Cyclone Harold brings strong winds in Luganville, Vanuatu April 6, 2020, in this still image obtained from a social media video. Courtesy of Adra Vanuatu/Social Media via REUTERS.     SYDNEY, April 6 (Reuters): A powerful tropical cyclone made landfall on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Monday, witnesses said, levelling buildings in a country already in a state of emergency due to concerns about the coronavirus.     Cyclone

FILE PHOTO: A medical technician takes a sample to test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a drive through testing site in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S., April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo   Reuters New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday he believed there needed to be a mass rollout of rapid testing in order to achieve a "return to normalcy" after the peak of the novel coronavirus crisis passes in the United States in the coming weeks and months.

Tokyo, April 6 (IANS) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to declare a state of emergency in the country due to the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo and other major cities, government sources said on Monday. Pressure had been mounting on Abe to make the declaration amid a surge in COVID-19 cases recently, with calls for the move from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the Japan Medical Association intensifying, reports Xinhua news agency. The Tok

New York, April 6 (IANS) Authorities in New York, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, announced that the disease has claimed 4,159 lives and infected 122,031 others in the state, while the US's surgeon general said that the coming week will be a "Pearl Harbor moment... our 9/11 moment". New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who warned on Saturday that the peak of the coronavirus epidemic in the state would come in the next seven days, announced on Sunday that the sta

United Nations, April 6 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all governments to adopt measures against the "horrifying global surge in domestic violence", following the lockdowns imposed by authorities around the world to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. "I recently called for an immediate global ceasefire to focus on our shared struggle to overcome the pandemic. I appealed for an end to violence everywhere now. But violence is not confined to the battlefield," Ef

Vatican City, April 6 (IANS) Pope Francis held the Palm Sunday mass alone in the St Peter's Basilica here for the first time in history due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, the rites to mark the beginning of Holy Week, an important religious festival in the Catholic calendar, were not held in the Vatican Square as usual and there was no congregation present at the ceremony, reports Efe news. Instead millions of people followed the liturgy on the internet, radio and te

Healthcare workers wheel the bodies of deceased people from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly   Reuters The United States is entering what a senior official warned on Sunday would be the "hardest" week of the coronavirus crisis as the death toll mounted, but some saw glimmers of hope from a slight slowing of fatalities in

IANS Photo.   Tripoli, April 6 (IANS): Libya's east-based army said it killed 41 troops of the UN-backed government forces , as the armed conflict between the two sides to take control of the capital Tripoli continues. The east-based army's information office on Sunday also posted images of bodies in battlefields, saying they belong to the UN-backed government's forces, reports Xinhua news agency. Earlier on Sunday, the east-based army said it shot down th

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson applauds outside 10 Downing Street during the Clap For Our Carers campaign in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, March 26, 2020. Pictre taken March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay   LONDON, April 6 (Reuters): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was still in hospital on Monday suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus, although D

IANS File Photo.   Beijing, April 6 (IANS): China has freed human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang after he spent nearly five years behind bars for "subversion of state power", a charge often used by the Chinese government against activists and dissidents. Wang's wife Li Wenzu tweeted that she had received a call from her husband early on Sunday informing her that he had been released at 5 a.m., reports Efe news. The lawyer was taken by the police to a house h

New Delhi, April 6 (PTI): China has reported 39 new coronavirus cases, including 38 imported ones, as the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, raising concern of a second wave of the COVID-19 infections mainly from Chinese returning home despite drastic containment efforts, health officials said on Monday.   A health official of Beijing has warned that the Chinese capital will probably remain under long-term coronavirus epidemic control saying that there is no chance to

Washington, April 6 (IANS) The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine will be used in a trial covering 3,000 patients at a hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and the results will be tracked in a formal study, said US Vice President Mike Pence. Pence told a White House briefing on Sunday that they were "more than prepared" to make hydroxychloroquine available to doctors' offices and pharmacies in the Detroit area, reports xinhua news agency. President Donald Trump said the federal

Washington, April 6 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has claimed that some 1.6 million people in country underwent testing for the COVID-19. Trump, who made the remarks during the White House Coronavirus Task Force news briefing on Sunday, said that by Tuesday, 3,000 military and public health workers will be deployed across the nation to cope with the pandemic, reports Xinhua news agncy. Trump broke down into specific numbers a total of 1,700 ventilators the government has

Washington, April 6 (IANS) Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that the state will return more than 400 ventilators received from the Strategic National Stockpile to help states with the higher numbers of COVID-19 cases. "These ventilators are going to New York and others states hardest hit by this virus," Xinhua news gency quoted Inslee as saying on Sunday. "We are in this together. This should guide all of our actions at an individual and state level in the coming day

Paris, April 6 (IANS) With the total coronavirus fatalities swelling to 8,078 while the number of critically-ill patients increasing less rapidly, French authorities warned that the virus "continues to hit hard," urging people to continue to respect the confinement. The number of patients who died in the country's hospitals rose by 357 to 5,889 on Sunday. The one-day increase was less than 441 registered on Saturday and the record of 588 on Friday, according to the Health Minis

Frankfurt, April 6 (IANS) The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Germany climbed to 91,714 as of 0:00 local time on Sunday, with a death toll of 1,342, according to data from Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's disease control authority. The confirmed cases were 5,936 more than the previous day, reported Xinhua news agency. Meanwhile, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) on Sunday called on the federal government to introduce a seco

London, April 6 (IANS) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital on Sunday. According to the BBC, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "On the advice of his doctor, the prime minister has tonight been admitted to hospital for tests. "This is a precautionary step, as the Prime Minister continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus ten days after testing positive for the virus," the spokesperson said. The Downing Street spokesperson said: "Prime Mi

Rome, April 6 (IANS) Italy registered 525 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the lowest one-day total since March 19, health officials said. The country registered its one-day high of 969 fatalities on March 27. The death toll has decreased in five of nine days since then, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. Still, the coronavirus pandemic that claimed its first life in Italy on Feb. 20 has now resulted in a total of 15,887 deaths, more than in any other country b

Buckingham Palace handout image of Britain's Queen Elizabeth during her address to the nation and the Commonwealth in relation to the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19), recorded at Windsor Castle, Britain 0n April 5. (Buckingham Palace/Handout via REUTERS) ​​​​​​ London, April 6 (IANS) As the UK reels under the coronavirus scourge with the national toll nearing 5,000 and total cases almost at 50,000, Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday made a special address to the natio

U.S. braces for 'hardest, saddest' week as coronavirus deaths surpass 9,300   April 5 (Reuters) - The United States enters one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis with the death toll exploding in New York, Michigan and Louisiana and some governors calling for a national stay-at-home order.   New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that, for the first time in a week, deaths had fallen slightly from the day before, but there were