Health

BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The frivolous lawsuits against China over COVID-19 are shoddy ones, as they have zero basis in fact, law or international precedence, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual national legislative session.

COVID-19 has caught the whole world by surprise and China is a victim like other countries, he said.

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A group of 77 U.S. Nobel laureates expressed their "grave concern" for the recent cancellation of a federal grant to a U.S. non-governmental organization which was researching coronaviruses and had collaboration with China.

24 May 2020; MEMO: A 107-year-old Iranian woman who was infected with the new coronavirus has recovered, Reuters reported Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency saying on Sunday.

The woman, Saltanat Akbari, was admitted to the Khansari hospital in the central city of Arak. She was released from the hospital after spending “some time” in isolation.

“She defeated the virus with the help of doctors and nurses at the hospital,” Fars said.

New York, May 24 (AP/PTI) Claims promoted by the Trump administration that the global coronavirus pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese city are a pure fabrication," the institute's director said.

Wang Yanyi was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the institute did not have any knowledge before that nor had we ever met, researched or kept the virus...We didn't even know about the existence of the virus, so how could it be leaked from our lab when we didn't have it?

Maharajganj (UP), May 23 (PTI) A 34-year-old Nepalese national, staying in a quarantine centre near here after his return from Delhi, died of unknown causes on Saturday, said officials.

"Dev Bahadur, a native of Syangja district in Nepal died today morning," said Nautanwa Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jasdhir Singh.

"The cause of his death is being ascertained. He was unwell for the last two days and was undergoing treatment at the Community Health Center here, he said.

Kanpur (UP), May 23 (PTI) Three persons onboard separate Shramik Special trains lost their lives due to various ailment, officials said here on Saturday.

"Family members of the deceased said all were suffering from serious ailment. The travel history of all the three deceased passengers was taken, Kanpur District Magistrate Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari said.

Giving details about the deceased, he said Naichinalyu Disang (23), a resident of Nagaland, was going from Delhi to Dimapur.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) A pair of conjoined twins from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh who were joined at the hip and lower back have been separated following a 24-hour surgery at the AIIMS here, officials said.

The two-year-old girls had fused pelvis, spinal bones, spinal cord, intestines and shared a common rectum besides having abnormalities of the heart and major blood vessels, a senior doctor said.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Dean of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here has tested positive for coronavirus infection.

Dr Rajeev Sood, who is looking after the management of COVID-19 manpower at the hospital, tested positive for the infection on Saturday.

He is now under home isolation and contact tracing has been initiated by hospital authorities.

22 May 2020; MEMO: A survey conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) revealed that 70 per cent of the companies operating in Dubai will suspend their activities within the next six months, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the implications of the global decrease of demand in various fields.

22 May 2020; MEMO: Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations (UN) office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, announced in a statement in Geneva that: “Relief organisations in Yemen are operating on the basis that there is an outbreak throughout the country.”