Health

24 Mar 2020; MEMO: Kuwait has recorded a noticeable decrease in the number of coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours.

The spokesperson for the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, Abdullah al-Sanad, said yesterday that only one new case was recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of those who have COVID-19 in the country to 189.

The new case is a female Kuwaiti citizen who frequently visited the United Arab Emirates.

New York, Mar 24 (AFP/PTI) Anxiety ratcheted up Monday across an eerily deserted New York, America's coronavirus epicenter, but President Donald Trump said he'd soon call for lifting the lockdown in some parts of the country.

Trump -- who faces reelection in November and is keen to avoid extended economic damage -- told reporters he would be "opening up our country to business because our country was meant to be open."

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions on Monday said it has received commercial approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for its COVID-19 test kit.

The test kit by the company is the first 'Made in India' kit to receive commercial approval from CDSCO, and is named as Mylab PathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit, the company said in a statement.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Delhi government on Monday announced an allocation of Rs 7,704 crore for the health sector in its budget, with approving Rs 2,578 crore for upgrading and expanding 16 hospitals.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday presented the first budget of the AAP government's second term in the Assembly.

"I propose a budget provision of Rs 7,704 crore for the health sector in 2020-21. This includes a revenue budget of Rs 6,555 crore and a capital budget of Rs 1149 crore," he said.

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) A total of 32 states and Union territories have declared complete lockdown so far covering 560 districts, in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Tuesday.

Three other states and UTs have imposed lockdown in certain areas in their territories, covering 58 districts, and one union territory has imposed closure of some activities in its jurisdiction.

NEW DELHI, March 24 (NNN-BERNAMA) — A new batch of 189 stranded Malaysians flew back home from India on a special AirAsia flight on Tuesday.

They left from Chennai for Kuala Lumpur in the early hours as part of the ongoing evacuation of Malaysian citizens stuck in India due to the suspension of air travel following the coronavirus outbreak.

Another chartered AirAsia flight planned from Tiruchirappalli could not receive Indian approval “due to unforeseen circumstances,” said K. Saravanan, consul general of Malaysia in Chennai.

DAKAR, Mar 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Senegalese President, Macky Sall, declared a state of emergency, to curb the spread of COVID-19 in his country, where a total of 79 cases have been reported.

“As of midnight tonight, I declare a state of emergency across the national territory,” the president said, in his speech to the nation, adding that, the state of emergency across national territory, together with a curfew, is to raise the level of response to the spread of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON, Mar 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence, said that, 313,000 COVID-19 tests have been completed in the United States, and more than 41,000 tests were positive.

During a White House press briefing, Pence said, all state and hospital labs are now required to report their virus test numbers to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CAIRO, Mar 24 (NNN-MEHR) – Iran’s death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 1,812 on Monday, after 127 new deaths were reported. Meanwhile, more countries in the Middle East decided to impose curfew, to curb the spread of the virus.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in Iran, the worst-hit country in the region, climbed to 23,049, up by 1,411 from a day ago. A total of 8,376 of the infected have recovered.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – Pakistan announced to lock-down east Punjab province, hours after locking down south Sindh province, to curb the spread of COVID-19, after the number of infected patients rose above 800 across the country, officials said.

All markets and shopping malls, except grocery shops and medical stores, will remain closed in Punjab, during the two-week lock-down period, from Mar 24 to Apr 6, Chief Minister of the province, Usman Buzdar, said.