Health

SAO PAULO, June 25 (BBB-AGENCIES) — Researchers in Brazil began administering an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University to volunteers, the Federal University of Sao Paulo said.

The vaccine, developed together with pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca, is one of the most promising of the dozens that researchers worldwide are racing to test and bring to market.

Known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, it is already being tested in volunteers in Britain, and is due to start being administered this week in South Africa, as well.

24 June 2020; MEMO: Jordan has surpassed Indonesia to have the highest smoking rate in the world, a report by the Guardian has found.

LISBON, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal’s government has tightened the lockdown in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in an effort to bring a series of coronavirus outbreaks under control.

From today the limit on outdoor gatherings is back down to 10, from the national maximum of 20.

All shops must close by 20:00 and restaurants may not serve alcohol after that hour, while drinking in all other public places is banned.

The measures were approved at an online cabinet meeting last night, after a meeting between the Prime Minister António Costa and Lisbon area mayors.

LONDON, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson said pubs, restaurants and hotels could reopen in England early next month, easing the coronavirus lockdown that has all but shut the economy.

In other signs of a gradual return to normal life, hairdressers will also open again, along with tourist attractions like theme parks, but nightclubs, indoor gyms, and swimming pools will have to stay closed.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Italian flights to and from Egypt are set to resume on 15 July, according to Egypt’s tourism federation.

Chairperson of the federation Ahmed Al-Wasef said that several Egyptian hotels have already received bookings from Italian tourist companies, reports the state-run Al-Ahram.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has banned entry for the Hajj pilgrimage this year to international pilgrims, implementing the long-expected decision in order to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

The annual pilgrimage, which draws an estimated two million Muslims from around the world to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, will now only be attended by those currently living in the kingdom, according to Saudi state media.

Ballia (UP ) June 23 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Samajwadi Party leader, Ram Govind Chaudhary, has tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday.

Chaudhary was suffering from fever and cold and was admitted to a private hospital in Lucknow on Monday where his sample was taken for testing, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Anand Prakash Joshi, said.

After the test report showed that he had contracted the virus, he was admitted to the SGPGI in Lucknow, the OSD added.

NEW YORK, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States could surpass 150,000, President Donald Trump said.

“It could get up to 150,” Trump said in an interview with the cable television channel Spectrum News. “It could go beyond that.

“But we would have lost two million to four million lives (without mitigation),” he said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil reached more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases and 50,000 deaths over the weekend as throngs of people swarmed Rio de Janeiro beaches, but the World Health Organization said that even more cases were likely going uncounted.

On Sunday, swimmers and sunbathers packed Rio’s famous beaches, with many neither wearing masks nor respecting the WHO’s guidance to maintain one metre of distance between people.

PARIS, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Global coronavirus infections topped nine million on Monday as the World Health Organization warned that the pandemic was accelerating and Saudi Arabia said it would allow a “very limited” number of pilgrims to the hajj next month.

France took its biggest step yet back to normality by allowing millions of children to return to school.

But despite Europe further easing lockdowns, cases are still rising around the world, especially in Latin America with Brazil now registering more than 50,000 deaths.