Author: News Desk

As part of monitoring and analyzing social changes in the Sultanate, the Social Observatory Research Program of The Research Council (TRC) has carried out a seminar titled “The Omani Family in Light of the COVID-19 Crisis” to understand how Omani families are facing the COVID-19 pandemic from social and psychological standpoints. The seminar was conducted virtually by Dr Said Al Dhafri, Director of the Social Observatory, and managed by Safiya Al Hashmi, Research Specialist at the Social Observatory, with the participation of a group of academics, specialists and professionals from various institutions. The discussion revolved around the most prominent psychological,…

Pope Francis called on Sunday for international scientific cooperation to discover a vaccine for the coronavirus and said any successful vaccine should be made available around the world. Francis, who has been delivering his Sunday address from the papal library instead of St. Peter’s Square because of the lockdown in Italy, thanked all those around the world who were providing essential services. He encouraged international cooperation to deal with the crisis and combat the virus, which has infected nearly 3.5 million people and killed more than 240,000 people worldwide. “In fact, it is important to unite scientific capabilities, in a…

The Kingdom of Bahrain joins the countries of the world in marking the World Press Freedom Day on May 3. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) chose “journalism without fear or favour” as this year’s theme. The theme asserts the importance of maintaining independent and professional journalism standards. It also addresses political, ideological or economic control and defamatory attacks on journalists, as stated in the message by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. Bahrain takes pride in the history of its press throughout the decades. The constitutional guarantees for the freedom of press and expression are in line with…

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated every year on 3 May, UNESCO and its Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, will host an online discussion on the importance of free media in providing the public with reliable independent information, vital in times of crisis. The debate will address the danger of what the UN Secretary-General has described as the “dangerous epidemic of misinformation.” It will advocate the need for a free press in countering disinformation which is putting lives at risk and undermining the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting false cures, conspiracy theories and myths. UNESCO’s flagship event…

Kerala on Sunday reported no new case of COVID-19. According to sources, one person recovered on Sunday. With this, 401 people have been cured so far in the state. The total number of active cases in Kerala now stands at 95. The state has only reported 4 deaths from COVID-19 so far.

In comparison with five other countries that conducted at least 1 million COVID-19 tests, India has the least number of positive cases while Spain had recorded the highest, according to the PIB. Data sourced from three databases were used to compare case figures in six countries — India, USA, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Italy — when they crossed the million mark. However, it must be noted that the testing criteria differ from country to country and it is unclear whether the total number of tests includes retests on the same patients. While India had largely limited its testing initially to foreign travellers and their contacts and…

Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Centre, one of the leading private medical facilities in the Kingdom, has launched telehealth services, where patients can talk to doctors either audio or video from home or office. The teleconsultation service allows people to remotely consult qualified and specialist doctors in the medical centre. The facility also offers appointments with pediatricians. The individual may log on to www.telehealth.shifaaljazeera.com to book a remote consultation with a physician. Once all the relevant details are filled in, the patient can select the doctor and pay the normal fee. Subsequently, the patient will be given a time slot for the teleconsultation…

South Korea announced it will loosen social distancing rules this week to allow gatherings and events to take place after the number of new coronavirus cases dropped significantly in recent days. The country endured one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China and strict social distancing has been widely observed since March. South Korea reported its death toll is around 250 – vastly lower than that of Italy, Britain, Spain and France, which have each recorded at least 24,000 fatalities. South Korea was expected to have more COVID-19 cases as it is near to China. “South Korea…

Bahrain MOH has announced 72 new active cases of COVID-19 of which 67 are expatriate workers and 5 are contacts of active cases. 149 new recoveries from COVID-19 have been announced by the MOH. 211 individuals have been discharged from quarantine centres after completing the necessary quarantine period and undergoing testing to ensure they are free of COVID-19. To date, 2040 individuals have been discharged from quarantine centres. Bahrain tested a total of 143,030 until now. There are 1,631 active cases. These include 1,630 stable cases and 1 critical case. 1,717 people have been discharged. Only 8 deaths have been…

Algerian singer Hamid Cheriet (also known as Idir) has died at the age of 70. The tireless champion of the Kabyle and Berber cultures died of pulmonary disease. The family said that the singer and musician died on Saturday in a Paris hospital from a long illness. Idir became internationally famous with his lullaby “Vava Inouva” in the 1970s and made a comeback in 1993. In a tribute to the singer, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called him an icon of Algerian art and said: “Algeria loses one of its monuments”. Idir grew up surrounded by the songs and rhythms of…