North America

WASHINGTON, March 29. /TASS/: Russia and the United States have suspended bilateral inspection missions within the framework of the New START treaty on reduction of strategic nuclear arms, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association Daryl Kimball has told TASS.

"The United States and Russia agreed <...> to suspend on-site inspections under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty until May 1," Kimball said.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The director of one of Haiti’s top hospitals has been kidnapped, prompting staff to refuse to take in new patients as the impoverished country battles coronavirus amid a spike in gang violence.

Dr. Jerry Bitar, a surgeon, was kidnapped shortly after leaving his home on Friday to go to work at Hospital Bernard Mevs.

“Hospital staff decided not to take any new cases for the time being,” administrative assistant Carla Puzo said. “We will continue to look after those already here

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said that, the world body is donating 250,000 face masks to New York City for the fight against COVID-19.

“I am pleased to announce with United States Ambassador (to the United Nations), Kelly Craft, the donation of 250,000 protective face masks, just located in the United Nations stores in New York, to the United States,” said Guterres in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Mar 29 (NNN-XINHUA) – The United States reported more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University’s Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).

As of 6:40 p.m. on Saturday (2240 GMT), there were more than 121,000 confirmed cases in the United States, with 2,010 deaths, an interactive map maintained by the CSSE showed.

New York state’s cases topped 52,000, followed by states of New Jersey and California, with 11,124 and 5,065 cases respectively.

HAVANA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Havana Distillery, which used to produce alcohol for pharmaceutical and liquor industries, has turned into the only manual maker and distributor of hand sanitizers in Cuba amid a rising COVID-19 caseload nationwide.

"Antibacterial gels are very useful to tackle the epidemic outbreak on the island. We are producing 1,020 liters of hand sanitizers a day," said Margarita La Guardia, a senior specialist at the company. "The country needs us."

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- As the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States doubled within a week to top 2,000 on Saturday, U.S. authorities have taken measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.

As of Saturday evening, more than 124,000 people across the country have tested positive for the virus, with at leat 2,100 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gun rights group is cheering the Trump administration’s designation of the firearms industry, including retailers, as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure during the coronavirus emergency.

The designation by the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is advisory. The agency notes that the designation does not override determinations by individual jurisdictions of what they consider critical infrastructure sectors.

NEW YORK (AP) — Child welfare agencies across the U.S., often beleaguered in the best of times, are scrambling to confront new challenges that the coronavirus is posing for caseworkers, kids and parents.

For caseworkers, the potential toll is physical and emotional. Child welfare workers in several states, including Michigan, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, have tested positive for COVID-19.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife said Saturday that she has recovered from being ill from COVID-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus.

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

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

DETROIT (AP) — The coronavirus continued its unrelenting spread across the United States with fatalities doubling in two days and authorities saying Saturday that an infant who tested positive had died. It pummeled big cities like New York, Detroit, New Orleans and Chicago, and made its way, too, into rural America as hotspots erupted in small Midwestern towns and Rocky Mountain ski havens.