Around the world...
EUROPE: The European Commission will start dispatching a stock of 10 million masks to healthcare workers across the 27-country bloc and in the UK.
The commission said a first batch of 1.5 million masks will be shipped to 17 member states and Britain over the next few days. The stock, purchased through an EU fund set up to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, will be distributed in weekly instalments over the next six weeks.
“This is EU solidarity in action to help respond to the needs of European health systems and three billion euros has been mobilised from the EU budget to directly support national efforts,” said Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for health and food safety.
PORTUGAL: Portugal’s prime minister says his country has learned a tough lesson over the past two months – that you cannot depend on foreign suppliers for essential medical equipment.
“We can’t be relying on a market that’s uncontrolled and brutal, with an almost physical brawl going on to buy one ventilator here, another there,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa said yesterday. He announced plans to step up national production so that Portugal can become selfsufficient in the production of masks, personal protective equipment and ventilators.
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan officials say the country’s health minister, Ferozuddin Feroz, has tested positive for coronavirus as the country recorded 215 new infection cases in the last 24 hours.
Afghanistan has recorded more than 100 deaths from the virus out of more than 3,700 confirmed cases.
According to the UN migration agency, more than 270,000 Afghans have returned home from Iran, the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the virus.
They are going back mostly untested and unmonitored to cities, towns and villages around the country.
AUSTRIA: Austria and Romania have reached an agreement to provide trains for Romanian care workers who have had trouble getting to Austria because of travel restrictions.
The Austrian government said that the first train will set off from Romania tomorrow, travelling through Hungary.
It says that about 33,000 people in Austria need round-the-clock care and many of the people who provide it come from Romania.
IRAN: Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said yesterday prayers are resuming in mosques in 146 cities with minimal risk conditions for spreading coronavirus, after being banned for more than two months.
The report said prayer gatherings will continue to be banned in major cities, including all provincial capitals, for now.
Iran is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy US sanctions. Officials said on Thursday the death toll from Covid-19 rose to nearly 6,500 among more than 100,000 confirmed cases.
INDIA: India has recorded 3,390 new infections and 103 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Total cases in the country of 1.3 billion people surpassed 56,000, with 1,886 fatalities, according to health ministry data. More than 16,500 people have recovered.
The coastal state of Maharashtra remains the worst affected, with almost 20,000 cases and 651 deaths.
India began a mammoth evacuation exercise late on Thursday, bringing back the first batch of its citizens stranded overseas. More than 340 Indian nationals returned home on the first two flights from the United Arab Emirates.
JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump have agreed to co-operate closely in developing Covid-19 vaccines and drugs, and in their efforts to boost their economies.
The two leaders held telephone talks as they seek to reopen businesses in their respective countries.
The Japanese health ministry, in a rare fast-track process, approved Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir on Thursday to treat Covid-19 patients. The approval was granted under a special fasttrack process only four days after the company filed an application.
Japan is still under a coronavirus state of emergency.
The United States has more than 1.2 million reported infections, with deaths exceeding 75,000, while Japan has about 15,500 cases and 580 deaths.
AUSTRALIA: Australia plans to reopen its economy in three stages by July, but there are no plans to open the country to general international travellers in the foreseeable future.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday the states will set their own pace in easing coronavirus restrictions, and details of the second and third stages of the plan had yet to be finalised.
PAKISTAN: The European Union promised Pakistan €150m (£131m) to fight the spread of Covid-19 as the country’s daily infection rate continues to climb steadily, along with its death rate.
Pakistan recorded another daily high yesterday with 1,574 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 25,837.
Pakistan, with a population of 220 million people, has suffered 594 deaths due to Covid-19.