Queen Elizabeth II urged Britons to “rise to the challenge” of the coronavirus pandemic in a rare address to the nation Sunday night.“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time,’’ she said, speaking from her residence in Windsor.The Queen thanked workers at the National Health Service as well as those continuing to work essential jobs.“Every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to normal times,” the Queen said, going on to add her thanks for every Briton who is staying at home.“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” she said.The Queen left London to stay in the Windsor castle as the COVID-19 pandemic affects Britain.Her son, Prince Charles, has been diagnosed with a mild case of the virus.Queen Elizabeth II records an annual Christmas message to Britain, but very rarely addresses the country in Sunday’s fashion. Other instances of such an address by the 93-year-old monarch include one before the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 and after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002.
“While we have faced challenges before, this one is different,” the Queen said, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly all nations around the globe.The United Kingdom has recorded more than 48,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 5,000 resulting deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for the virus last week and is isolating at home.
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Month: April 2020
Virus Raises Specter of Gravest Attacks in Modern US Times
America’s surgeon general raised the specter of the gravest attacks against the nation in modern times to steel an anxious country Sunday for the impending and immeasurable sorrow he said would touch untold numbers of families in the age of the coronavirus. The government’s top infectious disease expert urged vigilant preparation for a virus that is unlikely to be wiped out entirely in the short term and may emerge again in a new season.The blunt assessments show just how much has changed in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s predictions that the virus would soon pass, and his suggestions that much of the economy could be up and running by Easter, April 12. But they also point to the suffering and sacrifice ahead until the pandemic begins to abate.The nation’s top doctor, Surgeon General Jerome Allen, said Americans should brace for levels of tragedy reminiscent of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.The number of people infected in the U.S. has exceeded 300,000, with the death toll climbing past 9,000. Nearly 4,200 of those deaths are in the state of New York, but a glimmer of hope there came on Sunday when Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state registered a small dip in new fatalities over a 24-hour period. Still, Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., said his state may run out of ventilators by week’s end. Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested his party’s presidential nominating convention, already pushed from July into August because of the outbreak, may have to move fully online to avoid packing thousands of people into an arena in Milwaukee. Also, the Defense Department released new requirements that all individuals on its property “will wear cloth face coverings when they cannot maintain six feet of social distance in public areas or work centers.”The most dire warning, though, came from Adams, who noted it was Palm Sunday, which starts the Christian holy week that concludes with Easter Sunday.”This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,” Adams said. “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized. It’s going to be happening all over the country. And I want America to understand that.”For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the toll in the coming week is “going to be shocking to some, but that’s what is going to happen before it turns around, so just buckle down.” He also said the virus probably won’t be wiped out entirely this year, and that unless the world gets it under control, it will “assume a seasonal nature.””We need to be prepared that, since it unlikely will be completely eradicated from the planet, that as we get into next season, we may see the beginning of a resurgence,” Fauci said. “That’s the reason why we’re pushing so hard in getting our preparedness much better than it was.”Trump has backed away from comments weeks earlier that large swaths of American life would resume by Easter. The president had no public events on his schedule Sunday after a series of two-hour daily briefings on the outbreak. Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to participate in a task force conference call from his residence in the afternoon. Much of the country is under orders to stay home, and federal officials said they have seen signs that people are listening to the message about social distancing. A few states, however, have declined to issue such orders and Adams was asked whether they should join the rest of the country.”Ninety percent of Americans are doing their part, even in the states where they haven’t had a shelter in place,” Adams said. “But if you can’t give us 30 days, governors, give us, give us a week, give us what you can, so that we don’t overwhelm our health care systems over this next week.”Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., who has not issued a stay-at-home order, said federal officials who have urged them are “just looking at the nation as a whole.””But whenever you look at our state, I think Dr. Fauci would be very pleased with the fact that we are beating some of our other states in reducing the spread and the commitment that we have to working every day to accomplish that,” Hutchison said.Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., who was among the first in the nation to issue orders that his state’s residents stay home, suggested the federal government should step in and make the remaining states follow suit. “This virus knows no borders. And so it was up to the federal government, to begin with, to advise and to ask all the governors to put in stay-at-home orders,” Pritzker said. “Those governors, Republican governors, would have done it much earlier if the president had suggested it much earlier.” Adams appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Fauci was on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Biden was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week” while Hutchinson was on NBC. Pritzker and Edwards were on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
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South Sudan Records First COVID-19
South Sudan confirmed its first COVID-19 case Sunday, a 29-year old woman who entered the country on Feb. 28 from the Netherlands via Addis Ababa. The U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said the individual is a U.N. staff member who has been in the country for nearly five weeks. Government and U.N. officials told reporters on Sunday they are tracing people who came into contact with her. “We need to check where that person has been, people she has come into contact with” said UNMISS Chief David Shearer. Shearer says nearly two weeks ago, UNMISS quarantined 150 individuals who arrived in South Sudan with the last flights that landed in Juba before the Juba International Airport closed. The majority of those quarantined showed no signs of the virus, but dozens are still isolated as a precaution. Riek Machar Teny, South Sudan’s First Vice President and deputy chair of the High Level Taskforce on COVID-19, said officials would monitor the situation. Machar said Sunday that the infected individual had presented symptoms including a fever, cough, headache and shortness of breath at a U.N. Clinic on Apr. 2. An initial test for COVID-19 came back positive as did a second test. “The Ministry of Health is leading a full investigation with the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention including identifying and following up all the possible contacts and next steps,” said Machar. South Sudan closed its borders and Juba International Airport on March 23. Government officials also implemented a nighttime curfew. More preventative measures may be taken, according to Machar, should things escalate. The government and U.N. agencies have called on the public to strictly follow preventive measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus. Olushayo Olu, WHO representative to South Sudan emphasized the practice of social distancing. “There are two to three ways you can contract the disease. It has a droplet in the air so you can actually breathe it but importantly it can also rest on surfaces. So as we move forward, as we try to social distance among ourselves let us also make sure that we don’t touch unnecessary surfaces. Let us also ensure that when we touch surfaces and our hands are not cleaned do not touch our face. So I think the message is hand washing,” said Olu. Shearer says unless the public cooperates in practicing the preventive measures, the situation is could get worse.
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Top US Health Officials: Shocking US Coronavirus Death Toll Just Ahead
Top U.S. health officials warned Americans on Sunday that the United States will face a shocking coronavirus death toll in the coming week as the pandemic continues to ravage the country. “This is going to be the hardest and saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told “Fox News Sunday.” “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized. It’s going to be happening all over the country.” FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, March 31, 2020, in Washington.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said bluntly on CBS’s “Face the Nation” show, “This is going to be a bad week. It’s going to be shocking to some.” The U.S. has already recorded more than 9,100 deaths and 321,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with officials predicting that eventually 100,000 to 240,000 could die from the pandemic. Models of the advance of the virus show the death toll increasing sharply in the next seven to nine days, with the fatalities often lagging increases in the number of confirmed cases by a week or two. “I wouldn’t say we have this under control. We are struggling to get it under control,” Fauci said, despite orders in 41 states covering more than 90% of the country’s 327 million population to stay home except to buy groceries, keep medical appointments and a few other essential outings. Despite the sharp expected increase in the death toll in the coming days, Fauci said he expects that in eight or nine days, “hopefully we’ll see” a leveling off and then a decrease in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases. “We’re pushing to get it much better under control,” he said. “It’s clear we’re much better off than we were,” with more testing in the U.S., more adherence to stay-at-home edicts and more tracing of contacts with other people by those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 3, 2020.President Donald Trump, however, has refused to issue a nationwide stay-at-home edict, saying he would leave it up to the remaining nine state governors who have not issued such commands in their states to decide whether they should order people to stay home. Fauci said the people in the nine states are “putting themselves at risk” by not self-isolating even if their governors have not issued stay-at-home orders. “This virus does not discriminate” whether one lives in a small community or a large city,” Fauci said. Adams told the nine governors, all Republicans like Trump, “What I would say to those governors is, if you can’t give us a month, give us what you can. Give us a week” with a stay-at-home order. “Give us whatever you can to stay at home during this particularly tough time when we’re going to be hitting our peak over the next seven to 10 days.” Adams said he wants the public to know that they, along with the state and federal governments, “have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic” by isolating and maintaining a physical distance of at least two meters from other people when they are in public. Trump has often said that he believes the use of anti-malarial drugs to treat coronavirus victims might be a “game-changer,” although the drugs have not been confirmed scientifically for use against coronavirus. Adams defended Trump’s support for use of the unproven drug called hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus, noting there have been “some stories out there” about it helping coronavirus patients. “We feel a bit better regarding its safety than we do about a completely novel drug,” Adams said. “And so, we just want to be able to facilitate physicians and patients having that conversation.” Fauci said “the data [about hydroxychloroquine] are at best suggestive. In terms of science, it’s not proven.”
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Spanish Players Criticize League’s Call for Furloughs
Soccer players in Spain on Sunday criticized the Spanish league’s decision to ask clubs to put the footballers on government furloughs during the coronavirus crisis.The league on Friday said the furloughs were needed because there was no agreement on the size of the salary cuts players must take to reduce the financial impact of the pandemic.”It is strange that the Liga supports [the furloughs],” Spain’s players’ association said in a statement.It said the league should have created a financial cushion for this period considering it always boasted about its “economic control measures” and the “well-balanced economy” of the Spanish clubs. The association said it also should be taken into account that the league has been temporarily suspended and not yet canceled.The league and the players’ association have been in talks to try to find ways to mitigate losses that could reach nearly 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) if the season cannot be restarted because of the pandemic.The players said they agree with a salary reduction to help the clubs during the crisis, but not to the extent the league wants, which could amount to nearly half of the total losses if the competition is not resumed.Players said they want to keep negotiating directly with the clubs instead of being forced into furloughs.”The clubs and the players have been reaching agreements regarding the salaries,” the players’ association said. “What footballers are not going to do is relinquish labor rights.”Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are among the Spanish clubs requesting furloughs, but both directly negotiated the amount of the salary reduction with players — 70% in both cases. Both clubs and their players are contributing to guarantee the wages of non-playing employees being furloughed.The government furloughs help reduce the clubs’ labor costs while also guaranteeing players their jobs once the crisis is over.Spain has more than 130,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with nearly 12,500 deaths. The nation is expected to remain in a lockdown until April 26.There is no timetable for the return of the Spanish league.Players maintained their position to only resume competing when health authorities deem it safe for everyone’s heath, a view also shared by the Spanish league.The league has suggested it will recommend teams start mini-camp while the lockdown is still in place, if it’s possible to do so within the restrictions imposed by authorities.
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Delivery of Humanitarian Aid in Sudan Designed to Prevent Spread of COVID-19
The United Nations reports the presence of the coronavirus in Sudan is forcing a radical change in the way humanitarian aid and services are being delivered to millions of people in need of assistance. The World Health Organization confirms 10 cases of COVID-19, including two deaths, in Sudan. In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Sudan, the government in Kinshasa and U.N. agencies are implementing a series of social distancing measures. They include an overnight curfew, the closure of schools and staff reductions in some key government offices.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports 9.2 million people in Sudan need humanitarian aid, including nearly 3 million refugees and internally displaced people. New ways of delivering aid are being implemented to protect them, as well as international aid workers, from becoming infected by this deadly virus.For example, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said two to three months of food rations will be distributed at one time to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by limiting the frequency of large gatherings of people.“To reduce possible risks of exposing malnourished children, there will be an increase in the supply of ready-to-use therapeutic food, which will reduce the frequency of visits by health staff in nutrition centers. Also, new guidelines and procedures are being developed to make sure that health workers can continue to deliver immunization, nutritional supplements, and maintain infant and young child feeding programs in this new reality,” he said. Gender-based violence is a big problem in Sudan and likely to worsen as the humanitarian crisis deepens. In keeping with the new social-distancing policy, Laerke told VOA that various activities involving large gatherings of people have been suspended. These include training workshops and meetings on gender violence awareness.“However, and that is important, of course, individual case management and individual counseling and referrals, for example to health facilities and what they call GBV — gender-based violence — confidential corner services, so where women can speak in confidence to counselors, that continues,” he said. There is limited information on the exact number of sexual and gender-based violence cases across Sudan. However, a 2014 survey suggests 34% of women aged 15 to 49 are victims of domestic violence. The U.N. reports very few clinical and specialized psychosocial support and counseling services are available in Sudan to help victims of rape and other forms of sexual and domestic abuse.
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Escalating Violence in Burkina Faso Drives Thousands of Malian Refugees to Return Home
The U.N. refugee agency reports escalating violence in Burkina Faso is driving thousands of Malian refugees to leave their camps and return to the war-torn homes they fled in search of safety. The United Nations reports violence in Burkina Faso has forcibly displaced more than 838,000 from their homes since January 2019. The UN refugee agency reports the escalating militant attacks also are affecting some 25,000 Malian refugees living in remote camps near the border separating the two countries. UNHCR spokesman, Babar Baloch tells VOA most of the refugees are choosing to return home because of the growing violence in Burkina Faso, judging it to be the lesser of two evils. “Mali is not secure as well and many of the returning refugees cannot return to their places of origin. This was a hard decision for them to return back and this decision is linked with the insecurity inside Burkina Faso,” he said. Baloch says the Goudoubo refugee camp in Burkina Faso is essentially empty following attacks and ultimatums by armed groups. He says this prompted some 9,000 Malians who lived there to flee for their lives. “About half of the residents, who reached Gao, Mopti and Timbuktu regions in Mali, cited insecurity and armed attacks as the reason to leave and felt they had no other option but to return. They arrived in Mali panicked, many with horror stories and arriving on rented trucks or camel backs with their families,” he said.Baloch says UNHCR is working with the Malian authorities to register the returning refugees. He says they are providing the returnees with shelter, relief items and cash to support their immediate needs. He says the returnees also are receiving health and hygiene equipment as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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US Reports One Fourth of Global COVID Cases
Roughly 25 percent of the world’s 1.2 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins figures Sunday morning. New York is the U.S. state hardest hit by the coronavirus, where it has claimed more than 3,500 lives. Public health experts say the situation is about to get worse, not only for New York, but for the rest of the United States as well. While New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state is about seven days away from its apex of the health crisis, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Saturday that the U.S. would soon face its hardest two weeks with the virus. “There’s going to be a lot of death,” Trump said. U.S. hospitals have been fighting the coronavirus battle with a woefully inadequate arsenal. Hospitals have been pleading for ventilators for their patients and the protective gear that doctors and other medical workers wear to prevent passing the disease back and forth between themselves and their patients. The global tally of confirmed cases has climbed to more than 1.2 million and has claimed over 65,000 lives. Spain, which has reported the second highest number of cases, over 130,000, plans to extend its nationwide lockdown by 15 more days, until April 26. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday he would ask parliament to extend lockdown measures for the second time after first extending them to April 11. But Sanchez noted that cases and death rates of the virus have been declining for the past week. “We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he told the nation Saturday. Italy, which has recorded the highest death toll in the world from COVID-19, has seen more than 11,000 of its medical workers infected by the virus, according to its National Institutes of Health and an association of physicians. The groups said about 73 physicians have died from the virus. Infections among medical personnel amount to nearly 10% of all infections in Italy. Queen Elizabeth II was expected to deliver a rare address to Britain Sunday as the virus continues to spread. Britain’s Ministry of Justice said Saturday that thousands of prisoners would be released within weeks as part of its broader campaign to contain the spread of the virus. Britain reported 708 deaths overnight, boosting the country’s death toll to more than 4,300. France’s military has begun moving patients to hospitals across the country in an effort to contain the coronavirus’s spread in the hard-hit area in and around Paris. Military planes, helicopters and trains are transporting patients to less-affected areas in western France. More than 7,500 deaths and 90,000 infections have been reported in France. Seventeen medical workers at Egypt’s main cancer hospital have tested positive for the coronavirus and are now in quarantine, according to an Associated Press report. Dr. Hatem Abu el-Kassem, the director of Cairo’s National Cancer Institute, told AP all the health workers at the facility will be tested for the virus. There are 1,070 confirmed cases of the virus in Egypt. China reported 30 new cases of the virus on Sunday, noting that 25 of them came from overseas. In past weeks, China had reported no new community infections, and has severely limited foreigners entering the country and flights landing from overseas in an effort to prevent another outbreak. The coronavirus first emerged late last year in China’s Hubei province, killing more than 3,300 people.
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Ukraine: Fire Near Contaminated Chernobyl Site Extinguished
Emergency authorities in Ukraine say there are no signs of any fire still burning in the uninhabited exclusion zone around the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant after firefighters mobilized to put out a blaze.The country’s State Emergency Service said early on Sunday that background radiation levels were “within normal limits.”More than 130 firefighters, three aircraft, and 21 vehicles were deployed on April 4 to battle the fire, which was said to have burned around 20 hectares (50 acres) in the long-vacated area near where an explosion at a Soviet nuclear plant in 1986 sent a plume of radioactive fallout high into the air and across swaths of Europe.Fire and safety crews were said to be inspecting the area overnight on April 4-5 to eliminate any threat from sites where there was still smoldering.The blaze required seven airdrops of water, officials said.The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said that “as of April 5, 7:00 a.m., there was no open fire, only some isolated cells smoldering.”It said firefighters hadn’t seen any flames since around 8:00 p.m. on April 4.Officials had earlier shared images taken from an aircraft of white smoke blanketing the area, where it said firefighting was complicated by “an increased radiation background in individual areas of combustion.”There was no threat to settlements, the State Emergency Service said.A number of regions of Ukraine this week have reported brushfires amid unseasonably dry conditions.Fires are a routine threat in the forested region around the exclusion zone where an explosion 33 years ago ripped a roof off the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat.The 1986 explosion sent a cloud of radioactive material high into the air above then-Soviet Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, as well as across Europe as Soviet officials denied there had been any accidents.Dozens of people in Ukraine died in the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, and thousands more have since died from its effects, mainly exposure to radiation.A second massive protective shelter over the contaminated reactor was completed in 2016 in hopes of preventing further radiation leaks and setting the stage for the eventual dismantling of the structure.
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‘Complete Collapse of Economies’ Ahead as Africa Faces Virus
Some of Uganda’s poorest people used to work here, on the streets of Kampala, as fruit sellers sitting on the pavement or as peddlers of everything from handkerchiefs to roasted peanuts.Now they’re gone and no one knows when they will return, victims of a global economic crisis linked to the coronavirus that could wipe out jobs for millions across the African continent, many who live hand-to-mouth with zero savings.“We’ve been through a lot on the continent. Ebola, yes, African governments took a hit, but we have not seen anything like this before,” Ahunna Eziakonwa, the United Nations Development Program regional director for Africa, told The Associated Press. “The African labor market is driven by imports and exports and with the lockdown everywhere in the world, it means basically that the economy is frozen in place.”And with that, of course, all the jobs are gone.”More than half of Africa’s 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other measures in a bid to prevent local transmission of the virus. They range from South Africa, where inequality and crime plague Africa’s most developed country, to places like Uganda, where the informal sector accounts for more than 50% of the country’s gross domestic product.The deserted streets in downtown Kampala, Uganda’s capital, underscore the challenge facing authorities across the world’s poorest continent, home to 1.3 billion people: how to look after millions of people stuck at home for weeks or even months of lockdown.Member of the country’s armed forces and a Red Cross worker distribute food to people affected by the lockdown measures aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus, in the Bwaise suburb of the capital Kampala, Uganda, April 4, 2020.With some governments saying they’re unable to offer direct support, the fate of Africa’s large informal sector could be a powerful example of what experts predict will be unprecedented damage to economies in the developing world. Among the millions made jobless are casual laborers, petty traders, street vendors, mechanics, taxi operators and conductors, housekeepers and waitresses, and dealers in everything from used clothes to construction hardware.Unless the virus’ spread can be controlled, up to 50% of all projected job growth in Africa will be lost as aviation, services, exports, mining, agriculture and the informal sector all take a hit, Eziakonwa said.”We will see a complete collapse of economies and livelihoods. Livelihoods will be wiped out in a way we have never seen before,” she warned.The U.N. Economic Commission for Africa has said the pandemic could seriously dent already stagnant growth in many countries, with oil-exporting nations like Nigeria and Angola losing up to $65 billion in revenue as prices fall.Economies in sub-Saharan Africa are seen as especially vulnerable because many are heavily indebted and some struggle just to implement their budgets under less stressful circumstances.Now the continent might need up to $10.6 billion in unanticipated increases in health spending, and revenue losses could lead to debt becoming unsustainable, UNECA chief Vera Songwe said in March.Urgent calls for an economic stimulus package have followed.Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has spoken of an “existential threat” to Africa’s economies while seeking up to $150 billion from G20 nations. A meeting of African finance ministers agreed that the continent needs a stimulus package of up to $100 billion, including a waiver of up to $44 billion in interest payments.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa backed the calls for a stimulus package, saying in a recent speech that the pandemic “will reverse the gains that many countries have made in recent years.” Several African nations have been among the fastest-growing in the world.Residents of Yeoville neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa, wait in line to enter a grocery store, April 3, 2020.The International Monetary Fund on March 25 said it had received requests for emergency financing from close to 20 African countries, with requests from another 10 or more likely to follow. The IMF has since approved credit facilities for at least two West African nations — Guinea and Senegal — facing virus-related economic disruption.Further challenges exist. Rampant corruption in many African countries feeds inequality, and poor or non-existent public services stoke public anger that sometimes escalates into street protests and deadly violence.Measures to control the spread of COVID-19 could make that worse as people trapped at home go hungry.UNECA has called for emergency actions to protect 30 million jobs immediately at risk across Africa, particularly in the tourism and airline sectors, saying the continent will be hit harder than others with an economic toll that will exacerbate “current fragilities.”After Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced that food markets could remain open under orders to decongest crowded areas, some fruit vendors were assaulted by armed men and had goods confiscated, drawing an apology from the army commander. Museveni later announced an effective lockdown, closing public transport and all but essential businesses.“What am I going to eat if he stops us from working? Museveni cannot do that,” said Marius Kamusiime, who operates a passenger motorcycle. “We may have to go back to the village if this corona becomes serious.”
On a continent where extended families are common, some say, one job loss can spell doom for up to a dozen or more people.“Sitting down is not an option because they don’t have money locked away,” said Eziakonwa, the UNDP official in charge of Africa.Some governments such as Rwanda are distributing food to those who need it, but there are questions about sustainability.“We do know what to do to bring the economy back to life. What we don’t know is how to bring back people to life,” said Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. He has created a virus alleviation fund to look after the neediest and has donated the equivalent of his salary for three months.But many want to see more support, including tax relief that benefits a wider section of the urban poor.In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced temporary tax relief to people described as low-income earners — those earning up to $240 in monthly wages — as well a reduction in the maximum income tax rate from 30% to 25%. He also gave $94 million to “vulnerable members of our society” to protect them from economic damage.But other leaders say they cannot afford such benefits.Noting that “the rich countries are unlocking staggering sums” to stimulate their economies, Benin’s President Patrice Talon said that his West African country, “like most African countries, does not have these means.”
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US Braces for Worst COVID-19 Weeks
“It’s only been 30 days since our first case,” battle-fatigued New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday about the COVID-19 outbreak that has invaded his state. “It feels like an entire lifetime.”New York is the U.S. state hardest hit by the coronavirus, where it has claimed more than 3,500 lives. Public health experts say the situation is about to get worse, not only for New York, but for the rest of the United States as well.While Cuomo said the state is about seven days away from its apex of the health crisis, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Saturday that the U.S. would soon face its hardest two weeks with the virus.“There’s going to be a lot of death,” Trump said.U.S. hospitals have been fighting the coronavirus battle with a woefully inadequate arsenal. Hospitals have been pleading for ventilators for their patients and the protective gear that doctors and other medical workers wear to prevent passing the disease back and forth between themselves and their patients.New York received a shipment of 1,000 ventilators Saturday from China. “This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us,” Cuomo said.Cuomo also said 85,000 volunteers are helping New York combat the virus and that he will sign an executive order allowing medical students slated to graduate this spring to graduate early and start practicing.A medic of the Elmhurst Hospital Center medical team reacts after stepping outside of the emergency room on April 4, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York.Some states have been at odds with the White House because the Trump administration has not mounted a unified approach to combatting the virus, leaving each state to craft its own strategy to find medical equipment and drugs to fight the deadly virus.The Washington Post reported the White House got its first official notification of the outbreak in China on January 3, but it took the administration 70 days to treat the outbreak as the deadly pandemic it has become.The global tally of confirmed cases has climbed to more than 1.2 million and almost 65,000 deaths.Spain, with more than 126,000 cases and almost 12,000 deaths, plans to extend its nationwide lockdown by 15 more days, until April 26. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday he would ask parliament to extend lockdown measures for the second time after first extending them to April 11.Italy, the second-hardest-hit European country after Spain, has had more than 11,000 of its medical workers infected by COVID-19, according to its National Institutes of Health and an association of physicians. The groups said about 73 physicians have died from the virus. Infections among medical personnel amount to nearly 10 percent of all infections in Italy.Carabinieri military police patrol Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican April 5, 2020, before Pope Francis leads Palm Sunday Mass without public participation due to the spread of coronavirus disease.Britain’s Ministry of Justice said Saturday that thousands of prisoners would be released within weeks as part of its broader campaign to contain the spread of the virus. Britain reported 708 deaths overnight, boosting the country’s death toll to more than 4,300. The ministry said the inmates would be electronically monitored to ensure they remain at home and could be returned to prison “at the first sign of concern.”France’s military has begun moving patients to hospitals across the country in an effort to contain the coronavirus’s spread in the hard-hit area in and around Paris. Military planes, helicopters and trains are transporting patients to less-affected areas in western France. More than 7,500 deaths and 90,000 infections have been reported in France.China observed a national moment of mourning for three minutes Saturday morning, as flags flew at half-staff and air sirens sounded to remember COVID-19 victims and the “martyrs” or front-line medical workers who died in the Asian nation’s fight to save the sick.The coronavirus first emerged late last year in China’s Hubei province, killing more than 3,300 people.
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Australia to Start COVID-19 Vaccine Animal Tests
Government researchers in Australia have started animal tests of two potential COVID-19 vaccines. However, experts caution that even if they prove successful, manufacturers will be unlikely to mass-produce a vaccine until next year.The vaccines have been made by Oxford University in Britain and in the United States by Inovio Pharmaceuticals.The World Health Organization has said they can be tested on animals, which is a fundamental step in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine for humans.Australia’s national science agency is assessing whether the treatments work, and whether they are safe for people.The potential vaccines are being tested on ferrets, which contract the coronavirus in the same way people do.Jane Halton, the head of Australia’s Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, says the experiments are a breakthrough. “They are very significant,” she said. “I mean, this is world-leading technology and this is the first time actually in the world that we have done these animal model tests to look at two candidate vaccines, both of which the CEPI coalition has provided funding towards.” There is a global push to find an effective treatment for the new coronavirus that continues to cut a deadly swath though many countries. International collaboration is high, and the research continues at a rapid pace. At least 20 vaccines are being developed around the world.Australian researchers have said it would usually take them up to two years to reach the point of animal testing. This time it has taken them just two months.However, experts believe that despite the progress, a vaccine will probably not be available until later in 2021 because of the time it will take for new treatments to meet international standards.
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US, Somalia Conduct Airstrike Against Al-Shabab Terrorist Group
The U.S. Africa Command says it has, in coordination with the Somali government, targeted al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group in an airstrike Friday.The command issued a statement Saturday saying that the airstrike took place near Bush Madina on Friday.According to initial assessments, the statement said, five terrorists were killed during the airstrike, and no civilians were killed or injured.The U.S. Africa Command works with the Somali government to improve security conditions for the country and its people, and to enhance governance and economic development there.The command and its international partners “recognize that stability in Somalia will not be achieved through purely military means, the statement said, “it requires providing programs and opportunity for the Somali people.”The International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday that Somalia was at a critical juncture, as the country is threatened by the spread of COVID-19, while at the same time facing violence, conflict, displacement of people and malnutrition.
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Physically Distant, But Socially Close: Staying Sober While Staying Home
“Meetings are huge for me,” says Mike S., a 52-year-old web content specialist who has been sober since 2012.When his community began practicing social distancing, some of his usual meetings began offering the option of attending online. Mike went in person as long as he could, but things already felt different.With some regulars attending online through a video conferencing service called Zoom, the number of people physically attending “dropped on average by about half,” he said, “which was disconcerting and felt ominous.”Connection with one another is a key part of the way many people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction stay clean and sober, which makes the stay-at-home orders affecting many urban centers particularly challenging.Larry C., a real estate agent, relapsed last year after more than a dozen years sober. He is participating in an outpatient treatment program that, due to social distancing restrictions, occurs entirely online through Zoom.“I initially did worry about 12-step meetings and [treatment] meetings via Zoom, but the video platform has turned out to be great,” he says. Like many of his peers in recovery, he supplements his online meetings with phone calls to other people in recovery, study of recovery literature, and by trying to maintain healthy eating, sleeping and exercise habits.Pedestrians pass Brooklyn Hospital Center on April 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.Zoom, a cloud-based video conferencing service whose popularity has shot up 67 percent since the beginning of the year, has kept many meetings in the Washington, D.C., area afloat as churches and other venues are forced to close their doors. For some skeptics, it has been an easier-than-expected transition.“Zoom meetings were a pleasant discovery,” says Cheryl, who has been sober nearly 15 years and works in the federal immigration system. “I took part in one [recently] and realized that I knew a third of the women in it. Nice surprise.”Others say the online meetings have meant that friends who now live elsewhere can easily revisit meetings they used to frequent. And familiar faces mean familiar interactions.“We still tell the same bad jokes,” says Alan S., a real estate agent sober more than seven years. “Just online.”Meanwhile, new resources are emerging. Paul Brethren, a certified addiction treatment specialist with more than 20 years’ experience, has established a free service called Sober Buddy that currently sends a daily email to more than 10,000 subscribers and is set to launch a mobile app in mid-May. The messages from Sober Buddy are meant to educate, challenge and strengthen skills at maintaining a sober life. It’s an approach based on cognitive behavioral therapy, which replaces unhealthy thought and behavior patterns with better ones.With the onset of the pandemic, Brethren says, the service has begun to tailor its message to the specific challenges of the day – such as preventing relapse at a time of fear and uncertainty.“One of the major skills for people in recovery is adapting,” Brethren says. “Life is difficult. If you fail to adapt, then you get stuck. When people get stuck, they’re at greater risk of going back to what’s familiar.”For a person in recovery, that can mean reverting to addictive behavior. “So the better you are at adapting in a healthy way, the more successful you’ll be,” he says.Sober Buddy also incorporates links to other recovery programs, such as Smart Recovery and 12-step programs for alcohol and drug users, including maps showing the locations of local in-person meetings.An empty Hollywood Boulevard is seen under the neon lights of El Capitan Theatre, top left, on April 2, 2020, in Los Angeles.Other forms of online communication, such as websites, Facebook groups and old-fashioned email lists are also helping people in recovery find one another and their online meetings while physically separated. But for those with long-term sobriety, there is still one big worry.“What a lot of us are worried about is the newcomer,” says a 52-year-old sober woman who prefers not to give her name. “How does someone newly sober find an online meeting?”Mike S. notes that helping newcomers is a big part of the why and the how of staying sober. “I do worry about newcomers … or people who are curious about recovery, or people who are desperate, not being able to make a connection that could save their lives.”To that end, a few face-to-face meetings can still be found, advertised through local addiction hotlines, social media and word-of-mouth.Mike S. notes that he attended an outdoor meeting about a week ago, “with everyone bringing their own chairs and sitting 6 feet apart. … It was quite refreshing and calming.”Jason A., who facilitates recovery meetings and attends as a participant, says he has built a routine of online meetings, one-on-one phone calls, prayer and meditation, and self-care, all of which help him stay sober.“I really like the idea of staying physically distant but socially close,” he says. “It speaks to maintaining my overall wellness.” Resources: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline Alcoholics Anonymous: https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/need-help-with-a-drinking-problem Narcotics Anonymous: https://na.org/ Smart Recovery: https://www.smartrecovery.org/ Sober Buddy: https://yoursoberbuddy.com/
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Banning Consumption of Wildlife in Asia Difficult, Despite COVID Pandemic
Scientists say COVID-19 likely originated through “animal to human” transmission at a wild animal market in Wuhan, China. New studies by the Global Virome Project, a worldwide effort to increase preparedness for pandemics, indicate the world can expect about five new animal-borne pathogens to infect humans each year, creating a sense of urgency to curb the wild animal trade. Steve Sandford files this report for VOA from Krabi, Thailand.
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Another Cruise Ship With Virus Victims Docks in Florida
Another cruise ship with coronavirus victims on board, including two fatalities, docked in Florida on Saturday.Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali said in an email that the Coral Princess ship was docking in Miami. The ship with 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members had been in limbo for days awaiting permission to dock.As of Thursday, Kamali said, seven passengers and five crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus.Anyone in need of hospitalization would disembark first, the cruise line said, although it wasn’t immediately clear when that would happen. Those who are fit to fly will begin leaving on Sunday, while others who have symptoms of respiratory illness will remain on board until cleared by ship doctors.A day earlier, the cruise ships Zaandam and Rotterdam were permitted to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, with 14 critically ill people taken immediately to hospitals. The remaining passengers were slowly being allowed to board flights for home.The Coral Princess had been on a South American cruise that was due to end March 19 in Buenos Aires. Since then, the ship has encountered obstacles to docking because of various port closures and cancellation of airline flights, the cruise line said.Passengers have self-isolated in their staterooms and meals have been delivered by room service. Crew members also have remained in their quarters when they are not working.The Coast Guard said in a news release Saturday it has been involved with processing about 120 vessels carrying some 250,000 passengers over the past three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.The Coast Guard statement said as of Saturday there are 114 cruise ships, carrying 93,000 crew members, either in or near U.S. ports and waters. That includes 73 cruise ships, with 52,000 crew members, moored or anchored in U.S. ports and anchorages. Another 41 cruise ships, with 41,000 crew members, are underway and close to the U.S.The cruise line industry announced a voluntarily suspension of most ship operations from U.S. ports on March 13. The next day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a “no sail” order to all cruise ships that had not suspended operations.”We commend the decision by the cruise industry to cease operations. However, pausing a global tourist industry does not happen instantaneously or easily,” said Vice Admiral Dan Abel, Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations. “The federal, state, local and industry cooperation to achieve this feat truly represents the whole-of-nation approach directed by the president and is essential to fighting the spread of this virus and working to minimize the loss of life.”Princess Cruises is a brand of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise company.
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For Now, US Judge Won’t Release Immigrants With High Virus Risks
A federal judge in the United States declined to order the release of two people from immigration detention facilities in the state of Maryland after their lawyers argued that they are at a high risk of death or serious illness from a coronavirus infection.But U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang said he would quickly consider a similar release motion from the two men if COVID-19 is reported within their detention centers or if the centers do not adequately test people with suspected symptoms of the virus.Chuang’s ruling late Friday came in a lawsuit filed by immigrants’ rights advocates. It follows other recent court orders to free people from immigration detention during the COVID-19 pandemic.The two men who sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Maryland case have been held in civil detention at the Worcester County Detention Center and the Howard County Detention Center while waiting for their immigration cases to be resolved.One of the plaintiffs, a 52-year-old citizen of El Salvador, has diabetes. The other, a 54-year-old citizen of Guatemala, has hypertension and prostate problems. They were among more than 35,000 people who were in ICE custody as of last weekend.Practicing “social distancing” and better hygiene is impossible in crowded detention centers, plaintiffs’ lawyers argued.”Even with the measures ICE has purported to take to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its facilities, immigration detention centers are a hotbed for spread of the virus,” the March 24 lawsuit said.Neither Maryland detention center has a single confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case, Justice Department attorney Vincent Vaccarella said during a Thursday court hearing. A “purely speculative risk” of contracting COVID-19 doesn’t entitle the plaintiffs to immediate release, Vaccarella said in a court filing.In denying the plaintiffs’ temporary restraining order, Chaung wrote that he didn’t find the threat of the new coronavirus in society as opposed to inside a detention center “inflicts unconstitutional punishment on high-risk detainees.””To adopt petitioners’ position would be to hold that the detention of any high-risk immigration detainee during the pandemic is necessarily unconstitutional, a position that the court is not presently prepared to adopt,” he wrote.But should COVID-19 cases turn up in the detention center or tests aren’t made available, Chaung wrote that the plaintiffs likely would be successful in their case “based on deliberate indifference” to their serious medical needs.The Maryland plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Maryland.Similar lawsuits have been filed in other states, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state, according to the ACLU.Earlier this week, federal judges in California and Pennsylvania ordered ICE to release several detainees who sued.
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Ministry: Tunisia Security Forces Kill Two ‘Terrorists’
Tunisian soldiers and members of the national guard shot dead two “terrorist elements” in the center-west of the country, the Interior Ministry said late Saturday.The operation took place in the mountainous Kasserine region near the border with Algeria, it said in a statement.The Kasserine range is known as an area where jihadists take shelter, such as Jund al-Khilafa, which is affiliated with both Islamic State and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI).The country has been in a state of emergency since a suicide attack in Tunis in November 2015 that killed 12 members of the presidential guard.On March 22, it ordered a shutdown as part of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. It is due to stay in place until April 19.
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France Launches Terror Probe After Two Die in Stabbing Spree
A Sudanese refugee went on a knife rampage in a town in southeastern France on Saturday, killing two people in what was being treated as a terrorist attack.The attack in broad daylight, which President Emmanuel Macron called “an odious act,” took place with the country on lockdown in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.Counterterrorism prosecutors launched an investigation into “murder linked to a terrorist enterprise” after the rampage in a string of shops in Romans-sur-Isere, a riverside town of 35,000.The assailant, identified only as Abdallah A.-O., a refugee in his 30s from Sudan who lives in the town, was arrested without a fight by police.”He was found on his knees on the pavement, praying in Arabic,” the prosecutor’s office said.According to witnesses cited by local radio station France Bleu Drome Ardeche, he shouted “Allah Akbar!” (God is greatest) as he stabbed his victims.”Anyone who had the misfortune to find themselves in his way were attacked,” town Mayor Marie-Helene Thoraval told AFP.David Olivier Reverdy, from the National Police Alliance union, said the assailant had called on police to kill him when they came to arrest him.’Jumped over the counter’The suspect first went into a tobacco shop, where he attacked the owner and his wife, Thoraval said.He then went into a butcher’s shop, where he seized another knife before heading to the town center and attacking people in the street outside a bakery.”He took a knife, jumped over the counter, and stabbed a customer, then ran away,” the butcher’s shop owner, Ludovic Breyton, told AFP. “My wife tried to help the victim but in vain.”Interior Minister Cristophe Castaner, who visited the scene, said two people were killed and five others injured.”This morning, a man embarked on a terrorist journey,” he said.The initial investigation has “brought to light a determined, murderous course likely to seriously disturb public order through intimidation or terror,” according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office (PNAT).It said that during a search of the suspect’s home, “handwritten documents with religious connotations were found in which the author complains in particular that he lives in a country of nonbelievers.”The suspect, who obtained refugee status in 2017, was not known to police or intelligence services in France or Europe, PNAT said.Macron denounced the attack in a statement on Twitter.”All the light will be shed on this odious act which casts a shadow over our country, which has already been hit hard in recent weeks,” he said.France is in its third week of a national lockdown over COVID-19, with all but essential businesses ordered to shut and people told to stay at home.The country has been on terror alert since a wave of deadly jihadist bombings and shootings in Paris in 2015. In all, 258 people have been killed in France in what have been deemed terrorist attacks.
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Coronavirus, Conflict Threaten Thousands of Refugees, Migrants Detained in Libya
The U.N. refugee agency warns thousands of refugees and migrants detained in sub-standard facilities in Libya are threatened by COVID-19 and the ongoing conflict in the country, and should be released.The warning comes as a military offensive launched by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan capital Tripoli a year ago continues unabated despite the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.The U.N. refugee agency reports more than 300 civilians have been killed and 150,000 others displaced by the fighting.In addition to this threat, the UNHCR says Libyan authorities have confirmed 10 cases of COVID-19 and one death.UNHCR spokesman Babar Balloch says the country’s weakened health services are unable to adequately respond to this pandemic.“The ongoing conflict has severely impacted the country’s health system and medical services, which have limited financial resources and face shortages of basic equipment and medicines. Many hospitals or health facilities, located in the areas close to the conflict, have also been damaged or closed,” he said.Balloch said daily life is becoming increasingly difficult for people across conflict-torn Libya. He said they have difficulty accessing basic goods and services, and finding work. He said house rentals, food and fuel prices are soaring, making them unaffordable for many. But he noted those most at risk in this unstable, war-torn society are the thousands of asylum seekers and refugees held in detention. He says the UNHCR and other agencies are calling for their orderly release.“Asylum seekers and refugees, held in detention because they do not have legal documentation, are particularly vulnerable and exposed, given often poor sanitation facilities, limited health services and overcrowded conditions. Many detention centers are also located in areas close to the fighting frontlines,” he said.Balloch said the UNHCR continues to provide protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, forcibly displaced Libyans and returnees. But he added deteriorating conditions and lack of security in the country are hampering the delivery of aid to those in need.
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Conservation Groups Fear Wildlife Trade Will Resume as China Lifts Restrictions
Conservation groups are concerned the wildlife trade will be allowed to resume as China begins to ease restrictions on movement and work in areas of the country hit hardest by COVID-19, which could pose a threat to human health.
Scientists say the coronavirus outbreak likely originated through animal-to-human transmission at a wild animal market in Wuhan, and studies by the Global Virome Project, a California-based effort to prevent pandemics, predict about five new animal-borne pathogens will infect humans each year.
The wildlife trade in Asia is big business; China’s annual wildlife trade market is estimated to be worth more than $7 billion, “and this goes up tenfold when you include the business surrounding it,” according to Steve Galster, founder of Freeland, a Bangkok-based environmental conservation and human rights organization.
Most experts are calling for a permanent ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals.
“We’re not talking about banning deer or duck hunting. We’re talking about ending the global commercial trade in wild animals,” Galster said.
“This COVID-19 started in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. The Chinese know it. That’s why they closed that and every other market across the country and have banned wildlife trade and wildlife consumption,” he said.
Asia’s appetite for pangolins and other wildlife led to several virus outbreaks in the early 2000s including the SARS pandemic and bird flu.
Coronavirus transmission was believed to have occurred from bats to civets and pangolins, whose scales are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
Early COVID-19 infections were found in people who had had exposure to Wuhan’s wet market, where snakes, bats, civets and other wildlife were sold.
China temporarily shut down wildlife markets in January, warning that eating wild animals posed a health and safety threat. The country took similar action in 2003 during the spread of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome.
None of the past animal-borne diseases have had the coronavirus’s devastating effect, though.
Dr. Wittaya Reongkovit, a Thai public health officer was working in Bangkok during the SARS outbreak that began in November 2002 and spread to 29 countries, including Thailand.
“This pandemic is spreading faster right now but we also have better and faster communication in the era of big data on a real timeline and that is helping develop our newer biotechnology,” Wittaya said.
“If they can ban the wildlife trade permanently it will be good because many people in Asia like to eat the wildlife meat raw or barely cooked because it is in their tradition,” he said.
“If you cook and clean the meat properly it is much safer but people in the poorer areas of Asia are without access to proper hygiene and nutrition.”
As China continues easing restrictions in former COVID-19 hotbeds, conservation groups say they will continue applying pressure to ban wildlife trade and the deadly viruses that come with it.
“There are divisions within the Chinese government now on whether to keep a strict ban, or eventually loosen it up,” Galster said.
“If we don’t treat the cause of this mess, current efforts will amount to expensive Band-Aids the that need frequent changing,” adds Galster.
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Malaysia Arrests Thousands Amid Coronavirus Lockdown
Malaysia has arrested more than 4,000 people for violating virus lockdown orders, marking the toughest law enforcement action in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, where the president encourages police to shoot offenders.
Malaysia is entering what it calls a “harsh mode” or a harsher phase of its official Movement Control Order to keep citizens in isolation and curb the spread of coronavirus, which threatens both the economy and human rights.
Police set up hundreds of roadblocks, have been conducting inspections, and have arrested thousands, including one man who jumped into the Strait of Malacca to avoid arrest, according to the government news service Bernama.
“At first, the police enforcement was done in the soft and advisory mode, then it changed into the stern mode, and now it has entered the harsh mode,” Bernama quoted Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the senior minister for security, as saying at a press conference Thursday. “So I hope the people will adhere to the MCO.”
Lockdown enforcement around the world has ranged from Florida charging a pastor who violated orders against mass gatherings, to Australia fining citizens who gather in groups of two or more.
But Malaysia reports one of the highest arrest rates, with 4,189 people arrested for loitering since March 18, including 1,449 charged in court. The rate is higher in the Philippines, where police arrested more than 20,000 lockdown violators, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said to “shoot them dead” if needed.
Malaysia said its lockdown is decreasing the spread of COVID-19. It has reported 3,116 total cases and 50 deaths as of Friday.
Google published data showing how much mobility has changed in each nation amid lockdown, using cell phone data. Malaysia saw the presence of citizens at retail and recreation sites decrease by 81% on Sunday, compared with about a month earlier, according to Google.
The law enforcement actions have included a crackdown on speech, however, that activists worry could threaten human rights, as the former ruling party that ran Malaysia for all except two years of its modern history returns to power.The sun sets on the beach in Penang, where one citizen jumped into the sea to avoid arrest for violating Malaysia’s virus lockdown order.In addition to lockdown violators, the authorities have arrested people for allegedly spreading misinformation online about the virus. Journalists say they are self-censoring news about the virus to avoid punishment from the government.
“Human rights workers, free expression advocates, bloggers, software developers, and activists are all in danger when government uses leeway obtained during a crisis to curtail free expression far beyond what’s required,” said Jason Kelley, a digital strategist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for an open internet.
He noted in a blog post that Malaysia is among several governments arresting people for alleged misinformation, and he says many of those arrested are activists.
Economists say the political turmoil in Kuala Lumpur will make it hard for the government to fight the coronavirus. Mahathir Mohamad, who became prime minister again in 2018 thanks mostly to the 1MDB corruption scandal that sank the prior regime, tried to consolidate power in February. His failure caused a political crisis until the old ruling party stepped into the power vacuum in March.
With the old party back in power, the government has started to stabilize, but the virus is still threatening the economy. Malaysia is one of the first three economies in the region, in addition to Singapore and Thailand, to predict a recession this year because of the coronavirus.
In response, the government announced last week the “People’s Economic Stimulus Package,” locally abbreviated as PRIHATIN, to deal with COVID-19. The package includes $57.3 billion worth of cash aid, loans, deferred taxes and debt payments, along with other aid.
“The sheer size of PRIHATIN signals the seriousness and sincerity in the government’s approach,” said Jason Liang and Krystal Ng, partners at law firm Wong & Partners, in a joint assessment. “These measures ought to be far-reaching and should provide a source of encouragement and relief.”
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Knife-Wielding Man in Southern France Kills 2 in Attack on Passersby
Prosecutors say a man wielding a knife has attacked residents venturing out to shop in a town under lockdown south of the French city of Lyon. Two people were killed and others wounded. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press the attack took place at 11 a.m. in a commercial street in Romans-sur-Isere. The alleged attacker was arrested by police nearby. Prosecutors did not identify him. They said he had no documents but claimed to be Sudanese and to have been born in 1987. Prosecutors couldn’t confirm French media reports that there were several other casualties, of whom three are in critical condition. They have not yet determined whether the attack was terror-related.Prosecutors said that other people were also wounded but couldn’t confirm French media reports that there were seven other casualties, of whom three are in critical condition.They also did not confirm reports that the man had shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is great) as he carried out the attack.The office said it is evaluating whether the attack was motivated by terrorism, but that it has not launched any formal proceedings to treat it as such.Like the rest of France, the town’s residents are on coronavirus-linked lockdown. The victims were carrying out their weekend food shopping on the street that has bakeries and grocers, the office said. Two-meter distancing is being encouraged as in the rest of the country.Media reported that the knifeman first attacked a Romanian resident who had just left his home for his daily walk – slitting his throat in front of his girlfriend and son.Following that, they reported, the assailant entered a tobacco shop, stabbed the tobacconist and two customers, and then went into the local butcher’s shop. He grabbed another knife and attacked a client with the blunt end before entering a supermarket.Some shoppers took refuge in a nearby bakery.There have been a number of knife attacks in France in recent months. In January, French police shot and injured a man in Metz who was waving a knife and shouting “Allahu akbar.”Two days earlier, another man was shot dead by police after he stabbed one person fatally and wounded two others in a Paris suburb.
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China Pauses to Honor Coronavirus Victims, Frontline Medics
China observed a national moment of mourning for three minutes Saturday morning, as flags flew at half-staff, and air sirens sounded to remember its COVID-19 victims and the “martyrs” or frontline medical workers who died in the Asian nation’s fight to save the sick.
The coronavirus first emerged late last year in China’s Hubei province, killing more than 3,300 people, according to official Chinese numbers.
There has been some controversy about whether China has been completely honest about its medical statistics on the virus and the date when the virus first emerged.
While China appears to be in a recovery period from the effects of the virus, the contagion has been unleashed on the rest of the world, spreading misery and death.People holding flowers observe a moment of silence as China holds a national mourning for those who died of the coronavirus in Beijing, China, April 4, 2020. (cnsphoto via Reuters) The number of COVID cases continues to rise with more than a million confirmed cases globally and almost 60,000 deaths. Medical workers and governments continue to struggle in the battle against the disease
The United States is the world hotspot for the disease with more than 278,000 cases, but its government remains reluctant to mount a unified approach to the fight. Instead, President Donald Trump has told states they are on their own in figuring out how to best deal with the overwhelming public health crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people wear non-medical cloth face masks to prevent spreading the coronavirus, after weeks of assuring the public that masks were not necessary. Trump, however, said he would not wear a mask.
Trump said he did not see himself sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office while wearing a face mask. “Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens — I just don’t see it.” President Donald Trump speaks at the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, in Washington, April 3, 2020.The Associated Press reported that some supplies that the federal government sent to some states were unusable for a number of reasons, including dry rot on masks and ventilators that were broken.
The U.S and other countries have turned to the open market to source medical equipment and medicine for the sick and supplies to protect medical workers, bidding against each other and driving prices up.
A French politician told AP that the competition for supplies is a “worldwide treasure hunt.”
Social agencies have warned that with the almost global shutdown that the coronavirus has prompted in an effort to halt its spread, other issues are emerging.
The shutdown can sequester domestic violence victims with their perpetrators. School systems are moving to online classes, but not all students have the technology they need to participate, revealing a digital divide among communities. Observers say the suicide rate is likely to rise with the social isolation and the loss of jobs and money caused by the fight against the coronavirus.Coffins with the bodies of coronavirus victims are stored waiting for burial or cremation at the Collserola morgue in Barcelona, Spain, April 2, 2020.The head of the World Health Organization said Friday the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a global crisis that is causing an array of problems beyond rising infections and mounting death tolls.“We know this is much more than a health crisis,” said WHO Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a regularly scheduled media briefing in Geneva. “We are all aware of the profound social and economic consequences of the pandemic.”
Tedros said more than one million cases worldwide have been reported to the WHO.
But Australian chief medical officer Brendan Murphy told reporters in Sydney Friday the global coronavirus rate is up to 10 times higher.
“Worldwide we have passed one million infections. But we believe the true number is five or 10 times as much,” Murphy said. He said the under-reporting of cases is due to a shortage of testing for the virus in some countries.
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