At a video-conferenced summit on Wednesday with leaders of African nations, Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged they would be “among the first” to benefit from a Chinese-developed vaccine.” China will continue to do whatever it can to support Africa’s response to Covid-19,” Xi said, according to an English translation of his speech on Xinhua.
“Together, we will build a China-Africa community of health for all. We pledge that once the development and deployment of Covid-19 vaccine is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit.”
China currently has five vaccine candidates for Covid-19 in human trials, the most in any country. It recently asked for volunteers from among state-owned firms and who were planning to travel, to test candidates in phase three trials.
The Chinese government has been pushing hard to build relations with African countries, particularly as its relationships with other nations like the US, UK and Australia, have soured.
Global report: Beijing Covid-19 cluster may have begun a month earlier – China health official
Beijing’s cluster of new cases may have begun a month earlier than first thought, partly due to asymptomatic infections, according to the director of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Amid tight restrictions to stop the spread of the capital’s cluster, which now numbers more than 150 cases, Gao Fu said the outbreak probably did not occur in early June or late May, but probably a month earlier, according to state media.
Gao said the volume of asymptomatic cases detected in the outbreak may be partially responsible, but that further investigation was needed.
“A lot of asymptomatic or mild cases were detected in this outbreak and that is why the environment has such amount of virus,” said Gao at a seminar in Shanghai on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Beijing reported 21 new cases of Covid-19, down slightly from the 31 reported on Wednesday. There were two additional cases in Hebei province that were also linked to the Beijing cluster.
The city on Thursday ordered all hotels be shut down, as well as restaurants in high-risk areas. Officials said Beijing was not under lockdown but urged all residents not to travel or gather unnecessarily, and pledged to ensure continued food supply.
Armies of workers in protective masks are racing to complete the mammoth Dubai Expo 2020 site despite the coronavirus that has sickened some employees, forced a one-year postponement, and created a logistical headache, AFP reports.
The six-month world fair, a milestone for the emirate which has splashed out $8.2bn on the eye-popping venue in the hope of boosting its soft power and resetting the economy, will now open its doors in October 2021.
But organisers grappling with the complexities of rescheduling the event are intent on delivering the main buildings of the Expo by the original start date.
As well as the onset of the scorching Gulf summer, organisers have had to contend with coronavirus infections and layoffs among a large workforce recruited from across the world.
Elmo, Cookie Monster and Muppets from Asia and the Middle East are joining forces for a special episode of “Sesame Street” aimed at helping kids cope with a world turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.
“Elmo’s World News,” airing over the next few weeks in 13 languages across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, will share activities, play, and advice on how to manage “big feelings” like frustration and sadness.
In the 25-minute special, Elmo hosts a news show from his bedroom, with Cookie Monster playing a special correspondent showing his “Things That Make Me Happy” activity box.
Grover plays a weather reporter who learns how to play inside, while Basma and Jad, the stars of the “Ahlan Simsim” Arabic version of “Sesame Street,” show how to manage feelings with dance.
The hospitalisation of Honduras president with Covid-19 and pneumonia Wednesday has drawn attention to another country struggling under the pandemics strain as cases rise sharply in the capital, AP reports.
President Juan Orlando Hernández announced late Tuesday that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. Just hours later he was hospitalised after doctors determined he had pneumonia.
From March to 7 June, Honduras confirmed 6,327 coronavirus infections. In the 10 days since, it added 3,329 more, a surge that has come after the government began a gradual reactivation of the economy.
The full story on Australia’s unemployment rate now:
Australia lost a further 227,000 jobs between April and May, resulting in a total loss of 835,000 jobs in seasonally adjusted terms since March and a 0.7% jump in unemployment to 7.1%.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the statistics on Thursday, revealing that 85,700 more people are unemployed and the proportion of people aged 15 years and over in jobs has shrunk from 62.5% to about 58.7% in two months.
The numbers suggest Australia is on track to reach unemployment of 8% as the government debates how to rebalance its policies between the 3 million people receiving wage subsidies, excluded from unemployment figures, and the 1.7 million Australians on jobseeker unemployment benefits.
China’s Vice Premier Liu He said the country’s economic situation has gradually improved, and that various indicators have shown marginal progress, in prepared remarks delivered on Thursday by the chief securities regulator.
Liu also said in the remarks that China and the United States should create the conditions and atmosphere to implement the Phase 1 trade deal reached earlier this year.
The Guardian
