Health

30 April 2020; MEMO: Finnish customs officers have rejected 104,000 kilogrammes of oranges from Israel after discovering traces of Bromopropylate, a pesticide banned in the EU, on the produce.

Authorities say they rejected eight of 16 consignments of oranges received from Israel between February and mid-April because of the presence of the banned pesticide.

Srinagar, Apr 30 (PTI) Authorities in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir have made wearing face masks mandatory in all public places from Friday, officials said.

"From May 1, let's please make it sure to wear face mask at all times, at all places of contact. We will ensure to make masks available to everyone. Do remember: mask is just one of various precautions," Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary said in a tweet.

Tokyo, Apr 30 (AP) Under Japan's coronavirus state of emergency, people have been asked to stay home. Many are not. Some still have to commute to their jobs despite risks of infection, while others continue to dine out, picnic in parks and crowd into grocery stores with scant regard for social distancing.

On Wednesday, the first day of the Golden Week holidays that run through May 5, Tokyo's leafy Shiba Park was packed with families with small children, day camping in tents.

Beijing, Apr 30 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping has termed China's battle against COVID-19 as a major strategic achievement, as the ruling Communist Party is all set to hold the postponed Parliament session on May 22 amid a steady decline in the coronavirus cases.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday said the country reported only four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number to 82,862, while no death due to the disease was registered. The virus has claimed 4,633 lives in the country.

United Nations, Apr 30 (PTI) Almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, nearly half of the global workforce, face an immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the continued sharp decline in working hours because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the International Labour Organization has said.

More than 430 million enterprises in hard-hit sectors such as retail and manufacturing risk "serious disruption", the UN agency added.

Shillong, Apr 30 (PTI) The Meghalaya government on Thursday declared 10 of the state's 11 districts as 'green zones' and allowed inter-district movement there, a op official said.

The decision was taken as no COVID-19 case was reported from these districts, he said.

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) Migrant workers, tourists, students and other people stranded in different parts of the country due to the ongoing lockdown were on Wednesday allowed to move to their respective destinations with certain conditions, giving a big relief to the distressed people.

The Union Home Ministry also said it has reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country and found that tremendous gains were achieved during the lockdown and new guidelines will be issued soon, giving considerable relaxations to many districts from May 4.

Amaravati, April 29 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas on Wednesday said his personal attendant has tested positive for coronavirus infection in the TruNat machine test(normally used for TB testing).

The Deputy Chief Minister, however, tested negative apart from 13 other members of his office at theState Secretariat.

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) The Centre on Wednesday gave clear indications that the ongoing nationwide lockdown will be extended beyond May 3 but with "considerable relaxations" to people and services in "many districts".

The Ministry of Home Affairs, however, said there was a need to maintain a strict lockdown till May 3 so that the gains are not squandered away.

The nationwide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. It was further extended till May 3.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The government of Uzbekistan is establishing a nationwide movement billed ‘Kindness and Support’ to help the country weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement to Bernama, Uzbekistan’s Embassy in Malaysia said that the initiative – the brainchild of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev – is intended to further ensure the sufficient supply of food and medical facilities to families in need and to temporarily jobless individuals.