The authorities of Italy’s Lombardy region, worst hit by the coronavirus, have accused the Civil Protection of having provided hospitals with “cheap masks that look like dust-cloths”.
On Friday, the Civil Protection provided 250,000 masks for doctors and nurses of Lombardy who refused to wear them citing they were “useless”. The regional authorities compaed them to dust-cloths.Italy is running out of masks after the outbreak of the coronavirus. In the country’s pharmacies, the Fp2 and Fp3 masks are practically impossible to find.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a national production of masks,” the head of civil protection, Angelo Borrelli, told the Sole24Ore newspaper.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/15/coronavirus-latest-updates-trump-tests-negative-as-spain-orders-nationwide-lockdown-uk-us-australia-italy-europe-global-economy-------------------------
Italy will receive another 140 medicinal ventilators and 5 million face masks from China, said Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday. The latest shipment comes after China delivered some 30 tons of medical equipment, including masks and respirators, on Thursday.
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The EU has announced controls on exporting masks and other protective medical equipment.Such goods can now "only be exported to non-EU countries with the explicit authorization of the EU governments," said the head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
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Italy coronavirus deaths rise by 25%The total number of confirmed cases in Italy has risen to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday, as the death toll increased by 25% to 1,809 from 1,441 on Sunday – a rise of 368.
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Germany now has 4,838 confirmed coronavirus cases, a jump of over 1,000 compared to Saturday. The virus has so far killed 12 people.
The coronavirus outbreak is advancing "quickly and aggressively" and has not yet reached its peak, according to German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
https://m.dw.com/en/coronavirus-latest-germany-to-close-borders-to-several-countries/a-52777896------------------------
Scandinavian airline SAS will temporarily lay off some 10,000 employees, or 90% of its workforce, as the demand for plane tickets sinks due to the coronavirus.
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Irish government asks all pubs to close until March 29All pubs and bars in the Republic of Ireland have been ordered to close from Sunday evening to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.
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The Iraqi government has imposed a curfew in the capital Baghdad as of March 17 until March 24 to prevent coronavirus from spreading, the state news agency said on Sunday.
At least 110 cases have been confirmed so far in Iraq, and 10 people have died.
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UK over-70s to be asked to stay home 'within weeks', Hancock sayshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/coronavirus-uk-over-70s-to-be-asked-to-self-isolate-within-weeks-hancock-saysPeople over 70 will soon be asked to stay at home for up to four months to protect themselves from the risk of contracting coronavirus, the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said.
Ministers are also not ruling out ordering the closure of all bars, restaurants and non-essential shops as the coronavirus pandemic escalates.
Hancock confirmed the government will soon tell people over 70 that they will need to self-isolate at home for up to four months to protect themselves from the disease – but his terminology caused some confusion, leading Scottish officials to stress that elderly people would not be asked to avoid all contact with other people.
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US tries to lure German firm working on virus vaccine: Reporthttps://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/lure-german-firm-working-virus-vaccine-report-200315165703635.htmlBerlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.
German government sources told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the US administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.
... In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with US biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.
Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.