Coronavirus live news: Spain death toll rises by almost 400 as Germany and Iran see cases jump – The Guardian, Theguardian.com
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One of the world’s largest airlines, Emirates, said it was suspending all passengers flights starting Wednesday. It’s a pivotal move that restore the dramatic slowdown in traffic through the airline’s hub in Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
The state-owned carrier stressed in a statement on Sunday it will continue to operate cargo flights through its fleet of Boeing freighters for the transport of essential goods , including medical supplies across the world. It also said the company would reduce salaries for the majority of its employees for three months, but will not cut jobs.
Emirates Airline (@ emirates)
Today we made the decision to temporarily suspend all passenger flights by (March) . SkyCargo operations will continue. This painful but pragmatic move will help Emirates Group preserve business viability and secure jobs worldwide, avoiding cuts. https://t.co/fkQ (ExVxA) (1/3) pic.twitter.com/j7ytftExn2 March ,
new cases of the virus have been confirmed in Singapore . of the cases had recently traveled to Europe, North America, South America and ASEAN countries, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its daily update . Nine of the cases had traveled to the UK and three to the US.
Singapore confirmed its first deaths yesterday. A – year-old Singaporean woman and – – year-old Indonesian man.
During his weekly Sunday blessing, Pope Francis urged all Christians to join in reciting the Our Father prayer on Wednesday at noon. “To the virus pandemic, we want to respond with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness”, the pope said.
Francis, who began streaming his audiences online earlier this month due to virus concerns, said he would also lead a global blessing to an empty St. Peters Square on Friday. The Urbi et Orbi, blessing is normally reserved for Christmas Day and Easter.
Waitrose and John Lewis have outlined measures that will be in place from tomorrow to support NHS workers:
All Waitrose shops will protect a proportion of deliveries of ‘hard to find’ and essential stock exclusively for NHS workers to ensure they have better opportunity to access basic shopping items at all times of the day.A proportion of deliveries
NHS staff will receive priority checkout treatment in all Waitrose supermarkets either through a dedicated till or moved to the front of the queue John Lewis is donating comfort items and Easter gift food to local hospitals, to support workers
Berangere Michel, Executive Director for Customer Service at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Through these steps we want to recognize the tireless work of NHS staff, supporting us all through these unprecedented circumstances. We hope these measures make their life a little easier; our Partners are keen to do something to help, and we are offering this with sincere thanks from us all. ”
These new measures follow steps outlined by the John Lewis Partnership earlier this week to support customers, including the launch of a £ 1million Community Support Fund to help local communities along with a protected shopping hour for the elderly and vulnerable.
Many Waitrose shops have already been using their community funds to assemble care packages of essential items for vulnerable or elderly people in the local community.
Greece’s center right government is hours away from announcing further restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus with media reports saying a further clampdown on movement will likely take the form of a curfew. News sites reported that prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to announce the emergency measure in a TV address at 6pm local time. The step follows alarm at the number of citizens still flouting regulations enforced as part of gradual lockdown to halt transmissions of the virus.
On Saturday Greeks could be seen flocking to beaches along the Athenian riviera despite repeated government entreaties for people to remain at home. A mass exodus of Greeks from Athens, and other urban areas, to villages in the countryside has also caused consternation. As of Saturday afternoon, when the latest health ministry figures were announced, authorities had confirmed (cases of coronavirus and fatalities – with the exception of one, all men.
Mitsotakis and other officials have repeatedly warned that the coming weeks are critical in containing the disease. Addressing reporters last night, the deputy civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias felt fit to remind Greeks that Italy, the country worst hit in (Europe) by Covid – , had recorded the same number of coronavirus cases and deaths (days ago.)
Officials fear that Greece’s health system – savaged by years of budget cuts during the country’s long-running debt crisis – is far from ready to deal with a sudden surge in numbers requiring immediate hospitalization. That, and the country proximity to (Italy , played a central role in the government taking a tough stance from the outset announcing measures that included the closure of schools early on.
Afghanistan has announced its first Coronavirus death. The Health Ministry confirmed that the patient, who was 50 years old, died three days ago in northern Balkh province and the result of his coronavirus test arrived today.
Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Health Ministry said the body was transferred to a Taliban controlled area [by his relatives] and buried there.
Another suspected patient died today in western Herat province. The coronavirus test result will arrive tomorrow. Herat neighbors Iran and is the most affected city with positive cases so far.
Afghanistan has reported coronavirus cases so far, 18 in last hours. Testing remains low and experts fear the full extent of the spread is not known. With as many as 28, 10 people arriving daily from Iran, one of the worst-hit countries, Afghanistan remains vulnerable to the spread.
Helena Smith
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