Health

LOS ANGELES, June 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — California’s Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all Californians to wear face masks in public in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“Science shows that face coverings and masks work,” Newsom said in a statement. “They are critical to keeping those who are around you safe, keeping businesses open and restarting our economy.”

His order came following a decision last week by officials in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, to rescind an order requiring people to wear masks in public.

PARIS, June 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The novel coronavirus has killed at least 450,386 people since the outbreak began in China last December.

At least 8,410,400 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 3,866,200 are considered recovered.

The tallies probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

Islamabad, Jun 18 (PTI) Pakistan's coronavirus death toll crossed 3,000 with 118 more patients succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours, while the total number of infections surpassed the 1,60,000-mark, the health ministry said on Thursday.

As many as 59,215 patients have recovered from the disease.

A total of 982,012 COVID-19 tests, including 31,500 in the last 24 hours, were conducted in the country, the ministry said.

With the detection of 5,358 new coronavirus cases, the total tally now stands at 160,118, it said.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Bank said it would provide $400 million to support universal health coverage in Egypt as the country struggles with rising numbers of new Coronavirus cases.

The funding will help Egypt increase the reach of its universal health insurance system in six governorates and offer temporary financial protection to those hit by high out-of-pocket health expenditures linked to the coronavirus outbreak, the bank said in a statement.

LIMA, June 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru topped 240,000 total cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, surpassing hard-hit Italy, government data showed, even as the pace of infections has begun to moderate in the South American nation.

Peru moved quickly to lock down its citizens as the pandemic took hold in early March. But cases nonetheless exploded in May, reaching a peak of more than 8,000 per day late in the month.

More than 7,000 Peruvians have died from the disease, the government reported.

Beijing, Jun 17 (PTI) Beijing moved on a war footing on Wednesday, cancelling hundreds of domestic flights and trains while ramping up the mass testing of 90,000 people to stem the spread of the coronavirus, as the city reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 137.

Two airports in Beijing have cancelled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly 70 per cent of the scheduled trips, the official media reported. Beijing currently does not operate international flights.

Wellington, Jun 17 (AP/PTI) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has assigned a top military leader to oversee the nation's border quarantine measures after what she described as an unacceptable failure by health officials in allowing two women who had recently returned from London to leave quarantine before they had been tested for the virus.

New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) Modern life is marked by alienation and aloofness, and the result is depression, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said, underlining that the flavour of sharing and caring which was a norm in old days is missing in present times.

Talking about his own experiences of life in good old days, Naidu said life then used to "play out amidst a network of strong social relationships and there was no reason to feel alone and uncared for and no ground to be depressed".

PARIS, June 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 8 million cases of novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, with more than half in the United States and Europe, according to official sources.

At least 8,000,202 infections including 435,176 deaths, mostly in Europe, have been registered since the pandemic first emerged in China late last year.

Europe has 2,417,902 cases with 188,085 deaths. The USA has 2,110,182 cases and 116,081 deaths.

WASHINGTON, June 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States plans to give priority to the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions and essential workers once there is a vaccine against COVID-19, a senior Trump administration official said.

Under Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the US government is aiming to deliver 300 million vaccine doses by January 2021, investing in manufacturing capacity to relieve pharmaceutical firms of the financial risk.