Author: News Desk

Mosques and places of worship will be reopened across UAE starting from July 1st, said Dr. Seif Al Dhaheri, the official spokesman for the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority The mosques will be open with a 30 percent limit on worshippers. Also, certain mosques located in industrial areas, labor residential areas, shopping malls and public parks will remain closed until further notice. Meanwhile, some of the mosques will remain closed for further notice. Mosques are instructed to impose a 3-meter distance between individuals praying. They should wear a face mask and avoid gatherings. Also, ablution should be performed at…

UAE records 449 cases, and 1 fatality from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total cases in the country to 48,246, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP). The new death takes the total fatalities to 314. 665 new recoveries were also announced, bringing the total recoveries to 37,076. This means over 77 percent of the confirmed cases have fully recovered from the virus. ♦ Abu Dhabi to open for those with negative COVID-19 results The new cases were found after conducting more than 43,000 coronavirus tests across the country. An increase in violations of safety and health…

The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Committee for the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi, and Abu Dhabi Police, have announced that entering Abu Dhabi emirate is permitted for all those who have received negative test results within the previous 48 hours. Results must be shown via the AlHosn App or text message from any hospital or any screening centre in the UAE that is affiliated to the National Screening Programme. The movement of mail and all types of goods is exempted. The public must continue to adhere to all precautionary measures, including wearing…

The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached. “Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move,” he said. “We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many…

The central government on Monday decided to ban 59 mobile applications linked to China on grounds of national security. A formal order, asking phone companies to block the applications, was issued after weeks of discussions that started much before the Ladakh border standoff with China. A statement by the information technology ministry said a decision had been taken to block 59 applications “since in view of the information available, they are engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. The applications include popular short-video app TikTok, and other utility…

The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price on Monday for remdesivir and said the price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors. “We’re in uncharted territory with pricing a new medicine, a novel medicine, in a pandemic,” Gilead’s chief executive, Dan O’Day, told The Associated Press.…

The UAE on Monday reiterated its commitment to strengthening international cooperation after assisting more than 1 million medical workers worldwide through the supply of over 1,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment, PPE, and medical and food aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking on the occasion, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, said, “Since its very founding, the UAE has pursued bonds of friendly cooperation and solidarity with other countries, believing that nations must set aside their differences in favour of unity and the greater good of humankind. Today’s milestone of assisting 1…

Amazon said on Monday it would spend $500 million on one-time bonuses to its front-line employees and partners working through the coronavirus crisis. Employees and partners who have been with the e-commerce company through June will receive bonuses ranging from $150 to $3,000, the company said in a blog post. The world’s largest online retailer, which delivers about 10 billion items a year, has been facing intense scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and unions over whether it is doing enough to protect staff from the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in the day, workers at six Amazon sites in Germany decided to go on…

The Supreme Court is leaving in place a decision that rejected environmental groups’ challenge to sections of wall the Trump administration is building along the U.S. border with Mexico. The high court on Monday declined to hear an appeal involving construction of 145 miles (233 kilometers) of steel-bollard walls along the border in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Southwest Environmental Center had challenged a federal law that allows the secretary of Homeland Security to waive any laws necessary to allow the quick construction of…

The British are far fatter than any other nation in Europe bar the Maltese so there needs to be a debate about how to tackle soaring rates of obesity which cost the country dearly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. Johnson, who said at the start of the year that he needed to lose weight, was hospitalised in April with coronavirus and treated in intensive care with oxygen. He later said doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) had saved his life. Asked about how ill he had been in an interview with Times Radio, Johnson said: “I did…