DUBAI: Amid the coronavirus pandemic’s withering effect on economies including of behemoths such as China and Germany, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres is calling anew for peace in conflict areas to address the virus particularly in countries where weak health care systems can be overwhelmed.
May 23, 2020, Saturday (All times in GMT)
16:05 - Britain will introduce a 14-day quarantine for almost all international travellers from June 8, interior minister Priti Patel said on Friday, with anyone breaking the rules facing a £1,000 ($1,218) fine.
16:01 - Italy's death toll from coronavirus outbreak rises by 130 (vs 156 Thursday ) to 32,616, and the total number of confirmed cases rises by 652 to 228,658.
15:48 - Canada's total confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 81,765 from 80,142 on May 21, with 6,180 deaths, up from 6,062, according to Public Health Agency data.
15:19 - Spain’s overnight death toll from the new coronavirus rose by 56 to a total of 28,628, the health ministry said.
The number of diagnosed cases rose to 234,824 cases from 233,037 on Thursday, the ministry added.
15:11 - New York's statewide coronavirus deaths increased by 109 on May 21, vs. 105 deaths, and total coronavirus hospitalizations declined further from 5,187 a day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
12:45 - Saudi Arabia confirmed 13 coronavirus fatalities, bringing the total number of deaths to 364, with 2,642 new coronavirus patients, bringing the total number cases now to 67,719. The Kingdom's health ministry also said 2,963 patients have recovered, bringing the total recovered patients now to 39,003.
11:57 – Lebanon reported 62 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s caseload to 1,086.
11:38 – Spanish authorities will lift part of the lockdown restrictions in Madrid on Monday after the pace of the coronavirus contagion in the region slowed down.
11:37 – Kabul’s markets were teeming on Friday in the countdown to the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr as Afghans disregarded government safety guidelines to contain rising coronavirus infections across the country. READ THE STORY
Above, an Afghan boy waits for customers ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr in Kabul. (AFP)
11:09 – Kuwait confirmed 955 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number recovered patients to 19,564, as well as 310 recoveries overnight pushing recovered patients to 5,515.
10:35 – George Soros, the billionaire financier, has cautioned that the European Union’s survival was threatened by the novel coronavirus unless it could issue perpetual bonds or “consols” to help weak members such as Italy.
10:17 – Coronavirus is believed to be spreading throughout Yemen, where the health care system “has in effect collapsed,” the United Nations said
09:40 – British researchers testing an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus are moving into advanced studies and aim to immunize more than 10,000 people to determine if the shot works.
09:30 – Oman reported 424 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s caseload to 6,794.
08:54 – Oman confirmed the death of a 70-year old citizen due to coronavirus, increasing the country’s death toll to 32.
08:30 – The Philippines recorded 11 additional coronavirus deaths and 163 more infections, the lowest daily increase in cases in nearly two weeks
07:36 – Russia reported 150 new fatalities from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, a record daily rise, taking the country’s official nationwide death toll from the virus to 3,249.
07:33 – A Myanmar news editor has been jailed for two years after his agency reported a coronavirus death that turned out to be false, his lawyer said.
07:20 – India’s central bank slashed interest rates on Friday in an effort to contain the economic fallout of the world’s largest coronavirus lockdown and warned the economy could contract this year.
06:56 – Britain is to introduce 14 days quarantine for international arrivals, Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis confirmed on Friday and said ministers would give further details later.
06:25 – India registered some 6,000 new cases of the coronavirus, the country’s biggest jump in 24 hours.
05:42 – The United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres is again urging all parties to conflicts to respond to his call for a global cease-fire to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to the more than 20,000 civilians killed or injured in attacks in 10 countries last year and millions more forced from their homes.
05:21 – China dropped its annual growth target for the first time and pledged more government spending as the COVID-19 pandemic hammers the world’s second-biggest economy, setting a somber tone to this year’s meeting of parliament.
Above, custpmers wearing protective face masks look at smartphones on display at Huawei flagship store in Shenzhen, China on May 19, 2020. (AFP)
05:11 – Tax revenues of the German government and the 16 federal states declined by 23.5 percent in April from a year earlier to around $43 billion due to the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry’s monthly report showed.
04:51 – Thailand reported no new coronavirus infections or deaths, maintaining the total of 3,037 confirmed cases and 56 fatalities since the outbreak started in January.
04:19 – Jordan’s public sector employees are in for a shorter working period from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
04:08 – The UAE recorded 894 new coronavirus cases overnight after conducting additional 43,000 tests, raising the country’s COVID-19 caseload to 26,898.
04:06 – Australia’s most populous state said restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus will be eased to allow cafes, restaurants and pubs to have up to 50 seated patrons as efforts to revive the stalled economy pick up pace.
