Category: World

  • Chinese scientists have developed a vaccine to combat the Coronavirus; Trails showing satisfactory results, strong research capability

    Chinese Scientists have found a nanomaterial that can absorb and deactivate the virus with 96.5 – 99.9% efficiency.

    Source: IANS

    Beijing, March 29 (IANS): A team of Chinese scientists has reportedly developed a novel way to combat the new coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease which has killed over 32,000 people globally.

    According to Global Times, the new weapon is not a drug or a compound but some nanomaterial.

    “Chinese scientists have developed a new weapon to combat the #coronavirus,” the news portal tweeted on Sunday.

    “They say they have found a nanomaterial that can absorb and deactivate the virus with 96.5-99.9 per cent efficiency,” it added.

    Nanomaterials are used in a variety of manufacturing processes, products and healthcare including paints, filters, insulation and lubricant additives.

    In healthcare, Nanozymes are nanomaterials with enzyme-like characteristics.

    According to the US NIH, scientists have not unanimously settled on a precise definition of nanomaterials, but agree that they are partially characterized by their tiny size, measured in nanometers.

    “Nanotechnology can be used to design pharmaceuticals that can target specific organs or cells in the body such as cancer cells, and enhance the effectiveness of therapy,” said NIH.

    However, while engineered nanomaterials provide great benefits, “we know very little about the potential effects on human health and the environment. Even well-known materials, such as silver for example, may pose a hazard when engineered to nano size,” according to NIH.

    –IANS

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

  • Dr. Fauci Says Coronavirus Deaths in U.S. Could Top 100,000

    Time

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert says the United States could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the coronavirus pandemic.

    Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, offered his prognosis as the federal government weighs rolling back guidelines on social distancing in areas that have not been as hard-hit by the outbreak at the conclusion of the nationwide 15-day effort to slow the spread of the virus.

    “I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” he said, correcting himself to say he meant deaths. “We’re going to have millions of cases.” But he added “I don’t want to be held to that” because the pandemic is “such a moving target.”

    About 125,000 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. had been recorded as of Sunday morning, with over 2,100 dead. It is certain that many more have the disease but their cases have not been reported.

    Dr. Deborah Birx, head of the White House coronavirus task force, said parts of the country with few cases so far must prepare for what’s to come. “No state, no metro area, will be spared,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

    Most people who contract COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms, which can include fever and cough but also milder cases of pneumonia, sometimes requiring hospitalization. The risk of death is greater for older adults and people with other health problems. Hospitals in the most afflicted areas are straining to handle patients and some are short of critical supplies.

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

  • German State Finance Minister Kills Himself As Coronavirus Hits Economy

    Coronavirus Outbreak: “We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” a senior minister said.

    NDTV

    Frankfurt am Main: Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday.
    Thomas Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he died by suicide.

    “We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” Volker Bouffier said in a recorded statement.

    Hesse is home to Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt.

    A visibly shaken Volker Bouffier recalled that Thomas Schaefer, who was Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, had been working “day and night” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.

    “Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” said Volker Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    “It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” he added.

    Popular and well-respected, Thomas Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Volker Bouffier.

    Like Volker Bouffier, Thomas Schaefer belonged to Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU party.

    He leaves behind a wife and two children

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

  • China sends tonnes of medical aid to Pakistan to fight COVID-19

    Islamabad receives 15,000 protective suits for doctors to stem coronavirus outbreak

    GULF TODAY

    China’s Alibaba Foundation sent 500,000 surgical masks and 50,000 N95 respirators to Pakistan on March 25 at Karachi airport.

    Islamabad: Following urgent calls for medical supplies, Pakistan on Friday received tonnes of protective gear and testing kits from China to contain the spread of coronavirus. The continuing and unprecedented assistance from China via air and road comes at a critical time when Pakistan’s ill-equipped medical workers struggle to treat patients as the number of confirmed cases surpassed 1,200 on Friday.

    “At least 2 tonnes of masks, test kits, ventilators, medical protective clothes worth Rs. 67 million were handed over [to Pakistani officials] at Khunjerab Pass”, the highest paved international border, according to a statement by Chinese embassy in Pakistan. “This is the friendship higher than mountains!” the embassy tweeted.

    On Friday morning, trucks full of medical supplies were unloaded at the border as the teams from both sides braved the harsh weather and snow. Meanwhile, a plane carrying 50,000 coronavirus testing kits also arrived in Karachi on March 27. This was the second bulk consignment sent by China’s Alibaba and Jack Ma Foundation within days. On March 25, the foundation sent 500,000 surgical masks and 50,000 N95 respirators to Pakistan. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Consul General of China Li Bijian and other officials received the supplies at Karachi airport.

    15,000 protective suits
    On March 26, Yan Chen, managing director of Challenge Group of Companies from China called on Prime Minister Imran Khan to donate 15,000 protection suits for Pakistani doctors and paramedical staff on the frontline battling the pandemic. To meet the increasing demand for protective gear, China will help produce the protection suit in Pakistan’s city of Lahore, said the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing. Chinese government and leadership is committed to support Pakistan in combating Covid-19 as their top priority, the ambassador added.

    Pakistani premier conveyed sincere gratitude to China for supporting Pakistan. “The medical equipment provided by China will greatly strengthen Pakistan’s capacity” to fight the virus, PM Imran Khan said.

    Equipment to arrive soon
    Pakistan will receive around 20 tonnes of medical goods and 20 ventilators on an urgent basis from China this week, said Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Lt. Gen. Mohammed Afzal, during March 27 media talk. Additionally, two more planes would bring 100 tonnes of urgently needed medical equipment from Beijing and Chengdu next week.

    Following Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar’s request, a Chinese university has also agreed to work with Pakistani medical experts to convert a university campus into a 1,000-bed field hospital. The field hospital would be set up in Lahore. The University would also work in collaboration with Pakistani scientists to develop testing kits and other equipment in Pakistan.

    Chinese doctors to help Pakistan
    China will also send an eight-member team of doctors next week to work closely with local health officials. “China is preparing a medical team to visit Pakistan who will pay field trips to different localities in Pakistan,” Zeng Yixin, Vice Minister of China’s National Health Commission told Pakistan’s state-run news agency, APP. The team would also share experiences and exchange views on the use of technology to combat the epidemic. The Chinese team will also support Pakistan in building temporary quarantine hospitals.

    Walk-through testing machine
    The Chinese government is also sending a walk-through testing machine to Pakistan to diagnose a large number of suspected people for the novel coronavirus. The “walk-through machine will arrive at Khunjerab Pass by next week” and it would ensure mass testing especially in the areas with Covid-19 clusters, the NDMA chairman said.

    Full gear for 30,000 ICU workers
    There are currently 194,000 medical health practitioners in Pakistan, of which 30,000 work in ICUs. “These 30,000 medical practitioners working in ICUs will be equipped with complete medical kit by April,” he said. Each box will contain face-shields, goggles, two N95 and 30 surgical masks, hand wash kit.

    The number of beds in the intensive care unit (ICUs) in Pakistan currently is 19,670. The capacity of quarantine facilities has also been enhanced from 500 beds to 162,000 now. Pakistan’s Covid-19 command and control centre has also booked 1,795 three-star and four-star hotels where 40,000 patients can be accommodated if required.

    There are nearly 2200 ventilators available in public hospitals. The number of the imported ventilators will reach to 1,000 by April 10 to 15, the NDMA chief said. This number would rise to 2,000 to 3,000 by April 25 and the officials expect to enhance it to 8,000 and 10,000 by May.

    Pakistan would have enough medical equipment, including personal protection kits, by April 5 to improve the safety of the health officials working on the frontline, said Health Minister Dr Zafar Mirza.

    Top 3 priorities
    Pakistan’s top three priorities under the Covid-19‬ strategy, according to NDMA chairman: ‬

    1. Medical gear for doctors & health workers
    2. Ventilators & supplies for treatment of patients
    3. Coronavirus testing kits

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

  • Coronavirus | Iran’s death toll reaches 2,640, says health official

    Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that “some 3,467 of those infected are in critical condition”.

    The Hindu

    Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 2,640 and the number of infected people has reached 38,309, a health ministry official tweeted on Sunday, as the Middle East’s worst-hit country grapples with the fast-spreading outbreak.

    “In the past 24 hours we had 123 deaths and 2,901 people have been infected, bringing the total number of infected people to 38,309,” tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran’s health minister. “12,391 people infected from the virus have recovered.”

    Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that “some 3,467 of those infected are in critical condition”.

    “I am happy to announce that also 12,391 people who had been infected across the country have recovered … The average age of those who have died of the disease is 69,” said Jahanpur.

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

  • COVID-19 | Here are the latest updates

    India coronavirus lockdown, day 5 live updates; Over 980 test positive as death toll touches 24

    The Hindu

    Italy’s death toll tops 10,000, becomes highest in world

    Italy’s death toll from the novel coronavirus shot past 10,000 on Saturday with 889 new deaths, the country’s Civil Protection Service said.

    The toll in Italy, which has suffered more deaths than any other country, now stands at 10,023. An additional 5,974 infections brought to 92,472 the number of people who have officially tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy since the crisis began last month.

    USA:

    In rare case, US infant dies from COVID-19

    A U.S. infant has died from the COVID-19 illness, officials in the state of Illinois said on Saturday, marking an extremely rare case of juvenile death in the global pandemic.

    The state Department of Public Health said the child who died in Chicago was younger than one year old and had tested positive for COVID-19.

    “There has never before been a death associated with COVID-19 in an infant,” the department’s director Ngozi Ezike said in a statement.

    A full investigation is underway to determine the cause of death, said authorities. Multiple studies have found the virus disproportionately affects older patients and those with underlying conditions.

    Deaths in U.S. surge past 2,000

    Deaths from new coronavirus in the United States surged past 2,000 Saturday, doubling in just three days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

    The number of deaths late Saturday was 2,010, about a quarter of them in New York City, the country’s hardest hit region, Johns Hopkins reported. That i2,314 in Frances fewer than the 10,023 in Italy, Spain’s 5,812, China’s 3,299 or the 2,314 in France, the tally showed

    KARNATAKA:

    Fresh restrictions in Hassan, Karnataka

    The district administration has announced fresh restrictions on petrol pumps and  shops selling essential things in Hassan, with effect from Sunday.

    The petrol pumps, grocery shops, milk booths, malls and others establishments that sell other essential things like vegetables will be open between 7 a.m. and 12 noon on all odd days in a week. On even days, only circulation of newspapers and sale of milk will be allowed between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

    There is no restriction on medical shops. Hotels are allowed to offer home deliveries. Only two petrol pumps in each city limits will be allowed to open throughout the day.

    The administration took this decision after J.C.Madhuswamy, Minister in-charge of the district, held a meeting in Hassan

    CANADA:

    Canadian PM’s wife has recovered from coronavirus illness

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife said that she has recovered from being ill from COVID-19.

    “I am feeling so much better,” Sophie Gregoire Trudeau said in a statement on social media. She said she received the clearance from her doctor and Ottawa Public Health.

    Mr. Trudeau’s office announced on March 12 that she had tested positive for the coronavirus after she fell ill upon returning from a trip to London.

    The Prime Minister and his family have been in self isolation at home since then. He and their three children didn’t show symptoms.

    – AP

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

  • Mystery In Wuhan: Recovered Coronavirus Patients Test Negative… Then Positive

    NPR.ORG

    A spate of mysterious second-time infections is calling into question the accuracy of COVID-19 diagnostic tools even as China prepares to lift quarantine measures to allow residents to leave the epicenter of its outbreak next month. It’s also raising concerns of a possible second wave of cases.

    From March 18-22, the Chinese city of Wuhan reported no new cases of the virus through domestic transmission — that is, infection passed on from one person to another. The achievement was seen as a turning point in efforts to contain the virus, which has infected more than 80,000 people in China. Wuhan was particularly hard-hit, with more than half of all confirmed cases in the country.

    But some Wuhan residents who had tested positive earlier and then recovered from the disease are testing positive for the virus a second time. Based on data from several quarantine facilities in the city, which house patients for further observation after their discharge from hospitals, about 5%-10% of patients pronounced “recovered” have tested positive again.

    Some of those who retested positive appear to be asymptomatic carriers — those who carry the virus and are possibly infectious but do not exhibit any of the illness’s associated symptoms — suggesting that the outbreak in Wuhan is not close to being over.

    NPR has spoken by phone or exchanged text messages with four individuals in Wuhan who are part of this group of individuals testing positive a second time in March. All four said they had been sickened with the virus and tested positive, then were released from medical care in recent weeks after their condition improved and they tested negative.

    Two of them are front-line doctors who were sickened after treating patients in their Wuhan hospitals. The other two are Wuhan residents. They all requested anonymity when speaking with NPR because those who have challenged the government’s handling of the outbreak have been detained.

    One of the Wuhan residents who spoke to NPR exhibited severe symptoms during their first round of illness and was eventually hospitalized. The second resident displayed only mild symptoms at firstand was quarantined in one of more than a dozen makeshift treatment centers erected in Wuhan during the peak of the outbreak.

    But when both were tested a second time for the coronavirus on Sunday, March 22, as a precondition for seeking medical care for unrelated health issues, they tested positive for the coronavirus even though they exhibited none of the typical symptoms, such as a fever or dry cough. The time from their recovery and release to the retest ranged from a few days to a few weeks.

    Could that second positive test mean a second round of infection? Virologists think it is unlikely that a COVID-19 patient could be re-infected so quickly after recovery but caution that it is too soon to know.

    Under its newest COVID-19 prevention guidelines, China does not include in its overall daily count for total and for new cases those who retest positive after being released from medical care. China also does not include asymptomatic cases in case counts.

    “I have no idea why the authorities choose not to count [asymptomatic] cases in the official case count. I am baffled,” said one of the Wuhan doctors who had a second positive test after recovering.

    These four people are now being isolated under medical observation. It is unclear whether they are infectious and why they tested positive after their earlier negative test.

    It is possible they were first given a false negative test result, which can happen if the swab used to collect samples of the virus misses bits of the virus. Dr. Li Wenliang, a whistleblowing doctor who later died of the virus himself in February, tested negative for the coronavirus several times before being accurately diagnosed.

    In February, Wang Chen, a director at the state-run Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, estimated that the nucleic acid tests used in China were accurate at identifying positive cases of the coronavirus only 30%-50% of the time.

    Another theory is that, because the test amplifies tiny bits of DNA, residual virus from the initial infection could have falsely resulted in that second positive reading.

    “There are false positives with these types of tests,” Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, told NPR by email. Shaman recently co-authored a modeling study showing that transmission by individuals who did not exhibit any symptoms was a driver of the Wuhan outbreak.

    How real is China’s recovery?

    On Tuesday, Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, said it would relax lockdown measures that have now been in place for more than two months and begin letting residents leave cities the following day. Wuhan said it would begin lifting its quarantine measures and letting residents leave two weeks later, on April 8.

    To leave Wuhan, residents must first test negative for the coronavirus, according to municipal authorities. Such screenings will identify some remaining asymptomatic virus carriers. But the high rate of false negatives that Chinese doctors have cited means many with the virus could pass undetected.

    Last Thursday, Wuhan reported for the first time since the outbreak began that it had no new cases of the virus from the day before — a milestone in China’s virus containment efforts. The city reported a zero rise in new cases for the following four days.

    Assessing asymptomatic carriers

    But Caixin, an independent Chinese news outlet, reported earlier this week that Wuhan hospitals were continuing to see new cases of asymptomatic virus carriers, citing a health official who said he had seen up to a dozen such cases a day.

    Responding to inquiries about how the city was counting asymptomatic cases, Wuhan’s health commission said Monday that it is quarantining new asymptomatic patients in specialized wards for 14 days. Such patients would be included in new daily case counts if they develop symptoms during that time, authorities said.

    “Based on available World Health Organization data, new infections are mainly transmitted by patients who have developed symptoms. Hence [asymptomatic cases] may not be the main source of transmission,” the commission said.

    A researcher at China’s health commission told reporters Tuesday that asymptomatic carriers “would not cause the spread” of the virus. Zunyou Wu, the researcher, explained this was because the authorities were isolating people who had close contact with confirmed patients. Wu did not explain how they would identify asymptomatic carriers who had no close contact with confirmed patients.

    Addressing growing public concern of asymptomatic patients, China’s Premier Li Keqiang urged during Thursday’s senior-level government meeting that “relevant departments must … truthfully, timely, and openly” answer questions, such as whether these patients are infectious and how the course of the outbreak may change.

    Research suggests that the spread can be caused by asymptomatic carriers. Studies of patients from Wuhan and other Chinese cities who were diagnosed early in the outbreak suggest that asymptomatic carriers of the virus can infect those they have close contact with, such as family members.

    “In terms of those who retested positive, the official party line is that they have not been proven to be infectious. That is not the same as saying they are not infectious,” one of the Wuhan doctors who tested positive twice told NPR. He is now isolated and under medical observation. “If they really are not infectious,” the doctor said, “then there would be no need to take them back to the hospitals again.”

    Geoff Brumfiel contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.

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

  • Drug for coronavirus treatment via stem cells made in Iran: Scientist

    An Iranian scientist claims that a drug has been produced in Iran by using stem cells in order to treat the deadly new coronavirus.

    PressTv

    Iranian stem cell scientist Dr. Masoud Soleimani, who has been recently released after over one year of imprisonment in the United States, has said that many doctors have expressed their satisfaction with the impact of the drug on the treatment of patients with coronavirus, Fars news said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

    “This drug can treat coronavirus-affected patients within a period of 3-6 days in three phases,” he said.

    There are numerous reports about potential treatments for COVID-19, including Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm — most famous for its film and instant cameras — who promotes a drug called Avigan, also known as favipiravir, and the use of common anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine that is advised by US President Donald Trump. But, according to the World Health Organization, there is no specific medicine to prevent or treat coronavirus disease (COVID-19) yet.

    The WHO says health officials are testing four of the most promising drugs to fight COVID-19, including malaria medications chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, an antiviral compound called Remdesivir, a combination of HIV drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir and a combination of those drugs plus interferon-beta.

    There are no proven therapies to treat COVID-19 but there are a number of clinical trials that are ongoing, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, told reporters on Friday. “It’s important that these medications are evaluated appropriately so we know what works and that we have the right data to support what works.”

    Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of public relations and information center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, said on Saturday that 35,408 individuals have been confirmed to be infected with the disease, 2,517 of whom have lost their lives. As many as 11,679 individuals have also recovered from the virus.

    “The condition of 3,026 of those hospitalized is critical in one way or another,” he said, adding that 57 million Iranians had been screened for the virus.

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

  • BREAKING | Italy reports 5,974 new cases of Coronavirus and 889 new deaths

    Bloomberg

    Italy’s coronavirus deaths surpassed 10,000 on Saturday even as the contagion’s spread remained substantially stable.

    Europe’s hardest-hit country had 889 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, health authorities said, with a slight decline compared to Friday’s record. New cases rose marginally to 5,974, bringing the total count of patients in the country to 92,472.

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

  • Coronavirus Kills More Than 1,000 In UK: Report

    PM Boris Johnson and his health minister, Matt Hancock, were confirmed on Friday to be among those infected, although both said they had only mild symptoms.

    NDTV

    London: The number of coronavirus deaths in Britain jumped by 260 in one day to pass 1,000, official data showed Saturday, the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself tested positive.
    At 5:00pm (1700 GMT) on Friday, the death toll was 1,019, up from 759 at the same time on Thursday, the health ministry figures showed.

    As of 9:00 am on Saturday, a total of 120,776 people in Britain had been tested, of whom 17,089 were confirmed positive.

    Johnson and his health minister, Matt Hancock, were confirmed on Friday to be among those infected, although both said they had only mild symptoms.

    Their cabinet colleague, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, revealed on Saturday that he too had developed mild symptoms and was self-isolating, but had not been tested.

    In a video message on Friday from Downing Street, where he lives and works, Johnson said he would continue to lead the government’s response to the outbreak.

    Media reports suggest his pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, who normally lives with him in Downing Street, moved several days ago to the couple’s south London home to self-isolate there.

    England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty, another key player in the UK’s response, also said Friday that he was in self-isolation after experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.

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