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June
WHO eyes hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses before 2021
Written by nuke
photo : afp
The World Health Organization said on Thursday (Jun 18) that a few hundred million COVID-19 vaccine doses could be produced by the end of the year - and be targeted at those most vulnerable to the virus. The UN health agency said it was working on that assumption, with a view to two billion doses by the end of 2021, as pharmaceutical firms rush to find a vaccine. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said researchers were working on more than 200 vaccine candidates around the world, including 10 that are in human testing. She identified three groups most in need of the first wave of vaccine doses. They are front-line workers with high exposure, such as medics and police officers; those most vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly and diabetics; and people in high-transmission settings, such as urban slums and care homes. Pharmaceutical company executives said late last month that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned that an estimated total of 15 billion doses would be needed to suppress the virus//AFP/CNA
June
Corona-virus: Hundreds of abattoir workers test positive in Germany
Written by nuke
photo : medicalexpress
Thousands of people in Germany have been told to go into quarantine after a corona-virus outbreak at an abattoir. As quoted by BBC.com (17/6), more than 650 people have been tested positive for the virus at the meat processing plant in Gütersloh, in the north-west of Germany. Operations at the site have been suspended since Wednesday afternoon (17/7). Over 1,000 workers have been tested so far, with thousands of others still awaiting testing. They and the people came into contact and they have been told to remain in quarantine until they receive their results. A spokesman for the company that operates the site, the Tönnies Group, has apologized//BBC
June
US-European trade talks stalled over 'unsafe' American food
Written by nuke
photo : euractiv
US trade talks with the European Union and Britain have stalled due to suspicions of poor American food standards. This was stated by Washington's chief negotiator Wednesday (17/6). As quoted by AFP.com ( 18/6) US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he thinks there's a desire to make things work through, but for whatever reason his side has not made much headway. There is a sense in Europe, which he thinks is shared, hopefully not as deeply with Britain as it is with Europe -- that American food is unsafe. He dismissed the worries however as "thinly veiled protectionism”. These are "very difficult issues with Europe and they will be very difficult issues with the United Kingdom//AFP
June
India, Mexico, Norway, and Ireland elected to UN Security Council
Written by nuke
photo : pigeonexpress
On Wednesday (17/6), the UN General Assembly elected four new members of the Security Council for 2021 and 2022, with Canada losing out again and the battle for the African seat going to a second round. As quoted by AFP.com (18/6), India, Mexico, Norway and Ireland were chosen as non-permanent members, while Djibouti and Kenya -both of which failed to receive the two-thirds vote majority required to win -will go to a second round of voting on Thursday. Canada was beaten once again for one of the Western seats, by Ireland and Norway, despite a long and star-studded campaign, a result likely to be a blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In the Asia-Pacific region, India -which has been trying unsuccessfully to win a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council -ran unopposed to win 184 votes out of the 192 countries that participated in the election. The result means that India will now have a seat at the same table as China, just a few days after the two nations disputed their Himalayan border, trading blame for a brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Mexico, which also ran unopposed, earned 187 votes//AFP
June
Former US Advisor Bolton: President Donald Trump asked His China's Counterpart Xi Jinping for re-election help
Written by nuke
photo : clayton daily
US President Donald Trump pleaded with China's President, Xi Jinping for help to win re-election in 2020. This was revealed by the US president's former national security advisor, John Bolton writes in an explosive new behind-the-scenes book, according to excerpts published Wednesday (17/6). As quoted by AFP.com ( 18/6) in a blistering critique which the White House has sued to block, Bolton alleges that Trump's focus on winning a second term was the driving principle of his foreign policy and that top aides routinely disparaged the Republican leader for his ignorance of basic geopolitical facts. In excerpts published by The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Bolton also claims President Trump repeatedly showed a readiness to overlook Chinese rights abuses -most strikingly telling President Xi Jinping the mass internment of Uighur Muslims was "exactly the right thing to do//AFP
June
Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug
Written by nuke
photo : BBC
A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus. The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say. The drug is part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatmentsto see if they also work for coronavirus. It cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth. Had the drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved. During a press conference held on Tuesday (16/06/20), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated his pride on UK research team that has found the effective drug to reduce death on covid-19 patients.
"I’m proud of these British scientist backed by UK government funding who let the first rebus clinical trial anywhere in the world to find a coronavirus treatment proven to reduce the risk of death. And I’m very great full to the thousands of patients in this country who volunteered to the trial, thank you. This drugs dexamethasone can now be made available across the NHS and we’ve taken steps to ensured that we have enough supply even on the event of a second peak" Prime Ministr Johnson said.
The UK government has 200,000 courses of the drug in its stockpile and says the NHS will make dexamethasone available to patients. About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recover without being admitted to hospital. The drug is already used to reduce inflammation in a range of other conditions, including arthritis, asthma and some skin conditions. Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases and global health at the University of Oxford said that the drug give extraordinary effect on the patients with ventilators.
"So in ventilated patients with covid-19 the drug dexamethasone so 10 days of treatment without using a tablet or injection reduce the risk of death by 35 percent. In patients on the ward who required oxygen and have covid, it reduces the risk of death by 20 percent. That covers 75 percent of patients in the hospitals who save mortality benefit from using this drugs. There’s another group of patients who don’t require oxygen but have covid and we do not see a benefit in those patients so it’s not a drug that you use in the community or in patients with no breathing difficulties. But in patients with breathing difficulties who require oxygen or ventilators it realy showing a quite significant effect" Professor Horby explain.
Professor Horby added that this is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality - and it reduces it significantly. It's a major breakthrough. The Recovery Trial, running since March, also looked at the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which has subsequently been ditched amid concerns it increases fatalities and heart problems. The antiviral drug remdesivir, meanwhile, which appears to shorten recovery time for people with coronavirus, is already being made available on the United Kingdom National Health Service//NK
June
COVID-19: Phase 2 of reopening to start from Jun 19, social gatherings of up to five people allowed
Written by nuke
photo : mediacorp cna
Singapore exited a two-month-long "circuit breaker" designed to limit the spread of COVID-19 on Jun 1. The multi-ministry task force said at the time that Singapore would reopen in three phases, outlining what might be allowed under each phase. On Monday (15/06/20), speaking at a press conference, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that the Phase 2 will involve the resumption of “most activities”, subject to safe distancing principles.
"I had to explain that phase 2 actually is a process, it’s not an end stage. As we progress in phase 2 we will continuously monitored the situation and when situation allows we will continue ease the restriction. And eventually when we reach phase 3, basically phase 3 is a steady stage. By that time we are probably will hold that position for quite a long time until when vaccine is available" Minister Gan said.
Minister Gan added that in Phase 2, the authorities’ goal is to ensure that efforts taken during the circuit breaker period and Phase 1 of reopening are sustained. Co-chair of the multi-ministry task force, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said that Phase 2 should not be treated as a signal that "we can relax, we can all let our guard down". Phase 2 will last for months until the situation is stable.
"And then again over time we will increase the capacity limits as we continuing the monitor and see the situation remaining stable. So we expect this process of review, monitoring, easing. Hopefully easing because you never now along the way we may have to slow down or tighten some restriction but we expect this process to continue for months before we reach phase 3" minister Wong explain
Minister Wong added that by Phase 3, social, cultural, religious and business gatherings or events should be able to resume, although gathering sizes would still have to be limited in order to prevent large clusters from arising. At the time, the authorities said that reaching the next phase could take multiple steps, depending on how the situation evolves//NK
June
UNHCR to Distribute Emergency Food Kits to Some 10,000 Refugees in Libya Amid Pandemic
Written by nuke
photo : unhcr
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has partnered up with the World Food Program (WFP) to provide about 10,000 Libyan-based refugees with emergency food kits in a move to step up humanitarian assistance for food security amid the pandemic, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday (June 16). Refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons in Libya depend heavily on wage work and many can only buy food based on the day. According to the UNHCR, after the Libyan government had imposed curfews and food prices skyrocketed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many of these people were unable to find any daily work to support themselves. According to the UNHCR, the pilot batch of food kits was distributed among some 2,000 refugees at the agency's registration center in Tripoli on Monday. The humanitarian initiative will last through the end of the year//sputnik
June
Spain may quarantine UK visitors, foreign minister tells BBC
Written by nuke
photo : BBC
Spain is considering imposing a quarantine on visitors from Britain when it re-opens its borders next week, Spain's Foreign Minister said, in response to a similar policy introduced last week for travelers to Britain. Arancha Gonzalez Laya told the BBC she hoped Britain would lift its restriction, making a reciprocal Spanish one unnecessary. Britain, with more than 41,000 documented coronavirus-linked deaths, and Spain, with more than 27,000, have been two of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. Both, along with other European countries, are in the process of easing lockdown restrictions that have included border closures. Spanish officials gave no mention of any quarantine curbs on Sunday, when the government moved forward the date for allowing European visitors back into the country to June 21 from July 1//JP
June
North Korea 'blows up joint liaison office' with South
Written by nuke
photo : BBC
North Korea has blown up its joint liaison office with the South near the border town of Kaesong, South Korean officials say. The move comes just hours after the North renewed threats of military action against the South.The site, which is in the North's territory, was opened in 2018 to help the two Koreas to communicate.The liaison office has been empty since January due to Covid-19 restrictions. Tensions between North and South Korea have been escalating for weeks, prompted by defector groups in the south sending propaganda into the north. The North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, threatened to demolish the office in a "tragic scene" in a statement at the weekend. South Korea's Unification Ministry in Seoul confirmed that at 2:49pm local time there was an explosion at the liaison office. In recent weeks, North Korea has repeatedly condemned the South for allowing propaganda across the border. Defector groups regularly send balloons with leaflets and other items, including USB sticks, into the north. Analysts say Pyongyang may be seeking to create a crisis to increase its leverage as nuclear negotiations with the US are at a standstill. North and South Korea are technically still at war because no peace agreement was reached when the Korean War ended in 1953//BBC