Displaying items by tag: Health

Asia’s youngest democracy is grappling with political instability that has hampered efforts to reduce poverty, stamp out corruption, and develop its rich energy resources. Though the prime minister had tendered his resignation after failing to pass the budget several times, he withdrew his resignation to help lead the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and has called for a state of emergency while approving a $250-million fund to fight it. As this mostly Catholic nation recently celebrated Easter, we stand with them and declare that Jesus is ‘the resurrection and the life’ over East Timor. We declare that traditional and nominal religious following must be shaken off, and speak of a coming to life of real and loving relationship with the Saviour. See also

Superdrug has started selling a coronavirus antibody test, costing £69, to the public. They sold out in a few hours. The tests are intended to tell if someone had the virus in the past. The user takes blood samples and posts them off to a laboratory, where it takes 24 hours to produce a result. Medical giant Abbott, which makes the tests, insists that they are not intended to be used by people taking their own blood samples. They have only been found to be accurate on blood samples taken by trained healthcare providers directly from patients' veins. The MP who chairs the parliamentary panel on consumer protection said, ‘Superdrug seems to be playing on people’s fears and that is not right. What people really need is a readily available, easy to use test that is accurate’. She added that the cost is excessive and it is not 100% accurate. See

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has accused the Houthis of covering up a large outbreak of coronavirus in areas that they hold, and has called for urgent global assistance to help their war-ravaged health sector deal with coronavirus. The United Nations warned that the country could suffer a ‘catastrophic’ food security situation due to the pandemic. The WHO said that the virus is spreading undetected among the population in the country, control of which is divided between the government in the south and the Houthi group in the north.

The Catholic Church has said that the Government should treat the effects coronavirus has on ethnic groups as a matter of urgency. New analysis suggests that black men and women are more than four times more likely to die a coronavirus-related death than white people. Black males are 4.2 times more likely, and black women 4.3 times more likely, to die after contracting the virus. People of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, and mixed ethnicities also had an increased risk of death compared with those of white ethnicity. While public health leaders have said that they will review how different factors, such as ethnicity, obesity, and geographical location influence the effects of the virus, the church has said that more must be done.

A blood test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by Public Health England, a ‘very positive development’. The test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity. Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough. The government previously spent £16m buying antibody tests which proved to be ineffective. This test is the first one to offer serious potential. Experts at Porton Down evaluated the test and found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time. And if someone had not caught coronavirus, then it gave the correct result in 99.8% of cases.

Two major business groups have written to the governments in Dublin and Belfast to urge coordination in the recovery from coronavirus. The CBI and its Irish equivalent, Ibec, said that an economic reboot will need ‘the highest level of cooperation, coordination and joined-up thinking’. They highlighted the importance of integrated supply chains across the border and Irish Sea, stopping short of requesting a synchronised exit from the lockdown. There have been political differences at Stormont on the level to which an all-island approach should be taken to coronavirus. The two groups say that it is in everyone's interests to have experts on both sides of the border regularly communicating on their respective plans for economic revival and recovery, including all-island business and cross-border employment. They add, ‘It would be helpful and worthwhile for parallel conversations to take place between the two islands, with the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish council providing appropriate formal frameworks for such discussions’.

‘It will disappear one day like a miracle’ is how Donald Trump originally described coronavirus. For weeks he assured Americans it was ‘totally under control’. However, the US now has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases (644,188). Healthcare workers have medical shortages. Hospitals are overwhelmed. The president is accused of ignoring crisis warnings and misleading Americans. Trump insists he is ‘doing the job right’, using daily briefings to promote his achievements. He has now made the controversial decision to halt funds to the World Health Organisation, accusing it of mismanaging the virus spread. America is WHO’s largest donor. The UN said, ‘It is not the time to reduce resources for any humanitarian organisation in the fight against the virus’. Trump is suspected of attempting (in the lead-up to the presidential election for his second term) to make a case that his previous optimistic statements had been based on inaccurate information from WHO: see

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported that Nadia, a four-year-old female Malayan tiger, has tested positive for COVID-19. She, her sister, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had a dry cough. All are expected to recover. This positive COVID-19 test for the tiger was confirmed by the veterinary services laboratory and the animal health inspection service. A WCS spokesman said, ‘Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from animals to humans. Now, it’s jumping back. WCS said that any knowledge gained about COVID-19 will be shared to aid the world’s understanding of this novel coronavirus. It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats, since different species react differently to novel infections. The zoo will issue additional information as warranted. A provisional warning was issued that domestic cats should be kept indoors.

17 years ago Lisa had surgery for defective activity in her heart. But recently her condition returned and she needed surgery once again. Two good specialists saw that she had grown bad electrical pathways. Before going on a mission trip she asked for prayer and Paula Davis prayed for her. Paula, who had no knowledge of Lisa’s heart condition, started praying about the mission trip, then shifted her focus abruptly. ‘Do you have a problem with the electrical part of your heart?’ she asked. ‘I do, as a matter of fact’, Paula said, ‘I saw Jesus rewiring your whole heart’. When Lisa returned from mission she went for surgery. Afterwards, the surgeon in charge of the procedure said her heart was one of the healthiest he had ever seen and declared, ‘I didn’t have to do anything!’ Lisa asked, ‘Did Jesus heal me?’ ‘Yes’, he replied.

China's demand for wildlife products for traditional medicine and exotic foods is driving a global trade in endangered species. Markets selling live animals are considered a potential source of diseases that are new to humans. Over 70% of emerging human infections are estimated to have come from animals, particularly wild animals. Campaigners want China to apply a permanent ban on the wildlife trade. Pray that their crusade is successful and this trade becomes illegal. Editorials in China's state-controlled media have denounced the uncontrolled wildlife market. Ecologists say the coronavirus outbreak could provide China with an opportunity to prove that it is serious about protecting biodiversity. In September this year, Beijing will be hosting a major global meeting on natural and biological resources, known as the Convention on Biological Diversity. A report last year by an intergovernmental group found that one million species are at risk of extinction.