West Bengal's home secretary, his wife moves to home quarantine after meeting Covid-19 infected youth's mother

Mar 18, 2020, at 04:52 pm

Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal's home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, along with his wife Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, who is the vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University, have moved to home quarantine a day after the home secretary held a meeting at Nabanna with a lady bureaucrat, whose son tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, reports said.

Number of COVID-19 cases in Austria rises to 1,471

Mar 18, 2020, at 04:51 pm

Vienna/Sputnik/UNI:  The number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Austria has increased to 1,471, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.

UAE announces 15 new COVID-19 cases, 113 in total

Mar 18, 2020, at 04:47 pm

Dubai/Xinhua: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Wednesday recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 113, the Ministry of Health and Prevention said in a statement.

COVID-19: the immune system can fight back, says research

Mar 18, 2020, at 04:01 pm

Melbourne/IBNS: Melbourne researchers have mapped immune responses from one of Australia’s first novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, showing the body’s ability to fight the virus and recover from the infection.

Bangladesh reports first COVID19 death

Mar 18, 2020, at 03:59 pm

Dhaka/IBNS: Bangladesh on Wednesday reported first death due to Coronavirus.

Ladakh: 2 more people test positive for coronavirus, bringing total to 8

Mar 18, 2020, at 01:45 pm

Leh/UNI: Two more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the total number of cases to eight.

China's Hubei cleared of suspected COVID-19 cases

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:45 am

Wuhan/Xinhua/UNI: Central China's Hubei Province reported zero new suspected case of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for two consecutive days, the provincial health commission said Wednesday.

Talking to your children about coronavirus: Let them know you’re listening, remind them you care

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:32 am

New York/IBNS: As many adults are overwhelmed and anxious about the coronavirus pandemic, the United Nations shined a light on how children may be feeling and urged parents to have open, supportive discussions to help them cope.

Coronavirus update: humanitarian work must continue, ‘no exceptions’ for bold action in Europe, ensure sufficient medicine stocks

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:30 am

New York/IBNS: UN humanitarian agency issues reminded that millions need humanitarian aid, WHO Europe want countries to take “bold steps” to stop coronavirus, and a UN-backed narcotics body calls for sufficient stocks of medicine to be maintained.

COVID-19: Agencies temporarily suspend refugee resettlement travel

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:29 am

New York/IBNS: A “vital lifeline” for vulnerable families forced to flee their homelands has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic as two UN agencies announced on Tuesday that they are temporarily suspending resettlement travel for refugees.

New report from UN Economic Commission for Europe measures progress on global goals

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:27 am

New York/IBNS: As all eyes, hearts and minds focus on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) garnered attention on Tuesday when a new UN report revealed that only ten countries in the European region have levels of air pollution below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limit.

South-East Asian countries urged to ‘do more’ to fight COVID-19

Mar 18, 2020, at 10:26 am

New York/IBNS: With South-East Asia reporting more than 480 cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for countries to “act now” and urgently scale-up “aggressive” measures to tackle the disease.

COVID-19: Imperial researchers model likely impact of public health measures

Mar 18, 2020, at 08:38 am

London/IBNS: Researchers from Imperial have analysed the likely impact of multiple public health measures on slowing and suppressing the spread of coronavirus.

West Bengal confirms first Covid-19 case as Kolkata youth tests positive for virus

Mar 17, 2020, at 11:50 pm

Kolkata/IBNS: Senior officials of West Bengal's Health and Family Welfare department on Tuesday night confirmed that an 18-year-old youth from south Kolkata, who recently returned from England, has tested positive for Covid-19, making it the first case in the state.

WHO lauds India's efforts in combating COVID-19

Mar 17, 2020, at 08:59 pm

New Delhi/IBNS: The World Health Organsiation (WHO) on Tuesday lauded the efforts taken by the Indian government to combat the deadly novel coronavirus, which has claimed three lives in the country, a figure much less considering its population density and especially in comparison to some of the developed nations.

India fights against COVID19: Prisoners manufacture masks inside jail

Mar 17, 2020, at 04:54 pm

Purnia/UNI: Amid reports of masks crisis in the market, the prisoners inside Purnia central jail campus have stated manufacturing it to prevent corona virus.

About 1,500 Inmates escape From Brazilian prisons amid COVID-19 outbreak - Reports

Mar 17, 2020, at 04:51 pm

Moscow/Sputnik: Approximately 1,500 inmates have escaped from at least four semi-open penitentiaries in the Brazilian region of Sao Paulo following riots against the measures taken by the government to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), several local media outlets reported.

COVID-19 cases in Kuwait rise to 130

Mar 17, 2020, at 04:49 pm

Kuwait City/Xinhua Kuwait reported seven new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 130, the Health Ministry announced on Tuesday.

India fights against COVID19: Over 50,000 shops to remain closed till Mar 19; temples shut doors in Pune

Mar 17, 2020, at 04:44 pm

Pune/UNI:  In a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19, the Federation of Pune Trade Association on Tuesday decided to shutdown all the markets for next three days.

Coronavirus: Sec 144 imposed in Nagpur, Mah Police suspends breath-analyser tests

Mar 17, 2020, at 04:41 pm

Nagpur/UNI: Maharashtra government has imposed Section 144 CrPC in Nagpur, and Maharashtra Highway Police (MHP) has canceled breath-analyser tests required to check drunken driving, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

COVID 19 outbreak: Doctor, who treated India’s first fatal case, now tests positive

Mar 17, 2020, at 03:38 pm

Kalaburagi/IBNS: The doctor, who had treated the first victim of coronavirus in India, has tested positive for COVID 19, media reports said on Tuesday.

Social distancing is the key to corner Covid-19, says expert

Mar 17, 2020, at 01:51 pm

Kolkata/UNI: Social distancing will be the key phrase in the days and weeks to come as COVID-19 assumes frightening proportion.

‘You cannot fight a fire blindfolded’: WHO chief blasts slow virus testing response

Mar 17, 2020, at 10:29 am

New York/IBNS: “The most effective way to prevent infections and save lives, is breaking the chains of transmission. And to do that, you must test and isolate”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at Monday’s COVID-19 press briefing, held at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva: “Once again, our message is: test, test, test.”

COVID-19: Mental health in the age of coronavirus

Mar 17, 2020, at 10:26 am

New York/IBNS: Since January when the World Health Organization (WHO) determined the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, to be a “public health emergency of international concern”, stress levels everywhere have continued to mount.

PM Modi lauds India's response towards Coronavirus outbreak

Mar 16, 2020, at 02:15 pm

New Delhi/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday came out with all praises for his country over its response towards the deadly Coronavirus outbreak.

Almost 11,000 new COVID-19 cases, 343 fatalities registered worldwide over past day - WHO

Mar 16, 2020, at 10:29 am

Geneva/Sputnik/UNI: The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had registered 10,982 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) worldwide within the past 24 hours, with 343 people having died, which brought the total death toll to 5,375.

COVID-19 cases rise to 18 in Sri Lanka

Mar 16, 2020, at 10:26 am

Colombo/Xinhua/UNI: Seven Sri Lankan nationals who recently arrived in Sri Lanka from Italy tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on Sunday, raising the total number of positive cases to 18, the Health Ministry said.

Coronavirus scare in India: Second batch of 53 evacuees from Iran quarantined at Jaisalmer

Mar 16, 2020, at 10:08 am

Jaisalmer/UNI: In the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus globally, a second batch of 53 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Iran and are being quarantined at Indian Army Wellness facility here in Rajasthan on Monday.

Punjab: Just one confirmed case of COVID-19

Mar 15, 2020, at 09:40 pm

Chandigarh/UNI:  Till date, only one confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus has been reported from Punjab.

COVID-19: Positive cases rise to 21 in Kerala

Mar 15, 2020, at 08:10 pm

Thiruvananthapuram/UNI: With two more people testing positive to coronavirus on Sunday, total affected cases rose to 21 in Kerala, Health Minister KK Shailaja Teacher said here this evening.