Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus
(Covid-19) news from around the world.
FOLLOW LIVE | President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this evening on relief measures
Spain sees slight hike in daily virus toll with 430
deaths
Madrid
– Spain saw a slight increase in the daily death toll from the novel coronavirus on
Tuesday, with 430 people dying in the past 24 hours, health ministry data
showed.
So far, 21 282 people have
succumbed to the pandemic in Spain, which has suffered the third-highest number
of deaths in the world after the United States and Italy.
– AFP
UK parliament returns as virus criticism grows
London
– The British parliament returns on Tuesday from an extended Easter break,
allowing lawmakers to scrutinise ministers as criticism grows of government
handling of the coronavirus crisis and deaths outside hospitals increase.
MPs are being encouraged to
attend the lower chamber House of Commons via video link for the first time as
a result of the pandemic.
“My advice is please stay at
home, let’s do it remotely,” Speaker of the Commons Lyndsay Hoyle told BBC
radio. “In times of crisis, we must find
new ways of working, just as we have done throughout history.”
Social distancing rules demanding
people stay two metres apart mean only 50 MPs will be able to sit in the
650-seat chamber at any one time. They are instead being asked to call in via
Zoom, an internet video conferencing service, in a first for the 700-year-old
parliament.
– AFP
Food insecurity rising even before coronavirus – report
Paris
– Food insecurity was on the rise last year and the coronavirus crisis is likely
to further exacerbate the situation, according to the Global Report on Food
Crises released on Tuesday by the United Nations (UN).
It found that 135 million people
in 55 countries were in living in situations of acute food crises or outright
humanitarian emergencies last year. The increase by more than 20 million people
takes it to a record level in the four years the report has been compiled.
The
report is due to be presented later on Tuesday to the UN Security Council by
the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation and World Food Programme.
Comparing the 50 countries in the
reports this and last year, the number of people in food crisis rose by nearly
10% to 123 million people.
– AFP
Iran says 1 000 foreign prisoners temporarily released
Tehran
– Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday that it has temporary released more than 1 000
foreign prisoners due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, following criticism by
UN human rights experts.
“What Iran has done in
guaranteeing prisoners’ health and granting furlough to them is a significant
move” compared with what other countries have done, said judiciary spokesperson
Gholamhossein Esmaili.
British-Iranian woman Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, arrested in 2016 and serving a five-year jail term for
sedition, was among 100 000 prisoners temporarily released in March. Her leave
had been extended until 20 May, her lawyer told state news agency IRNA on
Tuesday.
A
panel of UN human rights experts last week called on Iran to expand the list of
prisoners it has temporarily released over the Covid-19 outbreak to include “prisoners of conscience and dual and foreign nationals”.
– AFP
Madagascar president launches coronavirus ‘remedy’
Antananarivo
– The president of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina has officially launched a local
herbal remedy claimed to prevent and cure the novel coronavirus.
“Tests have been carried out
– two people have now been cured by this treatment,” Rajoelina told
ministers, diplomats and journalists at the Malagasy Institute of Applied
Research (IMRA), which developed the beverage. “This herbal tea gives results
in seven days,” he said.
Downing a dose, he said: “I
will be the first to drink this today, in front of you, to show you that this
product cures and does not kill.”
The drink, which has been called
Covid-Organics, is derived from artemisia – a plant with proven efficacy in
malaria treatment – and other indigenous herbs, according to the IMRA.
But its safety and effectiveness have not been assessed
internationally, nor has any data from trials been published in peer-reviewed
studies. Mainstream scientists have warned of the potential risk from untested
herbal brews.
– AFP
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