COVID-19
Polls start to close in tense US presidential election
Polls in US battleground states began to close on Tuesday, inching the contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden to its nail-biting conclusion, following a race fought in unprecedented conditions of a global pandemic and the most deeply divided electorate in decades. At 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), voting ended in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, and also Georgia, a formerly rock-solid Republican state that Biden’s Democrats hope to flip. CNN and NBC already projected a win for Trump in Indiana. Parts of Florida — an even bigger electoral prize that routinely sees knife-edge elections — were also closing at 7:00 pm. Polls in the rest of the state and also in Pennsylvania, another ground zero in US presidential contests, were closing at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT). What was no...
German COVID-19 Study Suggests Safe Indoor Concerts Are Theoretically (But Probably Not Actually) Possible *
Under conditions that may never be replicated in the real world, German scientists have found that safe indoor concerts are technically possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the good news. In August, researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg held a concert at Leipzig’s Quarterback Immobilien Arena. Using contact tracing devices and computer modeling, the scientists studied a group of 1,400 volunteers for 10 hours across three different simulated scenarios. In the first, there was no social distancing (this went badly), the second involved moderate social distancing (checkerboard seating, which went much better), and in the third go-round, pairs of people were seated 1.5 meters apart from their nearest neighbors, which produced excellent results. Researchers used fog ...
COVIDIOTS: NYC Authorities Shut Down Two Halloween Warehouse Parties
Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty At this rate, COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon in the United States. Believe it or not, the United States is still battling COVID-19, but if you happened to look on your Instagram stories, you couldn’t tell that at all. Rona fatigue is real, but it’s still no excuse to partake in dangerous behavior that could spread the virus, like attending massive gatherings that have been outlawed to help stop the transmission of COVID-19. Over the weekend, New York City authorities had to shut down TWO Halloween-themed parties that had hundreds of guests rocking costumes and drinking but failing miserably when it comes to wearing masks and socially distancing. The New York Times reports that one party in Brooklyn with nearly 400 people in attendance was broken u...
Ebonyi governor reduces university tuition fees
Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has directed the reduction of the tuition fees being paid by students of Ebonyi State University Abakaliki (EBSU). In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SGG), Dr Kenneth Ugbala, Umahi directed the reduction of N10,000 from the fees being paid by every non-indigene student of the school while N20,000 was reduced from the fees of the students who are indigenes of the state. The statement said the Governor took the decision because of effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of every family. He stated that the new fees, which take effect from the 2020/2021 academic year, will be paid anytime from next year. “Ebonyi State Government is aware of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the world economies of which Ebonyi State is h...
Damon Albarn: Artists “Should Be Allowed” to Perform During Pandemic
Over the weekend, Damon Albarn shared his thoughts on the importance of concerts during the ongoing pandemic. In an interview with Sky News, the Gorillaz mastermind said that live music is a remedy-like “prescription” for the mental stress of COVID-19, and expressed his opinion that artists shouldn’t be legally barred from performing if they wish to play to live crowds. “If people are willing to perform, they should be allowed to,” the 52-year-old said. “No one should be forced to do anything, but if people are willing then somehow we can make it work so everyone can feel comfortable and participate.” The idea of adapting live performances to fit pandemic-era restrictions isn’t a bad idea in and of itself, and artists like The Flaming Lips and The Chainsmokers have already attempted s...
Maynard James Keenan on “Arrogant” Pandemic Behavior: “There’s Logic Attached to Just Looking Out for Each Other”
Maynard James Keenan recently revealed that he battled COVID-19 earlier this year and is still feeling the residual effects months later. Unfortunately, the singer of Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle fears any serious warning that he or others give about coronavirus is “just going to fall on deaf ears.” In interviews with Arizona Republic and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Keenan disclosed that he contracted COVID when Tool were on tour in Australia and New Zealand in late February. Eight months later, he still has lung damage, leading to daily coughing fits. Tragically, the United States is currently experiencing its worst single-day infection numbers yet, with roughly 100,000 people testing positive for COVID-19 every 24 hours. To this day, there’s a large contingent of the popula...
US terminates virus cash transfer to Uganda’s poor
Pool Photo The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has terminated its Covid-19 cash transfer programme in Uganda. The US embassy there said the decision followed the Ugandan government’s indefinite suspension of GiveDirectly, a non-profit organisation that was conducting the programme. “In light of this indefinite suspension, it is now unlikely that the programme will meet its original objective, which was to prevent Covid-19 related economic backsliding of the most vulnerable Ugandans,” the embassy said in a statement. “Therefore, we are obligated contractually to terminate the program permanently.” The programme was to benefit 120,000 Ugandans who lost livelihoods because of the coronavirus pandemic. Each beneficiary was to receive 100,000 Ugandan shillings ($26; £20) every m...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic overhead kick seals AC Milan win at Udinese
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an acrobatic late winner as AC Milan consolidated top spot in Serie A with a 2-1 win over Udinese on Udinese. The 39-year-old has scored seven goals in four league games played having missed the other two after contracting coronavirus. Stefano Pioli’s side are top of the table with 16 points from six games, four points ahead of Atalanta. Champions Juventus are sixth — seven points behind AC Milan — before Sunday’s game against promoted Spezia where Cristiano Ronaldo starts on the bench after testing negative for Covid-19. Magic from Zlatan Ibrahimović! 🙌 Just when his team needed it, he came up with an acrobatic finish which will likely seal the win for Milan 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oNPtU0KCdo — Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) November 1, 202...
Kylian Mbappe on target as PSG win without injured Neymar
Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot as Paris Saint-Germain eased to their seventh straight Ligue 1 win on Saturday, beating Nantes 3-0 away to move provisionally three points clear at the top of the table. All the goals came in the second half at the Stade de la Beaujoire, with Ander Herrera opening the scoring two minutes after the restart and Mbappe converting a 65th-minute spot-kick before Pablo Sarabia secured the points late on. PSG have now taken maximum points since starting the season with back-to-back defeats and the reigning champions are three clear of Lille and Rennes at the summit. Lille, who are unbeaten, can rejoin the club from the capital at the top if they beat Lyon on Sunday. Rennes beat Brest 2-1 on Saturday. “I am very happy. We made lots of changes because we f...
Top Turkish officials close to President Erdogan test positive for coronavirus
Two top Turkish officials who work closely with Turkey’s president have said they tested positive for COVID-19. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said on Saturday he had light COVID-19 symptoms and was nearing the end of treatment. He did not say how long he has been sick. His comments came hours after Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said he, his wife and daughter all tested positive after feeling unwell on Monday. They are being treated in a hospital. “Thankfully we are a bit better,” he said. Soylu was criticised in April for announcing Turkey’s first weekend-long coronavirus lockdown just two hours before it went into effect, leading to scenes of chaos at markets. The president rejected his resignation. Both men routinely meet Erdogan, who was travelling on Sat...
UN lauds Nigeria for implementing programmes on women
The United Nations (UN) has commended the Federal Government on the implementation of its (UN) Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325 programmes on women, peace and security in Nigeria. Ms Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria, gave the commendation during the launch of activities to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the UNSCR 1325 in Abuja. Lamptey who is also the UN Women Country Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), noted that government had implemented the resolutions of the UNSCR by mainstreaming gender perspective in its programmes. She noted that this had been achieved by promoting women participation, peace keeping mission across Africa and inclusiveness on security issues, particularly in traditional settings. Accordin...
Africa CDC warns of possible second wave of virus infection
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday urged the African continent to brace itself for possible second wave COVID-19 infections. According to Africa CDC, the number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,759,794. The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 42,336 as of Friday afternoon. A total of 1,438,841 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, the Africa CDC said. The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed posit...
