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Issued on: 03/04/2020 – 18:14Modified: 03/04/2020 – 18:20 For the second time in a little over a week, a wild puma was spotted roaming the streets of the Chilean capital Santiago on Wednesday night. With the city under lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife experts say the animals are taking advantage of the empty streets to search for food. Advertising Read more The young female surprised residents at an apartment complex on Wednesday night, before being tranquilised and captured by Chilean authorities. Last week, a young male weighing at least 30kg was captured in a residential neighbourhood of the city before being released back into the wild two days later. With the city under lockdown, wildlife experts believe the animals are being emboldened by the lack of noise and human activity to enter the city from their natural habitat in nearby mountains as they search for food. It is a phenomenon that has been seen in several towns and cities across the world in recen..

Issued on: 03/04/2020 – 11:33Modified: 03/04/2020 – 11:33 As she emerges from quarantine, recovered COVID-19 patient Diana Berrent is eager to join the battle against the pandemic and donate precious antibodies that researchers hope might help others. Advertising Read more In mid-March, the New Yorker woke up with a 102-degree (39 Celsius) fever and intense chest heaviness, becoming one of the first from her Long Island neighborhood to test positive for coronavirus. This week, Berrent was the first survivor in her state screened for antibodies — immune system-generated proteins that can ward off viruses — to contribute to initial tests seeking treatment for the infection that's left more than 51,000 people dead worldwide. Convalescent plasma, the fluid in blood teeming with antibodies post-illness, has proven effective in small studies to treat infectious diseases including Ebola and SARS. Now, the US Food and Drug Administration has greenlit physicians to experiment wi..

Issued on: 03/04/2020 – 08:45Modified: 03/04/2020 – 08:48 The Trump administration on Friday looked set to join local officials in advising Americans to wear masks when outside during the still-exploding coronavirus pandemic, as the US one-day death toll rose by more than 1,000 and the global case count crossed the 1 million mark. Advertising Read more Following a series of conflicting advice on the use of face masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration is poised to recommend the use of cloth masks or face coverings when outdoors. Speaking at a White House briefing Thursday, Deborah Birx, a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would in the coming days add a recommendation on masks to guidelines on protective measures. But Birx said Americans, almost all of whom have been told to stay at home except for essential outings, should not develop a "false sense..

Ellis Marsalis Jr., jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought on by the new coronavirus, one of his sons said late Wednesday. He was 85. Advertising Read more Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in an Associated Press phone interview that his father's death was sparked by the virus that is causing the global pandemic. "Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise. But it was pneumonia brought on by COVID-19," he said. He said he drove Sunday from Baltimore to be with his father as he was hospitalized in Louisiana, which has been hit hard by the outbreak. Others in the family spent time with him, too. Four of the jazz patriarch's six sons are musicians: Wynton, trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of jazz at New York's Lincoln Center. Branford, saxophonist, led The Tonight Show band and toured with S..

Issued on: 01/04/2020 – 05:47 Brazil's economy minister on Tuesday said the country needed to strike a balance between social isolation policies and protecting the economy, hours after President Jair Bolsonaro said hunger was just as big a threat as the coronavirus itself. Advertising Read more Paulo Guedes's comments underscored the divisions at the top that have characterised Brazil's response to the pandemic and come as Bolsonaro's own chief of staff said cabinet backed social distancing policies that the president had decried. Guedes also sought to defend the government's "war budget" in response to the economic effects of the crisis and rebut critics who have called his continued focus on austerity misguided, saying total spending so far is around 800 billion reais ($154 billion) and could rise further. Concerns about the pandemic's impact and a wider retreat from risk assets have walloped Brazil's currency and stock market, with the la..

Issued on: 31/03/2020 – 18:53Modified: 31/03/2020 – 18:52 State prosecutors in Venezuela have summoned opposition leader Juan Guaido for an alleged "attempted coup d'etat" and attempted assassination, Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced Tuesday. Advertising Read more In a statement broadcast on state television, Saab said Guaido had been summoned to appear before prosecutors next Thursday following an investigation last week into the seizure of a weapons cache in neighboring Colombia that he said was to be smuggled into Venezuela. The subpoena was delivered to his head of security on Monday night, Saab said. The opposition leader is recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, including the United States, that refuse to recognize socialist President Nicolas Maduro after his disputed 2018 re-election. Colombian forces last week seized a cache of weapons linked to a retired Venezuelan general wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States...

Issued on: 31/03/2020 – 18:29Modified: 31/03/2020 – 18:29 The US Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, docked in New York Monday, while emergency care facilities and even a makeshift morgue have been set up around the city as it struggles to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Advertising Read more The ship, which set sail from Virginia on Saturday, has space for 1,000 beds and twelve operating rooms. It will treat those requiring intensive care unrelated to the coronavirus to free up much-needed space in the citys hospitals for COVID-19 patients. New York is at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US with more than 33,000 confirmed cases. Of more than 2,500 deaths in the country, nearly 800 have been in New York and the city is expecting a peak in cases in the next few weekRead More – Source [contf] [contfnew] france24 [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Issued on: 29/03/2020 – 17:10Modified: 29/03/2020 – 17:10 The U.S. government's foremost infection disease expert says the United States could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the coronavirus pandemic. Advertising Read more Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday, offered his prognosis as the federal government weighs rolling back guidelines on social distancing in areas that have not been as hard-hit by the outbreak at the conclusion of the nationwide 15-day effort to slow the spread of the virus. “I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” he said, correcting himself to say he meant deaths. “We're going to have millions of cases.” But he added “I don't want to be held to that” because the pandemic is “such a moving target.” About 125,000 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. had been recorded as of Sunday morning, with over 2,100 dead. It is certain that many more have the disease but their cas..

Issued on: 29/03/2020 – 11:47Modified: 29/03/2020 – 11:47 Passengers on a virus-stricken cruise liner stranded off Central America were transferred to another ship Saturday, after the US-bound vessel was given permission to pass through the Panama Canal. Advertising Read more The Zaandam had been stuck in the Pacific Ocean since March 14 after dozens of the 1,800 people on board reported flu-like symptoms and several South American ports refused to let it dock. The ships Dutch owner Holland America said Friday four passengers had died and two more had tested positive for COVID-19. Panama on Saturday reversed its decision to block the Zaandam from its canal, and said it would be allowed to pass “to provide humanitarian help.” Another ship, the Rotterdam, has since arrived off the coast of Panama from San Diego carrying food, medical staff, testing kits, medicine and food for the beleaguered vessel. Passengers showing no signs of the virus were ferried from the Zaandam to the..

Issued on: 28/03/2020 – 08:12Modified: 28/03/2020 – 08:14 Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday cast doubt on Sao Paulos death toll from the coronavirus outbreak and accused the state governor of manipulating the numbers for political ends, without giving evidence for his claims. Advertising Read more Bolsonaros accusations were the latest broadside in an ugly battle with Brazils governors, who have chafed at the presidents view that protecting the economy takes priority over social distancing measures to combat the spread of the highly contagious virus. Following the advice of public health experts, the vast majority of the countrys 26 governors have banned non-essential commercial activities and public services to contain the outbreak in their states. “Im sorry, some people will die, they will die, thats life,” Bolsonaro said in a television interview on Friday night. “You cant stop a car factory because of traffic deaths.” Bolsonaro said that in the state of Sao Paul..