Displaying items by tag: coronavirus

Thursday, 18 June 2020 21:07

India: coping with coronavirus

India's home minister has offered 500 railway carriages for use as makeshift coronavirus hospital wards as New Delhi struggles to contain a spike in cases. Delhi has about 9,000 beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients among public and private hospitals, but a panel of experts has said that at least 15,000 beds will be needed by the end of June. The health ministry is reporting jumps in coronavirus infections nationwide. At least 55 journalists faced arrest, physical assaults, destruction of properties and threats for reporting on Covid-19 or exercising freedom of opinion during India's lockdown. It did not take long for the state and political activists to allege the journalists’ reports were prejudicial to maintaining national harmony. India has become the riskiest place in the world for journalists.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 11 June 2020 21:02

Netherlands: minks and coronavirus

Thousands of Dutch minks became infected with coronavirus and were culled. Researchers are now urging other countries such as Denmark and Spain to test their animals, after infected minks passed the virus on to several mink farmers. The Dutch government says the culling is to prevent farms from becoming long-term reservoirs of Coronavirus. The animals were first infected by their handlers in April. In May, the government identified two cases in which humans had been infected by sick animals - the only animal-to-human transmissions known since the global outbreak began in China. The Humane Society is calling for the 24 countries still allowing mink farming to evaluate evidence from the Netherlands.

Published in Europe
Thursday, 04 June 2020 23:31

Schools open, parents and unions wary

There is a lack of certainty about the safety of children returning to school. Reception, year 1 and year 6 pupils are able to return; however there are mixed local pictures. Some schools reopened, some remained shut, and some have not brought back all the pupils mentioned by the Government. Please pray for: the only child in the family, still at home with no one to play with; children still missing lessons and friends; returning pupils having to learn new ways of behaving in school and playground; children readapting to school and joining children of key workers who have continued education; teachers reorganising teaching plans for mixed abilities and keeping classrooms safe. Pray for teachers unable to keep to curriculum for classes because half the children are absent or the classrooms are too small to facilitate the whole class.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 04 June 2020 23:28

Government’s duty to keep us safe

Our government has the responsibility to protect those in the health service risking their lives for our health. There are still doctors, nurses, care home workers, carers and others who do not have some essential personal protective equipment. Amnesty International say we are not safe until everyone is safe. Also migrant women who are victims of domestic abuse go without safety and healthcare. They are too scared to seek urgent medical care or help with safe housing, for fear of being reported to immigration authorities. Women’s Aid estimates that four out of five migrant women are turned away from refuges because they lack access to government support or funds. Pray for the Government to provide resources for everyone who needs them, no matter what their immigration status. Pray also for the police to catch the criminals stealing PPE to sell at inflated prices on the internet (see).

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 04 June 2020 23:14

Italy’s challenge, and cashless society

The challenge: Italy is facing its worst recession since the Second World War. To heal the decimated economy, it has no choice but to revive its tourism industry. As of today, European travellers are once again welcomed in, restrictions on movement between regions have been lifted, and international flights are set to resume in three major cities. Italy wants visitors, but it is unclear if visitors want Italy. Also, people have long hoarded banknotes in uncertain times, but the pandemic may prove an exception. Passed from person to person, cash is making people nervous. Across Europe, shopkeepers and customers are looking for ways to limit the chances of infection, prioritising card payments. Analysts see this rapid shift as a huge step towards a wholly cashless society.

Published in Europe
Thursday, 04 June 2020 22:34

Myanmar: pandemic threatens Rohingya

130,000 internally displaced Rohingya trapped in detention camps in Myanmar have no future, with little access to land or livelihoods. They depend on foreign aid and die of treatable diseases due to limited healthcare. Shelters, built in 2012 to last two years, have deteriorated. Children only attend basic classes in temporary learning spaces. The authorities are using coronavirus response measures as a pretext to harass the Rohingya, who have told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that military and police forces regularly subject them to harassment and punishment at checkpoints. Police at a checkpoint made a woman do sit-ups for thirty minutes for not wearing a mask; she was then too exhausted to move. People must perform squats at checkpoints with their hands on their ears. HRW said, ‘The reality is dire. Oppressive and systemic restrictions imposed on those remaining in Myanmar may be indicative of ongoing genocide.’

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 28 May 2020 21:49

Test and trace system begins

25,000 contact tracers started work on 28 May, making their contact calls to track down the 2,013 people who tested positive the previous day. They will be told to self-isolate under new test and trace schemes being launched in England and Scotland. Tracers will text, email or call people who test positive with coronavirus and ask who they had contact with. Any of those contacts deemed at risk of infection will be told to isolate for fourteen days, even if they are not sick. Those who have already had the virus will also be asked to self-isolate. The aim of the system is to lift blanket lockdown restrictions and move towards more localised, targeted measures. Contact is defined as spending 15 minutes or more at a two-metre distance; household members; or people with whom you have had face-to-face conversations less than one metre away.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 28 May 2020 21:39

Europe: easing restrictions

Already the media are saying that a second, more deadly, wave of coronavirus is expected to hit Europe this winter. Europe's top WHO official, Dr Hans Kluge, warns that the second spike could coincide with outbreaks of other infectious diseases. He issued a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying, ‘Now is the time for preparation, not celebration’; adding as the number of cases of Covid-19 in countries such as the UK, France and Italy begin to fall, it did not mean that the pandemic was coming to an end. The epicentre of the European outbreak is now in the east, with the number of cases rising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Published in Europe

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

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 28 May 2020 21:19

Global: coronavirus corruption

Transparency International warned of the dangers of funds for the response to the coronavirus crisis being misappropriated. On 26 May more stories confirmed the validity of these concerns. In Bolivia, the minister of health was removed from his post after the government paid over the odds for ventilators that were not even fit for purpose. In Italy, the head of Sicily’s coronavirus response has been put under house arrest following an investigation into bribery cases going back to 2016. In Poland, the health minister is under fire after the government bought more than 10,000 useless face masks through a family friend. The case has been referred to prosecutors. These examples join many others, including an investigation in Bosnia and Herzegovina into a multi-million-euro government contract for ventilators that went to a raspberry farm with political connections, and the resignation in Panama of a senior politician involved in yet another ventilator procurement scandal.

Published in Worldwide