Tuesday 5 May 2020

12 Ramadan - 1441

2 Riyals

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Volume 25 | Number 8248

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BUSINESS | 01 PENMAG | 06 SPORT | 12

Fans won't be

allowed at matches

'any time soon':

FA Chairman

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Vaccine telethon

raises billions as

Europe eases virus

lockdown

Ramadan Timing

Today's Iftar:6:09pm

Tomorrow's Imsak:03:22am

3,562,919 249,712 1,144,454TOTAL POSITIVE TOTAL DEATHS TOTAL RECOVERED

640146 14,369 1,810

0

NEW CASES

ANNOUNCED

NEW

RECOVERIES

ACTIVE

CASES

TOTAL

RECOVERIES

NEW

DEATHS

COVID-19 QATAR UPDATES ON 04 MAY 2020

COVID-19 GLOBALLY

MoPH: 146 more patientsrecover, 640 new casesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) yesterday announced 640 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The total number of pos-itive COVID-19 cases recorded in Qatar stood at 16,191 yes-terday. Of the total, there were 14,369 active cases which were under treatment.

The Ministry yesterday also announced recovery of 146 more patients from the infection, bringing the total number of recovered cases in Qatar to 1,810.

MoPH 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 indi-viduals who have been previ-ously infected. These cases were identified as a result of investigations by the Ministry.

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

Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs participates in NAM virtual summit

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, participated in the virtual summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was held yesterday through video conference, under the motto “United Against COVID-19”. The summit focused on the importance of international solidarity in combating COVID-19 disease and cooperation in providing the necessary medical equipment. The summit also discussed promoting multilateralism for stability and economic and social development after the pandemic, besides establishing a task force charged with ensuring the establishment of a common database that reflects the basic medical, social and humanitarian needs of the Movement’s countries in combating the pandemic. The meet also planned publishing related information on an official website to communicate with international humanitarian and charitable organisations, international companies and other parties supporting social projects.

HIA sees 4.7% rise in cargo operationsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad International Airport (HIA) announced yesterday that it handled 529,436 tonnes of cargo during the first quarter of 2020, a 4.7 percent increase in the global hub’s cargo activity in comparison to the same quarter the previous year.

HIA handled 529,436 tonnes of cargo in the first quarter of 2020, with 176,279 tonnes in January, 173,248 tonnes in Feb-ruary and 179,909 tonnes in March.

This increase in cargo is partly attributed to Qatar Airways’ and HIA’s continued efforts to provide freighter services in response to the increased demand for essential goods and medical supplies, locally and internationally.

The country’s national carrier, Qatar Airways con-tinues to support worldwide connectivity, re-establishment of the global supply chain, and meeting the market’s demand for freight exports and imports through Qatar Airways Cargo, its freight division. This includes the transportation of urgent medical relief aid and human-itarian assistance, which is pivotal to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline continues to operate a significant cargo

schedule with approximately 175 freighter and belly-hold passenger flights per day. During the past month the cargo operator has worked closely with governments and NGOs to transport over 100,000 tonnes of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the world on both scheduled and charter services, the equivalent of roughly 1,000 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters.

Freight charters are being operated to multiple countries including China, India, Iran,

Kuwait, Lebanon, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

Qatar Airways Cargo set a new record last week, operating 78 freighter flights and 69 freight-only passenger flights, a total of 147 dedicated cargo flights in a day to support coun-tries with relief aid amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

In coordination with the Qatar Airways Group and inter-national government entities, HIA continues to operate to

ensure passengers reach home safely. HIA has also been ful-filling its national duty towards the people of Qatar by bringing home Qatari citizens from around the world.

To ensure the well-being of passengers, HIA, in cooperation with Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), MATAR Man-agement and Qatar Airways, is also conducting entry screening of all arriving passengers and crew terminating at Doha on a 24/7 basis. All terminating pas-sengers (Qatari nationals) are being quarantined for 14 days as per the World Health Organ-ization’s (WHO) guidelines. HIA is also fully equipped with epi-demiological surveillance cameras across the terminal and an established medical clinic at the airport, operated by MoPH on a 24/7 basis.

HIA is also looking forward to the completion of its multi-phased airport expansion plan which focuses on safety and sustainability. Phase A of the expansion will be completed before the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar to increase the air-port’s capacity to more than 53 million passengers annually by 2022.

Phase B, which will be com-pleted after 2022, will further increase the airport’s capacity to more than 60 million pas-sengers per year. �P2

Qatar reaffirms resolve to protect migrant workers amid COVID-19

QNA — DOHA

The State of Qatar has affirmed its commitment to preserving the dignity of expatriates, ensuring the continuation of the decent work environment in the State, and protecting expa-triate workers from the negative effects arising from the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

This came during the remote meeting organised by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA); expatriate community leaders in Qatar; Building and Wood Workers International (BWI); and a number of international labor leaders on the occasion of International Workers Day.

In his speech during the meeting, the Assistant Under-secretary of MADLSA, Mohamed Hassan Al Obaidli, took the opportunity to restate firmly the commitment of the

State of Qatar in upholding the dignity of labor.

He explained: “Time and again, Amir H H Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, issues statements and directives to the entire government of Qatar to ensure that decent work is upheld in our country. Time and again, we express our deepest gratitude for the migrant workers who have helped and continue to help build our country. The government of Qatar is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that workers are protected as much as possible from the ill effects of this crisis.”

Al Obaidli added: “We have issued guidelines on health and employment; we have collab-orated with you on information and education campaign ena-bling us to reach close to 300,000 workers so far; we have instituted alternative mechanisms for labor com-plaints given the need for

restriction in movements of people; we have heightened inspections and taken legal actions against violators of the standards as set forth in our laws.”

Al Obaidli also said: “I am glad to inform you that in a letter sent by a group of inter-national trade unions and civil society organisations to the government of Qatar, it was stated that they do recognise that Qatar exercises trans-parency regarding the man-agement of the crisis and they do commend Qatar’s approach in managing the crisis.”

Addressing the community leaders and workers represent-ative, BWI General Secretary, Ambet Yuson, said: “It's a dif-ficult time. We feel fear, uncer-tainty, thinking of our family back home. I want to assure you that the global unions — BWI, IDWF, ITUC, UNI, ITF — are here for you. It’s time for unity and global solidarity.” �P2

Time and again, Amir H H Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, issues directives to the entire government of Qatar to ensure that decent work is upheld in our country. Time and again, we express our deepest gratitude for the migrant workers that have helped and continue to help build our country. Mohamed Hassan Al Obaidli.

The Ministry and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy are

doing their best to ensure (workers’) health and safety; to make sure

wages and benefits are paid. Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary

Despite the difficult circumstances, it is still very important for us to get together and celebrate International Labour Day. It’s a tribute to all of you, for what you do. Houtan Homayounpour, from ILO.

Qatar has provided support both in accommodation in terms of food and other elements but also in the workplaces to make sure workers can be as safe as possible. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC

Distance learning: Schools produce more than23,000 video lessons; 19 channels on YouTubeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

A total of 23,533 video lessons were produced for students until April 30, 2020, for distance learning system, said the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in its sixth report on distance learning issued yesterday.

As much as 19,908 video lessons were produced in special education and inte-gration schools, 2,456 video lessons in general education schools, and 1169 in specialised schools, says the report.

A total of 2,121 daily assign-ments were posted on Microsoft-Team app for dif-ferent grades and educational materials and for those related to adult education.

The weekly evaluation in

the format of Microsoft Forms reached 756 by April 30.

Nineteen educational channels were opened on YouTube for the students from KG to grade 12 and adult education.

As many as 8,410,862 viewers and 83,795 subscribers were recorded on YouTube channels. The total surfing hours reached 401,602, while 2,220 video were published on these channels.

An average browse rate of the videos is 3,789 and highest browse number of a video is 21,871.

A total of 2,456 video lessons were produced for the students of all grades including 2,121 video lessons for the stu-dents from grade three to 12, 273 lessons for KG, 48 lessons

for primary schools and 14 lessons for adult education.

A total of 976 educational experts and teachers partici-pated in producing the lessons.

The students with special needs received 19,908 lessons which were produced specially for them. �P2

OFFICIAL NEWS

DOHA: Qatar has condemned two

attacks targeted army and security

forces sites in southern Afghanistan,

and a mosque in the east of the coun-

try, resulting in deaths and injuries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiter-

ated Qatar’s firm stance on rejecting

violence and terrorism, regardless of

the motives and reasons. The state-

ment expressed the condolences of

Qatar to the families of the victims

and the government and people of

Afghanistan, wishing a speedy recov-

ery for the injured. QNA

Qatar condemns Afghanistan attacks

02 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020HOME

MADLSA continues to inspect workers’ accommodation in residential neighbourhoodsQNA — DOHA

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) continues its campaign to inspect workers housing in the country’s resi-dential neighbourhoods, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry Municipality and Environment, to determine the extent to which occupational health and safety requirements are applied in the housing, estimate the number of workers that each housing accommodates, and vacate the labour excess.

The implementation of this campaign is based on Law No. (22) of 2019 amending some provisions of Law No. (15) of 2010 regarding the ban on housing gatherings of workers within the families housing areas, and the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs decision No. (18) of 2014 determining the con-ditions and specifications for housing appropriate for workers as well as the Min-ister of Municipality decision

No. (105) of 2020.The campaign procedures

consist of inspecting dwellings and putting posters on the vio-lator thereof, indicating the date of inspection and the capacity of each accommo-dation. It also notifies tenants about the need to adjust their conditions within a week from the date of inspection and evacuating the excess number of workers according to the c a p a c i t y o f e a c h accommodation.

The campaign includes all areas of Doha, such as: Al Najma - Al Mansoura - Bin Dirham - Salata Qadeema - Riffa, Al Ghanem Qadeem, in addition to the markets, such as: Al Asmakh Street - Abdullah Bin Thani Street - Msheireb - Doha - Freej Abdulaziz - Al Montazah. The campaign, which was carried out from April 20 to 29, resulted in inspection of 417 housing and registering violations by 1,855 companies, most of which are companies whose activities are concentrated in cleaning, lim-ousine, restaurants, and con-tracting companies.

The Ministry stresses the need to adhere to the require-ments of appropriate housing specifications for workers and action will be taken against the companies that do not comply in reconciling conditions within a week from the date of the alert. Owners of houses, where violation is reported, will be referred to the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment. The violating com-panies will be referred to the security authorities in the country.

MADLSA has recently implemented plans to raise awareness on precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in workplaces and workers housing by launching a “con-scious” campaign targeting employers and expatriate workers in several languages, in coordination with various departments. It also urged people to report violations relating to the safety of workers in housing and work-places. MADLSA has desig-nated a hotline for it 40280660.

Registration of

maritime vessels

suspended

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) announced the suspension of the registration and regis-tration renewal for all types of maritime vessels for three months. “Given the current situation, it has been decided to suspend registration & regis-tration renewal for all types of maritime vessels starting from May 2020 for 3 months,” said the Ministry.

Buses to go to children’s

homes to distribute

sweets, nuts this GarangaoTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

In a distinct Qatari heritage atmosphere which will mix reviving heritage and fun, the Ministry of Culture and Sports is gearing up to celebrate Garangao by running buses that will distribute sweets and nuts to children at their homes.

As precautionary measures to limit spread of the corona-virus, the buses will take a tour in many areas of the country to distribute sweets and nuts to children at their homes.

Garangao is a Qatari tradi-tional children’s party cele-brated after the breaking of the fast on the 14th night of Ramadan, when half of the fasting month is over.

The initiative of Garangao comes within the framework of the Ministry’s keenness to continue reviving the popular heritage, and within its cam-paign that seeks to achieve social cohesion in light of the

coronavirus crisis.The celebration will be

organized in collaboration with sports clubs and some entities affiliated with the Min-istry of Culture with full com-mitment to apply preventive measures, and will carry out the mission with volunteers trained in precautionary measures.

Issa Al Haremi, Director of Sports Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, explained that the celebration is a symbolic initiative because it aims to spread joy in the hearts of children. It is organized in cooperation with 10 sports clubs including Al Rayyan Sports Club, Al Sadd Sports Club, Qatar Sports Club, Al Khor Sports Club, and Al Shamal Sports Club.

He also said that it is dif-ficult for the buses to cover all areas of the country, but a large group of children will receive gifts of Garangao, and

this distribution is to ensure community participation and to make sure that this festival does not stop due to the current exceptional circum-stance. Al Haremi noted that

the videos have been made and will be posted on social media platforms to train about the safety measures when pre-paring buses for Garangao sweet distribution.

A bus, which was specially designed to carry sweets and nuts for distribution for children in various houses across the country for Garangao celebrations.

Senior secondary school exams to be held safely: Al HammadiSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Al Hammadi, has assured the students that the examination of the final year of senior secondary schools will be held safely in a special arrangement asking them to brush aside their fear over COVID-19.

This came in the reply of the Minister to a letter from a girl student who expressed her fear of the forthcoming exam-ination of senior secondary school amid the outbreak of coronavirus.

The reply of the Minister is posted on the official Twitter account of the Ministry. “I am sure that you are a girl who is keen to pass with outstanding marks like your other many classmates who want to obtain high marks in the secondary school examination,” said the Minister in his reply.

He said that the marks of senior secondary certificates are very important to get admission in the universities and the tests of specialised courses are on the basis of these marks. “Holding exami-nation in Qatar is necessary like

other countries which are fol-lowing the same system like us.”

“We cannot not give esti-mated marks, because in doing so we could do injustice to large number of students especially those who wanted high marks, and their position was not good in the first semester so they want to compensate it,” the Minister wrote.

“We are facing the COVID-19 epidemic and we should not give up or show weakness but believing in Allah we should take the measures

to curb the infection.”“I would like assure you

that officials in the Ministry and schools are very keen for your safety. You are our children; we will do our best in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and other authorities concerned to hold the exami-nation safely,” the MInister assured the student.

The Minister advised the girl to revise her lessons and focus on the preparation of examination as the teachers are doing their best to support her by answering questions.

The Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulwahed Al Hammadi.

HMC expert suggests proper nutrition during COVID-19QNA — DOHA

Proper nutrition and hydration are vital in ensuring people stay healthy, physically and emotionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reem Al Saadi (pictured), Director of Dietetics and Nutrition at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), said.

She said paying extra attention to what you eat and drink is particularly important for people who have chronic health conditions and anyone who has a history of an eating disorder or disordered eating.

“People who eat a well-bal-anced diet, which includes a variety of fresh food items with a mixture of colourful fruits and vegetables that provide the required quantities of vitamins, minerals, omega 3 fatty acids, and other antioxidants, tend to be physically and emotionally healthier, have stronger immune systems, and a lower risk of chronic illnesses and infectious

diseases,” she said . “This is a very uncertain time

for many people and it is under-standable that eating habits and patterns will change, particularly for people who are working longer hours than normal or are working from home for the first time. Making food choices based on convenience and turning to food for comfort is under-standable, especially if you are exhausted, but I would encourage people to pay extra attention to their diet during this time. What

we eat and drink affects not just our physical health, but also our mental health and well-being,” added Al Saadi.

“If possible, eat a variety of fresh and unprocessed foods every day. Drink enough water. Avoid sugar, fat, and salt. As much as it is possible, try to schedule meals and snacks to help prevent mindless eating.

Limit takeaways as making your meals allows you to control fat, sugar, and fat. This advice is important for everyone, every day, but it’s especially important during this time which for many people includes higher than normal levels of stress and inac-tivity,” noted Al Saadi.

Al Saadi said taht it is also important for everyone, but espe-cially anyone who has a history of disordered eating, to be more mindful of food choices and eating patterns. “Stress eating can be common during times of uncer-tainly and it isn’t surprising that many people will experience

mindless, and disordered, eating as a response to work-life distress. Some emotional eating isn’t likely to have long-term negative effects; however, this behavior can establish a very negative pattern that can be extremely harmful and very challenging to break,” said Al Saadi.

She said many people are struggling with their eating right now and they shouldn’t feel shame, noting there is a lot of research that suggests when people are in a crisis, eating behaviors are one of the first things that will change.

“For many people, stress can trigger cravings for high-calorie and high-sugar foods. Seeking out pleasure via food can be a common strategy for coping with stress and emotional eating can provide temporary relief from many of life’s challenges. From a physiological perspective, stress also leads to elevated cortisol levels, which can increase appetite,” said Al Saadi.

Qatar reaffirms

resolve to protect

migrant workersFROM PAGE 1

Yuson added that the “Min-istry of Labour and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy are doing their best to ensure your health and safety; to make sure your wages and ben-efits are paid.”

Representatives of Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese and African communities took turn in presenting experiences and initiatives of their respective migrant community associations. Head of ILO Qatar project, Houtan Homayounpour, who said: “Despite the difficult circum-stances, it is still very important for us to get together and cele-brate International Labour Day. It’s a tribute to all of you, for what you do.” Leaders of global unions International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), International Transport Federation (ITF), UNI Global Union and the Interna-tional Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) sent pre-recorded mes-sages to the meeting.

The General Secretary of the ITUC, Sharan Burrow, said, “Qatar has provided support both in accommodation in terms of food and other elements that you’ve raised but also in the workplaces to make sure that workers can be as safe as pos-sible amid COVID-19.”

Schools produce

over 23,000 video

lessons; 19 channels

on YouTube

FROM PAGE 1

As many as 648 weekly evaluations were produced for the students from grade three to 12 for the subjects as 144 evaluations in science, 84 evaluations each in Arabic, English, mathematics and Islamic studies, 72 evaluations each in social studies, com-puting and information tech-nology, and 12 in business and French.

Qatar School of Science and Technology produced 294 video lessons and offered 126 weekly evaluations to the stu-dents of all grades. The schools allocated five periods at the rate of 28 periods in a week for the students of all grades.

Qatar Banking Studies and Business Administration (boys and girls) produced 234 video lessons for specialized sub-jects and offered 78 evalua-tions weekly for specialized subjects. The school also pre-pared 234 daily assignments.

The Religious Institute Preparatory Secondary School produced 343 specialized video lessons, offered 305 evaluations weekly for spe-cialized subjects and prepared 305 daily assignments.

Qatar Technical Sec-ondary School for Boys pro-duced 299 video lessons for specialized subjects, offered 103 weekly evaluations and prepared 103 dai ly assignments.

The distance learning system and its interactive platform of the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation is also providing suc-cessfully the technical support to schools and parents while using the new educational system.

They receive the support through hotline 155 over 24 hours, the technical support department in the ministry, and project coordinators in the schools in the morning, and the emergency team in the ministry in the evening.

MoPH: 146 more patients recover, 640 new casesFROM PAGE 1

The Ministry conducted 2,360 COVID-19 tests yesterday taking the total tests done so far to 106,795 tests. All the new infected cases have been quar-antined where they are receiving the necessary medical care. The Ministry has stated that during the current period it expects to see a fluctuation in the number of cases of

infection. This is for several reasons including that the out-break of the virus is considered to be at the peak stage before the numbers of infections start to descend gradually.

The Ministry has also 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 has asked

the public to stay 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. The Ministry has also reminded people to use a face mask as recommended and avoid social visits to reduce their risk of contracting the virus.

HIA sees 4.7%

rise in cargo

operations

FROM PAGE 1

The 140,000 sqm terminal building located airside, will feature a 10,000 sqm indoor tropical garden, a 268 sqm water feature, 11,720 sqm of landscaped retail and F&B space and 9,000 sqm of a world-class Al Mourjan lounge. HIA is simultaneously accelerating its digital trans-formation as well, to become the ‘airport-of-the-future’.

03TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 HOME

Significant decline in traffic violationsQNA — DOHA

The data of the monthly statis-tical bulletin issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority showed a significant decline in the number of traffic violations recorded in the month of March, along with a decrease in traffic accident cases during the same month.

The bulletin indicated that the number of traffic violations recorded in March amounted to 116 thousand and 904 violations, down 30.7 percent from the pre-vious month of February, while the annual decline rate was 35.5 percent compared to March 2019. The number of traffic accident cases reached 483

during March, registering a monthly decrease of 21.7 percent, with light injuries recorded in the vast majority of those cases and by 86 percent, followed by severe injuries by 11 percent, and deaths by 3 percent of the total traffic accident cases.

The figures show that the total number of registered vehicles during the month of March reached 4,294 new vehicles, registering a monthly decrease of 28.6 percent, while the annual decline compared to March 2019 was 31.2 percent.

As for Demographic data, figures showed that the total population of the country increased to approximately 2.795 million in March this year,

compared to approximately 2.760 million in the same month last year. With regard to issued building permits, the total number of licenses reached 637, with a monthly decrease of 4.1 percent, while the annual change reached 10.7 percent.

As for the banking sector, the value of the wide money supply 2 reached about QR617.10bn during March, with an annual increase of 7.1 percent compared to March 2019, while the value of quasi-cash, which includes deposits of commercial banks, amounted to about QR893.38bn, registering an annual increase of 5.5 percent, as the total deposits at that time reached about QR846.5bn.

QF report focuses on higher education post COVID-19

FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

International experts have emphasised on the importance of meeting needs of students and societies in a post COVID-19 world while speaking at the launch of a Qatar Foundation-commissioned research report on higher education’s chal-lenges, yesterday.

The report by the Econ-omist Intelligence Unit (EIU), titled ‘New schools of thought: Innovative models for deliv-ering higher education’ was launched with a panel dis-cussion. The panel discussion on ‘The future of higher edu-cation in a post COVID-19 world,’ was hosted by the EIU and sponsored by Qatar Foundation.

“Our global education

system is a well-oiled machine – too well-oiled. We were so used to the way things were that we couldn’t imagine them oth-erwise,” said H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, in a video message screened at the start of the panel discussion.

“The good news is that we know what change looks like, because we are in the middle of it today. If this pandemic has proved anything, it is that we, as a society, can change. Things that were impossible are sud-denly possible,” she said.

“We owe it to our children and grandchildren to change what we know is not working. Today, the new page is no longer just a dream. Let’s have the courage to truly be seekers of knowledge,” she added.

With the COVID-19 pan-demic forcing universities to shift from traditional ways of delivering education to online, the EIU report examines how five innovative higher education models address social, political and economic challenges faced by academic institutions.

The online discussion was chaired by Claire Casey, Global Managing Director of Public Policy at the EIU, featured, Ben Nelson, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute, US; Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, UK;

Francisco Marmolejo, Education Adviser, Qatar Foundation and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, President of Spelman College, US.

“We have to be very serious about recognising whether what we are doing today is really up to the standards of the future,” said Marmolejo speaking at the discussion.

“Do students learn due to, despite, or independently of what we teach them? Are rankings as important as we think they are? What is edu-cation about? Do we still believe a simple grade is the best way

to measure learning? All of these are assumptions we seriously have to challenge, because unless we do that, disrupt, and are willing to take risks, as soon as conditions return to some sort of normal we may try to become the same as we were before. This crisis is telling us we no longer have the luxury of assuming things will be as they used to be,” he added.

Nelson said that students now have an extraordinary responsibility because they can vote with their feet in a way they have never been able to do before. “We have to be honest

with ourselves and realise that when societies and students are interfacing with institutions and not getting what they are paying for, there is going to be a reck-oning – it’s crucial in this period of transition during COVID-19, but will also be crucial after-wards,” he said.

“For the first time in living memory, the role of the student is that of a determinant partner – determining what universities should be doing, and which ones should have the right to serve them going forward,” he added.

The discussion heard from Blackman, saying that “shelf-life of knowledge” is getting shorter. “While discovering new knowledge and innovating remain incredibly important, the fundamental issue is that everyone has to have the ability to become a lifelong learner – to keep on learning, apply their knowledge, and put it to use,” he said.

While, Dr. Campbell sharing her views said, “We have to stop being so precious and siloed and sequestered. Everyone benefits from collaboration, but it takes a very different mindset to what we have now. If we fall back into the marketing and compe-tition mode, we are not going to get anywhere.”

Experts attending the virtual panel discussion during the launch of the report, which was commissioned by Qatar Foundation, on higher education after COVID-19.

“Our global education system is a well-oiled machine – too well-oiled. We were so used to the way things were that we couldn’t imagine them otherwise,” said H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, in a video message screened at the start of the panel discussion.

Msheireb Properties wins first place in GCC Award for Municipal CooperationTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Msheireb Properties, Qatar’s leading sustainable real estate developer, has added a new achievement by winning first place in the GCC Award for Municipal Cooper-ation in its third session 2020.

The win was announced on the back of approving the decision of the GCC Award for Municipal Cooperation Jury held in February 2020 at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh. Choosing Msheireb Properties for first place was based on the developer’s compliance

with allocating requirements for people with special needs and following the highest international standards for their access, movement, and transport in Msheireb Downtown Doha.

Msheireb Properties’ latest award also highlights the state of Qatar’s position on the regional level, and cements Msheireb Downtown Doha as one of the best sus-tainable and smart cities, and the favourite destination for all sections of the community to live, work, and entertain.

In his remarks on the win,

Ali Al Kuwari, Acting CEO of Msheireb Properties, said: “Msheireb Properties has taken constant steps to cement its position in the region and across the world as a leading sustainable developer which adopts the highest building standards. We are proud of this new accomplishment as it rewards the hard work and emphasis we have placed on developing and building a city that is accessible for all people. This is a source of pride to Qatar and reaffirms our abilities to build urban cities that best fit

people with special needs”.Msheireb Downtown Doha

is an ideal destination for people with special needs, providing them with special services in all fields including employment, education and transportation. There are ample open spaces allowing them to enjoy all the facilities easily and smoothly. Adopting the measures of the American with Disabilities Act law ADA 2010 to secure suitable envi-ronment for people with special needs, Msheireb Downtown Doha gives utmost attention for the special

paths, intersections, reception areas, shopping facilities, automatic control for building services, parking and others.

The natural views and landscaping were also developed with keeping people with special needs in mind. This include interactive pedestrian signals, easy access to car parking, control gates and ramp slopes at each sidewalk.

The road planning at Msheireb Downtown Doha reflects the culture and values of the Qatari society, with special attention to details

and the adoption of measures that facilitate the life of people with special needs.

Msheireb Downtown Doha, the flagship project of Msheireb Properties, is the smartest and most sus-tainable fully built city dis-trict in the world and aims to change the current trends of urban developments,the life-styles of people and offer a new way to live, work, and entertain. Msheireb Prop-erties has won several regional and international awards in the field of sus-tainable and smart cities.

Awqaf Ministry announces 30 winners of Holy Quran contestTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The organising committee of the Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani Holy Quran Contest at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has announced 30 winners of the two categories of ‘Ratil W Arsil’ (recite and send) competition.

The winners, including cit-izens and expatriates (male and female), will bag cash prizes worth QR120,000, said the Ministry in a statement.

Ten contestants from cit-izens and 10 contestants from expatriates won the prizes in Al Baraim category of the competition.

The winners from citizens from place one to 10 respec-tively are Maryam Abdullah Hassan Abdullah Al Qaid; Salama Saeed Hassan Ali Al Mutawa; Jamila Abdullah Ali Qaid Al Riyashi; Fatima Ahmed Abu Bakr Mandani Al Emadi; Saad Mohammed Abdullah Saad Al Kuwari; Muhammad Abdullah Ali Qaed Al Riyashi; Muhammad Abdulaziz Abdul Rahman Al Maliki; Issa Abdullah Ali Qaed Al Riyashi;

Al Dana Saeed Hassan Ali Al Mutawa and Yousef Mohammed Ahmed Hussein Al Maqeef.

The winners from expa-triates from place one to 10 respectively are Sarah Sami Abdel Moneim Mohamed Hedaya; Ahmed Mohamed Adel Abdel-Halim Imam; Sidi M o h a m e d E l - B a s h i r ; Muhammad Saad Ibrahim; Muhammad Nur Al Anwar; Abdullah Shahid; Shaikira Khatoon; Habiba Ahmed Mohammed Al Tayeb Yousef; Mahmoud Sami Abdel Moneim Mohamed Hedaya and Zainab Muhammad Gulzar.

The winner of first place from citizens and expatriates in Al Baraim category will get QR5,000, the winner of second place will receive QR4,750 and third place winner will get QR4,500.

The prize money of fourth place is QR4,250 and the winners of fifth place will get QR4,000. The winners from place six to 10 will get QR3750, QR3,500, QR3,250, QR3,000 and QR2,750 respectively.

Five contestants from

citizens and five contestant from expatriates won the prizes Al Al Qirat Al Quraniya category.

The winners from citizens from place 1 to 5 respectively are Muhammad Abdullah Dar Muhammad Blida; Muhammad Saeed Muhammad Misfer Al Marri; Ibrahim Mohamed Abdel Rahman Ahmed Youssef; Asmaa Abdel Nasser Ahmed Ahmed Al Shaiba and Ahmed Ali Muhammad Ali Al Kuwari.

The winners from the expa-triates from place 1 to 5 respec-tively are Abdullah Muhammad Khalaf Hamza; Fawzan Ayed Al Mohsen Al Rasheed; Sarah Anmar Tariq Ahmed; Muhammad Juma Abdul Aal Muhammad and Khaled Walid Muhammad Kamel Abdul Wahid.

The winner of first place from citizens and expatriates in Al Qiran Al Quraniya cat-egory will get QR5,000, the winner of second place will receive QR4,750 and third place winner will get QR4,500. The prize money of fourth place is QR4,250 and the winners of fifth place will get QR4,000.

04 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020HOME

QU reschedules ATBH X conferenceTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The 10th All Together Better Health conference which was set to be hosted by Qatar University in Qatar, on October 2020 has been postponed due to the current coronavirus pandemic.

Considering the uncertainty of COVID-19’s outcomes and restrictions to travels imposed by governments around the globe, the conference has been rescheduled to October 25-27, 2021 in discussion with the Global Confederation for Inter-professional Education & Collab-orative Practice (Interprofes-sional. Global). Conference organizers took many things into consideration regarding the post-ponement, with safety being the number one priority.

All Together Better Health is the leading global interprofes-sional education and collabo-rative practice conference (IPECP), which is held biennial under the direction of Interpro-fessional. Global. Previously hosted in Japan, Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada, America and New Zealand, this biennial conference aims to inspire and provide opportunities to share

knowledge, compare perspec-tives, exchange experiences and transform current under-standings of IPECP.The con-ference is open for all healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, students, academics, administrators, policy makers, service users and patients from healthcare, policy, education and industry settings from around the globe.

The 10th anniversary con-ference theme is Cultivating a Collaborative Culture: Sharing Pearls of Wisdom under the fol-lowing subthemes: ADVO-CATING for people-centered

care, health and wellbeing; EMBRACING diversity of stake-holders; INFORMING regional and global IPECP policies and standards; PROMOTING safety in and beyond health and social care settings and SHARING models of best practice in IPECP.

Participants who have sub-mitted their abstracts will have a decision communicated to them by May 15, 2020. Fur-thermore, a new cycle for sub-missions will be announced in September 2020.

Dr. Egon Toft, Vice President for Medicine and Health at Qatar University said: “It is with great

regret we have decided to postpone the 10th All Together Better Health Conference due to the unexpected delay COVID-19 had forced into our lives. However, despite the current challenges, we are sure ATBH conference will be a success in 2021 and represents Qatar Uni-versity at its best.”

Dr Alla El-Awaisi - College of Pharmacy Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, and chairperson of the conference explained: “We were excited and ready to have this conference in 6 months with preparation underway for the last two year. Unfortunately, the current impact faced by COVID-19 cannot be estimated and the uncertainty of its outcome makes it impossible to proceed with the conference in October 2020. However and from a positive note, the current pandemic has necessitated wide-spread interprofessional collab-oration in a way it never hap-pened before and highlighted the vital roles of healthcare teams in combating this pandemic so the postponement of this conference will provide participants with the opportunity to share their pearls of wisdom in dealing with this pandemic.”

Dr. Egon Toft (left), Vice-President for Medicine and Health at Qatar University and Dr. Alla El Awaisi, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the College of Pharmacy, and chairperson of the conference.

Ooredoo supports EAA to help children access education during COVID-19 pandemicTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo is supporting its Global Development Partner, Doha-based charitable foun-dation Education Above All (EAA), as it works to ensure continued access to education for children learning from home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Education Above All (EAA) is dedicated to facilitating access to education for all. To date, it has committed to enrol 10.4 million out-of-school children around the world in education, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the numbers of children currently unable to attend school.

Almost 850 million children around the world are being forced to learn from home - a situation challenging for both children and their parents.

In an attempt to mitigate the potential negative impact of remote learning, EAA is scaling up home learning options to ensure children remain able to access edu-cation. To this end, it has developed a bank of learning resources both digital, for children able to access online learning, and non-digital for those without connectivity, in several languages.

These resources are being made available to these mil-lions of children around the world currently learning from home, ensuring edu-cation can remain a priority while allowing communities to adhere to safety protocols.

Speaking of the part-nership, Sabah Rabiah Al Kuwari, Director PR at Ooredoo, said: “In these challenging times, it’s vital we do what we can to ensure continuity of edu-cation for your younger

generations who are unable to attend school and are reliant on resources to learn from home. We’re proud to be supporting Education Above All in their drive to minimise any potential neg-ative impact of learning remotely in this unprece-dented situation, and we would encourage our cus-tomers and our commu-nities to join us in this support if they can. We wish everyone a safe, blessed Ramadan.”

More information on Edu-cation Above All can be found at educationaboveall.org and donations can be made via https://donate.education-aboveall.org/en/home.

Sabah Rabiah Al Kuwari, Director of PR at Ooredoo.

In these challenging times, it’s vital we do what we can to ensure continuity of education for your younger generations who are unable to attend school and are reliant on resources to learn from home.

Qatar Charity app facilitatesdonations to humanitarian actionTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Charity (QC), through its app, is keen to provide smart, effective, and secure solutions to facilitate donations and contri-butions to humanitarian action, allowing donors to give their zakat and make a charity securely while they are at home.

Qatar Charity App ‘www.qch.qa/app’ is easy, smart, secure, and very practical. At the click of a button, you will be able to track your donations, manage them and browse our current running projects. The app is available on IOS & Android. Qatar Charity has enhanced the app to serve the following:

User-friendly: Whether you are a first-time donor or a regular one, you will efficiently manage your donations on our app. It is easy and smart. Responsive: The app is fast, responsive, and prac-tical. Secured: The app ensures

Qatar Charity App ‘www.qch.qa/app’ is easy, smart, secure, and very practical. At the click of a button, you will be able to track your donations, manage them and browse our current running projects.

Participants in Green Tent calls for development of international charter for social media platforms QNA — DOHA

Participants in the Green Tent of the ‘A Flower Each Spring’ program called for the devel-opment of an international charter to deal with social media platforms, and the enactment of legislation and laws to limit their negative impact on societies.

At an online symposium under the title ‘Good and Misleading Aspects of Social Media Platforms’, the participants called for a rig-orous methodology to study the social media platforms and develop general frameworks to deal with them, while demanding support for platforms with good content and qualify their owners through training courses to present their work in an interesting and attractive way along with informing parents

on the content that their children follow and direct them to useful things. Head of ‘A Flower Each Spring’ program and the director of the symposium Dr. Saif Al Hajri highlighted the biggest roles of the digital technology, par-ticularly social media platforms which have become a source of knowledge and a source of tragedies and have become a locomotive that is almost unique in leading the world.

Dr. Al Hajri stressed the valuable aspects of the means of communication, calling for an international charter to deal with plat-forms and enacting legislation and laws to reduce their effects.

For their part, a number of scholars, thinkers and media figures from Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt and the Netherlands stressed during the symposium the positive

role of these platforms and their prevalence in a terrible way within a few years until they became a source of information for many people, and a means to achieve effective com-munication between individuals and institu-tions at the local and international levels.

The participants touched upon positive aspects of social media in promoting good morals and spreading teachings of religion, improving job opportunities for individuals by visiting web-sites of more than one local, regional and inter-national institutions easily, enhancing personal skills and learning opportunities, increasing inter-connection, expanding the circle of relationships at social and international level, improving tech-nical skills and expertise through specialized pages, noting that they are good and fast sources of information and communication.

to keep all donors’ data and details highly secure and confidential.

Your profile on the app is your window to the world of philanthropy. It will help you manage your donations, and will provide you with periodic reports of projects you previ-ously donated to. Your profile is easy to browse, practical to use, and up to date on the latest humani-tarian projects around the world.

Qatar Charity ensures the privacy and confidentiality of all its users to protect them from identity theft and internet fraud. Qatar Charity app provides a smart and easy approach for individuals and corporates to cal-culate the various

types of Zakat. Rofaqa App

‘www.rofaqa.com’ supports the Rofaqa initiative (www.rofaqa.com) launched by Qatar Charity to take care of and meet the needs orphans, children with special needs, and students across the globe. The app aims to bring these vulnerable closer to sponsors.

Q-Aid is a mobile App, which is designed to be a moderator between those most in need and benefactors within the State of Qatar to facilitate the delivery of humani-tarian aid to those most in need.

The App allows those in need to apply for the various aid such as food, cov-erage for treatment, tuition fees, and home furnishing.

05TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 HOME

HBKU Press publishes article detailing impact of job satisfaction on nurses’ work livesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) has recently published a literature review article detailing the impact of job satisfaction on nurses’ work lives on its online academic publishing platform QScience.com. Though the article, written by authors Aisha Hamad Al-Qahtani, Bridget Stirling, and Daniel Forgrave, was prepared before COVID-19 swept across the globe, the insights it provides are key when consid-ering the current welfare of nurses on the frontline of this pandemic.

“At HBKU Press, we are committed to publishing local and global research on QScience.com that highlights key issues in various fields of study,” explains Dr. Rima Isaifan, Head of Journals and Academic Publishing at HBKU Press. “The platform reaches a wide range of audiences, both

local and global, which helps to develop and expand scholarship and research on an interna-tional level.”

“This specific article is par-ticularly relevant as registered nurses around the world are essential workers in the fight against the virus. With the ever-increasing burden of care being placed on their shoulders, it is important for policymakers to understand what factors play into decisions for nurses to suc-cessfully commit to their jobs and to the overall care of society, as opposed to those factors that influence them to leave their jobs which leads to huge gaps in healthcare systems.”

The article, titled, The Impact of Job Satisfaction on Nurses’ Work Lives: A Literature Review, is published on QScience.com’s open journal, QScience Connect. Several databases were accessed to identify studies published after

2002 that measured nurses’ job satisfaction using the McCloskey/Mueller Job Satis-faction tool and to explore the relationship between job satis-faction and outcomes related to nurses’ work lives.

The top factors studied to determine job satisfaction included: commitment to the workplace, workplace envi-ronment, emotional status, c a r e e r l a d d e r , a n d accountability.

Of the five factors described, Amna Mahmoud , a resident in

Qatar who currently works as a post-operation ICU nurse, feels that during the corona-virus pandemic nurses around the world are most influenced by their commitment to the workplace and their emotional status.

“Under normal circum-stances, the various aspects studied in the literature review are all very relevant to the field of nursing, and they can even be loosely applied to other workplaces as well,” Mahmoud explains. “But now, with

COVID-19 chipping away at the healthcare infrastructure around the world, you can def-initely see how these two factors in particular play into job satisfaction.”

In the literature review, workplace commitment is described as the intention of a nurse to stay at their current place of work because they are well supported by management and administrators versus wanting to leave because of a lack of support. Emotional status is related to burnout and stress and having the proper support systems in place. Nurses often spend more time with patients than with other health workers which leads to an established relationship with patients and their families. This can result in becoming more emotionally involved and therefore affected by their outcomes.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s been a

roller coaster of fear, worry and anxiety,” explains Mahmoud.

“But I feel like I can wake up every day and do my job the best that I can because of the support I receive,” she explains. “And though a lot of the emotional support we receive is informal, it’s still there. Having someone to talk to, to share my fears with, and to listen to me when I’m down is a great relief during this challenging time. It helps me release my emotions and push forward for another day. It provides me with job satis-faction and an increased com-mitment to my work.”

Mahmoud’s sentiments reaffirm the conclusions of the literature review: when a nurse feels supported through policy and emotional support, their level of job satisfaction increases, which leads to a higher level of commitment to their job and increased ability to provide patient care.

QRCS to establish quarantine unit at Bangladesh refugee campsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The representation mission of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Bangladesh has initiated an emergency inter-vention to deal with the risks of Coronavirus at the camps of refugees from Myanmar, with an initial budget of $65,000.

The new scheme is addressed to 106 workers at the health facil-ities run by QRCS at the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, 1,800 refugee families (11,000 persons), and confirmed and suspicious cases of infection. These figures are likely to increase as the activ-ities are expanded with updated action plans.

Implemented in cooper-ation with Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the inter-vention is aimed at raising health awareness of Corona-virus risks and prevention, in order to reduce its spread among the refugees and QRCS health professionals.

Another purpose is to promote hygiene behavior and

precautions against any potential outbreak in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities of Bang-ladesh. These include handwash, coughing technique, avoidance of face touching, social distancing, and staying at home in case of sickness.

To secure the necessary health care services, QRCS is establishing a 50-bed quar-antine unit to isolate and treat mild and moderate Coronavirus cases. It is located at the QRCS-managed field hospital in refugee camps, which host around 1 million refugees from Myanmar and serves the region’s 400,000 population.

The mission continues to attend the coordination meetings with all active players in the Coronavirus pandemic response. Personal protection equipment (PPE) is distributed to QRCS’s medical professionals and community-based health workers, including masks, gloves, sanitizers, soap, and other safety supplies.

Health service providers are educated about preventive

measures, how to deal with patients and control infection, and early warning and response in emergencies (EWARs). Also, 245 health education sessions were held for refugee families, and visits were made for 1,515 families. There are plans to dis-tribute food baskets to thou-sands of local families nega-tively affected by the lockdown.

At the QRCS-operated health centers in Camps 19 and E8, the staff was divided into two shifts, to reduce the work-force on duty as per the instruc-tions of the competent author-ities. To avoid crowdedness, all the preventive measures were taken to reduce the number of patients at clinics.

QRCS is approaching con-tributors to launch another intervention, which would involve capacity-building for the medical professionals engaged in Coronavirus response, public health edu-cation sessions, PPE for staff at health centers, medications and medical supplies, hygiene kits and anti-infection posters, and maintenance of health facilities as needed.

A QRCS official at the site of quarantine unit to deal with the risks of coronavirus at the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

GU-Q online research presentations and more student collaboration are benefits of research at QF during the crisisTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

School closures may have disrupted on-campus student research efforts, but at Geor-getown University in Qatar (GU-Q), the training of future scholars has simply moved online. Irene Promodh, a student research fellow at GU-Q’s Center for Regional and International Studies (CIRS), recently presented her year-long research project on the role that Malayalam radio stations play in forging a sense of community and new forms of belonging among Keralite expats in Qatar, to an online audience of other students, as well as staff and expert scholars at GU-Q.

The talk was just one way that students at Qatar Foun-dation partner institutions are staying ahead of the effects of the pandemic.

The talk was part of the CIRS Undergraduate Research Advancement program, or CURA, which serves as a Doha-based training ground for future researchers at GU-Q. As a CURA student fellow, Irene said she wanted to fulfill her commitments despite the current challenges. “We can’t wait until life returns to pre-pandemic normalcy to focus on education and research. We have to adapt using the tech-nologies at our disposal in order to fulfill work obligations and

ensure a high level of efficacy too.” While getting the work done is key, explained Irene, there’s more to it. “Just the decision by CIRS to carry out the CURA talk at a time like this shows resiliency in a time of crisis, and that’s an important message to send.”

Irene, a junior majoring in International Politics at GU-Q, spent a year researching and interviewing listeners and pro-ducers of Qatar’s primary Malayalam-language radio station that replaced the UAE-based channels disrupted by the blockade. Her research showed how these popular sources of news and enter-tainment allow these expat communities to “maintain social and cultural ties in Kerala even as they broker new real-

ities in Doha.”Liz Wanucha, Operations

Manager at CIRS, said that “The CURA workshops and training for this semester have been successfully adapted to a virtual space, allowing our CURA Fellows to continue to work remotely.” And using shared drives and shared documents online, and connecting through chat groups on mobile phones, she said, has had an unforeseen benefit. “Our students have been collaborating with each other even more than before.”

The CURA program facili-tates research experiences for GU-Q undergraduate students. CURA initiatives aim to enhance students’ research capacity through skills-devel-opment workshops, discussion seminars, peer-to-peer learning mechanisms, and focused mentorship. CURA also provides opportunities for stu-dents to present their original research publicly, and to submit research papers for publication as part of the CIRS CURA Paper Series.

Irene Promodh, a student research fellow at GU-Q’s CIRS

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Nasser Bin Khaled Automo-biles, dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, announced the recall of Mercedes-Benz G Class, GT Class models of 2018 due to possible malfunction in the oil supply tube of the turbo-charger, which may cause oil leaks around the engine or exhaust duct, leading to fire outbreak in the rare cases.

The recall campaign comes within the

framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with cus-tomers to ensure that they carried out the nec-essary repairs.

The Ministry urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquires and suggestions.

Mercedes-Benz G Class, GT class models of 2018 recalled

The talk was just one way that students at Qatar Foundation partner institutions are staying ahead of the effects of the pandemic.

Balanced diet key to maintaining goodhealth during Ramadan: Aspetar expertsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Taking advantage of the remaining of Ramadan by following a balanced diet is one of the keys to maintain a good health, this is what Aspetar experts concluded through a series of tips that were directed to maintain health, weight and immunity.

This year’s Holy month of Ramadan has started during the coronavirus pandemic. This requires a special attention to basic precautions to protect yourself and others around you. These diet tips are important in addition to the general recom-mendations to wash your hands thoroughly, stay at home and practice physical distancing.

Aspetar experts said that in the last few weeks, most of our time was spent at home in iso-lation, some people may have lost

their routines, everyone being exposed to daily news on coro-navirus developments. This is stressful and has negative effects on physical and mental health, it affects our sleep, and can cause boredom.

Such overwhelming changes to our daily life are likely to increase food cravings, especially for foods high in sugar and fat content. Therefore, and due to the special dishes typical for Ramadan celebrations, this Ramadan, it might be even more difficult to control the cravings and the urge to eat.

While fasting Ramadan has many health benefits, especially with regard to protecting the immune system. If people follow a varied and balanced diet between breakfast and suhoor, this will maintain their health and immunity, enhance your exercise performance and reduce the risk

of different diseases.And because our health is the

key, Aspetar experts promote for a healthy lifestyle in Ramadan, by maintaining a healthy diet, staying active and maintaining the body’s immunity by keeping a healthy diet, planning daily meals and adjusting the amount and type of food on your plate during Iftar and Suhoor.

People should reduce (but do not eliminate) carbohydrates if they are exercising less, increase the amount of protein and veg-etables. They should include protein sources such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products in your Iftar, Suhoor and snacks, especially if you are exercising regularly.

They should make sure to drink enough water at the rate of one cup every two hours from Iftar to Suhoor and replace regular sweetened and soft

drinks with water or “Zero cal-ories” or “Diet” drinks.

There are some foods that will help you to improve sleep quality, including milk and milk products, vegetables and fruits such as dates, bananas, cherries, kiwi, seeds, almonds and oats. Moreover, they can help to reg-ulate satiety and calorie intake. Be sure to include them in your Suhoor meal.

People should continue exer-cises and adjust the intensity if they plan to exercise while fasting.

Avoid gaining weight during Ramadan; obesity causes chronic

inflammation, heart disease, dia-betes and reduced lung function. These factors can also increase the risk of serious health compli-cations of coronavirus.

Experts said that people should do not be fooled by magic recipes to “enhance” your immune system. If you follow a varied and balanced diet this will maintain your health and immunity, enhance your exercise performance and reduce the risk of different diseases

Most people in Ramadan tend to race for food and household stores. The latest directives are to avoid large gatherings and reduce

unnecessary and frequent visits to supermarkets to reduce the spread of the virus therefore a list of your needs should be prepared in advance and to include the above recommended food products either frozen, dried, or with long-lasting shelf life so the shopping trips can be reduced and so the chances of catching the virus.

In conclusion, the health of the individual and community is a main priority, and contributing to its preservation is one of the most important weapons to con-front the coronavirus pandemic and embrace this years’ Holy month.

Aspetar building

06 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Kuwaiti nationals arriving at the Kuwait International Airport, south of the capital Kuwait City, after a rapatriation plan for citizens stranded abroad was put together by the authorities, yesterday, during the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. All incoming citizens will be required to undergo home quarantine for 14 consecutive days.

Kuwait disperses ‘riot’ by Egyptianworkers demanding repatriationAFP — KUWAIT

Kuwaiti authorities dispersed Egyptian workers who demon-strated yesterday to demand repatriation amid the corona-virus crisis, state media said.

Security forces intervened to halt “riots and chaos” at a housing area for foreign workers, detaining an unspec-ified number of people, according to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

On Sunday, Kuna quoted Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait Tareq Al Qooni as saying that Egyptians at a camp for immi-gration offenders will be repat-riated starting “this week”.

“The first flights will be for women and children who are kept in special housing units,” Qooni reportedly said.

Kuwait has said it will allow expatriates in violation of res-idency laws to leave the Gulf country without paying fines or

for plane tickets.Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Min-

istry of Health said yesterday that 295 more people tested positive for the novel corona-virus, bringing the overall to 5,278.

Two more deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the death toll to 40, Kuwait news agency Kuna quoted the Ministry’s Spokesman Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Al Sanad as telling daily press briefing.

A Syrian girl whose family decided to return home for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic in packed camps for the internally displaced, poses for a picture amid the rubble in her damaged house in Al Nayrab, a village ravaged by pro-government forces bombardment near the M4 strategic highway, in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, yesterday.

9 policemen abducted and killed in southern SyriaAFP — BEIRUT

Unknown gunmen abducted and killed nine policemen yesterday in southern Syria in a rare such attack on a government building in the defeated cradle of the nine-year uprising, a monitor said.

The killings, for which there were no immediate claim of responsibility, occurred in a town called Muzayrib in Daraa province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“Unknown assailants attacked the municipality building... abducting nine members of the security forces before shooting them dead and abandoning their bodies in a square,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

State news agency Sana quoted the interior ministry as the nine policemen were killed “after a terrorist group attacked them as they were performing their job”, using the govern-ment’s term for rebels and jihadists.

Attacks are common in the province, which was retaken by regime forces from rebels in 2018, usually targeting loyalists and civilians working for the state, according to the Observatory.

But the nature of yester-day's incident and high toll are unusual. “Usually attacks against regime forces target checkpoints or patrols, not gov-ernment buildings,” Abdel Rahman said.

Daraa is considered to be the birthplace of the popular uprising that erupted across Syria in 2011, before spiralling into a full-blown conflict.

After its recapture by Russia-backed regime fighters in 2018, state institutions returned but the army is still not deployed in the whole province, says the Observ-atory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.

Many former rebels stayed instead of evacuating under a Moscow-brokered deal, either joining the army or remaining in control of parts of the

province and some neighbour-hoods of the provincial capital, also called Daraa.

The Islamic State group has in the past claimed attacks in the area. In July it said it had killed six soldiers at a check-point. The militants lost the last scrap of their territorial “caliphate” a year ago, but retain a presence in Syria’s vast Badia desert.

Iran reopens mosques, records almost 80,000 hospital recoveriesAGENCIES — TEHRAN

Iran yesterday reopened mosques in parts of the country deemed at low risk from coro-navirus, as it said almost 80,000 people hospitalised with the illness had recovered and been released.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 74 new fatalities brought to 6,277 the total number officially recorded in Iran since it reported its first cases in mid-February.

Iran on Sunday recorded 47 deaths, its lowest daily count in 55 days. Another 1,223 cases of COVID-19 infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, Jahanpour said, raising the total to 98,647.

Mosques were allowed to reopen to worshippers 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 of “white”, “yellow” and “red” for different areas to classify the virus risk.

Worshippers have to enter mosques with masks and gloves, can only stay for half an hour during prayer times and must use their personal items, said the health ministry.

Mosques must also refrain from offering food and drinks, offer hand sanitisers and dis-infect all surfaces, it said in a statement published by Isna news agency.

According to Jahanpour, 79,397 of those hospitalised

with the disease since Iran reported its first cases in mid-February have been discharged, while 2,676 are in critical condition.

He declared that Iran was among “top five countries in the world” with the highest number of recoveries, without elaborating.

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.

Meanwhile, Iran’s par-liament yesterday approved a bill to change the official cur-rency to ‘Toman’ which equals 10,000 Rials.

The Iranian lawmakers voted on Monday for the details of an amendment to the Monetary and Banking Act of Iran that would change the official currency to ‘Toman’, according to Iran’s official news agency.

The new law tasks Central Bank of Iran with recalculating foreign exchange ratio with ‘Toman’ taking into consider-ation the currency reserve and the country’s commitments to the International Monetary Fund.

The law also articulates that ‘Rial’ will remain credible alongside ‘Toman’ for two

years, during which the old coins and bills will be gradually collected and new ones will replace them.

Central Bank of Iran has been required to do prepar-atory work for the implemen-tation of the new law within two years from its enactment.

Meanwhile, Dubai’s Expo 2020 world’s fair will be post-poned to October 1, 2021, over the new coronavirus pandemic, a Paris-based body behind the events said yesterday.

Dubai has bet billions of dollars on Expo 2020 to reju-venate its troubled economy. Since the pandemic grounded flights by its long-haul carrier Emirates and disrupted its real estate market, Dubai has been seeking to delay the event until next year.

Countries belonging to the bureau had been voting on the requested delay for days, with a final tally expected by the end of May. Yesterday, however, the bureau said a required two-thirds of the countries in the organization had voted to approve the delay, meaning it would be granted.

The bureau’s executive committee voted unanimously in April to back the proposal, which will see the event run from October 1, 2021, until March 31, 2022.

IS exploits virus, political crisis to boost Iraq attacksAFP — BAGHDAD

Islamic State (IS) group remnants in Iraq are exploiting a coronavirus lockdown, coalition troop withdrawals and simmering political disputes to ramp up deadly attacks, according to analysts and intel-ligence officials.

The bloodiest so far was an ambush early Saturday that killed 10 Iraqi fighters north of Baghdad that observers say demonstrated a new escalation in the group’s tactics but one that could still be contained.

Iraq declared IS defeated in late 2017 but sleeper cells have survived in remote northern and western areas, where security gaps mean the group wages occasional attacks.

They have spiked since early April as militants plant explosives, fire on police patrols and launch mortars and rockets at villages, local security sources said.

“Combat operations have reached a level we haven’t seen

in a while,” said Iraqi security expert Hisham al-Hashemi.

He said IS fighters were using abandoned villages to edge towards urban areas, looking to re-establish funding mechanisms, smuggling routes and hideouts while targeting local infrastructure and officials to cause panic.

Days before early Satur-day’s ambush — which was multi-pronged and took place in Salahaddin province — the militants claimed a suicide attack that wounded four people outside an intelligence headquarters in Kirkuk, a restive northern province.

An intelligence officer there said IS had tripled its attacks in Kirkuk in April compared to March.

In the rural Diyala region northeast of Baghdad, daily attacks on agricultural fields have terrified farmers and recalled memories of IS’ steady build-up across Iraq.

Adnan Ghadban, a tribal sheikh in the city of Baquba,

said two of his relatives were shot in their fields last week by IS fighters. They both remained in a critical condition, he added.

“What’s happening now is taking us back to 2014,” he said, referring to the year when IS seized swathes of the country in a lightning offensive.

In part, the escalation may be linked to security units being redeployed to enforce a nationwide lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 2,000 people and killed over 90 in Iraq.

“These fighters took advantage of the fact that security forces were busy with imposing the curfew and began to move around much more freely,” Ghadban said.

The militants could also be exploiting the political deadlock in Baghdad, where top leaders are focused on tense talks over a new government, the conse-quences of a collapse in global oil prices and budget disputes with autonomous Kurdish

authorities. “IS fighters have sensors on the political situ-ation. Every time it deterio-rates, they opportunistically increase their activity,” said Fadel Abu Raghif, an Iraqi analyst focused on political and security affairs.

Abu Raghif and the Kirkuk intelligence officer said a sig-nificant troop drawdown by the 7,500-strong US-led coalition had also paved the way for IS to boost attacks.

The international alliance deployed in Iraq in 2014 to help local troops defeat the militants by providing air strikes, advice, surveillance and combat support.

Seeing that the threat from IS had “shifted”, the coalition has pulled out of five Iraqi bases in recent weeks, including in Kirkuk and IS’ former stronghold of Mosul.

It also redeployed hundreds of trainers out of the country indefinitely, as Iraqi security forces had halted training pro-grammes to limit possible

COVID-19 transmissions. Despite years of training,

the US Defense Department assessed this year that Iraqi troops were still unable to ade-quately collect and use intelli-gence in anti-IS raids on their own, or maintain operations in tough terrain without coalition help.

“Without a US troop presence in Iraq, IS would likely resurge,” the Pentagon’s inspector general wrote.

Still, analysts and observers said the recent wave of IS attacks did not mean the group could once again threaten cities like it did in 2014.

“IS will not be able to return to its former size,” said Abu Raghif, meaning the UK-sized “caliphate” that the jihadists declared across swathes of Iraq and Syria.

A senior official in the US-led coalition said it had noted “successful low-level attacks” by IS in recent weeks but did not consider them a “substantial uptick”.

US approves Sudan’s envoypick, first in two decadesAFP — KHARTOUM

Sudan announced yesterday that the United States had approved Khartoum’s pick of a veteran diplomat as ambas-sador to Washington, the first such envoy in over two decades.

Ties between Khartoum and Washington had been strained during the three-decade dictatorship of Omar Al Bashir, but eased after he was ousted by the army last year following mass protests.

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited Wash-ington in December and the two countries agreed to exchange envoys. In a statement, Sudan’s foreign ministry said yesterday “the US government approved the nomination of Nour Eddin Satti as an ambas-sador and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sudan.”

A veteran diplomat, Satti served as Sudan’s ambassador to France in the 1990s and later worked with United Nations peacekeeping missions in Congo and Rwanda.

Yesterday's step of recog-nising Satti as Sudan’s first to Washington since 1998 comes

as part of “normalising rela-tions” between Khartoum and Washington, the ministry said.

Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional administration that took power in August last year after Bashir’s fall.

During the strongman’s rule, Washington slapped sanc-tions on Sudan and designated the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Hamdok’s government has sought to bolster its interna-tional standing and mend ties with the US. In February, Khartoum agreed to com-pensate the families of American victims of a suicide bombing targeting navy destroyer USS Cole in Yemen’s Aden harbour in 2000.

The attack was claimed by Al Qaeda. The US had for years accused Sudan, which once hosted the global network’s leader Osama bin Laden, of training and supporting the attackers. Sudan always denied the charges but agreed to the settlement to fulfil a key US condition to remove it from Washington’s terrorism blacklist. The 1993 designation by Washington has decimated Sudan’s economy.

Yemen records two new COVID-19 cases in HadhramoutREUTERS — SANA'A

Yemen reported two new coro-navirus infections in Hadhramout yesterday, raising the number of diagnosed infec-tions in the war-town country to 12 with two deaths.

Hadhramout was where Yemen recorded its first case of the COVID-19 disease on April 10. The two new cases were being treated in an isolation facility in Mukalla, the pro-vincial capital and a port city.

Yemen is already grap-pling with the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis caused by a war between a Saudi-led coalition seeking to restore the internationally recognised gov-ernment, and the Houthi group which drove the government from the capital, Sana'a, in late 2014. The emergency corona-virus committee which announced the 12 confirmed cases belongs to the Yemeni government, whose interim capital is in the southern port city of Aden.

Worshippers have to enter mosques with masks and gloves, can only stay for half an hour during prayer times and must use their personal items, said the health ministry.

07TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 AFRICA

Nigeria begins easing lockdownrestrictions in Abuja and LagosREUTERS — LAGOS

Nigeria began easing restric-tions yesterday in its capital Abuja and in largest city Lagos, heralding the reopening of Africa's biggest economy after more than four weeks of lock-downs imposed to contain the new coronavirus.

The government has said a 24-hour, stay-at-home order in place since March 30 in Abuja and the states of Lagos and Ogun — with exceptions only for food shopping and health-related trips — will be lifted gradually over a six-week period.

These densely populated regions will now come into line with the rest of the country in which slightly looser restric-tions introduced last week by President Muhammadu Buhari include an overnight curfew, mandatory face masks in public and a ban on non-essential interstate travel.

Yesterday, the usually fre-netic streets of the coastal meg-acity Lagos, largely empty during the lockdown, were busy again with cars, buses and motorised tricycle taxis.

Despite rules banning groups of more than 20 people and stipulating that individuals remain two metres (6.6 feet)

apart, large groups of people often gathered by the road waiting for public transport. Social distancing rules were largely ignored.

Distinctive yellow minivans used as buses were full, with some passengers struggling to find space to enter vehicles.

However, in a crucial dif-ference to pre-lockdown life, most people on the streets of Lagos wore face masks.

In the capital Abuja, in central Nigeria, many busi-nesses were still closed.

Businesses have been allowed to reopen provided they have decontaminated their offices, can enable social dis-tancing and offer hand sanitizer and hand washing.

However, schools and places of worship remain closed, restaurants can operate only on a takeaway basis, and all cultural events have been cancelled.

Nigeria has confirmed 2,558 infections of the new corona-virus and 87 deaths since recording its first case at the end of February, a much lower toll

than those seen in COVID-19 hotspots in Europe and the United States.

But the number of con-firmed cases has surged in recent days, roughly doubling from 1,273 on April 27.

Experts have not reached a consensus on why Nigeria's case tally has been so relatively low, though many point to a low testing rate. The centre for disease control said only 17,566 samples have been tested in a country of 200 million people.

The decision to begin a phased lifting of the lockdown despite the recent sharp rise in cases was criticised by some medical experts including the N i g e r i a n M e d i c a l Association.

The NMA president, Francis Faduyile, said on Friday the move was "very premature" and risked driving up the rate of infections, which he called a "frightening scenario".

Nigeria and other African governments have sought to balance curbs to avert an out-break that could overwhelm hospitals with efforts to

mitigate the impact on workers in a continent where 85% are employed in the pre-carious informal sector. Rwanda, Namibia and Zim-babwe also began loosening their lockdowns yesterday.

In Rwanda, which enforced a s t r i c t n a t i o n w i d e clampdown, businesses have reopened and travel between provinces is permitted again. Similarly, shops were allowed to reopen and curbs lifted on domestic travel in Namibia, where wearing face masks in

public is now mandatory.In Zimbabwe's capital

Harare, queues formed outside money transfer agencies as residents collected remit-tances. Money sent from overseas is an important source of income in the southern African country, which is in the grip of its worst economic crisis in a decade.

But informal markets, which provide income to more than 80% of Zimbabweans, are still not allowed to operate except for the biggest fresh

vegetable market in Harare.The decision to ease restric-

tions follows similar steps taken in other nations in the region. South Africa on Friday relaxed one of the world's strictest COVID-19 lockdowns and Ghana in West Africa last month lifted a three-week lockdown in its two main cities.

But some African countries have gone against the trend. Kenya, which imposed a daily 7pm-5am nationwide curfew on March 25, is yet to relax the overnight lockdown.

A police officer addresses the crowd at Guaranty Trust bank, as authorities ease the lockdown amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Abuja, yesterday.

Rescued migrants stranded at sea, not allowed to any EU portAP — CAIRO

At least 78 migrants fleeing war-torn Libya for Europe remain stuck at sea without a designated port to dock, the UN migration agency said yesterday.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing con-flict and poverty to Europe, fol-lowing the overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The migrants fled Libya three days ago and were rescued by a merchant vessel on Sunday in the Mediterranean Sea, said Safa Msehli, a spokes-woman for the International Organization for Migration.

The vessel carrying the migrants has still not received permission to dock at any port, Msehli said. She called on the European Union to establish a clear and safe disembarkation mechanism for people recused in the Mediterranean.

The boat was the fourth car-rying migrants to depart Libya in less than a week, the IOM said.

Along with the stranded vessel, one boat carrying 57 people reached harbour at the small island nation of Malta, where it was quarantined because of the coronavirus pan-demic, while a second boat with 68 migrants arrived at Italy’s island of Lampedusa and the third vessel was intercepted and returned to Libya with all 51

aboard. Most migrants leaving Libya’s coasts make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. The IOM’s estimated death toll earlier this month among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean passed the “grim milestone” of 20,000 deaths since 2014.

In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the Libyan coast guard and other local forces to stop the flow of migrants.

Rights groups say those

efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in squalid and over-crowded detention centres that lack adequate food and water.

The EU agreed earlier this year to end an anti-migrant smuggler operation involving only surveillance aircraft. The bloc will instead concentrate on trying to enforce a widely flouted UN arms embargo that’s considered key to winding down Libya’s relentless civil war.

Protest after man killed for 'breaking curfew'A man gestures while protesting in front of a cart carrying the body of a 39-year-old man who was allegedly beaten to death by police officers the previous night in the Mathare slums of Nairobi while walking in the streets after curfew hours. Human rights activists are claiming that coronavirus-related police brutality has already killed more people in Kenya than coronavirus itself. The Government of Kenya has already confirmed 465 positive coronavirus cases while expressing their worry about the rising number of cases in the last few days.

Virus cases in Kinshasajail double in two daysAFP — KINSHASA

Cases of coronavirus in a military prison in Kinshasa doubled to nearly 100 in two days, health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo said yesterday.

“Fifty-six (additional) people in Ndolo military prison were confirmed with COVID-19” on Saturday, the government’s latest epidemi-ological bulletin said.

Forty-three cases had been diagnosed at the prison on Thursday and Friday.

The jail, located in the north of the DRC’s capital, was built during Belgian colonial rule for 500 inmates but today houses between 1,900 and 2,000, according to various sources.

“The overcrowded and insalubrious prisons in the DRC

present a serious risk” for COVID-19 spread, Human Rights Watch warned on April 17.

Congolese authorities say that there is no case yet at Makala, the largest prison in Kinshasa, which houses at least 8,400 detainees.

The first case of the coro-navirus infection in the central African country was registered on March 10.

Since then, 682 cases have been confirmed, with 34 deaths, according to the bul-letin published on Monday by a health ministry team tackling the pandemic.

Seven of the DRC’s 26 prov-inces have recorded cases of COVID-19, but the vast majority of infections (652) have occurred in Kinshasa, a city of 12 million people.

South Africa starts trial of TB vaccine to fight virusAFP — CAPE TOWN

Hundreds of South African health workers were given a century-old tuberculosis vaccine yesterday in a trial to see whether the venerable formula can protect against coronavirus.

Devised at France’s leg-endary Pasteur Institute 100 years ago, the Bacillus Cal-mette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is one of the world’s oldest and most trusted immunisations.

“We vaccinated the first participant this morning,” Duncan McDonald, head of business development and mar-keting at a clinical research organisation called TASK, told AFP.

Trials started at Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town, where BCG booster shots were admin-istered to 250 healthcare workers, while another 250 received a dummy formula, or placebo.

“There are observations that this BCG vaccine does some-thing to the immune system that

we don’t really understand,” TASK founder professor Andreas Diacon said.

Children immunised with BCG tend to suffer less from respiratory illnesses, including asthma, he said.

“It makes the immune system cope better with respi-ratory retract infections,” said Diacon. “No one actually really

understands why it works”.Diacon and his team want

to determine whether BCG could have an effect on coro-navirus by reducing the risk of infection or easing symptoms.

“If you can reduce the (COVID-19) symptoms just a little, you will probably get people to survive this better or not even have to go to hospital

or not even becoming ill,” said Diacon.

In South Africa around 300,000 people catch TB each year — one of the highest rates of infection in the world. Each year, 63,000 people die, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Diacon, an expert in internal medicine and pulmonology at Tygerberg Hospital and a Stel-lenbosch University professor said the trials focussed on health care workers as “we believe that they will be exposed most”.

The plan is to ramp up the trials to up to 3,000 healthcare workers in Cape Town. Partic-ipants will be observed for at least a year.

Similar BCG clinical trials are being conducted in the Netherlands, Australia and France.

Participants in Australia and Netherlands will be given the vaccine for the first time as there is no policy of adminis-tering BCG vaccine in these countries.

Stickers are seen on seats inside the Gautrain indicating physical distancing for commuters in the train at the Hatfield Gautrain Station in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday.

Sudan's minister

infected with

COVID-19

ANATOLIA — KHARTOUM

Sudan’s minister of state in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation has been infected with the novel coro-navirus, the Council of Ministers said on Sunday.

The council said in a press release that Hashim Ibn Auf, who also chairs a subcom-mittee under the Higher Com-mittee for Health Emergencies to combat the coronavirus, has been under home quarantine since last week after testing positive.

“The minister of state in the ministry of infrastructure and transportation, Hashim Ibn Auf, tested positive for the coronavirus last week after interacting with one of his rel-atives who has COVID-19,” it said. The minister is in stable condition and recovering well.

The country has 592 COVID-19 cases, 41 deaths and 52 recoveries.

Nigeria receives

$311m of

Abacha assets

from US, Jersey REUTERS — ABUJA

Nigeria has received more than $311m of funds stolen from the country by former military ruler General Sani Abacha from the United States and the British dependency of Jersey, a statement from the African country’s attorney general said yesterday.

The United States and the British dependency of Jersey agreed with the Nigerian gov-ernment in February to return money that Abacha, who died in 1998, had stashed in their banks.

T h e r e p a t r i a t i o n agreement requires the money go towards infrastructure projects, and if any of the cash is diverted Nigeria could be required to replace it.

Abacha ruled Africa’s largest oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998. Cor-ruption watchdog Trans-parency International esti-mates he stole as much as $5bn of public money during that time, though he was never charged with corruption while he was alive.

Nigeria has been working with governments worldwide in to repatriate some of the cash and boost its finances. Endemic graft among the political elite dating back decades has left most Nige-rians mired in poverty, despite the country being Africa’s biggest economy.

At least 14 killed

in armed attacks

in Nigeria

ANATOLIA — ABUJA

At least 14 people have been killed in armed attacks in Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday.Armed attackers killed at least 10 people in the south-eastern state of Ebonyi, Ogbonnaya Chukwu-Ude, chairman of the Ivo local government area of Ebonyi, said at a press conference.

Local media said four people were killed in the northwestern city of Kaduna while six others were kid-napped. Criminal groups known as bandits or herdsmen have stepped up raids and kid-nappings in communities in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central states.

The northwestern part of Nigeria faces occasional clashes between the herder Fulani people and neigh-bouring sedentary tribes.

Nigeria has confirmed 2,558 infections of the new coronavirus and 87 deaths since recording its first case at the end of February.

Some European countries reinstated border measures in 2015 to keep migrants out. Now, with little warning, the coronavirus crisis has prompted governments across the continent to close borders that hardly still existed in the minds of those living near them.

08 TUESDAY 5 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

QATAR'S real estate sector is showing signs of steady growth and stability. Despite a decline in number of property sale deals due to the precautionary measures taken to contain coronavirus outbreak, Qatar’s real estate market still reflects flexibility and stability, according to Ezdan Real Estate.

Doha and its suburbs are home to several famous residential and commercial properties such as The Pearl-Qatar, Msheireb Downtown Doha, West Bay and has always been favourite among real estate investors. Doha sits on top in Qatar’s real estate market, but other real estate markets are catching up because of rapid infrastructure development and amenities. Areas such as Al Wakrah and Al Daayen are fast developing. They are emerging real estate markets and can provide better returns to real estate investors, according to market experts.

Continued demand for real estate units is still con-sidered by a large segment of investors as a safe haven because it is an investment capable of protecting initial investment value of assets. The real estate sector, supported by a series of policy-driven decisions, is booming with residential properties expected to increase. With the 2022 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, progress can be seen in all aspects of Qatar. This includes new developments across the country.

Real estate consulting firm ValuStrat Qatar also said in its latest quarterly report that approximately 60 percent of the new additions for residential supply in Qatar, during the first quarter of the year, came from Lusail with the completion of Maison Blanches com-pound and towers in Al Kharaej district and Al Erkyah district. Total housing stock by the end of the first quarter was approximately 299,100 units with the addition of 900 apartments and 500 villas during the quarter. All new additions were during the first two months of 2020.

Real estate players, including developers and market strategists, are now strongly betting on the country’s vibrant property market. Data released last month by the Real Estate Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice shows that the real estate sector continues its steady growth in various fields of investment and trade. This confirms the growth of strong and active trading activity during the current year, especially with the issuance of new laws and decisions related to real estate sector, real estate reg-istration, as well as attractive laws for domestic and foreign capital. These data confirm the strength of Qatar’s economy and the continued growth of the real estate sector as one of its key components.

Growing real estate sector

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Quote of the day

May will be a month where we need to end this

pandemic. It will also be a month where we will

prepare for the next stage. We will take action and

act quickly to assist businesses and households.

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan

Cross-border workers stage a protest at Polish-German border demanding to be exempt from the mandatory quarantine during coronavirus disease outbreak at the crossing in Rosowek, Poland.

When Thomas Schütz, of Saarbrücken, Germany, wanted to visit France, all he had to do was step outside his house.

In March, that changed. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across Europe, borders that had been open for decades reverted to their role as barriers overnight.

With France under a tem-porary coronavirus lockdown and officers patrolling the border, Schütz, 57, would now risk a hefty fine for crossing

from his German hometown of Saarbrücken to the French commune of Schœneck. His neighbor’s house, on the opposite side of a narrow road, became legally impos-sible for him to reach.

“The border officers told me to essentially imagine a wall that cannot be crossed,” Schütz said.

The nearby restaurant he owns, which depends on French guests for half of its revenue, faces an existential threat.

Travel restrictions have increased around the world amid the coronavirus pan-demic. In Europe, the return to border controls carries harsh economic implications - and symbolic weight. “It really hurts, not just economi-cally but also because it touches upon the identity of us as Europeans,” said Tanja Börzel, Director of the Center for European Integration at the Free University of Berlin.

More than 30 years after the Berlin Wall came down and 25 years after internal border controls began to be abolished across what is now known as the Schengen area, a generation has grown up moving between nations with the ease of crossing a street. But barriers have begun to creep back. Some European countries reinstated border measures in 2015 to keep migrants out. Now, with little warning, the coronavirus crisis has prompted govern-ments across the continent to close borders that hardly still existed in the minds of those living near them.

After decades of free movement, Schütz said, a return to the divided Europe

of his childhood “would be so deeply sad.”

The restrictions have tem-porarily separated families, friends and romantic partners. In the southern German border town of Kon-stanz, Swiss-German couples hugged and kissed across a border barrier they could no longer cross after it was closed in mid-March.

“It’s absurd,” a German resident told a local paper at the time. She had not been able to see her partner living in Switzerland for 12 days.

To prevent physical contact across the border, officials in Konstanz have since erected two parallel fences. Married couples and international commuters are still allowed to pass.

Officials across Europe have defended the border restrictions as necessary measures to slow the spread of the virus. While at least one E.U. leader - Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán - has used the pandemic to advance previously held views on free movement, leaders on the opposite end of the spectrum have acknowledged the toll the new barriers have taken.

Longtime German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the walled-off East and was unable to freely travel to western Europe for much of her life, said that “the restriction of civil liberties” by her government was one of the most difficult decisions of her more than 14 years in office.

Until German reunifi-cation in 1990, the small Bavarian village of Bayerisch Eisenstein marked the frontier between democratic

West Germany and Merkel’s home, the communist Eastern bloc. When the local border crossings opened in 1990, tens of thousands celebrated in the small border village, declaring it the new center of a united Europe.

“Especially the older resi-dents here,” said Bayerisch Eisenstein’s newly elected mayor, Michael Herzog, “now feel reminded of the Cold War again.”

The difference, he said, is that the current measures are temporary, and necessary, in his view, for public safety, however painful.

Border restrictions have disrupted regional economies across the E.U., the world’s most closely integrated eco-nomic bloc.

Nursing homes in western Europe rely heavily on migrant workers who are now unable or unwilling to travel. Many cross-border commuters have also been told to stay at home or must take long detours.

It remains unclear how effective border controls are at slowing the spread of the virus or when they are to be lifted. Germany has extended a worldwide travel warning until at least mid-June, indi-cating that some measures could remain in place for months. Ongoing border restrictions would threaten to shutter many of the 2.3 million tourism businesses in the E.U., which employ more than 12 million people.

Rick Noack currently covers international news from The Washington Post’s Berlin bureau. Previously, he worked for The Post from Washington.

MEGAN DURISIN & AGNIESZKA DE SOUSA — BLOOMBERG

The wave of protectionist measures on agricultural goods that emerged as the corona-virus spread around the world has already begun to recede.

Of at least 17 countries that sought to limit food exports to protect local sup-plies, about half have back-tracked all or some of the measures, according to a tracker from the International Food Policy Research Institute. That includes several major grain shippers such as Vietnam and Romania, although top wheat exporter Russia has kept its curbs in place.

Immediate worries about food shortages have eased in many parts of the world as supply chains continue to flow despite lockdowns. Meanwhile, even short-lived

restrictions have resulted in spoiled crops and stranded cargoes. Organizations such as the United Nations have urged against measures that could harm food security and raise prices.

“There wasn’t really any issue with having tight inven-tories,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization. “These measures at the very best would have just harmed the countries themselves.”

Many governments have been encouraged to ease limits after assessing global reserves and being reassured that there is ample supply, according to Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the IFPRI. Russia, which hasn’t ruled out future quotas, remains an exception, and any harvest shortfalls from bad weather could mean

other curbs are reinstated.“We hope that we have

seen the end of export restric-tions,” Glauber said by email. “But people will be watching countries such as Russia to see whether the current quota and restrictions are extended into the new crop year.”

For now, the International Grains Council is forecasting bumper wheat and rice har-vests, and rains in the European Union and Black Sea region have helped to ease concern about a dry spell in the heart of the grain-growing period. Ongoing limits also risk derailing exporters’ reputa-tions as dependable suppliers and could negatively impact farmers as local prices diverge from international markets.

Here’s a roundup of major food-export limits around world:

Romania: The EU’s second-biggest wheat shipper ended a sudden ban on grain

sales outside the bloc a week after it began.

Kazakhstan: One of the world’s top flour shippers sig-naled that export limits on the product and other grains may expire in June.

Vietnam: The world’s third-largest rice shipper will lift export limits at the start of May.

Ukraine: The Black Sea nation’s government tenta-tively decided against imposing a cap on this sea-son’s corn sales after meeting with top traders in late April.

Russia: Grain-sales quotas through June have already been exhausted, though exports still have a way to go before supply dries up. The nation still had almost half of the planned 7 million tons to ship in the coming weeks, and global grain demand has fallen as the pandemic slows production of biofuels and meat processing.

Coronavirus brings back border barriers in Europe, dividing couples, families and communities

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Food-export bans are being rolled back as shortage fears ease

Established in 1996

RICK NOACK THE WASHINGTON POST

09TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 OPINION

Stay-at-home orders have clearly saved lives by reducing the number of new COVID-19 patients streaming into overwhelmed hospitals. But measures to protect health have come at a steep economic and social cost.

It is important for elected politicians to call the shots, Wargon added, noting that myriad unknowns about the new coronavirus have caused disagreement among experts. This is one reason most countries hit hard by the pandemic — including France, Italy, Spain and the United States — have created special advisory bodies to sift through the thousands of reports and studies already released.

Yemen’s fragile Riyadh Agreement effectively met its demise after the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared nominal ‘self-rule’ and a state of emergency on April 26. This came as part of its bid to establish an inde-pendent southern state per pre-1990 unification lines when Yemen was divided into the North and the South.

Such an outcome was inevitable, given the ongoing frictions which have pre-vented the STC and Yemen’s internationally recognized government of Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi from imple-menting the Saudi deal bro-kered last November, designed to unify them into a power-sharing government.

Yet there were never any real desires to implement it. And rather than a legitimate

peace deal, giving an equal say to Yemen’s many diverse political aspirations, it simply aimed to appease Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s diverging geopolitical ambi-tions, to prevent their oth-erwise strategic alliance from collapsing, following their divergent strategies in Yemen. Though the STC’s coup in Aden against the Riyadh-backed government last August showed the world that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were not on the same page, these differences had developed previously.

Even in January 2018, the STC, having emerged the pre-vious year, rebelled against government forces in Aden, surrounding the presidential palace in the de-facto capital. Though it was quickly resolved, tensions still lin-gered. While the STC initially supported the deal, the faction saw it as a means to achieve future southern independence through negotiations.

Yet Hadi saw it as an opportunity to re-align the separatist forces against the Houthi forces - something he was desperate to do as the Houthis have secured control

over the north, and the STC’s separatist ambitions threatened his influence there. Refusing to concede any ground to the gov-ernment, and blaming it for still hosting the Islamist Islah party which it opposes, the STC initially withdrew from the deal on January 1; and while it reluctantly returned to the agreement, clashes erupted between both sides on March 21. Tensions in Yemen’s geo-strategic Socotra island have continued, as STC-aligned militias with Emirati backing seek to wrest it from pro-government forces’ control.

Saudi Arabia’s inter-vention against the Houthi insurgency in September 2014 allowed such a fractured situ-ation to emerge, as it had no real long-term plan for the country’s political stability.

Riyadh’s air force targeted schools, hospitals, market-places, and other key infra-structure, seeking to bring the Houthis into submission and impose its own geopolitical will on the country. Moreover, it clutched onto the Hadi gov-ernment, whose influence on the ground has faded and is

still exiled in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s policies effectively further destabilized Yemen, allowing other factions to exploit this vacuum.

Meanwhile Emirati-backed southern militias, originally independent from the government and designed initially to fight the Houthis, gradually became the most dominant southern force throughout the five-year-long war.Though a member of Saudi Arabia’s coalition, Abu Dhabi sought control of southern Yemen and its coastal ports, to bolster its own global maritime trade.

Even with the Riyadh Agreement declared, it still seeks to prevent Hadi reclaiming control over the south, as he previously scrapped an Ali Abdullah Saleh-era agreement, granting the UAE access to Aden’s strategic port. Hadi now possesses little authority on the ground, while the STC has more physical control in the south. Due to the war and Hadi’s absence, and with a lack of central governance, Yemen has long been heading towards interna-tional divisions. The country already has two central banks, popular support has arisen for southern secession, and Yemenis often identify themselves as belonging to their own individual frac-tions, rather than a unified Yemen.

Though the international community and Saudi Arabia still urge the STC to uphold the Riyadh Agreement, con-tinued pursuit of this pact will only worsen Yemen’s divi-sions and prolong its instability.

Though Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash claimed Abu Dhabi supports reunification and that it opposes the STC’s decision, the UAE arguably wants the Riyadh Agreement to fail, in order to prevent Hadi regaining any kind of control over the south, and thus thwarting its geopolitical ambitions. It could even con-tinue backing future efforts to consolidate the STC’s influence.

Meanwhile, the fixation on salvaging the Riyadh Agreement enabled the Houthis to exploit it, after the faction has already consoli-dated its control in Yemen’s

north. It launched another campaign to capture Marib and al-Jawf in January amid the previous focus on the Riyadh Agreement. The STC’s rebellion offers a new dis-traction in which the Houthis could resume further opera-tions, and ultimately benefits its Iranian backers, allowing Tehran to consolidate its influence in Yemen and become a greater political actor in the country.

There could even be a short-term alliance of con-venience with the STC and Houthis, given their shared opposition to the Hadi gov-ernment and Islah party, which would allow them to consolidate their respective positions in the south and north.

Yet the STC faces an obstacle in that it does not fully control the south; southern governorates unani-mously opposed its self-rule declaration.

With Hadi government and Islah forces still retaining influence, particu-larly over the oil-rich Shabwa governorate, which risks a greater power struggle there, the STC would need to impose its will by military force, to secure such vital regions for any realistic southern state.

Yemen will further drift towards decentralization, yet it will do so in an uncontrolled manner; one that is sabotaged by ongoing regional inter-ference in the country. While the international community fails to address the role of these actors, and push for a legitimate peace solution, there will be no lasting agreement that ensures Yemen’s future stability.

Among its other humani-tarian woes, this will further hinder Yemen’s abilities to deal with the current corona-virus pandemic, which has been reported in the country. Though there is only a small number of confirmed cases and deaths, authorities would still struggle to know how widely the virus has truly spread and contain it, given its collapsed healthcare system from the war.

The writer is a researcher and journalist focusing on conflict and geopolitics in the Middle East and North Africa, primarily related to the Gulf region.

Could Yemen drift back towards secession?

AFP

Should science alone dictate policy on how to cope with the coronavirus pandemic? Governments worldwide are grappling with this thorny question as they loosen lock-downs that have tested the tensile strength of commu-nities and economies alike.

Stay-at-home orders have clearly saved lives by reducing the number of new COVID-19 patients streaming into overwhelmed hospitals. But measures to protect health have come at a steep economic and social cost.

Even among scientists, opinions are divided.

“If we want COVID-19 to be a bad memory and not a current nightmare, scientific advice must be prioritised in all political decisions, period,” said Sara N. Bleich, a pro-fessor of public health policy at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

But Simon Chauchemez, a mathematical modeller and a member of the scientific com-mittee advising France’s top leaders, said science is not the only factor in the equation.

“As scientists we try to shed light, but at the end of the day it is the politicians who have to make decisions,” he told AFP.

The competing interests and hard choices facing leaders are coming into sharp focus as they set new rules -- different in every country, and sometimes from one sub-region to the next -- for shel-tering-in-place, public

gatherings and the businesses that should be allowed to reopen.

In Britain, the gov-ernment of Boris Johnson has been sharply criticised for its late response to the pandemic.

“We scientists said lock down,” Helen Warn, a pro-fessor of public health at Imperial College London, said in a commentary. “But UK politicians refused to listen.”

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel -- widely praised for her management of the pandemic -- has paid close attention to the scientists.

‘Government by scientists’

“It helps that she’s a sci-entist and can handle numbers,” said Christian Drosten, head of the Institute of Virology at Charite Hospital in Berlin, noting that Merkel has a PhD in quantum chemistry.

At the same time, Merkel has encountered criticism for pushing hard to keep stringent shelter-in-place requirements in place.

“When I hear that all other considerations must take a back seat to the pro-tection of human life, I find that kind of absolutism unjus-tified,” Wolfgang Schauble, president of Germany’s Bun-destag, or parliament, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

In France, opposition pol-iticians and some public intel-lectuals have similarly criti-cised President Emmanuel Macron for hiding behind the

opinions of scientists. “Be careful to not make

health the absolute value,” said philosopher Andre Comte-Sponville in a radio interview. “And don’t expect doctors to solve all of our problems.”

And yet Macron’s gov-ernment has also been attacked for green-lighting the gradual reopening of primary schools across France starting on May 11 despite the recommendation of his own science advisory body to keep them closed until September.

Macron’s decision “is not really that shocking,” said Pierre-Louis Druais, a neigh-bourhood doctor and member of the advisory panel.

“We set the general direction, but it probably wouldn’t be very healthy if society were entirely run by scientists,” he told AFP.

“Our role is to provide health advice,” Arnaud Fon-tanet, another member of the scientific advisory panel, told lawmakers last week. “The role of politicians is to make decisions based not just on what we say but on a raft of social and economic consid-erations in which we have no say.”

Mixed signals from Trump

“I am opposed to a gov-ernment of doctors,” said emergency physician Mathias Wargon, whose wife is a junior minister in the French government. “And tomorrow -- when the issue on the table is jobs -- I’ll be against a

government by corporate leaders.”

It is important for elected politicians to call the shots, Wargon added, noting that myriad unknowns about the new coronavirus have caused disagreement among experts.

This is one reason most countries hit hard by the pan-demic — including France, Italy, Spain and the United States — have created special advisory bodies to sift through the thousands of reports and studies already released.

Britain’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emer-gencies (SAGE), created in 2014 to cope with the Ebola epidemic, was reactivated for this purpose.

The US Coronavirus Task Force is unusual in that its daily press conferences have, with rare exception, been dominated by US President Donald Trump.

Sometimes Trump is in open disagreement with respected members of the task force such as immunol-ogist Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis-eases, and Deborah Birx, the US global AIDS coordinator, especially on the issue of how, where and when to ease lockdowns.

Fauci and Birx have called for keeping stricter restric-tions — on the reopening of schools and sporting events for example, while Trump has openly supported lockdown protesters.

Political observers suggest Trump is focused on

presidential and congres-sional elections in November, and would like to see the US economy back open and booming before then.

“President Trump cannot control his political instinct,” said Robert Blendon, an expert on health policy and politics at Harvard University. “In his view, if this doesn’t change, he’s going to lose the presidency.”

Coronavirus sets balancing act between science, politics

JONATHAN FENTON-HARVEY ANATOLIA

Yemen will further drift towards decentralization, yet it will do so in an uncontrolled manner; one that is sabotaged by ongoing regional interference in the country. While the international community fails to address the role of these actors, and push for a legitimate peace solution, there will be no lasting agreement that ensures Yemen’s future stability.

A Yemeni municipal worker sprays disinfectant liquid as a measure against the novel coronavirus, in the old city market of Sana’a.

10 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020ASIA

Japan extends stateof emergency overvirus until May 31AFP — TOKYO

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday extended a state of emergency over the corona-virus until the end of May, warning it was too soon to begin relaxing restrictions.

But Abe said a review of the situation would be conducted in about two weeks, and the measures could be lifted before the end of the month if new infections slow sufficiently.

And he implied that there would be no further extension of the emergency, saying May would be when the country “presses towards the exit”.

“I must be candid and ask you to continue your efforts for some time,” Abe said at a press conference after announcing the extension.

“At this point, the decrease in people infected is still not at a sufficient level.”

Abe had declared a month-long state of emergency that ini-tially covered Tokyo and six other regions on April 7, later expanding it to cover the entire

country.It had been due to expire on

May 6, and Abe said the measures had reduced new infections from around 700 a day to a third of that.

But he said the number of new cases was still outpacing the approximately 100 people discharged from hospital nationwide each day.

“We must decrease the number of newly infected people to below that level” to

reduce pressure on the coun-try’s healthcare system, he added.

Japan’s virus outbreak remains small compared with those seen in parts of Europe and the United States, with over 15,000 infections recorded and 510 deaths.

But the extension was backed by both experts advising the government and regional governors, with concerns that a sudden spike in cases remains possible.

The state of emergency falls far short of the harshest measures seen in parts of Europe and the United States. It allows local governors to urge people to stay at home and call on businesses to stay shut.

But officials cannot compel citizens to comply, and there are no punishments for those who fail to do so.

The government is calling on residents in 13 high-risk pre-fectures, including Japan’s biggest cities, to continue cutting person-to-person contact by 80 percent.

But museums, libraries and some other facilities will be able to reopen if they take anti-virus measures.

For the rest of Japan, pre-fectures will be allowed to loosen restrictions on business closures and small gatherings but residents will still be asked not to travel outside their home regions. Clubs will be asked to remain shut.

It remains unclear when and whether schools — many of which have been closed since March — will be able to reopen, with officials recently sug-gesting a possible phased

approach with certain key grades resuming before others.

Japan recorded its first coronavirus infection in mid-January, and came under early pressure with a mass outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off the city of Yokohama.

Despite so far avoiding the devastating tolls seen in places like Italy and New York, there have been persistent fears that Japan’s healthcare system could be quickly overwhelmed by a sudden spike in infections.

There are just five ICU beds per 100,000 people in Japan,

less than half the number in Italy, and doctors’ associations have warned that hospitals are already stretched thin.

Measures have been imple-mented to try to ease the pressure, including sending coronavirus patients with mild symptoms to hotels for quar-antine rather than keeping them in overcrowded hospitals.

The government has also said it is increasing testing capacity but continues to face criticism for the relatively low numbers of tests being carried out, in part because of stringent criteria.

People wearing face masks amid concern over COVID-19 cross a street in Tokyo, yesterday.

India eases lockdown restrictions even as virus infections surgeAP — NEW DELHI

India relaxed some corona-virus lockdown restrictions yesterday even as the pace of infection picked up and reopenings drew crowds of people.

The near-total five-week lockdown on India’s 1.3 billion population achieved a slowdown in the spread of the virus but has caused immense hardship for India’s legions of poor people, who could neither stay in cities without work nor travel to their home villages and waited in line daily for hot meals.

Some degree of lockdown will continue at least until May 18.

A tentative return to normal life, albeit with masks, social distancing and stringent hygiene standards, resumed in low-risk areas with few or no cases, while constraints on movement and work continued elsewhere in the country.

In New Delhi, a designated hot spot where many lockdown restrictions remained, con-struction workers, Uber drivers

and self-employed people such as housekeepers returned to work.

During the lockdown, only businesses deemed essential, such as grocery stores, banks and pharmacies, were open.

But yesterday, a broader array of business was per-mitted. More than 100 people, not all observing social dis-tancing norms, stood in line to enter a liquor store.

Migrant workers who fled Indian cities en masse when the lockdown took effect March 25, only to become stranded on the road and quar-antined by state governments, were travelling by special rail service to their home villages.

The Railways said it would charge a highly subsidised rate, but opposition political leader Sonia Gandhi said the Congress party would cover the cost.

“Thousands of migrant workers and laborers were forced to walk home several hundred kilometers on foot without food, without medi-cines, without money, without transportation, without any-thing but the desire to return

to their families and loved ones,” Gandhi said in a statement.

Still, the infection rate was growing at 5.5 percent com-pared to 4.7 percent two day ago, according to the Brookings Institution think tank.

“Active cases now growing at 5.5 percent, so doubling every 13 days. Not good. Hotspot management (con-tainment and contact tracing

and testing) needs to be much better,” tweeted Shamika Ravi, a Brookings Institution fellow.

India reported 42,500 virus cases, 11,706 recoveries and 1,373 deaths, and had tested more than a million samples by yesterday. Still, at 758 tests per million, India was among the countries testing the lowest fraction of their population. And experts warn that the virus has yet to peak.

Bangladesh relaxes some curbs, extends lockdown till May 16REUTERS — DHAKA

Bangladesh authorities said yesterday they will gradually open up more factories, as well as farms and logistics opera-tions, as they try to diminish the economic impact of a corona-virus lockdown which they extended to May 16.

Shopping malls were given permission to reopen with shorter than usual hours. The move followed a decision last

week to reopen more than 2,000 garment factories that supply global brands, after a month-long shutdown. Much of the rest of the economy remains offline.

The official tally of con-firmed cases of the novel coro-navirus rose by 688 to surpass 10,000, the health ministry said. Some experts are concerned that the real number of cases could be higher in a country of more than 160 million people

where many have only limited access to healthcare.

The death toll rose to 182 from 177.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told government officials that schools and col-leges may have to remain closed until September if the sit-uation does not improve.

Garment workers took to the streets in Savar, on the out-skirts of the capital Dhaka yes-terday, demanding wages.

“We are not getting wages for the last three months. We are literally starving,” said Abdur Rahim, a textile worker.

The government has announced a $588m package aid for the crucial exports-ori-ented sector to pay its workers, but garment manufacturers say the funds were not enough to mitigate the crisis.

Some of the world’s biggest clothing companies, including Gap Inc, Zara-owner Inditex

and H&M source supplies from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is home to around 4,000 garment factories employing 4.1 million workers. Industry groups had warned that the shutdown that began on March 26 and cancellation of orders could cost the country $6bn in export revenue this financial year. Competitors such as Vietnam, China and Cam-bodia have already resumed operations.

A policeman stops commuters at a checkpoint during nationwide lockdown, in Amritsar, yesterday.

Students return

to classrooms

in Vietnam after

3-month breakAFP — HANOI

Millions of schoolchildren in Vietnam returned to class yesterday after the country reported its 17th straight day of no domestically transmitted coronavirus infections.

The decision to reopen schools came after the Southeast Asian nation eased social distancing measures at the end of April — with experts pointing to a decisive response involving mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing for its apparent success in containing the disease.

At a school in western Hanoi, secondary level students calmly lined up to have their temperatures checked before filing into classrooms for the first time in more than three months.

“I am very happy and excited because it’s boring being at home,” said 11-year-old Pham Anh Kiet.

“I feel safe when I wear a mask and have my temperature checked, I am not afraid of being infected with the virus,” he added, before grabbing a classmate for a quick catch up.

Tran Dang Ngoc Anh, 12, said she’d missed her friends and teachers and was happy to be back — despite being a little apprehensive about wearing “stuffy masks in classrooms”.

There are around 22 million school-age children and university students across Vietnam. After being sent home in late January, some kids returned last week but others — including primary school and kindergarten pupils — will have to wait it out a further week. Universities have begun opening one by one.

Malaysia opens up partly; all foreign workers to be testedAP — KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s government said yesterday that all foreign workers must undergo virus testing as many businesses reopen in parts of the country for the first time since a partial coronavirus lockdown began on March 18.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri said coronavirus cases rose over the weekend, including a new cluster involving foreign workers at a construction site in an area near Kuala Lumpur that has since been shut down.

As a result, the government decided to “make it compulsory for all foreign workers in all sectors whether in construction,

factories, commercial and including restaurants to undergo COVID-19 screening,” he said.

He said employers will pay for the tests, which will begin in Kuala Lumpur and the wealthiest state of Selangor. The move appeared aimed at avoiding neighboring Singapore’s mistake in overlooking the virus’s spread among its migrant worker pop-ulation. Crowded dormitories housing foreign workers now account for nearly 90 percent of Singapore’s 18,778 infections.

Malaysia has more than 2 million registered foreign workers, and over 2 million more who have no valid documents. It has locked down several virus hot

spot areas in Kuala Lumpur and a wholesale market with a large population of migrant workers. Virus cases have dropped sharply in recent weeks, but 227 new infections were reported over the weekend. Malaysia has con-firmed 6,298 cases with 105 deaths.

The easing of the lockdown on Monday, days before it was due to end May 12, came as Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s gov-ernment seeks to balance con-trolling the virus and reviving the hard-hit economy. The move has split public opinion amid fears that a sudden reopening of eco-nomic activities could spark a new wave of infections.

Nine of the country’s 13 states, including Selangor and two impoverished rural states on Borneo island, have either refused to open up or restricted the types of businesses that can operate. More than half a million Malaysians have protested by signing online petitions calling for a more gradual easing.

Muhyiddin has said it is time to heal the economy, which has lost billions of dollars, but busi-nesses must follow strict health measures, and mass gatherings will still be banned. This means schools, cinemas and worship houses will stay shut, group sports are prohibited and inter-state travel remains banned.

An airport security officer checks the body temperature of a traveller at the entrance of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, yesterday.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe said a review of the situation would be conducted in about two weeks, and the measures could be lifted before the end of the month if new infections slow sufficiently.

India reported 42,500 virus cases, 11,706 recoveries and 1,373 deaths, and had tested more than a million samples by yesterday.

11TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 ASIA

Pakistan to gradually ease lockdown: PMINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan says the government has decided to gradually ease the lockdown in the coming days keeping in view the economic situation and problems of common man.

He was speaking to the members of National and Pro-vincial Assemblies in Islamabad yesterday.

The Prime Minister said SOPs based on safety measures have been prepared for all the sectors and the elected repre-sentatives should play their role for implementationing them.

The Prime Minister said the government is striving to provide every possible relief to the masses amidst the challenge posed by coronavirus. Despite difficult situation, the gov-ernment has given an economic package worth Rs1.25tn.

Imran Khan said the deserving families are being provided with cash assistance of twelve thousand rupees in the most transparent manner and on merit. In addition, a special programme has also

been launched for the workers and labourers.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Min-ister for Planning and Devel-opment, Asad Umar, has assured to take all the decisions regarding relaxation in lockdown after 9th of this month in consensus with all the provinces.

Briefing the media persons in Islamabad, he said the National Coordination Com-mittee on coronavirus will take the decision about the future course of action.

Asad Umar said the deci-sions will be taken in such a manner that they do not par-alyse our healthcare system. He said the restrictions will be eased gradually in order to provide livelihoods to the people.

He said we have signifi-cantly enhanced the capacity of

our healthcare system. We cur-rently have 1,400 ventilators for coronavirus patients and 900 more will be added in two months. He said at present there are 35 coronavirus patients on ventilators.

He said the country has now the capacity to develop medical equipment and soon the domestic production of venti-lators will start.

The minister said the country has fifty-five functional labs and we have the capacity to carry out over 14,000 corona tests on daily basis.

The Minister for Planning said the testing, tracking and quarantine system has been made functional and one saw its manifestation recently in two sectors of the federal capital.

Asad Umar expressed sat-isfaction that the coronavirus has not proved to be

as contagious for Pakistan as compared with Europe and the United States.

He said the fatality rate in Pakistan is far less compared

to the United States, the UK and Spain. He, however stressed that we have to adopt the pre-cautionary measures in order to avoid it getting contagious.

Asad Umar said that the economic impact of the lockdown on Pakistan is serious than the western countries.

Policemen wearing facemasks seal off a street of a residential area with barbed wire after some people tested positive for coronavirus during a nationwide lockdown, in Islamabad.

Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar, has assured to take all the decisions regarding relaxation in lockdown after May 9 in consensus with all the provinces.

China province launches anti-racism push after global outrageAFP — BEIJING

China’s southern Guangdong province has launched a raft of anti-discrimination policies targeting businesses and venues after a heavy-handed crackdown on the African community sparked international outrage last month.

Authorities in the provincial capital Guangzhou had started mass testing its African com-munity shortly after a cluster of COVID-19 cases was found in a neighbourhood with a large migrant population, and a wave

of reports about discrimination and xenophobia followed.

The new anti-racism rules, announced on the weekend, came after many Africans in Guangzhou said they had been forcibly evicted by police from their accommodation, refused service at shops and restaurants, and were subject to mass coro-navirus testing and arbitrary quarantines.

Now, businesses and resi-dential compounds “must implement non-discriminatory service... treat all Chinese and for-eigners in Guangdong equally,

and firmly oppose any racist or discriminatory speech and behaviour,” according to a yes-terday report by the state-run China News Service.

The new policies appeared to address some of the concerns raised by the African community, banning public spaces from setting tighter entry requirements for certain nationalities and promising to punish buses and taxis who refuse foreign passengers.

They also ban landlords from cancelling housing contracts or increasing rent without

explanation. However, the measures do not outline any spe-cific punishments.

A total of 111 African nationals in Guangzhou have tested pos-itive for COVID-19, including 19 imported cases, officials announced on April 11. The vast majority of imported cases in Guangdong province involved returning Chinese nationals.

McDonald’s China was among the businesses who came under fire. It apologised after a branch in Guangzhou displayed a sign banning black people from entry, prompting online outrage.

Thiam, a 25-year-old exchange student from Guinea, said that he suffered discrimi-nation in Guangzhou even after completing a 14-day home quar-antine and producing a clean bill of health.

“Even when you go out and take the bus or metro, people start running away from you,” he said.

He added that when he tries booking a ride with the Didi app, “the driver will ask me if I’m black and then refuse to take me, saying black people are dan-gerous. It’s crazy!”

KazakhstanPresident namestop aide asSenate Speaker

AFP — NUR-SULTAN

Kazakhstan’s president appointed a top aide to the Senate yesterday after dis-missing his powerful predeces-sor’s daughter in a shock move that sparked speculation of a power struggle.

An order published on President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s website said that the former deputy head of his administration, Maulen Ashim-bayev, would become a senator following the dismissal of Dariga Nazarbayeva on Saturday.

Ashimbayev was yesterday unanimously elected as Speaker of the Upper House — the position that Nazarbayeva held prior to her dismissal, and which had positioned her second in line to the presidency.

Nazarbayeva is the 56-year-old daughter of Kazakhstan’s first post-inde-pendence leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retains sig-nificant formal powers despite retiring last year after three decades at the helm.

Nazarbayev, 79, has not spoken publicly about his daughter’s dismissal which w a s a n n o u n c e d o n Saturday.

Yet he recently called on the country to back Tokayev as the Central Asian country battles the dual shock of rock bottom energy prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

Ashimbayev’s unanimous election as Senate Speaker was confirmed by Tokayev’s press secretary in a Facebook post.

Australian student, meat plant workers among new virus cases as curbs easeREUTERS — SYDNEY

A school in the Australian city of Sydney was closed yesterday after a student tested positive for the coronavirus, while a testing blitz in neighbouring Victoria state returned 22 new cases, the biggest daily jump in weeks.

The positive test result for a seven-year-old boy was the only new case of the coronavirus in the country’s most populous state, New South Wales, state premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

Local health authorities were trying to trace the source of the infection and the school would be closed for intensive cleaning, she added.

A campaign of wide com-munity testing in neighbouring Victoria state, meanwhile, iden-tified 22 new cases of the illness, of which 19 were connected to a meat processing plant, author-ities said.

The Sydney school infection

draws attention to the conten-tious question of whether children should attend school during the outbreak.

The Federal government has said schools should stay open since children carry a low risk of spreading the flu-like illness, while some state governments have said parents should seek to keep their children at home.

That debate has continued even as states start to ease restrictions on movement with the daily rate of infection increase slowing to a crawl,

from about 25 percent seen a month earlier.

NSW, home to nearly half the country’s roughly 6,800 coronavirus infections, will reopen schools on a staggered basis, while neighbouring Vic-toria state has asked parents to keep children at home until the middle of the year.

The states are also moving at different speeds to lift movement restrictions: NSW has allowed people to make house visits in groups of up to two, while Victoria has said it will

consider relaxing its stay-home order on May 11.

“This is a struggle and... it’s not easy to live this way, but none of us can assume, just because we’re frustrated, that this is over,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters yesterday.

“This is far from over. We have to stay the course.”

The smaller state of South Australia, a popular tourism des-tination, meanwhile plans to lift a ban on interstate travel within days, the Australian newspaper reported yesterday.

The New Zealand Warriors rugby team arrived in Queensland state yesterday and entered a mandatory two-week quarantine before the start of the Australian rugby league season on May 28.

Australia has so far escaped the high numbers of casualties seen in other countries, with about 6,800 infections and 95 deaths.

Singapore plans to boost virus-testing capacityREUTERS — SINGAPORE

Singapore is planning a 500 percent increase in its virus-testing capacity as part of its fight against the COVID-19 disease, its health minister said yesterday, as the city-state reported 573 new coronavirus cases.

Singapore is working with various private and public-sector firms to increase testing capacity to up to 40,000 a day, Gan Kim Yong told parliament.

It has the capacity to conduct more than 8,000 tests a day versus 2,900 in early April. The city-state has one of the highest testing rates in the world at 2,500 tests per 100,000 people.

Singapore, which has put in place “circuit breaker” restric-tions aimed at stemming novel coronavirus, which include closing most workplaces, will

allow some businesses to reopen from May 12.

For restrictions to be lifted, cases outside worker dormi-tories should ideally fall to zero or single digits daily, with very low numbers of unlinked cases, over a sustained period of time, Gan said. Cases among migrant workers should also drop, he said.

The government will review the situation globally and in individual countries when deciding to open Singapore’s borders.

“For any re-opening of our borders, we are likely to start small and selectively,” Gan added.

At 18,778 infections, the city-state has among the highest case loads in Asia, because of mass outbreaks in migrant-worker dormitories. It has, however, managed to curb the spread of the disease outside the dormitories, and has suffered 18

deaths. The government will comprehensively review the pandemic and its responses “at the right time,”

Lawrence Wong, a minister

who co-heads Singapore’s virus-fighting task-force, said in com-ments reported by the Straits Times newspaper.

Parliament was also set to

pass a law yesterday that seeks to ensure that a general election could be held safely if called during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical personnel check temperature of a migrant worker at a dormitory amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Singapore.

‘Star Wars’ charactersenforce quarantinein Philippine villageREUTERS — MANILA

Dressed as “Star Wars” characters, local officials in the Phil-ippines are out and about to enforce strict quarantine measures while also handing out relief packages.

With Darth Vader and Stormtrooper outfits made from rubber mats and old plastic, the youth leaders catch the attention of villagers on the outskirts of Manila, who are then reminded to stay indoors.

“We tell off residents who still go outdoors without the proper quarantine passes needed and also those who do not wear face masks. We make sure the government guidelines are properly followed,” Muriel Baldago, an elected official dressed in a Stormtrooper costume, said.

His get-up is greeeted with smiles and offers villagers a little distraction from outbreak, he added.

On May 4, also known as “Star Wars” Day and celebrated worldwide by fans of the franchise, government workers in costume also rode small wooden boats to distribute relief packs containing rice and canned goods in a nearby coastal neighbourhood.

The Philippines, whose capital and main cities are under strict quarantine protocols until mid-May, has recorded 9,485 confirmed coronavirus cases, 623 deaths and 1,315 recoveries as of yesterday, government figures showed.

The Sydney school infection draws attention to the contentious question of whether children should attend school during the outbreak. The Federal government has said schools should stay open since children carry a low risk of spreading the flu-like illness, while some state governments have said parents should seek to keep their children at home.

12 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020EUROPE

UK to roll out tracing app in bid to ease lockdownAFP — LONDON

Britain was poised yesterday to roll out a new smartphone tracing app for coronavirus on an island off England’s south coast, as the country looks to ease a six-week nationwide lockdown.

The app, developed by the state-run National Health Service (NHS), will be trialled on the Isle of Wight ahead of its planned rollout across Britain later this month.

It is seen as a key part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to lift stay-at-home orders imposed in late March.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the app would be available to the island’s health professionals from today, before being rolled out to all of the island’s roughly 80,000 households later this week.

He said the app was part of the government’s new “test, track and trace” strategy that aimed “to hunt down and isolate the virus so it’s unable to reproduce”.

“This does not mean the end of social distancing on the Isle of Wight or anywhere else for

that matter,” Hancock added at the daily Downing Street briefing.

Britain is one of the worst-hit countries in the COVID-19 pandemic, announcing another 288 deaths yesterday to take the death toll to 28,734 — the third highest globally and almost on a par with second-placed Italy.

Johnson said last week the country was “past the peak” of the outbreak but not yet ready to move out of lockdown.

The measures — which are assessed at three-week intervals — are set for review on Thursday, but the British leader is not expected to set out his pro-posals for their easing until Sunday, according to media reports.

In the meantime, officials will assess how well the smart-phone app performs on the Isle

of Wight. The island is seen as an ideal place for the trial because it has no direct links to mainland Britain and has a rel-atively low number of confirmed virus cases.

The app will be deployed alongside a newly recruited team of contact tracers, who will eventually number 18,000 nationwide, to help track down people identified by the tool as at-risk of having become infected.

But Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned it was not a “quick-fix” and that the number of people being infected was still too high to make any “meaningful change” to the social distancing regime.

“It is very likely on Thursday I will be asking you to stick with lockdown for longer,” she said.

Britons are currently being

told to stay at home unless they need to work, buy essentials or take daily exercise, but they must stay at least two metres away from other people.

New government guidance on how to maintain social dis-tancing in workplaces suggests

British office workers will be encouraged to stay at home for months to avoid overwhelming the transport system, according to the BBC and the Financial Times.

The guidance urges employers to stagger shifts and

stop people from sharing desks or stationery. Workers who deal with customers must also be protected by plastic screens.

No date for reopening schools has yet been decided, a spokesman for Johnson told reporters.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at Downing Street, in London, yesterday.

France becomes

fifth country

with over 25,000

virus deathsREUTERS — PARIS

France said the number of deaths from the coronavirus rose above 25,000 yesterday, becoming the fifth country to pass that threshold after the United States, Italy, Britain and Spain.

The daily number of new fatalities also sped up again after several days of decline.

The number of people who have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus increased by 306, or 1.2 percent, to 25,201 – the sharpest rate of increase in four days, government data showed. On Sunday, only 135 new deaths were reported — the lowest figure in more than a month.

Total confirmed cases rose by 576 to 131,863, well below the 3,000 President Emmanuel Macron’s government has set as the upper limit before it would reverse a decision to partially lift a national lockdown on May 11.

Last week, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the lockdown had saved tens of thousands of lives but that now was the time to relax it. Schools will progressively reopen and businesses will be free to resume operations, though res-taurants, cafes and beaches will remain closed until at least June.

Health Ministry figures show the number of people in intensive care with COVID-19 infections had fallen for the 26th consecutive day, to 3,696 — the lowest since March 26.

The number of people in hospital with coronavirus also fell again to 25,548 from 258,815, continuing an uninter-rupted decrease lasting almost three weeks.

In addition to the confirmed cases, suspected cases in nursing homes rose slightly to 37,599, for a total of 169,462, up 769 in 24 hours after an increase of 297 on Sunday.

Germany starts to reopen, but arguments rage over paceREUTERS — BERLIN

Germany took a further step on the long road back to post-coro-navirus normality yesterday, with museums and hairdressers reopening under strict conditions, churches opening their doors for worshippers, and more car factories resuming work.

But more than a month after Germany suspended all but essential social and commercial life to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, politicians in charge of Europe’s largest economy are at odds over how far and how fast to move.

There is mounting pressure from business groups and some

regional governments who are anxious to move faster on restarting economic life. Chan-cellor Angela Merkel has warned that reopening too swiftly risks triggering a second wave of infections, but many regions are already going alone.

The reopening of some border crossings with France, which has scrapped quarantine requirements for EU citizens, lent further impetus to calls for accel-erated reopening. In the east, Poland has reopened frontiers for some cross-border commuters.

Germany has been more suc-cessful than other large European countries in slowing the virus’ spread — it estimates that every

100 carriers of the virus now infects only 74 others on average, well below the 100 mark where new restrictions must be imposed.

But Merkel fears that com-placency and a race to reopen between different regions could undo the successes achieved so far. A study by the University of Bonn looking at an outbreak in the Rhineland town of Heinsberg, Germany’s largest cluster of the disease, estimated that some 1.8 million Germans may already have had the disease — 10 times the official count, in an indication of how rapidly it could spread if left unchecked.

In North Rhine-Westphalia,

the Netherlands-sized western state that is Germany’s most pop-ulous, family minister Joachim Stamp said he would reopen kin-dergartens in the state unilat-erally if no nationwide ruling comes in a meeting planned with Merkel for Wednesday.

In eastern Germany, where there have been fewer infections, the state of Saxony-Anhalt went further, becoming the first state to revoke a rule prohibiting meetings of more than two people: gatherings of up to five are now permitted.

The central state of Lower Saxony also announced plans to reopen restaurants from next yesterday, pre-empting the

nationwide decision due to be taken tomorrow.

Pressure from industry groups was particularly strong, with the travel sector saying restrictions were set to cost it over 10 billion euros up to mid-June and retailers saying con-tinuing shop closures are costing them 1.15 billion euros a day.

The latest steps towards reo-pening come with restrictions: even if restaurants stay closed, social distancing requirements will change practices even where daily life resumes. So barbers will be able to cut hair, but proce-dures involving close facial contact, such as beard or mous-tache trimming, are out.

Masks mandatory onpublic transport inSpain as easing beginsAFP — MADRID

Masks became mandatory on public transport yesterday as Spain took its first tentative steps towards a commercial reopening with small businesses accepting customers by appointment and restaurants prepping food for takeaway.

Spain’s population of nearly 47 million have been confined to their homes for more than 50 days as the country sought to curb the spread of the deadly virus which has so far claimed 25,428 lives according to official figures.

But the daily death rate has been steadily falling, with the country yesterday counting another 164 deaths in 24 hours, an identical number to Sunday which was the lowest figure in nearly seven weeks.

And yesterday, the number of new cases fell to 545, the lowest figure since the country shut down on March 14 to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

Health chiefs believe the epi-demic peaked on April 2 when

950 people died in one 24-hour period. Spain began transi-tioning out of its strict virus lockdown on April 26 when it allowed children outside for an hour a day with the measure extended this weekend to adults who can now go out for a brief walk or exercise alone.

The government has said the restrictions will be gradually lifted in a four-phase process which will be completed by the end of June, with the country already engaged in the first pre-paratory stage.

Yesterday, new rules went into effect on public transport, with police and civil protection officers handing out millions of masks at stations across the country to ensure commuters complied with the now-com-pulsory requirement.

“We remind you that it is obligatory to wear a mask, whether travelling on a train or anywhere inside the transport system,” said a message over the loudspeakers at Sol station in central Madrid, which serves the metro and interurban trains.

“Until today I hadn’t seen people wearing masks but now I can,” said Cristina Jimenez, 31, who works in a currency exchange outlet and has been working throughout the lockdown.

Yesterday, easing measures went into effect for some small businesses with premises no larger than 400 square metres which can now receive cus-

tomers with a reservation.“Today it’s a bit chaotic with

all the clients phoning for an appointment and trying to fit them all in,” said Conchi Navarro, a 56-year-old hair-dresser wearing a mask who has just opened her Barcelona salon.

Restaurants will also benefit from the changes. Until now, they have been allowed to

prepare food for delivery, but from yesterday they could also offer meals that customers can come and collect in person. Spain is currently in the so-called preparatory phase zero and will enter stage one on May 11 when it will allow gatherings of up to 10 people within strict social distancing guidelines and the limited opening of bar ter-races and street cafes.

Elderly people wearing protective masks read newspapers as they sit on benches during the hours in which the elderly are allowed to be outdoors, in Barcelona, yesterday.

Italy starts slow return to normality, fears virus resurgenceREUTERS — ROME

Grandparents hugged their grandchildren, toddlers rushed excitedly through parks and factories revived their long-stalled production lines as Italy started the slow process of unwinding Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown.

Nearly two months after ordering Italians to stay home in an effort to slow one of the worst outbreaks of the new coronavirus in the world, the government yesterday cau-tiously eased a few restrictions, while keeping many others in place.

Despite more than 29,000 Italians dying of COVID-19 since the outbreak emerged on Feb. 21, some people have

nonetheless complained that the rollback is too timid, while others worry that complacency will lead to a fresh wave of infections.

Many are simply overjoyed to get some of their old life back.

“I woke up at 5.30am. I was so excited,” said Maria Antonietta Galluzzo, a grand-mother taking her 3-year-old grandson for a walk in Rome’s Villa Borghese park — the first time they had seen each other in eight weeks.

The unkempt grass towered above the boy’s head and the air was full of the sound of lawnmowers as park staff began to restore some order to one of Italy’s most elegant gardens.

“He has grown by this

much,” she said, holding up three horizontal fingers to show the spurt.

“It is wonderful.” Under the new rules, 4.5 million Italians can clock back in, construction work can resume and relatives can reunite. More importantly for some, cafes were allowed to reopen for takeaways, with cus-tomers sipping their coffees on the pavement.

“This is my first proper coffee for eight weeks,” said Riccardo Monti, the CEO of an e-commerce company.

“Perhaps it is the thing I missed most. The bar is the focal point of our social life so to see them closed was a trauma.”

While some old rituals returned, many curbs stayed in place to try to prevent a

resurgence of COVID-19 in the country with the world’s second highest death toll after the United States.

There were 195 new deaths yesterday, up from 174 the day before and twice as many as the daily tally on March 9, when Italy’s lockdown began.

Friends are still barred from meeting up, the cause of much grumbling on social media, most shops must stay shut until May 18, and schools, cinemas and theatres remain closed indefinitely. Despite facing the worst recession since World War Two, the government has said it can only lift restrictions gradually. Well over a thousand new cases of the highly infec-tious coronavirus are still being reported daily.

A police officer wearing a protective face mask takes a photo at Porta Palazzo market after it reopened with social distancing rules as Italy begins a staged end to a lockdown, in Turin, yesterday.

The app, developed by the state-run National Health Service, will be trialled on the Isle of Wight ahead of its planned rollout across Britain later this month. It is seen as a key part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to lift stay-at-home orders imposed in late March.

13TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 EUROPE

Czechs ease more travel bans, add help for coronavirus-hit firmsREUTERS — PRAGUE

The Czech Republic will lift a ban on international bus and train travel from May 11 as the government on Monday rolled back more of its measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak and added aid to hard-hit companies.

A virtual lockdown of the central European country in March has taken a harsh eco-nomic toll, with shuttered shops only now just getting back to business while manufacturing activity is at its weakest since the 2009 global financial crisis.

The government largely sealed borders in mid-March, a move seen throughout Europe as the outbreak grew. The state has already allowed Czechs to travel abroad again although those returning must show neg-ative coronavirus tests or quarantine.

Yesterday, it decided inter-national bus and rail links can restart next week. However,

operators said the renewal of routes will depend largely on

neighbouring countries’ restrictions.

Tourism into the Czech Republic is still largely pro-hibited except for European Union business travellers and students. The government on Monday it would also allow non-EU citizens in for seasonal work or healthcare work from May 11.

The government also approved extended aid pay-ments to small companies and self employed. The cabinet sus-pended an online sales reporting system, easing busi-nesses’ costs.

The Industry Ministry will also prepare a plan to give rent relief to companies, agreeing to cover half the cost if landlords chip in 30%, minister Karel Havlicek said.

The government has pledged more than 1 trillion crowns ($40.24bn) mostly in loan guarantees and direct aid for affected workers and firms. It is planning a record budget deficit of 300bncrowns in 2020, more than seven times its

original plan. But some business groups

have criticised the help as too slow and have pushed for a quicker relaunch of businesses.

The government, saying it was confident the outbreak was under control, has started speeding up its phased reopening.

It said last week it would allow the opening of cultural and sport events with up to 100 people from May 11, including cinemas, theatres and religious services. All face new hygiene rules.

Shopping malls and larger shops are also due to open next week after small stores reo-pened last Monday.

Restaurants and hotels are due open on May 25.

The Czech Republic, a country of 10.7 million, had reported 7,799 cases of the virus by last afternoon. Almost half have recovered and 251 deaths have been recorded.

Total virus infections inRussia surpass 145,000AFP — MOSCOW

Russia registered a near record in new daily coronavirus cases yesterday as total infections topped 145,000, cementing its position as the European country reporting the most new cases.

Health officials said there were 10,581 new infections over the last 24 hours, only 52 fewer than Sunday’s record, bringing Russia’s total to 145,268 cases and 1,356 deaths.

Russia is emerging as a new hotspot for the coronavirus as many countries in western Europe begin steps to ease lockdown measures after their rates of new infections and deaths dropped.

The number of new cases in Russia is substantially higher than the European country in second place, Britain, which reported another 4,339 infec-tions on Sunday.

Despite the sharp rise in

cases, Russia’s official fatality rate has remained low in com-parison to countries including Italy, Spain and the United States.

Officials credit quick moves to close the country’s borders, as well as widespread testing and tracking of infections, but critics have cast doubts on the numbers.

The authorities have extended a non-working quar-antine period until May 11 but have also indicated they could then gradually lift confinement measures which vary from region to region.

The head of Russia’s public health watchdog, Anna Popova, said on Monday that this could happen but cautioned: “Today that’s only a hope.”

If Russians start violating the rules, “by May 12 it will be obvious that we need to tighten them”, she said in a televised interview.

Moscow has emerged as the

epicentre of the pandemic in Russia, with around half the total coronavirus cases.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is the highest-profile figure to have contracted the virus. He is in hospital but is continuing to work, his spokesman said.

Russian officials have stepped up warnings to stay at home this week with the country currently on public holidays.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sob-yanin has warned that “the threat is apparently on the rise” and urged residents to respect confinement rules and anti-virus measures over the May holiday period.

“The weather is getting warmer and of course it’s harder for people to stay home,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television yesterday.

“Unfortunately when we go

Serbia to hold parliamentary elections in June

AFP — BELGRADE

Parliamentary and local elec-tions in Serbia will now be held in June after they were post-poned due to the new corona-virus pandemic, President Aleksandar Vucic said.

The polls, initially set for April 26, were postponed in mid-March, when Serbia declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in a bid to fight the COVID-19. “Par-liamentary and local elections will be held on June 21,” Vucic told reporters after meeting leaders of political parties that will take part in the polls.

It is yet to be seen how the electoral campaign will be conducted as Serbia is yet to lift curfew that is on every night from 6 pm to 5 am.

Earlier yesterday, the gov-ernment said it would ask the parliament to lift the state of emergency and the curfew. The parliament is expected to meet later this week and end the curfew starting from Thursday. Due to the epidemic “it is pretty certain that there will be no (electoral) rallies in May, cer-tainly not large ones and in closed spaces,” Vucic said.

Regarding electoral meetings and rallies in June “we will ask doctors and epi-demiologists for an opinion. It will depend on the situation with the epidemic,” he added.

Serbia yesterday relaxed some measures introduced in a bid to fight the pandemic of COVID-19 virus, including reo-pening of restaurants and cafes as well as resuming public transport. Serbia has confirmed more than 9,000 infected people so far, including fewer than 200 deaths. The figures have been decreasing in last several days.

AFP — BRUSSELS

The Louise roundabout in Brussels is usually swarming with traffic but yesterday, despite the beginning of the end of the coronavirus lockdown, activity was sparse and trams near empty.

In Belgium, a densely populated country of 11.5 million inhabitants, the coronavirus has killed more than 7,900 people, the highest per capita mortality rate officially recorded anywhere.

But with its economy crashing and the health emergency easing, the pressure to reopen became too great and containment measures were relaxed, albeit very gradually, like else-where in Europe.

Taking bold action is never easy in the country where decision-making is

split between Dutch- and French-speaking communities.

Disagreements are frequent and the complex, painstakingly negotiated solu-tions are considered a Belgian way of life. Regional and national leaders even bickered over the methodology for counting the dead. For while some said was prone to overcounting and a source of embarrassment, others hailed it as exemplary.

Finally, after a fractious meeting, a slow reopening was approved. The first phase, which began yesterdy, allowed companies with no face-to-face cus-tomers to reopen if teleworking was not an option. This is to be followed by all shops reopening on May 11 — applying social distancing rules — and then a first group of students to return to schools on May, 18 if all has gone well until then.

Yesterday's most visible measure was the order to wear masks on public transport for anyone over the age of 12.

At the bus and tram stops, few people were seen without masks, most appearing to have been stitched at home. “I feel like I’m suffocating, it’s very unpleasant, but I comply,” said lawyer Annabel Champetier, showing her blue fabric mask with white dots.

Rene Hoffman, 81, wore a surgical mask, with his eye glasses already fogged up by his heavy breathing.

“I’m not convinced. It’s a bit much,” said the man who stressed that he had survived the last world war as a child.

In the European Union’s head-quarters district, the streets were almost empty, with most civil servants still required to work from home.

A rare exception was a tech worker

employed by the EU foreign service, spotted at the Schuman metro station, a transport hub usually crowded with civil servants.

“They asked me to come back to work. But I’m not on the front line like the caregivers. I would have preferred to remain confined,” the man said on condition of anonymity.

Also in the EU district, a cleaning lady of Turkish background hurried to work, worried for her children alone at home since school has not resumed.

“We have to go back to work, the children are alone at home and they have to eat,” she said.

Despite the grey weather and light rain, architect Jean-Baptiste Bernard said he was delighted to be going to his first building site visit since the start of the confinement on March 18.

A woman works in a garden at her dacha, or summer house, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease on the outskirts of Omsk, Russia, yesterday.

A man climbs up a pole as a part of his training in Prague, Czech Republic, yesterday, amid restrictions due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

out onto the street, there are a lot of people, a lot of cars. Potentially that is a dangerous violation of the lockdown... the curve of new cases could go up again.”

Putin is set to hold a gov-ernment meeting on Wednesday after asking offi-cials to come up with a plan for a gradual withdrawal from

lockdown, Peskov said. Russia has several public

holidays in early May, including Victory Day on May 9 to cele-brate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Putin had planned a major celebration for this year’s 75th anniversary, with world leaders in attendance as thousands of troops and tanks paraded

through Red Square. The coronavirus forced him

to postpone the parade and the day will now be marked only with military aircraft flying over major cities.

Fighter jets roared over Moscow on Monday spurting red, white and blue smoke as they rehearsed for the event.

Masked Belgians cautiously emerge from lockdown

Hungary high school exams begin despite virus lockdown

AFP — BUDAPEST

Thousands of Hungarian students began qualifying exams yesterday even though schools at large remained closed while the country started to ease out of its coronavirus lockdown.

Last week Prime Minister Viktor Orban allowed a partial relaxing of curfew restrictions outside of Budapest, but schools are to remain shut at least until the end of May.

More than 80,000 students and 6,000 teachers are expected to attend some 1,000

centres nationwide for the annual school-leaving exam in the coming weeks.

Most students, who have been home-schooled since mid-March, are expected to take the exams this month, though they have the option of sitting them in the autumn instead.

Schools were disinfected before pupils arrived Monday for what a local media report described as the “strangest exams in decades”.

No more than 10 pupils may sit written exams per classroom at any time, while desks are set 1.5 metres (five feet) apart.

Precautions include requiring pupils to wear masks while walking in corridors, and in most subjects oral exams are

waived as a way to limit close contact.

At the entrance to one Budapest school, staff wearing

rubber gloves handed out masks to students and asked them to use hand sanitisers.

“It was weird, to go in and

sit there without really social-ising with your classmates whom I hadn’t seen in a month,” a student told the HVG.hu website.

“It was difficult to do the exams in a mask while wearing glasses, as they steamed up every few minutes,” another said.

The government’s decision not to postpone the exams drew some criticism.

Teachers unions protested that it put students and teachers —particularly older ones—attending the exams at risk of infection. One union even called for a boycott.

Local media quoted some parents as complaining that their children could not prepare enough because of inadequate digital learning equipment at home.

Hungary, with a population of almost 10 million, reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 infections and 351 deaths as of yesterday.

A teacher hands out exam items to students wearing face masks in Szerb Antal Grammar School in Budapest, Hungary, yesterday.

Last week Prime Minister Viktor Orban allowed a partial relaxing of curfew restrictions outside of Budapest, but schools are to remain shut at least until the end of May. More than 80,000 students and 6,000 teachers are expected to attend some 1,000 centres nationwide for the annual school-leaving exam in the coming weeks.

14 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020AMERICAS

Trump relaunches campaign with vaccine promise and vision of ‘incredible’ futureAFP — WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump relaunched his election campaign on Sunday with a live television event inside the iconic Lincoln Memorial, prom-ising an early coronavirus vaccine and urging Americans to put the pandemic behind them to embrace an “incredible” future.

With the two-hour long Fox News “town hall,” Trump sought to wrap himself in the mantle of America’s arguably greatest president — and to per-suade a nation battered by death and mass unemployment to look ahead.

“We can’t stay closed as a country, we’re not going to have a country left,” he said on the show, where two moderators, as well as ordinary citizens via video, put questions to him in front of the monument. “We’re going to have an incredible fol-lowing year,” he said.

To a woman who called in expressing fear of financial ruin and eviction, Trump said her job would come back.

“You get a job where you make more money,” he said.

Saying Americans should start going back to beaches this summer and recommending that shuttered schools need to reopen in September, Trump forecast good news on the hunt for a vaccine.

“We are very confident that we’re going to have a vaccine... by the end of the year,” he said, admitting he was getting ahead of his own advisors with the prediction. “I’ll say what I think,” he said.

The businessman Repub-lican is doing poorly in most

polls ahead of the November presidential contest against Democratic challenger Joe Biden, who remains shuttered in his Delaware home.

Trump faces criticism for his bruising, divisive style during a time of national calamity. He is also accused by some of botching the early response to the COVID-19 virus.

Worse, the previously booming US economy, which was seen as a golden ticket to his second term, is now in dire straits due to the nationwide lockdown.

With officials saying the viral spread has begun to taper, Trump is itching to return to the campaign trail.

However, he faces new crit-icism that he is trying to declare premature victory, even as the illness continues to kill thou-sands of Americans every week.

Having repeatedly mini-mized the death toll, claiming it will end at around 60,000, Trump conceded that now “we’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people.” His emphasis, however, was not

on the dead, but on resurrecting his image as a can-do leader who can end the skyrocketing unemployment caused by the lockdown.

That audacious shift began on Sunday at possibly the most hallowed monument in the country — the statue of Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through civil war, urged recon-ciliation, and was assassinated in his moment of triumph.

Trump, who calls himself a “wartime president” denied that the election will turn into a referendum on his handling of the crisis.

But he added: “I hope it does because we’ve done a great job.” In the next few days, Trump will follow up by breaking months of self-quar-antine with long-distance trips to the key electoral states of Arizona and Ohio.

It’s a play that will emphasize Trump’s massive visibility advantage over Biden and, the White House hopes, rewrite the public relations script after gaffes including the president’s suggestion that coronavirus patients ingest disinfectant.

Lincoln gambled in 1861 that only war could preserve the United States by ending slavery and restoring the nation’s ideals of freedom. He won, becoming a national hero.

But Lincoln is remembered as much for reaching out to former foes — something Trump did not seek to emulate as he spoke at the foot of the iconic statue.

The Democrats, he said, are “radical,” claiming they would prefer to see people get sick than see him succeed.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Fox News virtual town hall “America Together: Returning to Work” event, with anchors Bret Baier (right) and Martha MacCallum, from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on Sunday.

President's order to buy US-made medical supplies coming soon, says NavarroREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump plans an executive order soon to address the lack of medical product manufacturing in the United States during the novel coronavirus outbreak, the White House said yesterday.

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News in an interview that an order would soon require federal agencies to purchase US-made medical products, saying the novel coro-navirus outbreak had exposed the nation’s reliance on China.

Navarro gave no other details about the proposed order, which would extend “Buy America” requirements to medical products and pharma-ceuticals. He said further steps were also needed, including deregulation to make it easier for pharmaceutical companies to operate in the United States.

Navarro’s proposed order has met strong resistance from business leaders and current and former officials, who argued that acting to curb imports could prompt China to curb urgently needed shipments of N95 masks and other pro-tective equipment. The initial proposal was revised slightly but is still going through an interagency review process, according to the officials.

The issue has divided the White House and some of Trump’s key advisers, with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House eco-nomic adviser Larry Kudlow pushing back against the pro-posed order, according to current and former officials.

In March, over 80 business groups warned such an order could worsen shortages of medical equipment and drugs, and delay discovery of a vaccine

for the new coronavirus.US-China tensions have

spiked in recent months over the coronavirus pandemic, fueling a longstanding push by Trump and China hawks like Navarro to bring manufacturing back from overseas.

The administration is weighing new tariffs and efforts are underway across the gov-ernment to reduce US reliance on industrial components pro-duced in China.

Security risks to the nation’s electric infrastructure over components were also an issue, Navarro said, lauding an exec-utive order signed on Friday by Trump that he said would extend a “Buy America” approach to the power grid.

The order seeks to protect the US electricity system from cyber and other attacks in a move that could lead to barriers on some imports from China and Russia.

Paramedic dies

while volunteering

in New York City

AP — DENVER

A retired Colorado paramedic who died from coronavirus after volunteering to help combat the pandemic in New York City was being honored on Sunday as his body was returned to Denver.

Paul Cary, 66, who worked 32 years as a firefighter para-medic in the Denver suburbs, died April 30, a month after he began working in New York. He was part of a wave of out-of-state medical technicians, doctors and nurses who came to the city to help relieve a health care system being over-whelmed by the virus.

Governor Jared Polis said Cary had “heroically” served his community and country and traveled thousands of miles to help others.

A large procession of fire trucks, EMS and other emer-gency vehicles drove from the airport after Cary’s body was returned on Sunday night.

“He risked his own health and safety, and stepped up to do what he could,” Polis said in a statement. “I can never express just how grateful I am for people like Paul, and all our emergency responders who are on the front lines of this virus.” When he volunteered, Cary was working with a private ambulance company, Ambulnz from which 75 employees had volunteered to work in New York, according to Ambulnz spokesman Josh Weiss.

Cary responded from a location in the Bronx to calls ranging from patient transfers to 911 calls.

US Senate returns amid concerns about coronavirus riskREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US senators returned to Wash-ington for the first time in nearly six weeks yesterday, amid concerns that their legis-lative sessions could put lawmakers and staff at risk of contracting the new corona-virus.

The Senate was due to reconvene to address partisan differences over the next step in legislation to combat the pan-demic and to scrutinize a series of nominations for senior gov-ernment posts put forward by President Donald Trump.

Democrats and Republicans are at odds over the contents of

any new coronavirus legislation.

Democrats want up to $1 trillion to help state and local governments weather the brunt of the pandemic. Republicans are demanding liability protec-tions for businesses, which Democrats oppose, as a con-dition for moving forward on any bill.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump is looking at ways to stimulate travel and wants tax changes for business entertainment expenses to get people to go back to restaurants.

With Washington still under a stay-at-home order,

lawmakers have been advised by the congressional phy-sician to wear masks, maintain a distance of six feet and limit the number of staff on Capitol Hill.

The first real test of the rec-ommendations will come at 2130 GMT, when senators are due for a roll call vote on Robert Feitel’s nomination to be inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Republican-led Senate back into session, saying lawmakers would join American workers in essential sectors of the economy to address “critical

business” on several fronts.The Democratic-controlled

House of Representatives chose instead to remain in recess this week because of potential health risks.

With some Democratic lawmakers warning that the Senate’s return could risk spreading the virus, the Trump administration last week offered Congress 1,000 coro-navirus tests.

McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down the offer over the weekend, a decision that came under fire yesterday.

“By Congress not wanting the special 5 minute testing

apparatus, they are saying that they are not ‘essential’,” Trump wrote in a tweet.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy criticized the decision to turn down the tests in a Politico interview: “As we open up, we cannot assume there will not be a flare-up somewhere.”

The Senate will host two nomination hearings on Tuesday, one for US Represent-ative John Ratcliffe as national intelligence director and another for Brian Miller, a White House lawyer nomi-nated to oversee the Treasury’s handling of coronavirus relief funding.

In honour

Thousands of white markers on the lawn, placed by Senior Pastor the Reverend Patrick Collins, at the First Congregational Church of Greenwich yesterday to honour the many lives lost as result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

US to rein in virus blood tests after lax oversightAP — WASHINGTON

US regulators yesterday pulled back a decision that allowed scores of coronavirus blood tests to hit the market without first providing proof that they worked.

The Food and Drug Admin-istration said it took the action because some sellers have made false claims about the tests and their accuracy. Com-panies will now have to show their tests work or risk having them pulled from the market.

Under pressure to increase testing options, the FDA in March essentially allowed companies to begin selling tests as long as they notified the agency of their plans and provided disclaimers, including that they were not FDA approved. The policy was intended to allow “flexibility” needed to quickly ramp up pro-duction, officials said.

“However, flexibility never meant we would allow fraud,” Dr. Anand Shah, an FDA deputy commissioner, said in a statement. “We unfortunately see unscrupulous actors mar-keting fraudulent test kits and using the pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of Americans.” Blood tests are different from the nasal swab tests currently used to diagnose

active COVID-19 infections. Instead, the tests look for blood proteins called antibodies, which the body produces days or weeks after fighting an infection. Most use a finger-prick of blood on a test strip.

The revised policy follows weeks of criticism from doctors, lab specialists and members of Congress who said the FDA’s lack of oversight created a Wild West of unregulated tests.

The agency acknowledged Monday that there have been problems with deceptive, false marketing among the 160 tests that have been launched in the US. Some companies have claimed their tests can be used at home, although FDA has not allowed that use. Others make unsubstantiated claims about their accuracy. Some US hos-pitals and local governments have reported buying tests that turned out to be inaccurate or frauds.

So far, the FDA has granted authorization to 11 antibody tests, meaning their methods, materials and accuracy passed muster with agency regulators. Companies with test kits cur-rently on the market without FDA authorization will now be required to submit formal applications to regulators within 10 business days.

Florida sheriff defends keeping childhood shooting secretAP — FORT LAUDERDALE

The Florida sheriff appointed by the governor after the 2018 Parkland high school massacre is defending himself over alle-gations that he should have disclosed he fatally shot another teenager when he was 14 in Philadelphia.

Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony told reporters over the weekend that he didn’t see the need to disclose the 1993 killing to Governor Ron DeSantis or on other applications during his law enforcement career because he was a juvenile and he was cleared because it was self-defense.

The shooting came to light Saturday in an article published by the Florida Bulldog website and further roiled the August Democratic primary race between Tony and the fired sheriff he replaced, Scott Israel.

DeSantis fired Israel days after he took office in January 2019 because of his office’s

mishandling of the February 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre that left 17 dead and replaced him with the little-known Tony. The former Coral Springs ser-geant had quit that department in 2016 to operate a consulting firm that specialized in active shooter training.

With the two-hour long Fox News “town hall,” Trump sought to wrap himself in the mantle of America’s arguably greatest president — and to persuade a nation battered by death and mass unemployment to look ahead.

15TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020 AMERICAS

Bolsonaro headlines anti-democratic rally amid flakREUTERS — BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attacked Congress and the courts in a speech to hundreds of supporters on Sunday as the number of coro-navirus cases blew past 100,000 in Brazil, underlining the former army captain’s increasing isolation as he down-plays the impacts of the pandemic.

The right-wing Bolsonaro has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum for dis-missing the threat of the virus in Brazil, which has registered 101,147 confirmed cases and 7,025 deaths, according to the most recent data from the Health Ministry.

On Sunday, dozens of public figures signed an open letter to the Brazilian government calling on officials to protect the nation’s indigenous people, who often live in remote locations with limited access to healthcare.

At the same time, Bolsonaro faces the most serious political crisis of his mandate, after his justice minister, Sergio Moro, quit last week and accused the pres-ident of firing the federal police chief in a bid to appoint a per-sonal ally to the post and meddle in sensitive investigations.

Brazil’s Supreme Court

blocked Bolsonaro’s pick for a new chief on Wednesday, enraging the president.

On Saturday, Moro, among Brazil’s most popular public figures due to his tough stance on corruption, presented tes-timony regarding possible obstruction of justice by Bol-sonaro. Hours before, the

president called Moro “Judas” on Twitter, referring to the apostle who betrayed Jesus.

As Bolsonaro’s relationship with legislators and the courts has cooled, he has become increasingly dependent on a cadre of advisers in his gov-ernment who are active or former military.

As in an April rally also attended by Bolsonaro, demon-strators called on Sunday for the closing of the Supreme Court and Congress, and a return to authoritarian measures used during Brazil’s 1964-1985 mil-itary government.

“We have the armed forces at the people’s side: the side of

order, democracy, liberty,” Bol-sonaro said in a speech trans-mitted live on Facebook.

“Enough interference. We’re not allowing any more inter-ference. Our patience is over.”

Bolsonaro did not call for a military takeover at the rally in Brasilia, and such an occurrence is widely considered unlikely in Brazil, where Congress, the courts, the press and civil society wield significant power.

But political leaders have called Bolsonaro’s participation in anti-democratic rallies irre-sponsible, especially as he has spoken approvingly of the nation’s former military dictatorship, which was responsible for hun-dreds of extrajudicial executions.

Bolsonaro’s attendance also drew criticism as the nation is a major coronavirus hot spot.

Bolsonaro, who did not wear a mask on Sunday, has dismissed the coronavirus as a “little flu,” saying the economic fallout of quarantining measures would be deadlier than the virus itself.

The open letter on Sunday, which warned that loggers and ranchers could introduce the virus to indigenous commu-nities in a development tanta-mount to “genocide,” was signed by celebrities ranging from US television personality Oprah Winfrey to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

The government has banned people from entering indig-enous reserves during the pan-demic. It has also cut down, however, on law enforcement against illegal loggers and miners in remote regions as a safety measure.

At the Sunday rally, at least three photographers were attacked by demonstrators, according to a witness — an increasingly routine occurrence in Brazil, where Bolsonaro rou-tinely calls the work of major newspapers “fake news.” The witness saw one photographer from Sao Paulo newspaper O Estado de S Paulo pulled off a ladder and repeatedly kicked in the ribs.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro holds a paper with a print of the WhatsApp message with former minister Sergio Moro, written below in Portuguese: “This is gossip” as he leaves Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, yesterday.

Infections exceed 20,600

in Chile; hospitalization

and death rates plateauREUTERS — SANTIAGO

Chile’s Health Ministry said yesterday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had exceeded 20,000.

The world’s top copper pro-ducer has 20,643 confirmed cases, 980 more than the pre-vious day, and 10 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 270, said Paula Daza, the health ministry subsecretary.

Chile, one of South Amer-ica’s most developed countries, has won praise for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, conducting more than 200,000 tests, shutting down schools and businesses soon after the first case was confirmed at the start of March and operating rolling quarantines.

Its straight-talking health minister Jaime Manalich, a kidney specialist who once ran one of Chile’s top hospitals, has clashed with local mayors and ministers about the timing of quarantines and closures.

He also courted contro-versy by pressing ahead with the introduction of some of the world’s first “release certifi-cates” for recovered patients, despite World Health Organi-sation guidance that there was no evidence to suggest COVID sufferers develop lasting immunity.

On Thursday he qualified the plan, saying the certificates would not speak to immunity.

Chile’s daily numbers of confirmed cases leapt into four figures last week after officials

started testing people without symptoms who had been in contact with sufferers in high-risk areas like nursing homes and prisons.

Manalich said on Thursday that the number of new cases was less important than the fact that the number of hospitali-zations and deaths had plateaued.

He insisted however that did not mean that he or his col-leagues would be “dropping our guard”.

“To be honest, cases of this infection are now moving to this country’s more vulnerable areas where social distancing, people staying at home, com-plying with quarantines, access to health, all becomes more dif-ficult,” he said.

Public health experts have warned that with the arrival of the winter flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, which routinely puts public hospitals under pressure, some of Latin America’s highest pollution rates in cities in Chile’s south could exacerbate COVID-19 death rates.

Economists widely predict a sharp contraction of Chile´s gross domestic product in 2020 and double-digit unem-ployment by year´s end, and the government has announced a rescue package worth five percent of GDP.

However the mines min-ister for the world’s top copper producer said the country’s production of the red metal was likely to dip by just one by year’s end.

Quebec starts gradual reopening; Trudeau cautiousREUTERS — MONTREAL

The major Canadian province of Quebec, among the worst hit by the coronavirus, started gradually restarting its economy yesterday while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau main-tained his cautious stance.

Quebec is allowing stores with an outside entrance for customers to reopen but this does not apply to Montreal, Canada’s second largest city, where retail establishments must wait until May 11.

Although Quebec makes up 24 percent of the Canadian pop-ulation, it accounts for 54 percent of the cases and 60 percent of the deaths. Canada

has so far reported 59,844 pos-itive diagnoses and 3,766 deaths, official data showed on Monday.

Most Quebec cases have occurred in seniors’ residences and among the elderly and the government of Premier Francois Legault says the time is right to start gradually lifting restrictions. He also says some schools will reopen this month.

“We still need to be extremely careful, not just for our seniors but for everyone around us. So don’t go out unless you absolutely have to,” Trudeau said yesterday.

“Even as the economy is starting to gradually reopen our focus is on keeping people

safe,” he told reporters.Air Canada posted a bigger-

than-expected quarterly loss, and its shares sank five percent as the carrier warned third-quarter capacity would slump about 75 percent as people stay home.

Trudeau said Ottawa would help the airline and tourism sectors and promised an announcement in the next week. He did not give details.

The provinces have a large amount of control over their economies and health care systems and Trudeau has so far not offered any criticism.

But he appeared uncertain when asked by public broad-caster Radio Canada whether

he would allow his children to go back to school if he lived in Quebec. He paused before replying “I don’t know”, while noting schools in Ontario were not going to reopen soon.

The exchange was part of an interview with Trudeau that was broadcast on Sunday night.

Louise Labrie, a union leader who represents workers at public-subsidized daycares, said many Quebec parents had to decide right away whether to send their children back.

Many of the staff who have health conditions are afraid of being called back to work, despite the promise of masks, she said by phone.

On the frontlineWitoto indigenous nursing assistant Vanda Ortega, poses for a picture before starting her round of healthcare visits in the Parque das Tribos, an indigenous community in the suburbs of Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil.

Virus fear turns deportees into pariahs in GuatemalaAP — GUATEMALA CITY

Migrants returning from the United States were once considered heroes in Guatemala, where the money they send back to their home-towns is a mainstay of the economy.

But since the coronavirus pandemic hit, migrants in town after town have been mis-treated, run off or threatened by neighbors who fear they will bring the virus back with them from the United States.

Similar mistreatment is being reported across Latin America and the Caribbean. In Haiti, police are guarding a hotel full of quarantined deportees from the US — partly to prevent them from escaping and partly to stop attacks from neighbors frightened of the coronavirus.

For immigrants already shaken by the Trump adminis-tration’s hard line on depor-tation, mistreatment at home is a further blow, and a disturbing illustration of how the pan-demic is upending long-standing social norms in unex-pected ways across the world.

Vanessa Díaz said her mother heard rumors that neighbors were organizing to keep her from reaching her home in the northern province of Petén after she was deported back to Guatemala on a flight from the United States.

Díaz had to run inside with her 7-year-old son and hide when she arrived.

“When we arrived my mother said, ‘Get out of the car and run into the house.’ She was afraid they were going to do something to us,” Díaz recalled.

T h e G u a t e m a l a n

government says at least 100 migrants deported from the United States between late March and mid-April have tested positive for COVID-19.

Even those who, like Díaz, are not infected — she was placed in quarantine at home for two weeks after arriving last month on flight where nobody tested positive — carry the stigma.

“The assistant mayor was going around egging people on, because they wanted to kick me and my son out of my house,” Díaz said.

The fear hasn’t subsided; Díaz’s mother must shop for food for them all, because her daughter doesn’t dare venture out. The mother has filed a complaint with police, because she’s afraid neighbors might yet attack the house.

“I am afraid. The police

came to the house and left their phone number, so we can call them” if there’s any trouble, Diaz said.

But reason and the threat of legal action appear to mean little. “I have a document that says I do not have the disease,” Díaz said, referring to a letter given to her by the Public Health Ministry when she was sent home to self-quarantine.

Díaz left Guatemala on Feb-ruary 14 and was caught entering the US two weeks later. She and her son spent more than a month in detention in Texas before they were deported.

The treatment of returning migrants by their own coun-trymen has become a matter of concern for President Alejandro Giammattei, who issued an appeal last month to stop the harassment.

“A few months ago, many people were happy to get their remittances checks,” Giam-mattei said, referring to the money migrants send back to their home country.

“Now, the person who sent those checks is treated like a criminal.” He stressed that through steps like quarantines and health checks, authorities are trying to guarantee that returning migrants are free of the virus.

But on social media, videos have been posted of angry res-idents chasing fellow Guate-malans deported from Mexico who had escaped from a shelter in the western city of Quetzaltenango where they were supposed to be in quar-antine, even though there have been no coronavirus cases among migrants deported from Mexico.

Cuba calls attack

on Washington

embassy act

of terrorism

REUTERS — HAVANA

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel yesterday called a gun assault last week on its embassy in Washington a “terrorist attack”, while US court papers said the suspected gunman was a psychotic Cuban emigre who heard voices.

There were no injuries in the attack last Thursday, but gunshots riddled the facade and some penetrated the building. Police arrested Alex-ander Alazo, 42, at around 2am after he fired an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle 32 times at the embassy, according a memorandum filed yesterday in support of pretrial detention.

Alazo told investigators he would have shot the ambas-sador if he had come out because he was “the enemy”. Voices in his head had told him to protect his family from what he believed were Cuban organized crime groups affil-iated with the Cuban gov-ernment that he claimed were following them and wanted to harm them.

He admitted he had been prescribed antipsychotic med-ication in March but did not fully comply with the prescription, a fact US state prosecutors argued “strongly weighs against his release” before trial.

“I must denounce the ter-rorist attack... and demand from the United States gov-ernment a thorough and swift investigation, harsh sanctions and security measures and guarantees for our diplomatic missions,” Diaz-Canel told a virtual summit of the non-aligned movement early yesterday.

The right-wing Bolsonaro has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum for dismissing the threat of the virus in Brazil, which has registered 101,147 confirmed cases and 7,025 deaths, according to the most recent data from the Health Ministry.

16 TUESDAY 5 MAY 2020MORNING BREAK

Turks turn to minimalism amid pandemic lockdown

Actor Robert De Niro and Mariah Carey to feature in telethon on May 11AFP — NEW YORK

A host of stars including Spike Lee, Mariah Carey and Robert De Niro will feature in a telethon to raise money for New Yorkers whose lives have been impacted by COVID-19, organ-

isers announced.The hour-long event,

organised by the anti-poverty charity Robin Hood and media group iHeartRadio, will be hosted by comedic actress and producer Tina Fey on May 11.

The show will air on New York City television and radio stations and will feature per-formances from artists Bon Jovi, Billy Joel and Sting.

Jennifer Lopez, Barbra Streisand, “Hamilton” musical creator Lin-Manuel Miranda

and “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah will also appear, Robin Hood and iHeartRadio said in a joint statement.

Donations will help provide support such as food, shelter, money, and health and edu-cation services, the statement

added. It comes after 200 celeb-

rities and politicians partici-pated in a 24-hour long “Call to Unite” livestream event on Friday to encourage donating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) relief efforts.

Last month, more than 270 million people worldwide watched a star-studded mar-athon special to celebrate essential workers that featured headliners The Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift performing from their homes.

Study finds PPE can cause serious skin injuriesIANS —BEIJING

Medical staff treating COVID-19-infected patients found that 42.8 percent experienced serious skin injury related to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, goggles, face shields, and protective gowns, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Advances in Wound Care by a large team of Chinese researchers, said that these skin

injuries put staff at increased risk of infection, with insuffi-cient prevention and treatment measures in place.

“We wanted to investigate the prevalence, characteristics, and preventive status of skin injuries caused by personal pro-tective equipment (PPE) in medical staff,” the authors wrote.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted online for understanding skin injuries among medical staff fighting

COVID-19 on February 8 to 22. Participants voluntarily answered and submitted the questionnaire with a cell phone.

The researchers found the overall prevalence of skin injuries was 42.8 percent with three types of PPE-related skin injuries: device-related pressure injuries, moist asso-ciated skin damage and skin tear.

Several factors increased the risk for skin injury: heavy

sweating, greater daily wearing time, being male, and using grade 3 versus grade 2 PPE.

Because of the emergency situation, there are some limi-tations to this study, such as it was difficult to observe the adverse outcome of skin injuries among medical staff and impossible to compare the results of prevention and treatment measures.

“These might leave us opportunities for further study,”

the researchers noted.Another study, published in

the Journal of Wound Care last month, emphasises the problems that can arise with face masks, being worn for long periods by healthcare professionals.

The researchers suggested that people wearing masks keep their skin clean, well-hydrated and moisturised and that barrier creams should be applied at least half an hour before masks are put on.

Spain's Reina Sofia museum to reopen in pandemic eraAFP — MADRID

The halls are eerily quiet at Madrid’s Reina Sofia, Spain’s most visited museum, as a solitary art restorer looks after its star attraction — Pablo Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece “Guernica”.

Like all of Spain’s museums, the modern art museum housed in a former hospital has been closed since mid-March due to a nationwide lockdown to contain one of the world’s dead-liest coronavirus outbreaks.

But with the restrictions starting to be eased, it is getting ready to reopen — hopefully in a month — with new social dis-tancing and hygiene regulations in place for the pandemic age.

Museums must “convey the message that there is no need to fear others,” said the Reina Sofia’s director, Manuel Borja-Villel.

Visitors will move through the multi-story building on a circular path so as not to cross by one another, cameras will take people’s temperature and dispensers for hand sanitiser will be distributed across the museum, he told AFP.

Paper maps and brochures will no longer be available as

they can transmit germs, and visitors will instead be able to download an info app on their own smartphones.

“There will be nothing that people can touch,” said Borja-Villel. "After weeks of con-finement, visiting museums can help to revive public life."

"It is important to transmit this joy of being with others, this idea that human beings, by def-inition, are not alone,” he said.

The Reina Sofia received 4.4 million visitors in 2019, half of them from outside Spain, but it fears it will see a 30 percent fall in revenues this year because of the coronavirus lockdown.

The government has ordered museums to restrict admissions to a third of their capacity when they do re-open to ensure social distancing rules are respected.

Borja-Villel predicts museums will have to move away from their current model based on holding a series of “big exhibitions” and adopt a more long-term strategy.

While the Reina Sofia is closed to the public, restoration work continues.

“We must remain to ensure works remain in good shape,”

said the museum’s chief restorer, Jorge Garcia Gomez-Tejedor, who wore a face mask as he inspected “Guernica”, the emblematic painting depicting the horrors of Spain’s 1936-39 civil war.

The Reina Sofia, along with the nearby Prado and the Thyssen museums, form a so-called “Golden Triangle of Art” which is one of the Spanish cap-ital’s top tourism draws.

The Prado — Spain’s national museum which is

home to paintings by Spanish masters such as El Greco, Velazquez and Goya — fears a 70 percent drop in revenues this year, said its communications director Carlos Chaguaceda.

Around 60 percent of its visitors are foreigners, with a significant number from the United States, he added.

The Prado was already forced to reschedule all of the temporary exhibitions it had planned for this year due to problems in receiving loans of

works from other museums during the pandemic, which has brought air traffic to a halt.

At the Thyssen, the pan-demic has been “a trigger for the digital transformation” at the institution, said its executive director, Evelio Acevedo.

During the lockdown the museum boosted the amount of its online content, by for example providing a virtual tour of a tem-porary exhibition of portraits by Dutch master Rembrandt led by the show’s curator.

ANATOLIA — ISTANBUL

More and more people in Turkey are leaning into mini-malism and consuming less as the world takes a giant pause due to the novel coronavirus, according to one local mini-malist.

Hale Acun Aydin, founder of the Turk Isi Minimalizm (Turkish Way Minimalism) website and related social media sites, said interest in min-imalism had already risen in the last couple of years before recently skyrocketing as resi-dents face a long lockdown at home.

“It doesn’t matter how many shoes we have now, we only use one pair of shoes to go to the supermarket,” Aydin said.

Populations across the world, as well as in Turkey, are subjected to home quarantines to stem the virus’ spread, but most people are now more con-scious of minimalism, said Aydin.

“During our times at home we have seen what items need to be repaired, or what are the things that are missing, or most importantly what items we have more of than we really need,” she said, trumpeting the motto: “Less is more.”

“And during this period,

there are so many people who learned that things we possess are not our purpose but they are rather tools,” she said.

That’s why interest in min-imalism has climbed, with Aydin saying she hopes it “will turn into a lifestyle.”

But Joshua Becker, founder of the US-based website Becoming Minimalist, sees things differently.

“I thought I would see a big increase in interest, but to date, I have not seen that materialise — at least not here in the US,” said Becker, the author of The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own.

“There is still quite a bit of anxiety and worry for both physical and economic health - and that is taking precedence in peoples’ minds right now,” he said.

“In my opinion, once the initial unease wears off, once steps are being taken to get back to some form of normalcy, people will have the mental and emotional capacity to begin thinking more critically about the physical possessions and financial circumstance.”

Becker describes mini-malism as “the intentional pro-motion of the things we most value and the removal of any-

thing that distracts us from it.” Aydin divides it into two

categories: one for things we have, and one for abstract things.

“It is possible to live with a few things self-sufficiently,” she said.

As for the abstract side of minimalism, she said this means “following our own inner voice and opposing impositions on going to the best school or doing the most popular job just because others want it.”

Aydin’s suggestion for those who are planning to go mini-malist is to begin with the basics.

“When we look at our houses we see a lot of stuff, but those are things that piled up over the years, they don’t just end up in our house in a day,” she said. “So it’s not possible to get rid of them in just a night.”

Becker’s suggestion is “to get clear, first and foremost, on what benefits of minimalism you’re most interested in.”

“Are you hoping to save money, save time, focus your energy, work less, preserve the environment, become a better example for your kids?” he asked. Or “are you hoping to clean less, travel more, downsize, or even own higher-quality items?”

He explained: “The end goal of minimalism isn’t just to own less stuff. The end goal of min-imalism is to live a better, more intentional life focused on things that actually matter. So start there.”

Becker recommended that people “begin removing the pos-sessions from their home that they no longer need. Start in easy rooms, removing easier stuff,

and work your way to harder spaces and possessions you have a harder time parting with.”

Echoing Becker’s sugges-tions, Aydin said being a mini-malist brought her a greater awareness of nature and climate.

“I begin thinking about con-sumption and its negative effects on nature when I became minimalist,” around 10

years ago, she said. She went as far as to launch

a campaign to reduce the use of paper cups at cafes.

In the year since her crusade began with the hashtag #kah-vemtermosta, or my coffee in a thermos, more than 200 coffee shops in Turkey started giving costumers discounts when they scrap paper cups and use their own thermoses instead.

Employees feed pigeons at empty Taksim Square due to the measures against the novel coronavirus pandemic in Istanbul, Turkey.

Jorge Garcia Gomez-Tejedor, head of the restoration department, poses in front “Guernica” by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso at the closed Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.

iMessage users

may soon

edit already

sent texts

IANS — SAN FRANCISCO

The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has reportedly filed a new patent for iMessage where users can edit text messages that have already sent.

The US Patent and Trademark Office recently published a new patent appli-cation by Apple which describes the ability to fully edit sent text messages via iMessage.

It would work by selecting the message the user want to edit by pre-defined touch interface input that opens a menu with a message editing interface and a display of a revised version of the message for all recipients, reports MacRumors.

The included patent drawing shows a ‘Show Edits’ button that could show a history of changes.

Other new features include, acknowledge mes-sages, display private mes-sages, synchronize viewing of content between users, translate foreign language text and more.

The patent also introduces improvements to current iMessage features like bubble and full-screen effects and receiving money via Apple Pay.

FAJR SUNRISE 03.33 am 04.55 am

W A L R U WA I S : 23o↗ 33o W A L K H O R : 24o↗ 34o W D U K H A N : 23o↗ 36o W WA K R A H : 22o↗ 36o W M E S A I E E D 22o↗ 36o W A B U S A M R A 23o↗ 36o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 02:13–15:24 LOW TIDE 10:00 – 21:53

Relatively hot daytime with some clouds, and mild by night.

Minimum Maximum26oC 36oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.31 am06.09 pm

ASR ISHA

02.59 pm07.39 pm