Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The coronavirus is spreading fast beyond its China birthplace but sub-Saharan Africa, one of the world’s most vulnerable regions, has so far been almost spared — and experts want to know why. China reported a fresh spike in coronavirus infections on Sunday, while there …
Read More »Why coronavirus could help save China’s endangered species
Paris, France | AFP | The novel coronavirus outbreak in China may end up saving one of the world’s most trafficked animals after Beijing announced a total ban on the sale and consumption of the pangolin. The scaly mammal — listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature …
Read More »China virus expert says earlier action would have reduced infections
Beijing, China | AFP | China would have seen far fewer infections from the new coronavirus if it had been quicker to adopt strict control measures, a top Chinese scientist said Thursday, in apparent criticism of the way the outbreak was handled. The government has been slammed for not acting …
Read More »Alone and frightened
Ugandan students in Wuhan-China cry out Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Thomas Kanzira, a 25 old Ugandan is a student in Wuhan; the Chinese city in Hubei Province which is the epicenter of the new coronavirus that has infected over 60,000 people and killed about 2000. Wuhan which is …
Read More »China considers ‘complete ban’ on wildlife trade
Beijing, China | AFP | China’s top legislative committee on Monday began deliberating a proposal to ban all trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the country’s deadly coronavirus outbreak. The official Xinhua news agency said the proposal was submitted to the Standing Committee of the …
Read More »Spread of coronavirus confirms WHO fears
Paris, France | AFP | The sharp rise in cases and the geographical spread of the coronavirus outside China confirm WHO fears over dealing with the crisis, experts warned Sunday as they appealed for ever greater vigilance. “There has been a profound shift in the direction that COVID-19 (new coronavirus) …
Read More »COVID-19: what we know and what we don’t
Paris, France | AFP | Researchers want to know everything about the latest coronavirus, from its mortality rate to its origins, incubation period and much more, and they still have blanks to fill in. – Mortality rate? – COVID-19, as the disease is known, is more lethal than the average …
Read More »WHO sounds alarm over Africa coronavirus preparedness
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The World Health Organization warned Saturday that African health systems were ill-equipped to respond to the deadly coronavirus outbreak should cases start to proliferate on the continent. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on African Union member states “to come together to be …
Read More »CHINA: We will take care of Ugandan students like our own
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | China’s Ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhu-Qiang has assures parents of students studying in Wuhan that they his country will take care of their children like her own. The Chinese ambassador on Saturday met with the parents of Ugandan students who are in Wuhan, …
Read More »Health Ministry defends self on isolating people returning from China in their homes
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Health Ministry has defended its decision to isolate people returning from China or any of the countries with confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID – 19), saying it is the only way to key the disease at bay. The virus has affected …
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