Former pres Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden for US president

Barack Obama endorsed his friend and former vice president, Joe Biden, for president WASHINGTON, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former US president Barack Obama has endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden, for president, finally breaking his silence in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. Obama waited until Bernie Sanders dropped out…

Covid-19: UK death toll passes 12,000

LONDON, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British health authorities announced that the death toll from coronavirus across the U.K. increased by 778 in the past 24 hours.“As of 5pm on 13 April, of those hospitalised in the U.K. who tested positive for coronavirus, 12,107 have sadly died,” the Department of Health…

Covid-19: France’s lockdown extended until May 11 as Austria and Italy eases restrictions

French President Emmanuel Macron PARIS, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced he was extending a virtual lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak until May 11, adding that progress had been made but the battle not yet won. Acknowledging his country had not been sufficiently prepared early on…

Covid-19: Nurses at Mexico hospital hit by coronavirus say they were told to avoid masks

People leave a disinfection chamber at the entrance to the General Hospital MEXICO CITY, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nurses at a public hospital hit by Mexico’s worst coronavirus outbreak were told by their managers not to wear protective masks at the start of the epidemic to avoid sowing panic among…

Covid-19: Virginia pastor who said ‘God is larger than this dreaded virus’ dies of coronavirus

Bishop Gerald Glenn RICHMOND (Virginia, US), April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bishop Gerald Glenn, the pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Virginia has died. Glenn had tested positive for coronavirus, according to a video posted by his daughter Mar-Gerie Crawley. Despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

Covid-19: US to halt funding to WHO – Pres Trump

US President, Donald Trump WASHINGTON, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump has said he has instructed his administration to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).He said the WHO had “failed in its basic duty” in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.He accused the UN body of…

Covid-19: Diseases shoot up as national security concern to Americans

WASHINGTON, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Americans are more likely to consider infectious diseases a top national threat than any other issue, a sharp upturn as the coronavirus pandemic rattles the world, a survey disclosed. The Pew Research Center found that 79 percent described the spread of infectious diseases as a…

COVID-19 is 10 times more deadly than swine flu: WHO

GENEVA, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The novel coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than swine flu, which caused a global pandemic in 2009, the World Health Organization said, stressing a vaccine would be necessary to fully halt transmission. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from Geneva that…

Covid-19: Portuguese president praises Porto nurse Luis who cared for Boris Johnson

LISBON, April 13 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his thanks to a Portuguese nurse who had tended to coronavirus-stricken British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in intensive care, according to a statement by the presidency. The statement said the President has personally thanked Luis Pitarma. Johnson, who…

Covid-19: Questions over Nigeria virus measures as lockdown period ends

ABUJA, April 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but the government has still not said whether it will extend a two-week confinement order on three states that ends Monday (April 13). Residents in Lagos, Ogun…