The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

COVID-19: Boris Johnson’s pregnant fiancée Carrie Symonds confirms she has symptoms

Agency Reporter

Boris Johnson’s pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds, said she has been suffering with coronavirus symptoms and has spent the past week in bed.

She shared the news on Twitter – adding that, after resting for seven days, she is now feeling better.

Symonds wrote: “I’ve spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of Coronavirus.

“I haven’t needed to be tested and, after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I’m on the mend.”

Ms Symonds shared advice for pregnant women, who are considered to be one of the categories most at risk, tweeting a link to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Read Also: COVID-19: No Licence issued for deployment of 5G technology – FG

She tweeted: “Being pregnant with Covid-19 is obviously worrying.

“To other pregnant women, please do read and follow the most up to date guidance which I found to be reassuring.”

Health minister Nadine Dorries, who was the first MP to be diagnosed with coronavirus, tweeted: “I’ve been speaking to @carriesymonds regularly throughout.

“She presented with and has been through the classic signs and symptoms most people experience with #COVID19.

“She is now recovering and getting stronger day by day. #InThisTogether.”

It comes after Boris Johnson tested positive for the virus on March 27 – but remains isolated amid reports the virus ‘hit him hard’.

In a video message he posted on social media on Thursday, the leader insisted he is feeling better despite a high temperature.

Shortly after the PM announced he tested positive for Covid-19, Ms Symonds – who usually lives with the PM in the Number 11 flat – shared a photograph of herself self-isolating in Camberwell, south London, with the couple’s dog Dilyn.

Mr Johnson, 55, is expecting his first child with 32-year-old Carrie Symonds in the summer.

While pregnant women do not appear more likely to contract coronavirus than the general population, pregnancy itself alters the body’s immune system and response to viral infections in general.

April 5, 2020
UK Labour Party elects Keir Starmer as leader

Agency Reporter

Lawyer and lawmaker Keir Starmer was elected leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Saturday by a decisive margin, after a contest thrown into turmoil by the coronavirus outbreak.

A special conference to announce the winner was scrapped when the nation went into lockdown, and the news came in a statement accompanied by a pre-recorded acceptance speech.

Starmer, 57, comes from Labour’s center-left wing, and his election marks a shift from the more strongly socialist course set by his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer acknowledged that he was becoming leader of the opposition “at a moment like none other in our lifetime” and promised to “engage constructively” with the Conservative government to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Read Also: CIBN holds virtual AGM, elects Olugbemi 21st President

The party said Starmer won on the first round of voting with 56.2 per cent of all the votes cast, well ahead of rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy. Angela Rayner was chosen as deputy leader in a vote of Labour’s half a million members.

A former UK chief prosecutor named after Labour Party co-founder Keir Hardie, Starmer faces the challenge of reuniting a party deeply divided over the policies and legacy of Corbyn, The outgoing leader was elected party chief in 2015 on a wave of grassroots enthusiasm, and took Labour sharply to the left, proposing the nationalisation of major industries and a huge increase in public spending.

Corbyn also faced allegations that he had allowed anti-Semitism to fester in the party. He is a long time supporter of the Palestinians and critic of Israel.

Starmer said “anti-Semitism has been a stain on our party.”

Labour has now been out of office for a decade that has brought the country three Conservative prime ministers – David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

April 5, 2020
Singapore reports 75 new coronavirus cases

Agency Reporter

Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) on Saturday reported 75 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 1,189.

Among the new cases, six are imported cases with recent travel history abroad and 69 are local cases, who have no recent travel history abroad.

Of the 69 local cases, 29 are currently not linked.

Earlier in the day, Singapore confirmed the sixth COVID-19 death, which involved an 88-year-old male Singapore permanent resident.

The deceased had a history of heart and kidney diseases, cancer and diabetes.

(NAN)

April 4, 2020
Ukrainian doctors fly to Italy to help combat coronavirus

Kiev, April 4, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Ukraine, which expects a sharp rise of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, sent doctors to disease-hit Italy on Saturday to assist their Italian colleagues and to gain field experience.

A team of 20 doctors, including surgeons, neurosurgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses, will be deployed to the region of Marche in central Italy for two weeks, Italian ambassador to Ukraine, Davide La Cecilia, told Reuters.

“The National Health Service in our country is very stressed.

“So, we badly need medical personnel and are very happy that Ukraine is sending this humanitarian aid,’’ said La Cecilia at Kiev’s airport, before the medical mission’s departure.

Ukrainian Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, who accompanied the ambassador, said Kiev would send more medical aid and disinfectant to Italy in the coming days.

“It is an honour for us to help Italy during such tough times.

“We know that many Ukrainians live and work in Italy.

“By helping Italy, we are helping our citizens,’’ said Avakov.

READ ALSO: Adeleye: I wasn’t inside crashed Ukrainian Airline

Ukraine’s Health Ministry has reported 1,096 cases, including 28 deaths since March 3, when the first case was recorded.

But as thousands of Ukrainians have recently returned home from abroad, the ministry expects a much bigger outbreak ahead.

The daily tally of new cases increased to 154 on Saturday from 138 on Friday, up from 62 last Monday.

The head of the Ukrainian medical mission, neurosurgeon Andriy Miroshnichenko, said that all the team members volunteered to work in Italy.

“After they come back home, they will be able to treat patients and work, having practical experience and knowledge about the disease,’’ said Miroshnichenko.

Asked whether the Ukrainian doctors were not afraid to catch the virus themselves, Glib Bidyukov, a nurse said it was “a consciously made choice’’.

“When you choose healthcare, you understand that you put yourself in some danger.

“Each of us made a choice a long time ago,’’ Bidyukov said.

(Reuters/NAN)

April 4, 2020
China holds three minutes of silence for COVID-19 victims

China held three minutes of silence during Tomb Sweeping Day on Saturday for people who have died in the coronavirus outbreak.

During the national mourning event, national flags across China and at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad were lowered to half-mast, and public entertainment activities halted.

The three minutes of silence started on time at 10 am (0200 GMT).

At the same time, car horns honked, trains and ships sounded their whistles, and air defence alarms went off.

The event is intended to honour “martyrs and dead compatriots killed in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic,” the State Council said on Friday.

READ ALSO: My contact with COVID-19 victims brings cure, says Prophetess

Tomb Sweeping Day is an annual Chinese holiday during which families gather to honour their ancestors and clean their tombs.

However, with restrictions in place to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading, this year many provinces asked residents not to make the pilgrimage to the graves but to honour the dead from home.

So far, China has counted more than 80,000 coronavirus cases including more than 3,000 deaths, according to authorities.

No fewer than 76,000 patients have so far recovered.

Cases worldwide have surpassed one million, and deaths exceeded 50,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.

(dpa/NAN)

April 4, 2020
90 countries seek emergency funds – IMF

Agency Reporter

More than 90 countries have asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency funding as the coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented economic crisis, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

“Never in the history of the IMF we have witnessed the world economy come to a standstill,” the head of the Washington-based institution said in a online press conference of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“We are now in recession.

“It is way worse than the global financial crisis,” she added.

Georgieva said emerging and developing economies were hit the hardest and had seen a financial outflow of nearly 90 billion dollars.

The IMF is especially worried that recent economic growth in African countries could be reversed by the pandemic.

Georgieva said that the IMF would use its 1-trillion-dollar war chest to help distressed economies, including African countries that would otherwise have to chose between feeding their populations or fighting the novel coronavirus.

Read Also: COVID-19: Recession looms, says IMF’s chief

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to suspend medical fees and to provide free testing and health care for the Covid-19 coronavirus disease.

“If people delay or forego care because they can’t afford it, they not only harm themselves, they make the pandemic harder to control and put society at risk,” Tedros said.

The UN health chief reported that donor countries have already pledged or transferred nearly 690 million dollars for the WHO’s Covid-19 response plan, more than the requested 675 million dollars.

The global number of Covid-19 cases has climbed past 1 million this week, including more than 50,000 deaths. (NAN)

April 3, 2020
COVID-19: Supermarkets ‘ban couples’ from shopping together

Supermarkets are ‘banning couples’ from shopping together to try and enforce social distancing.

Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have both asked families to nominate one person to come into the store in a bid to keep two metres between people.

Parents are also being urged not to bring their children shopping with them unless they have to for reasons such as there being no one else to look after them at home.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe said: “From today, we are asking everyone to please only send one adult per household to our shops.

“This helps us keep people a safe distance apart and also helps to reduce queues to get into stores. Our store teams will be asking groups with more than one adult to choose one adult to shop and will ask other adults to wait. Children are of course welcome if they are not able to stay at home.”

It comes after Waitrose announced a similar “one person per household” policy last weekend.

Sainsbury’s have already set up a queuing system to reduce the number of people in stores at any one time and set up perspex screens at most manned checkouts.

Read Also: Kwara denies record of coronavirus case

Another 230,000 extra delivery slots have been added so customers can get their groceries without leaving the house.

Two weeks ago the supermarket had 370,000 online slots and now it has increased to 600,000.

It has also relaxed rules on the number of certain items people can buy after there were restrictions imposed across the UK following panic buying.

Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe added: “As stock continues to build, we have been reviewing whether we still need to limit the number of items people buy. I am pleased to tell you that we will start to remove limits from Sunday.

“Limits will remain in place on the most popular items which include UHT milk, pasta and tinned tomatoes.

“I have been delighted to see that customers have told us they think colleague friendliness is at an all-time high at the moment.

“I think this is real testament both to the hard work of our colleagues and also the fantastic recognition they are getting for the vital role they are playing throughout this crisis.

“Thank you for treating our colleagues with the respect and kindness they deserve. They really are doing their best to serve our customers well in these challenging times.”

(www.newsnow.co.uk)

April 3, 2020
Queen Elizabeth to address Britons on coronavirus crisis April 5

Agency Reporter

Queen Elizabeth will make an extremely rare address to the nation on Sunday as Britain grapples with the increasingly deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The government has put Britain into a virtual lockdown, closing pubs, restaurants and nearly all shops, while banning social gatherings and ordering Britons to stay at home unless it is absolutely essential to venture out.

The officials said that the measures were intended to stop the spread of the epidemic.

The officials added that on Friday the death toll in the United Kingdom among those who had tested positive for the virus had risen by 684 to 3,605, up 23% on the previous day.

“Her Majesty The Queen has recorded a special broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus outbreak,” Buckingham Palace said in statement.

The address, which was recorded at Windsor Castle where the 93-year-old monarch is staying with her husband Prince Philip, will be broadcast at 1900 GMT on Sunday, it said.

Last month, the queen issued a written statement in which she said the royal family would play its part in rising to the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We know that many individuals and families across the United Kingdom, and around the world, are entering a period of great concern and uncertainty,” she said then.

“We are all being advised to change our normal routines and regular patterns of life for the greater good of the communities we live in and, in particular, to protect the most vulnerable within them.”

The queen rarely broadcasts to the nation apart from her annual televised Christmas Day message, usually to offer personal thanks or provide reassurance in times of crisis.

Royal experts said it would be only the fifth such televised address she had made during her 68 years on the throne.

The last was in 2012 following celebrations to mark her 60th year as queen which came a decade after the preceding broadcast which followed the death of her mother, the Queen Mother, in 2002 when she thanked Britons for their messages of condolence.

She also gave an address at the start of the Gulf War in 1991, and most famously, she delivered a sombre live broadcast after the death of her daughter-in-law Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997, amid a national outpouring of grief and criticism of the royal family’s response. (Reuters/NAN)

April 3, 2020
Japan’s COVID-19 cases climb to 2,989

Agency Reporter

Japan’s Health Ministry and local governments said 2,989 people had been infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan as of Friday evening.

The daily number of new infections is topping 200 for a fourth straight day, adding to concerns that the healthcare system here could buckle.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 86 people, according to the health ministry.

The figure includes those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess Cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.

Of the 2,989 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Japan, 773 cases are in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, with 89 new cases confirmed on Friday amid concerns about spikes in urban areas in Japan overloading the healthcare system.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, along with healthcare specialists, have said the number of hospital beds available for coronavirus patients will soon reach capacity, with the health ministry rapidly trying to secure more.

Adding to pressure on the government to demonstrably bolster its preventive and countermeasures to the spread of the virus, a panel of government experts warned this week the country’s healthcare system could collapse if coronavirus cases here continue to spike.

“The healthcare system in Tokyo and four other prefectures are under increased strain and drastic countermeasures need to be taken as quickly as possible,’’ the experts concluded.

Read Also: COVID-19: We have traced 6700 contacts says NCDC

Recent spikes in infection rates in the capital and other urban areas have seen calls from regional authorities for people to work from home as far as possible, regularly clean their hands, avoid crowded places and conversations in close quarters as well as avoid going outside unnecessarily, especially in the evenings.

But the central government has yet to declare a state of emergency over the situation.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a cautious approach to declare a state of emergency as doing so could infringe on the rights of people.

Although the prime minister has acknowledged that, “it’s critically important to prevent a sharp rise in cases in the Tokyo metropolitan area with a large population, which is at the centre of economic activity’’.

Abe has said that COVID-19 infections across Japan are not at a point necessitating a declaration of a state of emergency, although he has stated the nation is “on the brink’’.

“At this point, we have not seen infections spreading rapidly and widely across the country.

“We are just about holding the line,’’ Abe said in parliament a day earlier.

“But if we lower our guard now even a little, infections could accelerate suddenly at any moment.

“We continue to be on the brink.’’

As cases in Tokyo continue to rise, those in Osaka Prefecture are also spiralling, with 311 new infections confirmed on Friday, followed by Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Chiba with 206 cases.

Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, recorded 205 COVID-19 cases, the latest figures showed.

The health ministry also said there are currently a total of 72 patients considered severely ill and are on ventilators to receive respiratory assistance or have been admitted to intensive care units for medical treatment.

The ministry added that in total, 1,124 people have been discharged from hospitals after their symptoms improved, according to the latest figures released Thursday evening. (Xinhua/NAN)

April 3, 2020
Japan’s COVID-19 cases climb to 2,989

Japan’s Health Ministry and local governments said 2,989 people had been infected with the COVID-19 virus in Japan as of Friday evening.
The daily number of new infections is topping 200 for a fourth straight day, adding to concerns that the healthcare system here could buckle.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at a total of 86 people, according to the health ministry.

The figure includes those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess Cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.

Of the 2,989 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Japan, 773 cases are in Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, with 89 new cases confirmed on Friday amid concerns about spikes in urban areas in Japan overloading the healthcare system.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, along with healthcare specialists, have said the number of hospital beds available for coronavirus patients will soon reach capacity, with the health ministry rapidly trying to secure more.

Adding to pressure on the government to demonstrably bolster its preventive and countermeasures to the spread of the virus, a panel of government experts warned this week the country’s healthcare system could collapse if coronavirus cases here continue to spike.

“The healthcare system in Tokyo and four other prefectures are under increased strain and drastic countermeasures need to be taken as quickly as possible,’’ the experts concluded.

Recent spikes in infection rates in the capital and other urban areas have seen calls from regional authorities for people to work from home as far as possible, regularly clean their hands, avoid crowded places and conversations in close quarters as well as avoid going outside unnecessarily, especially in the evenings.

But the central government has yet to declare a state of emergency over the situation.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a cautious approach to declare a state of emergency as doing so could infringe on the rights of people.

Although the prime minister has acknowledged that, “it’s critically important to prevent a sharp rise in cases in the Tokyo metropolitan area with a large population, which is at the centre of economic activity’’.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Japan assures Nigeria of support in tackling infectious diseases

Abe has said that COVID-19 infections across Japan are not at a point necessitating a declaration of a state of emergency, although he has stated the nation is “on the brink’’.

“At this point, we have not seen infections spreading rapidly and widely across the country.

“We are just about holding the line,’’ Abe said in parliament a day earlier.

“But if we lower our guard now even a little, infections could accelerate suddenly at any moment.

“We continue to be on the brink.’’

As cases in Tokyo continue to rise, those in Osaka Prefecture are also spiralling, with 311 new infections confirmed on Friday, followed by Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Chiba with 206 cases.

Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, recorded 205 COVID-19 cases, the latest figures showed.

The health ministry also said there are currently a total of 72 patients considered severely ill and are on ventilators to receive respiratory assistance or have been admitted to intensive care units for medical treatment.

The ministry added that in total, 1,124 people have been discharged from hospitals after their symptoms improved, according to the latest figures released Thursday evening.

(Xinhua/NAN)

April 3, 2020