Coronavirus Highlights: Gurgaon Paytm employee tests positive

There are 93,042 confirmed Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 3,201 deaths reported globally in 67 countries

11:34 AM

Twitter encourages all employees to work from home

Twitter is asking all of its employees worldwide to stay away from their offices until further notice to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, the company said in a message posted Monday on the its official blog.

9:21 AM

Cow urine, cow dung can be used to treat coronavirus: BJP MLA Suman Haripriya

Amid increasing concern over novel coronavirus across the world, BJP MLA Suman Haripriya on Monday suggested a bizarre remedy for the infection saying that cow urine and cow dung could be used to treat the deadly virus.

 

"I believe gau-mutra (cow-urine) and gobar (cow-dung) could be used to treat coronavirus," said Haripriya in Assam Assembly earlier on Monday.

 

"Cow is an asset through which medicines for several diseases including cancer have also been invented. In an Ayurvedic hospital in Gujarat, cancer patients are allowed to live with cows. Cow dung is applied to the cancer patients there. They are given Panchamrit prepared from cow urine," she added.

9:18 AM

Coronavirus is a risk to the Olympics?

In 1906, preparations for the 1908 Olympics were underway in Rome when Mount Vesuvius erupted and devastated Naples. The Italians, already strapped for funds to build Olympic venues, used the disaster as an excuse to back out of their commitment. The International Olympic Committee didn’t miss a beat: In November 1906 — a mere 15 months before the opening ceremonies — London was selected as a replacement and held the games on time. Among other feats, the city built the first dedicated Olympic Stadium.

 

In 2020, the new coronavirus is a much graver threat to the Olympics than any volcano. Cases are spreading across Japan, qualifying events are being canceled, and countries around the world are cutting off travel to the country. With three weeks until the start of the torch relay, and five months until the opening ceremonies, the future of the 2020 Summer Games is less certain than any Olympics in decades.

9:15 AM

South Korea coronavirus cases approach 5,000

South Korea's coronavirus case total -- the largest in the world outside China -- approached 5,000 Tuesday as authorities reported 477 new cases.

 

Two more people had died, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, taking the toll to 28.

 

South Korea has seen a rapid rise in infections in recent days as authorities carry out checks on more than 260,000 people associated with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a religious group often condemned as a cult that is linked to more than half the cases.

 

Scores of events -- from K-pop concerts to sports seasons -- have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion, with school and kindergarten breaks extended by three weeks nationwide.

7:37 AM

Trump administration says drug makers will work together to combat coronavirus

The Trump administration said on Monday it had secured commitments from top pharmaceutical companies to work together to develop a vaccine and treatments to fight the coronavirus.

 

At a meeting with industry executives at the White House, President Donald Trump exhorted the companies to collaborate to speed the process of getting a vaccine and therapeutics to victims of the virus.

 

The company leaders indicated a willingness to cooperate with one another, but did not lay out how that would happen.

 

The White House, which has clashed previously with the pharmaceutical industry over high drug prices and has been struggling in recent weeks to show it is on top of the virus response, saw the meeting as a victory.

 

"This is all hands on deck. And the news out of this meeting that you've already formed a consortia ... now we know they will be working together to create therapeutics and ultimately a new vaccine," Vice President Mike Pence said as the session drew to a close.

7:35 AM

Americans keep buying cars, but coronavirus concerns loom over industry

Customers streamed into auto showrooms from California to Florida over the weekend, car dealers across the United States said on Monday, shrugging off concerns that coronavirus worries might dampen sales.
 

Industry analysts cautioned that a growing number of virus infections could deter Americans in March, and automakers face difficult calls on pricing and production. But dealers and analysts said there was no discernable impact on February US car sales, a strong month for dealerships.

Car makers are expected to give dealerships 

7:34 AM

Pakistan confirms fifth coronavirus case

Pakistan on Tuesday reported a new coronavirus case, bringing the total to five in the south Asian nation since last week, officials said.

 

"We have now 5th confirmed case of COVID19 in federal areas," Zafar Mirza, health minister said a in tweet early Tuesday morning.

 

The patient is stable and being managed well, the minister added.

6:48 AM

Medical team monitoring people who came in contact with coronavirus-hit techie: Karnataka Health Minister

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu has said that a medical team is monitoring the health condition of all those people who had stayed with the coronavirus-hit techie who is admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

 

The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Telangana was reported from Hyderabad on Monday where a man from Bengaluru, who recently returned from Dubai, tested postive for the virus.

 

"It has come to our knowledge that the coronavirus-hit person in Hyderabad had gone from Bengaluru. Therefore, all the members in the house where he had stayed here have been identified and are under watch," Sriramulu tweeted on late Monday night.

 

The minister said he has convened a meeting with the additional chief secretary, commissioner and other senior officials of the health department on Tuesday morning.

6:48 AM

Mainland China reports lowest number of new coronavirus cases since January

Mainland China had 125 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Monday, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday, down from 202 cases a day earlier and the lowest since the authority started publishing nationwide data in January.

 

The sharp drop in new infections from a day earlier was driven by a further decline in new confirmed cases in Wuhan, the city hit hardest by the pathogen in China.

 

New cases in Wuhan fell to 111 from 193 a day earlier, and accounted for almost all of the 114 new infections in central Hubei province on Monday.

 

Excluding Hubei, there were 11 new cases in mainland China on Monday.

6:46 AM

Coronavirus treatments could be available by summer, says US Vice President Mike Pence

Drugs to treat the novel coronavirus could be available by this summer or fall, US Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.

 

"The vaccine may not be available until late this year or early next, but the therapeutics to give relief to the people who contract the coronavirus could be available by summer or early fall," he told a news conference.

 

The Gilead drug remdesivir has already been used to treat one infected patient in the US as part of a trial, and the intravenous antiviral is also being deployed in trials in Asia.

 

Other notable potential treatments include one being developed by Regeneron that uses monoclonal antibodies to fight the infection. The same strategy has been shown to be effective against Ebola.

6:20 AM

US coronavirus death toll rises to six

The number of US deaths from the novel coronavirus rose to six on Monday, all in the state of Washington, officials said, signaling the contagion has taken root in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Vice President Mike Pence announced a treatment for the disease could be available by summer or early fall, but that a vaccine was farther off.

 

Pence, the administration's pointman for the crisis, also said the government was moving to screen 100 percent of passengers flying in from Italy and South Korea, two serious virus hot zones.

2:35 AM

'Very safe' to hold campaign rallies despite coronavirus spread: Trump

US President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that campaign rallies do not put his supporters at risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus, and insisted the country was well prepared for the disease.

 

"I think it's very safe," to continue holding frequent rallies across the country, Trump said when questioned in the Oval Office.

The United States has been spared the worst so far as the virus spreads around the world, but over the weekend it announced its first two recorded deaths, in the area around Seattle in the western state of Washington, which has been the worst hit region in the country.

2:34 AM

US manufacturing sector stalls as coronavirus outbreak hits supply chains

US manufacturing activity grew at the most tepid pace in six months in February as the supply chain disruptions arising from the coronavirus outbreak dragged on output and new orders, a survey of purchasing managers showed on Monday.

 

The final reading of the IHS Markit US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index slid to 50.7 last month from 51.9 in January.

 

 

The data was slightly weaker than the preliminary - or "flash" - reading of 50.8 reported in mid-February and was the lowest reading since August.

2:33 AM

OECD slashes India's FY21 growth forecast to 5.1% on coronavirus woes

OECD on Monday lowered India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.1 per cent, from its earlier projection of 6.2 per cent, for 2020 on concerns over the impact of deadly coronavirus on the domestic as well as the global economy.
 

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said the adverse impact on confidence, financial markets, travel sector and disruption to supply chains contributes to the downward revisions in all the G20 economies in 2020, particularly ones strongly interconnected to China.

India is a member of G20, a grouping of developed and developing economies.

2:33 AM

Civil aviation ministry may accept IATA demand for suspension of slot rules

The civil aviation ministry is likely to accept International Air Transport Association's (IATA) demand for suspension of the rules on allocation and use of airport slots. IATA, which represents over 250 airlines, has requested global regulators for suspension of the rules in view of the coronavirus outbreak resulting in widespread cancellation and suspension of international flights. Read on