Chicago, United States | AFP | Six nights a week, Shelley Howard could normally be found at a restaurant or bar in the famous Rush Street area of Chicago, dining out or having a drink with friends. A naturally social person, Howard, 73, regularly posted online pictures from his nights out, …
Read More »Health ministry tracing 2000 people suspected to be exposed to COVID-19
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health is tracing more than 2000 travelers who are suspected to have been exposed to COVID-19 as they travelled to Uganda. The travelers came from Dubai and other high risk countries before the government announced restrictions on travelers from countries like …
Read More »How to stop the virus making us all fatter
Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus has shaken the world like nothing else. But beyond the terrible toll of death, economic devastation and fear, the virus is likely to leave another lasting mark. It is going to make us all fatter. “I don’t know if we are going to come …
Read More »Untouchable: the baby born to a mum with coronavirus
Madrid, Spain | AFP | For 10 days after giving birth to her first child, the mother was not allowed near him after she tested positive for coronavirus, for fear of infecting her newborn. And even though she has since been reunited with her son, neither she nor her husband have …
Read More »‘Superheroes’: Coronavirus survivors donate plasma hoping to heal the sick
New York, United States | AFP | As she emerges from quarantine, recovered COVID-19 patient Diana Berrent is eager to join the battle against the pandemic and donate precious antibodies that researchers hope might help others. In mid-March, the New Yorker woke up with a 102-degree (39 Celsius) fever and intense …
Read More »Virus fear stalks Nigeria displaced camps
Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | Men and women cluster around plastic wash basins hastily set up outside one of northeast Nigeria’s sprawling displaced persons’ camps, lathering their hands with soap under the gaze of security personnel. The makeshift hygiene facilities are among urgent efforts aimed at warding off the spread of …
Read More »Elegu immigration officials accused of allowing Ugandans into country
Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Immigration officials at Elegu, the Uganda– South Sudan border in Amuru District are on the spot for allegedly clearing six Ugandans into the country. On March 22, Uganda closed her borders with South Sudan to contain the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country. …
Read More »Global virus cases top a million, deaths surpass 50,000
Washington, United States | AFP | The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has soared past one million and fatalities have topped 50,000 as the United States reported the highest daily death toll of any country so far. Despite more than half the planet living in some form of …
Read More »Rubirizi health workers stuck outside district due to ban on public, private transport
Rubirizi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rubirizi district is short of health workers as most of them are stuck outside the district following the presidential ban on public and private transport. The Rubirizi District Health Officer, Kisesete Tibenda says most health workers are stuck in Mbarara, Ishaka and Bushenyi districts because …
Read More »UNBS names companies with fake sanitizers
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has named companies that have failed laboratory tests and likely to sell substandard sanitizers. The standards body said in a notice on Thursday evening urged the public not to buy particular companies’ products. “This is aimed at protecting consumers …
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