How India lightens its crisis   -50%

As government fails in curbing COVID-19, a rush of volunteers and donors step in, perhaps weaving new levels of trust in India.

Entire families wiped out by Covids carnage in rural India   -1%

Many people said the scale of the crisis is much bigger in rural India than official numbers reveal, with villagers afraid to leave their homes even if they have fevers and local authorities failing to properly record virus fatalities. India reported 274,390 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to figures from the health ministry.

Nation's 2nd-Largest Teachers Union Says It's Time For In-Person Learning  

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, about schools reopening in the fall while coronavirus cases continue to rise in some areas.

New York Gov. Cuomo to receive over $5 million from book deal   7%

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will receive more than $5 million from his book about leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic, tax records released on Monday show, a considerable sum for a project under scrutiny by the state attorney general's office.

Covid: What's the roadmap for lifting lockdown?  

Lockdown restrictions have eased in England, Scotland and Wales

Why domestic tourism will carry Asian travel sector until Covid-19 pandemic ends  

As Singapore enters a tighter phase of Covid-19 restrictions this weekend, the future of its “travel bubble” with Hong Kong has been thrown into limbo yet again. Under this arrangement, which was set to start on May 26 after a delay, travellers from these two financial hubs would have been exempted from quarantine.It would have given a glimmer of hope to the rest of Asia that borders can be reopened safely. As yet, many borders remain closed and the prospect of travel remains uncertain.Asean+3 …

Everybody is angry: Modi under fire over Indias Covid second wave   -22%

From an approval rating of 80% earlier in the year, now tough questions are being asked of PM’s leadership

The missing persons complaint was filed at Parliament Street police station in Delhi as a matter of some urgency: it concerned the “disappearance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and 10 of his cabinet ministers during the pandemic.

Nagesh Kariyappa, the general secretary of the Indian national students’ union who filed the report to police on Friday, said he wanted the absence of political leadership when India had been brought to its knees by Covid-19 to be a matter of official record. “Where are the so-called leaders who had promised to make India a global leader but have instead made people suffer like this?” said Kariyappa.

Coronavirus India: how Modi ally has suppressed damaging reports about oxygen shortages   10%

As India’s hospitals filled up and long queues emerged outside crematoriums last month, local journalist Anuj Awasthi had a big scoop. Oxygen supplies were being diverted away from his district in Uttar Pradesh to a larger city in the country’s most populous state, he reported.A few days later, the reporter for the local Kanwhizz Times was handed a so-called show-cause notice by the district administration under a law intended to curb rumours and misinformation. The notice states that the…

Taiwan back on coronavirus alert as local clusters grow   -3%

Taiwan is reimposing social distancing and mask rules as it grapples with an outbreak of coronavirus cases after months of no local infections.Health Minister Chen Shih-chung rang the alarm bell on Tuesday after two new local clusters were identified – in addition to a previous group linked to the travel industry.One of the new clusters involved five people – four employees and a regular customer of the Galaxy Baccarat amusement arcade in Yilan county, according to the Central Epidemic Command…

Newsom proposes additional $600 stimulus checks and $5 billion toward rental assistance   37%

The proposal to deliver $8 billion in new cash payments to millions of Californians amid the COVID-19 pandemic is part of a $100-billion state budget that has swelled with a significant windfall of tax revenues.

Commuter Chaos In Turkmen Capital As Ashgabat 'Goes Green' For Two Weeks  

Officials in Ashgabat have temporarily restricted traffic, but the scheme has paralyzed ambulance services and supercharged taxi fares.

Coronavirus: blame game in Spain after street parties mark end of curfew   4%

The Spanish government and opposition blamed each other after crowds of mostly maskless youths partied in the streets of Madrid and Barcelona when a state of emergency imposed to curb the pandemic ended at the weekend.Imposed last October amid an alarming second wave of infections, the state of emergency allowed the temporary suspension of some civil liberties, including a nationwide curfew and local travel bans.Its expiry, partly because the minority government of Socialist Prime Minister…

China takes COVID-19 controls to Mount Everest with climber ban  

China has banned attempts to scale Everest from its side of the world’s highest peak, as Beijing takes its unflinching COVID-19 controls to the Roof of the World.The block on climbing was announced

Lightning strike may have killed 18 wild elephants in India: Officials   6%

A herd of eighteen wild Asiatic elephants were found dead in India’s eastern state of Assam, possibly because of a massive lightning strike, local officials said on Friday.For the latest headlines,

Mass. reports 281 new COVID-19 cases, 19 new deaths   25%

The state also reported 336 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Here's the data reported Monday, May 17, 2021.

The post Mass. reports 281 new COVID-19 cases, 19 new deaths appeared first on Boston.com.

How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer?   12%

Monday’s change in the rules was supposed to be a moment of celebration – but the new variant spreading in the UK meant it came with a cautionary note. Can the next stage of the government’s ‘irreversible’ plan go ahead?

This time last week, most of us were feeling optimistic about the next step in the government’s “irreversible” plan to end lockdown. Then scientists started to warn that the accelerating spread of the India variant of coronavirus meant that we should proceed carefully – and even consider slowing down.

While the plans went ahead on Monday, they came with a heavy dose of caution and warnings that the last stage of the relaxation set for 21 June could be delayed. The Guardian’s science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Anushka Asthana about the latest setback in the fight against Covid – and what it means for what happens next.

Covid-19: One year on, Canada learns lessons from high death toll in care homes   -25%

During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada, seventy percent of the country's deaths took place in long-term care facilities for the elderly, a tragic world record. Senior citizens often died alone in their rooms. But the cause of death was not always the coronavirus. Some died from hunger and thirst due to neglect, according to several investigative reports that have been made public over the past year. Our correspondents report from Quebec and Ontario, the two worst affected Canadian provinces.

Coronavirus: Singapore shifts to online classes from May 17 amid fears B.1.617 variant affects children more   -2%

Singapore will close public schools this week as it grapples with a sharp rise in domestic cases of Covid-19 that have resulted in the city state returning to lockdown-like conditions in place at the height of the pandemic last year.The country on Sunday reported 38 new local cases of the virus, 17 of which were unlinked. This month, Singapore has racked up 193 domestic infections, compared to 55 in April and just nine in March. It has reported more than 61,000 cases in total since the start of…

NEFT won't be available for 14 hours on May 23: RBI   40%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said that National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) service will not be available for 14 hours on May 23 due "technical upgrade".

Long working hours killing 745,000 people a year, study finds  

The World Health Organization says the trend may worsen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Indias COVID-19 cases lower but WHO expert says positive tests ominously high  

India on Monday reported a further decline in new coronavirus cases though daily deaths remained above 4,000 and experts warned that the count was unreliable due to a lack of testing in rural areas,

India: How COVID disaster dents Narendra Modi's well-crafted image  

The catastrophic health situation in India has shaken the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has relied heavily on public relations and perception management since he came to power.

Britain to launch full public inquiry into coronavirus response next year   7%

A full, independent public inquiry into the British government’s handling of its response to the coronavirus pandemic will be held early next year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.The country had “found itself in the teeth of the gravest pandemic for a century” and the state has “an obligation to examine its actions as rigorously and as candidly as possible and to learn every lesson for the future”, he told politicians.Britain has been hit hard by the outbreak, with more than 127…

Coronavirus: Chinese province delays quarantine cuts after Taiwan case surge  

Authorities in a southeastern Chinese province have postponed plans to shorten quarantine for visitors from Taiwan after a surge in new coronavirus cases on the island linked to the travel industry.A coronavirus command centre in Fujian announced on Saturday that it would delay introduction of the trial scheme, which was scheduled to start on Monday and would have reduced the quarantine period for “qualified Taiwanese visitors” from 14 days to two.The command centre said Taiwan had reported…

Singapore reports 24 Covid-19 cases, but Hong Kong says travel bubble still on   6%

Singapore confirmed 24 locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily jump since July last year, with infections linked to a cluster at Changi Airport ballooning to 46.Four of the 24 cases could not be traced, health authorities said. This brings the seven-day moving average of unlinked cases in the country to 2.14 – the highest since the quarantine-free air travel bubble with Hong Kong was announced on April 27. Hong Kong’s stands at 0.14.Under the arrangement, the travel…

Lockdown easing: Virus experts tell us what they will (and won't) be doing  

How will scientists use their new-found freedoms when Covid restrictions are eased on Monday?

Turkey to start easing strict coronavirus lockdown tomorrow  

Turkey will start easing its strict coronavirus lockdown on May 17 by allowing movement during the day while keeping overnight and weekend curfews in place, the Interior Ministry said in a directive on May 16.

Cyclone threatens India's west coast, leaves several dead   6%

Cyclone Tauktae is expected to make landfall in Gujarat state in the early hours of Tuesday. The first major storm of the season comes as India battles a second wave of the coronavirus.

British Columbias health minister vows to act on SCMP report that Vancouver care homes delayed declaring Covid-19 outbreaks   8%

British Columbia’s health minister has pledged to look into the circumstances of Covid-19 infections in long-term care homes, in light of a South China Morning Post investigation that revealed at least 192 people had died in Vancouver homes where authorities did not declare outbreaks when an employee first tested positive for the virus.More than 1,000 people became infected in 42 care homes where outbreak declarations were delayed by an average of almost five days under the strategy, known as …

India coronavirus strain declared variant of concern in Britain   14%

British health officials on Friday labelled a coronavirus strain first found in India a “variant of concern” due to evidence it spreads more easily, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation needed careful handling.Public Health England designated variant B. 1.617.2, one of three variants identified in India that has spread to Britain, a variant of concern. Surge testing was being carried out in areas where evidence indicates community spread.Cases of the B. 1.617.2 variant…

20 footballers from River Plate test positive for COVID-19   22%

What the papers say May 18  

England’s reopening is balanced by concerns over the Indian coronavirus strain’s spread in Tuesday’s papers.

Covid-19: Lockdowns ease in England, Wales and most of Scotland   18%

Rules on socialising indoors and foreign travel are lifted in England, Wales and most of Scotland.

Algeria: Algeria to Begin Reopening Covid-Closed Borders On 1 June   5%

[RFI] From the start of next month, commercial flights will once again be authorised at the airports of Algiers, Constantine and Oran, the north African nation's three largest cities. While precise details of the conditions for the partial lifting of health restrictions have still to be made public, "strict control" will be imposed on all arrivals to prevent the further spread of Covid-19.

Ready to travel again? You're not the only one considering a national park road trip   60%

As travelers begin to plan vacations as COVID-19 cases wane, road trips to outdoor destinations are emerging as a popular choice.

The Covid-19 debt mountain: Counting the trillions borrowed during the pandemic   9%

In a crisis that's caused economic shockwaves, governments around the world have spent trillions of euros dealing with the pandemic. In this special edition of the show, we look at the Covid-19 debt mountain, what it means for us as taxpayers now and in the future and whether this extra debt is a cause for concern.

Coronavirus quarantine reading list: 15 best apocalyptic books to read now   -90%

From Camus to Saramago, from Chaucer to Atwood, writers for centuries have painted horrifying scenes of death and destruction wrought by plagues. Your (post) apocalyptic reading list for a coronavirus quarantine

Why sexual activity took a pandemic hit, and what to do about it   37%

When Covid-19 first hit, I stopped getting as many inquiries from new patients for sex therapy.

Israeli Olympic athletes relieved Tokyo games postponed over coronavirus outbreak   80%

Athletes welcome end to uncertainty over whether they would compete this summer, as the coronavirus continues to jolt countries worldwide