Month: October 2020

President Donald Trump’s predictions that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready before Election Day, Nov. 3, will not be met. On Friday, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced it would not seek emergency authorization to release its coronavirus vaccine until late November.  Two other vaccine frontrunners are on hold. A fourth is unlikely to have results until the end of the year. Trump has said repeatedly that a vaccine would be available to many before the election as part of the administration’s highly touted Operation Warp Speed, created to accelerate the development of a vaccine. Top scientists in and out of government have long said that timeline is unrealistic. Trump Contradicts CDC Director on Vaccine and MasksSeeking to draw a contrast with President Donald Trump’s approach to combating the pandemic, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden laid out plans for developing and distributing a vaccine if he wins in the November election Conceding the point earlier this month, Trump blamed politics, without explanation. “I think we should have it before the election,” Trump said in a video on Twitter shortly after his release from the hospital following COVID-19 treatment. “But frankly, the politics gets involved, and that’s OK, they wanna play their games. It’s gonna be right after the election.” A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! pic.twitter.com/uhLIcknAjT — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020Safety first In a statement Friday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the company may know by the end of October whether its vaccine works. But it will not reach its safety milestone until late November.  “Safety is, …

Officials in Wales announced Monday they will impose a two-week “firebreak” lockdown effective Friday, requiring all but essential workers to stay at home to combat an accelerating second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the move at a news conference, saying the lockdown will be in effect from Friday to November 9. During that time, everyone in Wales will be required to stay at home, except for the most critical workers. He said that that means people will be working from home wherever possible. Referring to the lockdown as a “firebreak,” Drakeford said it “is the shortest we can make it but that means that it will have to be sharp and deep in order to have the impact we need it to have on the virus.”   Drakeford said that while he understood that people were tired of COVID-19 restrictions, the imposition of rules was essential as critical care units were already full.  All non-essential retail, leisure, hospitality and tourist businesses will have to close in Wales. Places of worship will also close for regular service. Last week, Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)recommended a similar break for all of Britain, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected it in favor of his regional three-tiered “alert” system approach.  Britain recorded 16,982 new daily cases of COVID-19 in the space of 24 hours, according to government data issued on Sunday, up from 16,717 the previous day. Wales recorded 950 cases, up from just 400 per day at the start …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been urging Germany’s young people to observe tightening pandemic restrictions. “Do without a few parties,” she has told them.  Once seen as a model to follow in the fight against the coronavirus, Germany is now struggling to contain the pandemic and is seeing an alarming surge in cases. Merkel Sunday night in her weekly podcast pleaded with Germans to slow the transmission of the coronavirus by “temporarily renouncing” social life outside the immediate family and home.On Sunday, the country recorded 7,830 new cases of infection. Merkel has been struggling to persuade regional governments to impose new lockdown measures. “The pandemic is spreading rapidly again, faster than at the beginning more than six months ago,” she warned.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the National Integration Summit at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 19, 2020.“The comparatively relaxed summer is over, now we are facing difficult months. How winter will be, how our Christmas will be, will be decided in the coming days and weeks. We all decide that through our actions,” she added.Much of the federal government’s concern centers on the young. The old and frail have been heeding the warnings, remain cautious and shield at home, say officials. But for weeks federal officials have been urging youngsters to observe social-distancing rules and to wear masks.  And to stop partying.  In July and August when the worry was over, young Germans were partying abroad in resort towns in Portugal, Spain and Bulgaria. More recently the …

Officials in Australia’s Victoria state, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, began loosening lockdown restrictions Monday as new and active cases continued to decline.As of Monday, residents of the state — which includes Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city — will no longer face limits on the time they can spend away from their homes for education or recreation and will be allowed to travel up to 25 kilometers from their homes. Parks, golf courses and beauty salons are also open, but are subject to mask and social distancing requirements.  Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people from two households will be allowed and golf and tennis games can resume.Residents and some lawmakers said they felt the region waited too long to loosen the restrictions, but State Premier Daniel Andrews defended them, saying every one of them was about safety and keeping virus case numbers low.  Regulations will be further loosened on Nov. 2 with the partial reopening of shops, bars and restaurants.Victoria state reported only four new cases of the coronavirus on Monday and one death. …

The world has now surpassed 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 40,050,902 people have been infected with the disease as of early Monday morning, and more than 1.1 million have died.  The most recent cases include Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian negotiator and secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, who was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital Sunday, where he has been placed on a ventilator.FILE – Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi (not pictured) in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 6, 2020. The 65-year-old Erekat, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month, underwent a lung transplant in the United States in 2017, which compromised his immune system and  made him especially vulnerable to the virus.   A spokesperson at Hadassah Medical Center said Monday that Erekat “had a quiet night” but his condition eventually deteriorated and is “now defined as critical.” Another prominent person infected with COVID-19 IS South African health minister Zweli Mkhize.  Mkhize issued a statement Sunday that he and his wife tested positive for the virus the day before after experiencing mild symptoms.  Mkhize’s news comes days after South Africa officially surpassed 700,000 infections.   According to the Associated Press, Iran has confirmed 337 new coronavirus deaths, breaking the country’s single-day death toll record of 279, set just on Sunday. As scientists around the world race to develop therapies and an eventual vaccine against the novel coronavirus, U.S.-based biotechnology firm Vaxart, one of the many companies working on the vaccine, …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.  The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections. India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period. India has almost 7.5 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 114,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins statistics.In Italy, where a new record for daily cases – 11,705 – was set Sunday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has given mayors the power to close public squares and other places people gather after 9 p.m.”The situation is critical. The government is there but everyone must do their part,” he told a news conference. Conte’s government is trying to avoid another shutdown like the one imposed in March.Italy was one of the hardest hit countries in Europe, and as a second wave of the coronavirus has hit, it has ordered such measures as mandatory mask wearing in public, restricting the hours when restaurants can offer table service and banning festivals. Paris streets were deserted Saturday night as the city began a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, designed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.At least seven other French cities, including Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Lille, Rouen and Saint-Étienne are also under the nighttime curfew, scheduled to be in place for four weeks. Belgium will be placed under a 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. nationwide curfew Monday to combat the country’s rising COVID-19 …

After circling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of miles away for almost two years, a NASA spacecraft this week will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble.  The drama unfolds Tuesday as the U.S. takes its first crack at collecting asteroid samples for return to Earth, a feat accomplished so far only by Japan.Brimming with names inspired by Egyptian mythology, the Osiris-Rex mission is looking to bring back at least 2 ounces (60 grams) worth of asteroid Bennu, the biggest otherworldly haul from beyond the moon.  NASA Plans to Land First Woman on the Moon in 2024Lunar landing will be America’s first since 1972The van-sized spacecraft is aiming for the relatively flat middle of a tennis court-sized crater named Nightingale — a spot comparable to a few parking places here on Earth. Boulders as big as buildings loom over the targeted touchdown zone.  “So for some perspective, the next time you park your car in front of your house or in front of a coffee shop and walk inside, think about the challenge of navigating Osiris-Rex into one of these spots from 200 million miles away,” said NASA’s deputy project manager Mike Moreau.Once it drops out of its half-mile-high (0.75 kilometer-high) orbit around Bennu, the spacecraft will take a deliberate four hours to make it all the way down, to just above the surface.Then the action cranks up when Osiris-Rex’s 11-foot (3.4-meter) arm reaches out and touches Bennu. Contact should last five …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period. India has almost 7.5 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 114,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins statistics.Paris streets were deserted Saturday night as the city began a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, designed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.At least seven other French cities, including Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Lille, Rouen and Saint-Étienne are also under the nighttime curfew, scheduled to be in place for four weeks.Belgium will be placed under a midnight to 5 a.m. nationwide curfew Monday to combat the country’s rising COVID-19 caseload. In addition, Belgium has ordered all cafes, bars, and restaurants shuttered, starting Monday.Two European foreign ministers — Austria’s Alexander Schallenberg and Belgium’s Sophie Wilmès — have been infected with the coronavirus. Both attended a European Union meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.The Dutch king and queen cut their vacation to Greece short amid criticism that they were doing the opposite of what the Dutch people have been advised to do during the pandemic – stay home as much as possible to flatten the spread of the virus.King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima left The Hague on Friday but returned Saturday.”We do not want to leave any doubts about it: in order …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period. India has almost 7.5 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 114,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins statistics.Paris streets were deserted Saturday night as the city began a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, designed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.At least seven other French cities, including Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Lille, Rouen and Saint-Étienne are also under the nighttime curfew, scheduled to be in place for four weeks.Belgium will be placed under a midnight to 5 a.m. nationwide curfew Monday to combat the country’s rising COVID-19 caseload. In addition, Belgium has ordered all cafes, bars, and restaurants shuttered, starting Monday.Two European foreign ministers — Austria’s Alexander Schallenberg and Belgium’s Sophie Wilmès — have been infected with the coronavirus. Both attended a European Union meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.The Dutch king and queen cut their vacation to Greece short amid criticism that they were doing the opposite of what the Dutch people have been advised to do during the pandemic – stay home as much as possible to flatten the spread of the virus.King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima left The Hague on Friday but returned Saturday.”We do not want to leave any doubts about it: in order …

Rural Jerauld County in South Dakota didn’t see a single case of the coronavirus for more than two months stretching from June to August. But over the last two weeks, its rate of new cases per person soared to one of the highest in the nation.”All of a sudden it hit, and as it does, it just exploded,” said Dr. Tom Dean, one of three doctors who work in the county.As the brunt of the virus has blown into the Upper Midwest and northern Plains, the severity of outbreaks in rural communities has come into focus. Doctors and health officials in small towns worry that infections may overwhelm communities with limited medical resources. And many say they are still running up against attitudes on wearing masks that have hardened along political lines and a false notion that rural areas are immune to widespread infections.Dean started writing a column in the local weekly newspaper, the True Dakotan, to offer his guidance. In recent weeks, he’s watched as one in roughly every 37 people in his county has tested positive for the virus.It ripped through the nursing home in Wessington Springs where both his parents lived, killing his father. The community’s six deaths may appear minimal compared with thousands who have died in cities, but they have propelled the county of about 2,000 people to a death rate roughly four times higher than the nationwide rate.High per capita toll Rural counties across Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana sit among the top …

Daily cases of COVID-19 have reached record highs around the world, particularly in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said Friday.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva that record-high numbers of cases were reported in each of the last four days.“We must remember that this is an uneven pandemic,” said Ghebreyesus. “Countries have responded differently, and countries have been affected differently. Almost 70% of all cases reported globally last week were from 10 countries, and almost half of all cases were from just three countries.”The United States had more new infections over a 24-hour period than any other country, with 63,610, increasing the country’s total Friday to a world-leading 8.03 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. also maintained its global lead in COVID-19 fatalities, with Hopkins reporting 820 new deaths, increasing the country’s total Friday to at least 218,000 dead.White plastic tombstone-shaped pieces are lined up as a temporary memorial to some of Miami’s victims of the coronavirus at Simonhoff Floral Park, Oct. 14, 2020, in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami.Surges in five statesUpticks in the U.S. were led by surging infection rates in the states of Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida and California, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins.India recorded 63,371 new cases Friday, according to Hopkins, while there were also sharp increases in the number of infections in France, Brazil and Britain.The WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters Friday that 80% of the countries in Europe …

Finland’s prime minister Friday became the second European Union leader to leave a two-day summit as a precautionary measure, after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.  On Twitter, Sanna Marin wrote she was leaving the European Council meeting in Brussels and asked Sweden’s prime minister, Stefan Lofven, to represent Finland at the talks, where leaders were wearing face masks and keeping their distance amid a spike in COVID-19 infections across Europe. Marin had participated in a meeting Wednesday at the Finnish parliament in Helsinki with lawmaker Tom Packalen, who later tested positive for COVID-19 and had mild symptoms. Marin’s early departure follows a similar decision by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who left the meeting Thursday to self-isolate after learning one of her support staff members had tested positive.  FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Oct. 15, 2020.It was the second time this month Von der Leyen had to take such a precaution. She went into isolation Oct. 5 after a meeting in Portugal that included someone who later tested positive. It is unclear why the European Union chose to hold its October summit in person rather than virtually while the continent is facing a surge in new COVID-19 cases.  Marin gave a speech at the summit supporting videoconferences for meeting between EU leaders, saying there should be a higher threshold for holding in-person meetings during the pandemic.    …

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that a sixth-month randomized trial of COVID-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases of the virus.   The WHO, in what they said was the world’s largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics, tested remdesivir and three other drugs – hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon – as part the agency’s research to determine if existing drugs might be effective in treating COVID-19.   At a news briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva Friday, a WHO spokesman said the results of the study, which was not peer-reviewed, “indicate that remdesivir hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon regimens appear to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality, or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients.”   The WHO said the study, which covered more than 30 countries, looked at the effects of the treatments on overall death rates, whether patients need breathing machines, and how much time patients spent recovering in hospitals.   Previous studies had already ruled out three of the drugs. But the findings run counter to a clinical trial of remdesivir by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in April which indicated the drug accelerated the recovery rates of people with severe cases of COVID-19.   The company that makes remdesivir, Gilead Sciences, Inc., saw the price of its stock begin to fall as the news of the WHO study broke …

A predicted increase in COVID-19 cases as cold weather approaches in the Northern Hemisphere seems to be underway.     New global cases have climbed to 330,000 per day, with Europe and the U.S. experiencing a worrying uptick.     The U.S. recorded more than 64,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, the highest daily tally since July.     The World Health Organization’s European director says 1,000 people a day are dying from COVID-19 on the continent and more than a million new COVID-19 cases have been identified in the last ten days.      Hans Kluge also said the impact of the coronavirus-caused disease this winter could be minimized in Europe if mask wearing increased from the current 60% to 95% of the population and if social distancing were strictly observed.       America’s top infectious disease expert told Americans to rethink their Thanksgiving plans for late November when many people traditionally travel through teeming transportation centers, such as bus depots, train stations, and airports to be with their families.     “If you have vulnerable people, the elderly or people that have underlying conditions, you better consider whether you want to do that now,” Fauci told ABC News.  He suggested people perhaps delay plans and “just …  wait” until the pandemic is under control.      “We really have to be careful this time that each individual family evaluates the risk-benefit,” Fauci added.Stacked chairs are seen in front of a cafe in Lille, northern France, Oct. 12, 2020. Lille …

The Czech Republic’s health minister said Friday the country’s health system needs be ready for a “huge influx,” of COVID-19 patients over the next 10 days to two weeks, as the nation faces Europe’s fastest growing rate in new coronavirus cases.Health Minister Roman Prymula told reporters at a news briefing in Prague the nation is looking at perhaps as much as a three-week surge of COVID-19 patients.At a time when all of Europe is facing an increase in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech Republic has been hit perhaps the hardest.  The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention says the Czech Republic leads the continent in the rate of new infections over the past two weeks, with nearly 702 cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, and nearly 50,000 of its total of 149,010 cases registered last week alone. The country also leads Europe in rate of deaths from the virus over the same period, 5.2 per 100,000 people.The Czech health ministry’s figures show the day-to-day increase reached 9,721 on Thursday, 177 more than the previous record set a day earlier.Hospitals across the country have been postponing unnecessary operations to focus on the growing number of COVID-19 patients. While Prymula said the country has doubled patient capacity, he says facilities could be full by the end of October.The Czech military will start to build a field hospital for 500 patients at Prague’s exhibition center over the weekend. Neighboring Germany has offered to take in some overflow intensive care …

Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe are challenging a Ministry of Health rule they say impedes their ability to leave the country.  The ministry said last month that health care workers must get official signatures to receive a “Certificate of Good Standing” – a needed reference to get work abroad.  A doctors group says it’s an attempt to stop a mass exodus after poor treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.  After more than 10 years of working in government hospitals, a 36-year-old doctor – who did not want to be identified told VOA countless protests have not resulted in a decent salary or better working conditions. He applied to work in England.  But for nearly three months now, he says he can’t go, because he is still waiting for a “Certificate of Good Standing” from the government that foreign employers require.  ” I want to leave this country to work where I can treat people properly with all equipment and medicines,” the doctor told VOA.  He says he also wants a salary so he can look after his children and his parents, who paid for his education.  The Senior Hospital Doctors Association of Zimbabwe says its members are frustrated by delays they attribute to the government trying to curtail a brain drain among health workers.    Its leader, Dr. Aaron Musara, says the government is misusing the certificate of good standing.   “Normally the certificate of good standing talks about the integrity of a colleague, how the colleague does not have pending cases or issues of discipline involving issues with patients or with colleagues,” Dr. Musara told VOA. “It will now …

A predicted spike in COVID-19 cases as the cold weather months approach in the Northern Hemisphere seems to be occurring.Daily global cases have climbed to 330,000 per day, with Europe and the U.S. experiencing a worrying uptick.In the U.S., the nation’s top infectious disease expert told Americans to rethink their Thanksgiving plans for late November when many people traditionally travel through teeming transportation centers, such as bus depots, train stations, and airports to be with their families.“If you have vulnerable people, the elderly or people that have underlying conditions, you better consider whether you want to do that now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News. He suggested people perhaps delay plans and “just … wait” until the pandemic is under control.“We really have to be careful this time that each individual family evaluates the risk-benefit,” Fauci added.On Saturday, France will begin a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the region of Paris and at least seven other cities, including Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Lille, Rouen and Saint-Étienne. The curfew will remain in effect for at least four weeks.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and governors of the country’s 16 states have agreed to impose a new round of nationwide restrictions after seeing record-high new COVID-19 cases. The restrictions include the early closure of bars and restaurants and limiting the number of people allowed to gather in public.Northern Ireland has announced a nationwide four-week lockdown, with schools closed for two weeks and all pubs and restaurants closed for the full month, except …

Hunger and malnutrition are worsening in parts of the African continent because of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in low-income communities or those already stricken by continued conflict, according to a survey of 2,400 people in 10 African countries by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).The survey, conducted from June to August, shows the pandemic has caused job losses and curtailed people’s ability to farm or access markets.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can Students of Rising Sun Children School wear face masks as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in their classroom in Yaba, Lagos, on Oct. 12, 2020. In Western Africa, in Nigeria’s conflict-stricken northeast, the number of children treated by the outpatient nutrition program grew by 20%, while the number of severe malnutrition cases grew by 10% compared with the same period last year.The increase in patients was recorded even though ICRC’s community outreach program has been on hold due to COVID-19. The ICRC said it is worried about the increase and predicts even more patients once work resumes.“We are very concerned by the trend, especially in Maiduguri,” said Thomas Ndambu, ICRC nutritionist, who is “certain that when Nigerian Red Cross volunteers resume their community outreach, the number of malnutrition cases will surge.”In nearby Burkina Faso, unabated violence despite the pandemic has displaced about 2.8 million people. These forcibly displaced people are now estimated to face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, representing an …

Little Kurt looks like any other baby horse as he frolics playfully in his pen. He isn’t afraid to kick or head-butt an intruder who gets in his way and, when he’s hungry, he dashes over to his mother for milk.But 2-month-old Kurt differs from every other foal of his kind in one distinct way: He’s a clone.The rare, endangered Przewalski’s horse was created from cells taken from a stallion in 1980. They sat frozen at the San Diego Zoo for 40 years before they were fused with an egg from a domestic horse.With the egg’s nucleus removed, ensuring Kurt would be basically all Przewalski’s horse, they were implanted in the mare who would become his mom on Aug. 6.The result, officials say, was the world’s first cloned Przewalski’s horse.Scientists have cloned nearly two dozen kinds of mammals, including dogs, cats, pigs, cows and polo ponies. In 2018, researchers in China created monkeys for the first time using the cloning techniques that produced Dolly the sheep.The zoo sees Kurt’s birth as a milestone in efforts to restore the population of the horse also known as the Asiatic Wild Horse or Mongolian Wild Horse. The small, stocky animals (they stand only about 1.2 to 1.5 meters tall at the withers) are believed extinct in the wild and number only about 2,000 in zoos and wildlife habitats. Their limited gene pool puts them at a reproductive disadvantage.“This colt is expected to be one of the most genetically important individuals of his species,” …

Having contained its first brush with the novel coronavirus even as infections in neighboring countries surged, Myanmar is now straining to check a soaring second wave with a health care system blighted by decades of neglect under military rule.In early August, the Southeast Asian country of 54 million was still going days without logging a single new COVID-19 infection and had only 374 total confirmed cases by the middle of the month. Cases have skyrocketed since then, however, to more than 31,000 as of Oct. 14, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center in the U.S.Myanmar logged 2,158 cases on Oct. 10, its highest daily count to date. COVID-related deaths have also jumped, from just six as of Sept. 3 to 732.Local reports say monasteries, schools and government offices are being repurposed as quarantine facilities to help share the load with a creaking public health care system, and that patients who have tested positive for the virus have been forced to share rooms with those who have not.World Health Organization country representative Dr. Stephan Jost called this an “emergency period” for Myanmar.’Turning point’Critics have accused authorities of being slow to take the virus seriously. Well into March, government spokesperson Zaw Htay told reporters the country was still case-free because of people’s lifestyle and diet.But Jost insisted Myanmar was on top of the pandemic starting in early January, banning flights from Wuhan, China, where it began, by the end of the month, canceling visas-on-arrival for visitors from all of China …

French officials said police have conducted early-morning searches of the homes of the current and former top government officials after a special French court ordered an investigation of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.France’s Health Ministry confirmed the dawn searches, which include the offices of the current health minister, Olivier Veran. Officials whose homes were searched include former prime minister Edouard Philippe, Veran, his predecessor, Agnes Buzyn, current Public Health Director Jerome Salomon, and former government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye.The investigation was opened earlier this year after France’s Court of Justice received complaints from COVID-19 patients, doctors, police and others about the government’s slow response to the pandemic, shortages of protective equipment, and a poor plan for testing.  When he announced the investigation earlier this year, Paris chief prosecutor Remy Heitz said the investigation would have limited scope and would focus on public officials. Heitz said possible offenses could include the alleged failure to implement workplace anti-virus protection, failure to provide face masks to reduce infection, and failure to roll out a workable testing plan.The home searches came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced curfews in the Paris region and eight other French metropolitan areas to deal with the rising toll of new infections.French opposition member of parliament Jean-Luc Reitzer, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this year, told French television he was shocked by the searches. “Do our citizens seriously believe that the shortages, which were real, were voluntary,” he said.   …

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns Sudan’s fragile political stability could be at risk if the desperate needs of hundreds of thousands of flood victims are not urgently addressed. Severe floods have affected nearly 900,000 Sudanese, reportedly killing more than 120, rendering thousands of families homeless, and destroying farmlands and livelihoods.International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Secretary General Jagan Chapagain attends a ceremony in Geneva on July 22, 2020.Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain has just returned from a four-day assessment mission to Sudan. He said the impact of the worst floods in three decades is far beyond anything he had expected.“I visited an area called Algamayer on the outskirts of Khartoum. Homes, infrastructure and crops have been destroyed,”  Chapagain said. “The conditions are simply appalling. It is boiling hot — more than 40 degrees, and there is no shade. The camp we visited is surrounded by stagnant water, and mosquitoes are rife.”Chapagain said the only access to clean water or sanitary toilets is at the neighboring school, which is closed at night. He said people also lack sufficient shelter, toilets and mosquito nets, which means malaria is rampant and the risk of cholera and other diseases is high.He said children comprise about half of the flood victims and are particularly vulnerable. This humanitarian crisis, he said, also is taking a heavy toll on pregnant and lactating women, the elderly and disabled.He told VOA he is very concerned by the level of anger …

Dozens of European cities have been forced into lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus infections. Hospital intensive care units in the affected regions are filling up fast and doctors are warning that health systems could become overwhelmed as winter approaches.Europe is now reporting more daily infections than the three countries worst hit by the pandemic — the United States, Brazil, and India.Paris, along with eight other French cities, including Rouen, Lille, St. Etienne, Lyon, Grenoble, Montpellier, Marseille and Toulouse, have been put under night-time curfew. All restaurants, bars and shops will be forced to close, and people have been told to stay at home between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. for four weeks beginning Oct. 17.Announcing the measures in a televised address Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned of tough times ahead. “Testing, alerting, protecting, this is the key to the strategy that we have to ramp up throughout November and December, because we are going to have to deal with this virus until at least the summer of 2021, all the scientists are clear,” Macron said.Some residents of the French capital expressed alarm at the return of a partial lockdown. “My first reaction was that it’s going to be hell,” said 25-year-old Mathilde Weiss, a product manager. “I’m absolutely not going to have a social life anymore. So, I’m a little apprehensive, I admit.”A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus walks beneath the metal Puerta de la Ilustracion urban sculpture …

The World Health Organization’s Europe director is encouraging European nations to tighten controls as the continent struggles to contain what appears to be a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.At a virtual news briefing from his headquarters in Copenhagen, the WHO’s Dr. Hans Kluge said statistics show Europe is going through an early Fall-Winter surge. New COVID-19 infections are hitting 100,000 per day with nearly 700,000 new cases registered last week, the highest weekly number since the pandemic began. The region also has averaged 1,000 deaths per day, making COVID-19 the fifth leading cause of death on the continent.But Kluge said the news is not all bad. He noted that while there are two to three times more cases reported now than during the initial COVID-19 peak in April, deaths are five times less likely than at that time. He credited part of that to the fact that younger, less vulnerable populations are contracting and spreading the virus.However, as weather continues to cool in Europe, he warned there is potential for the virus to spread across generations as people gather more indoors.But the WHO regional director said, “simple, swift tightening of protective measures now — such as enforcing widespread mask-wearing and controlling social gatherings in public or private spaces — could save up to 281,000 lives by February across the 53 countries.”He says the reverse is true as well — a prolonged relaxing of restrictions could raise death rates to four or five times higher than they were in April.The …