Author: News Desk

Banks will focus more on preserving asset-quality indicators than generating new business. Conventional and Islamic banks in the GCC countries will see a drop in revenue and credit growth in 2020, according to S&P Global Ratings. The sharp drop in oil prices and measures implemented by regional governments to contain transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19) will take a toll on sectors such as real estate, hospitality, the rating agency said in a new report. “Under our base-case scenario, we assume that these measures will be relatively short-lived and forecast a gradual recovery in non-oil activity from third-quarter 2020. However, severe…

Russian health authorities said on Monday that the number of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, infections reached 954 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 6,343. The number of patients recovered from the disease has reached 406, Interfax news agency reported on Monday. Of all the new cases, 591 have been registered in Moscow and 82 in the Moscow region. Two coronavirus patients have died in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 47. As many as 51 people have been discharged from hospitals over the same period of time, bringing the total number…

The International Monetary Fund cited limited but encouraging signs of recovery in China, the first country to suffer the full force of the COVID-19 pandemic, but said it could not rule out a resurgence of the pandemic in China and elsewhere, reported Reuters. In a blog published Monday, top IMF economists said the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus had pushed the world into a recession that would be worse than the global financial crisis and called for a global, coordinated health and economic policy response. “The economic damage is mounting across all countries, tracking the sharp rise in new…

U.S. officials on Monday girded the country for a “peak death week” from the coronavirus pandemic as the accelerating American death toll closed the gap with Italy and Spain, the countries with the most fatalities to date reported Reuters. “It’s going to be the peak hospitalization, peak ICU week and unfortunately, peak death week,” Admiral Brett Giroir, a physician and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday. Giroir raised a particular alarm for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Detroit, and reinforced the messaging from U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams who…

Researchers at Khalifa University’s Healthcare Engineering Innovation Centre, HEIC, are stepping up to serve the UAE’s project to develop emergency ventilators. The researchers have developed a working prototype and are now engineering the production plant to be able to produce the ventilators at scale to meet rising local and global demands, said a press release issued by Khalifa University on Monday. The team, led by Dr. Cesare Stefanini, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of HEIC, is working in response to the global need for increased ventilator manufacturing capacity due to COVID-19. Though the disease caused by the novel coronavirus…

Lebanon has reported 541 cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths. Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has appealed for the international community to help the country that is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, made worse in recent weeks by the new coronavirus. Aoun said in a speech Monday in front of ambassadors of the International Support Group for Lebanon that includes the U.N., U.S., China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain, EU, and the Arab League that Beirut was getting ready to launch work to revive the economy when coronavirus hit the world, The Associated Press reported. We…

Coronavirus patients around the world have been rushing to join remdesivir studies, an experimental drug that’s shown promise against some other coronaviruses, that opened in hospitals in the last few weeks, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Interest has been so great that the U.S. National Institutes of Health is expanding its study, which has nearly reached its initial goal of 440 patients. The drug’s maker, California-based Gilead Sciences, is quickly ramping up its studies, too. Gilead has given remdesivir to more than 1,700 patients on a case-by-case emergency basis, but more people ultimately will be helped if the company does…

A United Arab Emirates aid plane carrying approximately 10 tonnes of medical supplies was dispatched to Italy to assist the country in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, benefitting over 10,000 healthcare professionals. This initiative is part of the UAE’s commitment to cooperating with countries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in order to bolster global efforts to curb the virus’ spread, UAE News Agency (WAM) reported. “Since its founding as a nation, the UAE has committed to extending assistance to countries and peoples in distress, and the COVID-19 crisis has affirmed the effectiveness of this approach. This is evidenced by efforts to…

A booth for testing COVID-19 has been set up in Bahrain’s leading private hospital. The Ministry of Health and the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) in association with Al Hilal Hospital and Medical centres have set up the booth at the hospital’s Muharraq Branch. Exclusively set up for the expatriate community, this is an initiative by the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus. Residents who appear to show flu-like symptoms will be randomly tested. “Swab tests are done for expatriates who appear to have symptoms for the coronavirus. Those who have concerns can come in, register and get tested. The…

The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) General Command has announced a live ammunition firing in the southern-western zone and the western coast, from south of the Ras Al Matala to Ras Al Bar and five kilometers into the sea on April 7 from 7:30 am to 2 pm. The General Command cautioned citizens and residents to avoid the designated firing zone for safety reasons.