Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Government officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have denied any manipulation of its figures for coronavirus cases and deaths. The controversy came as health officials announced DR Congo’s latest COVID-19 figures which stand at 63 deaths from 2,025 cases, most of them in …
Read More »Trump: It is time to move from COVID-19 to golf
Trump hits the golf course as US kicks off summer season Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump kicked off the start of the American summer season on Saturday with his first golf outing in two months, underlining his push for a return to normal life in the …
Read More »Anti-viral drug effective against coronavirus, study finds
Washington, United States | AFP | Anti-viral drug remdesivir cuts recovery times in coronavirus patients, according to the full results of a trial published Friday night, three weeks after America’s top infectious diseases expert said the study showed the medication has “clear-cut” benefits. Complete results from the research, which was carried out by US government …
Read More »South America named virus epicenter as Trump seeks US reopening
Washington, United States | AFP | South America is “a new epicenter” of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization has declared, as US President Donald Trump intensified his push to reopen the reeling American economy. Brazil led the surge across South America, its death toll passing 21,000 on Friday from …
Read More »Government defends COVID-19 lockdown at East Africa court
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Attorney General has defended the President’s directives on curfew and lockdown at the East African Court in Arusha. The directives in mid-March were challenged by city lawyer Male Mabirizi at the East African Court of Justice saying they were unconstitutional. Mabirizi said the …
Read More »Health Ministry seeks UGX 700Bn for Covid-19 response plan
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has told parliament that the Ministry has a deficit of 700.9 billion shillings for Covid-19 response plan activities. According to Aceng, out of the 1.02 trillion shillings that the Ministry had budgeted for, 322.3 billion shillings …
Read More »Coronavirus edges Greece closer to e-governance
Athens, Greece | AFP | The coronavirus crisis has forced Greece to take rapid steps to computerise its lumbering civil service and belatedly introduce e-governance in one of the EU’s worst digital laggards, experts say. After recording its first coronavirus death on March 12, Athens took unprecedented measures totally at odds …
Read More »Health ministry commits COVID-19 budget to purchase of ICU equipment, ambulances
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The 94.18 billion Shillings supplementary budget recently provided to the Ministry of Health has been largely committed to the procurement of ambulances, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipment, and test kits. The money is part of the 304 billion Shillings Supplementary Budget that was approved by …
Read More »Hydroxychloroquine shows no virus benefit, raises death risk: study
Paris, France | AFP | A study of nearly 100,000 coronavirus patients has shown no benefit in treating them with anti-viral drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and even increased the likelihood of them dying in hospital. Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat arthritis but pronouncement from public figures including US President Donald …
Read More »Nakaseke hospital struggles to feed contacts of COVID-19 positive truck driver
Nakaseke, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nakaseke hospital is struggling to feed the 33 contacts of a COVID-19 positive truck driver who were recently quarantined at the facility. The truck driver was intercepted at Katuugo village in Wakyato sub county, Nakaseke district on Tuesday after testing positive for COVID-19 from …
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