Covid-19: Latest global developments

PARIS, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Here are some of the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: MORE THAN 809,000 DEAD: The pandemic has killed at least 809,255 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year. More than 23.4 million cases have been registered in 196 countriesand territories. The United…

Mali junta wants three-year military rule, agrees to free president

BAMAKO, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The junta that seized power in Mali wants a military-led transitional body to rule for three years and has agreed to release ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a source in a visiting West African delegation said. “The junta has affirmed that it wants a three-year…

Madagascar: 20 inmates killed in prison breakout

ANTANANARIVO, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Twenty inmates were killed in a shootout with police during a prison breakout in Madagascar on Sunday, the justice ministry said. Scores of prisoners attacked guards with rocks and grabbed a gun as they tried to flee the Farafangana prison in the southeast of the…

Covid-19: Russia’s Chumakov Center applies for clinical tests of its vaccine

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (NNN-TASS) — The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products at the Russian Academy of Sciences has filed an application for a Russian health ministry’s permit for clinical tests of its anti-coronavirus vaccine, Aidar Ishmukhametov, the Center’s director general, said. “Today…

Covid-19: US approves plasma to treat virus, global death toll above 800,000

WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– The United States announced anemergency authorization to use blood plasma from recovered coronaviruspatients as a treatment for the disease, which has killed more than 800,000people around the world. Many governments around the world are renewing efforts — including thereimposition of lockdowns — to contain the…

Covid-19: Pandemic appears to be leveling off in Brazil, according to WHO

GENEVA, Aug 22 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The coronavirus crisis in Brazil appears to be leveling off, if not easing, the World Health Organization said, offering a glimpse of light for the world’s second-biggest COVID-19 hot spot. The number of weekly infections detected have stabilized, transmissions are slowing, and intensive care units…

Ebola cases climb to 100 in latest DR Congo outbreak

KINSHASA, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — One hundred cases of Ebola have been recorded in DR Congo’s northwest in less than three months, the World Health Organization (WHO) said as it warned the response to the epidemic is underfunded. The outbreak was reported in Equateur province on June 1, just as…

Covid-19: WHO, UNICEF urge safe school reopening in Africa

GENEVA, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The unprecedented and prolonged school closures aimed at keeping students safe from COVID-19 are harming them in other ways, World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF said, urging governments in Africa to promote the safe reopening of schools while taking measures to limit the spread of…

Covid-19: Argentina confirms 329,043 cases, 6,730 deaths

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 22 (NNN-XINHUA) — The Argentine Health Ministry on Friday confirmed 8,159 new COVID-19 cases and 213 more deaths over the last 24 hours, taking the national caseload to 329,043 and the death toll to 6,730. Of the new cases, 5,322 were confirmed in the province of Buenos…

Covid-19: Germany’s cases soar by 2,034 to 232,082; 41 schools infected

A sign reads “Social distance” as schools re-open after summer holidays and the lockdown due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Karl-Rehbein high school in Hanau BERLIN, Aug 22 (NNN-Xinhua) — Germany’s COVID-19 cases rose by 2,034 within one day to 232,082, the highest daily spike…