'No evidence' coronavirus recovered immune - WHO: Live updates
'No evidence' coronavirus recovered immune - WHO: Live updates
WHO warned against issuing 'immunity passports' after launching a coalition aimed at quickly finding a vaccine.
WHO warned against issuing 'immunity passports' after launching a coalition aimed at quickly finding a vaccine.
- The World Health Organization's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is teaming up with countries and partners worldwide to accelerate work on drugs and a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Noticeably absent: The United States, which is the hardest hist country in the world.
- Meanwhile, the WHO has warned against countries issuing so-called "immunity passports" to those recovered from COVID-19, saying there is no evidence yet the previously infected cannot be reinfected.
- Africa's coronavirus cases have surged 43 percent in the past week but its countries are dangerously behind in the global race for scarce medical equipment. Ten nations have no ventilators at all. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the continent is competing with the developed world in terms of obtaining supplies and equipment. "The very future of the continent will depend on how this matter is handled."
- The death toll in the United States surpassed 51,000 amid more than 890,000 cases. But the number of daily deaths in New York has gone down, with 422 reported on Friday - the lowest since April 1. Meanwhile, China reported it has not had a new death from the virus in 10 days.
- Close to 196,000 people have died due to the pandemic, with 2.7 million infected globally, out of whom almost some 781,000 have recovered.
Here are the latest updates:
Saturday, April 25
12:30 GMT - Poland to reopen outdoor playgrounds as it eases sports curbs
Poland plans to reopen outdoor sports areas on May 4 and will allow top league football matches to be played at the end of next month, as part of an easing of restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Poland started relaxing some of the curbs earlier in April, saying they were costly for the economy. It has reopened forests and parks and eased rules on the number of customers in shops.
By Saturday, the European Union member state of 38 million had reported 11,067 cases and 499 deaths.
"Sport is an important part of the national economy, which contributes to improving health and we are aware how important it is to restore normality," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference on Saturday.
12:10 GMT - Dutch cases rise above 37,000, with 120 new deaths
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands have risen by 655 to 37,190, health authorities said, with 120 new deaths.
The country's death toll stands at 4,409, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update. The actual numbers are likely higher, as not all suspected cases are tested, the RIVM said.
11:40 GMT - Low cost airline Wizz to restart some flights from UK's Luton airport
Low cost airline Wizz Air has said it would restart some flights from London's Luton Airport on May 1, becoming one of the first European carriers to begin to restore services which have been grounded during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wizz said in a statement on Saturday that cabin crew would wear masks and gloves throughout flights and distribute sanitising wipes to each passenger. Its aircraft would be disinfected overnight, it added.
Flights to several destinations in Romania, plus Budapest in Hungary, Lisbon in Portugal, and Tenerife in Spain would be amongst those to restart, said Wizz.
11:20 GMT - Spain's death toll from rises to 22,902
Spain's coronavirus death toll has risen to 22,902 up from 22,524 the day before, media outlets, including El Pais and El Mundo, reported.
The number of daily fatalities was 378, a slight increase on Friday's 367, which was the lowest figure recorded in the past month.
The overall number of coronavirus cases rose to 223,759 from 219,764 the day before.
11:00 GMT - Russia reports 5,966 new cases in past 24 hours
The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 5,966 over the past 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 74,588, the country's coronavirus crisis response centre said.
It also reported 66 new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, bringing the total death toll in Russia to 681.
The number of coronavirus cases in Russia began rising sharply this month, although it had reported far fewer infections than many western European countries in the early stages of the outbreak.
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10:45 GMT - Sri Lanka reimposes lockdown after jump in cases
Sri Lanka has reimposed a countrywide 24-hour curfew after a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, most of them navy sailors who were searching for those evading quarantine.
The 60 new infections on Friday were the highest in a day. The Indian Ocean island nation has confirmed 420 cases of the virus, including seven deaths. Sri Lanka partially lifted a month-long curfew on Monday during daytime hours in more than two thirds of the country. The new curfew remains in effect until Monday. Police have arrested more than 30,000 violators.
Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez said that there are security checkpoints around the country to enforce the measure.
"There are more than 55,000 police personnel in the field, conducting random checks, along with the three armed forces to enforce this lockdown," she said.
10:30 GMT - From quake to coronavirus, knee-jerk response from Nepal leadership
Five years ago, 11-year-old Reshma Shrestha from Sindupalchowk district in Nepal stood outside her collapsed house, waiting for the body of her mother and infant brother to be dug out of the rubble. A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake had brought down thousands of houses in her district and made many more unlivable.
Five years on, with the country on lockdown as a response to COVID-19, the 16-year-old is afraid of losing loved ones, once again, Al Jazeera's Subina Shrestha reports.
Read more here.
10:20 GMT - Iran death toll rises by 76 to 5,650
Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has risen by 76 to reach a total of 5,650, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said on state TV.
The total number of people diagnosed with the disease is 89,328, of whom 3,096 are in a critical condition, he added
10:10 GMT - Outbreak hits Belarus home for disabled children
Several people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in an orphanage for 170 children with developmental disabilities in Belarus, the local authorities have said, without disclosing the exact number of cases.
The first case of the virus had been found in one of the employees at the orphanage, according to the local authorities of the Mogilev region, where the institution is located. After that, tests were conducted with all employees and residents.
"Some have received positive test results. At present, most of them have no symptoms of the disease," said a statement from the Executive Committee of the Mogilev region.
President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed fears about the coronavirus outbreak as a "psychosis" and has not closed borders or imposed strict lockdown measures in the eastern European country. There were 8,773 confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus as of Friday, of which 396 are in the Mogilev region in the east, and 63 deaths in total.
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09:55 GMT - 'No evidence' yet that recovered COVID-19 patients cannot be reinfected: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there was currently "no evidence" that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second coronavirus infection.
In a statement, the United Nations agency warned against issuing "immunity passports" or "risk-free certificates" to people who have been infected, saying the practice may actually increase the risk of spread as they may ignore standard advice.
Chile said last week it would begin handing out "health passports" to people deemed to have recovered from the illness. Once screened to determine if they have developed antibodies to make them immune to the virus, they could immediately rejoin the workforce. Several other countries have made similar suggestions.
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