Health

LUSAKA, March 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States will give Zambia a new one year bilateral grant of $389 million for AIDS relief starting in October after Congressional approval, Zambia’s ministry of health said in a statement.

The grant under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) follows a meeting on Zambia which was held last week in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The meeting reviewed key policies, strategies and activities to be undertaken towards the goal of achieving epidemic control of HIV,” the statement said.

02 Mar 2020; MEMO: US sanctions on Iran have led to the outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus in the Islamic Republic, President Hassan Rouhani’s adviser has said.

Hesamodin Ashena wrote on Twitter: “The economic sanctions, and Europe’s complicity, left Iran’s public health infrastructure underprepared to deal with coronavirus in a timely way.”

“Trump’s policies are partly responsible for shaping the spread of this virus, and the lives lost in the process,” he added.

ROME, March 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen to 34, five more than a day earlier, officials said.

The head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said the cumulative number of confirmed cases of the virus had jumped to 1,694 from 1,128 on Saturday, virtually all of them coming to light since Feb 20 in the worst such contagion in Europe.

Of that number, 83 people had fully recovered, while 140 patients were in intensive care. The vast majority of those who have tested positive have few, if any symptoms.

LONDON, March 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain announced a jump in coronavirus cases, with 13 new infections taking the total to 36, as health minister Matt Hancock said the government was preparing for the global epidemic to get worse.

Scotland confirmed its first case on Sunday evening.

WASHINGTON, March 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Health officials in Washington state said a second person infected with the coronavirus had died there, while New York’s governor said his state confirmed its first case of the illness.

The Washington death was in the Seattle area and was reported on the website of the Seattle and King County public health department.

On Saturday, the same officials reported the first death from coronavirus in the United States.

BEIJING, Mar 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Nearly 3,000 beds have been set up by 63 military hospitals, designated to treat patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with over 10,000 military medics working at the front line, a military official said today (Monday).

As of Sunday, the designated hospitals of the armed forces and military medical teams, dispatched to the virus-hit Hubei Province, had treated 4,450 COVID-19 patients, with 1,000 cured, said Chen Jingyuan, a health official with the Logistic Support Department of the Central Military Commission, in Beijing.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Deaths in Iran from coronavirus have hit 43, the highest number outside China, and the total number of infected people has risen to 593, an Iranian health official said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

The country is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the region, with several countries in the Middle East reporting cases of the coronavirus stemming from Iran.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Azerbaijan said on Saturday it had closed its border with Iran for two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, after the death toll in Iran rose to 43 yesterday, the highest number outside of China.

Iran is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, with several countries in the region reporting cases stemming from Iran.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 54, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV, adding the number of those infected had reached 978, reports Reuters.

“There were 385 new cases of infected people in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number to 978. The death toll is 54,” Jahanpur said, calling on Iranians to avoid any unnecessary trips and stay at home.

PRETORIA, March 1 (NNN-SANEWS) — President Cyril Ramaphosa has directed the repatriation of South African citizens from Wuhan city in Hubei province, China.