Coronavirus

Italian hosiery maker Calzedonia joins fight against Covid-19

The Italian hosiery industry is stepping up to help fight COVID-19. Many companies are closed, however a number are opening their doors and converting their production lines to make masks…

Read More Here

Swiss death toll rises to 484

The death toll in Switzerland has risen to 484 while the number of positive cases stands at 19,903, the Swiss government has said. The country has closed schools, shuttered many…

Read More Here

684 people die in one day in the UK

The UK Department of Health daily bulletin makes for some grim reading with 684 people losing their lives to the novel coronavirus throughout Thursday. The total number of people…

Read More Here

Photo Story: New England Patriots intervenes to deliver a million masks from China

The American professional football team based in the Greater Boston area of the New England Patriots intervened to give a helping hand amid the coronavirus pandemic in the USA. The…

Read More Here

European industry retools to fight coronavirus

Across Europe, a variety of companies are retooling to produce health equipment that is in short supply, from masks to life-saving ventilators. Spanish perfume maker Puig is whipping up hand…

Read More Here

Agricultural sector at risk in Europe without migrant workers

Farmers across Europe bank on improvised armies of pickers to save harvest, as coronavirus lockdowns have stopped migrant workers from arriving to carry out the work. Fruit and vegetable crops…

Read More Here

Merkel ends her self-quarantine

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ended her self-quarantine and returned to the chancellery on Friday after testing negative for coronavirus several times, her spokesman said. Merkel had been self-quarantining and…

Read More Here

Fujifilm says new coronavirus test can produce results in two hours

Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it has developed a new, faster test for the novel coronavirus that that causes the COVID-19 disease, reducing the time of results delivery to about two…

Read More Here

Russia sending 11 military planes to Serbia with medical equipment

Russia says it is sending 11 military planes to Serbia carrying medical equipment to help in the fight against COVID-19. The Russian Defense Ministry said the aid commitment to the…

Read More Here

Infections in Spain have surpassed Italy

The total number of coronavirus infections in Spain has surpassed Italy. As of Friday morning, 117,710 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Spain, the health ministry said. Italy currently has…

Read More Here

British MPs want strict curbs on gambling during Covid-19 lockdown

British parliamentarians have called for strict curbs on gambling during the Covid-19 lockdown, including a moratorium on advertising, calling the betting industry’s own proposals “very weak”. An industry body, the Betting &…

Read More Here

Photo Story: C$5,000 fine to anyone not following social distancing in Toronto

Residents of Canada’s most populous city caught walking within two metres of anyone in a public park or square face a fine of as much as 5,000 Canadian dollars (£2,850,…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Daily life amid coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines

A government worker disinfects a road at a public market in Mandaluyong, east of Manila, Philippines, 03 April 2020. The Philippines announced on 02 April that people residing on Luzon…

Read More Here

WHO coronavirus masks advice could change after new evidence emerges

Official advice on whether people should wear masks in public could be changed after new evidence emerged suggesting they could protect people from coronavirus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has…

Read More Here

Coronavirus pandemic threatens to plunge millions in Arab region into poverty and food insecurity

COVID-19 will be responsible for pushing a further 8.3 million people in the Arab region into poverty, according to a new policy brief issued this week by the United Nations…

Read More Here

Peru, Panama limit men and women to alternate days out to stall virus

Peru and Panama both started on Thursday limiting the times men and women can leave their homes in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Amid…

Read More Here

Vatican reports 7th case of coronavirus

The Vatican on Thursday reported a fresh case of coronavirus, its seventh. The Holy See employee had already been in isolation since mid-March after his wife tested positive after working…

Read More Here

UK peak likely to come slightly sooner – health minster

Britain’s ‘peak’ for coronavirus infections will be slightly sooner than previously thought, the UK’s health minister has said, but it is very very sensitive to how many people continue to…

Read More Here

Three new deaths take Norway tally to 47

Three more people have died of coronavirus in Norway, taking the national death toll to 47, according to the VG newspaper's collation of local data. The number of people…

Read More Here

Americans urged to wear masks outside as coronavirus pandemic worsens

The Trump administration on Thursday looked set to join local officials in advising Americans to wear masks when venturing out during the still-exploding coronavirus pandemic, as the U.S. death…

Read More Here

France races to boost supplies of critical medications

The French government is racing to try to ensure it can produce or procure itself certain medications as stocks run low due to the coronavirus outbreak, French Prime Minister Edouard…

Read More Here

Talks underway over possible EU border closure extension

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that talks were underway among European Union member states over whether or not to extend border closures beyond Easter in…

Read More Here

Egypt reports 86 new cases of coronavirus

Egypt has reported 86 new cases, bringing the total number to 865, its health ministry has said. That is the highest daily jump since registering the first case in February.…

Read More Here

Elton John, Paul McCartney among stars thanking British medical staff

Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and David Beckham were among the stars paying tribute to NHS staff risking their lives fighting the coronavirus pandemic. In a video shared online…

Read More Here

UK police warn of paedophiles preying on children online during lockdown

British police said on Friday there were at least 300,000 people in the country who posed a sex threat to children, warning that there could be a spike in online…

Read More Here

Europe’s largest food market transformed in mortuary

Europe's largest food market will begin storing coffins holding the bodies of people who have died from the coronavirus, as France's morticians struggle to keep up with the mounting death…

Read More Here

Canada faces ‘critical week’

Canada faces “a critical week” in fighting the coronavirus, a senior official said, as the death toll jumped and the most populous province said residents should brace for a stark…

Read More Here

Novartis announces plan to initiate clinical study of Jakavi in severe COVID-19 patients

Novartis announced plans to initiate a Phase III clinical trial in collaboration with Incyte to evaluate the use of Jakavi (ruxolitinib) for treatment of a type of severe immune overreaction…

Read More Here

World food prices fall sharply in March because of coronavirus

World food prices fell sharply in March, hit by a drop in demand tied to the coronavirus pandemic and a plunge in global oil prices, the United Nations food agency…

Read More Here

UN secretary general: recovery from the coronavirus crisis must lead to a better world

In a column for the Guardian, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has called for a coordinated global response to the pandemic, but said it must lead to greater global resilience and…

Read More Here

Australia begins coronavirus vaccine tests

Australian government scientists have begun the first stages of testing for a potential vaccine against the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Australia's national science agency CSIRO said…

Read More Here

UN issues its first coronavirus resolution

The UN has issued its first coronavirus resolution as global cases surpass 1 million. The resolution, which was approved by consensus, also stresses "the need for full respect for human…

Read More Here

‘Glimpse of hope’ in Spain

Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus rose above 10,000 on Thursday after a record 950 people died overnight, but health officials were encouraged by a slowdown in daily increases in…

Read More Here

Covid-19 cases worldwide top one million

The coronavirus pandemic has reached a grim landmark, with more than one million cases confirmed worldwide. Almost a quarter of that number (236,000) are people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the…

Read More Here

European Commission approves Malta State Aid scheme to support economy in context of Covid-19 outbreak

The European Commission has approved a Maltese State aid scheme to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Moral support in Finland

A banner at the Three Smiths Statue reads 'Stay Strong' in Helsinki, Finland. Finland has registered over 1,000 COVID-19 cases, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Via…

Read More Here

Half the world’s population under imposed lockdown

More than 3.9 billion people, or half of the world's population, have now been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments to prevent the spread of the…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Adapting to changing times… drive up confessional in Massachusetts

Father Corey Bassett-Tirrell hears a parishioner's confession in the parking lot of St Mary's Church in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Weather dependent, confessions will be heard in the parking lot on Wednesday's…

Read More Here

Covid19 patients in Pavia Hospital in Italy undergoing treatment using plasma of recovered patients

Several coronavirus patients at Pavia's Policlinico Hospital have received the plasma of patients who have recovered from the virus, sources said Thursday. The hospital has started testing plasmotherapy in collaboration…

Read More Here

App in Hungary for nurses to communicate with pregnant women and new mothers during coronavirus pandemic

An employee of the University of Debrecen Clinical Center displays a smartphone application called 'Stefania', developed for nurses to communicate remotely with pregnant women and with mothers staying at home…

Read More Here

China’s Shenzhen bans the eating of cats and dogs after coronavirus

The Chinese city of Shenzhen has banned the eating of dogs and cats as part of a wider clampdown on the wildlife trade since the emergence of the new coronavirus.…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Solidarity in times of crisis

A banner (C) reading 'hanging shopping' invites citizens in need to take grocery items from a solidarity bag hanging from the fence of a 'Wall of kindness' during the ongoing…

Read More Here

Americans purchasing record-breaking numbers of guns amid coronavirus

Americans have responded to the coronavirus epidemic with a record-breaking number of gun purchases, according to new government data on the number of background checks conducted in March. More…

Read More Here

Row erupts in Italy over taking children outside during lockdown

A row has erupted in Italy over parents being allowed to take their children out for a short walk amid the coronavirus lockdown. The government said in a circular letter…

Read More Here

Sony Establishes $100 Million COVID-19 Global Relief Fund

Sony Corporation today announced the establishment of the "Sony Global Relief Fund for COVID-19," a 100 million US dollar fund to support those around the world affected by the COVID-19…

Read More Here

Greece quarantines camp after migrants test coronavirus positive

Greece has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for coronavirus, the migration ministry said on Thursday, its first such facility to be hit since the…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Further curbs on people’s movements in Poland not ruled out

Poland may face a peak in coronavirus infections in April, government spokesman Piotr Muller told state radio on Thursday, adding that further curbs on people’s movements could not be ruled…

Read More Here

Albania extends lockdown

Albanian schools, cafes, restaurants and other public venues will remain shut and restrictions on social and economic activity will stay in place till the end of the coronavirus outbreak, Health…

Read More Here

UN Global Tourism Crisis Committee releases coronavirus recovery blueprint

The World Tourism Organisation has released a set of recommendations calling for urgent support for the global tourism sector. If followed, the body hopes the sector will not only…

Read More Here

Belgium surpasses 1,000 deaths

1,011 people have died from the consequences of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in Belgium, the FPS Public Health said during a daily press briefing. On Wednesday, 183 new deaths were…

Read More Here

The European Commission mobilises all of its resources to protect lives and livelihoods

Saving lives and supporting livelihoods in these times of acute crisis is paramount. The Commission is further increasing its response by proposing to set up a €100 billion solidarity instrument…

Read More Here

Austrian supermarkets hand out face masks

Austrian supermarkets began handing out basic face masks to largely compliant shoppers before they become compulsory next week, though there remained some confusion about the new measure and uncertainty about…

Read More Here

Russia records largest single-day rise in coronavirus cases

Russia posted its largest single-day rise in identified cases of coronavirus as the country has passed tougher measures to enforce shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the disease. Officials…

Read More Here

Israel’s Netanyahu back in isolation, Mossad head to self-isolate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to self-isolation for another six days after his health minister was diagnosed with coronavirus, the premier’s office said on Thursday. Netanyahu, 70, the…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Spain’s death toll increases by 950 in last 24 hours

Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose to 10,003 on Thursday, up from 9,053 on Wednesday - an increase of 950. On Tuesday Spain recorded 864 deaths related to coronavirus, the previous…

Read More Here

European Commission eyes markets to fund €100bn pandemic jobs scheme

The European Commission will propose to borrow €100bn against EU governments’ guarantees to finance a short-term work scheme to protect jobs impacted by the coronavirus epidemic. The commission will propose…

Read More Here

Major NHS hospital almost runs out of oxygen

A major NHS hospital almost ran out of oxygen for its Covid-19 patients on ventilators because it was treating so many people with the disease who needed help to breathe. The incident,…

Read More Here