Author: Middle East Correspondent

Lebanon has imposed a “total” shutdown after experiencing a resurgence in reported  Coronavirus cases. Lebanon will go under full shutdown for four days, Cabinet said Tuesday, as the country records a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. The lockdown is set to begin Wednesday, 13th May, at 7 p.m. until Monday morning,18th May, according to the government’s decision, with details and exceptions to be announced by Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi. “A reassessment of the country’s situation will be made on Sunday night before the lockdown ends the next morning,” Fahmi said. The number of cases has risen to its…

The Government procurement budget of medical equipment and drugs used in treating  Covid19 has been cancelled. Government departments will now have to set an expenditure rationing to plan and offset the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was announced in a video conference of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli with his cabinet, the ministers discussed the updates of the anti-pandemic efforts. The Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement and Medical Supplies is the only exception to the budget cap; It is the entity that supplies quarantines and hospitals treating Covid-19 patients with their relevant needs. On March 30, the Ministry of…

A fire apparently started by an overloaded ventilator killed five novel coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit in St Petersburg hospital, Russia, on Tuesday. “Ventilators are being used to their limits. And according to preliminary data, there was an overload and the machine ignited, which caused the fire,” a source said The fire has now been contained and 150 people were evacuated from the hospital, the country’s emergency ministry said and confirmed that the ventilator fire killed five patients in the Coronavirus wing of the hospital. Russia ranks third in worldwide coronavirus infections Russia has recorded the world’s second-highest…

Brazil has recorded its highest daily death toll from  Coronavirus, with 881 deaths over the past 24 hours to become the sixth-worst affected country in terms of recorded deaths. Brazil, which is at the centre of the Latin American outbreak is the worst-hit in the region, with more than 177,000 cases, which overtook Germany’s tally of 170,000, and 12,000 deaths.  Experts say the real figure may be far higher due to a lack of testing in the country. “Brazil is only testing people who end up in the hospital,” Domingo Alves from the University of Säo Paulo Medical School said.…

The global death toll of Covid-19 has exceeded 280,000 with more than 4.1 million infections. Here are the latest updates of the day Cases in Russia surge over 209,000 Russian authorities said they had recorded 11,012 new cases of the Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 209,688. Russia’s task force said 88 people had died in the past day, pushing the national death toll to 1,915. Russian cases have become the fifth-highest in the world, overtaking French and German infections this week. Malaysia extends curbs on movement, businesses to June 9 Malaysia’s government extended the…

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to announce the next steps in Britain’s battle to tackle the novel coronavirus following a review by ministers of the current measures that have all but shut the economy and kept millions at home for over six weeks. His environment minister George Eustice said on Saturday Johnson would not announce any dramatic changes to Britain’s lockdown, adopting a cautious approach. Five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this Sunday morning. 1- Boris Johnson to launch new Covid-19 alert system A new alert system for England to track the Coronavirus is set to be…

A massive fire raged through a 48-floor building in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. Twelve people were injured, 5 rushed to hospital with smoke inhalation and 7 treated on the spot. Civil defence teams were alerted shortly after 9 p.m. and rushed to the site to brought the fire under control after two hours, averting a major disaster. Residents from at least five buildings nearby were led to safety. Initial reports said the fire broke out on the tenth floor of the Abbco Tower at 9.04 pm, moving up quickly due to the cladding. The cause of the fire is…

Authorities in Brazil have resorted to using concrete graves to bury the dead of Covid-19 deaths, for fear of infection from corpses. Images obtained from Brazil show the burial ceremony of the dead. In addition to the box, the door of the grave is covered with concrete doors and covers. The daily number of Coronavirus deaths in Brazil has risen to a record high today, indicating that the country is still in a fierce battle with the virus, The Ministry of Health has declared it has recorded 6,935 new cases of the coronavirus since Monday evening and 600 new deaths.…

Belize has succeeded in becoming the fourth country in the world to be completely free from any Coronavirus cases,  after being hit along with 211 other countries worldwide with the pandemic, they announced, on Tuesday, that they have overcome the crisis with no longer any active cases in the country. Belize, a Caribbean island located in Central America, 16 of the 18 cases registered in the country have recovered from Covid-19, while they had 2 fatalities. Belize recorded its first case of Coronavirus on March 23rd. The 18th case was on13th April and the country remained on lockdown for more…