technology. Another theory claims that the virus suppresses the immune system, and uses the network’s radio waves to communicate and pick victims.

While there is no scientific explanation for the claims being made here, one critical thing that these conspiracy theories fail to explain is how Covid-19 is also spreading to countries such as India, Japan, Pakistan and Iran where the infrastructure for 5G networks doesn’t exist.

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed)

The number of COVID-19 cases in U.S. reach 335,000 with over 9,500 deaths.

Reuters

The United States on Sunday entered one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis, with government officials warning that the death toll in places such as New York, Michigan and Louisiana was a sign of trouble to come in other states.

Still, governors of eight states resisted issuing stay-at-home orders aimed at slowing the spread of the respiratory disease, and some churches held large Palm Sunday services in defiance of such orders in their states.

New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that for the first time in a week, deaths had fallen slightly from the day before, but there were still nearly 600 new fatalities and more than 7,300 new cases. Places such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Washington, D.C., are starting to see rising deaths.

“This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly. This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localised,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned on Fox News on Sunday. “It’s going to be happening all over the country. And I want America to understand that.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that new hospitalizations had fallen by 50% over the previous 24 hours. He cautioned that it was not yet clear whether the crisis was reaching a plateau in the state, which has a total of 4,159 deaths and more than 122,000 cases.

Once the peak of the epidemic passes, Mr. Cuomo said a mass rollout of rapid testing would be critical to help the nation ”return to normalcy.”

No ‘stay home’ orders in eight states

Most states have ordered residents to stay home except for essential trips to slow the spread of the virus in the United States, where more than 3,35,000 people have tested positive and over 9,500 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

But eight states, all of them with Republican governors, have yet to order residents to stay home: Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Georgia, which has recorded 6,600 cases and more than 200 deaths, ordered residents to stay home but then allowed some beaches to reopen.

Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson defended his refusal to order statewide restrictions, saying the situation was being watched closely and that his more “targeted approach” was still slowing the spread of the virus.

Mr. Adams, the surgeon general, said governors who had not issued month-long stay-at-home orders should at least consider one for the upcoming week.

President Donald Trump expressed hope on Sunday the United States was seeing a leveling-off of the coronavirus crisis in some hot spots, citing the drop in deaths from Saturday in New York.

“We see light at the end of the tunnel. Things are happening,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

Church buses in parishioners

A few churches were holding large gatherings on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week in Christian churches.

Pastor Tony Spell, who was arrested last week for holding services, summoned his faithful again, three weeks after Louisiana banned gatherings of 10 people or more.

Louisiana has become a hot spot for the virus, reporting a jump in deaths to nearly 500 and more than 13,000 cases. The governor predicted the state would run out of ventilators by Thursday.

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio said the city had enough ventilators to get through Tuesday or Wednesday, and he was seeking between 1,000 and 1,500 more from federal and state stockpiles, which he estimated had 10,000 and 2,800, respectively.

Oregon, which has reported around 1,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, said it was sending New York 140 ventilators, machines that help people breathe after the virus attacks their lungs. Washington is returning over 400 of the machines to the Strategic National Stockpile for hard-hit states like New York.

White House medical experts have forecast that between 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could be killed in the pandemic, even if sweeping orders to stay home are followed.

Still, members of Trump’s coronavirus task force saw signs of progress in their fight against the virus.

“We’re very hopeful that over the next week, although we’ll see rising number of cases and people who lose their lives to this illness, we’re also hopeful to see a stabilization of cases across these large metro areas where the outbreak began several weeks ago,” task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told reporters.

The tiger is believed to have contracted the infection from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at that time.

Reuters

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York has tested positive for coronavirus, AFP quoted authorities as saying on Sunday.

The tiger is believed to have contracted the infection from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at that time.

Nadia, the four-year-old Malayan tiger, and her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions had all developed dry cough and are expected to fully recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society running the city’s zoo said in a statement.

“We tested the cat out of an abundance of caution and will ensure any knowledge we gain about COVID-19 will contribute to the world’s continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus,” the statement further said.

The cats at the Bronx Zoo are doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert and interactive with their keepers, even though they have experienced some loss in appetite. “It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats since different species can react differently to novel infections, but we will continue to monitor them closely and anticipate full recoveries,” the statement read.

The death toll due to coronavirus has surpassed 4,000 in New York, where all four zoos and aquariums have been closed since March 16.

The zoo said that there is “no evidence that animals play a role in the transmission of COVID-19 to people rather than the initial event in the Wuhan market, and no evidence that any person has been infected with COVID-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats.”

Chinese disease control officials attributed wild animals sold in a Wuhan market as the possible source of the coronavirus which has affected over one million people across the world.

There had been no reports of pets or other animals in the US falling ill with coronavirus prior to that of tiger Nadia, according to the US department of Agriculture website.

“It is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus, the website said.

A pet cat was infected with coronavirus in Belgium in late March, and similar cases of dogs testing positive for the infection were reported from Hong Kong also. All these animals are believed to have contracted the disease from the people they live with.

Bronx Zoo authorities said preventive measure had been put in place for caretakers and all cats in the city’s zoos.

With inputs from AFP

Coronavirus Pakistan Cases: Imran Khan’s remarks came as he visited Lahore to oversee the measures taken by the Punjab government as the number of coronavirus patients in the largest province of the country crossed 1,000.

Press Trust of India

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday warned Pakistanis that they are not immune to the threat posed by the coronavirus, but exuded confidence that Pakistan would emerge stronger from the challenge, as the number of cases in the country rose to 2,818.
Imran Khan’s remarks came as he visited Lahore to oversee the measures taken by the Punjab government as the number of coronavirus patients in the largest province of the country crossed 1,000.

Imran Khan visited a 1,000-bed makeshift hospital set up by the provincial government at a short notice to accommodate the coronavirus patients. “Nobody should have the false notion that they will be safe from this (coronavirus)…Look at New York where most of the rich people live,” he said.

As of Saturday, Pakistan has recorded 2,818 cases and 41 deaths.

Imran Khan in a blunt warning said that nobody, himself included, knows when the pandemic will end and how much damage it will do.

“It (virus) can remerge once settling down. So we don’t know what will happen,” he said.

He said the government was making all possible efforts to save the people, especially the most vulnerable, and reduce the losses due to epidemic.

“When we emerge from this challenge, we will be a totally different nation…Those who take such times as a test and face it head-on as a challenge, come out stronger,” he said.

Punjab — the hotspot of the viral infection in Pakistan — reported a total of 1,131 cases, followed by Sindh at 839, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 383, Balochistan 185, Gilgit-Baltistan 193, Islamabad 75 and 12 cases in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK).

The data showed that the number of patients in Punjab, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of Pakistan”s population, crossed 1,000.

Imran Khan earlier in the day again rejected the possibility of total lockdown.

Imran Khan tweeted that the government locked down educational institutions, malls, marriage halls, restaurants and other places where the public congregates.

“But, to stop the devastation of the lockdown we have kept our Agri sector open and now we are opening up our construction sector.”

The Punjab government announced that it will reopen more industries including textiles, sports goods, surgical goods, auto parts, leather and leather garments, meat and meat products, fruit and vegetables, and pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government on Saturday informed the Supreme Court that the number of coronavirus patients in the country could reach up to 50,000 by the last week of this month.

It was stated in a report submitted by the government on its national action plan for combating the coronavirus epidemic in the country.

Geo News reported that in its report, the government detailed the situation in the wake of the pandemic and the severity of suspected cases.

“By April 25, the number of the coronavirus cases are feared to reach 50,000,” the report stated.

According to the breakdown provided in the report, around 7,000 cases of the total are expected to be critical in nature while around 2,500 could be a cause of concern. The government estimates that a further 41,000 cases could be of a mild nature.

The report noted that confirmed cases are expected to be lower than that of countries in Europe, and assured that the government is trying to maximize its testing capacity.

The federal government said that it has put in place an emergency plan worth USD 366 million and guidelines have been prepared in consultation from the medical experts.

“All the airports have special counters to monitor coronavirus,” it mentioned in the report, adding that around 222 suspected patients have been traced due to the entry and exit point checking at airports.

The areas adjacent to Iran and along the Balochistan border have declared an emergency to cope with the incoming infected individuals, it said.

“Preparations were made to place patients in 154 districts under quarantine,” the government added in the report.

Chinese health experts on Sunday underlined theneed of continuation of lockdown for at least twenty eight days to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Agencies

The remarks were made by a delegation of Chinese doctors, which is in Pakistan to help the local authorities fight the coronavirus pandemic met Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in Lahore today.

“Social distancing is the key to stop the spread of the virus and authorities should ensure lockdown for 28 days,” the experts recommended CM Buzdar.

They also appreciated the steps taken by the provincial government to curb the spread of the virus.

Currently, the province leads the nation-wide tally of confirmed cases with over 1,100 patients.

Clarifying a myth that the virus does not survive in high temperatures, the doctors said there was no evidence that the virus would not spread in the summer.

The experts, who have earlier worked in China’s epicentre Wuhan, told the officials to contain the virus as soon as possible.

Coronavirus patient should be treated at quarantine centres or at hospitals rather than being kept at home,” they said,

Briefing on the passive immunisation method for COVID-19 treatment, they said in critical circumstances plasma treatment is proved useful. “Three anti-viral drugs have also been used successfully.”

The experts also endorsed the SOPs of the Punjab government to contain the virus and for the treatment of patients and also shared their experiences with the provincial authorities during their posting in Wuhan.

CM BUzdar thanked the support and assistance provided by the Chinese government to Pakistan in time of need and said the friendship between the two countries have stood the test of time.

The efficiency with which Chinese authorities have fought the battle against the epidemic is an example for the whole world and Pakistan would learn lesson your experiences, Buzdar said.

Karachi | Reuters – Pakistani Muslims at a Karachi mosque clashed with baton-wielding police trying to enforce new curbs on gatherings to prevent Friday prayers and contain coronavirus infections, officials said.

TV footage showed dozens of people chasing two police vehicles and pelting them with stones as an officer fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

Health experts have warned an epidemic in South Asia, home to a fifth of the world’s population, could easily overwhelm already weak public health systems in the region.

But Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh, and India, home to the world’s largest Muslim minority, have struggled to persuade conservative religious groups to maintain social distancing.

After failing to persuade worshippers to pray at home last week, the government in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, home to the financial hub of Karachi, enforced a lockdown for three hours beginning at noon on Friday, officials said.

“In the greater interest of saving lives, a decision to ban the prayer congregations at mosques has been taken,” said Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Sindh’s minister for local bodies and information.

Pakistan has so far reported 2,458 coronavirus infections, fuelled by a jump in cases related to members of the Tablighi Jamaat, an orthodox Muslim proselytising group.

In Bangladesh, some people attended prayers at mosques on Friday, despite appeals from the government for people to stay at home.

Bangladesh’s top religious body, the Islamic Foundation, said elderly people and those with fever or cough should pray at home.

Bangladesh, home to 160 million people and one of the world’s most densely populated countries, has had 61 cases, including six deaths.

India is under a three-week lockdown.

“We’re not alone,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a video message. “All 1.3 billion of us are in it together.”

The shutdown, which ends on April 14, has helped stem a big outbreak for now, but it has brought India’s economy to a shuddering halt and left millions without work.

Many are struggling for food and water and fleeing cities for their villages in the hinterland, triggering criticism that the government rushed through the shutdown without adequate planning, hurting the poor the hardest.

Modi called on Indians to mark the fight against coronavirus with a show of lamps, candles and flashlights on Sunday night.

India has had 2,547 confirmed infections, 62 of whom have died, low figures by comparison with the United States, China, and Italy. Some however contend that limited testing in India may be masking the extent of infections.

The World Bank said on Thursday it had approved an initial $1.9 billion in emergency funds for coronavirus response operations in 25 developing countries, with more than half the aid earmarked for India.

“The poorest and most vulnerable countries will likely be hit the hardest,” World Bank Group President David Malpas said in a statement.

Late on Friday, Sri Lanka’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rates by a further 25 basis points, its second cut in three weeks, as it scrambled to support the economy.

Following is data on the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia, according to government figures:

• India has registered 2,547 cases, including 62 deaths.
• Pakistan has registered 2,458 cases, including 35 deaths.
• Sri Lanka has registered 152 cases, including 4 deaths.
• Afghanistan has registered 273 cases, including 6 deaths.
• Bangladesh has registered 61 cases, including six deaths.
• Maldives has registered 31 cases and no deaths.
• Nepal has registered six cases and no deaths.
• Bhutan has registered five cases and no deaths.

Additional reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Chandini Monappa in Bengaluru, Swati Bhat in Mumbai,; Writing by Gibran Peshimam and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Euan Rocha, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The event is due to be held in October but organizers have requested a one-year postponement.

Arab News

DUBAI: The UAE has officially requested to postpone the start of the Expo 2020 Dubai until October next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the body that oversees the world fair said Saturday.
Dubai had hoped to attract some 25 million visits to the multi-billion-dollar, six-month event, which was scheduled to launch October 20 this year.

“The government of the United Arab Emirates has formally requested the postponement of World Expo 2020 Dubai,” the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions said in a statement.

“Following consultations with the BIE, participating countries and key stakeholders, the UAE has proposed 1 October 2021 — 31 March 2022 as the new opening dates of Expo 2020 Dubai.”

The UAE government also requested approval to continue using Expo 2020 Dubai as the event’s official name.
The BIE said it would hold a virtual meeting on April 21 to discuss “options for a change of dates.”

“The request of the UAE government has been sent following in-depth discussions by the Expo 2020 Dubai steering committee with the organizer and the BIE on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the statement.

“A final decision on a change of dates can only be made by a two-thirds majority vote of BIE member states.”
Dubai, known for hosting hundreds of conferences annually, has already scrapped a string of cultural and entertainment events in recent weeks over the spread of the deadly disease.
Expo 2020 organizers said on Monday they had recommended a one-year postponement due to the pandemic.
“Many countries have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and they have therefore expressed a need to postpone the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai by one year,” Expo 2020 Dubai director-general Reem Al-Hashimi said in a statement.

“The UAE and Expo 2020 Dubai have listened. And in the spirit of solidarity and unity, we supported the proposal to explore a one-year postponement.”

The UAE has reported 1,505 COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths. It has enforced extensive lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease including an ongoing nighttime curfew.

Italy and Spain, the two hardest-hit European nations, expressed hope that the crisis was peaking in their countries, though Italian officials said the emergency is far from over as infections have plateaued but not started to decline.

AP

The U.S. warned of many more coronavirus deaths in the days ahead as the global pandemic muted traditional observances from family grave-cleaning ceremonies in China to Palm Sunday for many Christians.

Italy and Spain, the two hardest-hit European nations, expressed hope that the crisis was peaking in their countries, though Italian officials said the emergency is far from over as infections have plateaued but not started to decline.

A chaotic scramble for desperately needed medical equipment and protective gear engulfed the United States, prompting intense squabbling between the states and federal government at a moment the nation is facing one of its gravest emergencies.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised China for facilitating a shipment of 1,000 ventilators, as President Donald Trump said states are making inflated requests for supplies and suggested he had a hand in the shipment. Cuomo acknowledged asking the White House and others for help negotiating the ventilators.

“We have given the governor of New York more than anybody has ever been given in a long time,” Mr. Trump told reporters in Washington.

Mr. Trump warned Saturday that the country could be headed into its toughest weeks, but also said he’s eager to get it reopened and its stalled economy back on track.

“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately,” the American president said in a somber start to his daily briefing on the pandemic. “There will be death.”

The number of confirmed infections topped 1.2 million globally, and the death toll neared 65,000, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness such as pneumonia and death.

The number of people infected in the U.S. has soared to more than 300,000 as the fatalities climbed past 8,400. Many of the victims are in New York City, but the outbreak is deepening elsewhere too. More than 400 people have died in Louisiana, where state authorities have been sprinting to find ventilators. Michigan has more than 14,000 infections and 500 deaths, mainly in Detroit.

New infections have slowed in Italy, with 4,805 new cases registered Saturday to bring its official count to 124,632. The death toll, the highest in the world, rose to 15,362.

In Spain, which has a similar number of infections, Prime Minister Pedro Sŕnchez said that his nation is “starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.” He said in a televised address that if current trends continue, experts say Spain can begin reducing the outbreak in the coming days.

The spread of the disease has largely subsided in China, where the first cases were reported in December, but officials have moved cautiously to reopen public spaces.

The Beijing government said Sunday that about 78,000 people had visited cemeteries in the Chinese capital for annual “tomb-sweeping” ceremonies, down 90% over the same period last year. Visitors were required to reserve in advance to limit numbers, and more than 13,000 paid respects to the deceased online through a portal that allows them to light a candle, burn incense and offer wine and flowers, all virtually.

For Christians, worries about the coronavirus have triggered widespread cancellations of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter on April 12.

Pope Francis will be celebrating Mass for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Easter in a near-empty St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of the huge square outside filled with Catholic faithful. In his native Argentina, the archbishopric of La Plata encouraged the faithful to use any type of plant at home for a “virtual” blessing during a livestream of Palm Sunday service.

Guatemala has prohibited travel, except for work, and banned spending time at the beach during Holy Week, a traditional spring holiday. Sales of alcohol to the public is also being banned.

Bulgarian officials have called on the country’s Orthodox Christian majority to stay away from church services during the Easter holidays. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is resisting calls to close houses of worship, the only denomination in the country to do so.

“We urge all Bulgarian citizens not to treat Palm Sunday and Easter as holidays,” said Bulgarian crisis team leader Ventsislav Mutafchiyski. “Do not go anywhere.”

Countries with overcrowded prisons are releasing inmates to reduce the coronavirus risk.

Britain said it would temporarily release about 4,000 low-risk inmates and give them electronic tags. According to official figures, 88 inmates and 15 prison staff have tested positive for the disease. Britain’s prison population of more than 80,000 is one of the largest in western Europe, and many prisons hold far more inmates than they were designed for.

A statement from the Sri Lankan government said that about 2,900 prisoners have been released from overcrowded prisons in the country off India’s southeast coast to contain the spread of the virus. Prisoners have been released on bail within the period from March 17 to April 4. Sri Lanka’s prisons are highly congested, with more than 26,000 inmates in prisons with a total capacity under 10,000.