Covid-19 checkpoints help Irish police seize drugs, weapons, smuggled cigarettes

Irish Garda officers at a checkpoint DUBLIN, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Irish police made one of their largest drug seizures of the year when a car tried to evade one of their checkpoints set up to enforce strict measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. The police have been…

Covid-19: Haiti to reopen textile factories despite virus fears

PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Haiti will reopen its key textile industry next week, Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said, suggesting the impoverished nation had escaped the worst of the global coronavirus pandemic by imposing early on a state of emergency. The poorest country in the western hemisphere typically struggles to…

Covid-19: ‘You will forever be in our hearts’: Pregnant UK nurse dies, but baby survives

Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong LONDON, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A pregnant nurse has died after contracting COVID-19 but her baby, a girl, was delivered successfully and is doing well, the British hospital where she worked said. Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, who had worked as a nurse on a general ward at…

COVID-19 spreads on French aircraft carrier, nearly 700 sailors infected

French Navy aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle PARIS, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Nearly 700 sailors assigned to the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle’s naval group have tested positive for the coronavirus, the armed forces ministry said. The ministry said 1,767 mariners, nearly all from the Charles de Gaulle itself,…

Covid-19: Mexico could force businesses to close if they violate coronavirus rules

MEXICO CITY, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico could force the closure of companies in non-essential sectors if they refuse to suspend operations during a state of emergency to curb spread of the coronavirus, a top health official said. The announcement comes after a group representing US manufacturers told President Andres…

Covid-19: Portuguese leaders sees May as transitional month for economic recovery

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa LISBON, April 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that the country will see a transition from the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to a return to economic and social activities in May. The president made the remark after…

Covid-19: Latin America sees continued rise in cases as Argentina takes stricter measures

People cross a street outside Constitucion train station in Buenos Aires MEXICO CITY, April 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Latin American countries reported more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to nearly 80,000. In PERU, a total of 1,172 new cases were reported, bringing the number of infections…

Covid-19: Last passengers of stricken cruise ship stranded in Uruguay flew to US

Australian cruise ship Greg Mortimer MONTEVIDEO, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The final 15 passengers who had been aboard a coronavirus-hit cruise ship that spent two weeks stranded off the coast of Uruguay flew to the United States on Wednesday, the country’s foreign minister said. “The humanitarian corridor ends with this…

Covid-19: Only a coronavirus vaccine will allow return to ‘normalcy’, says UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A COVID-19 vaccine may be the only thing that can bring back “normalcy,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, hoping for just that before the end of the year. “A safe and effective vaccine may be the only tool that can return the world to…

Covid-19: France death toll tops 17,000, numbers hospitalised down for first time – official

PARIS, April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Over 17,000 people have now died in France from COVID-19, a top health official said, but the total number currently hospitalised has fallen for the first time since the epidemic began. A total of 17,167 people are now confirmed to have died in France in…