Friday 16 October
BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING
Friday 16 October 2020 News Briefing – Today’s headlines are dominated by the global Coronavirus Pandemic. As of 6:30 am (GMT), these are the global active numbers.
Global COVID-19 UPDATE
Coronavirus Cases: 39,176,103
Deaths: 1,102,946
Recovered: 29,379,089
- London rules ‘put 250,000 hospitality jobs at risk’.
- Boris Johnson’s Covid plan in turmoil after north-west leaders refuse tier 3.
- Health workers in France go on strike as coronavirus cases surge.
- Egypt ready to confront second wave of coronavirus: health minister.
- WHO trial finds remdesivir has little effect on Covid-19.
- Shutting down the country is “off the table,” Fauci says.
London rules ‘put 250,000 hospitality jobs at risk’
BBC News says tier 2 Covid restrictions will put up to 250,000 jobs at risk in London’s hospitality sector, according to the industry’s trade body.
From Saturday, households will not be allowed to mix indoors, including in pubs and restaurants.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said that without additional government support thousands of jobs in the capital will go. “It will be absolutely catastrophic,” she told the BBC.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Boris Johnson’s Covid plan in turmoil after north-west leaders refuse tier 3
The Guardian says Downing Street’s policy for tackling the coronavirus in England has descended into chaos after mayors and MPs from the north-west of the country rejected being moved into the highest lockdown level and accused ministers of treating the region with contempt.
Talks designed to broker an agreement ended with bitter and angry exchanges, deepening a north-south rift that has left the government’s 3 tier restrictions in turmoil.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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Health workers in France go on strike as coronavirus cases surge
France24 says health workers took to the streets of Paris on Thursday afternoon to protest against conditions in French hospitals, as the number of new coronavirus cases surges across the country.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers – their faces covered with medical masks – waved banners and flags as they marched from the city’s Invalides monument to the Health Ministry.
Read the full story on France24
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Egypt ready to confront second wave of coronavirus: health minister
Arab News says Egypt is fully prepared to face a second wave of Covid-19 due to the experiences and lessons learned from the first, said Health Minister Hala Zayed.
There will be sufficient supply of relevant medicines, the number of people manning the coronavirus hotline will be increased to 800 from 500, and it will be available in more than one language, she added.
Read the full story on Arab News
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WHO trial finds remdesivir has little effect on COVID-19
Aljazeera says a WHO trial using four drugs including the antiviral remdesivir in the hospital treatment of Covid-19 has found the repurposed medicines have little to no effect on the length of time patients spend in hospital or their survival.
“These Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir and Interferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized Covid-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay,” the researchers wrote in a preprint on the findings of the WHO’s Solidarity trial.
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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Shutting down the country is “off the table,” Fauci says
CNN says as the US enters the fall and winter months with coronavirus cases on the rise, people must double down on public health measures, said Dr Anthony Fauci, adding that shutting down the country is “off the table.”
That’s off the table. We’re not talking about that,” Fauci said during a Yahoo News Interview. “We’re talking about intensifying some public health measures that are really simple and easy to understand and to do it uniformly as a country, instead of in a haphazard way.”
Read the full story on CNN
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A quick look at the other top headlines
Denver DA to charge security guard with second-degree murder
Fox News says Colorado prosecutors have charged the unlicensed security guard accused of fatally shooting a protester last weekend with murder.
German water utility pulls plug on Tesla over unpaid bills
Euronews says a German utility company says it has shut down the pipes supplying Tesla with water for the construction of a factory near Berlin because the automaker hasn’t paid its bills.
Guinean Bloggers Ready Themselves Ahead Of Sunday Presidential Election
Africanews says mass protests have shaken Guinea over the past year to oppose a third term of Conde. They were met with a ruthless crackdown, in which dozens of people were killed. Now many fear the elections could be rigged.
Syria Kurds free more than 600 ISIL fighters as part of amnesty
Aljazeera says Kurdish-led authorities released hundreds of ISIL (ISIS) fighters imprisoned in northern Syria as part of a general amnesty in the region controlled by a United States-backed militia.
‘I want freedom’: Thais protest despite government’s ban on gatherings
CNA says from shops, offices and schools they spilt onto a Bangkok street in their tens of thousands, voicing shock and anger and defiance.
Thailand’s government had announced emergency measures to ban gatherings of five or more people to try to end three months of protests.
