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Coronavirus updates As it happens (2020-04-18)

Live Reporting Coronavirus updates As it happens 2020-04-18
APR 18, 2020 LISTEN
Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: Sunyani Central Market Decongested

As part of measures to avoid the possible outbreak and spread of the novel coronavirus disease in Sunyani, the Bono regional capital, the city authorities through its COVID-19 Task Force, have taken stringent steps to decongest the Sunyani Central Market.

To this end, additional market centres have been created for the various groups of sellers for use during this period in the municipality to drastically reduce human traffic at the main market.

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Apr 18, 2020

French Covid-19 deaths top 19,000 as hospitalised numbers continue to fall

France has registered 642 more coronavirus deaths in hospitals and nursing homes in the last 24-hours period, taking the total to 19,323. But the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients declined for the fourth consecutive day.

The number of Covid-19 positive patients in hospital fell to 30,639, as the rate of fatalities also slowed for the third day running. 

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REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIERREUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER


Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19 Virus Dies Quickly Under Sunlight – Test Findings

Preliminary results from government lab experiments show that the coronavirus does not survive long in high temperatures and high humidity, and is quickly destroyed by sunlight, providing evidence from controlled tests of what scientists believed — but had not yet proved — to be true.

A briefing on the preliminary results, marked for official use only and obtained by Yahoo News, offers hope that summertime may offer conditions less hospitable for the virus, though experts caution it will by no means eliminate, or even necessarily decrease, new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The results, however, do add an important piece of knowledge that the White House’s science advisers have been seeking as they scramble to respond to the spreading pandemic.

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Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: NDC Team Make Strong Recommendations To Gov’t As Cases Balloons

1. Testing & Contact Tracing
We take note of efforts made by government to scale up testing and contact tracing efforts as part of measures to identify and isolate persons who have contracted COVID-19. Concerns about the comprehensiveness of the strategy remain, and we list below related recommendations and those for the broader aims of COVID-19 testing.

1.1. There remains a lack of clarity on the definition of the tertiary contacts category employed in the enhanced contact tracing program. The current understanding is that these individuals are identified not because of their known interactions with secondary contacts, but rather by virtue of their coresidence in localities where index cases reside. It also remains unclear if this extends to primary and secondary contacts. This clarification would allow epidemiologists and statisticians around the nation to evaluate the practical utility of the definition for the efficient identification of cases and use of testing resources, and to assess its marginal benefits in ensuring comprehensivity of contact tracing.

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Apr 18, 2020

More protests calling for end of lockdown across US

By BBC News

There are planned protests across the US as people call for the end of lockdown measures in several states.

The curbs, which include stay-at-home orders, are needed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Facebook pages are calling for gatherings in Maryland, Wisconsin, Virginia and Pennsylvania. It is unclear how many people will attend. The four groups have more than 100,000 members combined.

Earlier this week thousands attended a demonstration in Michigan, which appears to have inspired the protests.

So far demonstrations against the shutdown have also been held in Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia and Kentucky.

President Donald Trump has been criticised for appearing to endorse the protests. In a series of tweets, he wrote: "LIBERATE MINNESOTA", "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" and then "LIBERATE VIRGINIA".


Apr 18, 2020

New York governor: 'A terrible experience'

By Peter Bowes BBC North America correspondent

At his daily briefing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of Covid-19 patients in the state continued to fall. There were 16,967 people being treated in hospitals, compared with 17,316 a day earlier.

Some 540 people died on Friday, the lowest daily tally in more than two weeks. But 2,000 new patients were admitted to hospital, which was "sobering".

While there was some positive news, he said it did not mean "happy days" were here again. Testing was a critical issue: "The more you test, the more information, the more you can reopen society," he said.

Mr Cuomo cautioned that infections could increase if the economy was reopened too fast.

"At every level this is a terrible experience,” he said. He added that it was no time for politics. The situation will get worse "if you politicise this emotion”.


Apr 18, 2020

In Lombardy, 'five times more killed' than by WW2 bombs

By BBC News

A sobering remark by Italy's special commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, Domenico Arcuri.

He said Italy's northern Lombardy region had now suffered more than five times the deaths seen from bombing in Milan during World War Two, when 2,000 civilians lost their lives between June 1940 and May 1945.

Another 482 deaths have been reported in Italy in the past 24 hours, including 199 in Lombardy, where Milan is the capital. So Lombardy has now seen over 12,000 deaths, more than half Italy's toll of 23,227.

The numbers are coming down every day, however. There are now 2,733 people in intensive care.

"We're going through a great tragedy. We've managed to confront it but we haven't yet beaten it," said Mr Arcuri.


Apr 18, 2020

France coronavirus deaths rise to over 19,000

By BBC News

French authorities say 364 people have died in the last 24 hours after contracting coronavirus, bringing the national total to 19,323.

The number of confirmed cases in the country has also risen to nearly 112,000.

But in a positive development, France's health ministry says the number of people being treated in intensive care units has fallen for a 10th consecutive day.


Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: Lifting Lockdown Now Will Cause More Harm – Health Economist Warns

Health Economist, Dr. Gordon Abeka-Nkrumah is cautioning against calls not to extend the lockdown in parts of the country.

Dr. Gordon Abeka-Nkrumah says Ghana is at its critical stage in the fight against the novel coronavirus and any move to remove the current restriction of movements will affect the progress made so far.

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Apr 18, 2020

Lady Gaga draws megastars to virtual concert to honour coronavirus workers

Some of the biggest names from the music, entertainment and sports worlds have joined Lady Gaga's global TV broadcast on Saturday night to pay tribute to the workers on the front lines of the fight against Covid-19. The Rolling Stones are the latest to sign up for the “One World: Together at Home” concert.

"We are honoured to be invited to be part of the 'One World: Together at Home' broadcast - from our homes in isolation," the Stones said in a statement by Global Citizen, the non-profit group organising the event with the World Health Organization (WHO) and curator Lady Gaga.

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Creacute;dit Emma McIntyre  GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA  AFPCrédit Emma McIntyre / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP


Apr 18, 2020

Covid-19 will strengthen EU, says Council chief Charles Michel

“There will be a before and an after," says the European Council President. In an interview with RFI, Charles Michel reminded that Europe developed as a result of crises – and says it will also emerge stronger from the coronavirus.

The EU is a political project, Michel told the Financial Times on Friday, declaring that if it failed to deliver to its citizens, “the populists” would win “today, tomorrow, in Italy, in Spain, perhaps in France and elsewhere”.

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REUTERSFrancois LenoirREUTERS/Francois Lenoir


Apr 18, 2020

Cenpower Donates GHS 200,000 To National COVID-19 Trust Fund

Accra, 17th April 2020 - Cenpower Generation Company Limited, an Independent Power Producer, today donated an amount of GHS200,000.00 to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund established by the President of Ghana as part of efforts to raise resources for combating the effects of the virus in the country.

A Director of Cenpower, Dr Jimmy Heymann, on behalf of the Cenpower Board of Directors, Management and Staff, presented the cheque at the Jubilee House to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund Board of Trustees.

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Apr 18, 2020

Two Courts Established In Ashanti Region To Deal With COVID-19 Cases

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Kwasi Mensah Duku has disclosed that two courts have been established in the region to deal with people who flout COVID-19 directive especially the lockdown in Greater Kumasi.

COP Kwasi Mensah Duku disclosed that 144 people have been arrested in the Ashanti Region who would be put before the court.

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Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: Death Toll Rises To 9

Th death toll of the novel Coronavirus has increased to nine.

The Ghana Health Service confirmed this on Saturday, April 18, 2020.

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Apr 18, 2020

Covid-19: 16 More Recover, Total Now At 99

16 more people have recovered from the novel Coronavirus in Ghana.

The total recoveries now stand at 99.

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Apr 18, 2020

BREAKING COVID-19: Cases Hit 834

The novel Coronavirus case count has increased to 834.

This comes after 193 new cases were recorded from various parts of the country, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

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Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: Mahama Urges Govt To Freeze Rent, Eviction Of Tenants Now

Former President John Mahama is asking government and property owners to come to some agreement to give respite to tenants and put a freeze on evictions as part of measures to mitigate the hardship on Ghanaians.

He said the move will help the country in the lockdown period to curb the spread of the coronavirus

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Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19: No Normal Burial For Victims — Pathologist

The bodies of people who succumb to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will not be released to the bereaved families for burial.

Rather, the state will take charge of the burial within the shortest possible time after the death, in consultation with the bereaved family.

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Apr 18, 2020

GEHOA Launches Its COVID-19 Response Strategy

Ghanaians have been thrown a challenge to ensure the best and improved Environmental Health and Sanitation practices since most researchers believe it is the best bet and the surest way of minimising the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This came to light at the official launch of the humanitarian community-based response strategy by the Ghana Environmental Health Officers Association (GEHOA) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Apr 18, 2020

COVID-19 Private Sector Fund To Build 100-Bed Isolation Center

The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund, an initiative set up to support the government to combat the novel coronavirus in the country says it has begun setting up a 100-bed infectious disease isolation and treatment facility.

The project, dubbed the ‘Facility 100 Project’, will be used for the treatment of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases when completed.

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SUMMARY

  • COVID-19: Cases Hit 834
  • COVID-19: Death Toll Rises To 9
  • As world coronavirus deaths pass 150,000, more than 4.5 billion people are under containment to slow the pandemic.
  • The UK death toll reached 14,576 on Friday as 847 new deaths were reported in hospitals
  • President Trump said US lockdown protesters being treated "rough", after calling for the "liberation" of some states
  • The WHO advised countries to plot a cautious path out of lockdown rather than relying on antibody tests

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