Shomporko Desk: Olympics postponed as leaders try to save lives and the economy. Olympics delayed until 2021 due to COVID-19, will still be called Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. This is the first time since the modern Olympics began in the 19th century that it has been postponed to a later date.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed to the unprecedented move in a telephone call Tuesday to delay the games that were set to begin in July. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will not be cancelled,” Abe told reporters in Tokyo after the call, adding they will be held by the summer of 2021.
”We’re digging the trenches”– France’s intensive care medics brace for coronavirus war: Intensive care nurse Emmanuelle Dubourg Davy feels that war has been declared and knows that her hospital in the western French city of Anger will soon be inundated with critically ill coronavirus patients. The teaching hospital has stockpiled surgical blouses, face masks and disinfectant gels, and rotas have been rewritten to increase working hours. So far, only three of 24 intensive care beds are occupied by coronavirus patients, but few among her colleagues doubt that a wave will hit. “We’re on a war footing as if we were digging trenches,” she said.
Iran’s death toll from coronavirus climbs to 1,812 with 127 new death: Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has increased to 1,812, with 127 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry spokesman told state TV on Monday, adding that the country’s total number of infected people has reached 23,049.Saudi coronavirus.
Saudi coronavirus cases pass 500; Emirates cancels most passenger flights:
Saudi Arabia reported a jump of almost a quarter in coronavirus cases on Sunday while the United Arab Emirates pumped more money into its economy as its state-owned carrier Emirates said it would halt almost all passenger flights. Saudi Arabia recorded 119 new cases of the virus for a total of 511, the highest in the Gulf Arab region, the Health Ministry said.
Vietnam coronavirus cases rise to 106, the biggest daily increase so far:
Vietnam’s health ministry reported 12 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the Southeast Asian country’s biggest reported daily increase so far, bringing the total number of cases there to 106. In mid-February, Vietnam said all 16 of its confirmed coronavirus cases had recovered, but it has since been battling with an influx of imported cases from overseas visitors and Vietnamese citizens escaping outbreaks elsewhere. Vietnam has not yet reported any coronavirus-related deaths.
The first hearse arrives at Spain’s makeshift ice-rink morgue as coronavirus toll mounts: The first hearse arrived on Tuesday at Madrid’s ice rink, hastily transformed into a makeshift mortuary as Spanish authorities scrambled to deal with a rising death toll from the coronavirus. Spain is Europe’s second-worst hit country after Italy, with 2,696 deaths and nearly 40,000 confirmed cases after 6,600 cases and more than 500 deaths were reported overnight, the sharpest daily increase since the start of the crisis.
Donald Trump, facing a COVID-19 economic meltdown, hints at re-opening the U.S: His own top health authorities warn that economically painful restrictions are the only way to beat the virus. President Donald Trump began talking privately late last week about reopening the nation, despite the swiftly rising number of coronavirus cases and against the advice of health professionals, because he’s worried about the economic damage from an extended shutdown, according to people familiar with his thinking.
Around 14% of infections are among health workers. Authorities said on Monday facilities could not cope and agreed to transform the Palacio de Hielo mall, home to an Olympic-sized ice rink, into a morgue.
The shortage of testing kits has made it difficult to assess the full spread of the virus, but Trump and a contingent of his aides, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, want to ensure that the economic damage from a nationwide “social distancing” the campaign doesn’t outweigh the potential toll from the virus itself, the people said.
China’s new coronavirus infections double due to imported cases: Mainland China saw a doubling in new coronavirus cases driven by a jump in infected travellers returning home from overseas, raising the risk of transmissions in Chinese cities and provinces that had seen no new infections in recent days. China had 78 new cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, a two-fold increase from Sunday. Of the new cases, 74 were imported infections, up from 39 imported cases a day earlier. The Chinese capital Beijing was the hardest-hit, with a record 31 new imported cases, followed by southern Guangdong province with 14 and the financial hub of Shanghai with nine. The total number of imported cases stood at 427 as of Monday.
Putin dons hazmat suit as Moscow says coronavirus outbreak is worse than it looks: President Vladimir Putin donned a hazmat suit and respirator on Tuesday during a visit to a hospital treating coronavirus patients and the mayor of Moscow said the outbreak in the Russian capital was much worse than official figures showed. Russia has so far reported 495 cases of the virus, a figure that is much lower than in many European countries. One woman, who tested positive for the virus, has also died.
Are old malaria drugs really the COVID-19 ‘game-changer’ some people believe? Not so fast, warn health officials:
‘Absolutely, it should be studied. … But the idea that people should start taking chloroquine because it’s a game-changer, I think is just nuts, frankly’.
U.S. President Donald Trump considers them a COVID-19 “game-changer,” his top infectious diseases advisor says the evidence is flimsy, while ethicists worry pouring millions of the tablets into hospitals is a long shot that could make people sicker.
The comments, by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, marked the strongest statement yet by Russian authorities suggesting they do not have a full grasp of how widely the coronavirus has spread throughout the world’s largest country by territory.