Protests spark virus fears in US; South Korea sees new cases

June 01, 2020

MIAMI (AP) — Protests around the U.S. against police brutality have sparked fears of a further spread of the coronavirus, while South Korea is reporting a steady rise in cases around the capital after appearing to bring the outbreak under control.

The often-violent protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer, are raising fears of new virus outbreaks in a country that has more confirmed infections and deaths than any other.

The protests come as more beaches, churches, mosques, schools and businesses reopen worldwide, increasing the risk of cross-infections. South Korea has reported 238 cases of the coronavirus over the past five days, most of them in the Seoul metropolitan area, causing alarm in a country that had eased up on social distancing and started to send millions of children back to school. Hundreds of infections have been linked to nightspots, restaurants and a massive e-commerce warehouse near Seoul. The 35 new cases reported Monday include 30 around Seoul.

Protests over Floyd’s death have shaken the U.S. from New York to Los Angeles. Demonstrators are packed cheek by jowl, many without masks, many chanting, shouting or singing. The virus is dispersed by microscopic droplets in the air when people cough, sneeze, talk or sing.

“There’s no question that when you put hundreds or thousands of people together in close proximity, when we have got this virus all over the streets ... it’s not healthy,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The U.S. has seen more than 1.7 million infections and over 104,000 deaths in the pandemic, which has disproportionately affected racial minorities in a nation that does not have universal health care.

In London, thousands of people marched Sunday, chanting “No justice! No peace!” while carrying signs reading “Justice for George Floyd” and “Racism is a global issue.” Britain has had nearly 38,500 virus deaths, the second-most in the world after the United States.

Other protests were held in Berlin and Copenhagen, Denmark. Around 6.1 million infections have been reported worldwide, with about 370,000 people dying, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The true death toll is believed to be significantly higher, since many victims died of the virus without ever being tested.

China, where the global pandemic is believed to have originated late last year, reported 16 new cases on Monday, all in travelers newly arrived from abroad. Eleven of those arrived in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday aboard the same flight from Cairo, the Chengdu city government said in a statement.

With local transmissions having fallen to virtually zero, much of China has reopened for business and Monday saw the further restart of classes in middle and high schools. Kindergartners and fourth- and fifth-graders will be allowed back next week as part of a staggered opening to prevent the further spread of the virus.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says that China has pledged to make available 30 million COVID-19 testing kits per month to African countries, which are facing a shortage of the materials to test for the disease.

The U.S. has sent to Brazil more than 2 million doses of a malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump as potentially protecting against and treating the coronavirus, despite a lack of scientific evidence. Brazil, Latin America’s hardest-hit country, continues to see a surge in virus cases, and last week Trump announced that the U.S. was restricting travel from the country.

Traffic jams and crowds of commuters are back in the Philippine capital, which shifted to a more relaxed quarantine in a high-stakes gamble to slowly reopen the economy while fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

The situation continues to worsen in India, where 230 new deaths were reported Monday, bringing the country's total to 5,394, even as it eases restrictions on shops and public transport in more states beginning Monday. Subways and schools remain closed.

Neighboring Bangladesh also restarted bus, train, ferry and flight services Monday. The impoverished country's government says a gradual reopening is crucial to reviving the economy amid forecasts that economic growth is likely to plunge, leaving millions jobless.

In Saudi Arabia, mosques reopened Sunday for the first time in more than two months, but Islam’s holiest site in Mecca remained closed. In Jerusalem, throngs of worshippers waited outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque before it reopened. Many wore surgical masks and waited for temperature checks as they entered.

In Bogota, Colombia's capital, authorities were locking down an area of nearly 1.5 million people as cases continued to rise, while Egypt on Sunday reported its highest-ever number of infections and deaths from the virus — 46 over the previous 24 hours, with 1,536 confirmed cases.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday that he would ask Parliament for a final two-week extension of the nation’s state of emergency that is set to expire on June 7. That allows the government to keep ordering lockdown measures to control its coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed at least 27,000 lives, many of them in overwhelmed nursing homes.

“We have almost reached safe harbor,” Sánchez said. During a Mass at the Vatican to mark Pentecost Sunday, Pope Francis cautioned people against being pessimistic as they emerge from coronavirus lockdowns.

Italy on Sunday registered 355 new coronavirus cases and 75 deaths, some of the lowest such numbers since the nation’s lockdown against the pandemic began in early March. Two hospitals for coronavirus patients were opened in Istanbul as Turkey’s number of new cases fell to its lowest since the peak of the outbreak.

And at California's Yosemite National Park, closed to the public for nearly three months, student journalists who put out the Yosemite Valley School newspaper are charming their community with stories of cleaner water and more active and abundant wildlife.

Kirka reported from London and Gorondi reported from Budapest, Hungary. AP reporters from around the world contributed to this report.

Virus count revised, new clusters emerge as France reopens

May 29, 2020

PARIS (AP) — France’s national health agency reported a sudden jump in new virus infections -- just an hour after the prime minister announced a sweeping national reopening plan. The agency clarified Friday that the surprising new figures were the result of a new accounting method, and not linked to a much-feared second wave of the virus.

But they highlighted concerns about the French government’s handling of the crisis, and served as a reminder that infections are continuing in one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic. “We are where we had hoped to be at the end of May, and maybe a little better,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Thursday, as he announced that r estaurants, museums and parks could reopen next week for the first time since March. “It’s good news, but not good enough for everything to return to normal.”

Statistics released Friday showed 96 virus clusters have emerged around France since the government started easing confinement measures May 11. They are primarily in medical facilities, businesses and shelters.

And the virus remains a serious risk in two overseas French regions, where health care is weaker and poverty higher than on the mainland: the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte and French Guiana on South America’s Caribbean coast.

Overall COVID-19 is receding in France, with the number of virus patients in intensive care dropping every day since April 8 and now at 1,429. But the public health agency DGS quietly released figures Thursday night showing a rise of more than 3,000 new infections from the day before – the biggest such jump in more than three weeks.

That puzzled epidemiologists like Dr. Laurent Toubiana, who has been closely following the curve of the virus in European countries, and thinks the epidemic is petering out in France. “It's incomprehensible," he said.

The DGS then said Friday the new cases included positive tests registered under a “better, more exhaustive” counting system put in place May 13, and did not correspond to a single-day rise. It insisted there are “no signs in favor of a return of the epidemic.”

France has confirmed 149,071 cases so far, though the government acknowledges the real number of infections is much higher because of limited testing. The French government came under criticism for not testing widely enough earlier in the pandemic. It is now testing more than 200,000 people a week, according to the health agency.

Death figures are also difficult to pin down. France has reported 28,662 deaths overall in hospitals and nursing homes, and the state statistics agency Insee on Friday reported a 26% rise in overall deaths in March and April from all causes compared to the same period in 2019.

In May, it said the number of overall deaths in France is down 6% so far, though finalized death figures usually lag by a few weeks, so the number could still rise. “During this whole epidemic, we have had intense problems of viability of data,” Toubiana said.

As scientists try to determine why the pandemic is taking longer than expected to end, he said, “We are all trying with the means we have to understand this phenomenon.”

Veterans help UK children keep calm, cope with virus stress

May 29, 2020

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Hula hoops, camouflage mats and tires aren't typical supplies needed during the coronavirus pandemic. But they’re useful props as British army veteran Mike Hamilton prepares to lead children in a military-style game designed to boost their resilience and mental health at a time of atypical stress.

Hamilton, who served with bomb disposal teams in Afghanistan and Iraq, is working with 10 children in a schoolyard in Manchester, England. The mission: Picking up the virus — a small ball — with wooden blocks, racing to a trash can and dropping the ball inside before pretending to wash their hands.

It’s one of many games devised by Hamilton, the founder of a company called Commando Joe's that sends former soldiers to U.K. schools to guide exercises in teamwork, dealing with adversity and staying calm under pressure. The firm, which is partly funded by the government, works with hundreds of schools. Hamilton says that since the pandemic began, he has received many calls from teachers looking for lessons to help their overwhelmed students cope.

“Schools are wanting programs to focus on character, mental health and well-being and probably getting the children used to having a routine again,” he said. “We’ve got lots of tactics to help build up positivity in a time of stress — that’s part of our training.”

In Britain, schools never completely closed during the virus lockdown. Some remained open for students whose parents still had to work outside home in key professions, as well as for children under social care.

The familiar routine may be reassuring, but it's an unsettling time for many of these children. Playgrounds and classrooms typically bustling with hundreds of kids are now hushed and quiet. Sienna-Leigh Murphy attends school while her mother goes to work as a nurse. Her parents are separated.

“I feel happy because she looks after people and makes sure they don’t die or anything,” Sienna-Leigh said. “I do miss playing with my friends and going to places that are really fun with my friends like the park or something. And I really miss my dad.”

Sophie Murfin, executive headteacher at the Wise Owl Trust, which includes three schools in Manchester, says the key was giving the children a friendly and positive environment. “It’s about ensuring the children’s worries are alleviated by giving them different activities to complete in a fun and engaging way,” Murfin said.

Childline, a helpline run by Britain’s National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said thousands of youngsters have reached out to speak to counselors about the coronavirus. The charity said children have called about parents losing their jobs, worrying about their family’s health and struggling to look after younger siblings while their parents are ill.

Many children stuck at home while schools are closed and most public activities are prohibited are affected by isolation, experts warn. “When asked what they would do to manage stress, a quarter of those children who ever feel stressed said that they would normally go outside. Now, this option is only very limited,” Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield wrote last month.

Children who don’t have access to smartphones and laptops for video calls with friends and family members are more isolated than ever, she added. For his part, Hamilton says he hopes his exercises help kids understand “it's OK not to be OK.” Eight-year-old Sonny Turner, who took part in the “catch the virus” game, said it gave him a confidence boost.

“It makes me feel confident about not feeling coronavirus is going to get me," Turner said.

French carmaker Renault announces 15,000 job cuts worldwide

May 29, 2020

PARIS (AP) — Struggling French carmaker Renault on Friday announced 15,000 job cuts worldwide as part of a 2 billion-euro cost-cutting plan over three years. Renault said on Friday that nearly 4,600 jobs will be cut in France in addition to more than 10,000 in the rest of the world.

The group's global production capacity will be revised from 4 million vehicles in 2019 to 3.3 million by 2024, the company said. “The difficulties encountered by the group, the major crisis facing the automotive industry and the urgency of the ecological transition are all imperatives that are driving the company to accelerate its transformation,” the statement said.

Jean-Dominique Senard, chairman of the board of directors of Renault, said “the planned changes are fundamental to ensure the sustainability of the company and its development over the long term.” The group, which employs 180,000 workers worldwide, announced the suspension of planned capacity increase projects in Morocco and Romania.

The group is also considering “adaptation” of its production capacities in Russia and announced the halt of Renault-branded oil-powered car activities in China. Renault came into the coronavirus crisis in particularly bad shape: Its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi is a major global auto player but has struggled since the 2018 arrest of its longtime star CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Renault reported its first losses in years in 2019. The French government is its single biggest shareholder with a 15-percent stake, and has been in talks on a 5 billion-euro loan guarantee. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire earlier this week that the group’s survival is at stake.

Communion ritual unchanged in Orthodox Church despite virus

May 29, 2020

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — One by one, the children and adults line up for the centuries-old ritual of Holy Communion, trying to keep a proper social distance. The priest dips a spoon into the chalice of bread and wine, which the faithful believe is the body and blood of Christ, and puts it into the mouth of the first person in line.

Then, with a move that would alarm an epidemiologist, he dips the spoon back into the chalice and then into the next person’s mouth. Again and again, through the entire congregation. Contrary to what science says, the Greek Orthodox Church insists it is impossible for any disease — including the coronavirus — to be transmitted through Holy Communion.

“In the holy chalice, it isn’t bread and wine. It is the body and blood of Christ,” said the Rev. Georgios Milkas, a theologian in the northern city of Thessaloniki. “And there is not a shred of suspicion of transmitting this virus, this disease, as in the holy chalice there is the Son and the Word of God.”

This is proven, he said, through "the experience of centuries.” Scientists warn that shared utensils can spread the coronavirus, and they also point to outbreaks linked to religious services around the world.

A communal spoon presents “fairly significant dangers,” said Dr. Nathalie MacDermott, an academic clinical lecturer for Britain's National Institute for Health Research at King's College London. “The danger of transmitting any kind of respiratory viral pathogen or even bacterial infections is quite high with the sharing of utensils,” she said. “And for it to be passed among what is probably a relatively large group of people means that all it would take is one person to have coronavirus at the back of their throat, which potentially is in their saliva as well.”

The Holy Synod, the church’s governing body, says any suggestion that illness or disease could be transmitted by Holy Communion is blasphemy, a stance echoed by the Church of Cyprus. “Regarding the issue that is unjustifiably raised from time to time about the supposed dangers, which in these blasphemous views are said to lurk in the life-giving Mystery of Holy Communion, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece expresses its bitterness, deep sorrow and diametrical opposition,” it said in a May 13 circular on social distancing measures in churches.

The Synod “underlines one more time to all those who, either due to ignorance or conscious faithlessness, brutally insult all that is holy and sacred, the dogmas and the sacred rules of our faith, that Holy Communion is ‘the medicine of immortality, antidote to not dying, but to living according to the teachings of Jesus Christ forever.’”

Whether Holy Communion should be changed or suspended for health reasons has become a hot button issue across much of the Christian Orthodox world, with churches generally refusing to bow to pressure from governments and scientists.

Some concessions were made in Russia. In mid-March, the Russian Orthodox Church released instructions on adjusting the sacrament during the pandemic. Priests were told to wear gloves when handing out the bread, to disinfect the spoon and to use disposable cups for the wine.

In Ethiopia, which has the largest Orthodox Christian flock outside Europe, the ritual is unchanged, as it is in the Georgian Orthodox Church. In response to public pressure against using a common spoon, the Georgian church noted the tradition is thousands of years old.

“Throughout these years, there have been many cases of life-threatening infections, during which Orthodox believers did not fear but strived even harder to get Communion through a common chalice and a common spoon,” it said in a statement.

In Greece, a firebrand priest, former Metropolitan Ambrosios, said he had excommunicated the education minister, prime minister and the civil protection deputy minister — the first for suggesting the coronavirus could be transmitted through saliva during Holy Communion, and the other two for closing churches during the lockdown. The Holy Synod did not back him up, however, saying only it had the authority to excommunicate.

Greece imposed a lockdown early on, a move credited with curbing infections. The country has reported 175 deaths and 2,900 confirmed cases. But many of the faithful chafed under the lockdown that closed places of worship for all religions for about two months. It ran through Easter, the most important religious holiday for Christians, and the inability to attend services weighed heavily on many.

When it was lifted May 17, thousands flocked to church. “The issue of Holy Communion in particular is the only red line of the church and of the faithful in our souls,” said 19-year-old Michalis Gkolemis, attending services in Thessaloniki. “We don’t say that Holy Communion is the cure for all diseases, from the flu, for example, but we say that you cannot get sick by receiving Communion. You can’t catch a virus, something which isn’t proven scientifically but exists through experience.”

After ordering churches closed, the government has been more circumspect and has avoided the sensitive issue of Holy Communion. The limited spread of the virus also has reduced the risk of a renewed outbreak, at least for now.

For scientists, concern is tempered by knowing that opposing the powerful Orthodox Church, with a majority of Greeks as believers, could be counterproductive. “This is a matter of public health concern,” said Dr. Gkikas Magiorkinis, assistant professor of hygiene and epidemiology at the University of Athens. “As an epidemiologist, I would like to be able to reduce the risk of transmission.”

But changing the minds of the faithful is “very difficult,” he said. “It’s a matter that can only be solved through discussion, and theological discussion rather than scientific discussion. Scientific discussion never helped, and it might have even worse results.”

Discussions with the church were always open, said Magiorkinis, who also advises the government on the virus. “Only the church can provide a solution,” he said. —- Kantouris reported from Thessaloniki. Associated Press writers Daria Litvinova in Moscow; Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Sophiko Megrelidze in Tiblisi, Georgia; and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed.

PM praises 'prominent role' of National Anti-Pandemic Committee in virus fight

By JT - May 28,2020

AMMAN — Decisions and measures implemented by the government to deal with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic are mainly based on the recommendations of the National Anti-Pandemic Committee, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Omar Razzaz said on Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the committee at the Prime Ministry, Razzaz stressed that the government has adopted the majority of the committee’s recommendations, turning them into decisions and measures to confront the pandemic, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The prime minister noted that these decisions have taken into consideration health, security and economic and social aspects in a way that meets greater national interests.

The premier praised the “great efforts” of the committee and the teams working in the field, which have played a “prominent role” in taking measures and immediate precautions that have contributed to mitigating the impact of the pandemic in the Kingdom.

Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Tareq Hammouri said that the work sustainability committee is awaiting the recommendations of the anti-pandemic committee and the possibility to implement them.

Health Minister Saad Jaber said that the committee has been a “main partner” to the government in combating the pandemic even before it reached the Kingdom, noting that several proactive medical measures that Jordan adopted have made the Kingdom a “model” in fighting the disease.

Members of the committee referred to the possibility that the Kingdom will see a rise in case numbers, highlighting the importance of following preventive measures, particularly social distancing, in markets and closed places and wearing face masks.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/news/local/pm-praises-%E2%80%98prominent-role%E2%80%99-national-anti-pandemic-committee-virus-fight.

Mosques, churches to reopen next week

By JT - May 28,2020

AMMAN — Officials on Thursday announced that mosques and churches in the Kingdom will open their doors according to health and public safety measures next week.

Speaking during a press conference at the Prime Ministry on Thursday, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said that Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Omar Razzaz chaired a Cabinet meeting dedicated to discussing the recommendations of the National Anti-Pandemic Committee.

The meeting resulted in a decision to reopen mosques on June 5 according to health and public safety measures, Adaileh said, noting that the regulations for comprehensive curfews will be amended as of June 5 to allow people to go to mosques on foot on Fridays.

The minister also noted that the government is considering other recommendations to reopen more sectors, stressing that this “does not mean that the threat is gone” and that such a decision would result in increased case numbers.

He called on people to wear masks while visiting public and private departments and to adopt public safety measures.

Awqaf Minister Mohammad Khalaileh, also speaking at the conference, said that in the first phase of reopening mosques, only Friday prayers will be allowed to take place according to certain public safety measures that will be announced later, stressing that people must wear masks and take their prayer rugs with them upon visiting the mosques.

Khalaileh called on those aged 50 and above and those with illnesses not to go to mosques. He also said that Friday sermons will not exceed 10 minutes and guides for safety measures will be distributed to mosques for the congregation to follow.

Results of this initial reopening will be evaluated before the authorities open mosques for all prayers, he said.

Also speaking at the conference, President of the Jordan Churches Council Archbishop Christophorus Attallah announced that churches in the Kingdom will reopen on June 7, calling on the elderly and those who are sick to avoid attending churches.

Meanwhile, Jordan registered eight new coronavirus infections on Thursday, increasing the caseload to 728 since the outbreak of the pandemic, Health Minister Saad Jaber said at the conference.

Jaber noted that the new cases include two truck drivers at the Omari border crossing, one of whom is Jordanian and was transferred to Prince Hamzah Hospital.

Six Jordanians who recently returned to the Kingdom from Russia also tested positive for the virus, the minister added.

A total of 11 people left hospitals on Thursday, increasing the number of recovered patients to 497 and leaving 162 currently receiving treatment, he said, noting that epidemiological investigation teams conducted 3,100 tests nationwide on Thursday.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/news/local/mosques-churches-reopen-next-week.