Tag Archives: health

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to take precaution and protect themselves against the deadly COVID-19 alias coronavirus. In a message posted on twitter on Saturday afternoon, Museveni urged Ugandans to take personal precaution and mainly wash hands as a preventive measure, as …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  The UN health agency on Friday upgraded the global risk from the new coronavirus to “very high”, saying the continued increase in cases and countries affected was “clearly of concern”. “We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of …

  Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigeria on Friday announced the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa. The case is an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan earlier this week, Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said in a statement on Twitter. “The patient …

  Paris, France | AFP | The novel coronavirus outbreak in China may end up saving one of the world’s most trafficked animals after Beijing announced a total ban on the sale and consumption of the pangolin. The scaly mammal — listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended visas for visits to Islam’s holiest sites for the “umrah” pilgrimage, an unprecedented move triggered by coronavirus fears that raises questions over the annual hajj. The kingdom, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year in the cities of Mecca …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | With porous borders, creaking hospitals and large illiterate populations, Afghanistan and Pakistan face a potentially devastating health crisis after the new coronavirus erupted in neighbouring Iran. Islamabad has closed official border crossings while Kabul has suspended all travel to the Islamic republic, which has reported …

It kills bacteria in a new way | THE INDEPENDENT | A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered, making it a promising clinical candidate in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The newly-found corbomycin and the lesser-known complestatin have a never-before-seen way to …

Manila, Philippines | AFP | Filipinos marked Ash Wednesday with a bow and a sprinkling of dust instead of a cross being daubed on their foreheads, as Asia’s bastion of Catholicism guarded against the spread of coronavirus. Leaders of the Philippine church urged priests to adapt the rite in order …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s deputy health minister confirmed on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic. Iraj Harirchi coughed occasionally and wiped sweat from his brow repeatedly during a news conference in Tehran on Monday with government …

Beijing, China | AFP |  China’s top legislative committee on Monday began deliberating a proposal to ban all trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the country’s deadly coronavirus outbreak. The official Xinhua news agency said the proposal was submitted to the Standing Committee of the …