Saturday 9 May 2020

16 Ramadan - 1441

2 Riyals

www.thepeninsula.qa

Volume 25 | Number 8252

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SPORT | 08BUSINESS | 01

China, US

commit

to implement

trade deal

Spanish football

teams resume

individual

training

Ramadan Timing

Today's Iftar:6:11pm

Tomorrow's Imsak:03:18am

3,877,914 270,537 1,296,603TOTAL POSITIVE TOTAL DEATHS TOTAL RECOVERED

COVID-19 GLOBALLY

1,31184 17,819 2,370

0

NEW CASES

ANNOUNCED

NEW

RECOVERIES

ACTIVE

CASES

TOTAL

RECOVERIES

NEW

DEATHS

COVID-19 QATAR UPDATES ON 8 MAY 2020

Amir holds phone talks withTurkish President

QNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held via tele-phone a conversation with the President of the brotherly Republic of Turkey H E Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which they discussed the strategic relations between the two brotherly countries and ways of enhancing and developing them. They also exchanged views on regional and inter-national developments.

PM holds meeting with officials of QCand Qatar Businessmen Association

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani holding talks with chairmen and representatives of Qatar Chamber and Qatar Businessmen Association via video conferencing.

QNA — DOHA

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani met through video conferencing technology with chairmen and representatives of Qatar Chamber and Qatar Busi-nessmen Association (QBA).

The video conference meeting was in the attendance of Minister of Commerce and Industry, H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, and Chairman of Qatar Free Zones Authority’s Board of Directors, H E Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Sayed.

The meeting was held to discuss economic and com-merce conditions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), its effects on the private sector, and the solutions to overcome them.

In the meeting, H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior stressed on the direc-tives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when His Highness presided over the meeting of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management on COVID-19 on March 15, on the importance of supporting the private sector and finding ways to increase its contribution in all fields to s u p p o r t e c o n o m i c development.

Some of the ways were pro-viding financial and economic stimulus to the private sector, rep-resented in QR75bn to support

commercial banks’ liquidity, the stock market, and Qatar Devel-opment Bank’s guarantees program to support staff payroll-salaries and rental fees, in addition to exempting different sectors from water and electricity fees among other related measures.

His Excellency discussed the

possibility of having the private sector take advantage of the benefits provided by free zones, which include access to the main infrastructure and logistics services, in addition to tax and regulatory benefits among others.

For their part, the

businessmen thanked H H the Amir for the financial and eco-nomic stimulus provided to the private sector. They also thanked H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior for the meeting, stressing that they will support the state’s various eco-nomic decisions. They added

that they were ready to use all their capabilities to contribute to limiting the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the national economy. The meeting stressed on the importance of enhancing cooperation between the public and private sector constantly.

The businessmen thanked H H the Amir for the financial and economic stimulus provided to the private sector. They also thanked H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior for the meeting, stressing that they will support the state’s various economic decisions. They added that they were ready to use all their capabilities to contribute to limiting the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the national economy.

Boosting critical care and ICU capacity a core component of COVID-19 containment strategyQNA — DOHA

Dr. Ahmed Al Mohammed, Acting Chairman of Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Intensive Care Units (ICU), says a key component of Qatar’s strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has involved re-purposing existing resources and facilities and redeploying manpower from other parts of the healthcare system as part of a strategy to rapidly expand critical care and ICU capacity.

“At the very start of the out-break in Qatar, HMC put together a proactive plan to sig-nificantly expand hospital capacity. The plan ensured we had the resources in place to respond to COVID-19 cases while also continuing to deliver essential services in a way that protected both patients and healthcare staff,” said Dr. Al Mohammed, who is also Acting Medical Director of Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital (HMGH).

“Responding effectively to the COVID-19 crisis was, and is, essential, but it is also essential that we continued to provide core healthcare services. We placed a lot of focus on keeping vulnerable patients out of the hospital.

This not only helped protect them from the risk of acquiring the coronavirus but it also helped ease the burden on some of our regular services which in turn allowed us to free up hospital beds and create additional capacity, should it be required to care for severely ill COVID-19

patients,” added Dr. Al Mohammed.

The re-purposing of existing resources and facilities has seen over 2,900 new hos-pital beds, including 700 new ICU beds, being made available and five facilities, including two newly opened hospitals in Mesaieed and Ras Laffan, being designated as dedicated COVID-19 treatment facilities. To date, HMC’s Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, which was the first facility in the country to be designated as a dedicated COVID-19 treatment center, has cared for the bulk of COVID-19 patients who have required ICU care.

“To date, our ICUs have cared for around 300 COVID-19 patients. We have created and implemented a strategy that is allowing us to ensure the right care is available at the right time and place,” said Dr. Al Mohammed.

Dr. Al Mohammed says the decision to dedicate hospitals as COVID-19 treatment facil-ities has enabled HMC to better care for all its patients. He says that while there is sufficient hospital capacity to care for COVID-19 patients, it is essential the public continues working together to help curb the spread of the virus.

“By designating Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, The Cuban Hospital, the Com-municable Disease Center, Mesaieed Hospital, and Ras Laffan Hospital as dedicated COVID-19 treatment facilities we can keep the majority of coronavirus patients in a small number of locations. �P2

MoPH steps up efforts to track

transitional chains of virusTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ministry of Public Health today announced 1311 confirmed new cases of coronavirus and 84 people having recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cures in the State of Qatar to 2,370 cases

The Ministry explained that most of the new cases are due to expatriate workers who have been infected with the virus as a result of contact with individuals who have been previously infected, in addition to recording

new cases from within groups of workers from various regions. These cases have been identified as a result of investigations carried out by the Ministry.

The remainder of new cases infected with the virus have come from citizens and residents who have contracted the virus from members of their families, who in turn had contracted the virus through their workplaces or other places where they had been to exposed to infected people. �P2

Ministry issues a set of exit and entryprocedures for Industrial AreaSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Administrative Devel-opment, Labor and Social Affairs has called upon companies and workers to comply with the preventive and precautionary measures to ensure their safety and security while entry and exit within gradual opening of the Industrial Area on its official Twitter account yesterday.

The Ministry also issued a guideline ‘Organising Exit and Entry Procedures’ for Industrial Area on its website. The guideline was prepared by the Permanent Committee for Industrial Area.

According to the procedures, companies wishing for their workers to exit the area must ensure that the Ehteraz app is down-loaded on the workers’ phones with their screening results. In case the worker’s phone does not have the feature that allows them to download the program or doesn’t own a mobile phone, he will not be allowed to exit.

In continuation of the current precau-tionary measures, a plan was put to

organize the exit and entry of individuals, goods and vehicles into and out of the industrial area, provided that the per-centage of employment within the com-panies’ headquarters does not exceed 20 percent of their employees.

The plan on the Ministry’s website also includes a screening and verification process as well as random thermal inspection in collaboration with various other entities to ensure the safety of workers while entering and exiting the area. These procedures came into effect starting from May 5, 2020 until the issuance of further procedures.

Regarding the Industrial Area entrance and exit gates (from 2 to 32), the first

entrance is located in Al Kassarat Street, the intersection of Street No. 15 from the northern side. The second entrance is located in the eastern side of the intersection of Al Wakalat Street with Street No. 15.

The third entrance is located between the intersection of 33 Street south with Al Kasarat Street. The fourth entrance is Located at the intersection of Street No 15 with Western Industrial Street.

Regarding health requirements in the industrial area, no one is allowed to enter without wearing a mask. Sterilizers must be provided in the workplace. Com-pliance with occupational safety and health requirements at the workplace is a must. �P2

According to the procedures, companies wishing for their workers to exit the area must ensure that the Ehteraz app is downloaded on the workers’ phones with their screening results. In case the worker’s phone does not have the feature that allows them to download the program or doesn’t own a mobile phone, he will not be allowed to exit.

Kuwaiti to impose full curfew from tomorrowQNA — DOHA

The Kuwaiti Government decided yesterday to impose full curfew as of 4pm from tomorrow until May 30, 2020 as part of the measures to stem spread of the novel corona-virus (COVID-19).

PM holds meeting with officials of QC and QBA

02 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020HOME

Qatar Charity provides healthcare to pregnant Syrian refugeesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

With QFFD support, Qatar Charity is providing healthcare to pregnant Syrian refugees. The same place brought them together, and their stories were similar, although they differed in some details.

They are women, and like other mothers, they are waiting for the birth of their newborns. However, the difficult economic situation and the conditions of the asylum life have turned the joy of receiving the newborns into a state of fear due. The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought further difficulties to them.

Manal, a 27-year-old Syrian refugee from Idlib, is currently living in the Arsal camps under many economic hardships and challenges, as her husband is currently unemployed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Manal was not able to bear the costs of childbirth in these

difficult circumstances. However, there is always a glimmer of hope, no matter how severe the difficulties. She found a life buoy in the Pregnant Women Care Project that will protect her and her expected child, as she is among the reg-istered beneficiaries of this health project funded by Qatar Charity (QC) and the Qatar Fund

for Development (QFFD). This project provides services to underprivileged Syrian female refugees during pregnancy.

“The project has eased burdens upon her by providing checkups and natural and cae-sarean childbirth services free of charge,” says Manal, adding that “the project, in cooperation with the UNHCR, will bear all

costs of childbirth, and the baby will be provided with an incu-bator, if needed, in addition to providing medicines and some nutritional supplements.”

The story of Nouf is not dif-ferent from Manal. She is also a Syrian, whose family lives in great economic hardship, and her husband, who was working in a mechanic shop, is now

unemployed. If this project was not available, she could not carry out the necessary checkups due to her economic circumstances.

Qatar Charity implements the Pregnant Women Care Project with funding and support from the QFFD, in cooperation with several clinics in various places of Lebanon, providing full health care for pregnant women. Some 4,000 women benefit from the project that also provides prenatal and postnatal services.

These clinics are located in Beirut, Bekaa, Arsal, Shebaa, Saida, Aaramoun, and Ketermaya.

The project includes four basic services, as it provides two prenatal and postnatal checkups, in addition to giving medicines and nutritional sup-plements to pregnant women.

Besides, an amount of money is provided to pregnant women. Fifty dollars are given

to the women for all checkups, and if the delivery is normal, $100 is provided. However, if the delivery is a c-section, the project offers the woman $ 250 after birth. The project also pro-vides an incubator at an esti-mated cost of $800.

There are similar stories of other women visiting the health project for checkups and receiving the required treatment in light of this difficult economic and health situation. They talked about their com-pelling circumstances, but they all agreed that the medical project has alleviated their psy-chological and economic suffering.

Doctors and all other medical staff closely monitor their condition, and provide the necessary psychological support and health care for the mother and expected child. In addition to providing safe treatment, masks, gloves and sanitizers are distributed.

QRCS marks World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), together with the fellow members of the Interna-tional Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, marked World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, which is observed every year on May 8.

It is celebrated by the International Fed-eration of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Com-mittee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Red Cross or Red Crescent National Societies in almost every country of the world.

The date is in commemoration of the birthdate of the Movement’s founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Henry Dunant.

This year’s theme is #KeepClapping, which recognizes the heroic work of 14 million volunteers in 192 National Societies around the world, those who make great sacrifices for humanity.

In Qatar, volunteerism is an integral part of social life. It is a long-established legacy that links the past to the present. In a country known for its humanitarian track record, this can be attributed to the young women and men who devote themselves

to the values and ideals they believe in, taking inspiration from the Qatari culture and the Islamic teachings.

Established in 1978 as the country’s first humanitarian, volunteer-based organi-zation, QRCS’s work and mission is underlain by the seven fundamental prin-ciples of the Red Cross and Red Crescent: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, inde-pendence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

For QRCS, every humanitarian oper-ation is a voluntary undertaking, and every welfare service is a not-for-profit offering. Staff and volunteers act in utmost dedi-cation and self-denial, with the ultimate goal of bringing smiles around, reviving hopes, and reviving the vulnerable.

While Qatar and the whole world are fighting coronavirus (COVID-19), the medical professionals and volunteers are standing firm as humanity’s first line of defense. Millions of lives rely on the relentless efforts exerted by such super people, who risk their own lives and keep working hard day and night, because they know that every life on this planet matters.

On World Red Cross and Red Crescent

Day, QRCS salutes every employee and vol-unteer who contribute to any area of humanitarian and charitable work. It is with their thoughts and work that every poor person has their needs met, every person in distress finds a helping hand, and the community becomes better and better.

Many partners and contributors deserve appreciation, including the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC), Ministry of Interior (MOI), Min-istry of Municipality and Environment (MME), Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, and Government Communications Office.

QRCS takes pride in supporting the national health sector, by holding multi-lingual training courses for volunteers, engaging the medical professionals at the QRCS-managed Workers’ Health Centers in the government Coronavirus control efforts, and recruiting over 18,000 well-trained volunteers.

Both in Qatar and other countries, the vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic and lockdown are provided with health, food, welfare, and other forms of assistance to meet their basic needs.

MoPH steps up efforts to tracktransitional chains of virusFROM PAGE 1

All the new infected cases have been quarantined where they are receiving the nec-essary medical care.

The Ministry of Public Health noted that the current period will see a fluctuation in the number of cases of infection due to several reasons, including that the outbreak of the virus is in the peak stage, before the number of infections begin to descend gradually.

The reason for the high numbers is that the Ministry recently stepped up efforts to track the transitional chains of the virus and expand the search for people infected by con-ducting extensive and proactive investigations of large numbers of contacts with people who have recently been confirmed with the disease.

The number of daily tests performed depends on the number of contacts individuals confirmed to be infected with the virus have had, as well as the random tests that are taking place in different parts of the

country. The Ministry of Public Health has launched a com-munity swabbing to learn more about how the COVID-19 infection is transmitted within the community and to identify people who have the virus but show no symptoms.

Last week, 2500 people were tested through com-munity swabbing and the pro-gramme will continue over the coming period. The Ministry has urged anyone who has been asked to participate in com-munity swabbing to take part in this initiative in order to con-tribute to our national effort to combat the virus and to under-stand more about how it is t r a n s m i t t e d i n t h e community.

The Ministry of Public Health has called on all members of society to stay at home and not go out except in cases of necessity and to implement preventive measures and maintain physical distancing, including in the workplace and public places.

Boosting critical care and ICU capacity a core component of COVID-19 containment strategyFROM PAGE 1

This ensures there is dedicated, specially trained staff and equipment available to these patients while also helping to ensure patients who require non-COVID-19 care can access that care more safely in a non-COVID-19 hospital or clinic,” said Dr. Al Mohammed.

“Qatar has sufficient healthcare facilities and staff to cope with the current number of COVID-19 patients who require intensive treatment and advanced respiratory support, and we are prepared if the number of patients rises. COVID-19 patients in Qatar receive world-class care from experienced, highly qual-ified medical, nursing, and allied healthcare professionals but this is not an excuse for people to become complacent or worse to act recklessly or thoughtlessly. We must all continue working together to stop the spread of this virus and to ensure that our most vul-nerable members of society are protected. I cannot stress enough the importance of adhering to infection prevention measures, which include social distancing,” added Dr. Al Mohammed.

Ministry issues a set of exit and entryprocedures for Industrial AreaFROM PAGE 1Other requirements include signing a pledge not to let workers mingle with others outside the Industrial Area while working on various projects and distributing awareness brochures to companies about safe distancing (two meters) and other preventive measures.

Control and compliance procedures include carrying out inspection campaigns on the workers’ sites to ensure that companies are adhering to the standards and specifications of decent housing for workers.

It is also required to issue exit and return permits for

workers and taking the nec-essary pledges and approvals for the transportation and storage of dangerous or radio-active materials.

The most important thing in the organization process is that the companies are allowed to return to all their commercial and industrial activities and to transfer workers and equipment outside the Indus-trial Area by submitting an application to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for an e n t r y p e r m i t (temporary-permanent).

For requests for material and equipment transportation, an application should be

submitted via the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry os.moci.gov.qa/permit or the hotline 2345130 and an approval will be issued within 48 hours.

Employment transfer requests should be referred to the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs to check and to ensure the requirements for issuing permits are met.

The company’s com-mitment to health, housing and workplace requirements will be evaluated. In case of any vio-lation of these conditions, the company will be penalized, and the transfer permit will be

suspended until the conditions are settled.

Companies, factories, and workshops are allowed to enter and exit with products and raw materials.

Employers and employees are allowed to enter to run their business while adhering to the health safety requirements.

Anyone who does not belong to the category of employers, administrators, or employees will not be per-mitted to enter the area. The services can be provided to them through retail stores outside the Industrial Area (branches - distribution contracts).

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani holding talks with chairmen and representatives of Qatar Chamber (QC) and Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA) via video conferencing, yesterday.

Qatar hails Iraq parliament’s confidence voteQNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar welcomed the granting of confidence by the Iraqi Parliament to the government of HE Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi. In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed hope that the new Iraqi government will be completed urgently, to achieve the aspirations of the brotherly Iraqi people. The statement reaffirmed the full support of the State of Qatar to Iraq and its concern for Iraq’s unity, security, and stability.

Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairsreceives calls from FMs of Canada, Ukraine

QNA — DOHA

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani received yesterday tele-phone calls from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, H E Francois-Philippe Champagne and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine H E Dmytro Kuleba. During the calls, they reviewed bilateral cooperation relations and coordination of efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), in addition to topics of common concern.

FAJR SUNRISE 03.29 am 04.53 am

W A L R U WA I S : 28o↗ 34o W A L K H O R : 26o↗ 38o W D U K H A N : 26o↗ 37o W WA K R A H : 25o↗ 38o W M E S A I E E D 25o↗ 38o W A B U S A M R A 24o↗ 39o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 04:49–18:26 LOW TIDE 00:54 – 12:32

Hot daytime with scattered clouds and a weak chance of rain at some places at times, mild by night.

Minimum Maximum27oC 39oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.30 am06.11 pm

ASR ISHA

02.58 pm07.41 pm

03SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 HOME

Friday prayers at Imam Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab MosqueSheikh Dr Mohamad Hasan Al Muraikhi is delivering Friday sermon at Imam Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab Mosque in the presence of 40 people including imams, muazins and employees of the mosque. The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs allowed Friday sermon only at Imam Muhammad ibn Abd Al Wahhab Mosque under certain rules and regulations as per the preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

QU-CPH graduate's research project reveals prevalence of insomnia among QU studentsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar University’s College of Pharmacy (QU-CPH) MSc student in Clinical Pharmacy and Practice Raja Mahamade Ali recently defended her MSc thesis entitled: “Sleep patterns among university students and insomnia management in primary care in Qatar: A two phase investigation”.

The study aimed to explore the prevalence of insomnia among university students as well as to assess how insomnia is being addressed and managed within Qatar’s main public health services. This study was con-ducted under the supervision of CPH Assistant Professor Dr. Monica Zolezzi and was co-supervised by CPH Associate Professor Dr. Ahmed Awaisu.

Raja Ali indicated that “Uni-versity students were selected because they are known to be a population at risk for having sleep disturbances, and primary healthcare centers (PHCCs) were chosen for being the first point of contact with the healthcare system for people who may be experiencing sleeping problems”. She further said: “For the purpose of this study, two questionnaires were used: one investigated the stu-dents’ quality of sleep and another explored behavioral and environmental factors which could affect sleep, also known as Sleep Hygiene”.

She also explained that for the second phase of the study, pharmacists and physicians from PHCCs were interviewed and were asked questions regarding the commonly fol-lowed approaches for the iden-tification and treatment of insomnia.

The study findings revealed that insomnia affects more than two thirds of Qatar University (QU) students. Poor sleep hygiene practices were also highly prevalent among QU stu-dents and appear to contribute substantially (by 4 folds) to the poor quality of sleep identified in this population. The interview to healthcare profes-sionals at PHCC revealed that insomnia is an important health

concern which often presents as challenging to manage adequately.

Several reasons for these challenges emerged from these interviews, including the com-plexity of insomnia symptoms and its link to mental illness, the limited availability of pharma-cological and non-pharmaco-logical treatments, patient atti-tudes towards insomnia and its treatments, and the lack of local guidelines to guide insomnia management.

Dr Monica Zolezzi high-lighted: “We are working closely with QU Student Coun-selling Center to spread awareness among university students about sleep hygiene and optimal lifestyle habits to help them in improving their sleep quality”. Further research is also needed to quantify the barriers that affect the pro-vision of optimal care for insomnia patients at PHCCs and to design interventions to close these care gaps. “Future projects in this area are needed, and they are certainly in my research agenda for MSc student candidates at CPH,” stated Dr. Zolezzi.

Commenting on her research experience Raja Ali said: “My MSc experience was an important journey for me which has helped me in exploring new opportunities

and in growing both as a person and a researcher. Each and every challenge I faced in the way helped in strengthening my self-confidence and taught me to never give up and to always navigate new ways for solving problems.”

“The guidance of my super-visors, their positivity and con-tinuous encouragement played an important role in pushing me forward towards the com-pletion of this research project. Through this project I have obtained many valuable research skills which I would not have gotten otherwise”.

The results of this study were shared with the research community through several podium and poster presenta-tions in local and international conferences including the Seventh and Eighth Qatar Inter-national Mental Health confer-ences in December 2018 and 2019 sponsored by Hamad Medical Corporation, the First and Second International Multi-disciplinary Conference on Behavioral Health in 2018 and 2019 sponsored by Qatar Uni-versity, the Lifestyle Medicine Conference in February 2019 sponsored by Weill Cornell Medicine- Qatar and the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists Professional Practice Conference in Feb-ruary 2020 in Toronto, Canada.

Class of 2020: CMU-Q celebratesgraduation of 86 studentsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foun-dation partner university, cele-brated the 86 graduates in the Class of 2020 at a virtual event on May 6. The virtual event drew more than 450 unique views from around the world as friends, families and members of the CMU-Q community logged in to support and recognize the class.

Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, noted that in the small campus community, the faculty, staff, students and alumni get to know each graduating class very well. “We have watched them grow over the last four years, and they in turn have been excellent role models for the students that come after them. I am very proud of these exceptional young men and women.”

It is the tradition at CMU-Q to hold a formal graduation cer-emony where the students receive their diplomas.

Due to the pandemic restric-tions, CMU-Q has found creative ways to mark the occasion. Grad-uates will have the formal con-ferral of their degrees at a virtual ceremony from the main Carnegie Mellon campus in

Pittsburgh. When restrictions ease and it is safe to do so, CMU-Q will hold a formal event to celebrate the class.

At the virtual gathering, Trick outlined how the CMU-Q com-munity embraces tough obstacles: “At Carnegie Mellon, we look at a problem as a chal-lenge. We are creative, collabo-rative, practical, and optimistic. This virtual celebration is our way of recognizing how important the Class of 2020 is to our entire community.”

After the event, more than 100 people from the Class of 2020 and the CMU-Q com-munity joined a virtual gath-ering to chat, share memories and connect.

The Class of 2020 repre-sents each of the five

programs of study at CMU-Q: biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems. There are 19 nations represented in the Class of 2020, and 47% are Qatari citizens.

The Class of 2020 is par-ticularly distinguished, with 16 students from all five academic programs completing a senior honors thesis. More than half of the students have been involved in community out-reach during their time at CMU-Q, and nearly two-thirds have studied abroad.

This is the 13th graduating class from CMU-Q. Including the Class of 2020, the total number of CMU-Q alumni is more than 900.

Class of 2020 Senior Celebrations during a virtual ceremony.

Katara marks Garangao Night with precautionary measuresQNA — DOHA

The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) marked Garangao night yesterday, as it celebrated the traditional night in a new way. The celebration preserved the health and safety of children and prevented gatherings in line with the precau-tionary measures taken by Katara to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Katara’s celebration of Garangao night was characterized by a range of activities and events that contributed to the enjoyment of children of the occasion which coincides with current health conditions required them to stay at homes and keep social distancing.

Immediately after Iftar time, Katara started its festivity by organizing a tour that covered various parts of Qatar and distributed gifts to children.

The children also listened to their beloved Garangao songs through the drones launched by Katara in a tour that also covered various regions. Katara wrapped children gifts dis-tributed within its celebration of the Garangao night by applying all health, safety and security measures.

The virtual event drew more than 450 unique views from around the world as friends, families and members of the CMU-Q community logged in to support and recognize the class. This is the 13th graduating class from CMU-Q. Including the Class of 2020, the total number of CMU-Q alumni is more than 900.

HEC Paris in Qatar to hold online masterclass

sessions on post-coronavirus world

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

HEC Paris in Qatar will be conducting two online master-class sessions on the post-coronavirus world in May. The sessions will be delivered by Dr. Pablo Martin de Holan, Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar, and Professor Serge Besanger, Former Acting Director at International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The first masterclass, titled ‘After the pandemic: Some ideas to manage suc-cessfully in the post-virus world’, will be delivered on Wednesday, May 13 by Dr. Martin de Holan.

The session will analyze the

possible consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the lessons that managers could derive from them.

In particular, the discussion will focus on the future business environment and what it may mean for organizations and also the consequences of these changes on the management process..

The second masterclass, titled ‘Strategic Foresight for a post-coronavirus world, with a focus on the Middle East!’, will take place on Tuesday, 19 May, and it will be delivered by Pro-fessor Besanger.

The interactive session will analyze how strategic foresight can support decision making by

better anticipating change, revealing options for experi-mentation with an innovative approach, and stress testing existing strategies. To register for this session, click here.

HEC Paris in Qatar master-class sessions are designed to strengthen leadership skills necessary for senior business managers to flourish in their roles.

These interactive discus-sions will give participants an insight into innovation topics such as becoming more creative in a professional context; the levers to be a more innovative individual; or creating a context for their immediate team to be more innovative.

Children enjoying Garangao Night organised by Katara.

Raja Mahamade Ali (right), with CPH Assistant Professor Dr. Monica Zolezzi.

5.2 magnitude quake in Iran city

04 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 MIDDLE EAST

Iran holds Friday prayers for first time in monthsAFP — TEHRAN

Iran allowed worshippers to attend Friday prayers for the first time in more than two months, but the capital remains under restrictions amid the Middle East’s deadliest corona-virus outbreak.

Since reporting its first cases in mid-February, the Islamic republic has struggled to contain the spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

The government urged Ira-nians to take social distancing “more seriously” as it announced more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.

In order to contain the spread of the disease, Iran has taken various restrictive measures, without ever imposing a lockdown or quarantine.

Schools have been shut, major events postponed and inter-city travel banned since mid-March as part of those efforts.

But cash-strapped Iran has allowed a gradual reopening of shops since April 11.

It gave the green light for the reopening of mosques on Monday in about 30 percent of the counties where the risk of renewed outbreaks is con-sidered low.

But mosques remain shut-tered in the capital. State tele-vision broadcast footage of

worshippers attending Friday prayers at a mosque in East Azerbaijan province.

They were seen wearing masks and sitting farther apart than usual in accordance with social distancing guidelines.

The authority in charge of organising Friday prayers said they would be held in 180 loca-tions, describing it as a “great honour”.

Mohsen Alviri, an academic and theologian from Qom, the Shia holy city that was the epi-centre of Iran’s coronavirus outbreak, stressed the impor-tance of Friday prayers in the country.

“Friday prayers are an opportunity to create inter-action between the gov-ernment and the masses,” he said.

“In addition to the religious aspect of Friday prayers, the public is informed about the affairs of the country,” he said. “Therefore, it is one of the most important symbols of public

participation in the political arena of Iran.”

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 55 new virus fatalities in the past 24 hours took the overall death toll in the health crisis to 6,541.

He said another 1,556 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the same period of time, taking the country’s caseload to 104,691.

“We (Iranians) are urged to continue to follow health advice, especially social dis-tancing, more seriously than on previous days and weeks,” Jahanpour said in televised remarks.

Experts and officials both in Iran and abroad have cast doubts over the country’s COVID-19 figures, saying the real number of cases could be much higher than reported.

On Saturday, the govern-ment’s official tally of daily infections hit 802 — its lowest level since the start of March.

Iran’s count stayed below

1,000 for a second day, however its caseload rebounded on Monday and has stayed above that mark on each day since then.

Mosques were Monday allowed to reopen to wor-shippers in 132, or around a third, of Iran’s administrative divisions which are considered low-risk.

The country has started

using a colour-coded system for different areas to classify the virus risk.

Worshippers have been obliged to enter mosques with masks and gloves and told they can only stay for half an hour during prayer times and must use their personal items.

Mosques were told to refrain from offering them food and dr inks , provide

hand sanitisers and disinfect all surfaces. Iran requested a $5bn emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund to battle the coronavirus outbreak.

But its arch enemy the United States, which effectively holds a veto at the IMF, sig-nalled it has no intention of agreeing to give Iran such a credit line.

QNA — CAIRO

The Arab League yesterday, welcomed the formation of the new Iraqi Cabinet led by Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al Kadhimi.

The General Secretariat of the Arab League called for the speedy completion of the cabinet formation, in order for the new government to face the current challenges and meet the legitimate aspirations that the masses of the Iraqi people still demanded since last October.

AGENCIES — RIYADH/KUWAIT

The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 35,000 yesterday as the kingdom struggles to get to grips with rising numbers of new infections.

Officials reported 1,701 new cases, taking the total to 35,432. The country has recorded a daily average of around 1,500 new cases over the past week.

Despite the rising number of cases, the kingdom’s death toll has remained relatively low. It increased by 10 yes-terday to 229.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday formed a police unit to monitor violations of its coronavirus lockdown rules and banned gatherings of more than five people, according to state news agency SPA, citing hefty fines for any violations.

Fines of up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000) will be handed down to groups larger than one family gathering in public and private spaces, including homes, construction sites and shops. The same rule applies for parties, weddings and funerals.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health reported yesterday, 641 new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 7,208.

The ministry also announced the death of 3 COVID-19 patients, bringing the total deaths from the virus to 47. Earlier yesterday, the Min-istry announced the recovery

of 85 people from the corona-virus (COVID-19), bringing the tally to 2,466.

The ministry said analyses and medical examinations and tests proved that these cases were cured of the coronavirus and will be transferred to the hospital recuperation ward, pending their discharge within the next few days.

Omans Ministry of Health has announced 154 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Sultanate to 3,112.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 3,112, while the number of recoveries has risen to 1,025, in addition to 15 deaths from the virus.

Of the 154 new cases announced yesterday, 42 are among Omani citizens and 112 are among non-Omani residents, the ministry said. The ministry also urged the public to strictly adhere to the precautionary measures and the instructions for social and physical spacing, and not to leave homes unless it is necessary.

The United Arab Emirates’ Health Ministry said a total of 16,240 people in the country have been infected with COVID-19, including 165 deaths and 3,572 recoveries.

Lebanon did not announce any casualties in the last 24 hours, but the Health Ministry said in a statement that the number of cases in the country has reached 784 while a total of 25 people have died.

Saudi registers 10 new virusdeaths, cases exceed 35,000

Palestinians say Israel targeting prisoners’ bank accountsAP — RAMALLAH, WEST BANK

Palestinian officials said yesterday that Israel is forcing banks in the occupied West Bank to close accounts held by the families of prisoners in Israeli jails to prevent the Pales-tinian Authority from providing stipends to them.

Israel has long objected to the Palestinian Authority’s pay-ments to the families of pris-oners and those martyred in the conflict, including fighters, saying it rewards terrorism. The Palestinians view the payments as a social safety net for those living under decades of military occupation.

The apparent move to target banks comes as the Palestinians face a potentially severe eco-nomic crisis after weeks of lockdown to combat the coro-navirus pandemic. It also comes

as Israel vows to annex large parts of the West Bank in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan.

Protesters shattered the windows of several bank branches and set fires outside some of them late on Thursday and early yesterday as word of the new regulations spread.

Qadora Fares, head of the Palestinian prisoners’ associ-ation, said relatives of current and former prisoners have told him they were forced to close their accounts because of a new Israeli law penalising banks for facilitating the payments.

The father of one prisoner said that he tried to use an ATM on Thursday but the request was declined. He says the bank told him to withdraw his funds and close the account because of the new Israeli regulations. He spoke on condition of

anonymity out of fear Israel would target his assets.

A bank manager said COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian terri-tories, warned banks of the move months ago, saying it would go into effect tomorrow. He said the banks are com-plying because they fear legal action or Israeli raids. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from angry clients. Other bank managers declined to comment, citing similar concerns.

The Israeli Defense Ministry and COGAT did not immedi-ately respond to requests for comment.

Fares said the families of around 12,000 current and former prisoners receive monthly allowances from the Palestinian Authority. Prisoners

who have served more than five years get around $700 a month until they find employment, and families receive aid according to how many children they have, he said.

He said the new regulation was a “blatant violation” of Pal-estinian sovereignty, since the banks are located in areas gov-erned by the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli military regularly carries out arrest raids and other operations in those areas.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh issued a statement saying he has formed a committee “to study the Israeli threats against banks that provide services to families of prisoners and martyrs.”

Hussein Al Sheikh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected the closing of the accounts, calling

it an affront to the “dignity of every Palestinian” and a “sub-mission to the will of the occupation.”

“We hope to create a Pales-tinian national consensus in protecting our families & their rights & preserving their dignity,” he tweeted.

Abbas has consistently rejected violence in favour of peace talks with Israel, but the negotiations stalled out more than a decade ago. He has repeatedly vowed to continue the payments despite Israeli pressure.

Over the last two years, Israel has deducted the amount of the payments from tax rev-enues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Last year, the Palestinian Authority rejected all the tax transfers in protest, but it relented months later.

Iranians wearing maks against the coronavirus, gather outside their buildings after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake was felt in the capital Tehran on Thursday night. Media reported that the quake hit the city of Damavand, about 66km northeast of Tehran.

US pulling Patriot

missile batteries

out of Saudi

Arab League hails formation of new Iraq government

AFP — WASHINGTON/RIYADH

The US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defense Department official said on Thursday.

Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed following the September attacks on Saudi oil installations “are now leaving,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Tehran and Houthi-backed rebels in Yemen were blamed for the combination rocket and drone attack which left two of state oil giant Aramco’s processing facilities — one in Khurais and another in Abqaiq —heavily damaged, roughly halving Saudi Arabia’s oil production.

Two other batteries had been kept in the region in March following an attack by pro-Iran factions on the Iraqi base of Taji, north of Baghdad. Two Americans and one British soldier were killed in the attack. “I think everyone knew it was going to be a tem-porary plus-up at the time, unless things got bad, “ the official said. “Things did not get bad, so they had to go.”

The batteries’ return will also mark the withdrawal of the 300 US personnel who operate them.

Late last year the Pen-tagon deployed about 3,000 extra troops, fighter jets and other hardware along with the Patriots in the wake of the attack on oil installations and subsequent rise in tensions in the Gulf. The US also expanded its naval presence in the region.

Worshippers perform the Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, while keeping a safe distance from each other, at the Mohammed Al Amin Mosque in the Lebanese capital Beirut’s downtown district.

Lebanon to reopen universities on May 28ANATOLIA — LEBANON

Lebanese education minister yesterday said classes in schools and universities will resume on May 28 after two months of suspension as part of the efforts to fight the coro-navirus pandemic.

Tarek Majzoub, in press conference, said: “The s c h o o l y e a r w i l l b e

completed as of 28 May till the end of June.”

“The return to classes will include health and psycho-logical measures in cooperation with the health ministry and the World Health Organization,” Majzoub added.

Distance learning for stu-dents from grade 1 to 9 will con-tinue, while other grades will resume classes.

Majzoub said high school exams will be held on Aug. 15 with health measures to be taken during the exams.

On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry announced it will ease part of the measures imposed on the places of worship and allow mosques and churches to open at 30% capacity during Friday prayers and Sunday masses.

But mosques remain shuttered in the capital. State television broadcast footage of worshippers attending Friday prayers at a mosque in East Azerbaijan province The government urged Iranians to take social distancing “more seriously” as it announced more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.

05SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

WHO warns 190,000in Africa could die in first year of pandemicAP — JOHANNESBURG

An estimated 190,000 people in Africa could die of COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic and the disease could “smolder” across the continent for years, the World Health Organisation has warned.

As many as 44 million of the continent’s 1.3 billion people could be infected during the same period, the UN health agency estimated, based on its prediction model of 47 African countries.

But the projected number of infections and deaths is based on the assumption that no containment measures are taken. In fact, 43 African coun-tries have implemented measures to reduce the spread of the virus, ranging from nationwide lockdowns to restrictions in major cities to curfews, closed schools and banned public gatherings.

More than 52,000

confirmed infections and 2,074 virus-related deaths have been reported by African countries, according to figures released yesterday by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Pre-vention. The total number of cases has risen by more than 42 percent in the past week.

The disease appears to be spreading more slowly across Africa than in Europe, according to the WHO report. Officials say that could be due

to poor surveillance or less developed transport links.

“While COVID-19 likely won’t spread as exponentially in Africa as it has elsewhere in the world, it likely will smolder in transmission hotspots,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa who is based in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

She said outbreaks would likely peak in about one month after the virus starts spreading widely in communities.

“COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the region. We need to test, trace, isolate and treat,” Moeti said in a video call.

Africa, which has most of its population under 20 years old, may be experiencing a slower rate of transmission, less severe cases and less deaths from a virus known to affect the elderly

at a much deadlier rate. But Africa could see a more pro-longed outbreak that lasts a few years, according to the study. Algeria, South Africa and Cam-eroon as well as several smaller African countries are at high risk if containment measures are not prioritized, it said.

As many as 5.5 million Africans could require hospi-talisation for COVID-19, which

would severely strain the health resources of many countries. Africa has an average of nine intensive care unit beds per 1 million people, according to a recent WHO survey. These would be “woefully inade-quate,” the new report said.

“The importance of pro-moting effective containment measures is crucial, as sus-tained and widespread

transmission of the virus could severely overwhelm our health systems,” said Dr Moeti.

“Curbing a large-scale out-break is far costlier than the ongoing preventive measures that governments are under-taking to contain the spread of the virus.” Social distancing and frequent hand washing are the key virus containment measures in Africa.

A health worker wearing personal protective equipment performs a oral swab on a woman at a temporary COVID-19 testing station in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, yesterday.

South Sudan rivals face fresh feud over control of statesAFP — JUBA

South Sudan’s main rivals were at loggerheads yesterday over who will control the country’s 10 internal states, an issue that analysts and diplomats worried could jeopardise a power-sharing deal reached earlier this year.

President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, old foes whose fallout in 2013 sparked civil war, agreed in February to form a

new government after intense international pressure to deliver lasting peace to the conflict-torn country.

But while they managed to name a cabinet in March, they have yet to strike a deal on who can appoint governors to the states.

On Thursday night Kiir announced a breakthrough on the states issue, saying his party would appoint six governors while Machar’s would appoint three.

The remaining state would be governed by the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, a grouping of opposition parties.

But Machar responded with his own statement saying the purported deal was “not a decision taken by consensus”.

“As far as we are concerned the deadlock on the allocation of the states still stands,” the statement said.

South Sudan attained inde-pendence from Sudan in 2011.

The subsequent collapse of

two previous political alliances between Kiir and Machar resulted in fighting that has left 380,000 people dead, millions displaced and an economy in ruins.

The latest accord followed a fresh peace deal and ceasefire in September 2018 that paused the worst of the fighting.

The East African regional bloc IGAD, which has played a key role in South Sudan peace talks, has stepped in again to try to resolve the dispute over the

states, its executive secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, said in a Twitter post on yesterday.

Alan Boswell with the Inter-national Crisis Group, a conflict-prevention organisation, called for “quick action from regional leaders” to resolve the feud, which he described as the “biggest crisis yet” for the unity government.

“In the past, such disputes have sometimes hardened into new impasses if not quickly addressed,” he said.

EU condemns

attacks on Libya

civilians by

Haftar’s forcesANATOLIA — BRUSSELS

The EU yesterday condemned the latest attacks on Libyan civilians by the forces of warlord Khalifa Haftar.

“Any kind of indiscriminate strikes targeted at heavily pop-ulated areas are unacceptable and run against the basic prin-ciples of international human-itarian law,” Peter Stano, the EU foreign policy spokesperson, told the European Commission’s daily press briefing.

In the past two days, at least nine people have lost their lives to various rocket attacks in Tripoli, Libya’s capital.

At yesterday dawn, Haftar’s forces shelled the coastal road leading to the port of Tripoli, close to the residences of the Turkish and Italian ambas-sadors. According to Stano, “this incident underlines the necessity for all parties to agree on a sustainable cease-fire to restore stability in the country.”

However, he rejected Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj’s recent criticisms of the EU’s military mission in Libya. According to Saraj, Operation Irini has only helped Haftar.

“The main task of the oper-ation is to prevent the illegal arms flow into Libya,” said Stano. He said the EU enforcing the UN arms embargo helps create conditions for a cease-fire and political solution in Libya. EU member states last month approved the launch of Operation Irini, which aims to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya.

The new mission will operate in the air, sea, and with satellites to ensure that all coun-tries respect the ban on pro-viding arms for the parties involved in the Libyan conflict. The Libyan government has been under attack by Haftar’s forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.

South Sudan: Hunger forces virus patients to violate quarantineANATOIA — JUBA

Authorities in South Sudan feel constrained to keep the corona-virus or COVID-19 infected patients locked inside their homes. Most of them have been seen roaming in the streets in search of food.

Although the country, which has just come out of a long civil war has so far reported only 58 cases with no death, the pan-demic is increasing its tentacles. So far only two people have recovered in the country.

Experts also attribute a lower number of cases to almost non-existent testing facilities.

In the absence of quarantine facilities, the government has been keeping patients in iso-lation in their respective homes.

Acknowledging that infected people have been moving outside, the government has now vowed to take strict measures. But people say that the patients are not following directive in the absence of any

arrangement to provide them food.

“They are mobile because they miss certain basic things like food, water, electricity, and this is what forces some of them to leave their houses and go outside,” Dr Angok Gordon Kuol, the manager for COVID-19 at the Health Ministry.

“This issue has been flagged at the highest level. They have started addressing it,” he said.

Of those quarantined, 28 are from a single-family. Since they are not following norms, their neighborhood has become uneasy.

“The situation is bad because I live next to their house. They are not following the guidelines given to them. They go out, which is very risky to those living around them,” a neighbour who identified himself only as Deng said.

“They are still moving freely and interacting with the public in the residential area,” Deng added.

Akech, another neighbour said he is scared.

“We lack facilities. I have noticed that more than four people stay in one room in the homes. So, if one contracts an infection, everybody in the room will be affected,” he said. According to the directives by the World Health Organisation on COVID-19, patients have to be kept in isolation, until they recover.

The precautions are meant to stem the spread of the virus, which has so far infected 3.76 million people and killed 263,983 people across the world.

Just out of the decades’ long civil war, South Sudan has one of the world’s poorest health systems. Currently, there is only one designated quarantine facility with only two dozen beds.

“As I speak to you, we have only 40 beds now and within a week, the number of beds may increase to 100,” said Dr Kuol.

Passengers wearing face masks line up to board a government subsidised bus for transport to work in Harare. The Zimbabwe government has made it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Virus precaution in Zimbabwe

Sudan’s anti-corruptioncommittee to confiscateproperties of Bashir’s kinREUTERS — KHARTOUM

A Sudanese anti-corruption committee said on Thursday that it will confiscate several large plots of land and resi-dential properties in the capital Khartoum from relatives of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir (pictured) after investigations found they were acquired largely due to family ties.

The Empowerment Removal Committee said it confiscated property from Bashir’s brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, and even a former defence minister, who was a close ally of the former president.

It transferred the own-ership of the several plots, which totalled around 92,000 square meters in size, to the finance ministry.

Separately, it also dissolved the boards of the Khartoum International Airport Company and the Sudan Airports Holding Company over corruption accusations.

The committee was charged by the attorney general with dismantling the system built by Bashir after his ouster in April last year. It

oversees investigations into crimes involving public funds and corruption by the former president and members of his extended family and old regime.

Bashir, who has been jailed in Khartoum since he was toppled following mass pro-tests against his 30-year rule, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.

A Sudanese court handed Bashir a first, two-year sen-tence in December on cor-ruption charges. He also faces trials and investigations over the killing of protesters and his role in the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

Ugandan hospital and Somalia townwashed away by floods in East AfricaREUTERS — NAIROBI/KAMPALA

Flooding washed away roads, bridges and a hospital in Uganda and an entire small town in Somalia as torrential rain across East Africa compounded problems for governments strug-gling to respond to the new coro-navirus.

Hundreds of people have been killed by floodwaters in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda and Ethiopia which have also displaced hundreds of thou-sands across the region.

Heavy overnight rains flooded areas around Mountain Rwenzori in Western Uganda after the River Nyamwamba burst its banks, forcing people to seek refuge in nearby schools and destroying roads and bridges, a senior government official said. One of the hospitals in the area, Kilembe, was also overrun by the gushing waters despite being built on a raised bank and reinforced with sandbags.

“There are wards which were completely washed away. The

mortuary was swept away. You wouldn’t know that once upon a time there was a mortuary there. The drugs and drug stores were washed away,” Mucunguzi said.

In Ethiopia, the Somali region in the east of the country has borne the brunt of the floods, which have displaced more than 100,000 people.

In Somalia, an unspecified number of people were killed when floods washed away an entire small town in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, officials said.

As many as 44 million of the continent’s 1.3 billion people could be infected during the same period, the UN health agency estimated, based on its prediction model of 47 African countries.

06 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020ASIA

India mounts hugeairlift to bring citizens back homeREUTERS — NEW DELHI

Doctors in hazmat suits ran temperature checks on passengers at Delhi airport and bags were disinfected as the first group of Indians returned home on special flights from Singapore and the Gulf yesterday since a sweeping lockdown was imposed in March.

Some 400,000 Indians were expected to be brought back from the United States and the United Kingdom, besides southeast Asia and the Gulf, in a mammoth airlift mounted by state carrier Air India.

Separately, the Indian navy sent warships to the island nation of Maldives for citizens stranded there since the gov-ernment cut off all travel and ordered its 1.3 billion people to stay indoors to prevent a surge in coronavirus infections.

“The process for return of Indian nationals stranded abroad via non-scheduled com-mercial flights and Indian navy ships has begun,” home ministry joint secretary Punya Salila Srivastava told a news conference.

Local TV networks showed Air India crew dressed in light blue overalls, masks and pro-tective plastic face shields inside the plane waiting to receive pas-sengers in Abu Dhabi. “Long live India,” they said, raising their hands.

India has 56,342 cases of the

novel coronavirus, rising by 3,390 over the previous day and showing no sign of abating, despite the lockdown which has battered the economy and left millions without work. At least 1,886 people have died.

Distress had also been mounting among the vast Indian diaspora unable to return home.

There have been numerous tales of hardship, both financial and emotional, from people des-perate to see sick relatives, attend funerals or births, while others have simply lost their jobs and are running out of money stranded abroad.

The first round of evacua-tions would bring back around 200,000 people by the middle of May and then by mid-June a total of 350,000-400,00 would be flown back, the gov-ernment said. In Delhi, some 250 people got off the plane from Singapore and were

screened for symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. They stood far apart from each other in a spotlessly clean terminal building, wearing masks and waiting to be cleared for entry.

Srivastava said if any trav-eller is found symptomatic upon arrival, they will be taken to hos-pital while others will be placed under a 14-day quarantine in a government facility.

There were some concerns that the influx of people from overseas could lead to a further spike in infections.

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, said the federal government had asked state authorities to make sure hotels, college hostels and empty houses that had been converted into quarantine centres for those returning be closely supervised by health workers.

Health officials take personal details of Indian citizens evacuated from Singapore by the Air India flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport as part of a repatriation effort due to the coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi yesterday.

Trains resume for Indian migrant workers amid protests, deathsREUTERS — CHENNAI

An Indian state resumed train services yesterday to take migrant workers home after protests over growing distress of those stranded and reports of deaths among the thousands walking home having lost their jobs during the corona-virus lockdown.

Three special migrant trains were scheduled to leave the southern state of Karnataka two days after authorities cancelled services so that work on con-struction sites could restart, a move condemned as amounting to forced labour.

At least two trains will leave every day for the next week to allow all migrant workers who

have registered with authorities to return home, an official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. The resumption of services coincides with a fatal accident in western Maharashtra state where a train killed 14 migrant workers sleeping on a track while walking back to their villages after losing their jobs during the lockdown.

India’s strict lockdown measures, such as severing transport links, have taken a toll on the nation’s estimated 100 million migrant workers, trig-gering an exodus from cities where they worked in garment factories, building sites and brick kilns.

Across the nation of 1.3 billion

people, local officials are collating migrant worker data from phone calls to welfare helplines and social media messages, as well as counting them by visiting make-shift camps where many of the workers live.

But tens of thousands con-tinue to walk back to their villages despite reassurances from offi-cials, trekking thousands of miles in the scorching sun, on highways and across forests.

“The flip-flop of this mag-nitude, where trains are cancelled and restarted in 24 hours, gives no assurance to workers around which they can organise their lives,” said Gayatri Menon, a soci-ology professor at the Azim Premji University in Bangalore.

South Korea tracks new virus outbreak in Seoul clubsREUTERS — SEOUL

South Korean health authorities are investigating a small but growing cluster of coronavirus cases linked to a handful of Seoul clubs, at a time when the country is moving to less restrictive social distancing measures.

At least 15 cases have been identified with connections to clubs in Itaewon, a neigh-bourhood popular with Koreans and foreigners in the capital, the

Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said yesterday.

South Korea has reported only a handful of cases in recent days, the majority of them in people arriving from overseas. But, the club infections, while still limited, are expected to increase.

“These venues have all the dangerous conditions that we were the most concerned about,” KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said on Friday,

referring to crowding and ven-tilation issues.

“We think it is necessary to strengthen management for such facilities and we urge you to refrain from visiting such facilities as much as possible.” Because of the new cluster, the government plans to issue an administrative order asking entertainment venues such as clubs to voluntarily suspend operations for at least one more month, Yoon Tae-ho, director general for public health policy,

announced yesterday.If these businesses opt to

stay open, they should more closely comply with prevention and infection guidelines, Yoon added. All entertainment facil-ities currently have to conform to rules such as mandatory wearing of masks by all cus-tomers, maintaining at least 1 metre distance between people, and registering the names of everyone who visits.

Seoul city officials say they have a list of about 1,500 people

who have visited the clubs, and more cases have been con-firmed in other cities where the patients lived or travelled. Authorities have asked anyone who visited the clubs over the weekend to self isolate for 14 days and be tested.

The cluster of infections also raised controversy over the possible unintended side effects of South Korea’s invasive tracing and wide public dis-closure of some patient information.

Lawmakers ejected in scuffles at Hong Kong’s legislatureAP — HONG KONG

Scuffles broke out at Hong Kong’s legislature yesterday, with security guards ejecting several pro-democracy lawmakers including one carried out on a stretcher by medics after he was injured.

Tempers flared when a pro-Beijing lawmaker inserted herself as chair of a committee meeting to try to end a months-long impasse that has resulted in a backlog of legislation, including a controversial bill that would criminalise abuse of the Chinese national anthem in the semi-autonomous city.

Pro-Beijing lawmakers have accused pro-democracy law-maker Dennis Kwok, the deputy chair of the House Committee, of stalling its work by blocking the selection of a new chair for more than six months. China publicly rebuked Kwok last month for

holding up matters that affect public interest, sparking protests that it was meddling in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

Yesterday, pro-Beijing law-maker Starry Lee, saying she has the authority as the previous chair to preside over the meeting, occupied the seat more than an hour before the meeting’s scheduled start. Security staff and other pro-Beijing lawmakers sur-rounded the bench to try to keep a large group of pro-democracy lawmakers at bay.

The two sides shouted at each other, with each camp holding up placards condemning either Lee or Kwok. Scuffles broke out when Lee called the meeting to order, with pro-democracy lawmakers rushing the bench as security guards shoved back.

The guards carried out several pro-democracy law-makers, including Eddie Chu and

Ray Chan, who were ordered to leave due to disorderly conduct. “I have not seized power, I am the incumbent chairperson of the House Committee,” said Lee, urging lawmakers to take their seats.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo called Lee a “vicious

Beijing little worm,” and others chanted “Starry Lee, step down.”

Pro-Beijing lawmakers countered that Kwok was abusing his power. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers eventually walked out of the meeting of the committee, which normally scrutinises bills and

determines when they can be put to a final vote. The session was later briefly suspended after pro-democracy politician Kwok Wing-kin, who was watching from the public viewing balcony, was dragged away by security guards after he threw a stack of papers down into the chamber.

Pan-democratic legislator Andrew Wan Siu-kin is taken away by paramedics after scuffles with pro-China legislators during a Legislative Council’s House Committee meeting, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Hong Kong gyms,

cinemas reopen

as coronavirus

measures easeAFP — HONG KONG

Hong Kong began to ease major social distancing measures yesterday with gyms, beauty parlours and cinemas reopening their doors after the financial hub largely halted local trans-missions of the deadly corona-virus.

Queues formed outside gyms in the semi-autonomous Chinese city yesterday morning for employees to check temper-atures as people celebrated the return of some normalcy to the city.

Doris, a 39-year-old yoga teacher, said her first classes were already filled after weeks of teaching online.

“I’m excited to share again... and see my students,” she said.

Will Sutton, an American resident, tweeted pictures of his local gym with partitions placed between running machines.

“After three weeks without a workout, whatever... let’s just get back to sweating!” he wrote.

The less health-conscious flocked to watering holes, some of which opened their doors as soon as the clock struck midnight.

Most of Hong Kong’s enter-tainment venues were shuttered in early April when the city suf-fered a second wave of infec-tions — primarily residents returning from Europe and North America as the pandemic spread rapidly there.

But health officials have made impressive headway against the disease thanks to efficient testing, tracing and treatment programmes with just over 1,000 infections and four deaths.

Eyeing lockdown exit, Singapore to test elderly in nursing homesREUTERS — SINGAPORE

Singapore plans to test all 16,000 elderly residents of its nursing homes for the coronavirus over the coming weeks, as it edges towards exiting a nationwide lockdown next month.

The city-state recorded 768 new coronavirus on Friday, taking its total infections to 21,707 - one of the highest rates in Asia largely due to mass outbreaks among a young population of low-paid migrant labourers living in crowded dormitories.

It has recorded only 20 deaths from the virus, with the majority being over the age of 60. Four of the deaths have been residents of nursing homes.

Bangladesh quarantines hundreds of Rohingya on islandREUTERS — DHAKA

The Bangladesh navy has rescued around 280 Rohingya Muslims from the Bay of Bengal, towing their stranded boat to an island where they will be quar-antined as a precaution against the coronavirus, coast guard and naval officials said yesterday.

The rickety wooden boat was spotted early on Thursday in Bangladeshi waters, and taken to Bhasan Char, a low-lying

island off the southern coast, where the government has built housing and cyclone shelters.

“They were starving and we have given them food and water,” one naval officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The plan is to keep them in home quarantine for 14 days. Later the government will decide.” The navy and coast guard are on alert for other boats in Bangladeshi waters, unable

to find their course as the seas turn rougher due to a change in season.

Back in February, Bang-ladesh appeared to be backing off plans to settle Rohingya ref-ugees on Bhasan Char, having come under fierce criticism from the United Nations and aid agencies. But the subsequent coronavirus scare appears to have persuaded Bangladesh authorities to at least use the facilities on the island for

quarantining rescued Rohingya boat people.

Last weekend, 29 Rohingya found on another vessel adrift at sea were also taken to the island, which now has electric lighting and cell phone towers.

Another boat that landed on the coast of Bangladesh in mid-April was packed with hundreds of starving and emaciated Rohingya. Survivors said several dozen died on board during weeks at sea.

Some 400,000 Indians were expected to be brought back from the United States and the United Kingdom, besides southeast Asia and the Gulf, in a mammoth airlift mounted by state carrier Air India. Separately, the Indian Navy sent warships to the island nation of Maldives for citizens stranded there since the government cut off all travel and ordered its 1.3 billion people to stay indoors to prevent a surge in coronavirus infections.

07SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 ASIA

Virus cases in Pakistan surpass 25,800REUTERS —ISLAMABAD

Coronavirus cases in Pakistan surged past 25,000 yesterday, just hours before the government was due to lift lockdown measures, with the country reporting some of the biggest daily increases in new infections in the world.

Officials reported 1,764 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours yesterday, taking the total to 25,837. Deaths rose by 30 to 594.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced plans to begin

lifting Pakistan’s poorly enforced lockdown from today, amid fears for the coun-try’s economy as it sinks into recession.

Khan said the easing of restrictions, aimed at helping the country’s most impover-ished citizens, would be lifted in phases and warned people that the epidemic could get out of control if they did not take precautions.

He added that restrictions could be restored if the out-break worsens.

T h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s

handling of the virus has been strongly criticised by scientists and doctors who fear the out-break will gather pace among a population of around 210 million and overwhelm the country’s struggling health system.

After reporting just a

handful of COVID-19 cases in late February, Pakistan’s numbers began to surge from mid-March. It has reported an average of just over 1,000 cases and around 27 deaths per day for the past week, according to a tally based on official data.

In the Middle East and Asia regions, only India, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey are reporting daily increases at a similar rate.

Pakistan officials have said small markets and shops would be the first to open, with restricted hours, while big malls and other spaces that attract large crowds will remain closed for now.

Schools will stay shut until mid-July and a decision on reopening intercity transport would be made at a later, unspecified, date.

Indonesia eases virus travel ban despite fears it’s too earlyREUTERS — JAKARTA

Two weeks after Indonesia banned air and sea travel to contain the spread of the coro-navirus, the transport ministry has confirmed that flights and public transport will condi-tionally resume.

The ban, which came into effect on April 23, was scheduled to run until the end of May, but yesterday the transport ministry confirmed what has been criticised by civil society groups as a “confusing” policy backflip.

Those who work in security, defence and health services, or have emergency health reasons, will be allowed to travel if they have tested negative for the novel coronavirus and have a letter from their employer, the ministry said. Migrant workers going home will also be allowed to travel.

“Operations will be limited and only for passengers who have been declared healthy and whose special interests are sup-ported with documentation,”

said Adita Irawati, a spokesman for the transport ministry.

Garuda Indonesia resumed domestic flights on Thursday, while Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air, all members of the Lion Air group, are scheduled to resume domestic flights tomorrow.

The government of the world’s largest Muslim-majority country had come under fire from some officials and health experts for being slow in announcing a ban on people travelling for the Eid Al-Fitr holiday at the end of Ramadan, when traditionally millions head back to hometowns and villages. There are fears mass movements would rapidly spread the virus across archi-pelago, including to remote areas ill-equipped to handle a health crisis. The end of Ramadan is on around May 23.

The ministry defended its policy revision saying that travel at the end of Ramadan remains banned, although there are concerns about how well the ban might be enforced.

Yesterday, a coalition of civil society groups criticised inconsistent and confusing messaging on social restrictions, accusing the government of “prioritising the economy over the rights to public health”.

Despite only mixed evidence the government has flattened the COVID-19 curve, or slowed the rate of new infections, it has appeared eager to resume

economic activity and ease social restrictions.

This week, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the coronavirus epidemic had set poverty-eradication efforts back a decade, with more than 2 million people losing their jobs in the past six weeks.

But in a country with more than 13,000 cases of the virus and the highest death toll in East

Asia outside China, some believe the move to relax restrictions could be premature.

“It’s too early,” said Dono Widiatmoko, a public health expert at the University of Derby.

“If social restrictions are relaxed with flights and trains resumed, the public will see this as a signal of normality and public transport will get busier, denser.”

Healthcare workers cheer each other before taking swab samples from vendors amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, at a traditional market in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, yesterday.

Pakistan court

orders auction of

former Taliban

chief’s property

AP — KARACHI

A Pakistani judge ordered the auction of five properties purchased by former Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour with fake documents before he was killed in a US drone strike in 2016, two investi-gators familiar with the case said yesterday.

Mansour bought the prop-erties, estimated to be worth about $200,000, after he replaced Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death was announced in 2015.

Mansour’s properties were detected in the port city of Karachi after he was killed in a drone strike in Balo-chistan province, the inves-tigators said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The officials said the judge, whose name was not revealed for security reasons, recently ordered the gov-ernment to quickly finalise arrangements for auctioning the properties, which were seized earlier this year.

The investigators said authorities published adver-tisement in Pakistani news-papers to determine if there were any claims to the properties.

Money collected through the auction will go to the gov-ernment. The investigators said the value of the prop-erties, which include small apartments and plots, was estimated to be about $200,000.

Mansour’s killing strained relations between Pakistan and United States at the time, as Islamabad said Wash-ington unilaterally targeted Mansour in violation of inter-national laws and the coun-try’s sovereign.

China supports WHO-led review of global pandemic responseAFP — BEIJING

China said yesterday it supports a World Health Organization-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but only “after the pandemic is over”.

The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China faces increasing global pressure to allow an international investi-gation into the origins of the pandemic.

The review should be con-ducted in an “open, transparent and inclusive manner” under the leadership of WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Hua said at a press briefing.

She added that it should be at an “appropriate time after the pandemic is over”.

But Hua did not say the review should probe the origins of the virus, despite growing calls led by the US and Australia for an international inquiry into the issue, which has become a key flashpoint in deteriorating

tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Instead, the review should “summarise the experience and deficiencies of the international response to the pandemic, strengthen the WHO’s work, enhance the construction of countries’ core public health capabilities, and provide sug-gestions to improve global pre-paredness against major infec-tious diseases,” said Hua.

She said China would coop-erate with WHO efforts to trace the origin, but rejected US calls for an investigation, accusing it of “politicising the issue”.

Hua stressed that any inquiry should be based on the International Health Regula-tions, and be authorised by the World Health Assembly or Executive Committee -- the WHO’s dual governing bodies.

WHO epidemiologist Dr Maria van Kerkhove said Wednesday the agency is in talks with China to send a mission to investigate the animal source of the virus.

Both US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have heavily crit-icised China’s alleged lack of transparency, and have repeatedly pushed the theory that the virus emerged from a Wuhan maximum-security virology lab. The claim has become a key point of

contention between China and the US, with Beijing accusing US Republican politicians of shifting the blame as an elec-tioneering strategy.

Most scientists believe the virus originated in animals before it was passed on to humans. Numerous countries including France, Germany and

Britain have also urged greater transparency from China over its handling of the virus.

China has strenuously denied accusations it concealed information relating to the initial outbreak, insisting it has always shared information with the WHO and other countries in a timely manner.

A staff member (centre) guides a student to check body temperature with a thermal scanner before entering a school, in Baofeng county, Pingdingshan City, in China’s Henan province, yesterday.

North Korea slams

South's military

drills; Kim sends

message to ChinaREUTERS — SEOUL

North Korea lashed out at South Korea over recent military drills, while leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal message to China’s Xi Jinping to congratulate him on that country’s success in controlling the coronavirus, state media reported yesterday.

A North Korean military representative said yesterday that recent South Korean mil-itary drills were a grave provo-cation that demanded a reaction, according to a statement carried by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The recent drill served as an opportunity which awakened us once again to the obvious fact that the enemies remain enemies all the time,” the statement said.

North Korea cited a military exercise by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Air Combat Command on Wednesday, and said the drills violated inter-Korean agree-ments aimed at reducing mil-itary tensions.

“Everything is now going back to the starting point before the north-south summit meeting in 2018,” the statement said.

On Sunday, South Korea said North Korean troops fired multiple shots toward a South Korean guard post at the Demil-itarized Zone (DMZ), which sep-arates the two countries.

In a separate dispatch, KCNA said Kim sent a verbal message to the Chinese pres-ident about the coronavirus, KCNA said.

“Kim Jong Un in his message extended his warm greetings to Xi Jinping and congratulated him, highly appreciating that he is seizing a chance of victory in the war against the unprecedented epidemic,” said KCNA.

Kim wished Xi good health and the KCNA report said the relations between Pyongyang and Beijing were “firmly consolidated.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced plans to begin lifting Pakistan’s poorly enforced lockdown from today, amid fears for the country’s economy as it sinks into recession.

Australia sets plan to end most COVID-19 restrictions by JulyREUTERSS — SYDNEY

Australia will ease social distancing restrictions in a three-step process, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday, as Canberra aims to remove most curbs by July and get nearly 1 million people back to work amid a decline in coro-navirus cases.

Australia in March imposed strict social distancing restric-tions, which coupled with the closure of its borders, are credited with drastically slowing the number of new infections of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

With fewer than 20 new infections each day, Morrison said Australian states and ter-ritories yesterday agreed a road map to remove most of

the curbs. “You can stay under the doona forever. You’ll never face any danger,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, using an Australian word for quilt.

“But we’ve got to get out from under the doona at some time.” Morrison said it will be up to Australia’s various states and territories to decide when to begin implement each stage. Each step will likely be sepa-rated by four-week transition.

Several states, including Queensland and South Aus-tralia, said they will ease restrictions from Monday. The country’s most populated states, which have the most COVID-19 cases, said looser restrictions would not be adopted for several more days at least.

Despite the staggered

easing, Morrison warned the country should still expect further outbreaks.

Australia has had fewer than 7,000 confirmed cases of COVD-19 and fewer than 800 people are still sick with the disease. Almost 100 people have died.

Under the first stage of the plan, restaurants and cafes cur-rently limited to takeaway services will be allowed to reopen, but with a maximum of 10 patrons at a time.

“Step 1 is tentative, baby steps into normalisation,” Aus-tralia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told the briefing. If no major outbreaks are recorded states and terri-tories will move to stage two where gyms, cinemas and gal-leries will be allowed to

re-open, although businesses will only be able to have 20 cus-tomers at a time.

At this point, states that have closed their borders would start to allow some interstate travel, Morrison said.

When implemented, stage three will permit gatherings of up to 100 people, allow employees to return to their offices and see the re-opening of nightclubs.

All interstate travel will be allowed, along with some limited international travel, including flights between Aus-tralia and New Zealand.

International students would also potentially be allowed to return to Australia, but would face two weeks in quarantine. While the lockdown measures have successfully

prevented local hospitals being swamped by coronavirus patients, they have taken a dev-astating toll on the economy.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg estimated the lockdown is costing A$4bn a week.

Despite the government subsidising the wages of about 6 million Australians that keeps them out of unemployment sta-tistics, about 10 percent of the country’s labour force is also expected to be without a job this year. Morrison, however, said once the three-stage process is implemented, his government expects about 850,000 people will return to work.

“We’re now ready to take the first steps forward,” Ross McEwan, CEO of National Aus-tralia Banks said in emailed statement.

In Britain, as elsewhere, the crisis has shone a light on the plight of underpaid delivery drivers, teachers, nurses and other key workers who have been vital to the response.

08 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

DURING ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Qatar Airways has done brilliant and tremendous job by repatriating over a million passengers of different nationalities stranded in different parts of the world. Also, it trans-ported huge amounts of medical and other essential goods across the globe through its world-class cargo service.

In times of global crisis, Qatar Airways, through serving the world efficiently, has again proved the value of its award-wining services earning due praise for Qatar and for itself.

Recently, Qatar Airways received praise from Canada for helping its stranded nationals. Qatar’s Ambassador to Canada, H E Saoud bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, last week received a phone call from H E Rob Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who communicated the Canadian Government’s gratitude to the Qatari Government for the role Qatar Airways played in facilitating the repatriation of Cana-dians from all around the world.

Similarly, the award-winning airline has also received praise from the US and British officials for helping their nationals return home.

Now Qatar Airways has announced that the airline will begin a phased approach to expanding its network in line with passenger demand evolution and the expected relaxation of entry restrictions around the world.

Having maintained flights to at least 30 destinations where possible during this crisis and to most conti-nents, helping to take over 1 million people home, the airline has been in a unique position to closely monitor global passenger flows and booking trends to confi-dently begin planning the gradual reintroduction of addi-tional flights and destinations to its network, Qatar Airways recently said in a statement.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive H E Akbar Al Baker said: “Throughout this crisis our passengers have been at the centre of our focus. Our airline has imple-mented industry-leading hygiene practices and com-mercial policies enabling our passengers to book and travel with confidence. We have maintained a flexible and agile network to help take over 1 million people home through our state of the art hub in Doha and to transport more than 100,000 tonnes of essential medical and aid supplies to where they are needed.”

Qatar Airways will take full advantage of its diverse and efficient fleet with the right aircraft size to ensure the best fit for expected demand on each planned route. By the end of June, the aim is to have 80 destinations in the schedule including 23 in Europe, four in the Americas, 20 in Middle East/Africa and 33 in Asia-Pacific.

Brilliant job

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Quote of the day

Since no one is to blame for this crisis, we must

ensure that there are no undue constraints on our

policy responses. Otherwise, we risk widening

asymmetries and exiting this crisis with greater

economic divergence.

Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President

Nurses and other healthcare workers demonstrate against unsafe working conditions and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) outside the Rikers Island Correctional facility amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the Queens borough of New York City.

Major social advances have often emerged from the depths of disaster: the Black Death brought an end to serfdom, and Britain’s welfare state emerged from the ruins of World War II.

As the coronavirus outbreak took hold, many governments brought in policies previously dismissed as “utopian”, such as backing wages or housing the homeless. But as emergency measures are eased, and the world tries to get back a sem-blance of normality, there is debate about which, if any, could — or should — be kept.

In Britain, as elsewhere, the crisis has shone a light on the plight of underpaid delivery drivers, teachers, nurses and other key workers who have been vital to the response.

The government has stepped in to guarantee salaries of the five million self-employed because of fears that without statutory sick pay they would continue to work while ill.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak has already begun talking about scaling back the measures, which back 80 percent of someone’s average monthly salary up to £2,500 ($3,100, 2,850 euros).

But David Napier, professor of medical anthropology at Uni-versity College London, said withdrawal could prove prob-lematic given the imbalances the

virus has highlighted.“The strong have been

depending on the weak for their survival,” he said.

In the United States, 30 million people have already lost their jobs because of the pan-demic’s economic impact.

To keep the economy afloat, President Donald Trump’s Republican administration has included direct cash payments of up to $3,000 per family in its stimulus package.

Oxford University historian Timothy Garton Ash noted that a concept like basic universal income was considered “radical, if not utopian” not so long ago.

But a recent study from his university indicated that 71 percent of Europeans now sup-ported the idea. Doctors and nurses on the frontline of tackling the global pandemic have campaigned for years to get pay rises and more resources.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron initially said there was no “magic money” for the sector but later promised more investment.

In Britain, the state-run National Health Service has been hit by a decade of cuts in funding and staffing following the 2008 financial crisis. But Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson, whose Con-servative party has been accused of wanting to privatise the free service, has become one of its staunchest defenders.

He was treated at an NHS hos-pital for COVID-19 and credits its doctors with saving his life.

But Mark Harrison, a pro-fessor of economic history at Warwick University, said even that has policy implications.

“The simple story of the PM

who got saved by the NHS is very powerful, it will be hard for the Conservatives to try to go back on that type of com-mitment.” Elsewhere, the British government moved to house homeless people in empty hotels and hostels, because of the risk of them contracting the virus.

Ministers have said some 5,400 people or 90 percent of those who usually sleep on the streets and are known to local authorities have been housed.

The charity Crisis puts the total number of homeless at 170,000, and said many more were on the verge of being evicted from rented accommo-dation because of the outbreak.

But Jasmine Basran, from Crisis, called the government’s response “incredible”.

“It shows what is possible if there’s political will,” she said.

As the full impact of the crisis becomes known, there are calls for the government to guide industrial policy, similar to the Marshall Plan for reconstruction after World War II.

The director of the Interna-tional Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has urged world leaders to prior-itise green energy as they try to kick-start their economies.

Germany has made state aid conditional on firms pledging climate targets and France has said a seven-billion-euro bailout of Air France is dependent on a cut in short-haul flights and emissions.

But business leaders are resisting attempts to introduce initiatives to cut waste and the use of plastic.

For Warwick professor Har-rison, the crisis “has the potential to change people’s perceptions” for the better over the long term.

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

The shock caused by the spread of the new corona-virus could shake the financial system through various channels. To maintain stability, the authorities concerned should take all possible measures.

The Bank of Japan has published its biannual report examining the financial situ-ation. The report pointed out that if the economic slump caused by the spread of infec-tions is prolonged, it “could give rise to a negative feedback loop between the real economy and the financial sector.” Should the current situation develop into a financial crisis and banks’ reluctance to extend new loans grow, downward pressure on the economy would further increase. Such a situation must be avoided.

The top priority for financial institutions is to support as much as possible firms whose cash flow condi-tions have deteriorated due to the impact of the virus. It is hoped that financial institu-tions will flexibly deal with repayments being postponed or new loans being offered, depending on the circum-stances of borrowers.

If the number of corporate bankruptcies continues to increase, financial institutions will be forced to dispose of huge amounts of bad loans. The loss in valuation caused by a decline in the prices of companies’ stockholdings is another cause for concern.

In its report, the central bank estimated that if there is a crisis comparable to the one following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, domestic banks could incur three consecutive years of net

loss from fiscal 2020.The coronavirus crisis is

said to be more serious than the Lehman crisis. The future is uncertain. Domestic banks have sufficient equity capital at present, but this is not reas-suring as the situation depends on how the pan-demic progresses.

Financial institutions need to maintain sound man-agement so that funds can reach companies smoothly. It is important for the gov-ernment and financial sector to come up with measures in case of a prolonged global economic slump. If a bank’s financial condition signifi-cantly deteriorates, increasing its capital with an injection of public funds will be an option. Local financial institutions should also seek ways to strengthen their management foundations through mergers and integrations.

Domestic banks have increased overseas invest-ments and loans, which are considered relatively risky, in an effort to achieve higher yields. About 40% of their foreign debt holdings are rated lowest among investment-grade bonds. It is necessary to reexamine whether their risk man-agement was appropriate.

Since March, it has become difficult to raise dollars around the world. This is because companies and funds are increasingly selling stocks and other assets to secure dollars, which are widely used in international settlements.

The central banks of Japan, the United States and Europe have expanded the mechanism for lending dollars to each other and pro-vided a large amount of the currency to private financial institutions.

Brave new world: Could pandemic lead to positive change?

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Maintain stable financial system to support firms impacted by pandemic

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country celebrates Victory Day on May 9, recorded a special video message for the Austrian people to mark the anniversary, wishing them “peace and prosperity”. “We are all fighting against this epidemic and mutual support is very important at this difficult time,” Putin said in the message shown on Austrian TV.

09SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 EUROPE

World leaders evokeWWII spirit in battleagainst pandemicAFP — BERLIN

Global leaders marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe yesterday, urging cit-izens to draw inspiration from the historic victory as the world battles against the coronavirus pandemic.

With parades and com-memoration events cancelled or scaled down as part of efforts to contain the outbreak, Europe and the United States marked the defeat of Nazi Germany in a sombre mood.

US President Donald Trump said the anniversary served as a reminder “that no challenge is greater than the resolve of the American spirit”.

“Over the past months, our nation has faced remarkable adversity during the coronavirus pandemic. But just as we have so many times before, America will triumph,” Trump said ahead of a small ceremony at Washington’s WWII memorial.

In Berlin, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel stuck to social distancing guidelines as they laid down their wreaths.

In his speech, Steinmeier recalled how nations joined forces to fight the tyranny of Nazism and said the same unity was needed to defeat the virus. “For us Germans, ‘never again’ means ‘never again alone’,” he said. “We want more, not less cooperation in the world — also in the fight against the pandemic.”

In Britain, among the coun-tries hardest hit by the virus in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also drew wartime par-allels with COVID-19.

“On this anniversary, we are engaged in a new struggle against the coronavirus which demands the same spirit of

national endeavour that you exemplified 75 years ago,” he said in a letter to veterans.

Queen Elizabeth II will make a televised address to the nation the same time that her father, king George VI, gave a radio address marking VE day in 1945.

The muted commemora-tions come as the continent grapples with its biggest crisis since World War II — this time an invisible enemy that has killed over 270,000 people worldwide.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron attended a low-key ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe on a near-deserted Champs-Elysees avenue.

People put flowers on a tank at the German-Russian Museum in Karlshorst on Victory Day and the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Berlin yesterday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country celebrates Victory Day on May 9, recorded a special video message for the Austrian people to mark the anni-versary, wishing them “peace and prosperity”. “We are all fighting against this epidemic and mutual support is very important at this difficult time,” Putin said in the message shown on Austrian TV.

Russia had originally planned a huge military display on its May 9 Victory Day, with world leaders including Macron on the guest list. But now only a flypast will take place over the Red Square in Moscow, as the country becomes Europe’s new hotspot of

coronavirus infections. Putin will today lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial before making a TV address.

Germany does not usually mark the anniversary of the Nazis’ unconditional surrender to the Allies with much fanfare. This year however the city of Berlin declared a one-off public holiday yesterday.

President Steinmeier urged Germans to see May 8 as “a day of gratitude” because it freed Germany from the terror of the Nazis and brought peace to Europe. His words recalled a watershed speech by former president Richard von

Weizsaecker who in 1985 urged Germans to view May 8 not as a day of defeat, but of liberation from the Nazi terror.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also expressed “immense gratitude” to the coun-tries that “accepted Germany back into the family of peaceful nations” despite its responsibility for the Holocaust.

But not everyone agreed with the tone of the commemorations in Germany. Alexander Gauland, a top figure in the far-right AfD party, slammed a suggestion to make May 8 a permanent public holiday, describing it as a “day of complete defeat” for Germany.

Back to school? Officials move warily as challenges loomAFP — PARIS

Authorities worldwide face the formidable challenge of returning millions of children to classrooms shut due to the coronavirus outbreak, weighing the need to limit the educational damage against the risks of fuelling a surge in new cases.

Although young people appear less vulnerable to COVID-19, experts say they could still be a vector for con-tagion, a major worry for both parents and teachers.

“Some are impatient to renew the contact with students, but others are scared,” said Xavier Toussaint, a secondary school teacher in Waterloo, Belgium. And even if the crisis eases, social distancing measures

will drastically change how class-rooms look — and how children interact with their teachers and each other — for months, if not years.

At Toussaint’s school of 800 pupils, only 10 classes con-sisting of small groups will resume from May 18, meaning officials will have to choose who can come. “The requirement is a maximum of 10 per class, with four square metres of space per student, plus eight square metres for the teacher,” he said.

Similar restrictions are planned across Europe: France is ordering continual hand-washings throughout the day, no group play at recess, one-way hallways to avoid mingling, and face masks for all

but the youngest students. Parents are also being urged to take their children’s temper-ature each morning when the country begins its staggered returns next week.

In Paris, schools will be able to accomodate just 15 percent of students, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said. Italy and Spain, hit hard by the virus, have cancelled class until September, as have Bul-garia, Ireland, Portugal, Tunisia, and the state of New York.

At the height of the crisis, an estimated 1.5 billion learners from kindergarten to university were stuck at home in 195 countries, a number that stood at 1.3 billion as of May 7, the UN education agency Unesco said.

It has warned the lockdowns could further widen education

gaps between rich and poor since half the world’s students lack access to computers for home schooling. “The decision on when and how to reopen schools is far from simple,” UN chief Audrey Azoulay said this week.

As the virus continues to exact heavy tolls, authorities will be closely watching those countries reopening schools to see if there is a flare-up in new cases that could overwhelm hospitals. Scandinavian coun-tries in particular have moved quickly to reopen schools or, in the case of Sweden, avoided closures altogether.

“Students are happy to be back and are following the rules to stay in small groups and limit contacts. And they’ve become expert hand-washers,” said

Kathrine Wilsher Lohre, prin-cipal at a school outside Oslo.

Officials have tried to play down the risks, while empha-sising the need to revive econ-omies battered by closures and stay-at-home orders.

“The share of children with the disease is small. The risk of a child infecting an adult is not realistic. Opening schools is risk-free,” said Finland’s top public health official, Mika Salminen.

France’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has also rejected claims that the gov-ernment is moving too fast, warning this week that the lockdown has been a “catas-trophe for the most vulnerable children and adolescents”. “Reo-pening schools is a priority for us,” he said.

UK minister warns no big changes to virus lockdownAFP — LONDON

The British government yes-terday warned the public not to expect any major changes to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown next week, as the official daily death toll topped 31,000.

Britain has lost more people to COVID-19 than any other European country, but there is growing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ease stay-at-home orders imposed in late March.

The devolved government in Wales yesterday unveiled plans to re-open garden centres and libraries, but said the wider lockdown would remain for another three weeks.

Johnson is due to announce his own plans for England in a televised address on Sunday evening, but one of his top min-isters made clear yesterday that there would be no big changes.

“We have to be realistic that there isn’t going to be any dra-matic overnight change,” Envi-ronment Secretary George Eustice said. “We will be very, very cautious as we loosen the restrictions we have, as the data that we’re outlining on a daily basis shows we are not out of the woods. “There are still major challenges.

“We will be living with this virus for some time to come and it’s therefore important to avoid that second peak that could overwhelm our National Health Service.” He said deaths

among patients in hospitals, care homes and the wider com-munity who tested positive for coronavirus rose by 626 on the previous day to 31,241.

A six-week old baby with an underlying health condition was among the new deaths recorded in England, according to the state-run National Health Service (NHS). The true death toll is expected to be higher, as Britain has only recently ramped up its ability to test people for COVID-19.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) pub-lished on Tuesday, which has a lag of up to two weeks, showed more than 32,000 deaths with coronavirus on the death certificate.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced “modest adjustments” from Monday, with people allowed to exercise outside their homes more than once a day, while staying local. Garden centres will re-open if they can prove they can keep people a safe distance apart, and local authorities will begin planning how to open libraries and municipal recycling centres.

Responsibility for virus measures in the UK is devolved to its four nations — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — but so far they have all moved in lockstep. In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday said the lockdown would remain in place, although she plans to allow people to take more outdoor exercise.

Denmark to reopen museums, cinemasAFP — COPENHAGEN

Denmark will reopen museums, theatres, cinemas, outdoor amusement parks and zoos on June 8, the government said yes-terday after months-long clo-sures aimed at stemming the spread of the new coronavirus.

A restriction on gatherings, currently limited to 10 people, will also be revised to between 30 and 50 people depending on the type of event.

The announcement came just hours after the Scandi-navian country said it would allow shopping centres to reopen from May 11, while res-taurants, places of worship and schools for 11- to 15-year-olds would resume a week later.

Meanwhile, most office workers will be allowed to return to work as soon as their work-place meets social distancing and hygiene regulations.

The timeline is the result of an agreement reached by political parties in parliament. But they recognised that lifting restrictions did not come without risks. “The parties note that the reopening is expected to lead to a rise in infections and hospital admissions,” a statement from the office of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

She added that authorities would monitor the situation closely and restrictions would be reimposed in the event of a sharp rise of the illness. Smaller concert venues and clubs will

have to wait until sometime in August to reopen. Denmark in mid-March rolled out measures to stop the spread of the virus, though they were not strict.

While most businesses have been closed, grocery stores, pharmacies and shops that were able to ensure social dis-tancing have remained open, and Danes have been allowed to spend time outdoors freely.

Kindergartens and primary schools resumed on April 15 and small businesses such as hair-dressers have also opened up again. The borders, closed to foreigners since March 14, remain shut. Since the start of the epidemic, Denmark has recorded 10,281 cases, with 514 deaths.

EU urges banon travel into bloc be keptuntil June 15AFP — BRUSSELS

The European Commission yesterday urged EU member states to extend the temporary ban on non-essential travel into the bloc by one month until June 15, a statement said.

Despite an initial easing of measures to combat the new coronavirus pandemic within the European Union, “the sit-uation remains fragile both in Europe and in the world”, the statement said.

This is the second time the EU executive has called on member states to extend the travel ban since it was intro-duced on March 17.

The closure of the external borders of the EU and the Schengen travel area has a number of exceptions including for EU nationals and their families, long-term res-idents, diplomats, medical staff, researchers and cross-border commuters.

“We will have to gradually put an end to restrictions on free movement and internal border controls, before we can lift entry restrictions at the external borders and guarantee access to the EU for third country nationals,” the EU’s Home Affairs European Commissioner Ylva Johansson said.

Spanish cat tests positive for virus

REUTERS — MADRID

A cat belonging to a family in the Spanish region of Catalonia tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the professor who conducted an autopsy on the pet said yesterday.

It did not die from the virus, however, but from a pre-existing respitory condition fairly common among cats, said Professor Joaquim Segales of Catalonia’s Animal Health Research Centre. The cat, named Negrito, was the sixth feline to be detected with the disease globally.

It belonged to a household in the Barcelona area where several family members had caught the virus. It was tested for the infection in a post-mortem on April 22 and found to have a low charge. “The vet who euthanised the cat realised that the animal presented a very grave respiratory pathology and feared it might suffer from COVID-19,” Segales said.

Deaths from virus in Italy surpass 30,200People stroll past the Colosseum monument in Rome yesterday, during the country’s lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection. The number of deaths in Italy now exceeds 30,000, officials said. The country’s Civil Protection Agency said that 30,201 people had died of the virus, 243 more than on May 7. Italy is the second European country, after Britain to see more than 30,000 COVID-19 deaths.

More than 100,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year with 1,200 dying in the attempt, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration. And so far this year, more than 250 migrants have perished trying to make the perilous crossing.

10 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020EUROPE

UN decries dangerous Mediterranean migrant pushbacksAFP — GENEVA

The UN voiced alarm yesterday at reports that countries are failing to help migrants in dis-tress on the Mediterranean Sea, blocking assistance by NGOs and coordinating pushbacks of their boats.

UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville warned during a virtual press briefing that such measures “are clearly putting lives at risk”.

“We are deeply concerned about recent reports of failure to assist and coordinated push-backs of migrant boats in the central Mediterranean, which continues to be one of the dead-liest migration routes in the world,” he said.

More than 100,000 migrants tried to cross the Med-iterranean last year with 1,200 dying in the attempt, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration. And so far this year, more than 250 migrants have perished trying to make the perilous crossing.

Colville pointed to claims that distress calls to Maritime Rescue Coordination centres “have gone unanswered or been ignored”.

“If true,” he said, this “seri-ously calls into question the commitments of the states con-cerned to saving lives and respecting human rights.” He especially decried reports that Maltese authorities had asked

commercial ships to push boats with migrants and refugees in distress back to the high seas.

And he lamented that humanitarian search and rescue vessels that usually patrol the central Mediter-ranean have been prevented from helping migrants, even as the numbers of attempted crossings surge.

During the first three months of this year, departures from war-torn Libya increased four-fold compared to the same period in 2019, Colville said, stressing that migrants and ref-ugees embarking on such journeys were entitled to pro-tection under international law.

“Yet, since April 9, both Italy

and Malta have declared their ports ‘unsafe’ for disembarkation due to COVID-19,” he said.

Italy, the most common destination for rescue boats, has been one of the most affected countries in the pandemic.

As a result of port closures, at least three vessels with migrants onboard are awaiting disembarkation, Colville said.

He pointed to reports that a small group of adults, including pregnant women, and children were allowed to disembark on Thursday after the Maltese gov-ernment made a concession on humanitarian grounds.

“While we welcome this effort, we call for all migrants currently being held on board these vessels to be urgently dis-embarked, as the conditions on merchant vessels are not suitable for long-term accom-modation,” he said.

He also decried that the Libyan Coast Guard continues to turn vessels back to its shores and to detain all intercepted migrants in “horrendous con-ditions”, warning that over-crowding there also made detainees vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

Since the summer of 2018, the European Union has tasked Libya’s coast-guard with coordinating search and rescue operations in a vast stretch of the Med-iterranean beyond their ter-ritorial waters.

Beaches open in Barcelona as Spain decides on next steps of lockdown exit

REUTERS — MADRID/BARCELONA

The Spanish government will decide in which regions restau-rants and places of worship will open under the next phase of a gradual exit from the corona-virus lockdown.

However, it looked likely that such closures would stay in place in the capital Madrid and the Catalonia region, which together account for nearly half of Spain’s cases of infection.

In one sign of life returning to normal, Barcelona beaches opened for a short window from 6am to 10am yesterday to allow people to swim and jog. People paddled on boards and swam in the water under the

supervision of police.“This is freedom,” said a

smiling swimmer, Marta Tor-rents, speaking on the beach. “To be able to go out to sea and swim - for me, this is perfect.”

Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus rose to 229 yes-terday, up from 213 on the pre-vious day, the health ministry reported. Overall deaths rose to 26,299 from 26,070 on Thursday and the number of diagnosed cases rose to 222,857 up from 221,447 the day before, the ministry said.

Half of the new cases in Spain in the past 24 hours were in Cata-lonia, whose capital is Barcelona. Nonetheless, said health emer-gency chief Fernando Simon,

“going outside and improving our quality of life is perfectly com-patible with continuing the safety measures”. Spain has been one of the worst-hit countries globally and is just emerging from a strict lockdown, now in its eighth week.

The government will decide which regions will move to the second phase of its four-stage exit and the results will be published today. It is aiming for a return to normality by end-June.

The government has loosened the terms of the lockdown this week, with people allowed to take exercise and small businesses like hair-dressers receiving clients with restrictions to allow social distancing.

Oceans may rise over a metre by 2100, warn scientistsAFP — PARIS

Oceans are likely to rise as much as 1.3 metres by 2100 if Earth’s surface warms another 3.5 degrees Celsius, scientists warned yesterday.

By 2300, when ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland will have shed tril-lions of tonnes in mass, sea levels could go up by more than five metres under that temper-ature scenario, redrawing the planet’s coastlines, they reported in a peer-reviewed survey of more than 100 leading experts.

About ten percent of the world’s population, or 770 million people, today live on land less than five metres above

the high tide line. Even if the Paris climate treaty goal of capping global warming below 2C is met — a very big “if” — the ocean watermark could go up two metres by 2300, according to a study in the journal Climate Atmospheric Science.

Earth’s average surface temperature has risen just over one degree Celsius since the pre-industrial era, a widely used benchmark for measuring global warming.

“It is clear now that pre-vious sea-level rise estimates have been too low,” co-author Stefan Rahmstorf, head of Earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said.

The new projections for both the 2100 and 2300 horizons are significantly higher than those from the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including a special report on oceans it released in September.

“The IPCC tends to be very cautious and conservative, which is why it had to correct itself upwards already several times,” Rahmstorf said.

Sea-level projections in the IPCC’s landmark 2014 Assessment Report were 60 percent above those in the pre-vious edition, he noted. A new Assessment will be finalised by the end of next year.

While less visible than

climate-enhanced hurricanes or persistent drought, sea level rise may ultimately prove the most devastating of global warming impacts.

Indeed, it is the extra centi-metres of ocean water that make storm surges from ever-stronger tropical cyclones so much more deadly and destructive, experts say.

Benjamin Horton, acting chair of the Nanyang Technical University’s Asian School of the Environment in Singapore, led the survey to give “policy-makers an overview of the state of the science”, a statement said.

Across the 20th century, sea level rise was caused mainly by melting glaciers and the

expansion of ocean water as it warms. But over the last two decades the main driver has become the melting and disin-tegrating of Earth’s two ice sheets.

Greenland and West Ant-arctica are shedding at least six times more ice today than during the 1990s. From 1992 through 2017 they lost some 6.4 trillion tonnes in mass.

Over the last decade, the sea level has gone up about four millimetres per year. Moving into the 22nd century, however, the waterline could rise ten times faster, even under an optimistic green-house gas emissions scenario, the IPCC has said.

Belarus to vote for president in AugustAFP — MINSK

Belarus yesterday announced presidential polls will be held in August as strongman Alex-ander Lukashenko has sought to play down the risks of the coronavirus pandemic.

Parliament approved the election date of August 9 in a vote yesterday morning.

The President opted not to postpone the vote despite the coronavirus pandemic as the ex-Soviet country has not

imposed a lockdown and has continued to hold public events including football matches.

Belarus has reported 20,168 virus cases and 116 deaths. The 65-year-old former collective farm director has led the small country of nine million sand-wiched between Russia and the European Union since 1994. He has already won five elections, most recently in 2015, and has confirmed he will contest this one.

He said in November that he could also stand in 2025,

while adding: “I won’t cling onto my seat with my cold dead hands.” The decision to go ahead with the election was criticised by the opposition.

“The date of August 9 prac-tically knocks out all political opponents (to Lukashenko),” opposition politician Yury Gubarevich wrote on Facebook.

The campaign will fall at “the height of the coronavirus epidemic”, making it hard to gather signatures of support for candidates, he argued.

German towns to reimpose shutdowns over virus clustersAFP — FRANKFURT

Local authorities in Germany yesterday said they would reimpose some lockdown measures after seeing a cluster of new coronavirus infections, just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a gradual reopening of the country.

In Germany’s most pop-ulous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the regional gov-ernment said there had been a spike in cases at a slaughter-house in the district of Coesfeld, where over 150 of the 1,200 employees tested positive for the virus.

Local officials said the out-break meant the district would be forced to postpone by one week the planned May 11 reo-pening of restaurants, tourist spots, fitness studios and larger shops, while residents would have to continue limiting their social contacts.

The step-by-step reopening of schools and daycare centres will go ahead as scheduled.

It marks the first setback since Merkel on Wednesday announced that Germany’s slowing infection rate and rel-atively low mortality rate meant the country had weathered the “first phase of the pandemic” and could cau-

tiously return to normal.The decisions on relaxing

restrictions are in the hands of Germany’s 16 federal states however, who have agreed to reimpose curbs if the number of new cases hits 50 per 100,000 people over seven days.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s health minister Karl-Josef Laumann said the barrier had been breached in Coesfeld, where the slaughterhouse cluster pushed the infection rate up to “61 per 100,000 residents”.

He ordered the temporary closure of the slaughterhouse and said employees at all of the state’s meat processing plants would now undergo testing for the novel coronavirus.

In the northern state of Sch-leswig-Holstein, an outbreak also at a slaughterhouse pushed the district of Steinburg over the infection threshold.

It was not immediately clear what action the author-ities would take and whether they would pull what German media have dubbed “the emer-gency brake”.

In the eastern state of Thur-ingia, the district of Greiz recorded more than 80 infec-tions per 100,000 people over the past week, mainly among residents and employees of six care homes and a geriatrics hospital.

Virus cases in Russia top 10,000 for sixth day in a rowAFP — MOSCOW

Russia yesterday registered more than 10,000 new corona-virus cases for the sixth day in a row, after emerging as a new hotspot of the pandemic.

A government tally showed 10,669 new cases over the last 24 hours, fewer than Thursday’s record of 11,231 and bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 187,859. The country also recorded 98 new deaths from the virus, for a total of 1,723.

Russia now ranks fourth in Europe in terms of the total number of cases, according to an AFP tally, behind countries where the epidemic hit con-siderably earlier: Britain, Italy and Spain.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin appeared on tele-vision for the first time since announcing that he has been infected on April 30. Chairing a video meeting about sup-porting Russia’s World War II veterans, Mishustin seemed in good health but did not comment on his condition, though Russian news agencies said he is still in hospital.

Georgia recalls Kiev envoyAFP — TBILISI

Georgia yesterday recalled its ambassador in Kiev after its exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili was appointed to head a Ukrainian advisory body.

Ukraine named Saakashvili chairman of the National Council for Reforms on Thursday. Georgia is seeking to prosecute him for abuse of office. “The appointment by Georgia’s strategic partner of a person who is wanted by the Georgian judiciary raises questions,” Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told a news conference.

“That’s why a decision has been made to recall Georgia’s ambassador to Ukraine for consultations,” he said but added that Georgia was not “planning to sever diplomatic ties with Kiev or revise the strategic partnership”.

Healthcare workers in protective gear disinfect their work stations at the emergency room amid the spread of COVID-19, at Infanta Sofia University hospital in Madrid, Spain, yesterday.

Victory Day rehearsalBelarusian servicemen drive tanks along the street before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Minsk, Belarus, yesterday.

Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan military, which said it had thwarted an attempted invasion by mercenaries in the early hours of Sunday. Eight attackers were reportedly killed in the incident.

11SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020 AMERICAS

Venezuela charges 2 Americans with terrorism, conspiracyAFP — CARACAS

Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with ter-rorism and conspiracy for allegedly taking part in a failed bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the Attorney-General said yesterday.

Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan military, which said it had thwarted an attempted invasion by merce-naries in the early hours of Sunday.

Attorney-General Tarek William Saab said they had been charged with “terrorism, conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons of war and (criminal) association,” and could face 25-30 years in prison.

Eight attackers were reportedly killed in the incident.

Saab said Venezuela had requested an international arrest warrant for the capture of former US army medic Jordan Goudreau, who allegedly organized and trained the mer-cenary force.

Maduro has accused Pres-ident Donald Trump of being behind the alleged invasion — and Saab said yesterday the Venezuelans involved would be

tried for “conspiracy with a foreign government.”

Trump has roundly rejected the accusation, telling Fox News yesterday: “If I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn’t make a secret about it.” I’d go in and they would do nothing about it. They would roll over. I wouldn’t send a small little group. No, no, no. It would be called an army,” he said. “It would be called an invasion.”

Venezuela said on Monday that it had arrested the two former US special forces

soldiers and on Wednesday Maduro, who showed the pair’s passports on state tele-vision, said they would be tried.

The US army has confirmed they were former members of the Green Berets who were deployed to Iraq.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US gov-ernment would “use every tool that we have available to try to get them back.”

Maduro described the raid as a “remake” of the failed 1961 invasion, when Cuban exiles covertly financed and directed by the US government attempted to overthrow then Cuba leader Fidel Castro.

Announcing the arrests, Saab said Venezuela’s oppo-sition leader Juan Guaido, who is backed in his challenge to Maduro’s authority by the United States and more than 50 other countries, was behind the mission.

Saab accused Guaido of signing a $212m contract with “hired mercenaries” using funds seized by the US from the state oil company PDVSA.

Yesterday, the Attorney-General said arrest warrants had also been requested for US-based Venezuelans Juan Jose

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab holds a news conference in Caracas, yesterday.

Rendon and Sergio Vergara.Rendon, an advisor to

Guaido, admitted in an interview with CNN that he had signed a contract with Sil-vercorp USA, a private security firm founded by Goudreau.

The Iraq and Afghanistan veteran admitted the existence of the operation in a video and

claimed Silvercorp was con-tracted by Venezuela’s oppo-sition. In the video, Goudreau showed what he claimed was a contract signed by Guaido, whose press team denied the allegation. He also told The Washington Post that he hired Denman and Berry as “super-visors” and had known them for

years.Rendon told CNN the con-

tract was “exploratory” and that no green light was given to an operation in Venezuela. He also denied Guaido was involved.

Despite the Venezuela regime’s accusations against Guaido, he has not been charged with anything.

US Justice Dept drops case against Trump's former aide FlynnAFP — WASHINGTON

The US Justice Department withdrew its case against former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn on Thursday, handing President Donald Trump a major political victory.

In a nearly unheard-of reversal, the department said in a filing that Flynn’s December 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI in an interview over his Russia contacts was moot because the lies were insignif-icant. It also said the FBI’s original probe of him — part of the sweeping counterintelligence investigation into Russian inter-ference in the 2016 presidential

election — had no “legitimate investigative basis.”

The decision by close Trump ally Attorney-General Bill Barr effectively reversed 18 months of work by the department and FBI under Barr’s predecessors. It also added fuel to Trump’s allegation over the past three-plus years that the Russia investigation was a political “witch hunt”.

“He was targeted by the Obama administration and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president, and what they’ve done is a disgrace,” Trump said on Thursday. He took aim at the FBI and Justice Department officials behind the original investigation. “I hope a

lot of people are going to pay a big price, because they’re dis-honest crooked people,” he said.

The move came as Flynn, the former Pentagon intelli-gence chief and a retired three-star general, was fighting pos-sible imprisonment, and minutes after the case’s lead prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, withdrew in apparent disa-greement with Barr.

“Our duty we think, is to dismiss the case,” Barr told CBS News. “A crime cannot be established here. They did not have a basis for the counterin-telligence investigation against Flynn.” Current and former offi-cials associated with the inves-tigation voiced outrage and

accused Barr of doing Trump’s bidding. “The evidence against General Flynn is overwhelming. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators,” said Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “And now a politicized and thoroughly corrupt Department of Justice is going to let the president’s crony simply walk away.”

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who oversaw the Russia investigation, said Barr’s argument is “patently false, and ignores the consid-erable national security risk his contacts raised”.

“Today’s move by the Justice Department has nothing to do with the facts or the law — it is

pure politics designed to please the president,” he said.

The case against Flynn was a cornerstone of the sprawling 22-month investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Moscow’s meddling in the US election. Flynn drew attention for a number of con-tacts with Russia, including being paid tens of thousands of dollars the previous year to attend a banquet in Moscow for Russian media giant RT, where he sat next to President Vladimir Putin.

The probe ultimately focused on his secret talks in December 2016, before Trump was inaugurated, with Russian envoy to Washington Sergey Kislyak.

Super MoonA Super Moon rises behind the Montecinos Statue wearing a face mask, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Rebuplic.

Georgia police arrest two for shooting death of unarmed black manAFP — WASHINGTON

Police on Thursday arrested two white men for the shooting death of an unarmed black jogger in Georgia whose killing was captured in a video that went viral, sparking a massive public outcry.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on February 23 as he ran on a sunny day in a residential neighborhood in the town of Brunswick. But the case gained national notoriety this week with the release of a 28-second cell phone video that captured the shooting.

“Gregory & Travis McMichael have been arrested for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tweeted. The two men were charged with murder and aggravated assault, according to a statement posted to the bureau’s website. They have been booked into the Glynn County jail.

In the footage, Arbery is seen running down a resi-dential street and approaching a white pickup truck stopped in the right lane with a man standing in the back.

As Arbery tries to get around the vehicle, he is confronted by a second man holding a shotgun. An altercation between the two ensues and the firing of three shots can be heard.

The two white men were identified by police as Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Gregory McMichael, 64, who both live in Brunswick.

According to the police report, Gregory McMichael told officers he thought Arbery was a suspect in a series of area burglaries and that he had seen the young black man “hauling ass” down the street.

McMichael said he went inside and got his.357 Magnum

while his son grabbed a shotgun. When they finally caught up with Arbery and Travis McMichael got out of the truck with the shotgun, Arbery began to “violently attack” him, the father said, according to the police report. The father said he saw his son shoot Arbery and Arbery fall to the ground.

After the video footage went viral, a Georgia district attorney said Tuesday that a grand jury would be formed to see if there were grounds to charge the father and son.

Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, retweeted the Bureau of Invest igat ion’s arrest announcement late Thursday and added that the “investigation remains ongoing,” while asking that residents call in with tips.

He also praised the bureau’s director and agents “for their swift action,” tweeting that “justice will be served”.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday evening that he had not yet seen the video but that Arbery’s death was “a very sad thing”.

“My heart goes out to the parents and to the loved ones of the young gentleman,” Trump said, adding he would get a full report of the situation later.

Around the country, political figures, celebrities and people on social media expressed fury. “The video is clear: Ahmaud Arbery was killed in cold blood. My heart goes out to his family, who deserve justice and deserve it now,” Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden tweeted Wednesday night.

Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia state lawmaker and potential Biden runningmate, hailed the arrest as an “important first step, but the first of many.” “We must not look away,” she tweeted.

Robots to the rescue! Arizona students in lockdown will still get their graduation dayREUTERS — ARIZONA

Juili Kale’s dreams to receive her master’s degree diploma in a ceremony cheered on by her family were dashed by the coronavirus — until robots came to the rescue.

Kale, who has been studying at Arizona State Uni-versity, had planned the day for months. Her parents and brother would fly in from India, and a social media clock counted down the days until out-of-state friends would arrive in Phoenix for a big party.

But in March, the corona-virus pandemic ended those plans, as colleges nationwide closed down to stop the spread. “The clock stopped at T minus 67,” said Kale, 40. But the cer-emony will take place, after all — just not as she anticipated.

Cameras pre-recorded Kale and about 140 of her fellow

graduates as they logged on at home this week, dressed in graduation robes and mortar board caps. They took turns moving a remote-controlled robot on a podium at the uni-versity that held an eye-level display showing their face. Via the robot, they approached the dean to receive their diplomas and take a photo.

The pre-pandemic robots from Double Robotics, based in Burlingame, California, had been used to allow people to show up at weddings and funerals without traveling.

The “bittersweet” expe-rience — shot and edited over two days - may not be ideal for the students, said Dean Sanjeev Khagram, but “we want to show that we did everything that we could to celebrate them.” Kale will throw a watch party with her husband at home and her family in India when the

three-hour event is webcast on YouTube on Monday.

Adjusting to the online experience was easy for mil-lennial Nancy Sierras Morales, 22, the first in her family to graduate college.

“We have been able to adapt very quickly because we are used to being on a computer and on the phone almost like 24/7,” she said. “Graduating vir-tually, it’s not ideal but it’s actually also very cool and iconic to be like the first class ever to do this.” When the lockdown is over, the class of 2020 can do a real-life walk at any future graduation cer-emony they choose.

“I’m disappointed I’m not doing it on May the 11th... but I will get to experience this innovative, creative event anyway,” said Douglas Northcott, 41, who is grad-uating with a Masters in Applied Leadership and Management.

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon surges in AprilREUTERS — BRASILIA

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose sharply in April, government data showed yesterday, as the country prepares a military deployment to fight a surge in illegal logging.

Destruction in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon increased 64% in April, com-pared with the same month a year ago, according to prelim-inary satellite data from space research agency INPE.

In the first four months of the year, Amazon deforest-ation was up 55% from a year ago to 1,202 square kilometers (464 square miles), according to the INPE data.

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, and scientists say its preser-vation is vital to curb global warming because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas that it absorbs.

Destruction of the Amazon surged to an 11-year high last year and continues to climb in 2020, which envi-ronmentalists blame on pol-icies of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro emboldening illegal loggers, miners and ranchers.

First COVID-19

death in US

immigration

detention facility

AFP — LOS ANGELES

A 57-year-old Salvadoran man has become the first migrant held at a US immigration detention facility to die of coronavirus, officials said.

Carlos Escobar-Mejia, who had been held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, died on Wednesday at an area hospital where he had been undergoing treatment since April 24, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

The center, which is run by a private contractor, has reg-istered 132 COVID-19 cases, by far the largest number of infections of the 41 ICE detention centers where the virus has been detected.

“Migrants detained there have referred to it as a ‘death trap,’ due to the lack of pre-cautionary measures being taken by staff,” the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said.

Last month, the rights group filed a class action lawsuit against ICE and CoreCivic, the contractor, demanding they dramatically reduce the number of people at the facility in light of the pandemic.

The new case, on Pence’s team and confirmed by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, came a day after news that Trump’s personal valet had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

12 SATURDAY 9 MAY 2020AMERICAS

White House defends safety measures as another staffer falls illREUTERS — WASHINGTON

The White House yesterday defended measures it has taken to protect President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence as another staffer tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions about the safety of the United States’ top leaders.

The new case, on Pence’s team and confirmed by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, came a day after news that Trump’s personal valet had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

A senior administration official stressed that Trump and Pence have not been in recent contact with the infected staffer, according to a media pool report. But the two cases in quick succession heightened fears of contagion for the Pres-ident and Vice-President, with both Trump and Pence recently resuming robust travel schedules despite a national COVID-19 death toll that has topped 75,000.

But McEnany yesterday pointed to new steps taken to further protect top officials, noting the White House is now conducting contact tracing and putting in place all guidelines rec-ommended for essential workers.

“We’ve taken every single precaution to protect the pres-ident,” McEnany insisted to reporters at a White House news briefing. She also pointed to regular cleanings and adherence to distancing guide-lines of six feet between indi-viduals that are not always fol-lowed at crowded White House events.

“We’ve done every single thing that Dr. (Deborah) Birx and Dr. (Anthony) Fauci have asked us to do,” she added, referring to highly respected physicians on the White House coronavirus task force.

Earlier, Trump was asked in a Fox News interview whether those who serve him food would now cover their faces. “They’ve already started,” he said on the network’s “Fox and Friends” morning program.

The White House has also instituted daily, as opposed to weekly, coronavirus tests of Trump and Pence. Both men tested negative for the virus and were feeling well after the Trump staffer — a military service member who works as a White House valet — came down with the virus.

Trump also told Fox News he has not yet been tested for antibodies to the coronavirus but probably would be soon. Such a test could confirm pre-vious exposure to the virus.

Still, Trump and Pence maintain busy public schedules. The Vice-President, who has led

the coronavirus task force, flew to Iowa yesterday to meet with faith leaders about holding “responsible” gatherings and to discuss the food supply at Mid-western grocery chain Hy-Vee Inc’s headquarters.

According to a senior administration official cited in the media pool report, a Pence staffer tested positive for the virus, prompting staffers to deplane Air Force 2 yesterday morning and briefly delay the planned takeoff.

“Out of abundance of caution we went back and looked into all the person’s con-tacts most recently,” the official said, adding that six individuals who may have been in contact with the infected person were removed from the flight before it departed.

Trump yesterday attended a public event at the World War Two memorial with elderly vet-erans where neither Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, the vet-erans nor military officials seen at the ceremony wore masks.

Trump later met face-to-face with Republican members of Congress at the White House where no face masks appeared to be worn. Even as White House staffers don masks, pro-tective facial coverings have been a harder sell for Trump and Pence. Trump himself has said he would not wear a mask and has not publicly worn one to any of his events amid the pandemic, but told reporters this week he tried some on behind the scenes during his visit to a Honeywell face mask factory in Arizona. The virus has infected more than a million Americans.

White House Chief Photographer Shealah Craighead wears a protective mask because of the COVID-19 outbreak as she stands behind US President Donald Trump and US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy photographing a meeting between the President and Republican members of the US House of Representatives in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, yesterday.

US suffers biggest job losses in history amid coronavirus outbreakAFP — WASHINGTON

With shops and factories closed nationwide due to the corona-virus pandemic, nearly all of the jobs created in the US economy in the last decade were wiped out in a single month.

An unprecedented 20.5 million jobs were destroyed in April in the world’s largest economy, the biggest amount ever recorded, the Labor Department said in a report released yesterday.

That drove the unem-ployment rate to 14.7 percent from 4.4 percent in March — the highest level since the Great Depression of the last century.

The United States is home to the world’s largest and dead-liest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 75,000 fatalities and

1.2 million cases reported as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The economic damage from the lockdowns to contain the virus has been swift and stunning, despite nearly $3 trillion in financial aid approved by Congress, and there is growing fear that the temporary layoffs will become permanent since some companies won’t survive.

Taken together, 21.4 million jobs were destroyed in March and April, nearly equal to the 23 million positions created during the economy’s long expansion from February 2010 to February 2020. President Donald Trump said yesterday that the numbers were expected, and promised: “I’ll bring it back.” “I think it’s going to come back blazing,” he told reporters on the economy.

New York child dies from rare disease linked to COVID-19AFP — NEW YORK

A five-year-old boy in New York state has died from a rare inflammatory disease believed to be caused by the new coro-navirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said yesterday.

“There have been 73 reported cases in NY (state) of children getting severely ill with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock-like syndrome.

“On Thursday, a 5-year-old boy passed away from these complications, believed to be caused by COVID-19,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

He added that the state’s department of health was inves-tigating and called on parents to seek care immediately if their child had a fever lasting more than five days. Other symptoms include diarrhea or vomiting, breathing trouble, a paling of skin color, chest pain and lethargy, Cuomo said.

Kawasaki disease is a mys-terious illness that primarily affects children up to the age of five and causes the walls of arteries to become inflamed, resulting in fever, skin peeling and joint pain. A rash and swollen glands can also be a sign and if untreated patients can suffer health failure, but those who are given medical care respond well.

Treatment for Kawasaki disease involves intravenous immunoglobulin and aspirin and though frightening, most recover without serious issues. While no link has been for-mally established to the new coronavirus, scientists believe it could be connected.

Medics grapple with mental trauma on pandemic front lineREUTERS — NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES

Anne Messman, a veteran emergency room physician in Detroit, knew some-thing was wrong when she developed insomnia and became unusually irritated with people she loved.

She began experiencing persistent sleepless nights in late March, around the time seven COVID-19 patients died in a single nine-hour shift. But she did not think her insomnia was due to the dramatic one-day death toll. As an ER doctor, death was no stranger to her.

Perhaps, she thought, the sleeplessness was fueled by worries about her own safety. Then there were photographs in the media of bodies stacked in portable refrigerated storage units at Sinai Grace, the hospital where she works.

Messman, 37, wondered if relatives of COVID-19 victims would see the photos of the body bags and worry that a loved one was piled on top of a stranger. “I guess that to me was more disturbing than the death itself,” she said.

Messman and thousands of other healthcare workers across the United States are grappling with psychological traumas that mental health professionals say are more commonly associated with soldiers returning home from far-flung battlefields.

Reuters interviewed eight doctors and eight nurses who said either they or their colleagues have been experiencing some combination of panic, anxiety, grief, numbness, irritability, insomnia and nightmares when they do sleep.

“Burnout, anxiety, depression, or

irritability or moral injury, those can easily happen to anyone when you’re exposed to these kinds of circumstances for an extended period of time,” said Major Olli Toukolehto, a psychiatrist at the US military’s 531st Hospital Center who has been deployed to New York.

Psychiatrists at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City predict between 25%-40% of frontline healthcare workers and first responders in the United States may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their involvement in the outbreak.

In hospitals in California, New York, North Carolina and elsewhere, support groups are filling up and calls to 24/7 help lines for employees are increasing. Some hospitals are deploying mental health experts to check on staff in the

wards, or making group and individual therapy sessions available.

At Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, 70 one-to-one therapy sessions and 30 peer support group sessions were held last week, said Columbia psychiatrist Lou Baptista.

In New York City, where more than 14,000 people are confirmed dead from COVID-19, including more than 20 healthcare workers, the public hospital system has partnered with the US Department of Defence to provide resil-ience training for employees.

Death is familiar to healthcare pro-fessionals, but even veteran ER doctors could not have mentally prepared for the volume of dying coronavirus patients, healthcare workers told Reuters.

Study finds no apparent harm or benefit from hydroxychloroquineAFP — WASHINGTON

A study performed in New York hospitals found no evidence of either harm or benefit from giving the malaria drug hydrox-ychloroquine to severely ill coronavirus patients.

“The risk of intubation or death was not significantly higher or lower among patients who received hydroxychloro-quine than among those who did not,” the authors of the study said.

They said the study, pub-lished on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, “should not be taken to rule out either benefit or harm of hydrox-ychloroquine treatment”.

“However, our findings do not support the use of hydroxy-chloroquine at present, outside randomized clinical trials testing its efficacy,” they said.

US President Donald Trump has frequently touted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus patients.

Hydroxychloroquine and a related compound chloroquine have been used for decades to treat malaria, as well as the autoimmune disorders lupus

and rheumatoid arthritis.The observational study

was conducted among emer-gency room patients at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

For the study, 811 patients received two doses of 600 mg of hydroxychloroquine on the first day and 400 mg daily for four days.

Another 565 patients did not receive the drug.

Comparing the two groups, “there was no significant asso-ciation between hydroxychlo-roquine use and intubation or death,” the study said.

Health Canada, the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration have warned against the use of hydroxychlo-roquine to treat COVID-19 outside of clinical trials.

US regulators last week authorized the emergency use of the experimental drug rem-desivir against COVID-19 after it was shown in a major clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some coronavirus patients.

Zoom agrees to step up securityAFP — NEW YORK

New York state’s top prosecutor on Thursday announced that the company Zoom would improve security measures, after flaws were detected as the video conferencing platform soared in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The agreement wraps an investigation launched in March by New York Attorney General Letitia James into vulnerabil-ities in the California-based company’s software.

In a statement, James said Zoom would institute new security measures for the mil-lions of users using the platform, including enhanced privacy con-trols. The company also agreed to conduct regular risk assessment and software code reviews to detect vulnerabilities.

The number of daily video meetings on Zoom skyrocketed from 10 million in January to more than 300 million at the end of April. But a “Zoom-bombing” phenomenon sparked warnings about lax

security, as virtual intruders interrupted religious cere-monies, remote classes and other Zoom gatherings.

In some cases, pornographic images popped up. James said Zoom would take steps to prevent those breaches as well as end its user data-sharing part-nership with Facebook.

The platform is to improve privacy controls for free accounts — users avoid a monthly fee for meetings 40 minutes and under — along with education accounts for K-12 students.

Texas hairdresser out of jail after governor amends lockdown rule

AFP — HOUSTON

The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of a hairdresser who had been jailed for violating the state’s coronavirus lockdown orders by keeping her business open.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott specifically mentioned Shelley Luther in amending his lockdown order on Thursday “eliminating jail for violating an order,” after calling her week-long sentence excessive.

“Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen,” he said. The amended rule, “if correctly applied should free Shelley Luther,” he said.

Luther, who owns Salon A La Mode in Dallas, was ordered on March 28 to comply with stay-at-home restrictions imposed by the city, county and state. When she refused, a Dallas federal court on Tuesday sentenced her to seven days in jail. Luther “continued the operation of the Salon for seven days after the entry of the Order and so continued up until the date of this hearing,” receiving several clients per day, court documents said.

Social distancing reminderA sign reminds the public of social distancing rules but most businesses remain closed along the Third Street Promenade shopping street in Santa Monica, California, yesterday. Some retailers across the state have been allowed to reopen today.