Coronavirus Updates

As of now...


Coronavirus Cases:
2,920,961

Deaths:
203,272

Recovered:
836,941

90,910 new cases world wide falling from the highest reported a day ago

6,027 more deaths again lower than previous 24 hours

Total cases in USA at 960,651 with 35,419 new cases identified. USA seems have not any signs of reducing the rate of spread of the infections. Death count continue to be above 2,000+with a total death count now stands at 54,256.

UK had 813 more deaths still at higher side.

Italy had 415 new deaths while Spain , Brazil & France had 378, 375 and 369 more deaths respectively.

Sri Lanka cancels military leave as 95 sailors get Coronavirus amid testing gap, count 477

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has cancelled leave off members of all three forces and asked them to report to base, with 95 sailors so far being infected with Coronavirus amid a gap in testing at risk groups.

Sri Lanka’s military chief Shavendra Silva who heads an anti-Covid task force said transport would be provided to all members of the tri-forces on leave to come back to base.

On April 26, 11 new cases had been confirmed up to late afternoon with one person from the Kandakadu quarantine centre and 10 sailors on leave.

Up to now 68 sailors from inside Welisara camp, and 27 persons outside the camp totaling 95 sailors had been confirmed.

More tests are being carried out, General Silva said.

Members of the families of sailors and their first contacts (F1) had been identified and they have been taken to a quarantine centre, he said.

Their second and third contacts had been isolated at home, he said.

The spike in infections in the armed forces comes amid calls to test high risk groups. Sri Lanka has been reluctant to test persons outside clusters that have already been discovered.

Health officials have also denied easy drive in tests for asymptomatic members of the public.

There have been warnings that expecting symptomatic cases to turn up in hospital and denying precautionary tests to members of the public and at risk groups including quarantine workers especially after curfews are relaxed would increase the risk of the virus spreading.

“The current contact tracing strategy has a serious flaw in that it is too dependent on symptomatic cases and there is no way to detect an infected index case that is asymptomatic,” Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based think tank said.

“Voluntary testing, random testing of people in high-risk areas will increase the chance of asymptomatic index cases and members of clusters being discovered.

“Once curfew is lifted, the front office staff of any institution including airports, quarantine workers, cleaning staff, people working in economic centres, and drivers may be exposed to higher risks.

“Those in driving/delivery related jobs, in particular, would also be in a position to spread the disease faster and to a greater area.”

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
2,994,958

Deaths:
206,997

Recovered:
878,923

73,997 new cases world wide lower from the previous day

3,725 more deaths again lower than previous 24 hours

We can see notable decreases in new deaths in all heavy impacted countries including USA, UK, Italy, Spain & France.

https://covid19.gov.lk/covid-19-stats.html

Sri Lanka to ramp up COVID 19 testing, cases rise to 567

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will ramp up PCR testing for COVID 19 up to 3,000 persons per day as the total number of patients confirmed with the disease rose to 567 today, officials said.

The largest number of patients found in a single cluster is from the Welisara Sri Lanka Navy camp which has risen to 180 today, Army Commander Lt Gen Shavindra Silva said.

The total number of new patients found today is 44 and all of them are from the Navy camp at Welisara.

He said 112 were detected in the camp and 68 are Navy men who had gone home on holiday.

The curfew which was island-wide to enable servicemen to return to their camps from leave will be lifted tomorrow morning.

“We expect all these servicemen to report to their respective camps tonight,” he said.

The Director-General of Health Services said that the department was bringing on-line a number of laboratories for PCR testing.

A new laboratory was being opened at Batticoloa tomorrow, he said.

University labs at the Peradeniya, Colombo and Kelaniya universities were to begin PCR testing and with these facilities, the number of tests that can be done every day will be around 2,000.

He said a new lab being built at Mulleriyawa with Asian Development Bank aid will have a capacity of doing a thousand PCR tests a day.

“With that our capacity will rise to 3,000 tests a day,” Jasinghe said.

The Government Laboratory Technologists Association in an open letter to Jasinghe sent over the weekend had suggested that the university labs be brought on-line.

The Association had also suggested that the existing lab staff be asked to work around the clock and with that, the testing capacity could have been raised to nearly 3,000 a day without the Mulleriyawa lab being built.

Jasinghe also said that a COVID 19 positive case had been detected at an underserved area in Dabare Mawatha in Colombo. A hundred random tests had been done in the area and all had come out negative he said.(Colombo April 27, 2020)

Sri Lanka stamping out Navy Coronavirus cluster as Covid-19 count soars to 588

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is contact tracing fast and bringing back members of the armed forces on leave to stamp out a cluster spreading from Navy ratings who had gone on leave to many districts amid curfews after getting leave.

Sri Lanka’s total Coronavirus count went to 588 on April 27, according to health ministry data with over 60 new persons mostly Navy ratings being confirmed as a nation-wide curfew was clamped down to locate sailors on leave.

“The Navy officers are giving information on contacts unlike civilians so it is easier for intelligence officers to locate contacts,” Anil Jasinghe head of Sri Lanka’s health service said.

Sri Lanka has conducted the first community screening among underserved areas in Colombo where positive cases had tuned up.

Sri Lanka had confirmed over 60 persons on April 27, confirming over 60 persons, the highest in a single day.

“Most were from the Navy,” Jasinghe told Sri Lanka’s Derana Television. “There were sailors from many districts but the majority from the Welisara camp.”

“After the first Navy person was found from Polonnaruwa our field staff and intelligence officers were actively seeking contacts.”

From the Dabare Mawatha in Narahenpita there were two Coronavirus patients, where a patient had been reported earlier.

After two days of sample testing the second person was found. The areas has been locked down.

In Torrington ’60 watte’ a person who had come from Colombo’s Bandaranaike Mawatha had been identified as a Coronavirus patient.

In Havelock Lane, a Colombo Municipal Council worker who was involved in cleaning duties had been confirmed. The driver of the truck was from Bandaranaike area.

Sri Lanka apparently did not test high risk workers including those in quarantine and still does not test drivers involved in inter-district travel.

There has been no community screening of high risk areas until the tests in under-served areas.

Initially tests were denied to anyone outside hospital on the claim that PCR was a ‘diagnostic’ and not a ‘screening’ test. Tests were also denied to first contacts to find whether the next level contacts were likely to be infected.

Tests were also denied to those who were released from quarantine until one person got infected.

It is not clear whether those released from hospital are being re-tested. In Vietnam several persons who were released from hospital had tested positive on follow up tests and had been re-admitted to hospital.

Similar trends had been observed in Korea. (SB-Colombo/Apr28/2020)

Kissing, hugging, family ties; why has Spain been hit hard by Coronavirus?

AFP – In Spain, one of the hardest-hit countries in the pandemic, the coronavirus spread quickly and widely without being detected, especially among the elderly, experts told AFP.

While they stressed it was too early to carry out a detailed analysis, the experts pointed to the country’s sociable lifestyle and close ties between young and older family members as significant factors in the virus’s spread.

– Low mortality, high spread –

While Spain has the world’s highest coronavirus death toll per capita after Belgium, its mortality rate — the percentage of infected patients who die — stands at 10.4 percent, below other hard-hit nations like Italy, France and Britain.

“The problem here is the size of the epidemic, the great quantity of infections which we had at the epidemic peak,” said Fernando Rodriguez, a public health professor at Madrid’s Autonomous University.

Only the United States has more confirmed COVID-19 cases than Spain, although national variations depend greatly on the number of tests that are carried out.

A study carried out by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia estimated that more than two million of Spain’s 47 million people are infected.

– Late detection –

The virus “circulated under the radar a lot” before the government ordered a near total nationwide lockdown on March 14, said the head of epidemiology at Barcelona’s Hospital Clinic, Antoni Trilla.

Unusually warm weather helped spread the virus.

“The weather was fantastic during the last weeks of February and the first week of March and people were out on the streets, very close to one another,” said Rodriguez.

This sped up the spread of the virus and “in very little time there was community transmission,” he added.

– Kisses and hugs –

Lifestyle could also have played a role in a country where people spend a lot of time outside in groups eating out, having drinks, attending religious processions, protesting or just going for a walk.

In Spain, as in Italy, “people hug and touch each other a lot, here people are constantly kissing, even at work,” said Ildefonso Hernandez, a professor of public health at the Miguel Hernandez University in Alicante.


In addition, Spain has the most people living in flats of any European Union country, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

“Our cities are built vertically, there is a lot of density and this can also facilitate the transmission of the epidemic,” Rodriguez said.

– Close contact with seniors –

While Spaniards have a long average lifespan and the country has a high number of seniors who are more vulnerable to the virus, its share of the population over 65 is lower than other nations that have suffered fewer COVID-19 deaths, such as Germany.

But older people in Spain have more contact with younger family members who can pass on the virus to them, Ildefonso Hernandez said.

“Older people in northern Europe are more secluded and there is more family distance,” he said.

In Spain, families “are much tighter, the interaction between youths and seniors is very high,” he added.

It is common for several generations to live under the same roof in Spain. The average age a young adult moves out of the home in Spain is 29.5, compared to 18.5 in Sweden and 21.1 in Denmark, according to Eurostat.

– Nursing homes –

Families also frequently visit relatives who live in nursing homes, which became tragic focal points of the pandemic in Spain, Hernandez said.

The health ministry does not provide figures for the number of deaths from COVID-19 at nursing homes.





But the governments of the two hardest-hit regions, Madrid and Catalonia, reported a combined total of around 8,000 confirmed and suspected deaths from the disease at retirement homes.

Residents of nursing homes are “very old, very fragile,” said Trilla.

“They are not healthcare establishments and were not prepared for this. That caused a fire of colossal proportions,” he added.

– Strained health care system –

Spain’s public healthcare system is ranked in the top 10 in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO), but it has suffered deep spending cuts since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

While it has a strong primary care network, hospitals have fewer beds than the European average, which forced them to improvise during the pandemic.

Like banks with little solvency “they did not pass the stress test,” said Guillem Lopez-Casasnovas, an economist and expert on healthcare systems at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University who has worked as an advisor to the WHO.

“When you live day to day, you get the most out of what you have, but you don’t have enough muscle to respond to a major stressor like now,” he added.

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
3,065,778

Deaths:
211,658

Recovered:
923,062

70,820 new cases world wide lower from the previous day

4,661 more deaths but higher than previous 24 hours

Total cases in USA surpass 1mn with 23,196 new cases identified yesterday. New deaths reported during last 24 hours were 1,384.

Other hard affected countries reported relatively lower deaths where UK reported 360, Italy reported 333 and Spain reported 331 new deaths while France had 437 new deaths.

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
3,138,413

Deaths:
217,985

Recovered:
955,824

72,635 new cases world wide marginally higher from the previous day

6,327 more deaths but higher than previous 24 hours

USA experienced a jump in deaths from lower figure for last two days to over 2000 with 2,470 more deaths for last 24 hours making the total death count increasing to 59, 266. Total cases in USA now stands at 1,035,765 with 25,409 new cases identified.

Death toll in UK and Brazil too increased compared to a day before with 586 & 520 more deaths.

Italy, France & Spain had 300+ deaths however slightly lower than to previous 24 hours.

Sri Lanka’s COVID 19 positive cases breach 600 mark – Health Ministry

ECONOMYNEXT – In its latest update, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Department is reporting that the total number of COVD 19 cases in Sri Lanka has risen to 611.

A short while ago the Director-General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe said the total was 596, with the addition of 11 patients for the day.

However the Epidemiology Unit in a later update added another 15 patients taking the total beyond 600.

The Unit did not provide details of the patients, where they were diagnosed and which geographical area they came from.

At present there are 611 confirmed cases, 470 active cases in government hospitals, 134 recovered and discharged and seven deceased.

Most of the recent surge in patients have come from the so-called Welisara Navy cluster where infections at the huge base contributed some 206 patients to the total.

Sixty-two other patients came from the Bandaranayake Mawatha, in Colombo Central cluster which stemmed from a patient returning from a pilgrimage to India. (Colombo, 28 April 2020)

Global virus update: US registers millionth case as pandemic lockdowns ease

AFP – The United States on Tuesday recorded its one-millionth coronavirus case as countries including Spain, Russia and Nigeria took tentative steps back towards normal life by preparing to reopen some businesses.

Excitement over partial easing of lockdowns has been tempered by fear of new outbreaks and growing evidence of the economic devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The US — where millions of jobs have gone — reached another grim milestone as it registered 58,365 deaths, a larger loss of life than recorded by the US military in the Vietnam War.

And the overall US case load rose to 1,010,717 in a public health disaster that could threaten President Donald Trump’s re-election chances.

But some countries have reported falling infection numbers, and governments have begun to chart their way out of the shutdowns.

France said Tuesday that shops, markets and some schools could reopen next month, with face masks required on public transport and work-from-home orders staying in place for several more weeks.

Prime Minister Edouard Phillipe admitted even a gradual return to normal life was “risky.”

Spain said restrictions would be slowly lifted over the next two months, while Italians will be able to exercise outdoors and visit relatives from next week — but only if they wear masks and refrain from hugs and handshakes.

Italy, Spain and France have been the worst affected countries in Europe, with each reporting over 23,000 deaths.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin warned that the peak of coronavirus infections still lay ahead, saying “the situation remains very difficult.”

But he nonetheless said lockdown measures could be eased from next month.

Data on infection rates has shown mixed results in Germany, which is being closely watched after allowing some shops to reopen last week.

“We all need to take care that we don’t end up with more infections,” said Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control.

– ‘The cries of the people’ –

Experts have warned of a second wave of contagion if restrictions are lifted too hastily, and the World Health Organization has said reinfection may be possible even among recovered patients.

In Nigeria’s largest city Lagos, bus driver Taju Olonade told AFP a decision to ease the lockdown showed that authorities had finally listened “to the cries of the people.”

“For almost one month I have not earned a penny,” he said. “I hope life will soon return to normal.”

The new coronavirus has killed at least 214,451 people since the outbreak first emerged in China in December, according to a tally compiled by AFP at 1900

At least 3,068,330 cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories, although the official tally is widely thought to lag far behind the actual figures.

The United States had the most deaths over the latest 24-hour period with 1,970, followed by Britain with 586.

With the US seeing by far the highest number of deaths, Trump has increasingly sought to blame China for the mounting toll.

China pushed back fiercely on Tuesday, accusing US politicians of “barefaced lies.”

“They have only one objective: shirk their responsibility for their own poor epidemic prevention and control measures,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.

Beijing and Washington have clashed repeatedly over the outbreak as tensions soar between the world’s two biggest economic powers.

The outbreak seems to be under control in China with no new deaths reported for 13 straight days and the toll standing at 4,633 — although much doubt has been cast on whether the numbers are accurate.

– Shattered economies –

Anger at the global economic paralysis has intensified in recent weeks, and anti-government protesters took to the streets in Lebanon on Tuesday in defiance of a lockdown.

“I came down to raise my voice against hunger, poverty and rising prices,” Khaled, 41, told AFP, saying he had lost his job selling motorcycle parts and could no longer support his three children.

In the latest sign of big business woes, British Airways is set to slash up to 12,000 jobs, its parent company said. The carrier, which has approximately 45,000 employees, has already furloughed nearly 23,000 staff.





Despite other European countries moving towards reopening schools and shops, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was too early for the UK to follow suit.

That was in contrast to New Zealand, where people enjoyed fast food and coffee shop treats for the first time in five weeks as the country lifted its strict lockdown.

“We see the difference in other countries and I don’t envy them, that’s for sure,” said Wellington resident Cheryl Robertson, who planned to celebrate her newfound freedom with a curry.

In Australia, hundreds of surfers and swimmers rushed back to the waves at Bondi Beach in Sydney, five weeks after police closed the area because of large crowds flouting social distancing rules.

“I’ve been excited for like a week,” Diane Delaurens told AFP, dripping after an early-morning surf.

However, there is not yet a vaccine for the disease and Britain issued a warning of coronavirus-related syndrome emerging in children — including abdominal pain and inflammation around the heart.

“What I would also stress is that it is rare. Although it is very significant for those children who do get it, the number of cases is small,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

In Tokyo, organizers said that the postponed 2020 Olympics will have to be canceled next year if the pandemic isn’t brought under control.

In Latin America, Brazil emerged as a new hotspot with 5,000 deaths so far, while nine inmates were killed when rioting broke out at a prison in Lima, Peru after two inmates died from COVID-19.

Sri Lanka scrambles after Navy Coronavirus cluster that fanned out in curfew, Covid-19 count 619

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is focusing on containing a Navy Coronavirus cluster where infected sailors and most close contacts in many districts have already been located, officials said as efforts were also under way to mop up persons linked to underserved areas in Colombo.

On Tuesday 31 cases had been confirmed, mostly from Navy officers and their contacts, down from 65 a day earlier, which was also driven mostly by sailors.

“The big increase in Coronavirus cases due to the problem with Navy sailors,” Director of Health Services Anil Jasinghe told Sri Lanka’s Derana Television.

“We are now coming towards the end of identifying infected sailors. That is why it went up and is gradually coming down”

Sri Lanka health officials and intelligence officials had located round 200 sailors.

New Coronavirus infections turned up in multiple districts around the country from sailors who had gone to many districts during a curfew when inter district travel was banned.

It is not clear whether Sri Lanka carried out random tests among military officers or public health inspectors who are involved in contact tracing and quarantine work to find asymptomatic persons.

Travelling in Curfew

The Navy cluster was discovered when a symptomatic sailor, from the Welisara camp turned up at Welikanda hospital halfway across the country during Coronavirus curfews when no one was expected to travel between districts.

There have been calls to test high risk individuals in contact tracing/quarantine, cleaning staff in hospitals hotels, and also front office staff, drivers and cleaners of businesses when curfews are relaxed.





A banana trader who had taken several sailors from the navy base in Welisara as well as army officers on leave had been told to self-isolate at home. He had taken a sailor on leave to Lunugamvehera who had been later confirmed with Coronavirus.

“One person from the Army and one person from the navy got in,” one the truck owner told reporters.

One person had come in a truck some distance at the back and then some distance inside. Officers manning checkpoints had at times asked truck owners to take soldiers during curfew, television reports said.

Jasinghe said Public Health Officers and intelligence officers were working swiftly to indentify military officers on leave and their contacts.

Close Watch

On April 28, out of the 31 confirmed cases, 21 were sailors, 04 were from the Army, 06 were close contacts of sailors, mostly family members or neighbhours, Jasinghe said.

“Our next problem is when the numbers of sailors go down we have to watch whether the numbers of cases among their contacts will go up,” Jasinghe said.

“That is what health service staff and intelligence officials are watching closely.”

Of the April 28 cases, 15 were from inside the Welisara camp. Others were from sailors in Medirigiriya, Aranayake, Agalawatte, Polpithigama and Habarana.

On April 27, a person was found from 60-Watte, an underserved settlement in Colombo. He had originally come from Bandaranaike Mawatha, where a large cluster had developed from a pilgrim who went to India.

In Havelock Lane, a person from Colombo Municipality sanitation staff had been confirmed. The driver of the truck was a confirmed person from Bandaranaike Mawatha.

Jasinghe said samples were being taken from sanitation workers.

In Dabare Mawatha, originally a person who returned from Maldives was confirmed. Samples were taken from the area.

“At first we did not get confirmations but the day before (April 27) we got two. The Bandaranaike and Keselwatte clusters and now mostly under control. We have to keep it at that level.”

Containment Action/b>

Reports came in from around the country over the last three days of multiple actions taken by health officers to identify and contain the spread of Coronavirus from military officers on leave.

There were also reports that infections from sailors had spread to members of other forces who had taken part among band members involved in a musical shows.

During curfew normal musical shows by ordinary citizens are band.

On April 27, Sri Lanka’s Derana televion said an Air Force officer was confirmed while on quarantine. He was quarantined after he took part in a musical show on April 12 with two members of the Welisara navy camp band. But the two had not been confirmed up to that point.





About 60 persons who were contacts of the air force officer had been quarantined.

About 180 army officers were quarantined at a Biyagama festival hall as part of containment measures.

Sri Lanka imposed a nationwide full day curfew on April 27 to bring back Navy and other military officers on leave.

On April 26, out of 63 persons confirmed 53 were sailors. There were 17 inside the camp, 37 from outside, 5 in quarantine and the rest their close contacts.

In Anuradhapura on April 27, a young man was confirmed at the teaching hospital. He had played carom and with two women navy officer who had come on leave from Welisara navy, public health officers told reporters.

The father of another confirmed case in Saliyapura was also hospitalized and 25 houses had been isolated.

The wife and 2.5 year old relation of the sailor in confirmed in Sevangala 13.5 area in Moneragala had isolated them.

More Contacts

The lady had operated a salon in Thanamalwila where at least one nurse from Kamburupitiya hospital had come. The emergency treatment unit of Kamburupitiya base hospital had been disinfected and 08 had been isolated.

About 10 persons may been served and 05 had already been identified by the time, regional health officers told reporters.

On April 18 a sailor on leave from Welisara had come to Biyagama, and on April 23 he had shown symptoms and taken to Ragama hospital to be confirmed. He had gone to a salon to cut his hair in Peragahamulla.

Prathiba Mawatha, Divulgama Mawatha and Malwatte Mawatha where there are over 1000 persons had been isolated.

Sri Lanka’s military chief had said some schools near military bases may be used to expand the barracks so that health army officers could maintain social distance as a safeguard for the future.

But schools would not be used as quarantine centres, General Silva said. (Colombo/Apr29/2020)

Epidemiological map shows COVID 19 has spread throughout the country

ECONOMYNEXT – The government cannot predict whether there will be new clusters of COVID 19 positive patients emerging although the Health Services are taking all precautions.

Director-General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe is saying that the emergence of fresh community clusters depends on whether the public adheres to the instructions that have been given by the health authorities.

He went on to say that the contact tracing of the Navy sailors who defied government instructions not to leave the high-risk zones and infected people in areas hitherto untouched is “reaching its last stages.”

Neither Jasinghe nor the security forces high command have admitted that the off-duty servicemen broke the rules and went out of the high-risk zone of the Colombo district against all advise and instructions from the government.

Jasinghe is however optimistic that will “not be a major increase in clusters or patients.”

He said that all the at-risk individuals have been identified and quarantined.

The statement comes as the last few days has seen a doubling of the number of COVID 19 patients with the largest number coming from the so-called Welisara navy cluster.

The latest map released by the Epidemiological unit shows the wide distribution of COVID 19 patients throughout the country.

https://economynext.com/epidemiological-map-shows-covid-19-has-spread-throughout-the-country-69049/

Hopes rise in Coronavirus battle as US trial shows remdesivir speeds up recovery

AFP – US scientists on Wednesday hailed a potential breakthrough in the coronavirus fight as a trial showed patients responding to an antiviral drug, fueling global hopes for a return to normal.

The medical news was enough to propel a rebound on Wall Street even after data showed the pandemic had plunged the United States into its worst economic slump in a decade and Germany predicted its biggest recession since the aftermath of World War II.





In the first proof of successful treatment against the illness that has claimed more than 226,000 lives, a clinical trial of the drug remdesivir showed that patients recovered over 30 percent more quickly than those on a placebo.

Anthony Fauci, who oversaw the study, told reporters at the White House: “The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”

Fauci, the veteran top US scientist in the fight against infectious diseases, likened the finding to the first retrovirals that worked, albeit with modest success, against HIV in the 1980s.

The trial, which involved 1,063 people across 68 locations in the US, Europe and Asia, showed that “a drug can block this virus,” Fauci said.

Remdesivir failed in trials against the Ebola virus and a smaller study, released last week by the World Health Organization, found limited effects among patients in Wuhan, China, where the illness was first detected last year.

Senior WHO official Michael Ryan declined to weigh in on the latest findings Wednesday, saying he had not reviewed the complete study.

“I think a lot more data will come out,” he told reporters.

“We are all hoping — fervently hoping — that one or more of the treatments currently under observation and under trial will result in altering clinical outcomes” and reducing deaths, he said.

The UN body said its emergency committee will meet Thursday for the first time since it declared coronavirus an international emergency three months ago.

US President Donald Trump has assailed the WHO as not responding quickly or aggressively enough, although critics say he is trying to deflect from his own response.

US deaths from the virus this week topped the country’s 58,220 fatalities in the Vietnam War — standing at 60,475 as of 2200 GMT Wednesday.

The United States has suffered the most deaths, with Britain’s toll on Wednesday becoming the world’s third worst at 26,097. More than 27,000 people have died in Italy.

– ‘Unprecedented’ contraction –

Experts have warned that only a full-scale vaccine will allow the full removal of restrictions that put half of humanity under some form of lockdown.

But governments are increasingly loosening the more suffocating rules in the face of devastating impact on the global economy.

The United States announced that economic output collapsed 4.8 percent in the first quarter, ending more than a decade of expansion.

Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned that economic activity will likely drop “at an unprecedented rate” in the second quarter — grim news for Trump as he seeks re-election.

Private sector economists are predicting a decline in growth by as much as 40 percent in the quarter through June after at least 26 million people were thrown out of work.

It will take “some time to get back to anything nearly resembling full employment,” Powell told reporters.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has succeeded in holding off the devastating death tolls elsewhere — but still forecasts an overwhelming economic hit.

Germany “will experience the worst recession in the history of the federal republic” founded in 1949, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier warned, predicting that GDP would shrink by a record 6.3 percent.

The International Labour Organization said half the global workforce — around 1.6 billion people — are in “immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed.”

One of the worst-hit areas of the world economy is the aviation industry.

World air traffic suffered a massive drop of more than half in March compared with the same period last year, the “largest decline in recent history”, the International Air Transport Association said.

US plane-builder Boeing announced plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent and slash production of its main airliners while European aviation giant Airbus also reported big losses.

– Risks to children –

While the world keeps looking for signs of progress against the pandemic, research is also revealing frightening new details about the coronavirus.

Britain and France have both warned of a possible coronavirus-related syndrome emerging in children — including abdominal pain and inflammation around the heart.

“I am taking this very seriously. We have absolutely no medical explanation at this stage,” French Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

Experts have also warned of longer-term psychological tolls on both children and adults after weeks or even months in isolation.

New York said it would take action to clean subway trains after photos and videos of homeless people seeking shelter in the underground transit system sparked wide outrage.

“The cars were filthy, they were disgusting, homeless people were there with all their belongings,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.

As businesses reopen, authorities are making clear it will not be business as usual.

Berlin, like the rest of Germany, said it would be requiring masks to enter shops. They are already compulsory on buses, trains and trams.

“It’s the right thing,” said Heike Menzel, 54, who was stacking shelves in Bio Company supermarket, wearing a simple black fabric mask. “You’re protecting others.”

– Sharp toll rise in Britain –

Unlike much of continental Europe, Britain has not unveiled a way to exit the lockdown.

The sharp rise in its COVID-19 toll, which caused Britain to surpass Spain, came as it included deaths in places such as care homes for the first time.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially resisted shutting down the country — and himself became the highest-profile coronavirus patient, entering intensive care as he fought for his life.

He returned to work this week and on Wednesday became a father again when his partner Carrie Symonds gave birth to a boy.

China, however, appears to have brought the virus under control after a brutal start of the year.

The communist state announced that its top legislature will hold its annual meeting next month, after having postponed it from March for the first time due to the disease.

Sri Lanka curfew made nation-wide till May 04 from tonight as infections jump to 649

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has imposed a nation-wide curfew from April 30, 2000h till May 04 as infections of Coronavirus as new infections were detected driven mainly by a cluster of military officials who went on leave.

The President’s office said a curfew which will be imposed at 2000 hours on April 30 on most districts will continue till May 04.

Sri Lanka has seen a surge of new infections after military officers from a Navy base in Welisara went on leave during curfew hitching rides on trucks taking food, though there was a ban on inter-district movement.

The health ministry said total infection grew to 649 by 1130 hours on April 29, rising by about 30.

The infections in the Navy base had expanded amid calls to widen testing of high risk groups.

From publicly available information those involved in contact tracing and quarantine were not randomly traced.

Advocata Institute a Colombo-based think tank had warned that waiting passively for symptomatic persons to turn up in hospital was a serious flaw in Sri Lanka’s anti-coronavirus strategy.





It aso called for voluntary testing of asymptomatic persons after curfews lift to detect any unknown clusters.

Concern had been growing at the denial of voluntary testing to asymptomatic persons combined with no community sample tests.

With the increase in new cases, Sri Lanka is expanding hospitals.

Patients are housed at the main Infectious Disease Hospital in Colombo, the Welikand, Colombo East Iranawila, Kathankudy, Minuwangoda and Navy Hospital in Welisara, the head of Sri Lanka’s Health Service Anil Jasinghe said.

The Homagama base hospital which was housing suspected cases had been converted to treatment hospital.
(Colombo/Apr30/2020)

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
3,220,148

Deaths:
228,215

Recovered:
1,000,303

81,735 new cases world wide marginally higher from the previous day

10,230 more deaths the highest per day recorded so far

USA continue to record over 2000 deaths per day with 2,390 more deaths for the last 24 hours
UK death toll rises to 795 for the last 24 hours
Spain, France & Brazil reported 400+ more deaths.

Police – drug users spreading COVID 19

ECONOMYNEXT – The government is cracking down on drug dealers who it says are causing the spread of the COVID 19 disease as four more positive cases were reported today bringing the total number in Sri Lanka since the outbreak to 653.

The Director-General of Health Services Dr Anil Jasinghe was quoted in a government press release this evening that the four cases were all diagnosed while being quarantined at the Oluvil Quarantine centre.

They are all from the persons quarantined from the Suduwella area in Ja-Ela, the statement said.

The group in Suduwella are said to be drug addicts, and some of the Navy sailors who rounded them up to take them to quarantine became infected causing the Welisara navy camp to be closed as 264 Navy personnel and their close associates caught the disease.

The Police meanwhile made a strong statement about drug peddlers who, they said, were responsible for the spread of the virus.

“There is a strong connection to the drug dealers and drug users to the spread of the disease,” Police spokesman Deputy Inspector General of Police Ajith Rohana said.

He said that the drug users found in Suduwella had spread it to Nagalgam Street in Colombo and from there to the Keselwatte and Gunasinghapura areas of Central Colombo.

“This created a new cluster of patients,” Rohana said.

He said residents of the so-called underserved areas in urban regions must be keenly aware of drug dealers in their neighbourhoods.

We cannot combat this without public support,” he said.

“If someone temporarily moves into your area or takes up residence you must report them to the police. Also do not offer these people temporary shelter in your own home” he added.

Rohana also said that of the 31 clusters that were active in Sri Lanka, 27 have been made inactive. Of the four three are close to being shut down and only one remains active.

Meanwhile, doctors at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) at Angoda said that the number of patients they are treating in their COVID wards have exceeded their capacity.

The IDH has a capacity to treat 120 such patients while at present there were 141 warded in the country’s premier infectious diseases hospital. Efforts are now on to remove around 20 patients who are recovered from the disease to a different hospital, the doctors told the media.(Colombo, April 30, 2020)

As of now...

Coronavirus Cases:
3,308,231

Deaths:
234,105

Recovered:
1,039,195

86,037 new cases world wide marginally higher from the previous day

5,801 more deaths lower than previous 24 hours

Total deaths at USA rises to 63,856 with 2,201 more deaths and total cases increased to 1,095,023 with the identification of 30,829 new cases.

Deaths in UK risen to 26,771 with 674 new deaths and now just below the total death count @ Italy.

Brazil had 390 new deaths.

The other three European countries with higher deaths rates, Spain, Italy & France, had less than 300 new deaths for last 24 hours.

Virus death toll nears 200,000 as UN pushes for global vaccine effort

AFP – The global coronavirus death toll approached 200,000 on Saturday as the United Nations launched an international push for a vaccine to defeat the pandemic.

Governments around the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people and left half of humanity under some form of lockdown.

The scale of the pandemic has forced medical research on the virus to move at unprecedented speed, but effective treatments are still far away and the United Nations chief said the effort will require cooperation on a global scale.

“We face a global public enemy like no other,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual briefing on Friday, asking for international organizations, world leaders and the private sector to join hands.

“A world free of COVID-19 requires the most massive public health effort in history.”

The vaccine should be safe, affordable and available to all, Guterres stressed at the meeting, which was also attended by the leaders of Germany and France.

But notably absent from the meeting were the leaders of China, where the virus first emerged late last year, and the United States, which has accused the UN’s World Health Organization of not warning quickly enough about the original outbreak.

The UN chief’s vaccine appeal came a day after US President Donald Trump prompted outcry and ridicule with his suggestion that disinfectants be used to treat coronavirus patients.

“Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” Trump mused during a televised briefing. “It sounds interesting to me.”

As experts — and disinfectant manufacturers — rushed to caution against any such dangerous experiment, the president tried to walk back his comments, saying he had been speaking “sarcastically.”

The United States is the hardest-hit country by far in the pandemic, recording more than 51,000 deaths and over 890,000 infections.

The world’s biggest economy has been hammered by the pandemic, with 26 million jobs lost since the crisis began, and American leaders are under pressure to find ways to ease social distancing measures.

Despite criticism from Trump, the governor of Georgia allowed some businesses, including nail salons and bowling alleys, to reopen on Friday, sparking both criticism and relief.

The mayor of the state’s capital Atlanta condemned the “irresponsible” move, telling ABC News: “There is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley or giving a manicure in the middle of a pandemic.”

But some in the city cherished the opportunity to re-engage with society.

“I actually had a great time,” beamed Tili Banks, 41, as she and a friend left a bowling alley.

“I was just so happy to be out that I didn’t even realize that I had these people’s bowling shoes on when I walked outside.”

– Early stages –

Global COVID-19 deaths have climbed past 195,000, according to an AFP tally, but new reported cases appear to have leveled off at about 80,000 a day.

The daily death toll in Western countries seems to be falling, a sign hopeful epidemiologists had been looking for, but the WHO has warned that other nations are still in the early stages of the fight.

The unprecedented situation has left the world staring at its worst downturn since the Great Depression, and world leaders are trying to balance public health concerns with economic needs.

Some countries have already started loosening restrictions.

Sri Lanka said it would lift a nationwide curfew on Monday after more than five weeks, as Belgium became the latest European nation to announce an easing from mid-May.

On the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, people held vigils from the isolation of their own driveways to pay tribute to their war veterans on Anzac Day.

Official memorials were held behind closed doors.

“We (usually) go away to our various watering holes, pubs or clubs, and we enjoy our mates… you talk about the old times, whilst you were serving and you talk about someone who’s missing this year that was there last year,” said Ray James, an Australian veteran of the Vietnam War.

“It’s going to be sad this year because we won’t be able to do that.”

– Mecca’s Grand Mosque deserted –

Across the Muslim world, hundreds of millions of faithful opened the Ramadan holy month under stay-at-home conditions, facing unprecedented bans on prayers in mosques and on the traditional large gatherings of families and friends to break the daily fast.

In the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the Grand Mosque, usually packed with tens of thousands of people during Ramadan, was deserted.

“We are used to seeing the holy mosque crowded with people during the day, night, all the time… I feel pain deep inside,” said Ali Mulla, the muezzin who gives the call to prayer at the Grand Mosque.



Despite the coronavirus threat, clerics and conservatives in some countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia — the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation — have pushed back and refused to stop gatherings in mosques.