Author: News Desk

Electronics giant Samsung expects to increase its profits for the first quarter of 2020, largely due to a steady demand for memory chips amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Profits from its core businesses will increase by 2.7 percent year-on-year to 6.4 trillion won (5.31 billion dollars), the South Korean company announced on Tuesday in its quarterly earnings outlook, Deutsche press agency (DPA) reported. The figures were slightly above market expectations. Samsung expects sales to increase by 5 percent to 55 trillion won. The group said it will present more detailed figures at a later date. Observers in South Korea have predicted Samsung…

The pandemic, which has killed more than 70,000 people worldwide, has been accompanied by what the World Health Organization (WHO) has called an “infodemic” of misinformation, prompting governments and other authorities to urge social media companies to do more to combat the problem. Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp tightened message forwarding limits on Tuesday, restricting users to sharing forwarded content one chat at a time after a jump in messages touting bogus medical advice since the start of the coronavirus crisis. “We believe it’s important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation,” the…

France’s coronavirus figures on Monday showed that the rate of increase in fatalities – at almost 9,000 – sped up again after several days of slowing reported Reuters. France has not yet reached the peak of its COVID-19 epidemic, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday. “We are still in a worsening phase of the epidemic,” Veran told broadcaster BFM TV. He also said that the country’s lockdown would last as long as necessary.

Bahrain has so far evacuated over 1200 citizens from overseas countries due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic reported Bahrain News Agency. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Daij Al-Khalifa released the update number of returnees as she was hosted by the “Be Aware” programme on Bahrain TV channel. The Government had announced details of the contingency evacuation plan over Bahraini citizens abroad during a meeting which was held with the Council of Representatives on the 29th of March. She stressed Bahrain’s success in managing the crisis competently and taking adequate precautionary measures to combat…

The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that the youngest patient infected with COVID-19 in Oman, an 18-month-old baby, has recovered and discharged from the Royal Hospital. The infant patient, who caught the disease from one of his parents, was admitted to the hospital’s Pediatric Ward suffering from rapid breathing and mild cough. He was under a two-day observation for investigation, scan, and administering the required medical care. The baby is now in good health condition after being discharged from the hospital. MOH emphasizes that maximum caution must be exercised so as not to compromise the health of children and the…

China reported no new coronavirus deaths in the past day, for the first time since January 19, as the city of Wuhan prepared to lift its last lockdown measures. There were also no new locally transmitted infections in Hubei province, home to Wuhan, and across China, the National Health Commission said. Authorities reported 32 new coronavirus cases among citizens returning from abroad. The commission said that 30 new cases of asymptomatic infections were being monitored, with a total of 1,033 such cases under medical observation.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today approved the extension of lockdown and home quarantine measures covering more than half of the population, a crisis panel official said, in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Enhanced Community Quarantine was due to end next week but would be extended until April 30. Policies restricting movement and gatherings have been in place in and around the capital Manila since nearly a month ago, in response to confirmation of the first domestic transmission. The Philippines was among the first countries to adopt strict home quarantine measures.

India’s 21-day lockdown is set to end next week but several state leaders have called for an extension or only a partial lifting of restrictions, saying is the only way to avoid a coronavirus epidemic that will be difficult to tackle. India has so far escaped a big surge in cases after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked its 1.3 billion people to stay indoors in the world’s biggest lockdown last month that authorities have enforced tightly. But shuttering down the $2.9 trillion economy has left millions of people without work and forced those who live on daily wages to flee…

The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) has started distribution of ICRF Support Kit, which includes basic commodities such as rice, dal lentils, green mung lentils, chilly powder, coriander powder, wheat, salt, tea powder, cooking oil, black chena lentil, sugar, eggs, milk powder, etc., due to the current COVID-19 conditions. A special team selected from various states of India will forefront and address the needy from Indian community. The team is headed by Adv. V K Thomas as Convenor and Pankaj Malik, Zulfikar Ali, Nasser Manjeri, J S Gill, Satyendra Kumar, Clifford Correa and Shivakumar D.V as members, to facilitate such requests…

Kuwait announced two new coronavirus recoveries on Tuesday, a two-year-old boy and a 72-year-old man, bringing the total to 105, according to the minister of health. The boy is an expatriate in the country and the man is a Kuwaiti national, Dr. Basel al-Sabah said in a tweet. A total of 665 cases were confirmed in Kuwait as of Monday and only one death. Kuwait health ministry said 20 people out of 561 active cases are in the intensive care unit (ICU). Several measures have been implemented over the past few weeks to help slow the spread of the new…