COVID-19 Updates

Washington, United States | AFP | The experimental antiviral drug remdesivir has proven effective against COVID-19 in a small experiment involving monkeys, US government scientists reported Friday. The study, which is preliminary and has not yet been peer reviewed, was designed to follow dosing and treatment procedures used for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a large …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation-WHO is calling for more testing for COVID-19 to be carried out in African countries to know the exact number of infected people. The call was made during a virtual press briefing on Friday. While many countries on the continent have put …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leading drug manufacturing firms, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, have entered into an agreement to develop an adjuvanted vaccine for COVID-19, using innovative technology from both companies to help address the ongoing pandemic. Sanofi will contribute its S-protein COVID-19 antigen, which is based on recombinant DNA technology. …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP |  People in Sweden with foreign backgrounds are disproportionately affected by the new coronavirus, underscoring the grim reality of segregation and raising fears that a “blind spot” is masking some communities. The wealthy Scandinavian country of 10.3 million has a generous immigration policy, granting asylum and family …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Italy is staring down the barrel of the worst recession since World War II, which could bolster the far-right and damage the country’s love affair with the European Union, analysts say. Much will depend on how Rome handles the easing of the national lockdown, how quickly …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Coronavirus deaths have surged past 150,000 worldwide with nearly a quarter of them in the United States, where President Donald Trump lent his support to protestors rallying against lockdown orders. Evidence is mounting that social distancing successfully slowed the pandemic after more than half of …

Paris, France | AFP |  An operation by France’s Chinese community to help the diaspora during the coronavirus outbreak by distributing masks, disinfectant and gloves has prompted questions and legal problems for some of its backers. Sceptical of the French government’s response to the epidemic, the Chinese embassy, business leaders and …

  UPDATE: Uganda Covid19 ✳ 9,975 tested ✳ 55 confirmed cases ✳ 1 foreign (to be repatriated) ✳ 20 recoveries ✳ 35 active cases ✳ 0 deaths Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & URN | Uganda health officials and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) have traced a Tanzanian driver heading to DRC who …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The powerful chief of staff to Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the presidency said Saturday. Buhari’s office announced in a statement that it “regrets to announce the passage” of Abba Kyari, who acted as gatekeeper to the president of Africa’s …

Aachen, Germany | AFP |  After making it through the first night breathing on her own, 60-year-old Martina Hamacher can only say: “I’ve been lucky.” One of Germany’s earliest coronavirus patients, Hamacher is still tangled in some of the tubes and cables that helped keep her alive for 20 days in …