LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical Association has expressed serious concern over the increasing number of coronavirus patients and rising death toll of Covid-19 patients in the country.“We are very...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Coronavirus emergency erupted in Italy in late February, during Milan's Fashion Week, causing some designers to present their runway shows without audiences.

British Rapper Ty has died aged 47 after contracting coronavirus. Ty's death was confirmed by his team on Thursday.

Brad Pitt and Alia recently made headlines for their growing closeness

In a country where art is widely seen as a pastime, and performers have long struggled to secure steady pay and royalties, the closure of theatres and cinemas and the cancellation of summer festivals has wrought havoc

Beyonce’s mother Tina Lawson said: 'We all got tested. We’ve gotten the results back and everybody is okay'

STUBAI GLACIER, Austria: With its season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, one of Austria’s most popular glacial ski resorts covered its glacier in protective fabric earlier than usual this year to help preserve it for a still uncertain reopening, foreign media reported.In a normal...

ROME: Italy's economic capital Milan is a virus time "bomb" at risk of erupting with residents now free to move around -- some gathering for canal-side cocktails -- after twomonths under a pandemic lockdown.The city in the northern Lombardy region is the epicentre of Italy´s outbreak, one of...

SEIBERSDORF, Austria: Shortages of materials needed in tests for the novel coronavirus remain "critical", according to the head of a UN lab, which is supplying countries with COVID-19 detection kits.In particular the chemical reagents for the tests are still in short supply, said Giovanni Cattoli,...

PARIS: The coronavirus´ constant mutation is unlikely to have changes its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain.A pre-paper -- that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers´ peers --...

PARIS: The coronavirus’ constant mutation is unlikely to have changes its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain. A pre-paper — that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers’ peers...

PARIS: With parents and policymakers agonising over when to reopen schools as lockdowns ease, scientists are still struggling to find out how the new coronavirus affects children. While youngsters can become infected with the new coronavirus, very few have died or contracted serious symptoms. But...

PARIS: In his ninth-floor office on Paris’s Avenue Montaigne, Europe’s wealthiest man, Bernard Arnault, is spending long hours plotting a post-virus future for his luxury goods empire, LVMH. At 71, the billionaire has lived through several crises, but none quite like this one, with his...

SEIBERSDORF: Shortages of materials needed in tests for the novel coronavirus remain “critical”, according to the head of a UN lab, which is supplying countries with COVID-19 detection kits. In particular the chemical reagents for the tests are still in short supply, said Giovanni...

AHMEDABAD: Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been deployed in coronavirus-hotspot Gujarat state as India on Friday faced a surge in the number of deaths and infections from the outbreak. Official data show the deadly disease is taking a growing toll in the country of 1.3 billion people even as...

TEHRAN: Virus-hit Iran allowed worshippers to attend Friday prayers for the first time in more than two months, but the capital remains under restrictions amid the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Since reporting its first cases in mid-February, the Islamic republic has...

AHMEDABAD, India: Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been deployed in coronavirus-hotspot Gujarat state as India on Friday faced a surge in the number of deaths and infections from the outbreak.Official data show the deadly disease is taking a growing toll in the country of 1.3 billion people...

ROME: Italy’s economic capital Milan is a virus time “bomb” at risk of erupting with residents now free to move around – some gathering for canal-side cocktails – after two months under a pandemic lockdown.The city in the northern Lombardy region is the epicentre of...

NEW DELHI: Under lockdown and far apart, Sushen Dang and Keerti Narang went online to say their marriage vows – and pulled off a spectacular Indian wedding complete with thousands of guests and raucous Bollywood dancing.In a country famous for lavish weddings that last for days, the young...

PARIS: The coronavirus’ constant mutation is unlikely to have changed its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain.A pre-paper—that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers’...

The death of a 5-year-old New York boy is challenging assumptions that children are less susceptible to COVID-19 complications, Gov.

As India enters an extended coronavirus lockdown, the government is actively pursuing contact tracing to help control infections.

A second White House worker this week has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Friday, even as President Donald Trump continued to go mask-free at a World War II commemoration with veterans in their 90s.

The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too, an official told Reuters Friday.

President Donald Trump needled his Democratic rival Joe Biden Friday for limiting his campaign appearances to virtual events from the basement of his home in Delaware.

The biggest threat to Brazil's ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to British medical journal The Lancet.

Truth can be a casualty when President Donald Trump talks about deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.

Pakistanis crowded markets Saturday after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was eased, despite the country declaring its second highest daily infection toll.

LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office here Friday which reviewed anti-coronavirus steps and future roadmap of phase-wise easing of lockdown. It expressed concern over increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Lahore and decided to devise a separate policy...

By News DeskISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has summoned a session of the Upper House on Tuesday, as the country witnessed its sharpest spike in confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24 hour period with nearly over 1,900 new cases and 35 more deaths.According to a press release issued by the...

The Asia-Pacific region has the expertise and resources to take a leadership role in not only developing a COVID-19 vaccine but distributing it to those who need it most.

The Trump administration is defending its decision not to release a detailed coronavirus reopening plan for the U.S., maintaining they would have been too narrowly-focused for the country's 50 states.The administration's defense comes in response to an Associated Press report that it shelved a repor...

Korea's exports of coronavirus test kits last month amounted to more than US$200 million, or eight times the month before, according to the Korea Customs Service on Thursday.They were exported to 103 countries.Brazil imported US$30 million worth of test kits, which is the biggest proportion of 13 pe...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will keep Britain under a coronavirus lockdown until at least next month -- to the frustration of some in his Cabinet, who behind the scenes are arguing that Downing Street now needs to prioritize the economy, which is heading for its worst recession in 300 years.Cabinet...

A roundup of stay-at-home orders in Colorado due to the coronavirus outbreak. Read the details of the orders in San Miguel County, Denver, Boulder, Piktin County and the Southern Ute Tribe.

Rawalpindi : It was really a horrible experience to bury a confirmed patient of COVID-19, the disease caused by 2019 novel coronavirus as it was painful for the family members including sons who were unable to attend the funeral that was managed in a sense as a crime was committed, at least the...

With more five people falling victim to the novel coronavirus in a day, the death toll rose to 176 in Sindh on Friday. Four out of the deceased diagnosed with the COVID-9 belonged to Karachi. The new coronavirus cases which emerged in the province on Friday were 598.“Today is another...

Lebanon confirms one new coronavirus death, 12 more infections

Lebanon registered one new death due to coronavirus Friday, and 12 new infections, raising the total number of registered cases to 796.

Usually the kingdom of water tanks and satellite dishes, Lebanon's rooftops have recently been graced by unlikely scenes of locked-down residents fleeing their flats.

NEW DELHI: India’s top medical research body has turned down a proposal by the Modi government to test water from the Ganges river as a cure for coronavirus, ThePrint news portal said on Thursday.

It said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) turned down the government’s “request” to conduct research on a theory that Gangajal, or water from Ganges river, could possibly cure Covid-19.

Speaking to ThePrint, a source in the ICMR said the agency has refused to get involved as it is focussing on the Covid-19 battle and doesn’t want to waste time on other research amid the pandemic.

The move came after the country’s apex medical research body received a “request” from the Ministry of Jal Shakti to conduct “further research” on a proposal by an NGO, Atulya Ganga, said an ICMR official, who didn’t wish to be named.

In its letter last month, Mr Atulya had cited the presence of a “ninja virus”, called bacteriophage, in Ganges water that could cure Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Bacteriophage is a special type of virus that eats harmful bacteria, the letter said.

According ThePrint, the NGO asked the government on April 3 to conduct a study on the possibility of this virus acting as a cure. It sent a copy each to the ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The ministry’s National Mission for Clean Ganga, the department administering the Modi government’s ambitious Namami Gange programme, then wrote to ICMR on April 30 requesting a clinical trial.

The ICMR then held a meeting to discuss the idea, but refused to proceed, offering only its “help” to the NGO, ThePrint said. “We had indeed received a letter from the Ministry of Jal Shakti for such research. The experts at ICMR also held a meeting on this matter. Then we asked those proposing this research that you should tell us about hospitals and doctors that are ready and willing to conduct some research on it. We will certainly help them in this regard,” said the ICMR official.

“As of now we are still treating plasma therapy as a trial for treatment for corona (Covid-19), then how can we so quickly accept a virus called bacteriophage, found in the water of Ganges, as a cure? Right now, there is no logic in the argument that the virus found in Ganga’s water can indeed fight the coronavirus disease,” added the official.

However, he added that if the ministry takes an initiative into the matter then ICMR will extend its assistance to it.

Speaking to ThePrint, Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, ICMR’s head of the Department of Research Management, Policy Planning and Communication, in Delhi and Director of Regional Medical Research Centre, Gorakhpur, said: “A presentation was made after the Jal Shakti ministry’s proposal. The matter is at a very preliminary stage. Nothing has been decided on the future course of action. We will support the Jal Shakti ministry in all the work it does on this front.”

A senior official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, meanwhile, said there are several special properties in the river and many people were demanding research on them.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

A wholesale market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan played a role in the outbreak of the novel coronavirus last year, as the source or possibly as an “amplifying setting”, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, calling for more research.

Chinese authorities shut down the market in January as part of efforts to stop the spread of the virus and ordered a temporary ban on trade and consumption of wildlife.

“The market played a role in the event, that’s clear. But what role we don’t know; whether it was the source or amplifying setting or just a coincidence that some cases were detected in and around that market,” said Dr Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert on food safety and zoonotic viruses that cross the species barrier from animals to humans.

It was not clear whether live animals or infected vendors or shoppers may have brought the virus into the market, he told a Geneva news briefing.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said there is “a significant amount of evidence” the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory, although he has also said there wasn’t certainty.

Read: The Wuhan lab at the core of a virus controversy

No public evidence has linked the outbreak to the lab in Wuhan and scientists have said the coronavirus appears to have developed in nature. A German intelligence report cast doubts on Pompeo’s allegations, Der Spiegel reported.

Ben Embarek did not address the accusations. He noted that it took researchers a year to identify camels as the source of the Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, a coronavirus that emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and spread in the Middle East, adding: “It’s not too late.”

“What is important, what would be of great help, is to get hold of the virus before it adapted to humans, before the version we have now. Because then we would better understand how it adapted to humans, how it evolved,” he said.

“In terms of investigations, China has most probably, most likely, all the expertise needed to do these investigations. They have lot of very qualified researchers to that,” he said.

A common sight across Asia, wet markets traditionally sell fresh produce and live animals, such as fish, in the open air.

Many markets worldwide that sell live animals must be better regulated and hygiene conditions improved, and some should be closed down, Ben Embarek said. “But the vast majority can be fixed, can be better organised.”

It is often a question of controlling waste management, the movement of people and goods, and of separating live animals from animal products and from fresh goods, he said.

The governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on Friday announced the partial easing of lockdown measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, even as the number of infections in the country registered a record daily increase.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the lifting of the countrywide lockdown in phases from Saturday by reopening all construction-related industries and shopping centres for five days a week from Fajr (early morning) till 5pm and outpatient departments (OPDs) in hospitals.

The premier, who had announced the decision after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) attended by the chief ministers of the four provinces, had acknowledged that the lockdown was being eased "at a time when our curve is going up" but maintained that "it is not edging up as we were expecting.”

The trend continued on Friday, with the country recording 1,807 cases of Covid-19 from the three provinces of Punjab, Sindh and KP alone, and the national tally nearing 27,000. It is the highest daily increase in the number of infections since Pakistan confirmed its first case on February 26.

Also read: Pakistan's Covid-19 death toll doubles in last 10 days

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

A notification issued by the KP relief department said businesses associated with the construction industry will be exempt from closure subject to them following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) already issued for industrial units and sale points.

Businesses of steel and PVC pipes, electric appliances, manufacturers of steel and aluminium equipment, ceramic and paint industries, sanitary, paints, steel and aluminium works, and hardware stores will be allowed to open four days a week, not later than 4:00pm. They will remain closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

All factories which are not included in the negative lists of factories will also be allowed to resume operations.

According to the notification, all shops will be allowed to remain open for four days a week and not later than 4:00pm, subject to their implementation of the government's SOPs.

Meanwhile, Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information, Ajmal Wazir, told a press conference in Peshawar that educational institutions in the province will reopen as per the federal government's instructions and the province will not take an independent decision in this regard.

He added that discussions were being held on inter-district and intra-district transport with transporters and the decision will be shared with the public whenever it is taken.

Punjab

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said that the provincial government will submit a recommendation to the Centre for not lifting the lockdown in the province's major cities.

Speaking to reporters in Lahore, he said: "We have seen that there is a hype about coronavirus in some big cities. Therefore, we are submitting this recommendation to the federal government and if it is approved, then the lockdown and standard operating procedures will remain in big cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Gujranwala."

Examine: The lockdown dilemma

He added that higher secondary board examinations in Punjab will be cancelled and students will be promoted based on last year's grades. Schools will reopen on July 15.

As per the federal government's decision, OPDs in the province will open from May 9, Chohan said.

He added that the SOPs for congregational and Taraweeh prayers in mosques as announced by President Arif Alvi will remain in place.

The first session of the Punjab Assembly since the pandemic began was also to be held today.

Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told a press conference in Karachi that under "phase two" of the easing of the restrictions, businesses linked to construction industries will be allowed to open while observing the preventive guidelines. Selective OPDs will also be allowed to resume services.

Industries will no longer be required to submit an application to resume operations; however, they will have to submit an undertaking and forward the details of their employees to the government.

Shops will be allowed to open after sehri (dawn) and will be required to close at 5pm. They will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays which will be "safe days with 100 per cent lockdown", the chief minister said.

The businesses permitted to resume from Monday include shops in rural areas and neighbourhood shops situated in residential localities, excluding large market places.

Shah said marriage halls, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants in the province will remain closed and there will be no congregations or sports events either.

"These guidelines will remain applicable until May 31. This is what the federal government has outlined and we are ready to comply with these directives," he said.

The chief minister appealed to citizens to stay at home as much as possible. "If you are allowed to leave your homes, according to the directives issued by the government, then make sure to follow standard operating procedures. Wear a mask," he said.

Referring to the increase in Covid-19 infections, he added: "I am seeing the rise in cases, but for national integrity and uniform policy we are going along."

In a statement released by the CM House later in the day, Shah denied media reports stating that the lockdown will end on Monday, saying: "We are entering the second phase of the lockdown with some extra restrictions, particularly at hotspots."

He maintained that air, train and public transport will continue to remain suspended.

Balochistan

In Balochistan, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan approved the move to turn the lockdown imposed in the province into a 'smart lockdown', under which restrictions are enforced in virus hotspots only, according to Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani.

He announced that markets will be allowed to open from 3am till 5 in the evening.

Shopkeepers and traders will be bound to implement SOPs for precautionary measures while legal action will be taken against the violators, Shahwani said in a tweet.

WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday accused China and Russia of stepping up cooperation to spread false narratives over the coronavirus pandemic, saying Beijing was increasingly adopting techniques honed by Moscow.

“Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) in the realm of propaganda,” said Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign propaganda.

“But with this pandemic the cooperation has accelerated rapidly,” she told reporters.

“We see this convergence as a result of what we consider to be pragmatism between the two actors who want to shape public understanding of the Covid pandemic for their own purposes,” she said.

The Global Engagement Center earlier said that thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts were spreading conspiracies about the pandemic, including charging that the virus first detected last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan was created by the United States.

China outraged the United States when a foreign ministry spokesman tweeted a conspiracy that the US military brought the virus to Wuhan, but the two countries reached an informal rhetorical truce in late March after telephone talks between President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping.

Tensions have again soared as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushes the theory that the virus originated in a Chinese laboratory, even though both the World Health Organisation and the US government’s top epidemiologist say there is no evidence of this.

According to the Global Engagement Centre, China has again intensified its online campaign to defend its handling of the pandemic, which has killed some 270,000 people worldwide, and criticise the United States.

“Beijing is adapting in real time and increasingly using techniques that have long been employed by Moscow,” Gabrielle said.

China has increasingly used bot networks to amplify its message, Gabrielle said.

She said that official Chinese diplomatic accounts suddenly witnessed a surge in late March, going from adding around 30 new followers daily to more than 720, often from freshly created accounts.

She said that China was first observed using such online methods to “sow political discord” in its autonomous territory of Hong Kong, which has witnessed major pro-democracy demonstrations.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

The government has advised people to make homemade masks using capulanas – a traditional Mozambican cloth generally worn by women – and other readily available materials.

Since the start of India's COVID-19 lockdown on March 25, 2020, instances of Islamophobia have intensified, threatening the life, rights, and integrity of millions of Muslims.

A document created by the nation's top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging outbreak has been shelved by the Trump administration.

The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) launched an emergency coronavirus appeal Friday, saying Palestinians across the Middle East were suffering a devastating socio-economic impact.

The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 35,000 on Friday as the kingdom struggles to get to grips with rising numbers of new infections.