Tag: COVID-19

• Monday, August 17th 2020 - 07:58 UTC

  New Zealand's PM Jacinda Arden postpones the general election to October 17

  

  New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday postponed the general election by four weeks to Oct 17 but ruled out delaying it any further, as the country tackles a new outbreak of the coronavirus.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Bolsonaro's approval ratings on the rise while disapproval plunges ten points

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro received the best approval rating of his term on Friday, boosted by his popularity among recipients of COVID-19 stimulus payments despite the carnage the pandemic has caused in Brazil.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:52 UTC

  Health care workers in Peru protest demanding better pay and working conditions

  

  Health care workers in Peru held a demonstration demanding better pay and working conditions as more of their colleagues become infected with the coronavirus. Members of medical workers’ unions appealed for government help during a rally outside the Health Ministry.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:44 UTC

  Spain closes nightclubs and bans drinking and smoking in outdoor public areas

  

  Spanish authorities ordered the closure of nightclubs, banned drinking in outdoor public areas, and smoking when keeping a safe distance from people is impossible, among other measures imposed on Friday to try to stem a coronavirus resurgence.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:32 UTC

  Argentina's social distancing extended until August 30; daily infections are above 7,000

  

  Argentina extended until Aug 30 restrictions taken against the coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday, underlining that the country's lockdown would continue in its current form in and around capital city Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:31 UTC

  European Union agrees to buy 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine

  

  The European Union has agreed to buy at least 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine in its first such advance purchase deal, which could weaken plans led by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a global approach.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:22 UTC

  Chile: some 14 million have received some form of social support

  

  Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Friday that more than one million people had received the government's US$ 626 spot payment aimed at staving off the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and it had approved more than 550,000 requests for soft loans of up to US$ 815.

• Saturday, August 15th 2020 - 09:21 UTC

  US extends ban on border crossing with Canada and Mexico until September 21

  

  The US Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that a COVID-19 ban on non-essential travel through border crossings with Canada and Mexico was being extended until Sep 21.

• Friday, August 14th 2020 - 09:40 UTC

  Peru with half a million coronavirus contagions and the highest death toll in the region

  

  Peru surpassed half a million coronavirus cases and has the highest death toll in Latin America, according to Health Ministry data released on Thursday, as the government struggles to contain a recent surge in infections.

• Friday, August 14th 2020 - 09:34 UTC

  WHO and USDA downplay risks of contracting coronavirus from food and food packaging

  

  Two cities in China have found traces of the new coronavirus in cargoes of imported frozen food, local authorities said on Thursday, although the World Health Organization downplayed the risk of the virus entering the food chain.