Month: March 2020
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
Commentary: Restrictions on movements in some Southeast Asian countries to fight COVID-19 have been patchy, even scary
News Business Article
SINGAPORE: As COVID-19 continues to blanket countries worldwide, Southeast Asia has begun introducing stringent measures to combat the virus. With more than 7,700 cases of infections have across the region, Malaysia tops with 2,470 cases. Advertisement Advertisement Yet Indonesia has the highest number of deaths and a fatality rate of almost 9 per cent, one
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
Italy to extend coronavirus lockdown until Easter as new cases fall
News Business Article
ROME: Italy’s government on Monday (Mar 30) said it would extend its nationwide lockdown measures against a coronavirus outbreak, due to end on Friday, at least until the Easter season in April, as the number of new infections declines. “The evaluation was to extend all containment measures at least until Easter. The government will move
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
New York cheers arrival of hospital ship as coronavirus cases soar
News Business Article
NEW YORK: People cheered the US Navy hospital ship Comfort as it sailed into New York on Monday (Mar 30), a beacon of the national effort to stanch the coronavirus outbreak at its US epicentre as the number of cases soared. Painted a gleaming white and adorned with giant red crosses, the 1,000-bed converted oil tanker sailed past
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
Italy sees 812 more coronavirus deaths, but new cases fall steeply
News Business Article
ROME: The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 812 in the last 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday (Mar 30), reversing two days of declines. Italy, the world’s hardest hit country which accounts for more than a third of all global fatalities, saw its total death
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
Israel to use computer analysis to find likely coronavirus carriers
News Business Article
TEL AVIV: Israel’s defence ministry plans to use software that analyses data gathered from mobile phones – produced, according to Israeli media, by the spyware firm NSO – to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them. Defence Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters that the “coronameter” would need approval from the cabinet –
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
Coronavirus hits hundreds of US police amid protective gear shortages
News Business Article
NEW YORK: When nine police officers showed up to make an arrest near Melrose Avenue in the Bronx last Wednesday, none wore a mask or gloves to protect them from coronavirus. Similar scenes play out all over the city daily – officers making arrests, walking their beats and responding to 911 calls without protective gear, according
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 31, 2020
France sees worst daily death toll as army ferries virus patients
News Business Article
STRASBOURG: France recorded its worst daily coronavirus death toll on Monday (Mar 30), exceeding 3,000 for the first time, and army helicopters transported critical patients from the east to hospitals overseas as the country battled to free up space in life-support units. The Grand Est region the first in France to be overwhelmed by a
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
UK’s Prince Charles out of self-isolation and in good health
News Business Article
LONDON: British heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, who had tested positive for coronavirus, is out of self-isolation after seven days and is in good health, his spokesman said on Monday. Last week, his Clarence House office revealed that Charles, 71, had been tested after displaying mild symptoms of the virus and had been in self-isolation at his
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
France uses army helicopters to ferry critical virus patients abroad
News Business Article
STRASBOURG: Army helicopters on Monday (Mar 30) transported coronavirus patients fighting for their lives from eastern France to hospitals in Germany and Switzerland as the country battled to free up space in life-support units. The Grand Est region was the first in France to be overwhelmed by a wave of infections that has rapidly moved
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Outrage in India as migrants sprayed with disinfectant to fight virus
News Business Article
NEW DELHI: Indian health workers caused outrage on Monday (Mar 30) by spraying a group of migrants with disinfectant, amid fears that a large scale movement of people from cities to the countryside risked spreading the coronavirus. Footage showed a group of migrant workers sitting on a street in Bareilly, a district in the northern
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Malaysia confirms 156 new COVID-19 cases and 3 more deaths
News Business Article
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia confirmed 156 more COVID-19 cases on Monday (Mar 30), bringing the total number of people who have tested positive to 2,626. At a press conference, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also said that three more deaths have been recorded. Advertisement Advertisement READ: COVID-19: Malaysia to implement enhanced measures for second phase of movement
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Undetected COVID-19 from returning Myanmar workers a big concern: Health official
News Business Article
MYANMAR, Yangon: The likelihood of undetected COVID-19 cases imported by a recent wave of returning Myanmar workers from Thailand – at least 32,000 of them – via a shared land border is “dangerously high”, a Myanmar health official told CNA on Monday (Mar 30). The remarks came a day after Myanmar rolled out its strictest
Written by Gabriel HerveyMarch 30, 2020
Spotify says isolation due to COVID-19 ups interest in ‘chill’ music
News Business Article
STOCKHOLM: People spending more time cooped up in their homes to curb the spread of the new coronavirus have changed their daily soundtracks, with many opting for more “chill” music, streaming service Spotify said on Monday (Mar 30). But they also noted a surge in the streaming of the old hit by The Police: Don’t Stand
Commentary: How to tell your older, stubborn relative to adopt social distancing
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: See if this sounds familiar. You have an older relative whom you believe to be at a serious health risk if they catch the coronavirus. You call, try to persuade them to take social distancing seriously. But your arguments fail to resonate. You both get angry and hang up, locked in a