Health

BENI (DRCongo), April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An Ebola flare-up in eastern Congo may spread again after a patient escaped from a clinic, complicating efforts to contain the disease that has infected six people since last week, the World Health Organization said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo was two days away from declaring the end of the world’s second-largest Ebola epidemic when a new chain of infection was discovered on April 10, following more than seven weeks without a new case.

Since then, health authorities have sought to contain any renewed spread of infections.

LONDON, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled to take place in the Rwandan capital Kigali in June has been postponed due to COVID-19, the organisation said.

A new date for the event, which takes place every two years, would be announced in due course, the body’s London-based secretariat said in a statement.

The last CHOGM was held in the United Kingdom in 2018.

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN General Assembly has demanded equal access for any future COVID-19 vaccine but its seeming unanimity was a fluke.

The United States in fact opposed the resolution but acted too late to stop it, diplomats say.

The 193 members of the General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution led by Mexico that calls for “equitable, efficient and timely” access to any vaccine developed to fight the pandemic.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — All Malaysia Airlines passengers are now required to bring and wear their own protective masks effective April 23 (Thursday) at touch-points such as check-in, boarding in the aircraft cabin, disembarkation and collection of baggage on arrival to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

21 April 2020; MEMO: The Egyptian Presidential Advisor for Health and Prevention Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Awad Taj El-Din, said his country had started clinical trials for Avigan antiviral drug to treat coronavirus patients.

Avigan is an antiviral drug produced by Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corporation in 2014 to treat influenza and new viruses.

Indore, Apr 21 (PTI) A police inspector died due to coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Tuesday, an official said.

Last week also, a police officer died here after suffering from the disease.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today recorded his appreciation to Malaysian frontline workers for their tireless efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and in doing so bringing world recognition.

In a video conference with medical staff of the Sungai Buloh Hospital near here this morning, Muhyiddin hailed the recognition following the role healthcare staff played along with other frontliners

SINGAPORE, April 21 (NNN-CNA) — Singapore reported 1,111 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the national total to 9,125.  

The vast majority of the new cases are work permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its release of preliminary figures. 

Twenty cases are Singaporeans or permanent residents.

“We are still working through the details of the cases, and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight,” the ministry added. 

TEHRAN, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Iran despite warnings by some health officials that a new wave of coronavirus infections could ripple through the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic.

Iran has struggled to curb the spread of the highly contagious lung disease known as COVID-19 but authorities also worry that measures to limit public life to rein in the virus could finish off an already sanctions-battered economy.

ISTANBUL, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a four-day lockdown from Thursday in Istanbul and 30 other major cities as part of measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We are planning to implement confinement between April 23-26 in 31 cities,” Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation.

Turkey has so far applied a 48-hour lockdown in 31 cities over the last two weekends but the country of 83 million has stopped short of declaring a long-term nationwide lockdown.