Abra health worker wounded in shooting

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A barangay health worker was wounded in a gun attack in Dolores, Abra on Tuesday.

Ana Maria Macapagat, 45, a resident of Barangay Cabaroan, Dolores, was in a tricycle on her way home after her duty at the task force on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the village when she was shot at past 5 p.m.

The tricycle driver, an unidentified barangay councilman, was unhurt.

Brig. Gen. Rwin Pagkalinawan, Cordillera police director, said they are investigating the incident, the first attack against a health worker in the region.

The Department of Health had condemned attacks, discrimination and harassment against health workers, noting that they help the country survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the city council of Lipa in Batangas has passed an anti-COVID-19 discrimination ordinance.

The measure prohibits any person from committing any action ”which causes stigma, disgrace, shame, humiliation, harassment or discrimination” against frontliners, COVID-19 patients  and persons suspected to be infected with the flu virus.

Frontliners are defined as medical and non-medical personnel, such as doctors, nurses, health volunteers, hsopital staff, janitors and security personnel. – With Arnell Ozaeta

philstar.com

US sets new global record with 1,480 virus deaths in 24 hours

WASHINGTON, United States — The United States on Friday advised all Americans to wear masks in public to protect against the new coronavirus, fearing the illness that has infected more than one million people worldwide may be spreading by normal breathing.

The recommendation came as the US set a new record for the number of COVID-19 deaths in one day with 1,480 dead, the most of any country since the pandemic began. That topped the record set by the US the previous day with 1,169 deaths.

President Donald Trump said the government recommendation for all 330 million Americans to wear non-medical masks in places such as grocery stores would last "for a period of time."


"It's going to be really a voluntary thing," Trump told reporters. "You don't have to do it and I'm choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that's okay."

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the decision came because many people with the virus were showing no symptoms, but warned it was still vital to practice "social distancing" by maintaining space between people.

The announcement came after Anthony Fauci, who is leading the government's scientific response, backed recent scholarship that found SARS-CoV-2 can be suspended in the ultrafine mist formed when people exhale.

Research indicates "the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak as opposed to coughing and sneezing," Fauci said on Fox News.

The National Academy of Sciences sent a letter to the White House on April 1 summarizing recent research on the subject, saying it's not yet conclusive but "the results ... are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing."

Since the virus was first identified in China in late December last year, health experts have said it is primarily spread through coughing and sneezing.

The US recommendation will likely worsen an already severe shortage of masks in the United States and Europe, which both rely heavily on imports from China.

Trump urged Americans to "just make something" or use scarves, saving clinical masks for health professionals and patients.

Rising tolls but hope in Europe

More than 57,000 people have died from COVID-19 since it was first detected late last year.

Worse may be coming as a quarter of global infections are in the United States, where Trump has warned of a "very, very painful" first two weeks of April.

Europe reached the dark milestone of 40,000 dead, with Spain on Friday reporting more than 900 deaths in the past 24 hours.

Spaniard Javier Lara survived after being put on oxygen in an overcrowded intensive care unit -- a shock to a 29-year-old who was athletic and doesn't smoke.

"I was panicking that my daughter would get infected," he said, describing facing death with an eight-week-old as the "worst moment" in his life.

But there were also signs the peak may be passing in Europe.

Hardest-hit Italy recorded 766 new deaths but its infections rose by just four percent, the lowest yet, according to the civil protection service.

"It's true that the latest figures, as high as they are, give us a little bit of hope," said Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

"But it is definitely much too early to see a clear trend in that, and it is certainly too early to think in any way about relaxing the strict rules we have given ourselves," she added.

'Worst yet to come'

Prosperous countries have borne the brunt of the disease, but there are fears of an explosion among the world's most vulnerable living in conflict zones or refugee camps.

"The worst is yet to come," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, referring to countries such as Syria, Libya and Yemen. "The COVID-19 storm is now coming to all these theaters of conflict."

The world economy has been pummelled by the virus and associated lockdowns, with the US economy shedding 701,000 jobs in March -- its worst showing since March 2009 in the wake of the subprime banking crisis. Even more dire figures are expected for April.

Financial ratings agency Fitch predicted the US and eurozone economies would shrink this quarter by up to 30 percent and the Asian Development Bank warned the global economy could take a $4.1 trillion hit -- equivalent to five percent of worldwide output.

Latin America is heading into a "deep recession" with an expected drop of 1.8 to 4.0 percent in GDP, according to the UN economic commission for the region.

New measures taken

In signs that the world wants to avoid a repeat of the crisis, the African country of Gabon said it was banning the sale and consumption of bats and pangolins, the critically endangered, scaly mammals.

The novel coronavirus is believed to have come from bats, but researchers think it might have spread to humans via another mammal such as pangolins through an unsanitary meat market in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak in China.

The virus has chiefly killed the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, but recent deaths among teenagers and babies have highlighted the dangers for people of all ages.

In Spain, 34-year-old Vanesa Muro gave birth with COVID-19 and has been warned not to touch her newborn without wearing gloves and masks.

"It's hard," she told AFP. "He grabs your finger, the poor little thing, and holds onto the plastic, not on to you."

Agence France-Presse

Fauci says coronavirus could claim up to 200,000 US lives

A senior US scientist issued a cautious prediction Sunday that the novel coronavirus could claim as many as 200,000 lives in the United States, as state and local officials described increasingly desperate shortages in hard-pressed hospitals.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told CNN that models predicting a million or more US deaths were "not impossible, but very, very unlikely."

He offered a rough estimate of 100,000 to 200,000 deaths and "millions of cases."

But Fauci, a leading member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force and for many Americans a comforting voice of authority, quickly added, "I don't want to be held to that ... It's such a moving target that you can so easily be wrong and mislead people."

By way of comparison, a US flu epidemic in 2018-19 killed 34,000 people.

COVID-19 has hit the US with explosive force in recent days and weeks, following a path seen earlier in parts of Asia and Europe.

It took a month for the US to move from its first confirmed death, on February 29, to its 1,000th. But in two days this week that number doubled, to nearly 2,200 on Sunday. The case total of 124,763 -- as tallied by Johns Hopkins University -- is the world's highest.

"This is the way pandemics work, and that's why we all are deeply concerned and why we have been raising the alert," Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House task force, said Sunday on NBC.

"No state, no metro area will be spared."

- 'A sharp escalation ahead' -

In the US, the epicenter has been New York City, with 672 deaths so far. Hospital staff have issued desperate pleas for more protective equipment.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that his city's hospitals have enough protective equipment -- but not enough of the life-saving ventilators -- for only another week.

He said he had made a direct request to President Donald Trump and the US military "to find us immediately more military medical personnel and get them here by next Sunday."

De Blasio credited federal officials with being "very responsive," but added, "we're talking about a sharp escalation ahead."

From Washington state, where the disease first struck with force, Governor Jay Inslee described "a desperate need for all kinds of equipment." He said the nation needed to be put on an essentially wartime footing.

Inslee pushed back against the notion, advocated earlier by Trump, that the country could begin returning to work by Easter.

"There are some hard realities we have to understand," he said on CNN. "Unless we continue a very vigorous social distancing program in my state, this will continue to spread like wildfire."

- 'Worse by the minute' -

Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan also described a deteriorating picture, especially in her state's largest city, Detroit.

"We had a thousand new cases yesterday," she said. "We know that number will be even higher today... The dire situation in Detroit is getting worse by the minute."

Whitmer bemoaned a system that has states competing against one another for desperately needed supplies.

"We're bidding against one another, and in some cases the federal government is taking priority," she said.

"It's really, I think, creating a lot more problems for all of us."

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Trump's "continued delay in getting equipment to where it's needed is deadly."

Asked on CNN whether she believed that Trump, by initially downplaying the severity of coronavirus, had cost American lives, she replied bluntly, "Yes, I'm saying that."

Dr. Birx declined to say what her recommendation would be to the president about an eventual easing of work and travel restrictions, but she offered this advice:

"Every metro area should assume that they could have an outbreak equivalent to New York, and do everything right now to prevent it."

Agence France-Presse

Pope holds dramatic solitary service for relief vs COVID

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis stood alone in vast Saint Peter’s Square Friday to bless Catholics around the world suffering under the coronavirus pandemic, urging people to ease their fears through faith.

“Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void that stops everything as it passes by,” he said.

In a historic first, the Argentine performed the rarely recited “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the steps of the basilica to an empty square, addressing those in lockdown across the globe via television, radio and social media.


“We find ourselves afraid and lost,” he said in a homily ahead of the blessing, as he stood under a canopy protecting him from a downpour.

He described the coronavirus “tempest” which he said had put everybody “in the same boat.”

The hour had come to “reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when

everything seems to be floundering,” he said.

‘Did not listen’

The blessing – which translates as “To the City (Rome) and the World” – is usually given on just three occasions: when a pope is elected, and each year

at Christmas and Easter.

The pontiff traditionally speaks out against armed conflicts around the globe before delivering the Urbi et Orbi blessing.

But on Friday, the COVID-19 pandemic which has already killed more than 23,000 people was in his sights – and humanity’s errors and lack of faith

leading up to the crisis.

“We have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and

lured away by haste,” said Francis in his homily.

“We were not shaken awake by wars or injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet. We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick.”

Today was not “the time of your judgement,” the Pope clarified, but rather a time for people to focus on the important, “a time to separate what is necessary from what is not.”

‘Forgotten people’  

The pontiff saluted “ordinary people – often forgotten people“ who are showing courage and selflessness in the current crisis, citing doctors and nurses, supermarket employees, police forces, volunteers, priests and nuns.

And at the end of the service, Francis granted Catholics the chance to have a rare remission for the punishment of sins.

Earlier this month, when the Italian capital was already in lockdown, Francis made a solitary pilgrimage to two of the city’s churches.

At one, he borrowed a crucifix believed to have saved Rome from plague in the 16th century. On Friday, that crucifix was placed in front of Saint Peter’s.

“During the plague in the Middle Ages, the Church was the only visible presence in public, through the processions of priests who were supposed to produce miracles,“ Vatican expert Marco Politi told AFP.

“The pope wants to recapture a part of that scene and of the collective imagination,“ he said.

The head of the world‘s 1.3 billion Catholics is a high-risk subject for

the virus himself. Since coming down with a cold late last month, the 83-year-old has remained largely secluded within the Vatican.

Italian media reported that the pope had tested negative for coronavirus after a prelate who lived at his residence – a guest house in the Vatican was hospitalized on Wednesday with the virus.

“The anti-contagion cordon has been tight around the pope for weeks,“ La Stampa daily wrote.

The Vatican has only officially reported four positive cases of the coronavirus within the tiny city state, without confirming the alleged case in the guest house.

Agence France-Presse

Dasma residents tell Pacquiao: Stay home

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Manny Pacquiao and his family have been told to stay home by his neighbors in an exclusive village in Makati City after a video showing him partying with another lawmaker infected by the coronavirus went viral on social media.

In a letter to the senator, Barangay Dasmariñas homeowners said Pacquiao is effectively a “person under monitoring” after a video of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III partying at Pacquiao’s house circulated on the internet.

Pimentel, who announced this week he contracted the disease, received public condemnation for breaching quarantine protocol when he accompanied his pregnant wife to a hospital and exposed health workers to the virus. He also went shopping at an S&R store.

Pacquiao earlier said members of PDP-Laban, including their president Pimentel, had a meeting at Pacquiao’s residence in Makati last March 4.

Pimentel said he received his test results on the evening of March 24. He took a swab test last March 20 after having experienced body pains.

“Many of your colleagues in Senate have been identified to be COVID-positive. Therefore, you have to be quarantined at your own house,” Barangay Dasmariñas residents told Pacquiao.

“For your own family and household’s safety, please have yourself self-quarantined, stay home. No one, including any of your household, can come out,” they added. “If you need something, please call the barangay... We can procure things for you and send it to your doorstep.” – philstar.com

Asia steps up virus efforts as second wave of infections strikes

HONG KONG, China — From Australia's Bondi Beach to the streets of New Delhi, authorities across Asia have ramped up efforts to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus amid fears of a second wave of infections in places where outbreaks had appeared under control.

Tighter travel restrictions were imposed in several countries as the number of cases in the region soared past 95,000 — a third of the world's infections, an AFP tally shows.

Outside China — where the virus was first detected in December and infected more than 80,000 people — South Korea is the hardest-hit country in Asia with more than 8,500 cases.

While the number of infections in China has been falling for weeks, other countries are seeing the toll gather pace from spread of the highly contagious virus.

Cases rose by roughly a third in Thailand overnight to nearly 600, fueling scepticism about claims in neighbouring Myanmar and Laos of zero infections.

Three doctors treating virus patients in Indonesia died, taking the country's death toll to 48 with 514 confirmed infections.

Most cases are in Jakarta, where businesses have been ordered closed for two weeks.

After shutting its borders to foreigners and non-residents, Australia told citizens to also cancel domestic travel plans, with the number of cases topping 1,300.

Bondi Beach and several other popular swimming spots were closed after crowds of sunbathers defied a ban on large outdoor gatherings.

Pubs, casinos, cinemas and places of worship will be shuttered for up to six months starting Monday.

India curfew

Pakistan suspended international flights in a bid to prevent the virus spreading.

Officials in Sindh — the country's second-most populous province — ordered a  lockdown effective midnight.

Pakistan has reported 5,650 suspected cases, 646 confirmed infections, and three deaths from the virus.

In nearby Bangladesh, however, only 27 cases have been reported, with two deaths.

Millions of people in India were in lockdown Sunday as the government tested the country's ability to fight the pandemic.

Officials said every private sector worker in New Delhi must work from home this week unless they are providing an essential service. Most public transport will also be halted.

Billionaire Anand Mahindra, whose vast Mahindra Group business empire includes cars and real estate, said his manufacturing facilities would try to repurpose to make ventilators.

Testing has expanded in the country of 1.3 billion people amid concerns that the 360 reported cases, including seven deaths, vastly understates the true scale of the crisis.

People took to their balconies in major cities after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to thank medical workers and emergency personnel by clapping or banging pots and pans for five minutes at 5:00 pm Sunday.

The World Health Organization has called for "aggressive" action in Southeast Asia, fearing that a major outbreak could cripple the region's often decrepit health care systems.

Second wave

Authorities are now dealing with a second wave of infections in places where outbreaks appeared to have been brought under control as people return from abroad.

Singapore is banning all short-term visitors to the densely populated city-state after a surge of imported cases took its total to 445 — including its first two deaths on Saturday.

In Hong Kong, where the worst had appeared to be over, the number of cases nearly doubled in the past week as more people fly back to the financial hub.

Infections in Malaysia hit 1,306 — more than half linked to an international Islamic gathering held last month, with attendees later returning to Singapore and Indonesia with the virus.

In Sri Lanka, where 82 cases were reported, guards fired on inmates in a northern prison when they tried to break out, angry over a ban on family visits to prevent the spread of the virus.

Two convicts were killed and six others wounded.

Authorities also put restrictions on the sale of two malaria treatments amid fears of a run on the drugs after US President Donald Trump said that they might be effective to prevent a COVID-19 virus infection — though scientists agree that only more trials would determine if chloroquine really works and is safe.

Papua New Guinea, which has one confirmed infection, declared a 30-day state of emergency and halted domestic flights and public transport for two weeks.

Guam, which has 15 cases, confirmed a 68-year-old woman had died of COVID-19 — the first virus-related death in the Pacific.

Agence France-Presse

Wuhan recovery gives rest of world hope: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization said Friday that the original epicenter in China of the coronavirus outbreak at last reporting no new cases gave hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic.

The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours—for the first time since reporting its first case in December in an outbreak that has gone on to infect more than 250,000 people around the world and kill more than 11,000 people.

"Yesterday, Wuhan reported no new cases for the first time since the outbreak started," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva.

"Wuhan provides hope for the rest of the world that even the most severe situation can be turned around.

"Of course, we must exercise caution; the situation can reverse. But the experience of cities and countries that have pushed back this coronavirus gives hope and courage to the rest of the world."


China as a whole is now reporting only a handful of new infections each day—all of them apparently from overseas visitors—as the crisis has shifted from Asia to Europe, which has now reported more deaths than China.

Tedros said the WHO's greatest worry was the impact that the virus could have if it took hold in countries with weaker health systems or more vulnerable populations.

"That concern has now become very real and urgent," he said, but added that significant sickness and loss of life in such countries was not inevitable.


"Unlike any pandemic in history, we have the power to change the way this goes," he said.

Young 'not invincible' 

Tedros said that although older people had been the hardest hit by the disease, younger people were not spared, saying they made up many of the sufferers needing hospital treatment.

He said solidarity between the generations was one of the keys to defeating the spread of the pandemic.

"Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks—or even kill you," Tedros warned.

"Even if you don't get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else.

"I'm grateful that so many young people are spreading the word and not the virus."

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that two out of three people in intensive care in badly-hit Italy were aged under 70.

Physical distancing 

The WHO also said it was now using the term "physical distancing" rather than "social distancing" to describe the need to maintain space between people to avoid the virus passing.

Although people may need to go into physical isolation, they did not need to become socially isolated, he said, adding it was important to maintain good mental health during the crisis.

"We can keep connected in many ways without physically being in the same space," said Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO's emerging diseases unit.

"We want people to still remain connected."

Tedros added: "It's normal to feel stressed, confused and scared during a crisis. Talking to people you know and trust can help."

Whilst advising people to maintain their mental and physical health during the crisis, including exercising and eating a healthy diet to help the immune system, Tedros also had a message for the world's smokers.

"Don't smoke. Smoking can increase your risk of developing severe disease if you become infected with COVID-19," he said.

The WHO also said it was launching a new health alert messaging service on WhatsApp, containing news, information, details on symptoms and how to prevent against catching the virus.

To access it, WhatsApp users need to send the word "hi" to the number 0041 798 931 892.

The service is initially available in English, with other languages to be rolled out next week.

Agence France-Presse

With COVID-19 cases rising, Philippines now under state of calamity

MANILA, Philippines  — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday evening declared a nationwide state of calamity in the Philippines as a result of the worsening spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Invoking Republic Act 10121, the newly issued Proclamation 929 declares a state of calamity for a period of six months unless lifted earlier extended "as circumstances may warrant."

The proclamation enjoins all government agencies to render full assistance in combating the spread of the new pathogen.

The declaration also directs law enforcement agencies including the Armed Forces of the Philippines "to undertake all necessary measures to ensure peace and order."

Section 16 of RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 reads:


Section 16. Declaration of State of Calamity. - The National Council shall recommend to the President of the Philippines the declaration of a cluster of barangays, municipalities, cities, provinces, and regions under a state of calamity, and the lifting thereof, based on the criteria set by the National Council. The President's declaration may warrant international humanitarian assistance as deemed necessary.

The declaration and lifting of the state of calamity may also be issued by the local sanggunian, upon the recommendation of the LDRRMC, based on the results of the damage assessment and needs analysis.

Mark Timbal, spokesperson of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, confirmed to Philstar.com that meetings on recommending the state of calamity began on Monday.

"This was formally recommended today," he said.

The proclamation admitted that "the number of confirmed cases continues to rise despite government intervention."

The Department of Health confirmed earlier on Tuesday that there is already a community transmission of the virus. This is declared when a person is diagnosed with the disease despite not having been to a high-risk area and not having been in contact with any other confirmed cases.

There are 187 recorded cases of the virus in the Philippines with four recoveries as of press time.

Last Thursday, the chief executive also hoisted Code Red Sub Level 2 which placed Metro Manila under community quarantine, restricting travel and movement.

philstar.com

Italy limits travel and bans public gatherings across whole country

ROME, Italy — Italy's prime minister told people to "stay at home" as the government limited travel and banned public gatherings across the whole country to combat the threat posed by the new coronavirus.

From Tuesday, the unprecedented quarantine measures will be extended from several large areas of the north to Italy's entire population of more than 60 million, according to a new decree signed on Monday night.

Since the COVID-19 disease first emerged in China late last year, Italy has become Europe's hardest-hit country and has seen a rapid rise in cases to more than 9,000 with 463 deaths reported so far.

The strict new rules, in place until April 3, also cancel sporting events "of all levels and disciplines", stopping play in the top-flight Serie A football league.

Only competitions organised by international bodies will be allowed to go ahead, but without spectators.

Before signing the decree, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a dramatic evening television address that it could "be summarised as follows: I stay at home".

"Travel must be avoided across the entire peninsula unless it is justified by professional reasons, by cases of need or for health reasons," he told Italians.

The measures extend a quarantine zone that Italy had imposed for its industrial northern heartland around the cities of Milan and Venice on Sunday.


An AFP count showed Italy had recorded more than half of the 862 deaths reported outside China as of Monday night.

'Moment of responsibility'

The national restrictions mean that schools and universities will all immediately close.

However, it was not immediately clear how all these measures would be enforced.

Trains and numerous flights continued to operate into and out of Milan on Monday despite the earlier set of restrictions for its Lombardy region.

The government's first set of restrictions for Italy's north sent the stock market into a tailspin that saw the Milan exchange lose more than 11 percent on the day.

But the expansion of the northern restrictions to the rest of the country just a day later suggests a government struggling to cope with the scale of the medical emergency on its hands.

Italian health officials had warned on Saturday that the northern Lombardy region was starting to run out of hospital beds for its intensive care patients.

The government also began to recall retired doctors as part of an effort to quickly bolster the health service with 20,000 staff.

But the toll has kept growing by the day.

Italy recorded a record 133 deaths on Sunday and immediately announced that it was ordering 22 million surgical masks -- even though doctors question how effective they are in halting the spread of viral infections.

The government's latest set of measures mean that people will need to fill out a standard "self-certification" form justifying their reasons for travel.

These would be submitted to the authorities at train stations and airports as well as major roads running between cities.

The government decree says its forms will work on an honours system and no proof of "need" will be required.

"Everyone must give up something to protect the health of citizens," said Conte.

"Today is our moment of responsibility. We cannot let our guard down."

Agence France-Presse

Pope 'tests negative for coronavirus': report

VATICAN CITY, Holy See — Pope Francis, who is suffering from a cold, has tested negative for the coronavirus, an Italian newspaper reported Tuesday, as Italy battles Europe's worst outbreak.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni did not respond to a request for comment on the report in the Messaggero newspaper.


Francis canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy this weekend, after axing all public meetings at the end of last week over the cold.

The new coronavirus has spread from China across much of the world, with Italy among the worst affected with over 2,000 people infected and 52 deaths.

The 83-year-old pontiff has been seen coughing and blowing his nose, but the Vatican on Sunday quickly shot down speculation that the pope himself had come down with COVID-19.


The Messaggero report did not say when Francis had been tested for the disease.

Agence France-Presse

Pet dog quarantined in Hong Kong with low levels of coronavirus

HONG KONG, China — A pet dog was quarantined at an animal center in Hong Kong after it tested positive to low levels of the new coronavirus, officials said Friday, in the first such case in the city.

The canine, which belongs to a 60-year-old woman infected with the virus, has no "relevant symptoms," the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.

But "nasal and oral cavity samples were tested weak positive to COVID-19 virus," a spokesman said, without explaining why they tested the animal in the first place.

The dog was collected from the owner's home on Wednesday, after the woman was diagnosed with the contagion and placed in a hospital isolation ward.

It would be closely monitored and undergo further tests to confirm if it really has the virus or if "this is a result of environmental contamination of the dog's mouth and nose," the department said.


The canine would be held until it returned a negative result.

While there is no evidence domestic animals such as dogs and cats can catch the virus or transmit it to humans, the department said pets of infected people should be quarantined for 14 days.

The financial hub has confirmed 93 cases of the new coronavirus, with two deaths earlier this month.

The epidemic, which emerged in central China in December, has infected more than 83,000 people globally.

Agence France-Presse

Kuwait, Bahrain announce first coronavirus cases

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait and Bahrain confirmed on Monday their first novel coronavirus cases, health ministries in the two Gulf states announced, adding all had come from Iran.

Kuwait reported three infections and Bahrain one.

"Tests conducted on those coming from the Iranian holy city of Mashhad showed there were three confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19)," the Kuwaiti health ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

It said the cases were of a 53-year-old Kuwaiti man, a 61-year-old Saudi citizen and a 21-year-old stateless Arab.

"All three cases are under constant observation by the health authority," the ministry added.


Bahrain's health ministry also reported the country's first COVID-19 case on Monday after a "citizen arriving from Iran was suspected of having contracted the virus based on emerging symptoms."

The patient was transferred to a medical center for "immediate testing," which proved positive for the infection, the ministry added.

Iran's confirmed death toll rose to 12 on Monday, with the outbreak prompting travel bans from nearby countries.

Last week, Kuwait banned entry of all ships from the Islamic republic and suspended flights to and from the country.

Kuwait had also banned non-citizens coming from Iran from entering the Gulf state and operated chartered flights to bring back hundreds of Kuwaiti Shiite pilgrims from the Islamic republic.

Around a third of Kuwait's 1.4 million citizens are Shiite Muslims, who travel regularly to Iran to visit religious shrines. Kuwait also hosts roughly 50,000 Iranian workers.

Over half of Bahrain's population of under one million are Shiites, who also travel frequently to Iran.

Iraq said it closed the only border crossing with Kuwait at Safwan, south of Basra, late Sunday.

Neighboring United Arab Emirates has already announced 13 cases of the novel coronavirus, all of them foreigners. The latest were a 70-year-old Iranian man, whose condition is unstable, and his 64-year-old wife.

Three Chinese nationals were treated for COVID-19 and have been discharged from UAE hospitals.

UAE airlines have suspended most flights to China—where the virus first emerged in December—except to the capital Beijing, but have not yet taken any measures to restrict travel to and from Iran. Around half a million Iranians live and work in the UAE.

Three Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar—remain free of the virus, but all have suspended flights to China.

Qatar Airways said on Monday it will quarantine people arriving from Iran and South Korea, the biggest hotspot outside of China, for 14 days.

China's death toll from COVID-19 rose to nearly 2,600 on Monday. The virus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Agence France-Presse

Fewer virus cases in China, but deaths abroad increase

BEIJING, China — China on Thursday touted a big drop in new virus infections as proof its epidemic control efforts are working, but the toll grew abroad with deaths in Japan and South Korea.

Fatalities in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases in nearly a month, including in hardest-hit Hubei province.

More than 74,000 people have been infected by the new coronavirus in China, and hundreds more in over 25 countries.

The number of deaths outside mainland China climbed to 11.

Japan's toll rose to three as a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard a quarantined cruise ship died, while fears there mounted over other passengers who disembarked the Diamond Princess after testing negative.

South Korea reported its first death, and the number of infections in the country nearly doubled Thursday to 104.

Iran reported two deaths on Wednesday and three new cases Thursday. Deaths have previously been confirmed in France, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Chinese officials say their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone about the virus with leaders in South Korea and Pakistan, state news agency Xinhua said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in "chose to call to express sympathies and support" regarding the outbreak, Xinhua said. Xi told him the epidemic's impact on bilateral ties will only be temporary.

Xi told Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that their two countries "are true friends and good brothers," and that combating the virus is his government's top priority.

At a special meeting on the virus with Southeast Asian countries in Laos, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said results "show that our control efforts are working."

Although more than 600 new infections were reported Thursday in Hubei's capital Wuhan, it was the lowest daily tally since late January and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has  fallen for three straight days.

Chinese authorities placed the city of 11 million under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of the province in the days that followed.

Wuhan authorities this week carried out  door-to-door checks on residents, with the local Communist Party chief warning that officials would be "held accountable" if any infections were missed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their homes for groceries, while rural villages have sealed off access to outsiders.

'Chaotic' cruise quarantine

In Japan, critics slammed the government's quarantine measures imposed on the Diamond Princess.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 634 cases confirmed among passengers and crew.

Another 13 people on board the ship were diagnosed with the virus Thursday, Japan's health ministry said.

Still, passengers were disembarking after negative tests and having completed a 14-day quarantine period -- packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

An infectious diseases specialist at Kobe University slammed the quarantine procedures on board as "completely chaotic" in rare criticism from a Japanese academic.

"The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control," said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

South Korea, meanwhile, announced 51 new cases, with more than 40 in a cluster centred on the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an entity often seen as a cult.

The infections apparently came from a 61-year-old woman who first developed a fever on February 10 and attended at least four services before being diagnosed.

Authorities were investigating whether she visited a hospital where a long-term patient contracted the virus and later died.

Growing concern abroad

Beyond Asia, citizen backlash was growing over fears of contagion.

Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from neighboring Iran, with Iraq's health ministry announcing people in Iran were barred from entering the country "until further notice."

The move came after Iran confirmed three new coronavirus cases following the deaths of two elderly men.

And in Ukraine, a crowd clashed with police outside a hospital over government plans to quarantine evacuees from coronavirus-hit China at the site.

Six buses with the evacuees arrived at the medical center in Novi Sanzhary, in the central Poltava region, escorted by police.

Angry  demonstrators lit fires and pelted the buses with rocks, breaking at least three windows.

Because of the virus outbreak, airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined $27.8 billion of revenue, the International Air Transport Association said.

This is the first time since 2003 that demand for air travel has declined, IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. — with Miwa Suzuki in Tokyo

Agence France-Presse

China sees drop in new virus cases, two Japan cruise passengers die

BEIJING, China — China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

The death toll rose in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East.

In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organization official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

"After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan -- where the virus is believed to have emerged in December -- are still "severely affected" by the epidemic, Wang said.

"But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news," he said.

'Not turning point'

More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan -- the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before.

The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.

Chinese authorities placed Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, under quarantine on January 23 and quickly locked down the rest of Hubei in the days that followed.

Cities far from the epicentre have limited the number of people who can leave their houses for groceries, while villages have sealed themselves off from outsiders.

Richard Brennan, regional emergency director at the World Health Organization, said China was making "tremendous progress in a short period of time" but cautioned that it was not over just yet.

"Trends are very encouraging but we are not at a turning point yet," Brennan told a press conference in Cairo.

'Chaotic' cruise quarantine

While China touts progress in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Japan's government faces criticism over quarantine measures on the Diamond Prince cruise ship.

The huge vessel moored in Yokohama is easily the biggest coronavirus cluster outside the Chinese epicentre, with 621 positive cases confirmed among the passengers and crew -- one sixth of the total.

On Wednesday, 443 passengers disembarked from the ship after testing negative for the COVID-19 virus and not showing symptoms during a 14-day quarantine period. The complete removal of the passengers was expected to last at least three days.

More passengers left the ship on Thursday, packing into yellow buses and leaving for stations and airports.

But questions are increasingly being asked as to the wisdom of allowing former Diamond Princess passengers to roam freely around Japan's crowded cities, even if they have tested negative.

The death of the two elderly passengers is likely to add to the criticism.

A specialist in infectious diseases at Kobe University slammed "completely chaotic" quarantine procedures onboard, in rare criticism from a Japanese official.

"The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of infection control," said Kentaro Iwata in videos he has since deleted.

Japan's health ministry insisted it had conducted "consultations on appropriate infection control in the ship" with experts and taken a range of measures.

Agence France-Presse

Australia virus evacuees head for island quarantine

SYDNEY, Australia —  A flight carrying evacuees from the epicenter of the deadly China virus outbreak landed in Australia late Monday ahead of a 14-day quarantine at a notorious offshore immigration detention center.

The Qantas charter flight carrying 243 passengers—including 89 children—touched down at an Air Force base near the remote Western Australian town of Exmouth.

The Australian citizens and permanent residents on board were due to be flown in smaller planes to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the flight was late leaving Wuhan due to a "very intensive process to manage the immigration and boarding arrangements" that also included medical checks.

Passengers will be quarantined for at least 14 days in an immigration detention center which gained notoriety as the venue where asylum seekers who attempted to reach Australia by boat were detained.

Officials say the evacuees will be held separately from a Sri Lankan family of four fighting their deportation—the only other residents of the facility.

"The plan is to cohort people in small family groups so that there won't be a full mingling, so that the whole group doesn't have to stay if someone does get unwell," chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said.

Australia is just the latest country to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan. Japan, the United States and France are among those that have already sent extraction flights.

Payne said the government was considering sending a second plane to Wuhan to evacuate more than around 300 other Australians.

Australia is also in talks with Pacific nations to help evacuate their citizens, but Payne said any foreign nationals that traveled on an Australian charter flight would also need to be quarantined on Christmas Island.

The virus has infected more than 14,000 people in China and killed more than 360. It has spread to more than 24 countries including Australia, where health officials have so far confirmed 12 cases.

Australia on Saturday barred non-citizens travelling from mainland China from entering the country for at least two weeks, while Qantas said it would suspend flights to Shanghai and Beijing starting February 9.

philstar.com

Miley Cyrus raising money for HIV charity

LOS ANGELES -- Pop star Miley Cyrus is releasing a MAC Viva Glam lipstick next year and all the money from sales of the cosmetic will got to the MAC AIDS Fund to help HIV sufferers.

The 'We Can't Stop' singer has teamed up with the cosmetic company to bring out her own branded lipstick in early 2015.

"Going #VIVAGLAM with @MACcosmetics. Look for my lipstick in early 2015 ... Every dollar from the sales of my #VIVAGLAM will go to @MACAIDSFund to help those affected by HIV! (sic)," she posted in Twitter.

The MAC AIDS Fund's mission statement is "to serve people of all ages, races and sexes affected by HIV/AIDS. We fund bold, visionary and brave trailblazers determined to end the epidemic".

source: interaksyon.com