Health

Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) The United States is working with other countries to make sure they understand that coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.

Stressing that the burden is on Beijing to explain where the virus came from, Pompeo told The Ben Shapiro Show in an interview on Friday that China knew about the virus by December, 2019.

We need to hold accountable the parties responsible for the deaths here in the United States and the enormous economic costs that have been posed on the US, he said.

Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) The United States accounts for more than one fourth of the global COVID-19 deaths and over one-third of the total number of people infected with the deadly virus, latest figures revealed on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic that started from Wuhan City in China in November, 2019 has so far killed more than 195,000 people across the world and infected more than 27 lakh.

Beijing, Apr 25 (PTI) China has approved its third coronavirus vaccine for the second phase of clinical trials as it reported 12 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 82,816.

China has approved three coronavirus vaccines, including the one developed by Chinese military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for clinical trials.

Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Trying to wriggle out of the backlash he received for his outlandish suggestions, US President Donald Trump has said that he was being "sarcastic" when he told his medical experts that they should consider using UV light, heat, or injecting disinfectants into the COVID-19 patients as a potential treatment.

Trump faced intense rebuke on Thursday for his far-fetched suggestion from health experts who urged people not to listen to the President's "dangerous" advice.

New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) Two Chinese pharma companies, which supplied 5.5 lakh rapid testing kits for COVID-19 to India, said they are ready to cooperate with Indian agencies looking into allegations of poor accuracy of their products.

In separate statements, Guongzhou Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostics said they follow strict quality control of their products, asserting that specified guidelines must be followed in storage of the kits as as well in their usages to get accurate results.

New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 775 and the number of cases climbed to 24,506 in the country on Saturday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 18,668 while 5,062 people were cured and discharged, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said

The total number of cases include 77 foreign nationals

WASHINGTON, Apr 25 (NNN-XINHUA) – More than 50,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States, while debates are heightening over reopening the country’s economy, severely battered by the virus.

A total of 870,468 cases have been reported with the death toll reaching 50,031 as of 11 a.m. Friday (1500 GMT), according to the Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), at Johns Hopkins University.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Prisoners in a federal prison in the Villa Devoto district of Argentina, set fire to mattresses and threw stones, chairs, and metal parts, from the roof of the detention centre, onto the police on the ground, images on TN television showed.

A banner read: “We refuse to die in prison.”

CAIRO, Apr 25 (NNN-MENA) – The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to 104,912, while Iran’s cases reached 88,194 amid a continued slowdown.

Turkey, the new epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, on Friday confirmed 3,122 new COVID-19 cases. The death toll in the country surged to 2,600 after 109 more deaths were reported.

In addition, 21,737 patients have recovered so far, while 1,790 are being treated at intensive care units and 929 intubated.

LONDON, Apr 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Another 684 people died in hospitals, as of Thursday afternoon, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 19,506, the Department of Health and Social Care said Friday.

As of Friday morning, 143,464 people have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a daily increase of 5,386, said the department.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said that from Friday, “any essential workers who need a test will be able to book an appointment on GOV.UK directly. This applies for people in essential workers’ households too.”