Tag Archives: WHO

The World Health Organization’s special envoy on COVID-19 urged world leaders earlier this month to reconsider ‘using lockdowns as the primary control method’ of battling Covid-19. After first creating global panic by putting the Covid-19 mortality rate higher than 3 percent and urging governments in an unprecedented move to lockdown …

The Covid-19 pandemic and related measures will bite into growth this year. Internally, demand will likely be downbeat amid social distancing measures and weaker remittance inflows. On the external front, feeble external demand and rising uncertainty will keep exports subdued. The possibility of further domestic restrictions clouds the outlook. FocusEconomics …

Lebanon must shut down for two weeks after a surge in coronavirus infections, the caretaker health minister said on Monday, as the country reels from the massive Beirut port blast. “We declare today a state of general alert and we need a brave decision to close (the country) for two …

President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is considering whether to pull Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, party officials said, alarming campaigners who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence. The officials said the AKP is set to decide by next week whether to …

Almost 30% of genome sequencing data from samples of the COVID-19 virus collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) have shown signs of mutation, but there is no evidence this has led to more severe disease, a top WHO official said on Friday. “I think it’s quite widespread,” Soumya Swaminathan, …

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the body. Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it …

Having a pet during lockdown can be a source of comfort for many people. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic many animal shelters around the world have seen an overall spike in adoptions or fostering of pets. In Lebanon, that trend has been reflected too. However, the country’s harsh …

Yemeni authorities declared Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, an “infested” city on Monday after the number of coronavirus cases there jumped and clashes erupted elsewhere in the south between separatists and government forces. A five-year war has shattered Yemen’s health system, pushed millions to the brink of famine …

The Covid-19 pandemic captivates us all with unprecedented social and economic repercussions. Roughly half of the world remains under corona lockdown eagerly awaiting some positive news on the crisis. All eyes are pointed towards the World Health Organization (WHO), the institute created to handle global crisis situations. Instead of helping …

In times of crisis and panic, going against the flow is seen by many as inconvenient. This is precisely the case in the current Covid-19 pandemic where people who dare to oppose the official information coming from institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other local health institutions …

Dutch pollster and data-analyst Maurice de Hond exposed a relationship between the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the weather (especially specific humidity). Which can be found here. In his second contribution to The Levant News he elaborates how aerosols play an important role in the infection with the virus. …

An online petition calling for the immediate resignation of World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus over his handling of the Coronacrisis has reached more than 1 million signatures. By Arthur Blok The petition states that the WHO chief is “unfit” for his role as head of the organization …

It is early days, but first indications are that the global pandemic is entrenching long-drawn Middle Eastern geopolitical, political, ethnic, and sectarian battle lines rather than serving as a vehicle to build bridges and build confidence. By James M. Dorsey The coronavirus crisis is also changing the region’s political landscape …

US President Donald Trump has lambasted the WHO as being slow to react to the outbreak and being “China-centric” and announced a suspension of funding. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will help launch a global initiative on Friday to accelerate work to fight COVID-19, the World …

Leading Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Friday asked the United Nations to conduct an independent review of the World Health Organization response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the body appeared to have shown “remarkable deference” to China. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the senators – led …

The social and economic corona lockdowns all over the world are not due to end anytime soon. The measures taken kill off businesses critical to the livelihoods of millions of people. They have precipitated the unemployment of tens of millions of people – and continue to cause an unprecedented global …

The world is so focussed on the latest figures of Covid-19 deaths and infection statistics, only few people realize what is pending in the background; a new global systematic war. Dutch political scientist Ingo Piepers (PhD) expects a new systematic war to erupt in the nearby future: “It has not …

As Europe and the United States struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, experts warn that disaster looms in war-torn Syria, where hospitals are unable to meet existing needs and hygiene conditions are dire. The outbreak has infected more than 1.8 million people and killed more than 112,000 around the world …

Yemen reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday as aid groups try to prepare for an outbreak in a country where war has shattered the health system and spread hunger and disease. The news came after a nationwide ceasefire prompted by the virus pandemic began on Thursday. …

Discussions are under way on enabling wider access to some patented drugs and medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the U.N.’s intellectual property agency said on Tuesday. Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said that during an emergency, health and safety “trumps everything”. …

If the Covid-19 pandemic has made one thing evident in the past months, it is the fact that the media should restrain itself and act more responsibly. It should stop feeding the coronavirus hysteria with daily infection and death statistic updates of which most are carelessly presented and often misinterpreted. …

The Coronavirus-hysteria has gone viral. Global media outlets report on nothing else but the consequences of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) stamped a pandemic weeks ago. In unprecedented moves people are told (forced) to stay home under lockdowns. Economies are being shut down, while the future consequences are largely …

Countries around the world on Saturday continued to close borders, impose strict entry and quarantine requirements and restrict large gatherings in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said it will close all its retail stores worldwide, outside Greater China, until March 27. Apple reopened …

U.S. President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more federal aid to combat a disease that has infected 138,000 people worldwide and left more than 5,000 dead. Trump, who some experts criticized for being slow to respond to the …

China reported another fall in new coronavirus infections outside of its epicenter on Sunday, but world health officials warned it was too early to make predictions about the outbreak as new cases and fears of contagion increased elsewhere. China’s health commission confirmed 648 new infections – higher than a day …

THE LEVANT – The United States’ top disease detective calls Ebola a “painful, dreadful, merciless virus.” The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak in West Africa an international emergency, killing more than 900 people and spreading. That’s scary and serious. But it also cries out for context. Aids alone takes …