GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978TUESDAY Vol. XXXXI No. 11532

April 28, 2020Ramadan 5, 1441 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

BUSINESS | Page 1 QATAR | Page 20

Qatar leads as world’slargest LNG exporterin 2019: IGU report

Face masks, sanitiserseasily available in Qatar

Covid-19 recoveriesreach 1,066 in Qatar

Amir directs sendingmedical aid to Tunisia,Nepal and Rwanda

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday reported 957 confirmed new cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and the recovery of 54 cases, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 1,066, according to off icial Qatar News Agency (QNA). The MoPH pointed out that most of the new cases registered are expatriate workers in diff erent occupations and those who have been in contact with previously discovered cases. There are also new cases of Covid-19 among groups of workers from outside the Industrial Area who were identified through testing by the MoPH. Page 3

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has directed sending urgent medical aid to the sisterly Republic of Tunisia, in support of eff orts of the brothers in Tunisia to fight the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Amir has also directed sending urgent medical aid to Nepal and Rwanda, in support of the eff orts of friends in these countries to fight the outbreak of the new coronavirus (Covid -19) pandemic.

Prayer times

Fasting times

And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Al-lah. Then every person shall be paid what he earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly. (Qur’an 2: 281)

Fajr....3.39 Zuhr....11.31 Asr....3.00 Maghrib.....6.06 Isha.....7.36

RAMADAN THOUGHT

Iftar today ............................... 6.06pmImsak tomorrow................... 3.28am

Qatar’s Covid-19 mortality ‘super low’By Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

Qatar’s Covid-19 mor-tality rate is one of the lowest in the world, an

artifi cial intelligence (AI) expert said yesterday at a webinar.

“Qatar stands at number three in the number of Cov-id-19 positive cases in the GCC region, as of Sunday. However, with over 10,000 such cases, the death rate is very low, super low as only 10 people have died so far. It is only about 0.1%, one of the lowest in the world,” said Dr Nan Tang, a scientist at Qa-tar Computing Research Insti-tute (QCRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

He was speaking at a webi-nar series launched by Qatar Centre for Artifi cial Intelli-gence (QCAI) to highlight the role of AI and Big Data analysis in the fi ght against Covid-19.

“The low mortality rate in this case, points to the ex-cellent care provided by the healthcare system in the country. Moreover, over 1,000 of the total positive cases have also recovered, which is an-other outcome of the effi cient treatment provided in the country,” noted Dr Tang.

Dr Tang was joined by Dr Mohamed Amin Sadeghi, an-other QCRI scientist who dis-cussed several aspects related to the Covid-19 outbreak. Dr Sanjay Chawla, research di-

rector, QCAI, moderated the session while Dr Ahmed K El-magarmid, founding executive director, QCRI welcomed the participants. QCAI will run fi ve more such webinars in the coming days.

According to Dr Tang, glo-bally the Covid -19 peak could vary depending on various elements. “On an optimistic estimation, it could peak in an-other two weeks and will go fl at thereafter. However, on a pes-simistic estimation, it can peak all the way until August this year and then will start fl atten-ing. However, we must take a middle level of both the estima-tions and nothing can be said with certainty on the issue,” explained Dr Tang. To Page 20

Surfers arrive after a closed beach opened during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Encinitas, California, US, yesterday.

Surfers throng US beach as lockdown lifted

Sheikha Moza joins UNdrive to fi ght Covid-19Her Highness Sheikha

Moza bint Nasser, UN Sustainable Develop-

ment Goals Advocate, Chair-person of Education Above All and Silatech, joined prominent leaders yesterday in a global advocacy eff ort, “Rise for All,” to support the UN secretary-general’s call for solidarity and urgent action in response to the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19, and to save lives and protect livelihoods, urging lead-ers in all countries, across all sectors, to address the human crisis of the pandemic.

The group comprised of glo-bal female leaders from vari-ous sectors was convened by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed to mobilise an extraordinary scale-up of international support and po-litical commitment to “build back better” and ensure that people everywhere have access to essential services and so-cial protection. This includes support for the UN Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, an inter-agency mechanism designed to support low- and middle-income countries and people most exposed to the economic hardship and social disruption the pandemic has caused.

In her message, Her High-ness Sheikha Moza said, “Be-fore Covid-19, our world was already contending with other pandemics. They are called pov-erty, hunger, unemployment, il-literacy, war, confl ict. Covid-19

is exacerbating these current predicaments exponentially. We cannot turn a blind eye from the long-term consequences that will likely imprint our children and youth.”

Her Highness continued: “If we do not intervene, the eff ects of this crisis will have disastrous educational and economic ef-fects on our young people. We will be leading them down a dangerous path of hopeless-ness and possibly extremism.” Through online solutions, Edu-cation Above All and Silatech have worked to provide resourc-es to aff ected children and youth globally to ensure the continuity of education and the accessibil-ity of employment opportuni-ties during this crisis.

Her Highness called on lead-

ers to be proactive and think long-term. “Let’s not waste this moment in time to merely react to combat Covid-19 Instead of working from fear, we must take this opportunity to narrow the digital gap and bring innovative solutions to our children and youth,” she said.

Speaking on the Rise for All campaign, the UN deputy secretary-general said, “Like no other time in recent history, women are on the frontlines of Covid-19 and bearing the brunt of this human crisis. It is time for us to rise as women lead-ers, taking action to conquer the pandemic and come out stronger so as to keep the world on track to achieve the Sus-tainable Development Goals by 2030.”

In addition to Her Highness Sheikha Moza, the fi rst to join this cohort yesterday were the President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates, the Prime Min-ister of Norway and the UN secretary general’s Sustainable Development Goals Advocate Erna Solberg, the Prime Minis-ter of Barbados Mia Mottley, the UN secretary general’s Sustain-able Development Goals Advo-cate Dia Mirza, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador of Pa-kistan Muniba Mazari, along with the Executive Directors of Unicef, Henrietta Fore, of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and of UNFPA, Natalia Kanem. (QNA)

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser

QATARGulf Times Tuesday, April 28, 20202

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani yesterday sent cables of congratulations to the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, on the anniversary of his country’s Freedom Day.

Amir sends greetings to Netherlands king

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday sent cables of congratulations to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on the occasion of his country’s National Day. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani sent a separate cable of congratulations to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on the occasion.

Amir greets president of Sierra Leone

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday sent cables of congratulations to President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, on his country’s independence day. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani sent a separate cable of congratulations to the Chief Minister of Sierra Leone Professor David John Francis on the occasion.

Cables of congratulations sent to Togo leader

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday sent cables of congratulations to President of Togo Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani sent a separate cable of congratulations to the Prime Minister of Togo Komi Selom Klassou, on the occasion.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani exchanged greetings with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, in a telephone call yesterday.

Amir sends congratulatory cable to president of South Africa

Amir exchanges Ramadan greetings with Malaysian PM

Ramadan an opportune time to quit smoking, says HMC expertDr Ahmad al-Mulla, head

of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) To-

bacco Control Centre, says Ra-madan is an opportune time to quit smoking.

He says during the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast dur-ing daylight hours, which is cur-rently around 14 hours a day in Qatar.

According to Dr al-Mulla, fasting has a lot of positive ef-fects on one’s health, and those benefi ts are especially promi-nent in tobacco users who give up smoking.

“For smokers, quitting is often easier during Ramadan as believ-ers are already required to abstain from food and drink, as well as from smoking cigarettes and us-ing other tobacco products, for 14 hours,” says Dr al-Mulla.

“The positive health eff ects of quitting smoking begin 20 min-utes after your last cigarette.

Your blood pressure and pulse will start to return to more nor-mal levels.

Within eight hours, the body also begins to cleanse itself of the excess carbon monoxide from cigarettes and carbon monox-ide levels in your body return to normal, increasing the body’s oxygen levels,” he adds.

Dr al-Mulla says within the fi rst day of quitting, heart and brain function improves, with the risk of heart disease and stroke decreasing and a per-son’s blood pressure beginning to drop.

He says oxygen levels will also increase, improving energy and breathing function.

One’s sense of smell and taste will also improve, as nerve end-ings responsible for the senses of smell and taste begin to heal, he adds.

Dr al-Mulla says each year, in advance of Ramadan, the To-bacco Control Centre increases

smoking cessation resources available to the public.

The Tobacco Control Center was offi cially designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the fi rst WHO Col-laborating Centre in Qatar and the GCC.

“Each Ramadan, HMC’s To-bacco Control Centre receives hundreds of requests from new patients.

During March and April, we have received three times the number of requests from new patients seeking support to quit smoking, which was in part due to the relationship between more severe Covid-19 illness and tobacco use.

Through our telephone-based

consultations and treatment, we are continuing to support those who wish to quit his harmful habit,” says Dr al-Mulla.

Dr Jamal Abdullah, smoking cessation specialist at HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre, says while Ramadan can make it easier for some people to quit smoking, heavy tobacco users who can go from smoking every two hours to not smoking for 14 hours, can experience with-drawal symptoms and should seek professional support.

“For many smokers, quitting is easier during Ramadan but to avoid the side eff ects of nico-tine loss and help the process of quitting, smokers should con-sult with a cessation clinic and

get medical advice on the best way to stop the habit,” says Dr Abdullah.

“Within eight hours of the last cigarette, carbon monox-ide levels in the blood decrease by over 50%, which has positive health benefi ts but can also trig-ger withdrawal symptoms such as strong cravings, poor con-centration, nerviness and head-aches.

These symptoms are normally most pronounced during the fi rst week of quitting.

Reading the Holy Qur’an and reciting ‘Astaghfi rullah’ can help promote spiritual healing, which can help reduce some of the symptoms of withdrawal,” adds Dr Abdullah.

According to Dr Musallam Mesaed Musallam, smoking ces-sation specialist at HMC’s To-bacco Control Centre, patients who seek support at the Centre receive one-on-one counsel-ling and appropriate nicotine replacement or pharmaceuti-cal support, depending on their level of addiction.

Dr Arwa al-Awlaki, a commu-nity medicine specialist at the Tobacco Control Centre, says it is important for smokers to un-derstand that chronic nicotine use results in a permanent in-crease in the number of recep-tors in the brain, which causes nicotine withdrawal symptoms and underscores the importance of seeking professional support, particularly for heavy smokers.

HMC clinical psychologist Dr Ashour Ibrahim says fasting mo-tivates people to do good things and that the holy month of Ra-madan is a great time to quit smoking, but he also stresses the importance of getting appropri-ate support.

He says both psychological sessions and behavioural thera-py can be useful in treating nico-tine addiction.

Dr Ahmad al-Mulla Dr Jamal Abdullah

Make Ramadan the ‘start of a life without smoking’

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has urged smokers to take advantage of the holy month of Ramadan to start a new “smoke-free” chapter in their lives.“Because of fasting, you will man-age to stay without smoking for 14 hours, which will help you in quitting,” the MoPH has said in an advisory.

“During the fasting period, your body will get rid of nicotine and toxins as well as carbon monoxide.Hence, we advise that you do not expose your body once you break your fast,” it states.For information on telephone-based smoking cessation services, one can contact 40254981 or 50800959.

QRCS distributes food aid

to displaced persons in SyriaQNADoha

The representation mission of Qatar Red Crescent Soci-

ety (QRCS) in Turkey has recently distributed sup-plementary food aid at the camps of internally dis-placed persons (IDPs) in Idlib and Aleppo Governo-rates in northern Syria.

To meet the needs of the IDPs during the holy month of Ramadan, QRCS’s fi eld workers distributed a total of 220 tonnes of dates, do-nated as a gift from Qatar to the Syrian brothers and sisters.

Around 110,000 families, or over 500,000 people, of the IDPs and local commu-nities across the two gover-norates benefi ted from the initiative.

All the necessary safety measures were taken to en-sure prevention of corona-virus.

The aid was distributed by visits to each tent sepa-rately, to protect the work-ers from infection risks.

In co-ordination with the World Health Organisa-

tion (WHO) and other so-cial workers in the country, coronavirus precautionary measures are being under-taken eff ectively.

Preparedness and re-sponse plans were devel-oped, and preventive pro-cedures are strictly followed at the health, psychological, and community-based fa-cilities operated by QRCS.

During the holy month

of Ramadan, food baskets will be distributed to 36,425 poor and displaced persons.

Other food baskets will be delivered to 8,100 Syr-ian refugees in Lebanon and 8,700 Syrian refugees in Jordan.

These measures will cost a total of QR2,923,543, to be funded from the donations of charity payers in Qatar.

Under the Zakat-ul-Fitr

project, food baskets will be distributed to 8,700 and 24,296 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, re-spectively.

To contribute to the Ra-madan Iftar project, under QRCS’s Ramadan Cam-paign 1441 AH, you can fi nd information about all the charitable projects on QRCSs website (www.qrcs.org.qa).

QRCS personnel distributed the aid visiting each tent separately, to protect the workers from infection risks.

Qatar Charity, UNHCR sign deal to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Qatar Charity (QC) and the United Na-tions High Com-

missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have signed an agreement worth $1.5mn, to provide emergency cash assistance to Syrian refu-gees across Lebanon, in response to the humani-tarian needs caused by the spread of the pandemic of the coronavirus (Cov-id-19).

The signing of the agreement came within

the framework of an inte-grated plan to implement precautionary and pre-ventive measures to curb the spread of the coro-navirus pandemic in 27 countries. Qatar Charity had revealed at the begin-ning of last March an ur-gent plan through its 25 field offices to help sup-port the efforts of local health authorities, with the aim of implement-ing preventive measures and raising awareness to

reduce the spread of the pandemic.

Yousef al-Kuwari, CEO of Qatar Charity (QC), stated that the coronavirus is a crisis within a crisis, and it will also affect the lives of the forcibly dis-placed, pointing out that “co-operation with UN-HCR allows us to provide support in various forms of programmes focused on improving the living con-ditions of refugees during this difficult time”.

The agreements between Qatar Charity and the United Nations agencies come with-in the framework of strategic co-operation with the aim of serving humanitarian and development issues in disas-ter and crisis areas.

During the past year, Qatar Charity signed 11 co-opera-tion agreements with inter-national organisations and United Nations agencies to fi -nance international projects, including six agreements with the UNHCR. – QNA

People suff ering from respiratoryand pulmonary diseases cautioned

People suffering from res-piratory and pulmonary diseases are not more

vulnerable to Covid-19 but in case they get infected, they are likely to experience more se-vere symptoms and there could be chances of potential damage as well.

The observation was made by Dr Wasfy Hamad, consult-ant of lung diseases at Al Khor Hospital, Hamad Medical Cor-poration, while speaking to Qa-tar TV.

The degree of severity of the disease is related to the severity of the original respiratory ail-

ment of the patient, he noted. Accordingly, such people

should take extra care to strictly follow all precautionary and pre-ventive measures to avoid getting infected, Dr Hamad said. They should also keep taking their med-ication regularly and have enough stocks for at least two weeks.

The same applies to children suff ering from asthma and other respiratory disorders.

He also urged smokers to quit in order to avoid weakening of their immune system, which will make them less vulnerable to the disease.

People suffering from respiratory and pulmonary diseases should take extra care to strictly follow all precautionary and preventive measures to avoid getting infected

QATAR3Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Positive change in families as they stay at home longerThe Family Consulting

Center (Wifaq) executive director says that there is

a signifi cant positive change in the behaviour of the family in general, in light of the restric-tions imposed to confront the coronavirus (Covid-19), as they stay home longer.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Rashid bin Ahmed al-Dosari said that the current crisis has raised the sense of responsibility and the ability to prioritise the family, noting that the consultants and mentors at Wifaq have seen, through their communica-tion with clients, a noticeable change among family members as a result of staying at home and spending more time with families.

He pointed out that the rap-prochement between family members while staying at homes raised a sense of responsibility towards family stability, and con-tributed eff ectively to overcoming some challenges, as consultants monitored a remarkable devel-opment in choosing appropri-ate methods to solve many fam-ily problems, and the adoption of communication and dialogue be-

Rashid bin Ahmed al-Dosari, executive director, Wifaq.

Under a special campaign, AAB off ers customised services at doorstep.

Choose your favourite Toyota this RamadanIn line with Qatar Govern-

ment’s eff ort to fi ght the spread of the novel corona-

virus (Covid-19) and Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co’s (AAB) commitment to ensure their customers health and safety is protected, the company has initiated a special campaign to support those who wish to purchase Toyota vehicles, according to a statement.

Any customer or organisa-tion wishing to purchase Toyo-ta vehicles can call AAB’s sales team on 50099188 for queries as well as to receive custom-ised services at their doorstep. AAB team will ensure that all documentation and payment options for the vehicle pur-chase is fi nalised and delivered directly to the customer’s home or preferred location. AAB en-

sures that all employees wear protective gear at all time to safeguard customer health and well-being.

AAB is also ensuring that all showrooms are sanitised regu-larly, including the vehicle ex-terior and interior touch points. In line with the Government directive, all sales executives do maintain a safe distance from customers while interacting and do wear protective masks and gloves to ensure cus-tomer health is prioritised and maintained at all time.

Toyota has a large line-up of vehicles which includes Co-rolla, Camry, Avalon, Prius, RAV4, Prado, and Land Cruis-er. Toyota vehicles which are well known for their quality, durability and reliability are well supported by AAB’s after

sales facilities which include a network of 10 service centres in various parts of the country.

Some of the service centres operate seven days a week. Toyota service locations include: Toyota Main Service Station in Indus-trial area, Landmark Quick Serv-ice Centre, Abou Hamour Quick Service Centre, Al Nayef Quick Service Centre, Airport Quick Service Centre, Wakrah Quick Service Centre, Aziz Quick Serv-ice Centre, Al Shahania Quick Service Centre, Al Khor Quick Service Centre, and Al Shamal road Quick Service Centre.

“AAB management takes this opportunity to wish all the people of Qatar “Ramadan Kareem” on the holy month of Ramadan. Stay home, stay safe and leave the rest to us!” the statement added.

QU-CPH student proves impact of collaboration in diabetes outcomesQatar University’s College

of Pharmacy (QU-CPH) MSc student in Clini-

cal Pharmacy and Practice, Sara Hamdi Abdulrhim, has con-ducted a real-world study on the impact and value of the col-laborative model of care on dia-betes outcomes in Qatar for her master’s thesis.

The project titled “Exploring the Impact and Value of Col-laborative Care Model in Dia-betes Care at a Primary Health-care Setting in Qatar” aimed to explore the impact of the col-laborative care model on several diabetes-related outcomes and to determine key stakeholders’ perspectives on the value of such model in primary healthcare settings.

The research project was su-

pervised by CPH professors of Clinical Pharmacy and Prac-tice: Dr Ahmed Awaisu, Sown-dramalingam Sankaralingam, Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim, and Mohamed Issam Diab. The research project was supported by Qatar Petroleum Health Department and involved fruitful collaboration between the CPH professors and health-care professional collaborators at Dukhan Medical Centre: Mo-hamed Abdelazim (head phar-macist); Dr Mohamed Thahir Is-mail (head physician); and Hend al-Raey (head nurse, diabetes educator).

This project is the fi rst of its kind conducted in Qatar that in-vestigates and reports the posi-tive perspectives of patients and healthcare professionals on the

Sara Hamdi Abdulrhim

value of the collaborative care model for managing diabetes in primary healthcare settings.

Abdulrhim said, “Ineffi cien-cies in delivering diabetes care in primary healthcare settings can be circumvented by the in-

tegration of the collaborative care model. This project describes the components of the collaborative care model provided by health-care professionals in Qatar Petro-leum Diabetes Clinic in Dukhan, which can guide the implemen-tation of this model in other am-bulatory settings, and ultimately help in reducing diabetes com-plications, risks of hospitalisa-tions, and medication overuse associated with the disease.”

Dr Awaisu observed that Sara has demonstrated evidence of outstanding performance in all areas of scholarship and aca-demic endeavour during the MSc programme.

“This MSc study is novel, the methodology used was robust and the thesis was meticulously written to the highest quality.

The real contribution to health is that the fi ndings can potentially help reduce the health and eco-nomic burden of diabetes by de-creasing workload, reducing the frequency of emergency depart-ment visits, improving diabetes-related outcomes, and ultimately decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with diabe-tes in Qatar and the Middle East,” noted, Dr Awaisu.

This project was presented in the 8th College of Pharmacy Re-search Forum at Qatar University and won fi rst place in the poster presentation. The fi ndings are promising and at the focus of many more conferences in the future. Sara has successfully produced one publication from her thesis, and is in the process of publishing four more articles.

Advisory on ensuring safety in kitchen

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has issued an advisory on ensuring safety in the kitchen during Ramadan. “While staying at home, please keep your kitchen safe and protect your children from any undesired incidents in the holy month of Ramadan,” the MoI tweeted.

Accordingly, the ministry has provided the following tips:

Keep sharp objects out of the reach of children

Ensure the safety of electrical connections

Secure gas connections Have a first-aid box Check the validity of fire

extinguishers Use safe utensils

tween spouses to reach solutions when any dispute occurs.

He explained that one of the important family behav-iours that were monitored through dealing with clients is what have been seen in terms of the parties’ eff orts to rec-oncile and cooperate with Wi-faq to reach positive solutions that maintain the stability of marital and family life.

Al-Dosari revealed that Wifaq achieved a success rate of 74% in family reconciliation cases, during the period from March 15 to April 15, as it provided its services in the same period to

more than 10,900 benefi ciaries, and also held in the same period 1,494 counselling sessions as well as about 1,800 parental care services.

About the action plan of Wifaq within the new precau-tionary measures, the execu-tive director said that the cen-tre had taken since March 8 a set of precautionary measures, and adopted a remote work system, allowing employees to carry out their work and man-age their meetings from their homes by using the electronic digital platforms available to them.

He pointed out that the centre follows procedures for remote work, including a set of meas-ures such as urgent precaution-ary health and safety measures, and remote work procedures to support employees in dealing with the crisis, as well as precau-tionary administrative measures towards employees and clients according to levels of risks, in addition to the procedures of the system of providing services to remote benefi ciaries to ensure the continuity of the service provided by each department, among others.

Mental Health Service timings during RamadanThe Mental Health Service’s new helpline is providing support for people experiencing stress or psychological distress as a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic. The operating hours of the service during Ramadan are as follows: from 8am to 1pm and from 8pm to 1am, Saturday to Thursday, and from 8pm to 1am on Friday, the Ministry of Public

Health (MoPH) has tweeted.The MoPH had recently announced the launch of the helpline, staff ed by a team of experienced mental health professionals who can provide assessment and support to callers through four main categories: Children and parents; Adults; Older people; and Healthcare workers. The helpline is available on the toll-free number, 16000.

Wifaq, he said, allows its clients to benefi t from its specialised con-sulting services remotely off ered by a consulting team specialising in various fi elds, through telephone advice via the call centre 16003 or via electronic advice through the centre’s website.

He added that the document of preventive and precaution-ary measures against the new coronavirus, included preparing a detailed working procedures guide according to each section of the centre, where client calls were diverted from landlines to employees’ mobile phones to provide consulting service to cli-

ents remotely by activating the JABBER application.

Also, the remote work sys-tem has been applied to provide the services of the Family Rec-onciliation Section for cases transferred from the court.

With regard to providing re-mote parental care service, co-ordination has been made with clients to implement visits and take them out of the centre for the current cases, not the new ones, he said, adding that a mechanism for handing and receiving those staying in the Parental Care Section through the home was established and defi ned.

HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari is asking members of the public to “please stay at home to help protect the more vulnerable members of our population, and to go out only for essential things”. An image of HE Dr al-Kuwari, holding a note with the message - “I stayed at work for you, Please stay at home for us” - was posted on the social media pages of the Ministry of Public Health yesterday.

Health minister in ‘stay at home’ appeal

Covid-19 recoveries reach 1,066 in QatarThe Ministry of Public

Health (MoPH) yesterday reported 957 confi rmed

new cases of the novel coronavi-rus (Covid-19) and the recovery of 54 cases, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 1,066, according to offi cial Qatar News Agency (QNA).

The MoPH pointed out that most of the new cases regis-tered are expatriate workers in diff erent occupations and those who have been in contact with previously discovered cases.

There are also new cases of Covid-19 among groups of workers from outside the Indus-trial Area who were identifi ed

through testing by the MoPH. This has contributed to the early detection of new cases.

The remainder of new Cov-id-19 cases are citizens and residents who have contracted the virus from members of their families, who in turn had con-tracted the virus in their work-places or other places where they came in contact with infected people.

All the new infected cases have been quarantined where they are receiving the necessary medical care, said the MoPH.

The ministry attributed the noticeable increase in the number of new confi rmed Cov-

id-19 cases to several reasons, including that the spread of the virus has begun to enter the peak stage where numbers are expect-ed to continue to increase before they begin to gradually decline.

This is in addition to the fact that the ministry has doubled its eff orts in tracking coronavi-rus transmission chains and ex-panded the scope of search for infected people by conducting extensive and proactive tests of people who have come in con-tact with confi rmed cases of the disease

According to a tweet from the MoPH, with a total of 3,420 people tested for Covid-19 in the

last 24 hours, as many as 85,709 have been tested so far in Qatar.

There are 11,244 positive cases to date in Qatar and 10,168 cases currently undergoing treatment. The total number of Covid-19 deaths so far in Qatar is 10.

The MoPH called on all mem-bers of the society to stay at home and not go out except in cases of necessity and take care to implement preventive meas-ures and maintain social dis-tancing from others, including in the workplace and public places. The ministry reminds people to use a face mask and avoid so-cial visits to reduce their risk of contracting the virus.

Vodafone launches platform for its charitable campaignVodafone Qatar has launched its new

‘Sawa’ digital engagement platform to encourage everyone in the country

to be part of its charitable giving campaign during the holy month of Ramadan.

In the spirit of giving back and to inspire all communities to participate, each week Vo-dafone Qatar will donate an amount to one of three charity initiatives: Qatar Charity, Qatar Red Crescent, and Education Above All.

Every 100 points collected by playing on the Sawa platform are equivalent to a QR1 donation, so the more people play, the faster Vodafone gets to its donation goal.

Sawa will get participants playing with a range of games and activities, including daily polls, trivia questions, a sorting quiz, word puzzles, and button masher polls. Every par-ticipant will also get the chance to win prizes, with the top three weekly winners picked and awarded at the end of the month of Ramadan.

One fi nal winner with the highest score at the end of the competition will win the grand prize of QR25,000, which will also be an-nounced at the end of Ramadan.

With the launch of the Sawa platform, Vodafone Qatar brings together fun and do-ing good in an innovative new way, continu-

ing its role ‘as a pioneer and leader in digital engagement’.

Vodafone Qatar said: “Every Ramadan but especially this year when community activities are limited, we try to bring people together and encourage positivity by doing more to give back to society. Beginning this week, the public can help us reach our goal of donating QR140,000 to Qatar Charity.

“The Sawa platform reminds us that we are in this together, even in giving, and eve-ryone can join in to help us support the work of these three initiatives to benefi t those most in need.”

Each week, once Vodafone Qatar reaches its donation goal, the company will announce the following week’s charity and donation goal. The Vodafone Sawa platform can be ac-cessed via the web, as well on mobile devices using the link sawa.vf.qa, and through the My Vodafone app.

4 Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 2020

QATAR

Roger Dubuis introduces new timepiece

Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis has introduced its new timepiece, the Excalibur

Diabolus in Machina.“Roger Dubuis has never been

one to play by the rules. In the past years, it has achieved an un-contested position as the master of expressive and contemporary watchmaking,” according to a press statement issued in Doha by Ali Bin Ali Holding.

“The brand has accustomed us to a creative irreverence and technical prowess. The Excali-bur Diabolus in Machina is not exception to this rule. This new masterpiece is a stunning juxta-position of the past artisans and modern techniques offering so-phistication to breaking point,” it notes.

Enter the Excalibur Diabolus in Machina, a creation “guaranteed to astound even the boldest souls

and partisans of the idea that life must be lived intensely, passion-

ately and – let’s say it like it is – ex-cessively”.

The brand “has fun violating its own codes” by allowing to reinter-pret two of the fi nest horological complications: the minute repeat-er and the single tourbillon.

“Once again, the brand demon-strates its expertise and passion for impossible challenges with this futuristic approach to the minute repeater concept,” the statement adds.

The Excalibur Diabolus in Machina “represents the para-doxes of time and a hedonistic invitation to ‘Carpe diem’, and is a “poetic reminder of our fl eeting condition”.

It off ers the exclusive members of the Roger Dubuis tribe an expe-rience that is “as exceptional as it is passionate”.

Ooredoo presents Ali bin Towar al-Kuwari as brand ambassador

Ooredoo has announced the appoint-ment of noted Qatari personality, Ali bin Towar al-Kuwari, as its brand

ambassador, joining footballing megastar Lionel Messi and world racing champion Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah in representing the leading telecom operator.

Al-Kuwari was chosen as a new brand am-bassador due to his high profi le and extensive following on social media, both in Qatar and further afi eld.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar, said of the appoint-ment: “We are pleased to announce Ali bin Towar as our new brand ambassador in Qa-tar, given his extensive contribution to so-ciety and his prominent role as one of the infl uential young personalities. He is an in-spiration to many, and we seek to spread our vision through this partnership, especially with regards to digital transformation as Ooredoo is a pioneer in this fi eld.”

Al-Kuwari said: “I am very proud and grateful to have been chosen as a brand am-

bassador for Ooredoo, which is considered a leading telecom company and is well-known for its social responsibility initiatives. I will do my best to make this partnership a success.”

Al-Kuwari is recognised as one of the most infl uential young personalities in Qatar and the Gulf region today.

He maintains a continuous presence on Qatar TV and Al Jazeera documentary chan-nels through the popular programme Khota Rahhal, in which he visits various countries to enrich viewers with engaging travel and cultural experiences among diff erent people and communities.

Al-Kuwari is known for his daily appear-ance on social media platforms, such as Snapchat and Instagram, where he shares many stories on a variety of topics with his followers.

He has also written the book The Life of an Adventurer, published in early 2017 and available in Qatari and Gulf markets, and documents his exciting experience of travel-ling across the Americas.

Ooredoo’s new brand ambassador Ali bin Towar al-Kuwari.

QU IIP offi ce marks World Intellectual Property DayQatar University’s Innovation

& Intellectual Property Of-fi ce (IIP Offi ce) has marked

World Intellectual Property Day.The offi ce held second e-seminar

titled “Intellectual Property, Inno-vation and Overcoming the Crisis of Covid-19”, yesterday through Webex.

Experts from Qatar University, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Qatar Scientifi c Club, discussed the role of intellectual property rights in enabling scientifi c research to confront the crisis.

The other topics were the devel-opment and production of national innovations to overcome the Cov-id-19 crisis.

Prof Mariam al-Maadeed, vice president, Research and Graduate Studies at QU welcomed the at-tendees and said: “The on-going pandemic urges to redouble our ef-forts towards our fi ght against Cov-id-19. We encourage innovation that qualify to support various sectors of the state and enable them to meet

major challenges. The awareness should be addressed from its legal and commercial aspects, and also from the consequences that human beings are facing.”

The seminar’s agenda included several sessions, where Amna Jaber al-Kuwari, director of the Intellectual Property Rights Protection depart-ment, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, discussed its role in assist-ing businessmen in Qatar to face this crisis with the least possible losses.

Dr Mohamed Salem Abouelfarag Elsaid Mohamed, director of IIP Offi ce and Associate Professor of Commercial Law at QU, addressed the role of intellectual property rights in enabling scientifi c research to confront crisis.

The session of Dr Abdul Majeed Hammouda, associate dean for aca-demic aff airs at the College of En-gineering at QU, entitled “Research and Development” presented the relationship between research and development.

He also discussed the importance of permanent and continuous re-search to keep pace with technolog-ical developments, environmental changes and other matters that af-fect society in the world.

Last session entitled “Develop-ment and production of national innovations to overcome the crisis Covid-19” included the participa-

tion of Dr Hareb al-Jabri, assist-ant professor of Environmental Sciences at The College of Arts and Sciences at QU, Dr Mahmoud Abdul-Latif, director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the College of Administration and Econom-ics at QU, and Abdul Rahman Saleh Khamis, technical director at Qatar Scientifi c Club.

A view of the QU campus.

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s General Cleanness Section, in co-operation with the police, has removed the residue of concrete that seeped from a truck at Al Sailiyah Area. Municipal workers swept and cleaned the street.

Concrete residue removed

‘Your reputation is important’The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has reminded entities engaged in delivery services to comply with relevant instructions and preserve their reputation.

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s (MME) General Cleanness Department (the Islands and Beaches Section) has been carrying out the regular cleaning of all the harbours across the country. Doha Corniche area and Al Shyoukh harbour were cleaned recently from all trash discarded there. The MME has urged all the inhabitants of the country to follow the rules of public hygiene and the related regulations to protect the marine environment and maintain the beauty of such places.

Cleaning operations

Indian embassy cancels ‘Open House’ slated for April 30

Indian embassy has announced that the Open House scheduled for April 30 has been called off in compliance with Government of Qatar regulations to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Sea-Doo models recalled over safety concernsThe Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in co-operation with Speed Marine, dealer of Sea-Doo jet-ski in Qatar, announced the recall of Sea-Doo GTX, RXT, WAKE PRO jet-ski model of 2019 over the possibility of the intake grate detaching from the vehicle while riding at a speed of 88kph, which could lead to serious injuries.The ministry confirmed the recall

campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that vehicle dealers follow up on defects and repairs.The ministry has said that it will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.

The ministry urges all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquiries and suggestions through the following channels: Call Centre: 16001, e-mail: info@moci.gov.qa, Twitter: @ MOCIQATAR, Instagram: MOCIQATAR, mobile app for Android and IOS: MOCIQATAR.

Qatar participates in GCC civil aviation executive panel meeting

Qatar participated in the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of Civil Aviation in the Gulf Co-operation

Council countries, which was held yesterday via visual communication technology, to discuss ef-forts and measures taken by Civil aviation bodies and departments in the GCC countries, to curb the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

Qatar was represented at the meeting by HE Abdullah bin Nasser Turki al-Subaie, chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

The meeting reviewed eff orts made by the Gulf Co-operation Council countries to confront the spread of the coronavirus and the economic and operational impacts on the air transport sector and national carriers in the Gulf states due to the implications of its spread.

The joint emergency plans of the civil aviation sector were also discussed in order to manage such crises in the future, and co-ordination on recov-ery plans to ensure the smooth return of operation jointly after the pandemic recedes. HE Abdullah bin Nasser Turki al-Subaie

QATAR/RAMADAN5Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Temporary diversion on Al Wukair Road

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced a temporary shifting of

2km northbound traffi c on Al Wukair Road towards Bu Ghur-ban Interchange onto the parallel service road until 4am tomorrow (Wednesday).

The shifting is implemented in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Traffi c, in order to enable the gantry installation.

Ashghal will install road signs advis-ing motorists of the closure and has re-

quested all to follow them and abide by the existing speed limit to ensure safety.

Al Daayen Municipality’s Health Control Section has spotted five violations of Law No 8 of 1990 Regulation of Human Food Control and took legal procedures against the violators. The section has intensified inspection campaigns on food facilities, meals delivery restaurants and other related outlets as the demand for these rises during the holy month of Ramadan. The campaigns mainly aim at ensuring that these places follow the necessary food safety standards and regulations, especially ensuring that the workers wear face masks, gloves, and head covers during work and strictly abide by the personal hygiene rules.

Legal action over food safety violations

Islamic perspective on plagues, pandemics in spotlight at online symposiumQNADoha

Within its Ramadan activities this year, the Green Tent of ‘A Flower Each Spring’

programme organised an online sym-posium on “plagues and pandemics from an Islamic perspective” in which a number of academics, scientists and specialists from Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Algeria, the United Kingdom and others participated.

Participants in the Tent’s fi rst sym-posium talked about the plagues wit-nessed by the world in the pre-Islamic period and how the former nations dealt with the pandemics, reviewing the crises, epidemics that the Islamic nation has experienced and how they overcame and learned lessons from them, as well as the honourable Ha-diths that address such challenges.

Dr Saif Ali al-Hajri, head of ‘A Flower Each Spring’ programme said that disasters come as a surprise, cosmic norms have no boundaries or ethnicities, and that past civilisations demonstrate that any civilisation is in danger of collapse, if its value sys-tems collapse despite its scientifi c and technological superiority.

He noted that community responsi-bility requires commitment to human values, which are the best way to face crises and pandemics. The human values are the best way to integration, co-operation, regional and interna-tional solidarity, along with the need to adhere to the World Health Or-ganisation (WHO) and taking things seriously. He also noted that civil so-ciety, the private and government sec-tors have a responsibility to slow the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) and get rid of the pandemic.

Dr al-Hajri praised the eff orts of the medical and scientifi c staff , the lines of immediate and future defence to cope with the epidemic, pointing out that one of the lessons from the coro-navirus is that every ordeal and pan-demic must have painful, sad, costly aspects, and positive aspect.

He called for taking advantage of the crisis to position in a way that quali-fi es for withstanding and minimis-

ing the social, cultural and economic eff ects of this deadly virus, stressing that the real success and sustainabil-ity lie in monitoring the lessons and cumulative experiences, and being able to apply them in other crises that are characterised as a surprise and ur-gency.

For his part, head of the Interna-tional Union of Muslim Scholars Dr Ali al-Qaradaghi drew attention to the fact that the pandemics always carry many good things with them, as divine grants always come out of ordeals. He referred to the Plague of Justinian, which spread in the Roman Empire before Islam and its arrival in the Sasanian Empire, which weakened them and thus Islam managed to bring them down in less than 25 years.

Dr al-Qaradaghi spoke at the Green Tent online symposium about plagues and pandemics from an Islamic per-spective, calling on the Islamic world and the free world to co-operate, in order to eradicate the virus and re-move injustice against the vulnerable everywhere, and to prepare for post-coronavirus, stressing at the same time that the more injustice, the more diseases and epidemics that were not known before, as stated in the Sunnah.

In turn, Dr Mohamed al-Mamari from the Sultanate of Oman pre-sented a number of lessons learned from the coronavirus, explaining that the pandemics are evidence of God Almighty’s power, who created them and is able to detect them.

He added that the epidemics also reflect the weakness of man in front of God’s judgment, and that such pandemics are the ones that the hands of people committed because of injustice, aggression and for vio-

lating the laws of the Creator. Dr al-Mamari called on scientists and researchers all over the world to co-operate in order to find a vaccine for this disease. He also urged com-munity members to uphold human values and dignity and to avoid par-tisanship.

Member of the International Un-ion of Muslim Scholars Dr Abdullah bin Ibrahim al-Sada pointed out that the pandemics may be a blessing from God and must be dealt with in this re-gard, including the coronavirus and other calamities and problems that a person may face in his normal life.

Sharia and Islamic Studies Faculty Member at Qatar University Dr Fadel Murad reviewed a number of the gains that Muslims achieve from the coro-navirus pandemic in Ramadan, in-cluding frequent prayers, consulting fatwas related to the pandemic, build-ing on experiences and asking experts, specialists and seeking their opinions regarding them.

Dr Murad considered that issuing fatwas after careful study is one of the lessons learned from this crisis, as well as realising that the diff erence is a cosmic norm, stressing that the fatwa should not be aff ected by whims or political and social pressures.

Dr Ahmed Yahya Ahmed al-Kindi said that the coronavirus opened a horizon for Islamic knowledge in the topics of prevention and knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet Muham-mad (PBUH), in referring to the quar-antine and reviewing a set of honour-able Hadiths in this framework.

He called for following the di-rections of doctors and specialists, considering the real news and not to spread rumours and panic among people, as well as to be advocates of human beings and optimism.

Dr al-Kindi stressed the necessity of patience, truth and co-operation in righteousness and piety, because this is one of the factors that end the scourge of epidemics and diseases, as well as not to underestimate the nation and its scholars who share knowledge with their counterparts in various countries, to come out with treatments and vaccines that benefi t humanity.

Dr Saif Ali al-Hajri, head of ‘A Flower Each Spring’ programme said that disasters come as a surprise, cosmic norms have no boundaries or ethnicities, and that past civilisations demonstrate that any civilisation is in danger of collapse, if its value systems collapse despite its scientifi c and technological superiority

Ramadan’s 3D trainingBefore a marathon runner

competes in the Olympics, he undergoes years of intense training — both physical and

mental [2D - two-dimensional]. He must maintain a healthy diet and ex-ercise to make sure his body is fi t. He must also become mentally prepared to ward off all sense of fatigue and failure during the race. After every practice, his sport becomes easier to him until he is ready to compete. Then after he competes, he trains for years again, preparing for the next Olym-pics.

Similarly, our Lord, The Most Exalted, has given us the holy month of Ramadan as a month of training. Unlike the runner, our training is three-fold: physical, mental, and spiritual [3D - three-dimensional]. Ramadan trains us for life, which is our means to Paradise. In Arabic, the word “Ramadan” means “scorching and burning”. The name highlights the intensity of the training since, according to scholars; we physically and mentally scorch and burn our sins and faults. By the month’s end, if our intentions were pure, we have bathed ourselves in a pool of spirituality.

Most people think fi rst of the physical aspect of fasting, which for Muslims is a foundation for the mental and spiritual benefi ts. Hunger and thirst physically remind us of Allah’s blessings, which before the fast we had a tendency to take for granted. Fasting also provides us with numerous health benefi ts. The Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, said: “The son of Aadam never fi lls a container worse than his stomach.” [Ahmad and others]

When we deprive the stomach of food and drink from dawn till dusk, we improve our digestion and blood pressure, to name a few of the many physical benefi ts. The acts of physical restraint during Ramadan improve our self-control for the rest of the year. We must not resume eating gluttonously and wastefully. We must maintain physical consciousness to appreciate Allah’s favours and make acts of worship easier for us.

Ramadan’s mental aspect is more diffi cult, but the strong physical foundation also helps to sharpen our focus and strengthen our will. This training is an example of striving with one’s inner desires. It exposes our fl aws and can help eliminate or reduce them.

Mental restraint is especially important now, when Islam is being maligned and we must respond with that which is better. Patience and mercy are among the virtues we strengthen during Ramadan. With the combined physical and mental

training we get in Ramadan, we can improve our relations with Muslims and non-Muslims as we strive for perfection.

A three-dimensional consciousness: physical, mental, and spiritual that Muslims throughout history attest it enhances one’s relationship with Allah, wipes clean our slate of sins and allows us to reap great reward. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, stated that Allah declared: “All deeds of the son of Aadam are for him except for fasting, it is for Me. And I will reward him for it.” [Muslim] But we need to remember again the concept of training.

The heightened spiritual consciousness that we gain during Ramadan ameliorates our life to a three dimensional level: every action we make transforms from being a habit (physical and mental components of what we do) to becoming an act of worship when under the umbrella of spirituality. It is true, some may say, that spirituality always has that eff ect — Ramadan or not. But in Ramadan, this spirituality is more conscious, deliberate and intense.

A time for spiritual nourishment and self-introspection, Ramadan heralds a classic opportunity to draw closer to Allah and to bask in the many blessings that accompany the month. Commitments ranging from the recitation and study of the Qur’an to increased charity to regular Taraweeh attendance are commonly made to reap the rewards of the fasting month.

To this eff ect, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, once said: “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the

mouth of a person observing fast is better with Allah Almighty than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person): ‘He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times.’” [Al-Bukhari]

Further, with Satan chained and the gates of Paradise thrown open, the race for good deeds begins in every Ramadan. Yet, as people dive into the anxiously awaited month of spiritual gains, they realise that it comes with its own set of challenges. Indeed, just as our everyday test is to practice Islam while living in the world, this annual retreat-of-sorts is all about maximising our worship while juggling the demands of our daily lives.

So, along with the fasting and all the plans, chores need to be taken care of, work must be attended to, and children’s needs have to be fulfi lled. In order to avoid frustration due to neglecting one’s Ramadan goals or hardship caused by abandoning certain tasks and routines, a happy medium must be strived for. Striking this balance will not always be easy since it entails rescheduled days, little sleep, and a shift in priorities.

However, the results far outweigh the struggle, a feeling of contentment that we made our very best eff ort to capture the true essence of Ramadan. Allah Almighty says (what means): “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.” [Qur’an 2:183]

Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/

(157)

(71)

(79) (78)

5

REGION/ARAB WORLD/AFRICA

Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 20206

Coronavirus stirs rancour in SA on democracy anniversaryReutersJohannesburg

South Africa’s divisions over race and wealth inequality, which the

Covid-19 crisis had briefl y sidelined, returned to the fore during yesterday’s 26th an-niversary of the end of apart-heid.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been praised for decisive action to curb the epidemic in Africa’s most industrial-ised nation, which has one of the continent’s strictest lock-downs and has recorded just 4,546 cases and 87 deaths.

“South Africans have come together like never before to wage the struggle against this virus,” Ramaphosa told the nation.

However, recriminations are rising over inequalities in conditions to cope with the restrictions and distribution of aid around an economy al-ready in recession.

“Our government loves...to keep White people happy and safe, even at the expense of Africans,” complained Julius Malema, fi rebrand leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, in a statement.

At the other end of the po-litical spectrum, white minor-ity party Afriforum and allied union Solidarity threatened legal action against the tour-ism department which they accused of overlooking White-owned businesses for assist-ance.

Of a 500bn rand ($26.64bn) coronavirus rescue package, nearly a fi fth has been set aside

for the poor and unemployed.Much of the rest will help

businesses keep afl oat, not least the ravaged tourism sec-tor.

But Afriforum and Solidar-ity, who plan to go to court today, complained that “the Department of Tourism will...discriminate against you based on the colour of your skin” when it came to deciding who gets aid.

In a rebuff earlier this month, Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said that the state was off ering one-off small grants to small businesses guided by black empowerment criteria, but added: “Any person or busi-ness in the tourism sector can apply for the fund, regardless of the colour of their skin.”

Twenty-six years ago, South

Africans rejoiced at their fi rst ever fully inclusive democratic election, which saw Nelson Mandela elected as their fi rst president under black majori-ty rule, ending decades of toxic apartheid.

But critics say Mandela’s legacy party, the African Na-tional Congress, has not done enough to redress inequalities in land, wealth and access to services that are apartheid’s most enduring legacy, and which on some measures have worsened.

A government study last year found that Whites on av-erage earned more than four times as much as blacks.

A year earlier, the state Hu-man Rights Commission said in a report that the richest 10% of South Africans owned more than 90% of wealth.

Daniel Silke, of Political Futures Consultancy, said the coronavirus crisis had brief-ly put political divisions on the backburner before then pumping them up with “ster-oids”.

“The corona outbreak has brought into sharpest focus, the...inequalities that ex-ist between black and White people in South Africa,” added Malema in a withering state-ment few would deny, al-though it omitted to mention a growing, wealthy black elite that includes him.

“Even when they want to be in self-isolation, our people do not have spacious houses to isolate into because they stay in shacks. Even when they want to keep maximum hy-giene...they do not have access to clean water.”

People caught without masks forced to sweep streets in MadagascarAFPAntananarivo

Madagascar police forced citizens caught outside without a coronavirus

face mask to sweep pavements yesterday, law enforcement of-fi cials said.

President Andry Rajoelina has made it compulsory to wear face coverings outdoors in the capital Antananarivo, as well as in the cities of Fianarantsoa and Toamasina, to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The new rule, which came into force yesterday, was announced on April 20 alongside the gradual lifting of lockdown measures in the three main cities.

Authorities warned that citi-zens leaving the house without face masks would face commu-nity service.

“Seventy % of people on the street respected the rule... be-cause they are scared of hav-

ing to sweep pavements,” the head of anti-coronavirus op-erations, general Elak Olivier Andriakaja, said on state tel-evision. “Measures were taken before the sanctions fell into place to raise awareness and distribute mouth covers,” An-driakaja added. “I think that’s enough and that sanctions must now be applied.”

Around 500 people in An-tananarivo and Fianarantsoa were penalised yesterday, said police deputy head Christian Rakotobe.

Antananarivo commissioner Hector Razafindrazaka said 25 people were sentenced on the spot and forced to sweep the capital’s dusty streets.

Images of the embarrassed-looking offenders were widely circulated on social media. To date the Indian Ocean island-nation has detected 128 cases of coronavirus. No fatalities have been recorded so far and 75 patients have recovered.

A police off icer looks on as a man wearing yellow vest sweeps the street after being stopped by police off icers for not wearing his face mask correctly in downtown Antananarivo, yesterday.

Scores of workers at a construc-tion site that includes a refinery being built by Africa’s richest man rioted yesterday against lockdown measures in Nigeria’s megacity Lagos, police said. Residents in the economic hub have been ordered to stay home since March 30 as part of meas-ures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 40 lives and officially infected 1,273 people in Africa’s most populous country. Workers across the city of 20mn, where many live in poverty, have complained that the restrictions have cut them off from vital income. Police spokesman Bala Elkana said that construction workers at the Lekki Free Trade zone, including those at the oil refinery of bil-lionaire Aliko Dangote, went on a rampage “over the shutdown of operations in their sites following the lockdown”.

Dozens of Lebanese protesters blocked key roads yesterday for the second consecutive day to protest the devaluation of the local currency and the high cost of living. Defying a coronavirus lockdown, protesters gathered without wearing face masks as they burnt tyres and blocked the road of Zouk Mosbeh, which links Beirut with north Lebanon, chanting “Revolu-tion, revolution.” The Lebanese pound last week reached its lowest rate on the parallel exchange market, with one dollar standing at 4,000 to 4,300 pounds. Banks are abiding by a two-decade-old peg that keeps the dollar at 1,507.5 pounds. “My salary now only buys two boxes of milk,” read a placard carried by one of the protesters. Following scuff les with protesters, soldiers reopened the road. “I do not have enough money to feed my children,” another protester shouted while calling on the people to defy the coronavirus lockdown.

Forty-three people have died in three days of clashes between armed groups and soldiers in DR Congo’s perennially unstable east, government and army off icials said yesterday. The deadliest clash occurred on Friday when “attackers armed with guns and knives killed 21 civilians in Mahagi,” said Gilbert Tsale, a senior regional off icial in the eastern Ituri province. In the neighbouring Djugu area, fighting has raged since Sunday in Lisey, pitting the army against militias, Colonel James Ngongo, the army spokesman in Ituri said. On Sunday, an attack by the Armed Democratic Force (ADF) militia claimed the lives of five men and one woman, John Kambale, the local head of Malambo, near the eastern town of Beni in North Kivu province said.

Nigerian workers riot over Lagos lockdown: police

Lebanese protest for second day against higher living costs

DR Congo attacks kill 43: off icials

ANGER

STRIFE

UNREST

A man, a resident of the sprawling township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, opens his mouth to receive a testing swab for Covid-19 coronavirus at a screening and testing drive in front of the Madala Hostel, yesterday.

Israeli strikes near Syria capital kill three civiliansAFPDamascus

Israeli air strikes near the Syrian capital early yes-terday killed three civil-

ians, state media said.“Three civilians were

martyred and four others wounded, including a child, because shrapnel from Is-raeli missiles fell on houses” in the suburbs of Damas-cus, the offi cial SANA news agency said.

Syrian air defences had downed “most” of the Is-raeli missiles launched from Lebanese air space shortly before dawn, SANA said in an earlier report.

Videos published on the agency’s website purported to show the Israeli warheads exploding in the sky.

An Israeli spokesperson declined to comment.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the

attack hit positions of forces and fi ghters from Lebanese group Hezbollah south of Damascus. It said four such fi ghters were killed in the strikes.

Since the start of the Syr-ian confl ict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, tar-geting government troops as well as allied forces and Hezbollah fi ghters, enemies of the state.

On April 20, SANA said Syrian air defences had downed Israeli missiles near the ancient city of Palmyra.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sourc-es inside Syria, said the tar-gets were “military posts for militias in the Palmyra desert”. That raid killed three Syrian fi ghters and six for-eigners, according to the monitor, which was not able to determine their nationali-ties.

Israel rarely confi rms its operations in Syria.

A Yemeni man buys from a street vendor in the southern city of Aden yesterday, during the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan sale

Arab League to meet over Israel’s plans to annex West BankAFPCairo

The Arab League said yes-terday it will convene an urgent virtual meeting

this week to discuss how to gal-vanise opposition to Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

The extraordinary meeting — scheduled for Thursday at the request of the Palestinian lead-ership — will bring together Arab foreign ministers via video con-ference, rather than a face-to-face meeting, due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The Arab League’s deputy secretary Hossam Zaki said the ministers will “discuss in their virtual meeting providing politi-cal, legal and fi nancial support to the Palestinian leadership to confront the Israeli plans”. It comes after Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz signed a deal for a unity govern-ment that could accelerate the premier’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank in the coming

months. Those Israeli plans have drawn wide criticism including from the United Nations and the European Union.

Arab League chief Ahmed Ahmed Aboul Gheit had last week sent a message to UN Sec-retary General Antonio Guterres warning against Israel’s plans saying they risk “igniting ten-sion in the region”. He also ac-cused Israel of “exploiting the world’s preoccupation with the novel coronavirus to impose a new reality on the ground”. Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and has since extended its control by expand-ing its settlements there.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a de-cision regarding the annexation of West Bank territories was up to Israel’s new unity govern-ment. Earlier this year, the US unveiled a controversial Middle East peace plan that would al-low Israel to retain control of the contested city of Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and annex Jewish settlements on Palestin-ian lands including in the

West Bank.A handout picture released by the off icial Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) yesterday shows two youth sitting amid the debris of a building after an Israeli air strike, south of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Iran says won’t be source of Gulf confl ictAFP Tehran

Iran’s military said yester-day it will never be a source of confl ict in the Gulf, in an

apparent bid to ease tensions after several high-seas inci-dents involving US forces.

Decades-old tensions be-tween Tehran and Washing-ton have escalated since 2018, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never been and will never be a source of tension or confl ict in the region,” the country’s armed forces said in a statement carried by state media. “But it will always de-fend its territorial integrity with promptness, tenacity and force,” said the statement.

“It is clear that any adven-turism, harassment or provo-cation will be met with a fi rm reaction from the Iranian armed forces, whose aggres-sors, especially the United States, will suff er the conse-quences,” it added.

The Iranian armed forces also “strongly warned” the United States “and its satellite states” against the temptation to create “tensions...in the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf”. The statement comes after an incident in Gulf waters on April 15 for which each side blamed the other.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is keeping a close watch on the Americans and is monitoring their activities, but it will never trigger confl ict or cause tension in the region,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, according to a statement from his offi ce.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health an-nounced 213 new coronavirus (Cov-id-19) infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of infections to 3,288, while two deaths were reported as well, bringing the total fatalities’ toll up to 22, QNA reported. Kuwait news agency (KUNA) said that two deaths were for a 53-year-old Kuwaiti who had been receiving medical care in intensive care for 30 days and the other for a 54-year-old resident. Earlier yesterday, Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel al-Sabah announced the recovery of pa-tients 206, bringing the total to 1,012 recoveries.

OMAN REPORTS 51 NEW CASES

The Ministry of Health in Oman yes-terday announced the registration of 51 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 2,049, in addition to 10 deaths, QNA report-ed. Thirty-seven of the new cases are Omanis and 14 are non-Omanis, the ministry said, pointing out that 364 cases have recovered.

Kuwait reveals 213 new virus cases, two deaths

HEALTH

AMERICAS7Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A man poses for a picture in the middle of an empty Park Avenue in New York City yesterday.

Canada yesterday began a staggered loosening of pandemic restrictions as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged vigilance and baby steps to avoid a Covid-19 resurgence. The Atlantic coast province of New Brunswick, after seeing no new cases in a week, was first to relax social distancing rules starting with the opening of parks and beaches. Saskatchewan is set to allow businesses to reopen next week. And Ontario and Quebec, which recorded the most coronavirus cases, largely at nursing homes, are to unveil their respective schedules this week for the reopening of their economies. “Diff erent provinces will move at a diff erent pace,” Trudeau told a daily briefing.

The state of New York yesterday cancelled its presidential primary, which had already been delayed from late April to June 23, over concerns voting was an unnecessary risk amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With former vice president Joe Biden the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, Douglas Kellner, one of two of the party’s commissioners on the New York State Board of Elections, said it would be “unnecessary and frivolous” to hold an eff ectively uncompetitive election in a state that is the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak. Republican President Donald Trump will be seeking a second term in the November 3 election.

US House Of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Joe Biden for president, joining a list of top Democrats to back the former vice president. Pelosi’s endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate follows former president Barack Obama’s. In a video statement yesterday, Pelosi cited Biden’s experience in government, including his role in passing the Aff ordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, as evidence of his leadership qualities. “As we face coronavirus, Joe has been a voice of reason and resilience, with a clear path to lead us out of this crisis,” Pelosi said.

More than 20 film festivals around the world have joined together to stream movies free on YouTube after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered movie theatres and forced the cancellation of annual showcases in Cannes and New York. The 10-day “We Are One: A Global Film Festival” will feature content curated by the Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and Tribeca film festivals, among others, starting on May 29, organisers Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube said in a statement yesterday. The festival will showcase films, documentaries, music, comedy and conversations. No details of the programming were announced.

Canada begins staggered lifting of virus lockdown

New York state cancels presidential primary

Nancy Pelosi endorses Joe Biden for president

Film festivals unite for 10-day streaming event

BABY STEPSPANDEMIC SUPPORT ENTERTAINMENT

Trump reverses course, will hold coronavirus news conferenceReuters/AFPWashington

US President Donald Trump’s pause in holding White House coronavirus

briefi ngs only lasted the weekend as offi cials said he would par-ticipate in one later yesterday to update Americans on new testing guidelines.

Trump’s advisers have been arguing that the sessions, held nearly every day for more than a month, had begun to show him in an unfavourable light, par-ticularly after a Thursday news conference at which he asked his health experts whether disin-fectants that kill the virus on sur-faces might be a used in patients as a treatment.

Some Republicans fear Trump is doing his re-election pros-pects more harm than good with sessions that often turn into ha-rangues against reporters, and have watched his job approval numbers drop at a time when they should be gaining steam.

The White House announced yesterday morning that evening session was cancelled, only to re-verse course hours later and put the briefi ng back on Trump’s schedule.

Aides said Trump wanted to talk about new coronavirus test-ing guidelines, as the administra-tion tries to fi ll a need demanded

by governors for broader testing for the virus as states move to-ward reopening their economies.

Senior administration offi cials said the federal government is sending to states enough swabs and related equipment to cover their entire testing objectives for the months of May and June.

“We’ll be doing many more tests in May and June than we’ve done cumulatively to date,” said one offi cial, speaking on condi-tion of anonymity.

White House offi cials said the briefi ngs will shift more toward the economic reopening phase in the fi ght against the novel coro-navirus.

Trump has been ridiculed around the world for Thursday’s disinfectant comment, which he later claimed was meant to be sarcasm aimed at journalists, although he was clearly talking directly to his medical advisers.

He has also been incensed the last few days by unfl attering newspaper reports about his work habits and use of the sometimes two-hour briefi ngs to praise him-self, while battering rivals.

Yesterday, he kept up an anti-media tweet storm begun over the weekend, writing: “FAKE NEWS, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

“There has never been, in the history of our Country, a more vicious or hostile Lamestream

Media than there is right now, even in the midst of a National Emergency, the Invisible En-emy!” Trump wrote.

Kayleigh McEnany, the new White House press secretary, indicated that a new strategy would be rolled out, emphasising Trump’s business background and his focus on reopening the US economy, which is in a deep hole due to measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We’re looking at diff erent ways to showcase this president leading,” she said.

McEnany insisted that the briefi ngs would be back this week, but suggested a new look “to showcase (to) the American people the great entrepreneur-ship of this president.”

“Absolutely, the president will be present. I’m not going to get ahead of what the briefi ngs will look like this week. They may have a diff erent look,” she said.

The briefi ngs, which can of-ten stretch to two hours, have featured US health experts who give updates on the federal gov-ernment’s eff orts to fi ght the vi-rus outbreak that has killed more than 54,000 Americans.

In more recent weeks they have also become a platform for Trump, who is seeking re-elec-tion in November, to put forth his own theories on the coronavirus and potential cures, or to attack

his political enemies.Trump earlier yesterday

slammed cities and states seek-ing billions of dollars in more federal aid to off set huge losses amid the coronavirus outbreak as lawmakers spar over the next round of potential economic re-lief along sharp party lines.

Democrats are calling for more aid to help beleaguered munici-palities left out of recent stimu-lus measures.

But some Republicans have balked at the price tag, while the Senate’s top Republican said he would back state bankruptcy be-fore giving them more US fund-ing.

“Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cas-es Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?” Trump, a Republi-can, tweeted.

Mayors and governors have spent billions in recent weeks as social distancing and stay-at-home orders implemented across most of the nation to curb the spread of the highly contagious virus have also triggered a surge in unemployment, curtailed con-sumer spending and depressed local tax revenue.

Congress previously allocated

$150bn for governments, but governors have asked for another $500bn while cities and coun-ties are seeking $250bn, saying the money is needed to cover the costs of responding to the outbreak as well as revenue lost while residents shelter in place.

Trump, who is seeking re-elec-tion in November, appeared to

back Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who last week told a conservative talk-radio host that he “would certainly be in favour” of letting states enter bankruptcy.

But other Republicans, includ-ing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who chairs the National Governors Association (NGA), and some Republican senators,

have backed funding for state and local governments.

Democratic governors, includ-ing NGA Vice Chairman and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, have blasted McConnell’s idea, saying their states have an out-sized role in fi lling the nation’s coff ers and allowing bankruptcy would upend fi nancial markets.

Protesters demonstrate against new safer-at-home orders during an ‘End the Lockdown Now’ rally at the Colorado Capital in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday.

US Supreme Court sidesteps major gun rights rulingReutersWashington

The US Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a challenge to New York City restrictions on handgun owners trans-porting their fi rearms outside the home, meaning the jus-tices for now will not be wading into the battle over the scope of the right to bear arms under the US Constitution’s Second Amendment.

But there are other cases pending that could give the court’s conservative majority a chance to widen gun rights including challenges to assault weapon bans in Massachu-setts and Cook County, Illinois, and permit requirements to carry fi rearms outside the home in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland.

The justices threw out the New York dispute because the measure that was challenged by individual gun owners and the state’s National Rifl e Association affi liate was rolled back by the city last July, rendering the case moot.

The city had asked the Supreme Court not to hear the matter.

The justices went ahead and heard arguments on Decem-ber 2 but ultimately agreed with the city.

The case was sent back to lower courts to determine whether the gun owners may seek damages or press claims that the amended law still infringes their rights.

Justice Samuel Alito, in a dissent joined by fellow con-servative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said the case was not moot and that the city’s law violated the Second Amendment.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while agreeing that the current dispute is moot, said in a concurring opin-ion that the court “should address that issue soon.”

President Donald Trump’s administration had supported the NRA and gun owners in the New York case.

The powerful lobby group is closely aligned with US con-servatives and Republicans, including Trump.

Gun control proponents had feared that the justices would use the case to expand gun rights by either extend-ing the right to possess fi rearms for self-defence beyond the home or by creating a strict standard that would force lower courts to cast a sceptical eye on new or existing gun control laws.

Such a ruling could have threatened a wide array of gun control measures nationwide such as expanded background checks for gun buyers and “red fl ag” laws targeting the fi re-arms of people deemed dangerous by the courts, according to these advocates.

The case focused on New York City’s handgun “premis-es” licenses that allowed holders to transport their fi rearms only to a handful of shooting ranges within the city and to hunting areas elsewhere in the state during designated hunting seasons.

The city’s ordinance was amended last year to remove the restrictions challenged in the case.

The issue of gun rights is contentious in the United States, which has experienced a succession of mass shoot-ings in recent decades that have prompted calls from many Americans for stricter regulation of fi rearms and ammuni-tion.

But, citing the Second Amendment, the NRA and gun rights advocates have consistently resisted most fi rearms control measures.

States ease curbs, plot economic path forwardReutersAtlanta

Georgia yesterday started letting residents dine at restaurants and watch

movies at theatres as more US states from Minnesota to Mis-sissippi took steps to ease coro-navirus restrictions even though health experts warned it may be too early.

Keen to revive their battered economies, Colorado, Montana and Tennessee were also set to reopen some businesses.

Alaska, Oklahoma and South Carolina, along with Georgia, pre-viously took such steps following weeks of mandatory lockdowns that threw millions of Americans out of work.

In the hardest-hit states of New York and New Jersey, part of a metropolitan region of about 32mn people, state governors sig-nalled that even limited restarting of business activities was at least weeks away.

President Donald Trump and some local offi cials had criticized Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for orders that enabled restau-rants and theatres to join a list of businesses, such as hair and nail salons, barber shops and tattoo parlours, he allowed to reopen last week with social-distancing re-strictions.

One restaurant chain, Waffl e House, was imposing seating ar-rangements in Georgia that kept patrons at least six feet apart, stricter sanitization measures and a requirement that employees wear masks, CEO Walt Ehmer told WSB-TV.

“I know the unemployment system has been enhanced to help take care of the most vulnerable people, but people want to have jobs, and they want to have some-thing to do and take care of their families,” Ehmer said. “I think it’s going to give them some hope.”

Some restaurant owners and managers in Atlanta said they would not reopen.

“I have a daughter and I want to

be around for her,” Steve Pitts, gen-eral manager of Manuel’s Tavern, a fi xture in the Georgia capital for more than 60 years, told Reuters.

Business shutdowns have led to a record 26.5mn Americans fi ling for unemployment benefi ts since mid-March with forecasts by the Trump administration that the jobless rate would likely hit 16% or more in April.

Public health authorities warn that increasing human interac-tions and economic activity may spark a fresh surge of infections just as social-distancing measures appeared to be bringing coronavi-rus cases under control.

The number of known infec-tions in the United States topped 970,000 and deaths to Covid-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the virus, sur-passed 55,000, according to a Reu-ters tally.

Offi cials in New York, New Jer-sey and Massachusetts have for weeks emphasized that more test-ing and contact tracing for the virus needed to be in place before they could implement roadmaps for relaxing stay-at-home orders and other restrictions.

Contact tracing involves track-ing down and testing people who may have been around anyone al-ready infected.

Federal guidelines issued by Trump called for a state to record 14 days of declining case num-bers before moving ahead with a phased-in relaxation of restric-tions.

States were also required to im-plement a rigorous programme of testing and contract tracing.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefi ng yesterday that any easing would need to be coordinated and moni-tored, and fi t into an overall multi-state plan.

Cuomo said he would likely ex-tend the stay-at-home order in many parts of the state on May 15, but he was looking to reopen some businesses, including manufac-turing and construction, in parts of the state with fewer cases of the virus.

They would need to meet the criteria of the federal health guidelines.

“We have to coordinate as a re-gion,” he said.

“So everybody in that region has to have the same policy...when it comes to testing, when it comes to tracing — and that region’s plan has to fi t into our overall multi-state plan.”

Hospitalization rates remained fl at in New York, epicentre of the

US outbreak, as deaths declined for a second straight day to 337, Cuomo said, the lowest daily toll since March 30.

New Jersey Governor Phil Mur-phy said at a news conference that hospital discharges again exceed-ed admissions.

He said he would put off an-nouncing details of a plan for one more day, adding: “Public health must precede economic health.”

New Jersey’s stay-at-home or-

der, issued on March 21, would re-main until there was a 14-day sus-tained decrease in new cases and other Covid-19 measures, Murphy said.

In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis gave the green light for retail curbside pickup to begin yester-day.

Hair salons, barber shops and tattoo parlours may open on Fri-day, with retail stores, restaurants and movie theatres to follow.

Under the watchful eye of her mother, Peyton Finch, 5, rides her miniature horse along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.

ASIAGulf Times Tuesday, April 28, 20208

Indonesia hopes ‘normal’ life to return by JulyIndonesia hopes its citizens

will be able to resume nor-mal lives by July, as the South

East Asian nation targets low-ering new coronavirus infec-tions by June, its Covid-19 task force chief Doni Monardo said yesterday.

The world’s fourth most populous country has offi -cially reported 9,096 corona-virus cases, the second high-est number in South East Asia after Singapore, although some medical experts are concerned relatively low testing is mask-ing a much higher rate of in-fection. Indonesia, which has reported 765 deaths, the high-est number in East Asia outside China, has also been slower to bring in restrictions on move-ments than some neighbouring countries.

“The president has asked that we work harder, for the people to obey and be more disciplined, and for the au-thorities to be more stern so that by June, we’re hoping we can lower the infections in In-donesia,” Monardo said after a cabinet meeting. “In July, we’re hoping to resume our normal lives,” he said, pledg-ing to increase testing between April and May “massively”.

Indonesia had tested more than 59,000 people as of yes-terday, but the number was well below Singapore, which with a population of only 5.6mn people has tested 82,644 people.

Malaysia has tested 131,491 as of yesterday.

The struggle by Indonesia, which has a population of over

ReutersJakarta

Healthcare workers take a swab sample of a commuter-train worker during a test amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Bogor, West Java province yesterday.

260mn, to increase testing has been partly put down to a lack of staff to conduct tests and a shortage of reagents needed for testing.

Monardo said 479,000 ad-ditional reagents had been dis-patched from South Korea and China.

Ariananda Hariadi, the dep-uty chairman of the Indonesian

Medical Biology Association, said the eff ectiveness of testing also hinged on having more ca-pable regional laboratories.

Health Ministry offi cial Ach-mad Yurianto said 46 laborato-ries s across the country could now conduct tests.

Monardo said the infection curve in the Indonesian capi-tal Jakarta was fl attening, due

to large scale social restrictions measures limiting public gath-erings and mass transportation that have been in place until May 22.

According to offi cial data, Ja-karta has recorded 3,869 infec-tions and 367 deaths, the most in all 34 provinces.

At the start of the Muslim fast-ing month of Ramadan, Indone-

sia has also temporarily halted air and sea travel, with some ex-ceptions, until May 31 in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. The country has the world’s largest number of Muslims.

Indonesia has banned citizens’ traditional annual exodus from the cities to provinces across the archipelago during the holiday period.

UN rights chief urges Dhaka to accept stranded Rohingya boats

A top UN offi cial has urged Bangladesh to let two stranded boatloads

of starving Rohingya Mus-lims land amid mounting fears yesterday over the fate of the refugees.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a “human tragedy of terrible propor-tions” unless action is taken to help the Rohingya.

The appeal was made to the Bangladesh government after Foreign Minister Abdul Momen said the South Asian country would not accept the boats.

His declaration last week set alarm bells ringing as it came only days after dozens of Rohingya died on a boat that waited at sea for two months before it could land.

The two new boats are be-lieved to be in international waters hoping to get an op-portunity to reach Malaysia. The Malaysian navy rebuff ed one boat last week and has increased patrols as it expects increased attempts to smuggle people into the country.

The 1mn Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh, where they fl ed a military crackdown in their native Myanmar, favour go-ing to Malaysia as it is Muslim majority country with more work opportunities.

“In a spirit of solidarity and at the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, I appeal to you in the strongest terms to open your ports and allow the

boats to land,” Bachelet said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained copy by AFP.

“The reportedly more than 500 men, women and children aboard these boats have been at sea for an extended period of time, and we understand that they require urgent res-cue, food, medical care and other necessary humanitarian assistance.”

Bachelet said “dangerous interception practices and collective expulsions, includ-ing pushing back boats that are trying to land, must be scrupulously avoided”.

The government did not immediately respond.

A coast guard spokesman said no boat had been spotted since the rescued of a trawler carrying 396 starving refugees on April 15. At least 60 people died on the boat.

Bangladesh vessels and helicopters have conducted a “huge search” in the Bay of Bengal over 10 days for the two new boats, Lieutenant Com-mander Hamidul Islam said.

The foreign minister said last Thursday that the navy and coast guard had been or-dered “not to let these boats enter Bangladesh”.

Thousands of refugees died in the Andaman Sea in 2015 on rickety fi shing vessels that tried to reach Malaysia and Thailand.

Amnesty International says it believes there could be “at least three boats in the high seas” stranded for several weeks “without food and water, at high risk of death”.

AFPDhaka

Nepal extends lockdown to contain Covid-19The Nepal government decided to extend the nationwide lockdown until May 7 to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) in the country.The cabinet meeting held on Sunday decided to extend the lockdown by 10 days. The country is in lockdown since March 24, reported Xinhua news agency.The government has also decided to continue restricting movement through border points of the country. Yubaraj Khatiwada, spokesperson of the government of Nepal said, “The border of Nepal will remain closed until May 13.”Nepal now has 52 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which three were reported on Sunday.According to the country’s Ministry of Health and Population, 16 people have recovered while 36 are receiving treatment in isolation in diff erent hospitals of the country. (IANS)

Thailand to extend emergency measures amid coronavirus

Thailand will extend a state of emergency over the coronavirus until the end

of May, but will consider easing some restrictions on business-es and public activities as the number of new cases has eased, a government spokesman said.

Thailand yesterday reported nine new coronavirus cases and no new local virus transmis-sion in Bangkok for the fi rst time since the outbreak began in January.

It has reported 2,931 cases in total and 52 fatalities, while 2,609 patients have recovered.

Concerns over a possible sec-ond wave of outbreaks prompted the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administra-tion (CCSA) to recommend ex-tending emergency powers and a nationwide night time curfew for another month.

It also recommended con-tinuing restrictions on travel between provinces and large scale public activities, extend-ing a work from home policy and delaying four public holidays in May.

“The state of emergency has enabled swift and eff ective ac-tions that led to the domestic re-duction of new daily infection,” said CCSA spokesman Taweesin Wisanuyothin.

The new measures are subject to Cabinet approval today.

Cabinet would also discuss easing some restrictions for businesses and public activities due to the improvement in the number of cases, Taweesin said.

He did not give details on the types of changes or a date when restrictions will be lifted.

“The prime minister wants to pick activities that can be restarted at the same time throughout the country, but we have to be confi dent and ready for it,” Taweesin said.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand also extended a ban on all incoming international passenger fl ights, introduced on April 4, until May 31.

ReutersBangkok

Poachers kill six musk deer near Mt EverestPoachers in Nepal have killed at least six Himalayan musk deer near Mt Everest in the Sagarmatha National Park, authorities said yesterday. Tashi Lhamu Sherpa, deputy mayor of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, said that the endangered animals were killed in a trap in a forest near Namche, a town on the way to Everest Base camp. The poachers removed the glands, referred to as musk pods, from two male deer. “Locals spotted the dead deer before the poachers could harvest the musk pods from the rest of deer that had fallen to the trap,” Sherpa said. Forest rangers buried all the animals after removing the musk pods from the remaining deer. The removal of the glands before burial is usual practice, in order to stop others from wanting to dig the animals back up.Musk pods, found in the male musk deer, are reportedly used to make perfumes, cosmetic products and Chinese herbal medicine.They are highly sought after commodities on the black market. “Our studies show that most of the musk pods are smuggled to China,” Bhumiraj Upadhyaya, chief conservation off icer of Sagarmatha National Park, said. (DPA)

A woman wearing a protective face mask gets her temperature measured at a checkpoint during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Yala province yesterday.

Vietnam jails Facebook user over posts

A court in Vietnam yes-terday sentenced a man to one and a half

years in prison for uploading anti-state posts to Facebook, the security ministry said, days after Facebook sources told Reuters they had agreed to censor more content in the South East Asian country.

Chung Hoang Chuong, who posts under the name “Lucky Chuong” on the social media platform, was charged with “abusing the rights to democ-racy and freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State” at a one-day trial in the southern province of Can Tho, the Ministry of Public Securi-ty (MPS) said in a news release.

Chuong, 43, was accused of

writing “anti-state” posts and making comments which in-sulted three policemen killed in a clash with protesters near Hanoi in January this year, the MPS said.

Reuters could not reach Chuong’s lawyer for comment.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing open-ness to social change, Vi-etnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media cen-sorship and does not tolerate criticism.

Facebook’s local servers in Vietnam were taken offl ine earlier this year, slowing local traffi c to a crawl until it agreed to signifi cantly increase cen-sorship of “anti-state” posts so that people in Vietnam do not see them, two sources at the company told Reuters on April 21.

ReutersHanoi

Bangladesh education institutions to remain closed till September

All educational institu-tions in Bangladesh will remain closed till Sep-

tember in view of the Covid-19 outbreak across the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday.

Hasina made the announce-ment while holding a video-conference with administration offi cials from her offi cial resi-dence Ganobhaban in capital Dhaka, reports Xinhua news agency.

“We’ll not reopen the edu-cational institutions until the pandemic is basically under control though we’ll open other sectors gradually,” she said.

She said her government has attached the highest impor-tance to saving lives of the peo-ple and ensuring their livelihood during the Covid-19 pandemic.

An Iman has tested posi-tive for the novel coronavirus in Magura district, a day af-

IANSDhaka

A man works at a makeshift isolation centre for coronavirus patients which is under construction at the Bashundhara Convention Centre amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Dhaka yesterday.

ter he led Ramadan prayers at a mosque, it was reported.

He led the prayers on Saturday evening and was diagnosed with the infection on Sunday morn-ing, bdnews24 quoted Shalikha Upazila chief executive Tanveer Rahman as saying.

Around 20-25 people who of-

fered prayers in the mosque and the health workers who collected their samples will all undergo tests, Rahman added.

Thirty-one people have been infected with the novel corona-virus in a closed Isckon temple in Dhaka.

The infections have baffl ed

the authorities as the temple has been closed to outsiders since the fi rst Covid-19 case was re-ported in Bangladesh on March 8, bdnews24 said in a report.

“No one was allowed into the temple. I don’t understand how so many people have been in-fected given so much care was taken,” Gendaria Police Station in-charge Saju Mia said after the test results from the govern-ment’s disease control agency IEDCR came on Sunday.

The total number of con-fi rmed cases in Bangladesh cur-rently stands at 5,416, while the death toll has increased to 145, according to government data.

Bangladesh reported its fi rst cases of the virus on March 8 with the authorities testing 46,589 samples since then.

“We’ll not reopen the educational institutions until the pandemic is basically under control though we’ll open other sectors gradually”

ReutersBeijing

China will focus testing for Covid-19 on high-risk groups such as peo-

ple from infected areas or with symptoms, the head of a top state research institute said yesterday, suggesting that authorities are not about to rush into large-scale testing.

The government said recently that it intends to carry out more widespread testing to quickly identify and isolate carriers, fol-lowing spikes in cases linked to people arriving from abroad and new local transmissions.

But China also said accuracy of tests must be improved and more laboratories should be set up. It is also unclear who would pay for any mass testing of hundreds of millions of people – the state, employers or the individual.

“(The country’s) current test-ing strategy matches our epi-demic control and prevention strategy,” Jin Qi, president of the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Med-ical College. Tests are being car-ried mostly on high-risk groups such as people with symptoms or from infected areas, schools and hospitals, Jin told report-ers at a briefi ng in Beijing. Other groups that request testing, such as those returning to work that involves a high density of people, will receive tests as far as is pos-sible, he added.

While people running a high fever and suff ering from breath-ing problems are easy to identify, some carriers of the novel coro-navirus show few or none of the usual symptoms and are just as capable of infecting others. As of Sunday, 974 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, Chinese health authorities said,

after testing positive for the vi-rus. There is no offi cial estimate of the number of asymptomatic carriers who are yet to be tested. Wuhan in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, has doubled the number of tests to 60,000-65,000 a day since a lockdown on the city end-ed on April 8, to ensure that only residents who test negative leave the city.

To keep track of people’s test status, the government recently launched an online mobile serv-ice allowing people to retain a history of their test results. But not all are convinced that mass testing is needed.

“I don’t think it is necessary to get tested if people stay in the city and show no symptoms,” said Meng, 32, who works for an over-seas education services company

in Beijing. “Besides, there are people who show symptoms two days after the coronavirus test. If I do the test today, can I guarantee that I will not be exposed to the virus tomorrow?”

There are also fi nancial consid-erations for the individual paying for tests. In China, the nuclei acid test, which involves swabbing the back of a patient’s throat or res-piratory tract to detect the virus’ genome, costs at least 200 yuan ($28.26) on average.

The cost for people who need multiple tests over a period of time could be signifi cant, espe-cially those earning low wages such as migrant workers. Some patients also test positive only after multiple rounds of test-ing. “The bill could be spilt,” said Meng, declining to give her full name.

ReutersSydney

More than 2mn Austral-ians have downloaded an app to trace contacts

of Covid-19 patients hours after its release, the government said yesterday, as states set out plans to expand testing for the infec-tion.

Prime Minister Scott Mor-rison has said more testing and widespread use of the CovidSafe phone app – which has angered some privacy campaigners – are among the main conditions for easing nationwide lockdowns.

Australia has so far confi rmed around 6,700 cases of the novel coronavirus and just 83 related deaths, way below fi gures re-ported in the United States and other hotspots – something the government has put down to its border closures and other meas-ures.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said the tracing app launched late on Sunday had been downloaded by more than 2mn people – about 8% of the population – as of 7pm

yesterday. The government has said it wants that proportion to reach 40%. “This eff ort will help protect ourselves, our fami-lies, our nurses and our doctors,” Hunt said in an emailed state-ment.

The app, which is based on Singapore’s TraceTogether soft-ware and uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another, is meant to help medics trace people po-tentially exposed to infections. Civil liberties groups have raised fears that apps being considered and used by a number of govern-ments could invade privacy. But Canberra says its software does not record people’s location and has safeguards built in.

Just seven new infections were reported across Australia in the last 24 hours, according to a Reu-ters tally of announcements from state and territory healthy de-partments. Chief Medical Offi cer Brendan Murphy said offi cials will expand testing to start trac-ing asymptomatic cases – people who have caught the infection without showing symptoms.

Daniel Andrews, premier of

Australia’s second most popu-lous state, Victoria, said staff would open pop-up testing sites in shopping centre car parks and test people in their homes and offi ces.

The states of Queensland and Western Australia have already said they will ease some restric-tions this week, as both have had new cases in the low single digits

in recent days. The most popu-lous states of Victoria and New South Wales, which have the country’s coronavirus hotspots,

are maintaining strict social and business restrictions.

Morrison’s handling of the pandemic has helped his popu-

larity soar, according to a News-poll survey conducted for The Australian newspaper that was released yesterday. His approval rating has risen 27 points since the fi rst week of March to 68% – the best for a leader since the end of 2008, the poll showed.

Morrison has pledged spend-ing worth more than 10% of GDP, including a A$130bn ($83.94bn) subsidy to employers to keep staff they might otherwise have let go. Still unemployment is expected to top 10%, and the head of Aus-tralia’s central bank last week said the country would suff er its biggest economic contraction since the 1930s in the fi rst half of this year due to the containment measures.

Morrison has also antago-nised China, Australia’s largest trading partner, with calls for an independent investigation into the global spread of coronavi-rus. China’s ambassador to Aus-tralia yesterday hinted locals may shun Canberra’s goods because of Morrison’s remarks, though Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne cautioned against “economic coercion”.

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA9Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

South Korean offi cials caution against reports that Kim Jong-un is illReutersSeoul

South Korean offi cials are emphasising that they have detected no unusual move-

ments in North Korea and are cautioning against reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be ill or is being isolated be-cause of coronavirus concerns.

At a closed door forum on Sun-day, South Korea’s Unifi cation Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confi dence that there were no indications of anything unu-sual.

Rumours and speculation over the North Korean leader’s health began after he failed to make a public appearance at a key state holiday on April 15, and has since remained out of sight. South Korea media last week reported that Kim may have undergone cardiovascular surgery or was in isolation to avoid exposure to the coronavirus. Unifi cation Minister Kim cast doubt on the report of surgery, arguing that the hospital mentioned did not have the capa-bilities for such an operation.

Still, Yoon Sang-hyun, chair-man of the foreign and unifi ca-tion committee in South Korea’s National Assembly, told a gather-ing of experts yesterday that Kim Jong-un’s absence from the pub-

lic eye suggests “he has not been working as normally”. “There has not been any report showing he’s making policy decisions as usual since April 11, which leads us to assume that he is either sick or being isolated because of corona-virus concerns,” Yoon said.

North Korea has said it has no confi rmed cases of the new coro-navirus, but some international experts have cast doubt on that claim. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in vowed yesterday to step up co-operation to help the North prevent the spread of the coronavirus but made no mention of Kim’s health or whereabouts. “I will fi nd a path for the most real-istic and practical inter-Korean co-operation,” Moon told a meet-

ing with senior aides, marking the second anniversary of his fi rst summit with Kim.

“The Covid-19 crisis could mean a new opportunity for in-ter-Korean co-operation, and that’s the most urgent and press-ing task.”

On Monday, North Korean state media once again showed no new photos of Kim nor reported on his whereabouts. However, they did carry reports that he had sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Won-san, an area where some South Korean media reports have said Kim may be staying. “Our gov-ernment position is fi rm,” Moon Chung-in, a top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President

Moon Jae-in, said in comments to US news outlets.

“Kim Jong-un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Won-san area since April 13. No sus-picious movements have so far been detected.” Kim Byung-kee, a former intelligence offi cial and now a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence com-mittee, also urged caution on speculation and said there is little possibility that Kim is ill and he would make a “surprise comeback soon.”

Satellite images from last week showed a special train pos-sibly belonging to Kim at Won-san, lending weight to those re-ports, according to 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea

monitoring project. Although the group said it was probably the North Korean leader’s personal train, Reuters has not been able to confi rm that independently, or whether he was in Wonsan.

A spokeswoman for the Uni-fi cation Ministry said she had nothing to confi rm when asked about reports that Kim was in Wonsan. Last week, China dis-patched a team to North Korea including medical experts to ad-vise on Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health. When asked about the Reuters’ report on the medical team, China’s foreign

ministry said it has no informa-tion to off er on Kim.

On Friday, a South Korean source told Reuters their intelli-gence was that Kim Jong-un was alive and would likely make an ap-pearance soon.

Experts have cautioned that Kim has disappeared from state media coverage before, and that gathering accurate information in North Korea is notoriously dif-fi cult. North Korea’s state media last reported on Kim’s wherea-bouts when he presided over a meeting on April 11.

Kim, believed to be 36, van-ished from state media for more than a month in 2014 and North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp.

More than 2mn Australians opt for contact tracing app

App usage rate needs to rise to 40% — government Software has angered some privacy activists Just seven new infections confirmed in past 24 hours

A photo illustration shows a new COVIDSafe app by the Australian government as seen on an iPhone to install in Sydney yesterday. More than 2mn Australians have downloaded a new government smartphone app designed to make coronavirus contact tracing easier, as the country moves to ease stay-at-home restrictions.

PM Scott Morrison

Singapore’s virus tests hint at huge number of migrant casesDPA Kuala Lumpur

Singapore’s Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said yes-terday that 21,000 foreign

workers have been tested for the new coronavirus since the start of the outbreak.

Of that total of 21,000, Minis-try of Health statistics released on Sunday showed 11,419 posi-tive test results, numbers that suggest half the roughly 320,000 workers who sleep 10-20 to a room in crowded dormitories could be infected.

The 5.8mn-population city-state had confi rmed 14,423 cases of Covid-19 by Monday

afternoon, meaning that around 80% of the city-state’s cases are among foreign workers who live in the dormitories. Of yesterday’s 799 new cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coro-navirus, “the vast majority” were in the dormitories, according to the Ministry of Health.

Singapore had just 1,000 con-fi rmed Covid-19 cases at the start of April but imposed a lock-down, or “circuit breaker,” on April 7 after case numbers surged in the dormitories. With total global cases of Covid-19 nearing 3mn, Singapore’s caseload has jumped to the second-biggest in East and South-East Asia after China, slightly above Japan’s to-tal of 13,585.

Singapore’s death toll stands at 12, one of the world’s low-est. Around 200,000 foreign workers – mostly young males from countries across South and South-East Asia who work in sectors such as construction – live in 43 large government-sanctioned dormitories, with another 120,000 housed in a va-riety of smaller facilities, such as repurposed factories. Of Singa-pore’s 5.8mn population, almost 1.4mn are listed as foreign work-ers.

The Ministry of Health stated yesterday that most of those who tested positive in the dormito-ries did not show any symptoms. The ministry stated that “in most countries, people who are

asymptomatic are not tested.” Health Minister Gan said during a press conference that with 1 in 15 of the workers tested, Singa-pore had exceeded rates achieved by other developed economies among their wider populations.

“This is far higher than the testing rates seen in other coun-tries like Korea, which is one in 90, as well as other countries like the United States, United King-dom, or even Hong Kong,” he said.

Ten thousand workers who have tested negative and who work in “essential” services have been moved to other accommo-dation, but the majority of the workers have been confi ned to their residences since last week.

New Zealand has won a battle against coronavirus transmission: PM ArdernPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday claimed New Zea-land had scored a significant victory against the spread of the coronavirus, as the country began a phased exit from lockdown. “There is no wide-spread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand,” Ardern declared. “We have won that battle.” After nearly five weeks at the maximum Level Four restrictions – with only essential services operating – the country will move to Level Three late on Monday.That will allow some busi-nesses, takeaway food outlets and schools to reopen. But Ardern warned there was no certainty about when all transmission can be elimi-nated, allowing a return to normal life. Everyone wants to “bring back the social contact that we all miss”, she said, “but to do it confidently we need to move slowly and we need to move cautiously.” “I will not risk the gains we’ve made in the health of New Zealanders. So if we need to remain at Level Three, we will.” The easing of restrictions came as New Zealand, a nation of 5mn people, reported only one new case of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1,122 with 19 deaths.

A couple wearing face masks enjoy the view of the sunset, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Seoul, South Korea.

Sunset in Seoul

China to keep Covid-19 tests focused on high risk groups

Current coronavirus testing strategy targets high-risk groups

China intends to carry out more widespread testing

But needs more labs and tests must be improved

Students wearing face masks leave a school in Beijing, China as senior high school students in the Chinese capital returned to campus following the coronavirus disease outbreak, yesterday.

PNG seizes foreign-run gold mine

A gold mine in Papua New Guinea that generates around 10% of the country’s exports has suspended operations, a Canadian firm that runs it said, after the government refused to extend the 20-year-old lease on the facility. The Southeast Asian nation’s military and police were being deployed to secure the mine in a rugged highland region beset by tribal and other violence, off icials confirmed yesterday. Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that jointly runs the project in the Porgera Valley with China’s Zijin Mining Group, said over the week-end that work had ceased “temporarily” after authorities announced Friday they would move towards local owner-ship for the mine.

Too risky toease stringentlockdown,warns premierReutersLondon

Prime Minister Boris John-son returned to work yes-terday after recovering

from Covid-19 with a warning that it was still too dangerous to relax a stringent lockdown hammering Britain’s economy for fear of a deadly second out-break.

Looking healthy again after a life-threatening bout of the coronavirus, Johnson compared the disease to an invisible street criminal whom Britons were wrestling to the fl oor.

“If we can show the same spirit of unity and determina-tion as we’ve all shown in the past six weeks then I have abso-lutely no doubt that we will beat it,” the 55-year-old said outside his Downing Street home a month-and-a-day after testing positive.

“I ask you to contain your im-patience because I believe we are coming now to the end of the fi rst phase of this confl ict and in spite of all the suff ering we have so nearly succeeded.”

With unemployment soaring, many companies crippled and a recession looming, Johnson said he understood the concerns of business and would consult with opposition parties pressing for clarity on a pathway out of lock-down.

But with Britain suff ering one of the world’s highest death tolls — 20,732 hospital deaths report-ed as of Saturday — he stressed it was still a time of maximum risk and there would be no swift lift-ing of restrictions.

“We simply cannot spell out now how fast or slow or even

when those changes will be made, though clearly the govern-ment will be saying much more about this in the coming days,” he said.

“We must also recognise the risk of a second spike, the risk of losing control of that virus and letting the reproduction rate go back over one because that would mean not only a new wave of death and disease but also an economic disaster.”

The lockdown has left Britain facing possibly the deepest re-cession in three centuries and the biggest debt splurge since World War II.

Johnson’s government, party and scientifi c advisers are di-vided over how and when the world’s fi fth-largest economy should start returning to work, even in limited form.

The government is next due to review social distancing meas-ures on May 7.

Johnson initially resisted in-troducing the lockdown but changed course when projec-tions showed a quarter of a mil-

lion people could die.Since the lockdown on March

23, his government has faced criticism from opposition parties and some doctors for initially de-laying measures, for limited test-ing capabilities, and for a lack of protective equipment for health workers.

His spokesman said the gov-ernment may not know if a tar-get of 100,000 tests per day by the end of April had been met on Thursday because of a time lag with data.

The spokesman added that Johnson will meet opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starm-er this week after he urged the prime minister to say when and how restrictions might be eased.

In his statement, Johnson said the government would take de-cisions on the lockdown with maximum transparency.

“I want to share all our work-ing and our thinking, my think-ing, with you the British peo-ple,” he said, adding he wanted to bring in other parties to reach consensus.

Govt mulls orderingantibody test kitsGuardian News and MediaLondon

Ministers are considering ordering millions of an-tibody tests developed by

researchers in Britain despite con-ceding that there are still concerns over the reliability of the home test kits.

The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, confi rmed the government was assessing the new antibody kits in the hope of using them to reveal how many people have re-covered from the infection and presumably acquired some level of immunity.

If the tests are accurate enough, they could potentially identify in-dividuals who are at least in part protected against the virus, and shed light on how much of the population has been exposed.

But Raab added it was still un-clear whether the tests were reli-able enough to roll out at scale.

An ideal test would detect all those with antibodies to the virus

and produce negative results for anyone who has not been infected.

A fl awed test that mistakenly suggests people are immune when they are not could be extremely dangerous if those people returned to work in care homes or hospitals.

According to a report in the Mail, the government has ordered up to 50mn new antibody test kits developed by the newly formed Rapid Testing Consortium at Ox-ford University.

But Raab cast doubt on that claim, saying he was not sure if they had been ordered, and that doubts remained about their quality. The consortium’s leader, Jonathan Allis, told the Mail: “We are close to picking up 100% of all cases where people have anti-bodies. Now it is just a question of scaling up the manufacturing process.”

The Guardian understands that the test has not passed offi cial per-formance criteria drawn up by the Medicines and Healthcare prod-ucts Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The report described the test as

costing £10 and taking 20 minutes to reveal whether or not people have antibodies in their blood that can fi ght the coronavirus.

It would analyse a pinprick of blood and show two lines for a pos-itive test result. Those using the test will be asked to send a photo of the results to a central database.

If the test is deemed to be ef-fective, the consortium believes it could produce 1mn per week by the summer, and up to 50mn by next year, the report added.

But some senior scientists warn that the focus on home testing kits for antibodies is unhelpful.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and a mem-ber of the government’s Scientifi c Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), tweeted that while research on rapid and reliable antibody tests should continue apace, they were a “distraction until we have one”. The focus now, he said, must be on a massive increase in virus testing, lab-based checks for antibodies, isolation of the infected, contact tracing and clinical care.

AFPLondon

Finance Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday launched state-backed micro-loans of up to

£50,000 for small businesses hit by coronavirus fallout.

Sunak, unveiling his latest emergency Covid-19 scheme be-fore parliament, said the “bounce back” loans would have the in-terest paid by government for the fi rst year.

The new plan is the latest in a series of multi-billion-pound packages to help those aff ected by the deadly disease in Britain.

“Some businesses will not want to take on more debt which is why our focus has been on cash grants, tax cuts and tax deferrals — but for others, loans will be part of the an-swer,” Sunak told lawmakers.

“So today we are announcing a new micro-loan scheme, provid-ing a simple quick easy solution for those in need of smaller loans. Businesses will be able to apply for these new ‘bounce back’ loans to 25% of their turnover, up to a maximum of £50,000.”

The loans will be available from lenders from next Monday, while businesses will only have to fi ll in a simple standard form with no complex eligibility criteria.

Sunak vowed that funds will then arrive within 24 hours of ap-proval. “I know that some small businesses are still struggling to access credit,” he added.

“They are in many ways the most exposed businesses to the impact of the coronavirus and of-ten fi nd it harder to access credit in the fi rst place. If we want to ben-efi t from the dynamism and en-trepreneurial spirit as we recover our economy, they will need extra support to get through this crisis.”

Late last week, Bank of Eng-land policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe had warned that coronavirus now threatens potentially the worst recession in several centuries in Britain. The Offi ce for Budget Re-sponsibility (OBR) fi scal watch-dog has warned that coronavirus could shrink the economy by 13% in 2020.

Govt off ersloans tovirus-hitsmallbusinesses

Alert issued as virus-related condition hits childrenGuardian News and MediaLondon

Children are falling ill with a new and potentially fatal combination of symptoms

apparently linked to Covid-19, in-cluding a sore stomach and heart problems, it emerged yesterday.

The children aff ected, who have been seen in London and other parts of the UK in recent weeks, appear to have been struck by a form of toxic shock syndrome.

Suff erers have been left so seri-

ously unwell that they have had to be treated in intensive care.

At least one has undergone extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment, which is used when someone’s life is at risk be-cause they can no longer breathe for themselves.

But NHS bosses are so con-cerned that they have written to doctors alerting them to the exist-ence of the syndrome and asked them to urgently refer any children who appear to have it to hospital.

In a letter to GPs in north London, reported by the Health Service Jour-

nal, NHS bosses said: “It has been reported that over the last three weeks there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multi-system infl ammatory state requiring inten-sive care across London and also in other regions of the UK.

“The cases have in common overlapping feature of toxic shock syndrome and atypical Kawasaki disease with blood parameters consistent with severe Covid-19 in children.

“There is a growing concern that a Sars-CoV-2-related infl am-

matory syndrome is emerging in children in the UK, or that there may be another, as yet unidenti-fi ed, infectious pathogen associ-ated with these cases.”

A version of the warning has also been sent to all specialist doctors working in paediatric intensive care units in UK hospitals by the Paediatric Intensive Care Society.

The NHS letter continues: “Ab-dominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms have been a common feature, as has cardiac infl amma-tion. This has been observed in children with confi rmed PCR pos-

itive Sars-CoV-2 infection as well as children who are PCR negative. Serological evidence of possible preceding Sars-CoV-2 infection have also been observed.”

Doctors have been told to “please refer children presenting with these symptoms as a mat-ter of urgency”. One intensive care doctor told the Guardian: “There’s been an utterly unexpected uptick in severely sick children with a late infl ammatory response that we think is related to Covid-19.

It’s most unusual. A number have needed ICU and at least one

has required ECMO.” It is not known if any children struck by the new syndrome have died.

Prof Russell Viner, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, sought to reas-sure parents that children are gen-erally very unlikely to become very unwell due to Covid-19.

“We already know that a very small number of children can be-come severely ill with Covid-19 but this is very rare. Evidence from throughout the world shows us that children appear to be the part of the population least af-

fected by this infection. |“New diseases may present in

ways that surprise us, and clinicians need to be made aware of any emerg-ing evidence of particular symptoms or of underlying conditions which could make a patient more vulner-able to the virus” he said.

“However, our advice remains the same: parents should be reas-sured that children are unlikely to be seriously ill with Covid-19 but if they are concerned about their children’s health for any reason, they should seek help from a health professional.”

Wales ‘could lift lockdown before rest of UK’

The first minister of Wales has said he is ready to move the country out of lockdown earlier than the rest of the UK as he demands more contact from ministers at Westminster. Mark Drakeford said he would rather work with Boris Johnson’s government but has the power to start enacting his own plan to ease restrictions if he thinks it is in the best interest of Wales. The Labour politician has been in regular talks with his Scottish counterpart, Nicola Sturgeon,

and both countries have now released their own roadmaps to easing lockdown. Johnson said yesterday he would release more details of his response to the lockdown in the “coming days”. In an interview with the Guardian, Drakeford said the Coronavirus Act 2020 allows the devolved nations to go their own way and it may now be time to consider putting that into action. “We have the power to do it, definitely. I’d rather we did it together. “

Uber off ersdiscounted tripsReutersLondon

Uber is off ering discounted journeys to health and care workers in Britain from

tomorrow, as it extends the scope of a service set up in Madrid last month to cover more than 4mn frontline workers fi ghting Cov-id-19 in over 20 countries.

The ride-hailing service said it had worked with governments and healthcare institutions around the world to set up Uber Med-ics to provide workers with free and discounted rides to and from hospitals, health centres and care homes.

Uber said 1.2mn National Health Service (NHS) staff and 1.3mn social care workers in Brit-ain would receive a 25% discount on trips, funded by Uber, after linking their NHS e-mail address to an account, or by their care home registering.

Chief executive Dara Khosrow-shahi said Uber was proud to play a small part in the incredible eff orts of healthcare staff to protect and treat those aff ected by Covid-19.

“We stand ready to work with

governments and healthcare pro-viders around the world to support their eff orts to tackle the pandem-ic,” he said yesterday.

Uber Medics was developed last month in Madrid in response to a request made by the Madrid health department to support healthcare workers as an essential service, Uber said.

It has since been rolled out to more than 20 countries, including France, Italy, Germany and India.

Uber said earlier this month it would provide 10mn rides and food deliveries, free of charge, to healthcare workers, seniors, and people in need globally.

In Britain, it is providing 200,000 free rides and 100,000 free meals for NHS staff .

Uber drivers will be able to opt into Uber Medic trips, the compa-ny said, off ering them an opportu-nity to earn additional money dur-ing the lockdown. They will retain all of the fare.

Raazma, a London-based Uber driver, said he had already signed up to the NHS Volunteer Re-sponders. “It’s the least I can do in these challenging times, as we all need to pull together to help one another,” he added.

Military personnel assist at a drive-in testing facility for the novel coronavirus in Scarborough, northeast England, yesterday.

10 Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 2020

BRITAIN

Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday.

BRITAIN11Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Royals ‘anxious’ overSussexes biographyDaily MailLondon

The royal family is facing fresh turmoil after the Duke and Duchess of Sus-

sex were said to have co-operat-ed with authors of an explosive new book about their lives before they quit Britain.

Palace insiders are apparently concerned the biography – pro-visionally entitled Thoroughly Modern Royals: The Real World Of Harry And Meghan – will be used to settle scores.

The book, which will be re-leased on August 11, is expected to paint a fl attering portrait and is written by two journalists who are cheerleaders of the Sussexes.

But there are fears it will re-open wounds by revisiting Harry and Meghan’s strained relation-ship with the royal family.

According to the Mail on Sun-day, the Sussexes gave an inter-view to the authors before mov-ing to North America.

One, Omid Scobie, is royal editor of US website Harper’s Bazaar, his Twitter profi le states. He was one of the favoured jour-

nalists thought to have been briefed about the Sussexes’ vid-eo call to the Queen for her 94th birthday last Tuesday.

The 320-page biography is co-authored by American Caro-lyn Durand, who this month lav-ished praise on the couple and called them ‘inspiring to mil-lions’. It will chronicle the Sus-sexes’ story and how their ro-mance blossomed.

But most details are being kept under wraps by New York-based publisher Dey Street Books.

Sources close to the Queen are said to be concerned about what the couple may have divulged.

Claims of the Sussexes’ co-op-eration comes after they attacked the British media last week from their new home in Hollywood, saying they would no longer ‘en-gage’ with certain newspapers.

Courtiers were said to have been angered by the announce-ment on the eve of the Queen’s birthday and when the country is pre-occupied with tackling coronavirus.

Defending their decision, Scobie tweeted: “The couple felt it was necessary to set out a new clear agenda.”

Virus forces delay inAssange extradition caseAFPLondon

Hearings in the US ex-tradition case against WikiLeaks founder Ju-

lian Assange will not go ahead next month as scheduled be-cause of the coronavirus lock-down which prevents lawyers from attending court, a judge decided yesterday.

The 48-year-old is held at London’s Belmarsh Prison where he is fi ghting a request by the US to send him to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage.

Assange was dragged from the Ecuador embassy in London last year after a seven-year stand-off .

He says he could spend dec-ades in prison if convicted, and calls the case against him political and a threat to free speech.

The US says he put the lives of informants in danger by pub-lishing secrets.

In February, hearings took

place for a week and the case was adjourned until May 18 for a fur-ther three weeks of arguments.

However, in the meantime, Britain imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavi-rus, which have made it diffi cult to hold normal court proceed-ings.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser told a hearing held by conference call yesterday that the case could not be argued properly as long as lawyers were unable to appear in person.

“Remote attendance by the parties in this case will not be appropriate. Assange and the lawyers on both sides will need to be physically present in the courtroom,” she said.

She adjourned the case until May 4 when a new date will be fi xed, noting that the Woolwich Crown Court where hearings last took place had availability for a three-week period only in November.

Lawyers for both sides agreed to the delay.

Assange’s lawyers say the coronavirus lockdown in the

prison makes it impossible for them to meet their client.

Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told the judge his legal team had been unable to speak to Assange for a month, bar a few short phone calls.

The judge said it was up to the prison to make such conversa-tions possible.

To highlight the diffi culty of holding the case remotely, much of yesterday’s hearing was inau-dible to journalists who dialled in to listen via a conference call, leading to a court clerk having to repeat Fitzgerald’s arguments word by word.

Assange and WikiLeaks en-raged the US government a dec-ade ago by publishing thousands of secret US documents.

Assange’s supporters see him as a champion of free speech ex-posing abuses of power and hy-pocrisy by Washington.

The US authorities say he is wanted not because he embar-rassed them but because he en-dangered informants, dissidents and rights activists by illegal ac-tions.

A group of pelicans pass by a boy on a scooter in St James’ Park in London yesterday.

Sightseeing

Two children stabbed to death in London homeGuardian News and MediaLondon

Neighbours have told of a woman’s agonised screams after a one-

year-old girl and a three-year-old boy were stabbed to death at a home in east London.

A man, 40, believed to be the father of the children, is in hos-pital with knife injuries.

Police say they are not look-ing for anyone else in connec-tion with the double homicide and that the children and man “were known to each other”.

A neighbour said the man, whom she knew previously, was brought out by paramedics un-conscious and with bare feet.

Another said a woman, be-lieved by neighbours to be the mother, was screaming for min-utes before police arrived.

The Metropolitan police said they were called to a home in Aldborough Road North, Ilford, just after 5.30pm on Sunday.

The girl was pronounced dead at the scene from knife in-juries she had suff ered.

The boy died later from knife injuries, police said.

Pooja Patel, 28, who lives next door, said she knew the family because they used to shop in the store her family runs: “I saw the dad on a stretcher. There was a covering on his neck as if he was bleeding. He was unconscious.”

The family moved in two to three years ago and lived in a

ground-fl oor fl at, said Patel, whose family run J&H News, which is next door.

Patel said the father, whom she believes was Sri Lankan and who spoke some English, came in a few weeks ago to buy pasta during the lockdown: “Sometimes we saw the dad picking up the baby from the nursery, which is nearby.

“The mother came into the shop to top up her Oyster card. The dad came into the shop with the three-year-old boy. The boy was shy and would stand behind his dad and laugh. They seemed like happy children.”

Outside the building where the family lived, a folded pram was propped up against a wall.

Another neighbour said she heard a woman, believed by

neighbour’s to be the children’s mother, screaming as the inci-dent unfolded: “I heard a wom-an screaming ‘help me’ … it went on for about 10 minutes.”

The neighbour said she saw a “little body” in a bag being car-ried by paramedics.

She added: “My heart just sank, it’s devastating, horrifi c.”

The air ambulance was scrambled in an attempt to save the children’s lives. The Met said they have launched a dou-ble murder inquiry.

Thomas Dodds, 78, said he heard a woman screaming for several minutes: “It sickens me...Someone who did that doesn’t have a heart, to put a knife into a baby.”

Another neighbour, a nurse,

said: “After about fi ve min-utes they took the woman who was screaming out. She looked Asian, in her 30s, perhaps. The air ambulance came and that’s when I knew it was serious, that something nasty had hap-pened. It has absolutely shook me, I couldn’t sleep last night. I knew something terrible had happened but when it came out that two children had died, I was shaken.”

Police said the man aged 40 is in critical condition in hospital and is being guarded by offi cers. He has not been spoken to by detectives because of the extent of his injuries. They can wait until he is well enough to for-mally make an arrest and begin questioning him.

Harry and Meghan: explosive new book

First wild stork chicks set to hatch in UK in centuriesGuardian News and MediaLondon

The fi rst wild stork chicks to hatch in Britain for centuries are expected to

emerge next month after three pairs of the huge white birds built nests in West Sussex.

Disdaining platforms con-structed especially for them, the storks have created their stick nests in the heights of oak trees on the Knepp estate, the centre for a reintroduction project.

White storks are tradition-ally thought to bring fertility and good luck but have been extinct as breeding birds in Britain since 1416, or possibly during the Eng-lish civil war.

More than 100 birds have been bred in captivity and released at three locations in West Sussex and Surrey, including Knepp, a 3,500-acre former dairy farm that was rewilded at the turn of the century.

Knepp is close to the West Sussex village of Storrington.

Storks are monogamous and last year a young pair laid three eggs in a treetop nest at Knepp but the eggs did not hatch.

This year, cameras were rigged up beside this old nest but the couple constructed a new nest instead, in which they have laid fi ve eggs.

With four other birds having paired up and made nests, con-servationists have high hopes that the fi rst wild-born storks – which eat insects, earthworms and small mammals – will hatch and fl edge this summer.

Lucy Groves, the white stork project officer for Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, one of the partners in the re-introduction scheme, said: “The female was just coming up to four years old last spring and was a little bit too young to breed but they obviously know what they are doing this year

and were ahead of the game. It’s really exciting. It’s going to be a fantastic year.”

The Greeks created the myth that storks deliver newborn ba-bies and nesting pairs herald good luck in numerous European cultures.

Reintroduction programmes have successfully returned storks to France, the Nether-lands and Poland where wild populations build their towering stick nests in villages and towns.

Isabella Tree, the co-owner of Knepp with Charlie Burrell, said: “It’s so funny. We thought we needed to ‘manage’ them and put up nest platforms and so we did and they’ve turned their beaks up at all of this – where they want to nest is in the tops of oaks. That’s where they would’ve nested when they were here centuries ago.

White storks migrate south in the winter and some conser-vationists initially feared that captive-bred birds released in Britain would be unable to cross the Channel. But 22 of the 24 birds bred in captivity by the Cotswold Wildlife Park and released into West Sussex last summer have migrated south to the Mediterranean and north Africa.

Storks are faithful to where they are raised and these birds are expected to return to England when they are ready to breed.

More than 100 birds are now living wild and in fenced pens at Knepp and nearby sites in a reintroduction scheme master-minded by Burrell and Tree, who have seen wildlife roar back onto their rewilded farm.

Knepp is now a hot spot for endangered species including nightingales, turtle doves and purple emperor butterfl ies.

Beavers have been reintro-duced in the fenced part of the farm, alongside free-roaming cattle and horses that mimic the grazing of extinct herbivores.

Schools shutdown ‘likely to widen attainment gap’Guardian News and MediaLondon

The chief inspector of schools in England has said the attainment gap

between deprived pupils and their wealthier peers will widen as a result of school closures and it is in children’s interests to get back to school as quickly as pos-sible.

Amanda Spielman, who

heads the schools inspector-ate Ofsted, said the Covid-19 pandemic would further dis-advantage the poorest, lowest-achieving and least motivated children.“Whether we like it or not, it is going to widen gaps, especially in the short term,” she said.

Giving evidence to the cross-party education select com-mittee yesterday, Spielman was questioned about a wide range of issues in addition to

school closures, illegal schools and Ofsted’s approach to faith schools.

At one point she clashed with the Tory chair of the commit-tee, Robert Halfon, when he ap-peared to defend a state-funded Jewish faith school where Ofsted inspectors found that informa-tion about Elizabeth I had been redacted from school books.

Halfon said the Yesodey Hatorah senior girls’ school, serving the Orthodox Hasidic

Jewish community in Stamford Hill, north London, denied al-legations that teaching materials were censored and that women including Elizabeth I were air-brushed out of history, and he suggested reopening a dialogue with the school.

Spielman stood by the Ofsted report, however, and said it was not just a case of a single image of Elizabeth I being censored because it was immodest, as the school had claimed, but that

“an entire chunk of history” had been taken out.

The school was judged “inad-equate” following the inspection in March 2018.

MPs on the committee were keen to explore the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils, about whom concerns have been growing since schools closed fi ve weeks ago.

Figures published by the de-partment for education last

week showed that just 5% of vulnerable children entitled to a place in temporary emergency schools were turning up.

Spielman told the committee she was “seriously concerned” about the impact of school clo-sures on the most disadvantaged children.

Asked about the closure of al-ternative provision for children who have struggled in main-stream schools, she said: “The longer the closure, or almost

closure, the greater the problems for those children.”

She continued: “We know that home and online learning are very imperfect substitutes for the school experience. We know that children are losing education. It is not just chil-dren who are disadvantaged or academically behind, it is children without motivation. So it is in children’s interests to get back into school as soon as possible.”

12 Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 2020

EUROPE

Residents of a care home in Brussels yesterday got the chance to see family members in person for the first time since mid-March thanks to a raised platform normally used for window cleaning or picking cherries. Tristan Van den Bosch, a manager at the company that rents out the platforms, realised his unused equipment could be put to good use during the lockdown when driving past a care home in Antwerp two. Residents at the Le Cinquantenaire home in Brussels got to benefit from his service yesterday. The visitors included Clementine Van Eijcke, 84, who came to see her husband, and Albert Camphyn, 58, who was raised up to his 98-year-old mother.

A policeman was killed in Naples, southern Italy, in a car crash that followed a failed bank robbery. In an overnight incident, the robbers crashed a stolen vehicle into a patrol car after failing to steal from an ATM machine. Off icer Pasquale Apicella, 37, died in the impact, while his companion Salvatore Colucci was injured, the RAI public broadcaster reported yesterday. Apicella leaves behind a wife and two children, one aged 6 and the other only a few months old. Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said the death was a cause of “huge grief” and expressed her solidarity towards the off icer’s family. Three people were in the robbers’ car. Two were arrested and one is on the run.

Scores of asylum-seekers were left homeless when a fire tore through a camp on the Greek island of Samos, a migration ministry off icial said yesterday. “Around 200 people have been left homeless,” Migration Ministry Secretary Manos Logothetis told AFP. The blaze on Sunday evening was started “amid internal disputes (between residents)”, he added. Another fire was started yesterday in a new round of clashes between “Arabic-speakers and Africans”, a local police source said. Riot squads had been sent in to quell the unrest and seven people detained, he said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in the political and economic order that has been built up since World War II, Austrian leaders said yesterday as they commemorated 75 years of independence from Nazi Germany. “For the first time in 75 years, fundamental rights like the rights to family life, freedom of assembly and freedom of doing business have been dramatically curbed,” President Alexander Van der Bellen said. Although Austria has started to ease its lockdown, life will not return to normal until a medication or vaccine is developed, he said.

An Iraqi family living in Germany were pleasantly surprised when they stumbled upon two old sewing machines by the side of the road, just as they were in need of homemade coronavirus masks. But the real surprise was lurking inside one of the machines: 1,000 euros ($1,085) in cash, stashed there by the previous owner. “We called the police who tracked down the owner,” 21-year-old Sherzad Ahmed told AFP yesterday. “He was very, very happy.” Police in the small town of Morsbach said the 56-year-old owner had hidden the money in the sewing machine last Christmas before forgetting all about the “secret hiding place”.

Elderly get a lift from cherry-picking platforms

Off icer killed in Naples after failed bank robbery

Asylum-seekers left in the cold after Greek camp fire

Austria calls for resilience on 75th post-war anniversary

Migrant family returns cash hidden in sewing machine

HIGH STANDARDS ACCIDENTHOMELESS ‘VULNERABLE’ SECRET STASH

Calm reveals fl ourishing Venice Lagoon ecosystemBy Giovanna Girardi, AFPVenice

“The fl ora and fauna of the lagoon have not changed during lockdown. What

has changed is our chance to see them,” says zoologist Andrea Mangoni, plunging his camera into Venice’s normally murky waters to observe life.

A crab tries to grab the intrud-ing lens, jellyfi sh propel them-selves along near the surface, schools of fi sh swim peacefully by, crustaceans cling to the city’s famous jetties, and seaweed of every colour wafts gently on the current.

The coronavirus has emptied Venice of millions of tourists since the beginning of March and its waters are no longer stirred by the thousands of boats, taxis, va-poretti, and gondolas that usu-ally cross it.

For Mangoni, this is an op-portunity to rediscover the very diverse ecosystem that populates the Venice Lagoon.

His fi lm of a jellyfi sh swim-

ming slowly though translucent canal water has gone viral on so-cial media.

“Now we can see 50cm or 60cm ... and sometimes even a metre from the surface. As a result, we can see animals that were literally hidden in the murky waters.”

Mangoni says he has never seen such clear waters in the 20 years he has worked in Venice.

“The only diff erence is that some animals that before were relegated to bigger or wider ca-nals in the lagoon, can now go as far as in the city centre since the traffi c of gondolas, motorboats and smaller boats has ceased,” he said.

Marco Sigovini, researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences of Venice (ISMAR-CNR), says he has seen marine species in the centre of the former city state for the fi rst time.

“Fauna and fl ora of Venice La-goon are much more diversifi ed and interesting than what one might think,” he said.

“What decreased in the city is not only traffi c with pollution

produced by boats, but also the noise, which is another kind of pollution and disturbs many la-goon organisms.”

Nevertheless, he is not sur-prised at how many jellyfi sh are being observed.

“Over the last 20-30 years jel-lyfi sh have increased in numbers generally. They come into the la-goon more and more frequently, particularly at certain times of year, perhaps carried by the cur-rent,” he said.

“Normally, there’s a lot of traf-fi c so it’s likely many of them are often killed.”

Mangoni takes pictures and videos on his way to work and says life in Venice these days is “like being on a coral reef”.

“The number of colours and lifeforms is extraordinary, which makes the lagoon unique,” he said.

But Sigovini does not think much will change long-term for Venetian fauna.

“Most likely these few months of lockdown won’t suffi ce to re-ally change the quality of our ecosystem,” he said.

Locked down Dutch celebrate quiet KingsdayReutersAmsterdam

Dutch King Willem-Alexander yes-terday urged all people in the Neth-erlands to stay at home instead of

fl ocking onto the streets clad in orange as they normally do for the annual celebration of Kingsday.

“This promises to be a unique Kingsday, and mainly because I hope it will be the last Kingsday-at-home ever. Try to make the best of it,” the king said in a TV speech broadcast live from his home.

Kingsday normally attracts millions of people to festivities in Amsterdam and throughout the Netherlands, highlighted by sprawling street markets and massive con-certs.

This year, however, the Dutch are forced to stage their parties at home, as all public events have been cancelled until September 1 in an attempt to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the country.

“Sad, but inevitable,” the king said of the decision to scrap all public festivities for his 53rd birthday.

“I can understand very well that many people had hoped to be able to have more freedom to move by now, but the corona-virus cannot be told what to do. We have to keep at it, also after today.”

As of Sunday, the number of confi rmed coronavirus infections in the Netherlands had risen to 37,845, with 4,475 deaths.

Kingsday was kicked off by the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra, which pieced together solo at-home performances by its members into a special rendition of the national anthem, inviting all people in the Netherlands to join in from their balconies and gardens.

To keep the house parties going, people can tune in to the traditional Kingsday mu-

sic festivals, which have been transformed into online versions featuring special shows by international Dutch music stars such as DJs Martin Garrix and Tiesto.

The street markets, in which the Dutch usually try to earn a few euros by cleaning out their attics or showcasing their musical talents, will be replaced by online versions and even a prime time TV show.

Dutch Queen Maxima and Princess Amalia speak with Dutch citizens via a video conference from Palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague yesterday.

French cops suspended over alleged racial slursAFPParis

Two police offi cers in France have been suspended after being heard racially in-sulting a man after arresting him in a de-

prived Paris suburb in a video that went viral on social media, the police commissioner said on Twitter yesterday.

“With the approval of the Interior minister, the chief of police Didier Lallemant has asked the head of the national police to suspend the two offi cers involved in uttering racial com-ments heard on a video circulated on social me-dia on April 26”, the police prefecture said on Twitter.

The incident involving the two offi cers took place in the area where unrest broke out last week.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said earlier in the day there was no place for racism in the police after the video went viral, which appeared to show offi cers mocking a man who had jumped into the River Seine in an attempt to escape arrest.

“He doesn’t know how to swim. A ‘bicot’ like that can’t swim,” one offi cer can be heard re-marking, using a derogatory term for an Arab or North African.

As they escort the man to a police van, a col-league replies laughing: “You should have tied a weight to his foot.”

The incident took place in the early on Sunday in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, where last week’s clashes between police and restless youths fi rst erupted.

Seine-Saint-Denis, the wider district, is the poorest in France.

France’s banlieues — high-rise neighbour-hoods that ring its cities and are heavily popu-lated by families of immigrant descent — have for decades been fl ashpoints of anger of social and economic marginalisation and police vio-lence.

Police unions says the rundown estates are a tinderbox as tight restrictions on public move-ment to curb the spread of the coronavirus ex-acerbate deep-rooted tensions and anger to-wards the police enforcing the lockdown.

The footage of the racial slurs has stirred public outrage.

Castaner described the indignation as legiti-mate.

“All light will be shed on the matter,” Castaner said on Twitter, announcing that the IGPN in-ternal police watchdog had been alerted. “Rac-ism has no place in the Republican police force.”

Eric Coquerel, a lawmaker from the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party who represents Seine-Saint-Denis, expressed horror at the incident.

“To hear in this day and age such words, such behaviour, from police is shameful and a huge concern,” Coquerel said on social media.

Europe cautiously eyes exit from lockdownsAFPBrussels

Europe yesterday took uneven steps to phase out coronavi-rus restrictions as debates rage

over how quickly to ease lockdowns that are protecting lives but piling on economic misery.

Around the world the pandemic has killed over 206,000 people and infected nearly 3mn, with death tolls highest in the United States.

Well over half of all deaths are in Europe, with the toll hitting 125,000 on the continent yesterday.

Yet with some of Europe’s worst-aff ected countries recently report-ing marked drops in their daily death counts, governments are exploring how to relax confi nement orders that are taking their own economic and psychological tolls.

Italy, the fi rst European country to go into lockdown seven weeks ago, has laid out partial reopening plans to start on May 4 while Spain and France are expected to announce their timelines by today.

In Switzerland, Croatia and Ser-bia, many small shops were back in business yesterday, while children in Norway returned to primary school.

Responses varied as leaders grap-ple with how to balance public safety with personal freedoms and eco-nomic relief.

Forecasts warn of the worst global

recession in a century, with oil prices tumbling and the travel and tourism sector badly hammered.

While some parents in Norway ex-pressed anxiety about sending kids back to school, Catholic bishops in Italy are angry about an extended ban on masses.

Cabin fever got to some Parisians who were out enjoying sunny weath-er over the weekend, with walkers and joggers crowding paths despite strict social distancing orders.

Germany, which started lifting re-strictions last week, has seen signs of growing impatience in small but regular protests against remaining curbs on personal freedom.

Starting yesterday, masks became obligatory on public transport and in most shops in Germany, a measure residents described as both neces-sary and irksome.

“It’s warm, slippery, you can’t breathe well, but if it’s to avoid infec-tion, I’m fi ne with it,” Emil, a commut-er at a Berlin train station, told AFP.

In Switzerland, relieved hairdress-ers, fl orists, dentists and others went back to work after a range of busi-nesses reopened in the fi rst stage of the country’s three-phase plan.

“I’m delighted that we’re starting up again. If we don’t work, things are dead,” hairdresser Anita Ayma said in Geneva, wearing a fabric mask and plastic face shield has she worked through a 12-hour string of book-ings.

As scientists race to develop treat-ments and eventually a vaccine for the virus, experiments are underway to fi gure out how to resume some as-pects of ordinarily life with minimal risk.

Several countries plan to intro-

duce virus tracing apps to alert us-ers if they are near someone who has tested positive.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that people would have to wear face masks in public places and rigorously observe social

distancing measures when the cur-rent restrictions are lifted next week.

Cultural norms like hugs and handshakes will also be discouraged as Italy enters an era “of responsibil-ity and coexistence with the virus”, Conte told the nation.

Ducks walk around the empty streets of Venice during the lockdown yesterday.

EU denies softening disinformation report under China pressureAFPBrussels

The EU yesterday denied bow-ing to Chinese pressure to water down a report on coro-

navirus disinformation to soften criticism of Beijing.

The New York Times said that, un-der pressure from Beijing offi cials, the EU had delayed publication of a regular report on disinformation trends last week, and toned down the fi nal version.

A spokesman for the EU’s diplo-

matic service, Peter Stano, insisted no changes had been made as a result of outside infl uence.

“I absolutely refute and dispute any indications or claims that in our reporting we are bowing to any kind of external pressure,” he told a regu-lar media briefi ng in Brussels.

The New York Times said an early version of the report referred to Chi-na running “a global disinformation campaign to defl ect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and im-prove its international image”.

In another report, The Financial Times said China complained three

times to the EU about the text, in-cluding to the bloc’s ambassador in Beijing, Nicolas Chapuis.

The fi nal published version does not refer to a “global disinformation campaign” though it does mention “a co-ordinated push by offi cial Chi-nese sources” including state media to defl ect blame for the pandemic.

It also details evidence of what it calls “covert Chinese operations” on social media.

Stano said that what the New York Times called an “initial” version of the report published on Friday was in fact a separate document intended

only for internal use within the EU.But the incident has triggered

alarm in Brussels and the larg-est political bloc in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP), has demanded an ex-planation from EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell.

“We are revolted by the reports revealing that the European External Action Service bowed under Chinese pressure and modifi ed its fi ndings about the Chinese disinformation campaign on Covid-19,” the EPP’s Sandra Kalniete said.

“It would be totally unacceptable

if the EEAS, charged with providing the EU public with full and unbiased information and to defend Europe in this disinformation campaign, proved to be ready to backtrack on its fi ndings and fall victim itself to for-eign propaganda.”

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied any Chinese involvement in disinforma-tion.

“Spreading false information and mutual accusations in the current circumstances won’t help with the international co-operation in fi ght-ing the Covid-19,” Geng said.

It took only 99 minutes to donate plasma, says donorIANSNew Delh

With Covid-19 rapidly spreading across the country, the discovery

of a vaccine is the only escape from the pandemic.

Health warriors have explored the convalescent plasma therapy as a preventive measure to fi ght the novel coronavirus.

The therapy aims at using antibodies from the blood of a recovered Covid-19 patient to treat those critically infected by the virus.

The process of taking plasma from the donor is not as com-plicated as it sounds, one of the plasma donors from Ahmeda-bad, told IANS.

Smruti Thakkar, 23, shared her experience of donating plasma for the treatment of novel coro-navirus.

“I received a phone call from the hospital, requesting to do-nate my plasma for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, which I happily agreed to, and donated. It took just 99 minutes to donate the plasma,” Thakkar said.

Thakkar, who is doing her Masters in luxury brand man-agement in Paris, came back to India on March 19.

She had cough and a sore throat.

On March 21 she was hospital-ised for 17 days as she had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“I was discharged on April 6, after I recovered and responded well to the treatment. I was kept under home quarantine for an-other 14 days. On Day 15, the hospital authorities called me up and said they got permission from the government for plasma therapy. So, they requested me to donate my plasma,” she said.

“The doctors explained the whole procedure of how they collect the plasma and for what reason. They said it is like blood donation. The plasma will be separated from the blood and the remaining blood will be trans-

ferred back to your body. So there is no blood loss, only plasma will be taken from the blood. They took 400ml plasma from my body,” Thakkar said.

She said the procedure was simple.

“When I came to the hospital, a blood test and body check-up was done. Then they started the procedure. It took just 99 minutes for the entire proce-dure. During the process I was given vitamins, food and water. The procedure was completely smooth. I did not feel any pain, sickness or dizziness.

“The doctors told me that my haemoglobin was very good -15.5 - which is rare. They said that I am AB positive. Plasma of this group suits everyone.”

The plasma therapy is still in a study trial phase but has yielded good results on critical patients in India as well as abroad.

Sangeeta Pathak, head of the Blood Bank at Max Super Spe-ciality Hospital in Saket, New Delhi told IANS that the process is in the trial phase for Covid-19 treatment.

However, the therapy is not new and has been used in the past for treating diseases like Ebola and Sars.

“We collect plasma from the patients who have recovered from a particular disease, in this case, from Covid-19. The donor should test negative for the virus twice, at least at an interval of 24 hours.

“These two tests have to be negative from the 14th day of the last negative test for coronavirus, or in 24 hours from a patient’s test, who has read negative on the 28th day. In 28 days category only one test has to be negative because by that time the patient is fully recovered. The therapy was used in Ebola virus and Sars disease earlier. This therapy was under trial during that time also but because these diseases were not rampant like Covid-19 pan-demic, the therapy did not come out in a big manner that time,” Pathak said.

India cancels orders fortesting kits from ChinaAgenciesNew Delhi

India has cancelled orders for supply of coronavirus testing equipment from China be-

cause of confl icting results, the government said yesterday.

But not a single rupee will be lost as the payments have not been made, it added.

Earlier in the day, the country’s federal medical research agency asked state governments to stop using the testing equipment be-cause of faulty results.

More than half a million kits for testing for antibodies to coro-navirus were ordered from China this month as a way to ramp up India’s screening.

But the Indian Council of Medical Research said several

states had complained about the quality of the equipment from two fi rms and these need to be sent back to China.

“ICMR, thereafter, has also evaluated the kits of Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Liv-zon Diagnostics.

The results have shown wide variation in their sensitivity, de-spite early promise of good per-formance for surveillance pur-poses.”

“In view of this, states are advised to stop using these kits procured from above mentioned companies and return them to be sent back to the suppliers,” it said.

The ICMR had recommended that these rapid tests be done on every resident in areas with a large number of Covid-19 cases to as-sess the spread of coronavirus.

The rapid tests only indicate if an individual has developed an-tibodies to fi ght an infection and not if he has the disease.

It is a tool for surveillance, ac-cording to ICMR chief epidemi-ologist Raman Gangakhedkar.

The antibody tests throw up faster results as they use blood samples, unlike the throat or nasal swabs used for the regular tests, which have to be processed in laboratories.

Several regions do not have ad-equate laboratory testing facilities.

India has been widening its testing, albeit at a slow pace, with 665,819 samples tested by April 27, according to ICMR.

So far 27,892 have tested posi-tive for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, there have been 872 virus-related deaths.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress demanded that all the documents of procurement of rapid test kits should be made public, after a trial in Delhi High Court revealed massive profi t-eering and over-pricing by a fi rm in the test kits sold to thee ICMR.

The court heard the company supplied kits to Tamil Nadu at Rs400 per kit but to the ICMR at Rs600.

Congress leader Manish Te-wari said: “There is an anar-chy going on imports of test-ing kits and the government should tell what action has been taken.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with the chief ministers of nine states to discuss the way ahead in tackling the pandemic.

India has been under nation-

wide lockdown since March 25.That is due to end on May 3.At the meeting Modi said lock-

down had yielded positive results and that the country had man-aged to save thousands of lives, but he added that the danger of the virus was far from over, ac-cording to a statement from his offi ce.

He said the state govern-ments need to strictly enforce social distancing at hotspots or in regions where there were large number of Covid-19 cases, remarks that indicate that lock-down may continue in these ar-eas beyond May 3.

It may, however, be eased fur-ther in regions less aff ected, as Modi and the chief ministers spoke of the need to address eco-nomic challenges brought on by the lockdown.

A health worker checks the body temperature of a motorcycle rider at a checkpoint in Ahmedabad yesterday.

Poor may lose out as drones map village landReuters New Delhi

A government plan to map residential areas in rural India and issue title deeds

could benefi t hundreds of millions of people, but exclude lower-caste communities and those tradition-ally denied land, human rights ex-perts said yesterday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week unveiled Swamitva Yoja-na, or Ownership Scheme, to map

rural residential land for the fi rst time in many states, using drones and other technologies.

The programme will be piloted in six states, and the titles can be used as collateral for loans, the prime minister said.

It will also generate more rev-enue for states, which can be used to fund infrastructure and other public facilities.

“Most residential properties in rural areas don’t have proper own-ership documents, and only pro-viding people with a title deed can

change that,” Modi said in a video address.

While India’s agricultural land was surveyed in the British colo-nial period, areas where homes were built in villages -known as abadi land and measuring no more than 0.5sq km - were considered as wasteland and rarely surveyed.

As India’s population expand-ed and pressure on land grew for farming and for building roads and airports, disputes over land own-ership have increased, with about two-thirds of civil court cases re-

lated to land and property, accord-ing to researchers.

A federal land record modernisa-tion programme launched in 2008 seeks to re-survey all lands, verify and upgrade records, and put all the information online by 2021.

Authorities have said this will help monitor land sales better, in-crease tax revenue and reduce cor-ruption.

Some states, including Ma-harashtra and Odisha, had also launched surveys of rural, residen-tial land.

Digitisation of records could exclude lower-caste communities who have traditionally been denied land, and make them more vulner-able to evictions, land experts said.

“Property disputes in villages arise mainly as a result of manipu-lation of land records by offi cials.

Also, when land holdings are not properly surveyed,” said E A S Sarma, a land activist and former government offi cial.

“Digitisation has worsened the situation because it has reduced transparency for small farmers

who fi nd it diffi cult to access dig-ital records,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Surveys of land must be con-ducted transparently, and records reviewed by all residents, Sarma said, otherwise disputes will per-sist and infl uential people will continue to gain at the expense of the marginalised.

The Swamitva Yojana also does not specify whether titles will be given jointly to women, and if customary titles that do not have a written record — such as those

held by indigenous people — will be recognised, said Namita Wahi, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Re-search think-tank in Delhi.

“The absence of recognition of customary titles, especially over village commons, may create fur-ther opportunities for land grabs of common lands, which is one of the biggest causes of land confl ict in India,” she said.

“Minus a proactive attempt to include Dalits, Adivasis and wom-en, there is a real danger of them being excluded,” she said.

INDIA13Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A sanitation worker sprays disinfectant on a platform at Egmore Railway Station in Chennai yesterday.

Telangana will become Covid-19 free soon: CMIANSHyderabad

Telangana is witnessing a declining trend in coro-navirus cases and Chief

Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao yesterday exuded confi dence that in the next few days, the state would be totally free from Covid-19.

He said the decline in the number of cases augurs well for the state.

After attending Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi’s video con-ference with chief ministers, Rao held a review meeting with state Health Minister Eatala Rajender and other top offi cials.

The offi cials informed the chief minister that 159 samples were tested yesterday and only two were found positive.

Rao felt that the strict enforce-ment of the lockdown norms is resulting in the decline in the number of cases.

He said the quarantine period

of most of those found infected will end on May 8.

The chief minister, however, said the government will not be complacent.

He said as announced earlier, the lockdown will continue till May 7 and appealed to people to follow the restrictions and gov-ernment guidelines.

Rao announced that by today, 21 districts in the state would not have a single active case, add-ing that over 97% of the patients were recovering.

He said with the virus spread being contained, the number of containment zones will also come down gradually.

Rao said the process to identi-fy and test all those who came in contact with returnees from the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi was continuing.

Offi cials said 11 of the 33 dis-tricts have become Covid-19 free.

While three districts have not reported a single positive case, in the remaining eight, all the in-fected people have recovered and

been discharged from hospital.Warangal Rural, Yadadri-Bhu-

vanagiri and Wanaparthy dis-tricts have not reported a single positive case since the coronavi-rus outbreak.

Narayanpet and Mancherial districts reported a case each and both succumbed to Covid-19. After that, these districts report-ed no fresh case.

Mahabubabad and Siddipet districts had one each and both have recovered and discharged from hospital.

Similarly, Mulugu and Nagar-kurnool have also become Cov-id-19 free as all the four people who had tested positive in have recovered.

All four patients in Bhadradri have also been discharged, mak-ing the district free from the dreaded virus. An offi cial of the Health Department said a few more districts would become Covid-19 free next week.

One person each is under treatment in Peddapally and Jag-tiyal districts.

Virus-hit medical staff demand free treatmentIANSNew Delhi

Many medical staff of government hospitals across the national cap-

ital have tested positive for the coronavirus, and some of them are demanding free treatment in private hospitals.

A senior resident doctor of a government hospital said it is diffi cult for many to pay for treatment at private hospitals.

“The government should re-alise that we are putting our lives at risk to serve the peo-ple. It is while working that we are getting this infection. Also, not just this, there are no ac-commodation facilities for the medical staff of the non-Cov-id-19 hospitals/health cen-tres,” the doctor said.

The doctor, admitted to a pri-vate hospital after being infected with coronavirus, said if they are test positive, they are also putting the lives of their families at risk.

“The government is paying

Rs1 crore if any of us dies due to coronavirus. But what is the point of the money when there are no facilities for us when we are alive,” he asked.

A junior resident doctor of a government hospital, who also has been infected, said the health professionals are not willing to go to the government hospitals due to lack of proper facilities.

“I work in a government hos-pital. I am well aware about how things happen there and I also heard about the condition of the other government hospitals from many of my colleagues who tested positive for coronavirus. I preferred to get admitted to a private hospital as it off ers better facilities. However, after com-ing here I realised that it will cost me a large amount of money,” the doctor said.

The government or the Health Department has not released any data about the medical profes-sionals, including doctors, nurs-es, paramedical staff and sanita-tion workers, being infected with the virus.

14 Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 2020

INDIA

Entrancetests onlyafter curbsare lifted:ministryIANSNew Delhi

Entrance tests for technical and professional courses will be held only after a

nationwide lockdown is lifted, the government said yesterday.

No dates for holding the tests for diff erent courses for medi-cal, engineering, management and other streams have yet been announced. Even the tests conducted by the Union Public Services Commission have not been held due to the lockdown.

Human Resource Develop-ment Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said the Joint Entrance Examination and National Eligibil-ity-cum-Entrance Test and man-agement courses will be held only when the situation normalises.

Interacting with parents and students across the country through a webinar, the minister appealed to the students not to panic and to utilise the time to prepare for the coming tests.

Nishank said study material had been made available online for students across the country.

The webinar connected about 20,000 parents from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala and from Gu-wahati to Gujarat.

The minister informed the parents about various campaigns and schemes for online education being run by his ministry

He said the ministry was con-cerned about the educational activities of the students.

“For this reason, we imple-mented various schemes on a war footing. The country’s 33 crore students can take advan-tage of this anytime and any-where,” he said.

Thanking the parents across the country, the minister said, “The country is going through an unprecedented crisis at this time. This time becomes even more diffi cult for parents as they must be worried about their children’s education and future.”

He said the ministry was fully committed to the education of students and their future.

No stigma should be associated with coronavirus: PM

IANSNew Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said no stigma should be associated with coronavirus.He was speaking during a video interaction with several chief ministers.Modi said the chain of transmission of the virus should be broken.The prime minister highlighted the importance for states and union territories to enforce strict guidelines in the hotspots.He stated the eff orts should be directed towards converting the red zones into orange and thereafter, to green zones.Modi also said traditional systems of medicine should continue to be followed.Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country rose to 28,380 yesterday, with 1,463 cases and 60 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry stated.Over 16 districts in the country, which earlier had cases, have not reported any fresh cases since the last 28 days.

Most states want lockdownto continue: NarayanasamyIANSNew Delhi

A majority of states are in fa-vour of continuing with a nationwide lockdown to

combat the coronavirus pandemic, Puducherry Chief Minister Velu Narayanasamy said yesterday.

He was speaking after video conference of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The general mood at the meet-ing was that the lockdown should continue with partial relaxation,” Narayanasamy said.

Most chief ministers felt that as the number of coronavirus cases were rising there should be a cau-tious approach and the economic activities should be started slowly, he said.

Chief ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states said the lockdown should continue, he said.

When the chief ministers raised the economic package issue, they

didn’t get any affi rmative re-ply from the prime minister who praised states for containment of Covid-19, especially Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his experiments.

Raising migrants’ issue, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said they should be returned to their native places by the central gov-ernment.

The prime minister also didn’t respond to the issue of students stranded abroad.

Congress chief ministers said the economic activity should be started gradually and the advanc-es made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be interest-free for a year.

The Puducherry chief minister said the union territory had only three coronavirus cases and over 2,000 people were in self-quar-antine.

Meanwhile Punjab Chief Min-ister Amarinder Singh drew the central government’s attention to the critical needs of the state

in the light of the unprecedented crisis and lockdown.

He urged Home Minister Amit Shah to allow opening of small shops, businesses and industries in all areas except the contain-ment zones, with full compliance of Covid-19 prevention measures.

In a letter to Shah, Singh high-lighted the pending issues that need the urgent attention of the government of India for reference and follow up.

Among the various issues pend-ing for the Centre’s attention, Singh listed the release of the state’s GST arrears of Rs4,386 crore, as well as a revenue defi cit grant to meet the shortfall in revenue combined with need for higher expenditure on re-lief and healthcare to manage and contain Covid-19.

Other pending issues include bonus to farmers for staggered purchase of wheat, as well as di-rect cash assistance to daily in-dustrial and agricultural labour, including the migrant labour, an offi cial statement said.

Over 200,000 Kerala expats register to return homeIANSThiruvananthapuram

Thousands of Kerala expats have expressed their de-sire to return to the state

when fl ights resume and airports reopen, offi cials said yesterday.

Over 200,000 have so far reg-istered on a website within 12 hours after it was launched seek-ing to return home.

Most of them are from the Gulf countries.

The registration has to be done on www.norkaroots.org, of the state-run Norka-Roots, the offi cial department of the government in charge of non-resident Keralites.

The new facility was opened by the Kerala government, after the central government, fol-lowing numerous requests from several organisations, decided to take a positive step.

The central government last week asked the states about the arrangements and the manner in which the returning migrants would be taken care of.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said all arrange-ments are in place at the four airports in the state.

Those arriving will be screened, he said.

While those with no Covid-19 symptoms will be allowed to go home for self-isolation, others will be quarantined under the present medical guidelines.

According to the state govern-ment, various hostels, hotels, halls, private hospitals with ac-commodation facilities as well as fl oating houseboats at Alap-puzha are ready to house them.

While many of these coro-navirus care centres would be operated for free, those wish-ing better facilities and comfort would have to pay, he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress par-ty asked the Kerala and central governments to come out with measures like subsidised return air tickets, and temporary and long-term fi nancial support to help the returning migrants.

Former state Congress presi-dent M M Hassan asked the cen-tral government to ensure that every expat who has lost his job be immediately paid an equiva-lent of Rs25,000 from the Indian Community Welfare Fund in the custody of every Indian embassy.

“Each time an Indian renews his or her passport there, a sum of $11 is charged. The money goes into the Embassy Fund and this can now be used for the re-turning migrants.

Hassan also requested the state and the central governments to formulate short- and long-term rehabilitation programmes.

Of an estimated 2.5mn non-res-ident Keralites, 90% are in the Gulf countries. According to sources, 300,000 to 500,000 are likely to return after fl ights resume.

In other developments, the chief minister yesterday said the state has sought a comprehen-sive fi nancial package from the central government to tide over the damages that Covid-19 has infl icted on the state.

Addressing the media after the daily Covid 19 review meeting, Vijayan said the expected loss in the fi rst quarter of the present fi scal year for the state would be around Rs80,000 crore.

“This include over 83 lakh man days lost in the casual la-bour sector, besides the hotel and restaurant sector, fi sheries, IT sector, other organised and unorganised sectors,” he said.

“We have demanded a com-prehensive fi nancial package, which includes an interest-free loan ranging from Rs2 to Rs5 lakh for the small and medium seg-ment business,” he added.

A municipal off icer walks past beds at an isolation centre being set up in Mumbai yesterday.

The Tamil Nadu government yesterday suspended encashment of earned leave by its employees, teachers and others, and froze the dearness allowances, even for pensioners, till July 2021. The decisions were taken to manage the fiscal strain caused by Covid-19 relief measures. The government said earned leave encashment sanctions would be cancelled and the leave credited back. The government order is also applicable for all constitutional/statutory bodies, state corporations, universities, local bodies, commissions, companies and others. The dearness allowance for the state government employees are similar to that of the central government employees. The decision is applicable to teaching and non-teaching staff working in aided educational institutions, employees under local bodies, employees governed by UGC and AICTE scales of pay.

After flamingos in Mumbai, ‘nilgai’ in Noida, rare sightings of dolphins were made in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut city – with nature reclaiming its space amid the lockdown. A video clip of Ganges River Dolphin, an endangered freshwater dolphin breed, enjoying in the river in Meerut is going viral and taking the Internet by storm. The video was shared by Indian Forest Service (IFS) off icer Akash Deep Badhawan on Twitter. It shows a pair of dolphins enjoying a swim in the Ganges. Gangetic dolphins in Uttar Pradesh are mainly seen in Katarniaghat in the Terai belt of the state. The population of Gangetic dolphins across the country is merely 600 of which their population at the Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary is around 100. Regular monitoring and awareness programmes have led to an increase in the dolphin population in Uttar Pradesh.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) yesterday started mid-semester examinations digitally. “In order to complete the academic requirements for MSc and MPhil/PhD degrees, the School of Environmental Sciences, JNU, has started the mid-semester exams using digital means from today until May 4. Way to go,” JNU Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar Mamidala tweeted. By April 14, the JNU had started studying ways of conducting examinations, either on digital platforms or by other means in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the JNU administration said. For the purpose, the university on April 12 called a meeting of senior officials, including the vice-chancellor, directors, the registrar, deans of schools and chairpersons of special centres.

In a major relief to rural population, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has allowed the Common Service Centre, under the Ministry of IT and Electronics, to start the Aadhaar update facility at 20,000 centres that operate as Banking Correspondents (BCs). “To make Aadhaar updation easier, the UIDAI has permitted CSCs that are designated as BCs to off er Aadhaar update services. Around 20,000 such CSCs will now be able to off er the service,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said yesterday. “I would like the CSC’s village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) to start the Aadhaar work as per the UIDAI instructions. This facility will help a large number of rural people to get Aadhaar services closer to their homes,” Prasad said. The UIDAI has set June as deadline for start of work after CSCs.

The Supreme Court yesterday issued a notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on a petition asking airlines, both domestic and international, to refund the full amount of tickets cancelled due to the nationwide lockdown. The petition moved by Pravasi Legal Cell through advocate Jose Abraham urged the court to declare non-refund by airlines as illegal. The Pravasi Legal Cell said airlines are instead providing a credit shell, valid up to one year. The petition referred to the ministry’s order which asked all airlines to refund the full amount. The order said if a passenger seeks refund during the first lockdown phase for travel during the second lockdown period (from April 15 to May 3), still the airline has to refund the full amount without levying any cancellation charges.

TN govt suspends leave encashment, freezes DA

River dolphins spotted in Meerut Ganges waters

JNU takes digital route to start mid-semester exams

UIDAI okays Aadhaar update through CSC

SC hears plea for refund on cancelled flights

DECISION ENVIRONMENTEDUCATION RELIEF JUDICIARY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with chief ministers a through a video conference yesterday.

Authorities baffled about source of 8 cases

Authorities are baff led at not being able to identify the source of infection of eight people who tested positive for coronavirus last week, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja said yesterday. She, however, said it would not lead to community spread. “The source of those who have tested positive in Kottayam and two nurses in the state capital district is still not found, so is of one case each in Palakkad and Kozhikode. Then there are two

cases, both of whom passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, and a four-month-old child, whose source is also unknown,” the minister said. “Even though we have these untraced cases, we can safely say that there has been no community spread or a third wave of the virus in our state.” Shailaja, however, said even doctors and other medical professionals are testing positive in the state, causing concern.

Domestic abuserises amidlockdown inLatin AmericaReutersBuenos Aires/Santiago

Lockdowns around Latin America are helping slow the spread of Covid-19,

but are having a darker and less-intended consequence: a spike in calls to helplines suggests a rise in domestic abuse, in a region where almost 20mn women and girls suff er violence each year.

In cities from Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Santiago, Sao Paulo and La Paz, families and individ-uals have been confi ned in their homes in an unprecedented way, often only allowed out for emer-gencies or to shop for essentials.

Prosecutors, victim support teams, women’s movements and the United Nations all say this has caused a rise in domestic violence towards women.

They cite increasing numbers of calls to abuse hotlines.

In some countries, like Mexico and Brazil, there has been a rise in formal reports of abuse, while in others, including Chile and Boliv-ia, there has been a drop in formal complaints. Prosecutors and UN Women said the latter was likely not due to a decline in violence, but because women were less able to seek help or report abuse through normal channels.

“The jump in violence has not surprised us, it is the unleash-ing of a violence that was already there in people,” said Eva Giberti, founder of the Victims Against Violence programme in Argen-tina, who helps runs a hotline for women to report abuse.

“Under normal social circum-stances that had been limited to some degree.”

Argentina’s emergency 137 line for abuse victims, supported by the justice department, has seen a 67% rise in calls for help in April versus a year earlier, after a na-tionwide lockdown was imposed on March 20.

UN Women in a report on Wednesday said there was evi-dence of rising violence against women in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, and a doubling in the number of femicides in Argentina during the quarantine, citing a women’s observatory in Mar del Plata.

Pre-pandemic, the Argen-tine government estimates that a woman was killed every 23 hours.

Domestic violence “seems to be another pandemic,” said Lucía Vassallo, a fi lm maker whose doc-umentary “Line 137” looks at the issue.

Rising concern over domestic abuse has been global, with fears victims are being silenced in Italy, calls for help from women rising in Spain, and systems to prevent child abuse in the US hampered by the lockdown.

In Latin America, the fear is that violence against women that was already prevalent is being ex-

acerbated further.The region has seen huge

marches and strikes by women over the last year against male ag-gression and abuse.

“In a situation of confi nement, what is happening is that women are locked up with their own abusers in situations where they have very limited outlets,” Maria Noel Baeza, regional director for UN Women, told Reuters.

“Last year we had 3,800 femi-cides in the region, how many are we going to have this year?”

In Chile, the women’s minis-ter said calls to domestic abuse helplines had increased 70% in the fi rst weekend of quarantine. The government has bolstered counseling channels and looked to keep shelters open for women at risk.

Evelyn Matthei, mayor of San-tiago’s wealthy Providencia dis-trict, told Reuters that calls for help to a local offi ce providing legal, psychological and social help had leapt 500% under the lockdown.

Formal reports of domestic violence, however, actually de-clined 40% in the fi rst half of April in Chile, according to the national prosecutors’ offi ce, which the UN and prosecutors said was down to women having their movements restricted.

“This probably has to do with the fact that there is violence within the home but that women cannot go out, they dare not go out,” said Matthei.

In Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic and imposed sweeping isolation measures, there was a 45% jump last month in cases of violence against women where police were dispatched, com-pared to a year earlier, according to thinktank the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety.

In Mexico, complaints to police of domestic violence rose around a quarter in March against a year earlier, offi cial data show.

“Since the lockdown, there’s been an increase in reports of do-mestic violence, many of those psychological violence,” said Blanca Aquino, director of the Municipal Institute for Women of Veracruz, the Mexican state with the country’s highest rate of femicides.

Arussi Unda, from Mexican feminist organisation Brujas del Mar, which off ers advice to wom-en in abuse cases, said initially many calls to the group had come from neighbours hearing fi ghts in other houses.

She said there had been a rise in cases of “digital violence” and recently women looking simply to escape.

“Now we get many women asking for advice on how to leave the house and take their children without the partner later want-ing to take them away by legal means,” she said.

Maduro nod for river miningto fuel pandemic: activistsPresident Nicolas Maduro’s government this month lifted the long-standing prohibition on mining in the rivers

ReutersPuerto Ordaz, Venezuela,

Venezuela’s move to allow gold and diamond mining in six rivers in its Amazon

region may worsen the environ-mental damage from a state-backed mining eff ort while also fuelling the spread of the corona-virus, according to activists and lawmakers.

Venezuelan President Nico-

las Maduro’s government this month lifted the long-standing prohibition on mining in the riv-ers, with the opposition-con-trolled National Assembly con-demning the decree last week.

Though such mining is already taking place illegally, critics said lifting the probation will encour-age wildcat mines that for years have been a hotbed of infectious diseases just as the country is seeking to keep Covid-19 — the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus — from spreading.

“There is a direct relationship between mining and the growth of some epidemics such as ma-laria, measles and others,” said

Luis Bello of Wataniba Amazon Socio-Environmental Working Group, an environmental activ-ist group.”So in the context of the coronavirus, mining activity in these rivers can create an en-vironment conducive to conta-gion.”

Venezuela’s information min-istry did not respond to a request for comment.

The offi cial resolution author-ises mining in the Cuchivero, Caura, Aro, Caroni, Yuruari and Cuyuni rivers.

They are located in the government-created Orinoco Mining Arc, an area of more than 42,800 square miles in

the Venezuelan Amazon.Maduro’s government since

2016 has supported small-scale mining there to bring in revenue amid an economic crisis, an ef-fort that has expanded as the US has increased sanctions meant to force him from power.

The initiative has been criti-cised by environmental activists and rights groups for contami-nating watersheds with mercury, fuelling massacres as gangs bat-tle for territory and serving as a breeding ground for disease.

“They will devastate the wa-ter, soil and air,” said lawmaker Maria Gabriela Hernandez, head of the legislature’s environment

commission.”The mercury they use causes serious harm to hu-man beings, mainly to the miners and communities of the nearby areas.”

While the government, when it lifted the mining prohibition, reiterated an existing ban on the use of mercury, activists said that small-scale mining routinely ig-nores such regulations.

Around 48,000 indigenous people belonging to nine dif-ferent ethnic groups live in the aff ected area, according to 2011 census data.

So far there have been no re-ports of coronavirus infections among these groups.

Most Mexicans ‘supportpresident handling of virus’ReutersMexico City

A large majority of Mexicans support the work done by President Andres Manuel

Lopez Obrador to contain the coronavirus outbreak and agree with a decision to extend quar-antine measures until the end of May, an opinion poll showed.

The April 17-21 telephone sur-vey of 549 Mexicans conducted by pollster Buendia & Laredo showed 73% gave a positive ap-praisal of Lopez Obrador’s ef-forts, with only 17% of the op-posite view.

The remainder gave no assess-ment.

In all 82% of respondents said the government had done well in reducing the spread of coro-navirus, which as of Saturday evening had led to nearly 14,000 confi rmed cases of infection and over 1,300 deaths in Mexico.

Deaths have doubled in the past week and Mexico’s govern-ment on Tuesday said it was en-

tering the most serious phase of the pandemic.

Earlier, it extended quarantin-ing until May 30, a decision that some 72% of survey respondents supported.

Mexico’s government has or-dered schools and non-essential businesses to close but it has not imposed a strict curfew, unlike some countries in Latin America.

Mexicans were less sure about Lopez Obrador’s economic man-agement of the crisis, but the balance of opinion was still fa-vourable.

Some 62% said the govern-ment had made good decisions to reactivate the economy, with 32% disagreeing.

The government is issuing millions of loans to businesses to help them through the pandem-ic, and has gradually stepped up relief measures.

Still, their scope is modest compared with some countries.

Analysts forecast Mexican gross domestic product could contract by up to 10% this year.

Lopez Obrador said on Sat-

urday he expected the economy to bounce back rapidly from the crisis.

Early in the pandemic, Lopez Obrador came under fi re for fl outing government advice by continuing to hold large public events.

However, since suspending those gatherings he has been in-sistent on the need to pursue so-cial distancing.

The survey showed the gov-ernment had to strike a balance in satisfying public opinion.

Seven out of 10 respondents agreed with the president that Mexico should not get into debt to tackle the crisis, but nearly two-thirds also said the govern-ment should allow companies to postpone tax payments during the economic slump.

In addition, 71% said it was more important to support small and medium-sized fi rms than continue with Lopez Obrador’s fl agship project of building an oil refi nery in Dos Bocas, a port in Tabasco, his home state in south-ern Mexico.

Argentina blocksfl ight ticket salesReutersBuenos Aires

Argentina has banned un-til September ticket sales for commercial fl ights,

according to a decree published yesterday, in a new measure the government said is part of its coro-navirus response.

While the country’s borders have been closed since March, the new decree goes a step further in preventing until September 1 the sale and purchasing of commercial fl ights to, from, or within Argen-tina.

The spread of coronavirus “does not allow certainties” for the end of social isolation measures, which would threaten commercial air transportation, the decree said.

“It has been understood to be reasonable to set September 1, 2020, for the purpose of resched-uling regular operations or re-questing authorisations for non-regular operations of passenger air transport subject to the eff ective lifting of restrictions imposed on commercial air transport and op-

erating modalities,” the decree by the National Civil Aviation Ad-ministration said.

Part of the decree’s aim, the government says, is to prevent airlines from ticketing fl ights that have not been approved by the government.

“It has been detected that some airlines are themselves promoting or by third parties, the sale of tickets for regular fl ights, without having obtained the respective authorisation from this National Administra-tion,” the decree said.

A spokesman for President Al-berto Fernandez did not immedi-ately respond to request for com-ment.

The South American nation had already closed its borders and blocked entry to foreigners from “aff ected zones,” including Eu-rope, China and the US.

Argentina has been under a na-tional lockdown since March 20.

The government, over the weekend, extended the quarantine until May 10, but said it had been successful in slowing the rate at which new cases double.

Venezuelans attempting to return to their country due to the novel coronavirus pandemic sleep on the Simon Boliviar International Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, after the Venezuelan government closed the way to some 300 Venezuelans coming home.

Chile to push ahead with virus ‘release certifi cates’Chile will push ahead with previously announced “release certificates” for recovered Covid-19 patients despite a World Health Organisation warning that there was no evidence they are protected from a second coronavirus infection.Paula Daza, sub-secretary of Chile’s health ministry, told reporters that while many uncertainties remain about the global pandemic, evidence points to a reduced risk after a first bout of coronavirus.

“One of the things we know is that a person who has...lived through the disease is less likely to become ill again,” Daza said.She said certifying this status was the “goal of the Covid-19 card that is being prepared will soon be delivered” to patients.The World Health Organisation on Saturday warned governments against issuing “immunity passports” to people who have been infected as their accuracy could not be guaranteed.The United Nations agency said

issuing the certificates could inspire false confidence and increase the risk of spreading the virus.People who have recovered may ignore advice about taking precautions against the virus, the WHO said.“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” it said.Daza clarified that the certificates Chile planned to issue did not certify immunity.

“It is very important, and I want to reiterate, that we have not talked about an immunity card,” she said.But Chile’s top health off icial, Jaime Manalich, said early in April those who have recovered from coronavirus represented a population that was immune to the coronavirus and incapable of transmitting it.He said those with the medical discharge certificate would be “freed from all types of quarantine or restriction, specifically because they

can help their communities enormously since they pose no risk.”Sub-secretary Daza did not specifically address the contradiction when asked by a reporter.Chile has confirmed 13,331 cases of coronavirus since outbreak began in the South American nation in early March, as well as 189 deaths.“One of the things we know is that a person who has...lived through the disease is less likely to become ill again”

LATIN AMERICAGulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 15

President Lopez Obrador: growing support

PAKISTANGulf Times Tuesday, April 28, 202016

Govt approves packages for jobless, small businessesFederal Minister for In-

dustries and Production Hammad Azhar yesterday

announced that the Econom-ic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) has approved two pack-ages for unemployed labourers and another package for small business owners.

Azhar, addressing a press conference after the ECC meet-ing, said that the packages will be presented before the federal cabinet tomorrow for approval.

The minister said a Rs75bn package has been approved for the people unemployed due to the coronavirus crisis. He add-ed that the Ehsaas programme, along with the Ministry for In-dustries and Production, will launch a portal to register those unemployed.

“Under the package, the un-employed will be provided with Rs12,000 in instalments,” said the minister. He added that the details of the package will be up-loaded on the website after it is approved by the federal cabinet.

The minister, while sharing details of the package for small businesses, stated that the gov-ernment will pay electricity bills for up to three months for those consuming 5KW (commercial customers) or 70KW (industrial customers) of electricity.

“The package shall benefi t 3.5mn small businesses,” said Azhar.

He added that to determine electricty consumption, data from the past will be used as a benchmark.

The minister stated that 95% of all commercial and 80% of all industrial connections in the country will benefi t from the cash injection.

“These businesses are over-whelmingly of micro, small and medium scale,” clarifi ed the minister. He added that the sums deposited towards their bills will stay valid for up to six months.

“The sum will be based on ac-tual consumption and total pay-ments made from the meter in the May, June, July 2019 period combined,” said the minister.

The minister shared that the relief packages will be ap-plicable across the four prov-inces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He added that the package will benefi t 10.7mn households in the country, out of 60mn households total.

Last week, the ECC also approved Rs75bn for target-ed payments to low-income groups, especially labourers and daily wagers most severely aff ected by the lockdown in the country.

According to a statement re-leased by the government, an es-

InternewsIslamabad

Men sit on the back of a truck as they are breaking fast, amid lockdown in eff orts to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in Lahore yesterday.

timated 6mn people are expected to benefi t from the scheme in ad-dition to the 12mn labour popu-lation already targeted through the Kifalat programme.

The amount was taken from the Prime Minister’s Covid-19

Relief Package of Rs200bn, dis-closed the government.

The approval for the amount was given during an ECC meet-ing chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

The Ministry of Industries and Production and the Poverty Al-leviation and Social Sector De-velopment Division are tasked to jointly work out comprehensive mechanisms and modalities to ensure a transparent and effi -

cient disbursement of the sup-port to the deserving people, the statement said.

It is pertinent to mention that last month, the federal cabinet has approved a Rs1.2tn total eco-nomic relief package.

Fayaz appointed new information minister

Prime Minister Imran Khan in a startling move yesterday terminated Firdaus Ashiq Awan, and has appointed leader in the upper house, Senator Shibili Fayaz as new federal minister for information, broadcasting and national heritage.The PM has also appointed Asim Saleem Bajwa as special adviser to PM, who was commander southern command and served as ISPR director general before retirement.The reshuff le has raised many eyebrows across country. The notification shall immediate come into force.

PM directs MPs to work for masses’ relief

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed parliamentarians to play an active role in providing relief to the people, especially to weaker segments, in wake of Covid-19.He was talking to Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub Khan and members of the National Assembly Muhamed Nawaz Allai and Ali Khan Jadoon in Islamabad yesterday.The parliamentarians, during the meeting, apprised the prime minister about latest coronavirus situation in their respective constituencies and people’s problems. They also informed Imran Khan about situation emerged due to coronavirus pandemic and ongoing relief activities.Matters, pertaining to development, also came under discussion during the meeting.

NAB to request court to declare ex-premierproclaimed off ender

The National Account-ability Bureau (NAB) of Pakistan has decided

to request the accountability court to declare former prime minister Nawaz Sharif a pro-claimed off ender in the case of Jang Group’s editor-in-chief Mir Shakilur Rehman, according to sources.

NAB has also issued arrest warrants for Sharif for not joining investigations after he was summoned time and again to record his statement in the case.

The NAB investigators have also sent a questionnaire to Sharif, asking him to record his statement but he has not appeared before the inves-tigation team to record his statement.

Sharif is in the United King-dom for his medical treatment whereas Rehman is in NAB custody on physical remand till April 28 and the Lahore High Court has dismissed two petitions against his arrest.

NAB sent a questionnaire to the former prime minister summoning him to the bu-reau’s offi ce on March 20 and 31 to record his statement but no response came from him.

Earlier, in a notice to Sharif, NAB said: “The competent authority has taken the cog-nizance of off ences allegedly committed by you and oth-

ers under the provisions of NAO, 1999.

“The inquiry against Mir Shakilur Rehman, former CM, Mian Mohamed Nawaz Sharif, offi cers/offi cials of LDA and others has revealed that you as chief minster Punjab and LDA chairman prima facie misused your authority and rendered undue benefi t to co-accused Mir Shakilur Rehman by approving exemption of 54x plots measuring one kanal each in a single block (com-pact form) situated at canal bank H- Block of M A Jauhar Town, Lahore, vide summary dated July 11, 1986.

“In view, thereof, you are hereby called upon to appear before a combined investiga-tion team (CIT), IW-II, at NAB complex, Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore, on March 31, 2020, at 11am to record your statement in response to questions asked vide questionnaire attached herewith.”

NAB arrested Rehman on March 12 in a 34-year-old case related to 54-kanal land he had allegedly acquired “ille-gally” during the tenure of the then chief minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif.

In the case, Rehman stated that the property in question had been bought from a private party and all evidence of this had been provided to NAB, in-cluding the legal requirements fulfi lled like duty and taxes. No wrong had been committed in this regard, he said.

InternewsLahore

80% of Punjab mosques violate pact

More than 80% mosques in Punjab and Islamabad have

failed to implement govern-ment directives and safety guidelines, fi nds a report, as the number of coronavi-

rus cases in Pakistan crosses 13,000.

The report has been published by the Islamabad-based NGO, Pattan Development Organisa-tion. On Friday, its team of ob-servers visited 194 mosques in 15 cities of the Punjab province, as well as the capital city, with a checklist of 20 rules the ulema had agreed to with the president.

The agreement includes that during Ramadan, mosques must ensure a 6ft distance be-tween worshippers, it is man-datory for people praying in mosques to wear face masks and there should be no congre-gation on the roads and side-walks, states the agreement.

As per the fi ndings, in 96% of sampled mosques people

were found praying on the footpaths, while 86% of the worshippers did not wear any face masks.

An overwhelming majority, 72% of the men in mosques did not keep a 6ft distance.

The report adds that these practices are a clear violation of the mitigation measures. “Sadly, in more than two-thirds of the

observed mosques children were found alongside their elders.”

The survey also notes that compliance of the 20-points was better at larger mosques rather than small ones.

In a televised address, the prime minister said that if mosques were found not follow-ing the 20 rules, action could be taken.

InternewsLahore

Minister calls on stores to stick to social distancing

Interior Minister Ijaz Shah has emphasised on following guidelines on surgical masks

and social distancing before entering stores.

Speaking at a meeting of Na-tional Command and Opera-tion Centre in Islamabad yes-terday, he urged provinces to educate store owners that only those people be allowed inside stores who follow guidelines on surgical masks and social distancing.

The minister said intercity move may be curtailed on week-ends to avoid crowding for public safety and health.

InternewsIslamabad

A police off icer uses megaphone to disperse shopkeepers, who gather to reopen their shops at a closed electronics market, as the lockdown continues during the eff orts to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in Karachi yesterday.

Cleric slammed for pandemic remarks

A popular cleric whose religious group has been blamed for

spreading the coronavi-rus is facing ridicule after he suggested the pandemic was caused partly by the “immodesty” of women.

Maulana Tariq Jameel ap-peared on a telethon with Prime Minister Imran Khan last week, when he explained various reli-gious codes and said humanity had been punished in the past for breaking these.

“Who has demolished modesty in my country? Who is making the nation’s daughters dance? Who is shortening their dresses? Who should be held respon-sible?” Jameel said during the coronavirus fundraiser hosted by Khan.

The comment spurred an im-mediate backlash with leading activists and a government min-ister blasting the cleric, while social media users roasted the preacher for ignoring his own group’s role in spreading the virus.

Jameel is a senior mem-ber of the Tablighi Jamaat

missionary group which has been blamed for seed-ing the epidemic in Paki-stan by holding a gathering with 100,000 participants in March after the virus had already been detected in the country - leading to hun-dreds of transmissions.

Human Rights Minister Shi-reen Mazari tweeted it was “simply absurd” for someone to suggest the pandemic was the result of women wearing short sleeves.

“This simply refl ects either ignorance abt pandemics or a misogynist mindset. Absolutely unacceptable,” she wrote.

The Human Rights Commis-sion of Pakistan also warned that the remarks being made during a live broadcast “only compounds the misogyny entrenched in society”.

Jameel is one of Pakistan’s leading preachers. His sermons are widely broadcast on Paki-stan’s state-run and private TV stations during Ramadan, while his YouTube channel has 3.5mn subscribers.

Pakistan ranked a dismal 136 on the UN Development Programme’s Gender Inequal-ity Index in 2018, doing worse than most of its South Asian neighbours.

AFPIslamabad

4 militants killed in Panjgur districtFour suspected militants were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces during an operation in the Prom area of Panjgur district.According to off icial sources, members of security forces, acting on an intelligence report about presence of wanted militants in Prom Kallag Kour Yar Muhamed Bazaar, launched a search operation in the area.During combing of the area, the militants hiding in a house opened fire on the security personnel, triggering a gunfight which continued for about two hours.The exchange of fire led to killing of the four militants who were later identified as Noor Ahmed, Mohamed Nawaz, Abdul Malik and Momin. They all belonged to Buleda area of Kech district.

Govt provides full support to overseas Pakistanis

Pakistan’s Foreign Of-fi ce spokesperson Aisha Farooqui has said Pa-

kistani embassies working in 100 countries are providing all possible support to overseas Pakistanis.

In an interview with a pri-vate news channel, she said the embassy staff had dis-tributed food items among the needy families residing in Gulf countries, besides

giving fi nancial support to them.

The spokesperson said fi -nancial support has been ex-tended to those Pakistanis who are facing serious trouble in Bangkok, Turkey and the United States.

She said that the embassy staff ers have also extended help for stranded Pakistanis who are waiting at the airports for repa-triation.

To a question, she said the priority has been given to those Pakistanis whose visa period has expired.

InternewsIslamabad

PHILIPPINES17Gulf Times

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

National Capital Region curbs ‘may be eased after May 15’By Dempsey Reyes Manila Times

Metro Manila may be placed under the less restrictive general

community quarantine after May 15 if the signifi cant gains in the government’s battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continues, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said.

The most important gauge is the number of Covid cases daily, Ano said.

He said the situation is start-ing to “improve,” with the number of persons being tested for the virus doubling every day.

“It’s possible,” he responded when asked if Metro Manila will be under a general community quarantine. “We are monitoring the gains we currently have now.”

A general community quar-antine allows a freer movement of people and the possible open-ing of more establishments, of-fering food and other essential goods. Ano stressed that mass testing must continue, and the government must test at least 13,000 persons a day to ensure that those infected are identi-fi ed, segregated and treated.

Ano also ordered all local government units to form their

own Covid task force.The local task force will be

headed by local chief execu-tives, with members drawn from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protec-tion, the disaster risk reduction offi ce, and health offi ces.

The local task force will be divided into four teams that will handle contact tracing, patient management and monitoring, psychosocial counselling, and logistical and resource manage-ment. “Should the community

quarantine be lifted for good after May 15, it will be hard for the national task force to moni-tor everyone so we really needed this local task force,” Ano said.

Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay has urged the government to come up with guidelines or exit plan once the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted on May 15.

Binay asked the Inter-Agen-cy Task Force (IATF) to craft a “blue book” to guide public on the new normal.

“We are asking the people to embrace the new normal. But the question: Is the government and the private sector ready for the new normal?” Binay said.

She said that even before May 15, the IATF should share with the public its roadmap for tran-sitioning to the new normal.

“It’s a given that we will have to live with the virus everyday in our lives until a vaccine is avail-able,” the senator said.

Such a handbook will guide the public on what to expect

“once restrictions in travelling and going to work are relaxed, and how to manage people’s ex-pectations,” Binay said.

A blue book will also serve as “a handy instruction manual for essential businesses on how to retrofi t their establishments to the new normal,” she said.

She said the current IATF guidelines has enough content to be transposed into an illus-trated format which can serve as a handbook for public transport operators, building manage-

ment fi rms, schools, restau-rants, hotels, shops, amusement and entertainment centres.

Binay said the government would be remiss if it lifts the lockdown without the nec-essary safety nets to control disease transmission, such as minimising risks in vulnerable areas like public markets, trains and buses, workplaces, includ-ing the health system’s capacity to test, isolate and treat every Covid-19 case, and trace every contact.

Community quarantine will be new normal: RoqueBy Ma RL TolentinoManila Times

The general community quarantine (GCQ) will be the new normal as long as

there is no vaccine for the coro-navirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr said.

“We are no longer back to nor-mal as we know it,” Roque said in an interview with DZMM on Saturday.

“So, as long as there is no vaccine, we cannot return to the normal as we knew it before Covid-19, he said in another in-terview with DZBB.

Roque said what was impor-tant was that people in quaran-tined areas should get used to the changes as the country shifts to post-coronavirus conditions.

President Rodrigo Duterte ex-tended the enhanced communi-ty quarantine or ECQ until May 15 in Metro Manila, Regions 3 and 4A, and other Covid “high-risk” areas.

Roque said moderate-risk ar-eas would be under GCQ until May 15, subject to further evalu-ation.

Low-risk areas will be under GCQ until May 15, and if the coronavirus curve continues to fl atten, the quarantine will be relaxed in phases, he said.

Roque said the budget for the Social Amelioration Programme and other government assist-ance is enough because these are included in the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.

What the government must focus on is securing the budget for the Covid emergency beyond May 15, he said.

Roque said it was inevitable that some government projects would lose funding because of the bigger allocation for the Covid emergency in the 2021 na-tional budget.

Asked if there is a draft sup-plemental budget, he said the Department of Budget and Management Secretary Wendel Avisado had made a presenta-tion when the president an-nounced the extension of the ECQ in some areas.

US embassy cancels next month’s visa interviewsBy Bernadette TamayoManila Times

The United States embassy in the Philippines can-celled all immigrant and

non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled through May 31, due to the second extension of the enhanced community quaran-tine (ECQ) to May 15.

The Luzon-wide ECQ de-signed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was set to expire on April 30.

But President Rodrigo Duterte opted to extend the ECQ again until May 15 to allow the Depart-ment of Health (DoH) and lo-cal government units (LGUs) to conduct mass testing.

“We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specifi c date at this time,” US embassy spokesman Heather Fabrikant said.

She said that after the ECQ is lifted in Metro Manila, “all aff ected applicants should re-schedule their visa interviews through the embassy call center or through the online appoint-ment system at ustraveldocs.com/ph. “There is no fee to change an appointment and visa application fees are valid for one year in the country where the fee was paid,” she added.

“We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible...”

Extended segregation ‘may lead to hunger, criminality’By Bernadette TamayoManila Times

Workers in the agricul-ture, manufactur-ing and construction

sectors should be allowed to re-turn to work in order to stave off hunger, social unrest and crimi-nality, Senator Cynthia Villar has said.

Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, said a more realistic and sustainable measure against the corona-virus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic should be put in place instead of the lockdown.

She added that the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, where the number of Covid-19 cases remain high was “already taking its toll on the employ-ment situation of the poor in the country.” The enhanced

quarantine was supposed to end on April 30 but was extended again; this time up to May 15, 2020.

The lockdown was relaxed in areas that reported a decline in cases. They were placed under a General Community Quaran-tine (GCQ) eff ective after the end of the month.

The senator pointed out that the agriculture sector employs

22% of workers in the country and manufacturing and con-struction employ 10% each. Construction workers number 3.9mn in 2018, almost the same number in manufacturing.

“Agricultural and construc-tion workers work outdoors in open spaces and are exposed to sunlight, so the risks of them getting infected are much lower as long as the people practice

personal protection measures,” Villar said, even though health experts around the world were divided on that issue.

The senator also said the de-cision to impose an ECQ should not only depend on areas but also on industry types or sec-tors.

“We should remember that most of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Philip-pines is in NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon,” she explained. NCR is the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, while Calabarzon refers to the prov-inces of Cavite, Laguna, Batan-gas, Rizal and Quezon.

“And if we do not practice partial lockdown in these areas, we lose 70% of our gross do-mestic product,“ she said. GDP, a key economic indicator, is the fi nal cost of all goods and serv-ices produced in a period, nor-mally a year.

She pointed out that the agri-

culture sector was in full swing, but some downstream indus-tries have limited operations or have ceased operations already because of stringent quaran-tine. As a result, workers in food manufacturing have been displaced and supply chains to markets have been disrupted, Villar added.

“With the extension of the ECQ for another half a month, we need to intensify food pro-duction as well as ensure the unimpeded fl ow of fresh pro-duce and food products all over the country,” she said.

In construction and manu-facturing, work stoppage re-sulting from the lockdown not only stranded workers at their workplaces but also left them without income.

“As we all know, workers in construction and manufac-turing are daily wage earners who are compensated on a ‘No work, no pay’ basis. They have

no source of income while on ECQ,” Villar said.

“While the government and companies may have extended fi nancial assistance and re-lief goods, those will not be enough,” she added.

She cited that people were going hungry already, and if that was not addressed soon, people might be tempted to commit crimes just to secure money to buy food.

“Many are willing to risk their lives and get infected with coro-navirus, just to provide food for their family. They can be heard saying that on TV and in social media,” she said.

While there may be health risks, she suggested that work-ers who will be allowed to work could still follow safety proto-cols, such as physical distancing and wearing face masks.

Employers can also ensure that their workers comply with those precautions, she added.

ADB approves $200mn loan

to support poor householdsBy Anna LE GonzalesManila Times

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday ap-proved a $200mn loan to

support the Philippine govern-ment’s eff ort to provide emer-gency cash subsidies to vulner-able households amid the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

“This global pandemic, of a kind not seen in the last century, has disrupted the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos and could set back the very substantial gains the country has made in reducing poverty in recent years,” said ADB Vice-President Ahmed M Saeed in a statement.

“The new loan supports the government’s emergency sub-sidy programme, which was

designed to help vulnerable households get through this very diffi cult period and avoid falling into poverty.”

Last month, President Rod-rigo Duterte signed into law the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” authorising the government to implement a Covid-19 emergen-cy subsidy programme that pro-vides cash payments of P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months to 18mn low-income families nationwide.

The programme includes 4.3mn poor households cov-ered under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The ADB said the $200mn loan, under the Social Protection Support Project–Second Ad-ditional Financing, would con-tribute to the $726mn required

to provide emergency subsidies to 4Ps households in April and May 2020.

The loan is part of ADB’s comprehensive support to the Philippines to mitigate the dam-aging eff ects of the pandemic on the economy and well-being of Filipinos.

Last week, ADB also approved a $1.5bn loan to fund the gov-ernment’s Covid-19 response programme and strengthen the country’s healthcare system.

Two grants approved in March totalling $8mn are also support-ing the delivery of food baskets to at least 140,000 vulnerable households in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, purchase of emergency medical supplies, and setting up of a new labora-tory that will increase the coun-try’s Covid-19 testing capacity by 3,000 tests a day.

Villar: concern over employment situation

5.2 quake hits southern Philippines

Release of prison inmates under review

QNAManila

An off shore earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 shook Davao Occidental province in the southern Philippines yesterday.

The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs) said that the off shore quake, which struck yesterday morning, hit at

a depth of 64 kilometres, about 164 kilometres southeast of Jose Abad Santos town in Davao Occidental province.

The tremor was also felt in Sarangani prov-ince in the southern Philippines, according to the institute. The institute further said the quake, which was tectonic in origin, will nei-ther trigger aftershocks nor cause damage. The Philippines has frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacifi c “Ring of Fire.”

By Jan ArcillaManila Times

The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has announced it was considering the

release of prisoners and de-tainees to decongest prisons to minimise the spread of the novel coronavirus inside peni-

tentiaries. On Friday, the Bu-Cor reported that an inmate at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City died of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Cov-id-19).

Also, 21 inmates and a medi-cal staff member at the Cor-rectional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City have been infected. BuCor spokes-

man Gabriel Chaclag told radio DZBB the bureau had asked the Department of Justice for the directive and guidance in re-leasing inmates The Justice de-partment had earlier approved a Board of Pardons and Parole resolution dated April 15, 2020 that would relax some require-ments for the application of parole and clemency.

Elite policemen patrol a market while people shop during a government imposed enhanced quarantine as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 novel coronavirus in Manila.

Virus death toll rises to 511, cases up to 7,777

The Philippines yesterday reported 198 new coronavirus cases and 10 more deaths, bring-ing the country’s tally to 7,777 cases and 511 fatalities, Reuters reported. The Department of Health also said 70 individuals have recovered from the infec-tion, bringing the total number of recoveries to 932.

From disseminating important information to assisting in potentially life-saving research and development, various forms of technology have a leading role in Qatar’s and the wider world’s response to Covid-19. In this Q&A, experts from Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) outline how social media platforms are tackling the spread of false information, AI’s contribution to research activities, and more

QUESTION: Social media is an obvious ‘home’ for false information and conspiracy theories. Have you noticed

anything diff erent about the spread of spurious information regarding Covid-19?

ANSWER: False information con-cerning Covid-19 includes conspiracy theories, fake cures and questionable political motivations. Popular conspira-cies include suggestions that symptoms are caused by sarin gas and that 5G towers are behind the genetic mutation of the virus. Other theories claim that Covid-19 is a hoax designed to subdue and track people, or the work of a secret cabal bent on eliminating populations to save the environment. The eff ects of such rumours include the creation of a sense of helplessness and complacency among communities.

Social media is currently awash with outlandish cures and remedies for Cov-id-19. It’s been claimed, for example, that alcohol, tobacco and even cow’s urine are useful for treating symptoms. The politicisation of Covid-19 is equally – if not more – controversial. For instance, supporters of Donald Trump initially pushed the narrative that liber-als were exaggerating the eff ects of the virus to undermine support for the US president. Similarly, followers of Naren-dra Modi have attributed the spread of Covid-19 around India to the Muslim missionary group Tableeghi Jaamat af-ter some of its members tested positive following a religious gathering.

Q: How eff ective have global eff orts been to use social media to dispel myths and provide credible sources of infor-mation regarding Covid-19?

A: Social media platforms such as

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have consistently pointed users to the World Health Organisation (WHO) website for reliable information concerning Covid-19. Our research also highlights that many social media users have been actively dispelling rumours and dis-crediting sources. This is a positive sign.

We’ve also observed that open social media platforms have been more successful in reducing fake news and rumours than their messaging coun-terparts, such as WhatsApp. Similarly, many of these platforms have created dedicated aggregators that distil infor-mation from articles, news and organi-sational posts while providing access to reliable information in a consolidated manner. Nonetheless, some rumours have made their way around social me-dia at an alarming rate. You know you are in trouble when you receive the same video mentioning a specifi c rumour or conspiracy theory multiple times on WhatsApp.

Q: Covid-19 is creating large amounts of data on a daily basis, some of which might be useful for the de-velopment of novel treatments. How is technology working with big data to

find and discern important informa-tion?

A: Put simply, in many diff erent ways. For example, data from Asian countries that bore the early brunt of Covid-19 is now being used for epidemic modelling elsewhere. This data is also helping to drive policies covering social distancing and lockdown, as well as the triage and testing of patients. Similarly, epidemio-logical characteristics such as relative risk in diff erent groups, intervention and treatment protocols are being designed and rapidly updated. Much of this would not have been possible with-out having access to large amounts of data that can be used to tune hypothesis and model parameters.

Similarly, under the compassionate use criteria many experimental drugs - or drugs approved for other diseases - are being tested on patients. This is resulting in a large number of trials, vast amounts of literature and the generation of new clinical data. AI and other data mining technologies are being utilised to generate insights from this data to answer high priority scientifi c ques-tions. For example, the Covid-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD19) released by various organisations is now part of a strategic call to the scientifi c commu-nity from the White House for contri-butions. This includes the discovery of novel treatments or the off -label use of approved medicines.

Q: How is artifi cial intelligence (AI) currently being used to detect, treat and prevent Covid-19? Are there any ‘on the

drawing board’ technologies that might prove useful?

A: Artifi cial Intelligence is being ap-plied to various aspects of the pandemic. For instance, China has deployed an AI radiology tool that uses CT images to di-agnose Covid-19. This helped the country to overcome a shortage of test kits, which otherwise remains the standard practice within the scientifi c community. Vari-ants of AI technology were also used to identify and track possible outbreaks and disease clusters, as well as patients enter-ing quarantine and self-isolation.

Researchers are also using AI to identify novel and existing drug candi-dates based on molecular structure and protein interactions. While this does not obviate the need for lab testing, it signifi cantly speeds up candidate gen-eration. Elsewhere, research is ongoing into a data-driven approach to predict various end points like severity, length of recovery and mortality. If successful, this approach will prove extremely use-ful in situations where proper resource utilisation is critical.

Dr Kareem Darwish is a principal scientist at QCRI’s Arabic Language Technologies.

Dr Faisal Farooq is Head of Digital Health research at QCRI.

This article is submitted on behalf of the authors by the HBKU Communica-tions Directorate. The views expressed are the authors’ own and do not neces-sarily refl ect the University’s offi cial stance.

Gulf Times Tuesday, April 28, 2020

COMMENT18

To Advertise advr@gulf-times.com

Display 44466621 44418811

Classified 44466609 44418811

Subscription circulation@gulf-times.com

© 2020 Gulf Times. All rights reserved

GULF TIMES

P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar

editor@gulf-times.com

44350478 (News),

44466404 (Sport),

44466636 (Home delivery)

44350474

facebook.com/gulftimes

twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar

CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

Sports stars on their sofas compete for fans

Across social media, sports stars denied the chance to play in front of a crowd are increasingly going “live” in sometimes surprising ways to connect with an audience.

To the delight of fans, happy to discover some hidden facets of their idols, stars from Karim Benzema to the Brazilian legend Ronaldo and even Rafael Nadal, who initially struggled with Instagram, are dropping their habitual discretion to interact live with their millions of followers.

“As competitions are suspended, sportsmen and women are no longer necessarily supervised by the club’s press offi cer,” Boris Helleu, an expert on digital strategies in sport, told AFP.

“The athlete becomes his own media and can speak out on subjects that we didn’t hear about before.”

One of those who has cracked open his armour on a range of topics is the normally prickly Benzema, who posts videos on YouTube as “Nueve Live” — a play on his shirt number, and has more than 33mn Instagram followers.

His broadcasts have attracted as many as 130,000 viewers live with hundreds of thousands more catching up later.

The tone is relaxed and humorous, but the French striker has also been mildly controversial, taking sides in French rap politics and also airing his grudge over being banned from the French team.

Asked about Olivier Giroud, who played centre forward when France won the World Cup two years ago, Benzema replied: “Everyone knows the diff erence between F1 and karting, and I’m F1.”

Benzema also builds his audience by chatting with the type of celebrities who appeal to a young Francophone audience, but when it comes to star guests, no one tops Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, the president of Valladolid in La Liga, has interviewed FIFA president Gianni Infantino and also talked to fellow Real Madrid Galacticos David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas and Luis Figo.

Switching from Portuguese to English, Spanish and Italian,

the Brazilian double Ballon d’Or winner chatted matily with former team-mates as if in a private phone call with an old friend, even though tens of thousands of people were watching.

When his turn came, Beckham said he had watched the earlier chats and thought “Figo talked too much”. Ronaldo responded by defending the Portuguese winger with a series of wife jokes.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic, sharp and articulate in English, has worked his way through the upper echelons of men’s tennis in a series of live chats which have moved beyond good-natured banter into the politics and economics of the sport.

Nadal caused great amusement as he struggled with the technology in a three-way Instagram chat with Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

“As you can see I am a disaster,” he said at one point. A star aiming for a young audience, Antoine Griezmann of

Barcelona, opted for gaming platform Twitch when, along with brother Theo, he hosted a live online combat session.

The athletes with their social media are exploiting a void caused by the cancellation of live sport are attracting a young audience.

Something is better than nothing, after all.

Nadal’s struggle with technology causes much amusement

Social media, technology and Covid-19: the view from QCRI scientists

By Dr Kareem Darwish and Dr Faisal Farooq

About Hamad Bin Khalifa UniversityInnovating Today, Shaping Tomorrow

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF), was founded in 2010 as a research-intensive university that acts as a catalyst for transforma-tive change in Qatar and the region while having global impact. Located in Education City, HBKU is committed to building and cultivating human capac-

ity through an enriching academic experience, innovative ecosystem, and unique partnerships. HBKU deliv-ers multidisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs through its colleges, and provides opportunities for research and scholarship through its institutes and centres. For more information about HBKU, visit www.hbku.edu.qa.

5G phone masts were attacked in Birmingham, Liverpool and Belfast following rumours that 5G towers are behind the genetic mutation of the Covid-19 virus.

By Carl Manlan and Henri-Michel YéréLome/Basel

Covid-19 poses the greatest threat yet to the systems of international integration instituted during the 20th

century. As with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the lethality and contagiousness of the coronavirus has prompted a return to hard national borders and other barriers.

Historically, the crises that have led to deeper integration have been military in nature, owing to the recognition that regional exchange is conducive to peace and prosperity. Under these conditions, most countries will have no interest in going to war with a neighbor, because doing so would almost certainly hurt their own citizens’ socioeconomic wellbeing.

When the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union in 2012, it recognised the bloc for “over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.” Over this period, the European project ensured peace by accelerating economic integration, starting with the joint production of coal and steel.

Similarly, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) emerged out of the ashes of a major crisis: the Biafran War (1967-1970). Côte d’Ivoire, acting as a proxy for French interests in the region, had a strategic interest in weakening Nigeria, so it recognised Biafra’s secessionist bid for independence. Such decisions, and the bloodshed that followed, threatened to leave lasting scars. But through ECOWAS, West Africa found a mechanism for advancing shared regional goals. Bringing

together Francophone, Anglophone, and Lusophone countries, the bloc broke through the “Berlin Wall” of colonial borders created in 1885. To this day, ECOWAS is widely regarded as one of Africa’s most successful sub-regional organisations.

Yet, for all of these institutions’ success, outbreaks of infectious disease pose a unique challenge. In the 2014 West African Ebola epidemic, a 50-country coalition was needed to contain the outbreak and resolve the crisis. Savvy diplomacy facilitated the pooling of financial, health, and logistical resources needed to beat back Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. At least 11,315 lives were lost, but the rest of the world was spared from a deadly pandemic.

We have not been so lucky with Covid-19. The pandemic is quickly unraveling governance structures, disrupting business models, and setting the stage for a global debt crisis. Like pandemics, global financial crises represent another serious threat to integration. Back in 2012, when the Nobel Committee awarded the EU the prize, many in Greece doubtless shook their heads at that decision, because they were waging their own “war” within the EU.

The euro crisis highlighted the limits of economic solidarity among EU member states. In the name of stanching the financial contagion, the doctor (namely, the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) had ordered a robust austerity plan instead of debt relief for Greece. The crisis showed that the political imperatives of an integration mechanism ultimately reflect the political economy upon which it was built.

Especially after the adoption

of the euro, the European project was supposed to feature a continent-wide single currency. The symbolic importance of the euro’s introduction in 1999 is clear if one recalls an earlier period of European integration, when the European Economic Community (the precursor to the EU) admitted Greece in 1981, and then Spain and Portugal in 1986. At the time, these three countries were among Europe’s most “backward” economies and youngest democracies. But it was widely acknowledged that peace and collective prosperity would be better

served by bringing them into the fold.Now that we are in the midst of

a pandemic, however, a return to austerity will inevitably expose the limits of any integration mechanism that is structured around currency stability. Covid-19 has put the debate about debt and austerity squarely back on the global agenda. Debt is an instrument of social and economic transformation, necessary for making large investments that would be impossible otherwise, with interest rates serving as a measure of risk perception – the expectation that economic activity will allow

COMMENT

Gulf Times Tuesday, April 28, 2020 19

Europe’s welcome pandemic responseBy Sylvain BroyerParis

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit EU member states hard, and will continue to confront the bloc with signifi cant economic

challenges. Yet, from a macroeconomic perspective, Europe’s policy response so far has been encouraging, because it includes strong incentives for sustain-able growth, solidarity, and economic stability.

European governments have committed to pursuing unprecedented fi scal measures in response to the crisis, and – equally important – markets seem to have deemed these measures appropriate. Recent sovereign-debt off erings by Portugal and Italy were priced at very low rates and were largely oversubscribed. Across Europe, sovereign-bond yields are similar to what they were at the end of 2019. Although spreads and credit-default-swap pricing on certain European governments’ debt have widened, they are nowhere near the levels seen in previous shocks. In other words, the fragmentation of European fi nancial markets is much more contained than it was in 2009 or 2012.

Moreover, there are good reasons to believe that the Covid-19 policy response will play out diff erently than the one that followed the 2008 fi nancial crisis, even though the recession might be deeper this time. S&P’s forecast anticipates that GDP will contract by 6% in Germany, 8% in France, and 10% in Italy this year, and that debt-to-GDP ratios will soar as a result of the

recession and the unprecedented fi scal response.

However, from a macroeconomic perspective, debt-to-GDP levels do not reveal much about debt sustainability if taken out of context and treated as static. A more telling and dynamic indicator is the oft-overlooked three-band interplay between a country’s primary budget balance, its interest burden, and its economic growth rate.

Though government debt-to-GDP levels will rise in 2020, those increases will refl ect a one-off fi scal response to a unique non-economic shock. Unlike the events leading to the 2008 crisis, which started in the fi nancial sector, the Covid-19 pandemic is fi rst and foremost a health crisis, albeit one with far-reaching economic implications, including higher unemployment, lower asset prices, higher default rates, and more non-performing loans.

S&P’s current base-case outlook for the third quarter of 2020 through 2021 anticipates that once the pandemic lockdowns end, growth will resume and once again exceed real interest rates. Hence, we expect economic rebounds of more than 4% in Germany, and of more than 6% in France and Italy. In this scenario, primary budget balances would improve, and debt-to-GDP levels would decline across most European countries. Equally promising for Europe’s recovery, interest rates on European government debt have fallen by some 400 basis points since the global fi nancial crisis, while per capita GDP has grown by 5%.

Another positive sign is the composition and sequencing of today’s policy response, which is quite

diff erent from previous crises. As some commentators have noted, during the 2008 crisis, precious time was lost debating issues such as European ring-fencing and the details of new policy instruments. Whereas the US Federal Reserve launched its fi rst quantitative-easing programme in 2008, it took the European Central Bank another seven years fi nally to expand its balance sheet and start its own QE programme.

This time, the policy response has been much faster, as well as generous and consistent with the best economic theory. Within a month of most nationwide lockdowns, the ECB’s balance sheet had already expanded by €500bn ($540bn), equivalent to 4% of eurozone GDP. And while much more remains to be done, the current trajectory and scale of the fi scal and monetary expansion off ers hope that the pandemic’s blow to GDP will be a short-term phenomenon.

To be sure, some would argue that the EU does not do enough to support distressed governments, or to close the divide among EU member states. The EU is yet to have its “Hamilton moment” of fi scal transfer, and a common treasury probably will not come anytime soon. Still, it is not as though the EU has spent the current crisis auditing public accounts or caviling over the Stability and Growth Pact. On the contrary, it very quickly relaxed its budget rules and guidelines on state aid, thereby allowing member states to support their economies and health systems as needed.

Moreover, EU fi nance ministers have devised a safety-net mechanism through which the EU budget will be made available to fund partial

employment benefi ts, thus softening the painful fi scal shock at the national level. The EU also is considering using the European Stability Mechanism to fund national healthcare expenditures, which would provide still more short-term relief.

Taken together, these quick policy actions indicate that the EU’s response is already miles ahead of its reaction to previous crises. And at the European Council, EU heads of state and government agreed to work toward establishing an EU recovery fund to shore up the member states’ economic prospects. The lessons learned from the so-called Juncker Plan establishing a European Fund for Strategic Investments will be useful in laying the foundations for a fund dedicated to post-pandemic recovery.

Covid-19 will undoubtedly leave its mark on European economies. National GDPs will not return to their late-2019 levels for at least two years, and that could have implications for credit. But if the EU recovery plan that is now under discussion turns out to be bold, forward-looking, and appropriately aligned to other growth-friendly programmes such as the European Green Deal, it could help European economies become more sustainable, competitive, and cohesive far into the future. – Project Syndicate

Sylvain Broyer is Chief EMEA Economist at S&P Global Ratings

The views expressed in this commentary are the author’s own, are not policy recommendations, and are not predictive of rating actions by S&P Global Ratings.

Will global governance prove itself?

Migrant workers from Myanmar are seen on the border as they try to go back their home country due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, at Mae Sot, Thailand in this March 25 picture. The lethality and contagiousness of the coronavirus has prompted a return to hard national borders and other barriers.

Social media rampant source of misinformation on Covid-19: studyIANSNew York

Joining the growing body of evidence for social media being the primary source of fake news around coronavirus, a new study

has found that people who relied on social media or conservative news outlets in early days of the Covid-19 outbreak were more likely to be mis-informed about how to prevent the virus and believe conspiracy theories about it.

The Annenberg Science Knowl-edge (ASK) survey on Covid-19 was conducted in early March, among a nationally representative sample of 1,008 US adults, the researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US said.

The study, published in the journal

Harvard Kennedy School Misinforma-tion Review, found that there were notable diff erences in views about the coronavirus that correlated with people’s media consumption.

According to the researchers, conservative media usage (such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh) correlated with higher levels of misinformation and belief in conspiracies about the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic.

The survey found that more than 23% people thought it was probably or defi nitely true that the Chinese had created the virus as a bioweapon (there is no evidence of this). More than 21% participants thought taking vitamin C can probably or defi nitely prevent infection by the coronavirus (it does not). Social media and web aggrega-tor usage was associated with lower levels of information and higher levels of misinformation, the researchers added.

People who used social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) were more likely to believe that taking vitamin C can prevent infection with the coronavirus; that some in the CDC were exaggerating the threat to harm the president and that the virus was created by the US government.

People who used web aggrega-tors (such as Google News, Yahoo News) were less likely to believe in the eff ectiveness of handwashing and avoidance of symptomatic individu-als as ways to prevent transmission of the virus (in early March, the asymp-tomatic transmission was less clear). Mainstream broadcast and print media usage correlated with higher levels of the correct information and lower levels of misinformation, the study said.

People who reported using broad-cast news (such as ABC News, CBS News, NBC News) were more likely to

say, correctly, that the novel corona-virus is more lethal than the seasonal fl u, it added.

People who consume mainstream print news (such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal) were more likely to hold accurate beliefs about the virus.

They were more likely to report that they believe that regular hand washing and avoiding contact with symp-tomatic people are ways to prevent infection with the coronavirus; and less likely to believe that vitamin C can prevent infection.

“Because both information and misinformation can affect behaviour, we all ought be doing our part not only to increase essential knowledge about Sars-CoV-2, but also to inter-dict the spread of deceptions about its origins, prevention, and effects,” said study co-author Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

Live issues

scheduled repayments to be made on time.

But now that economic activity has ground to a halt, these arrangements must be revisited. In Africa’s case, annual GDP growth before the sudden stop averaged roughly 4%, while new government debt issues amounted to just 1% of annual GDP. As such, the international response cannot be limited merely to debt relief. The real issue is the interest rate. African governments are paying 5-16% interest on ten-year government bonds while the

governments of most advanced economies are paying zero or negative rates. If global solidarity is to mean anything, this imbalance must be addressed.

The 2014-16 Ebola outbreak demonstrated the effectiveness of global-governance mechanisms in bringing scientific expertise, critical resources, and health workers to the front lines of the crisis. At the time, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone represented just 0.68% of Africa’s GDP. How odd, then, that at a time when global GDP – $88.1tn last year – is at stake, the world retreats into nationalism.

The Greek crisis was a harbinger of a debt debate that has only just begun, just as Ebola offered an early warning of the pandemic threat. By bringing the two issues together, Covid-19 will test existing mechanisms of political and economic integration like never before. Reinforcing national borders will not help: the pandemic and the looming debt crisis are both near-universal phenomena, born of globalisation.

The immediate health emergency represents an historic opportunity for global-governance mechanisms to demonstrate their effectiveness and regain public confidence. We must look beyond the narrow ideological constraints that defined the policy debates of the post-2008 era. The Covid-19 crisis demands that we rethink fundamental assumptions, start to strengthen our institutions accordingly, and prepare for the next crisis. – Project Syndicate

Carl Manlan, a 2016 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute, is Chief Operating Officer at the Ecobank Foundation.

Henri-Michel Yéré is a historian affiliated with the University of Basel, Switzerland.

WARNING

Inshore : NilOffshore : Expected strong wind

and high sea at first

WEATHERInshore : Relatively hot daytime

with some clouds and mild by night

WINDInshore : Northwesterly-Norther-

ly 07-13 KTOffshore : Northwesterly-North-

easterly 8-18 KT

Visibility : 4-8 KMOffshore : 3-5 FT

TODAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Maximum Temperature : 340cMinimum Temperature : 260c

Maximum Temperature : 330cMinimum Temperature : 280c

Maximum Temperature : 350cMinimum Temperature : 270c

BaghdadKuwait City ManamaMuscat Tehran

AthensBeirut BangkokBerlinCairoCape TownColomboDhakaHong KongIstanbulJakartaKarachiLondonManilaMoscowNew DelhiNew YorkParisSao PauloSeoulSingaporeSydneyTokyo

Weathertoday

P Cloudy SunnySunnyM Sunny

P Cloudy

Max/min32/1931/2432/2638/3020/12

Weathertomorrow

Cloudy M CloudyM SunnyM Sunny

P Cloudy

Max/min29/1829/2534/2836/2922/13

Around the region

Around the world

Max/min23/1220/1533/2623/0931/1920/1231/2629/2324/2019/0932/2633/2619/0836/2611/0131/2209/0524/1327/1418/0531/2620/1717/08

WeathertodaySunnyM Sunny

S T Storms M SunnyP CloudyCloudyP CloudyT Storm P Cloudy M SunnyT Storm SunnyM CloudyP CloudyM CloudyS T StormsShowersP Cloudy P Cloudy M SunnyT Storm

S ShowersCloudy

Max/min24/1421/1735/2724/1232/1623/1231/2628/2324/1920/0831/2534/2612/0836/2611/0432/2318/0719/1128/1419/0731/2623/1621/10

WeathertomorrowP CloudySunny

P Cloudy M CloudySunnySunnyP CloudyS T Storms P Cloudy SunnyT StormSunnyShowersP CloudyM CloudyM SunnyP CloudyCloudy Sunny Sunny T Storm S ShowersClear

Fisherman's forecast

Three-day forecast

20 Gulf TimesTuesday, April 28, 2020

QATAR

Face masks, sanitisers available at all major retail outlets, pharmaciesBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Face masks, as well as sani-tisers, are now easily ac-cessible at major retailers

and pharmacies in Qatar. Wear-ing masks has become compul-sory for several sectors amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pan-demic.

Shoppers at food and catering stores, apart from government and private sector employees and clients, and workers in the contracting sector, are required to use face masks, based on the new government directive, which came into effect on Sun-day (April 26).

Speaking to Gulf Times, LuLu Group International regional manager Shanavas P M said they have enough stocks of face masks that will last for several months, ensuring a steady sup-ply to meet the demand surge. “We have enough stocks but we sell them as per government in-struction,” he said, adding that they always anticipate the de-mand for such items to continue even post Covid-19.

Various types of face masks such as surgical/disposable and N95 are on display at LuLu stores across the country. There is a two boxes per person limit. Each box contains 50 pieces of face masks. Carrefour Qatar, which also has stocks of face masks and sanitisers, is also strictly following the Qatari authorities’ directives and de-cisions, to prevent the spread of Covid-19, according to the company’s country manager Laurent Hausknecht.

“As for face masks, we sell them in a dedicated counter, and each customer has to present his ID to collect a box of 50 masks, eligible for a two-week period. The sales of face masks are now regulated through the Qatar ID, as mandated by the government,” he said.

Hausknecht noted that de-spite an uptick in sales during the first two weeks of March, particularly for sanitisation products, they have been work-ing closely with their suppliers to deliver essential products to its customers. He said that Car-refour continues to ensure both its physical and online stores remain operational and fully

stocked “to provide custom-ers with what they need when they need” as it copes with the changes in consumer habits.

In addition to Carrefour’s existing stringent sanitisa-tion standards, Hausknecht said they have put in place a set new of measures to ensure the safety of all its customers and colleagues. “The health and

well-being of our colleagues and customers remain our number one priority, and this is why we have implemented comprehensive sanitisation and cleaning procedures, since the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, to complement our best-in-class hygiene meas-ures,” he said.

“Our colleagues in security are carefully manning store en-trances, to make sure customers are abiding by the government-mandated hygiene measures, especially regarding face masks. In addition, our partners from Qatar Red Crescent Society are showing great support in major hypermarkets, where they tem-perature check customers, and ensure social distancing guide-lines are respected and adhered to at all times,” the country manager added.

A leading pharmacy in Doha echoed similar statements say-ing that all their stores in Qatar have more than enough of face mask supplies.

Various types of face masks and sanitisers at a LuLu Hypermarket.

Carrefour Qatar manager Laurent Hausknecht.

Face masks at a Carrefour outlet.

Tarsheed programmes promote sustainabilityAs part of its ongoing eff orts

to promote rational use of energy, the Qatar General

Electricity and Water Corpora-tion (Kahramaa), represented by the National Programme for Conservation and Energy Effi -ciency (Tarsheed), has launched a number of awareness pro-grammes during Ramadan.

They are part of Kahramaa’s campaign Stay at Home and Act Sustainably that has been planned within the plans and goals of Tar-sheed to increase awareness of the effi ciency of use of electricity and water for the residential sector.

The episodes of the compe-tition are telecast on Qatar TV every day after the religious pro-gramme that follows immediately after Maghrib prayer. The compe-tition is also held on Twitter, In-stagram, Facebook, and Snapchat accounts of Kahramaa and Tar-sheed. In all, 13 episodes are being telecast in a fun and interesting way through cartoon characters, loved by both children and adults. The competition is suitable for all members of society and urges

them to adopt positive practices in the consumption of water and electricity.

Participants can send the an-swer in an SMS to the toll-free numbers: 92119 (Ooredoo) and 97000 (Vodafone).

The competition can also be followed on the hashtag #Ask_Tarsheed and #StayHomeSus-tainably on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. One winner will be announced for each question every two days on the social media accounts at 1pm, after announcing the right answer of the previous episode.

Within the Stay at Home and Act Sustainably, four episodes are recorded with a prominent Islamic scholar, highlighting the teachings of Islam towards sustainability and to advise and guide community to follow the

methods of rationalisation and the effi ciency of using electricity and water. The episodes will also stress the importance of saving water during ablution as a reli-gious duty as part of social and environmental responsibility of every Muslim.

It’s also worth noting that Tarsheed has launched fi ve in-teractive workshops to educate children on various subjects in-cluding preserving the environ-ment and reducing harmful car-bon emissions.

Recycling, building a home greenhouse, growing house-plants, hand washing with no waste and the importance of us-ing soap are among the topics. The workshops are telecast on Jeem TV and several educational channels to reach schoolchildren studying at home now.

The General Directorate of Traff ic has issued an infographic highlighting the need to ensure that the number of passengers on a bus does not exceed half its capacity. The infographic, which includes an advisory in multiple language, also illustrates proper seating positions on a bus in accordance with social distancing norms. As per the decisions taken by the State to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country, the number of workers transported by bus cannot exceed half the capacity of the vehicle.

Advisory for bus passengers

Face masks at a LuLu outlet.

The competition is suitable for all members of society and urges them to adopt positive practices in the consumption of water and electricity

Qatar’s Covid-19 mortality ‘super low’From Page 1

The AI expert also noted that following the pattern of several previous epidemics that the world has witnessed so far, there could be resurgences of the epidemic until a vaccine is found for the virus.

“Several such pandemics in the past had seen three waves and the ensuing cycles were more dev-astating than the fi rst one. There were three waves for the 1918 pan-

demic as well as for the H1N1. In both cases, the second and third waves were more devastating than the fi rst wave. If such a situation repeats in the case of Covid-19, there might be more waves after the fi rst wave has subsided,” he noted.

Dr Sadeghi pointed out that Covid-19 has been spreading ex-ponentially all across the world but such growth cannot go on for a long time. “We have to stop the re-

production of the virus and social distancing is the best way to avoid the spread of the virus.

In Italy, at the beginning, the spread was about 4.8% and af-ter 45 days with social distancing and lockdown it came down to 1.5% and after 90 days it fell fur-ther to 0.5%. However, the virus reproduction rate could go lower in summer months while it could go higher in the winter season,” he highlighted. “Ultimately, the

world needs an eff ective vaccine. But another way we can stop the virus is through herd immunity, which is similar to vaccine but natural unlike the vaccine,” Dr Sa-deghi added.

However, some experts have questioned the adoption of the herd immunity policy in the case of Covid-19 because of the still unknown characteristics of the novel coronavirus that causes the disease.