Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | As the number of people infected with COVID-19 continues to raise globally, so does the number of health workers who have been exposed to the disease with some eventually succumbing to it. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), majority of the nurses have been …
Read More »New resolution on pandemic truce presented to UN Security Council
United Nations, United States | AFP | Germany and Estonia submitted Tuesday a resolution to the UN Security Council on a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, to replace one drafted by France and Tunisia that the United States has blocked. Encompassing five major points — …
Read More »China’s lack of transparency on virus fuelling rumours: US expert
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Renowned US epidemiologist Larry Brilliant has urged China to be “radically transparent” if it wants to fend off suspicion over the origin of the novel coronavirus. Theories abound about the provenance of the virus that has sparked the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 300,000 people worldwide in a …
Read More »Herbal medicine for COVID-19
Is this hope or gloom for Africans? COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it encourages innovations in the search for potential treatments for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) including repurposing drugs, traditional medicines, and developing new therapies. COVID-19, a newly identified strain of …
Read More »WHO needs USD 1.3Bn to fund second phase of COVID-19 response
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation needs USD 1.3 billion (4 trillion Shillings) to meet its COVID-19 second response plans for 2020. The money is needed to ensure that the agency can provide testing kits, masks, medical gowns, gloves, face shields and other essential medical equipment needed …
Read More »US reversal prevents UN vote on pandemic truce
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said. Washington’s reversal came a …
Read More »Africa could have 44 million COVID-19 infections this year- WHO
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The African continent will have 44 million infections and about 19,000 deaths if countries fail to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease-COVID-19. This is according to a study carried out by the World Health Organisation regional office for Africa and published in the British …
Read More »WHO cautions against use of Madagascar anti-virus potion
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The World Health Organization on Thursday advised governments to clinically test a herbal drink touted by Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina as a remedy against coronavirus. The Covid-Organics infusion is derived from artemisia — a plant with proven anti-malarial properties — and other indigenous herbs. Rajoelina …
Read More »The Wuhan lab at the heart of the US-China virus spat
Beijing, China | AFP | The Chinese laboratory accused by top American officials of being the source of the coronavirus pandemic conducts research on the world’s most dangerous diseases. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both claimed that there is evidence the pathogen came from the …
Read More »Red Cross looks to global influencers to fight virus ‘infodemic’
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The Red Cross on Tuesday launched what it said was the first global network of social media influencers to battle misinformation about the new coronavirus and spread lifesaving content about the pandemic. Experts have been warning for months that the pandemic has been cloaked in a …
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