Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Medics have deployed a robot in a Tunisian hospital caring for coronavirus victims to limit contact between staff and infected patients, in a first for the North African country. The tall, single-limbed machine is mounted on wheels and is capable of taking pulses and checking temperatures and blood oxygen levels. It …
Read More »COVID-19: Uganda-Tanzania border districts declared most vulnerable
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine said five districts along the Uganda-Tanzania border are mostly at risk during this Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dr. Atwine made it clear on Friday that Mbarara, Ntungamo, Isingiro, Rakai and Kyotera are at a …
Read More »Health experts want WHO to find source of COVID-19
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | International health experts have asked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to identify the animal source of the coronavirus (COVID-19) so as to enable further research. The need to find the source was one of the recommendations that health experts made to WHO during the …
Read More »Yemen’s qat markets flourish despite virus threat
Sanaa, Yemen | AFP | While many of the world’s markets have closed to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, downtown districts selling qat — the ubiquitous mild narcotic — still bustle with people. Flouting social distancing rules, Yemenis jostle to select bunches of the chewable leaf from …
Read More »Minister requests Arua hotel owners to accommodate health workers fighting COVID -19
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of health, Dr. Ruth Achieng has asked hotel owners in Arua to accommodate health workers managing the the Coronavirus (COVID -19) situation in the district. While addressing leaders and health officials during a spot COVID -19 status visit to Arua on Friday, Dr. …
Read More »A decade after debt crisis, Greece on verge of virus recession
Athens, Greece | AFP | Ten years after sinking into its worst economic crisis in living memory, Greece once again faces the spectre of a grave recession in the midst of a global coronavirus lockdown. Though the country has so far been spared the death toll of other European nations at …
Read More »Balcony banners, e-rallies as pandemic curbs May Day demos
Havana, Cuba | AFP | Workers of the world scaled back their traditional May Day demos Friday with coronavirus lockdowns forcing many to rally online while a determined few hit the streets in face masks. There were arrests in the Philippines, Russia, Chile and Turkey, a riot in Indonesia and pepper …
Read More »‘Reopen California’ protests urge end to pandemic restrictions
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Protesters marched in several cities across California on Friday demanding the easing of restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak and denouncing Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to shut down some beaches. The protests were taking place in at least 11 cities, including the capital Sacramento …
Read More »Blood pressure medicines don’t raise COVID-19 risk: research
Washington, United States | AFP | Commonly used blood pressure medicines do not heighten susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, or increase the risk of becoming seriously ill with the disease, three major studies said Friday, positive news for the millions of people who take them. The research primarily concerned angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors …
Read More »Gov’t asked to scrap promotional examinations, waive school fees
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | As countries around the world start lifting COVID-19 lockdowns that were instituted to forestall the spread of the pandemic, Global Education Partners-GPE are calling upon for implementing new measures that will keep learners safe in schools. Some of the measure that governments are being asked …
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