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Volume 25 | Number 8253

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BUSINESS | 01 PENMAG | 04 SPORT | 10

Ricciardo braced

for ‘chaos’ when

Formula One

returns

Classifieds

and Services

section

included

Ramadan Timing

Today's Iftar:6:12pm

Tomorrow's Imask:03:18am

MoPH: Nearly 2,500 patients recover from COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health has announced the registration of 1,130 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 129 have recovered from the virus yesterday. The Ministry has also announced one new death due to COVID-19.

The total number of positive COVID-19 cases recorded in Qatar till now stands at 21,331 and there are 18,819 active cases under treatment. So far, 13 people died from COVID-19 in Qatar. A total of 2,499 people have recovered form COVID-19. Ministry conducted 4,096 tests yesterday taking the total tests done so far to 124,554 tests.

The Ministry in a statement said that most of the new cases are due to expa-triate workers who have been infected with the virus as a result of contacts with individuals who have been previously infected, in addition to recording new cases from within groups of workers from various regions. These cases have been identified as a result of investiga-

tions carried out by the Ministry. There was also an increase in the

number of infections among citizens and

residents who had contact with COVID-19 positive family members, who had in turn been infected at the

workplace or other locations. All the new infected cases have been quarantined where they are receiving the necessary medical care.

The Ministry has reported that the new death was a 52-year-old resident who had received the medical care in the Intensive Care Unit and was suffering from chronic diseases. The Ministry of Public Health has offered sincere con-dolences and great sympathy to the family of the deceased.

The Ministry has noted that the current period is considered to be the peak stage in the virus outbreak when numbers may continue to rise before they begin to stabilise and then gradually decline.

The reasons for the high numbers of new cases are due to the Ministry’s redoubling of its efforts in tracking the transitional chains of the virus and expanding the circle of searching for infected people through intensive and proactive investigations of large numbers of contacts with people who have been confirmed with the virus recently.

NEW CASES

TOTAL RECOVERIES

ACTIVE CASES

NEW DEATH

NEW

RECOVERIES 129

TOTAL POSITIVE TOTAL DEATHS TOTAL RECOVERED

GLOBALLY

C VID-19

C VID-19

QATAR UPDATES ON 09 MAY 2020

3,974,036 276,007 1,338,059

188192499

1130 01

Health Ministry to

continue with

COVID-19

community survey

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) will continue the community survey based on COVID-19, which aims to better understand the transmission of the virus and thus adapt the response of stakeholders, said in a statement issued yesterday.

The Ministry recently launched a community survey to learn more about how the virus is transmitted within the com-munity and gain more under-standing of cases of infection that do not show symptoms.

Initially, the Ministry invited participants to com-plete a questionnaire at drive through survey centers. Also some 2,500 people who received an invitation to par-ticipate in the community questionnaire were tested for COVID-19 at swabbing hubs at three health centers for two days last week. �P3

Mental health helpline supports over 4,000 people since launchFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The newly launched Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Mental Health Service to provide support for people experiencing stress or psycho-logical distress as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic has offered services for thou-sands in need of support, said a senior official.

The helpline was launched on April 8 and within three weeks since the launch it has received a large number of calls from members of the public and frontline healthcare staff, Majid Al Abdulla, Chairman of the Mental Health Service at HMC told The Peninsula.

“It is clear that COVID-19 has changed the way we live our lives and many people are feeling increased levels of stress and anxiety. The helpline is already

providing a valuable channel for people to easily access profes-sional mental health support and advice. Our team of mental health professionals has already sup-ported more than 4,000 people,” he said.

The helpline is staffed by experienced mental health pro-fessionals who can provide assessment and support to callers through four main cat-egories as children and young people (and parents), adults, older people and frontline healthcare workers.

“We want people to know that it is ‘OK to not be OK’ and that feelings of stress and anxiety are normal. Our dedi-cated team of mental health professionals is available to help people get through this chal-lenging time. For many people, just being able to talk about the way they are feeling can have a very positive effect. �P3

Govt stimulus will help private sector to beat virus challengesSACHIN KUMAR & SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

Businessmen and entrepre-neurs in Qatar have praised the stimulus package announced by the government. They said the financial support will help the private sector of Qatar to come out victorious from this difficult situation created by COVID-19 outbreak.

Acting proactively to tackle the crisis, the Supreme Com-mittee for Crisis Management, presided by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, had announced in March to provide a QR75bn stimulus package to the private sector.

Director of Lulu Hyper-markets, Mohamad Althaf has said that the stimulus package by the government to the private sector is very supportive for the economy especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). He said that the government acted

timely in rolling out the economic package which has boosted the confidence of the people.

“This is one of the best packages of the world in terms of size and the way it targets to solve the cash flow problems in the market. For sure, it will help the companies to with-stand the impact of the out-break of COVID-19,” Althaf told The Peninsula.

Following the directives of H H the Amir, Qatar Development

Bank (QDB) has launched the National Guarantee Program to provide guarantees for local banks to grant interest-free loans to affected companies, in coop-eration with the Ministry of Finance and Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and all banks operating in the country, in response to the implications of the spread of the COVID-19. The National Guar-antee Program aims to support salaries and rents of companies in the private sector. �P3

Qatar committed to providing best healthcare for all: FMForeign Minister participates in seminar hosted by Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute

QNA — DOHA

Talking on COVID-19 pandemic in a virtual seminar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said that the strategy of the State of Qatar is based on three main pillars: providing health care, mitigating economic and social impacts, and fulfilling Qatar’s interna-tional role.

The Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in US hosted H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in a virtual seminar, via visual communi-cation technology, on the foreign policy and international diplomacy in the Gulf Region.

In his speech, His Excellency touched on foreign policy and world diplomacy at an excep-tional time, as the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) affects all countries, saying that human development in Qatar is “at the core of Qatar’s home and foreign policy”.

In this regard, His Excellency stressed that the government is

firmly committed to providing the highest levels of medical care for everyone, adding that over the years Qatar has made significant investments in health care infrastructure, as well as promoting a comprehensive approach to the health of eve-ryone in Qatar.

H E Sheikh Mohammed stated that Qatar has had a strong health care response in relation to COVID-19, including free tests for the virus; free

patients care and designating a number of hospitals for that.

“We have one of the highest test rates, so we have discovered a number of positive cases... Fortunately, and because of the strong health care system in our country, we have the lowest mortality rate in the world,” H E added.

H E the Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the State of Qatar continues to provide support to more than 20

countries, in addition to many multilateral organisations, adding that the State of Qatar through multilateral organisations sup-ports initiatives that mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

His Excellency appealed to the international community to work together to combat the pandemic and find vaccines to end its harm, adding, “We have organized and mobilized inter-national humanitarian support, including donations of medical

aid and supplies to the most affected societies in the Middle East including Lebanon, Pal-estine, Tunisia, Algeria and Iran.”

He went on saying “Our per-spective on the future is shaped by our belief in strong collective work and improving coordi-nation to move forward... The human dimension has always been present at the core of our foreign policy because we believe that preserving human dignity and rights is part of

Qatar’s foreign policy... We believe that the humanitarian and development assistance we provide worldwide contributes to the security and stability of the world ... This is not limited to a specific region or religion, but it is for all humanity, and we extend our hands to all our friends.”

He stressed that “it will not be possible to face the repercus-sions of the pandemic without cooperation and coordination at the highest and most compre-hensive possible levels.”

“In Qatar, we still believe in the power of dialogue and diplomacy ... We believe that the various crises we face in the Gulf region and beyond, including this pandemic, are evidence of the urgent need for a regional security agreement that pro-vides basic stability for the Middle East,” he said adding “Instead of imposing exclusion or restrictions, we have a greater opportunity to achieve long-term security through direct cooperation and dia-logue that are accountable within a regional security framework.” �P3

The strategy of the State of Qatar is based on three main pillars: providing health care, mitigating economic and social impacts, and fulfilling Qatar’s international role.We have one of the highest test rates, so we have discovered a number of positive cases.The State of Qatar continues to provide support to more than 20 countries, in addition to many multilateral organizations.The (Gulf) crisis is built on lies and crimes against Qatar and its people.The government is firmly committed to providing highest levels of medical care for everyone including free tests for the virus.

One of the best packages of the world in terms of size and the way it targets to solve the cash flow problems in the market. The term of loan repayment is very generous, up to three years giving enough time to companies to payback.The financial package will help in businesses in sustaining their businesses and steer out of this difficult situation.The loan will help in paying the salaries of workers which is a great relief in the current situation

ced

hen

Govt actions

continue to boost

confidence in

Qatari economy

QBA, QC and businessmen

laud govt support �BUSINESS

PAGE 01, 02 & 03

02 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020HOME

03SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020 HOME

Online platforms

of MME record

over 50,000

transactions

SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The online platforms of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) have recorded over 50,000 trans-actions in April showing a smooth operation of electronic services.

Following the State’s pre-ventive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, MME had urged people to avail online services to maintain social distancing.

The highest 27,557 online transactions were made by Oun app, which is 55 percent of the total 50,133 transactions recorded in April, followed by 11,850 transactions (24 percent) through the website of MME, the Ministry has tweeted.

The unified call center No. 184 of MME contributed in making 21 percent — 10,726 — transactions last month.

The Oun app emerged as largest helping tool for elec-tronic services offered by the MME to citizens and residents in Qatar.

Ooredoo, Visa sign MoU for strategic partnershipTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo and Visa announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday, aimed at establishing a long-term strategic partnership. This will result in an improved and more seamless payment expe-rience for Visa cardholders and Ooredoo customers in Qatar.

The partnership puts Ooredoo and Visa on a new path, with the companies working more collaboratively to accelerate the adoption of safe, reliable and convenient digital payments for consumers and merchants.

As part of this MoU, Ooredoo and Visa will work to offer inno-vative solutions to consumers in Qatar including, V i r t u a l Prepaid cards which are reloadable cards that are safe, reliable and accepted at Visa’s more than 53 million merchant locations worldwide; Visa’s QR-based Scan to Pay solution for p e r s o n - t o - m e r c h a n t

transactions and Visa Direct, which enables cardholders and businesses to push funds dis-bursements and remittances to cards rapidly, conveniently and cost-effectively across borders.

The MoU will also see the partners collaborate on awareness initiatives and mar-keting campaigns to support the introduction of the domestic and cross-border payment solutions to Qatar.

Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari, Chief Consumer Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “This agreement opens new avenues for Ooredoo to collaborate with Visa, with financial institutions and with others in the payments ecosystem to deliver greater value, more choices and new experiences for our joint cus-tomers, and supports Qatar as it progresses towards the 2030 vision of a digital economy.

Giving consumers choice in how and where they pay is essential to our vision of enriching our customers’ digital

lives, and we welcome the opportunity to work with more partners like Visa who share this vision.”

Marcello Baricordi, General Manager MENA at Visa, said: “We are delighted to partner with Ooredoo to bring a range of innovative and secure

payment solutions to consumers and businesses in Qatar. This is a significant step forward in our efforts to collaborate with our local partners in digitising com-merce especially at a time when we are seeing an even greater appetite for fast and secure digital payment systems.”

Officials of Ooredoo and Visa during the MoU signing ceremony.

Ashghal opens Al Nasr, Al Mirqab Al

Jadeed Streets and 4 intersectionsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the opening of 0.6 km of Al Nasr Street and 1.8 km of Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street in addition to 4 signalised intersections to traffic, as part of the Improvement of Main Roads in Al Nasr Area project.

Eng. Rashed Al-Zeyara, Project Engineer in the Roads Projects Department, pointed out the importance of Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street and its stra-tegic location in the heart of Fereej Al Nasr Area linking Suhaim Bin Hamad Street (C-Ring Road) and Doha Expressway, two of the most vital roads in Doha and serving a large number of daily commuters.

He also highlighted the role played by Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street and the equally important Al Nasr Street in accommodating the increasing traffic flow in the area, as both streets are located amidst densely-populated residential areas and cater to several com-mercial centres and shops as well as health and educational faci l i t ies and public amenities.

Eng. Al-Zeyara explained

that Ashghal was keen to open these streets and intersections as they will significantly enhance the traffic flow in the area and improve the road network safety level in addition to facilitating access to many residential areas with heavy traffic flow such as Al Mirqab Area, Fereej Al Nasr Area, Fereej Bin Mahmoud Area and Al Sadd Area.

The four newly opened sig-nalised intersections are: The intersection of Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street with Mohammed Bin Qasim Street; the inter-section of Mohammed Bin Qasim Street with Al Kinana Street; the intersection of Othman Bin Talha Street with Mohammed Bin Qasim Street and the intersection of Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street with Suhaim Bin Hamad Street (C-Ring Road).

It is worth mentioning that in order to alleviate the traffic congestion and enhance the traffic flow on Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street, traffic was changed to one direction on the two lanes of the street from the intersection with Mohammed Bin Qasim Street until the intersection with Suhaim Bin Hamad Street (C-Ring Road).

Govt's stimulus

package to help

private sectorFROM PAGE 1

Mohamad Althaf said that one of the major benefits of the stimulus package is that it is supporting the payroll of the companies. “I know personally a lot of small and medium scale companies, which are supplying goods to Lulu Hypermarkets, are benefici-aries of the stimulus package,” said Althaf.

He added that many com-panies with cash flow issues have received approval of their requests regarding the payroll.

“Lulu is working with a number of small and medium companies like small pro-ducers, farmers, suppliers, service providers, cleaning companies and transport com-panies, delivery services. The stimulus package is great relief for these companies as it pro-tects their payroll, and the salary payment is very important for the survival of the companies,” said Althaf.

He said that the term of loan repayment which is being disbursed under the package is very generous, upto three years giving enough time to companies to payback.

Speaking about the gov-ernment’s move on exemption of excise duty on food import, the Director of Lulu Hyper-markets said that the initiative helped in covering the extra cost of food items caused by the impact of coronavirus, contributing largely in curbing the price hike. Indian Business and Professional Council Qatar (IBPC Qatar) has also hailed the timely support given by the government to the private sector. IBPC Qatar is the apex body of Indian Businessmen and Professionals, functioning under the aegis of Embassy of India.

“The approach of gov-ernment of Qatar in dealing with the exceptional situation created by COVID-19 is one of the best in the region. Qatar was first in the region to announce a financial package to support the private sector. The financial package announced by the government will help in businesses in sus-taining their businesses and steer out of this difficult situ-ation. Indian Business and Professional Council Qatar has taken many steps to make its members aware about how to avail the financial support from banks,” Azim Abbas, President of IBPC Qatar, told The Peninsula.

Dr. Majid Al Abdullah (left), Chairman of the Mental Health Service at HMC, and Dr. May Jassim Al Muraisi, Executive Director of Clinical Development and Head of Psychology at HMC.

Mental health helpline supports over 4,000FROM PAGE 1

“After an initial assessment of the caller’s needs, our staff can offer support or, if required, an appointment can be arranged with a suitable clinician at a later date,” said Dr. May Jassim Al Muraisi, Executive Director of Clinical Development and Head of Psychology in HMC.

The mental health staff taking calls at the helpline speak a many languages and every effort will be made to enable callers to communicate in their language of choice. ax

To access the helpline, which is available during Ramadan from 8am to 1pm and 8pm to 1am Saturday to Thursday, and 8am to 1pm on Fridays, members of the public can call the toll free number, 16000. The helpline is confidential and users can remain anonymous, avoiding the stigma often associated with mental health.

“It is normal for people to feel sad, stressed, or worried during the COVID-19 out-break, but it is important that people understand that these difficult times will pass and life will return to normal.

The new helpline compli-ments a range of other mental health services which provide

support to people who need it, but we should all do our best to maintain healthy habits to take care of our wellbeing.

By proactively maintaining your wellbeing, you reduce your chances of being over-whelmed by stress and anxiety,” said Katja Warwick-Smith, Assistant Executive Director of Nursing, Mental health Service.

The experts also provided some practical tips to support mental health and wellbeing, including try to be positive – don’t focus thoughts on what can no longer is possible; instead think of ways to pro-ductively spend time.

Also take care of the body and try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise reg-ularly and get plenty of sleep.

Make time to unwind and try to do activities can enjoy such as learning a new lan-guage, playing a musical instrument and cooking. Try to establish a routine.

Go to bed and wake up at regular times and try to plan set activities throughout the day.

Also remain in regular contact with family and friends by phone or email — connecting with others is one of the most important things to do for mental wellbeing, according to experts.

MoPH to continue

community survey

FROM PAGE 1

“This questionnaire is expected to continue during the coming period, and the Ministry encourages people who receive an invitation to respond and participate in this initiative in order to contribute to the national efforts to combat the virus and to under-stand more about the epide-miology of transmission of infection between members of society,” said the Ministry yesterday.

The temporary drive-through swabbing hubs were operated in collaboration with the Primary Health Care Cor-poration, Hamad Medical Cor-poration’s Ambulance Service, Laboratories and Qatar University.

The Ministry has also clar-ified that participants of the survey will be randomly selected based on age, gender and ethnicity and participation is entirely voluntary.

Qatar committed to providing best healthcare for all: FMFROM PAGE 1

In response to a question about US-Qatari relations, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that cooperation between the two countries has not been affected by anything since the beginning of the crisis, espe-cially military cooperation, as Qatar hosts the command center at Al Udeid Base. “We are still continuing our efforts on regional issues, such as Afghan-istan and the Doha talks that culminated in the signing of the agreement between the Taliban and the United States, and we will continue to mediate between the Afghan parties, the United States and the Taliban,” he added.

He pointed out that the State of Qatar has cooperated with the United States to evacuate American citizens on Qatar Airways, stressing, “We did not do that only with the United States. We have cooperated with other countries for the same purpose, and we provided aid to the affected states, such as New York and California, and we believe that relations between Qatar and the United States are strong and there are strategic alliances between the two countries.”

On the Gulf crisis, he under-lined the international commu-nity’s awareness that the crisis is built on lies and crimes against the Qatar and its people. “The international community

has realized that these lies and accusations have not been proven, yet no one was held accountable, and series of lies continues,” he said adding “since the beginning of this crisis, H H the Amir was very clear and decisive in his position, which is not to deal with them in the same way that they deal with us.. We have to deal with them according to our ethics and values and according to our responsibilities towards the international community. So we did not reciprocate with any measures they took against us when they blockaded and boycotted us, and prevented food and drug supplies and closed the airspace.”

His Excellency went on saying: “We are maintaining our stance and insisting to have positive and constructive rela-tions with other GCC countries.. We believe in the Gulf Cooper-ation Council and its unity, but under one condition, which is respect for the sovereignty of all states, for international law, and for the principle of equality between states.”

In response to a question about the solution to the Gulf crisis, he said, “Qatar is open to discussion and we want to make sure that any future agreements between Qatar and other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council will ensure progress forward to protect us in the event of any future con-flict and that our children and

children in the future will not suffer from any conflict between us and other coun-tries... This is not only in our interest, but also in the interest of the entire region. We believe that there must be an agreement that clearly states the respon-sibilities of each country towards the other country.”

On the situation in Afghan-istan, he said: “We know that the path of peace has always been a difficult and not an easy one at all.. That is why the State of Qatar has committed from the beginning and worked to ensure the coherence the nego-tiating process, overcome the obstacles it faced, bring the parties around the negotiating table, and to strive to reach the primary goal, which is the agreement between the parties. We have always sought to achieve consensus on the fun-damental issue of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.”

On regional issues, the Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs said: “As a result of planning our early crises response, and the inte-grated approach of the gov-ernment, we are in a strong and a good position to overcome the crisis.” The situation is not all the same in the Middle East, he pointed.

In this regard, he pointed out that “This is the reason why Qatar’s approach to mitigate the effects of (COVID-19), addresses

not only local policies, but also includes regional and interna-tional support, as the spread of the virus has become a security concern for the region, and therefore we must all unite to support each other.”

Responding to a question about the State of Qatar’s vision of the region, especially in sup-porting youth, His Excellency said: “We see that youth are an important resource in the MENA region, so we seek to support young people in the region, especially in the area of eco-nomic empowerment, to create jobs and opportunities for them ... As an example of this, we have the ‘Silatech’ initiative that contributed to employing more than a million Arab youth in various projects.”

H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs added, “We agreed with the African Union to establish a fund to return citizens and ref-ugees to their countries and provide them with job oppor-tunities by financing some small and medium projects in their cities.”

Answering a question about Libya, he said the situation in Libya is deteriorating, pointing to many interventions in the Libyan affairs by several European and Arab countries, to support a military man who wants to rule the country by force.

He renewed the State of Qatar’s support to the legitimate

government in Libya, and the outputs of the Skheirat Agreement, stressing that this agreement is the only way to achieve a smooth transfer of power in the country.

On Yemen, he said that the result of the war that has been going on there for five years is the destruction of infrastructure in the country. He further expressed regret that the situ-ation in Yemen deviated from the main issue that the war started for.

Regarding the assistance provided to Palestine, the Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs said, “We are helping Gaza through a clear international mechanism according to the United Nations and its agencies working there and all the aid passes through them... The United States is aware of this aid ... The people of Gaza are suffering from the siege, and therefore we are helping them from a humani-tarian standpoint.”

In response to a question about Qatar hosting the World Cup, he said that politics has divided everyone in the region, and he expressed hope that football will restore unity among the countries of the region, adding that Qatar’s hosting of major events such as the Doha Forum is part of the State of Qatar’s strategy, through which ties can be created with the countries of the world.

FAJR SUNRISE 03.28 am 04.53 am

W A L R U WA I S : 25o↗ 33o W A L K H O R : 26o↗ 37o W D U K H A N : 26o↗ 37o W WA K R A H : 26o↗ 40o W M E S A I E E D 26o↗ 40o W A B U S A M R A 27o↗ 32o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 05:28–19:12 LOW TIDE 01:47 – 13:09

Hot daytime with some clouds and slight dust, mild by night.

Minimum Maximum27oC 39oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.30 am06.12 pm

ASR ISHA

02.58 pm07.43 pm

04 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020HOME

HMC’s medicine home delivery servicecontinues successfully: Dr. Moza Al HailQNA — DOHA

Dr. Moza Al Hail, Executive Director of Pharmacy Department at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), has confirmed that the drug delivery service launched in mid-April has achieved great success. She also said that the new service has enabled bene-ficiaries to obtain their medi-cines in a timely manner without the need to go to healthcare facilities as part of efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Moza Al Hail told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that HMC’s Pharmacy Administration suc-ceeded in the first ten days of launching the service to deliver medicines to homes for more than 20,000 patients, while the service during the first week of its launch received more than 30,000 calls from patients.

She has also stressed that HMC’s Department of Medical Supply is making exceptional efforts on an ongoing basis, which enabled the provision of all required medicines and pharmaceutical preparations in normal cases, as well as all types of drugs used in the treatment of people infected with the COVID-19.

Dr. Moza said that the con-tinuous service with all success includes patients who have a re-exchange of previous pre-scriptions as well as patients

who got new medical pre-scription , as one of the most important features of this service is that it enables the patient to get all his or her med-ications from one source while he or she was previously required to go to a number of pharmacies to get it.

Dr. Moza Al Hail stressed that although the service is launched for the first time in cooperation with Qatar Post, but all difficulties were overcome with competent manner, as the service was a great success and won the approval of the beneficiaries from them and enabled them to obtain their medications without the need to attend pharmacies at HMC.

She also noted that out of keenness to cover all patients’ needs of medicines, other

windows were designated to obtain the medicines for emer-gency cases.

She added that the drug delivery service comes as a continuation of the efforts made by the Ministry of Public Health to face the COVID-19 and curb its spread, as it was launched in coordination with the Ministry of Health, as part of the precautionary measures undertaken by the Pharmacy Administration to prevent the virus, which includes the absence of patients from the HMC pharmacies and, by allo-cating a number for direct communication to get medi-cines according to the treatment plan for each patient.

She also talked about the mechanism of service work, pointing to the opening of a

center at Hamad General Hos-pital, which is dedicated to receiving calls and providing service to citizens and a second center at Hamad Medical City to receive calls and provide service to residents along with other centers in specialized hospitals such as the presence of a center at the heart hos-pital and a center at the National Center for Cancer Treatment and Research, along with centers at Al-Khor Hos-pital and Al-Wakra Hospital.

She said that the service would continuously witness an evaluation process with the aim of developing it in the future and benefiting from the experience in delivering repacking drugs to patients at their homes, which saves them the trouble of coming to hos-pitals to get them, which con-tributes to the high percentage of patients who are committed to taking their medications in a timely manner, thus healing the patients and improving the general health for them.

Dr. Moza Al Hail noted that the most important positive aspects of home delivery services lie in reducing the presence of patients in phar-macies and thus reducing crowding and activating the procedures for distancing between individuals, which in turn limits the spread of tran-sitional diseases in general and coronavirus in particular.

HMC urgent medical advice service gets over 5,000 calls per weekQNA — DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has said that its urgent medical advice service, which was launched in late March, has been receiving about 5,000 calls per week.

Dr. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Director of Urgent Medical Con-sultation Service and Head of Urology Department at HMC, said that in conjunction with the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the urgent medical advice service was launched remotely with the aim of ensuring safety for all patients and medical staff, as the service allowed to keep patients outside the HMC clinics and emergency centers, espe-cially patients most vulnerable to severe complications of the COVID-19.

He added that the service had seen a significant increase in the number of connected patients, as during the first week of service, about 3,500 calls were received, while about

5,000 calls are received weekly.Dr Al Rumaihi said that

since the launch of this service, there has been a great demand for internal medicine, ortho-pedics, gynecology, geriatrics, cardiology and mental health consultations, indicating that 60% of the callers have had drug-related inquiries.

He noted that about 80% of the usual outpatient services are provided over phone, and last week medical teams provided more than 27,000 phone con-sultations to the patients being cared for as part of the HMC outpatient services.

He said that the launch of this service provides the com-munity with another option for care, and there is a demand for it, as the desire was to ensure that patients get specialized care that they need without delay while ensuring that the standards of social separation are respected.

The Urgent Medical Consul-tation Service were currently handled by more than 20 doctors who work to provide advice to patients in 15 medical specialties and work to transfer patients directly to emergency centers and outpatient clinics.

Dr. Al Rumaihi also stressed that, although the goal of this service is to maintain the safety of patients and spare them the need to visit the hospital as much as possible, it is also important to emphasize the continued work of basic services at HMC hospitals.

He stressed that HMC is working to ensure that patients are spared the need to visit the hospital as much as possible, but at the same time not all forms of remote care can be provided over phone, as some cases require the patient to visit the doctor in the hospital so that doctors and nursing teams continue their work round the clock treatment for patients whose conditions require hos-pital care.

He also said that, for example, obstetric teams receive about 400 newborns per week, while cancer spe-cialists provide chemotherapy to more than 550 cancer patients every week, and emer-gency doctors treat more than

20,000 patients per week.He said that keeping

patients out of the hospital and reducing their risk of exposure to COVID-19) is very important, but the public should also not stop requesting the medical care they need, and also it is important for the public to know that the HMC is doing everything possible to ensure that they get care safely.

For his part, Dr. Mohammed Al-Ateeq Al-Dossary, member of the Steering Committee of the Urgent Medical Consul-tation Services Project and Head of the Department of Orthopedics at the HMC, stressed the importance of keeping non-urgent cases of patients outside the emergency departments as part of the strategy aimed at curbing and containing the spread of COVID-19, but at the same time patients should not risk their health as a result of the pandemic COVID-19.

He said that there is clear evidence that the urgent

medical advice service over phone contributes to relieving pressure on emergency services, which allowed to keep patients whose health is con-sidered good outside the hospital.

He added that the service provided assistance in ensuring that patients who need care are directed to the right place, stressing the need for patients to realize that this service is intended for non-dangerous situations and that anyone who may face an emergency such as a stroke or heart attack should speed up to seek help.

He said that in the event of a real emergency situation, you should go to the emergency department or call 999.

The urgent medical advice service is available to all members of society by calling 16000 from 8 am to 1 pm and from 8 pm to 1 after midnight from Saturday to Thursday and from 8 am to 1 pm on Friday during the holy month of Ramadan.

QF’s Education City online speaker series tofocus on COVID-19 impact on mental healthTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

An international line-up of experts will focus on the global impact of COVID-19 on people’s mental health in an online edition of Qatar Foun-dation’s Education City Speaker Series next week, organized in collaboration with the World Innovation Summit for Health.

Health fears, social dis-tancing guidelines, the need to self-isolate, and the wide-spread disruption to daily life caused by the pandemic are taking their toll on the mental wellbeing of people around the world.

The Education City Speaker Series will explore the mental health challenges that coronavirus and the global lockdown it has forced con-tinue to pose, and the support that needs to be provided to those struggling to cope.

The virtual interactive event, titled Global Perspec-tives: Mental Health in a COVID-19 World, will take place at 2pm on Wednesday, May 13, and will open up insights on this topic from Qatar and around the world, with its online audience being

invited to put questions to the e x p e r t s d u r i n g t h e discussion.

Speakers will be Dr. Devora Kestel, Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organi-zation; Dr. Sharifa Al Emadi, Executive Director of Doha International Family Institute, a member of Qatar Foun-dation; Paola Barbarino, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Disease International; Paul Farmer, CEO of UK-based mental health charity MIND; Yasmin Mogahed, author and international public speaker; and Dr. Janice Cooper, Senior Project Advisor – Global Mental Health, The Carter Center.

Moderated by journalist and documentary-maker Mishal Husain, they will tackle topics including how families can safeguard their mental health during lockdown, the challenges that social dis-tancing create for elderly and vulnerable members of society and their families, and what the pandemic means for the provision of mental health services both now and in the future.

Through its biennial Doha

summits and year-round activities, WISH — QF’s global health initiative — brings together healthcare leaders, practitioners, and innovators in a combined effort to build a healthier world through

innovation and collaboration. Central to WISH’s events are panel sessions where thought-leaders from its global community can advance the conversation about the future of healthcare,

share knowledge, and unlock new insights.

To watch and participate in this online edition of the Education City Speaker Series at 2pm next Wednesday, visit www.qf.org.qa/ecss

Dr. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Director of Urgent Medical Consultation Service and Head of Urology Department at HMC, said about 80% of the usual outpatient services are provided over phone, and last week medical teams provided more than 27,000 phone consultations to the patients being cared for as part of the HMC outpatient services.

Ta’allum students highly motivated for online assessment THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Despite worldwide disruption to education following the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Ta’allum students have not only continued to receive high quality teaching and learning online to continue their education but now they have faced online assessment.

Last week Primary and Secondary Ta’allum students were tested on their learning through an extensive range of assessments using the online OWLTS programme or Microsoft Forms for all their subjects.

Already well-established, and used by Ta’allum Acad-emies during more normal cir-cumstances, OWLTS is a flexible online test builder and exam management system.

Ta’allum teachers and leaders create, deliver, and manage custom computer-based assessments which are auto-rated. The assessments are carefully designed and attractively presented.

They have proved very popular with students and they produce accurate measures of student performance.

The results fed back to stu-dents and included in the cal-culations for their End of Year report.

Dr Mohammed Saefan,

Ta’allum’s Director of Edu-cation said: “It makes no dif-ference whether learning is in school or online; Assessment remains an essential part of learning and central to the Ta’allum curriculum.

"It is the process by which we identify whether a student’s learning has been successful and whether our teaching has been effective. Without assessment, learning cannot be judged.”

“Students must be aware of how well they are doing and know how well they are per-forming in relation to their potential; what level they are working at and what they need to do in order to improve and move on to the next level.

Parents also need to know how well their child is pro-gressing and developing. Assessment is therefore at the heart of the Ta’allum educa-tional process.’

Ta’allum’s CEO Ahmed Al Mannai said: “We thank our parents and students for their continued commitment and adaptability.

It is clear that our students and parents have been extremely motivated by our online assessment.

There has been near 100% attendance of students for our assessment schedule. Ta’allum is at the forefront of online assessment development.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Paul Farmer, Dr. Sharifa Al Emadi, Paola Barbarino, Yasmin Mogahed, Dr. Devora Kestel, and Dr. Janice Cooper.

Dr. Moza Al Hail, Executive Director of Pharmacy Department at Hamad Medical Corporation

HMC’s Pharmacy Administration succeeded on the first ten days of the service to deliver medicines to homes for more than 20000 patients, while the service during the first week of its launch received more than 30,000 calls from patients.

Municipalities

continue food

inspection driveTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The intensified inspection campaigns continue on food outlets across the municipal-ities to ensure the compliance with health rules during the holy month of Ramadan.

The Health Monitoring Section at Al Daayen Munici-pality implemented 306 inspection campaigns and two joint inspections on food outlets in April.

The municipal inspectors recorded 21 violations of some provisions of the Law No. 8 of 190 for regulating foods during the campaigns at the outlets, said the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment in a release.

The Director of Al Daayen Municipality issued three deci-sions to close food outlets for preparing food in unhealthy conditions and using food items which were found unfit for human consumption.

The health monitoring unit received five complaints against food outlets which w e r e r e s p o n d e d immediately.

Meanwhile, the Health Monitoring Unit of Al Wakra Municipality conducted 1,031 food outlets inspection cam-paigns in April.

05SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020 HOME

Persistence on debate and dialogue in the time of COVID-19 pandemicTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

QatarDebate Center (QD) a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), aims through the training of Team Qatar to graduate debate students representing Qatar at the international championships and forums. Due to the COVID-19, the center started with a confident, modern and intelligent move to follow its activities remotely and continues to train Qatar National English Debate Team, Qatar National Arabic Debate Team, as well as the junior team, that yearn vigorously, persistently and eagerly for the debate arenas and for repre-senting Qatar in international forums.

QD administration has taken the responsibility of per-forming the message of thinking and learning by preparing young national elements who have the weapon of the word and keep up with developments and changes.

Team Qatar training is designed to prepare the nation’s top school debaters to compete with the best debaters from around the world at the World Schools Debating Champi-onship (WSDC). Once intensive selections are complete, the team goes through rigorous training sessions. Not only must they learn to speak well by per-fecting very aspect of their speaking skills, they must become knowledgeable critical thinkers on a wide range of issues, be it social, political, moral or otherwise. In the end,

the training program creates batches of intellectual Qatari youth who can think quickly and speak with substance.

Mubarrat Wassey, English Debate Instructor, QatarDebate, said: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person WSDC has been officially postponed to early 2021. While this has been heartbreaking for eve-ryone in the team preparing to compete, Qatar National English debate team has rallied together tremendously well. Online trainings were con-ducted even before the final decision on the competition was taken, and even while in limbo, the children did not let their spirits falter. They were resilient and learned to cope with online trainings. Whatever is the outcome, it is a great source of pride and joy for me to train these bright children.”

Alanoud Al Thani is the English debate team captain is a 12th grade student from Qatar

Academy, Doha. She is a returning member from last year. She was the team’s highest-ranking speaker in her first year, and now plays the role of senior debater helping to lead others.

Alanoud said, “Contrary to what we expected, remote training provides a much less opportunity to chat and relax-ation, as in face-to-face training, there is space for side-talk from time to time and full-group discussions.”

Even though, we must be mindful that what we say must be acceptable for those con-cerned. We all know, of course, that we cannot do the same thing before the COVID-19 pan-demic. However, there is an urgent need for positivity and support. Hearing praise for what we’re doing, motivates us to try more seriously and tells us that it’s going to be a priority, she added.

Mohamed Khider, Arabic

Debate Instructor, QatarDebate, said,” Qatar National Arabic debate team has continued its training through distance learning tools, even while the basic plan for Team Qatar Training this season was limited to the end of March, with the end of the championship that they were preparing to partic-ipate in and stopped due to the current situation, but the main team members and a group of students insisted on continuing the weekly exercises remotely. Where the team meets within a plan based on three hubs: debating skills workshops (advanced level), knowledge content development work-shops, and practicing debate. Team Qatar also participated in a remote public debate with the School Debate Team from Kuwait, moreover the team will have many forthcoming debates with debaters from dif-ferent countries in the coming period.”

Team Qatar remote training in progress.Alanoud Al Thani

QCRI continues webinar series with focus on pandemic challengesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), recently presented two online lectures titled Managing Health Services during Pandemics and Epidemiological Modeling as part of its webinar series developed in line with a vision to introduce solutions to significant scientific or tech-nological challenges.

The context for the lectures was the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented chal-lenges for healthcare systems across the globe. This includes establishing a balance between the often-conflicting demand of responding directly to the pandemic, while simul-taneously engaging in strategic planning and coordinated action to maintain essential health service delivery.

Managing Health Services during Pandemics discussed how health services respond

to this dual set of demands. It explored operational planning guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the best practices employed by some of the more mature health systems in the developed world. These provide guidance on targeted actions that countries should consider at national, regional, and local level to maintain access to high-quality essential health services for all. The lecture also reflected on the critical role of modern technology including mobile technology and artificial intel-ligence (AI) in managing COVID-19, and how this mag-nified its potential impact on the future of public health.

Dr. Faisal Farooq, principal scientist and head of digital health research at QCRI, said: “Emerging technologies have been instrumental in helping healthcare systems cope with the overwhelming demands ushered in by COVID-19. This has also exposed several areas

in the healthcare sector that could benefit from modern technology to be better pre-pared should a future event equally or more devastating than COVID-19 take place.”

The fourth lecture in the series, Epidemiological Mod-eling, discussed epidemio-logical models, and the

possibility of extending the traditional SIR (susceptible-infected-removed) model to simulate outbreak scenarios under different policies and country specifics.

The lecture explored sim-ulating closure or re-opening of specific zones and the rel-ative change in the overall

infections rate by modeling the mobility between infected areas. It gave examples dem-onstrating that, using recent techniques of automatic dif-ferentiation, it is possible for researchers to run complex numerical optimization on epidemiological models and obtain accurate results.

Dr. Mohamad Saad, a research scientist in the Data Analytics group at QCRI, said: “Epidemiological

models help us to plan effective control strategies to best manage outbreaks such as COVID-19. In this lecture, we have shown that traditional models can be extended to further model more complex dynamics to give us accurate and therefore more useful results. This is particularly significant as governments prepare for eas ing lockdowns.”

Managing Health Services during Pandemics was delivered by QCRI’s Dr. Stefano Giovanni Rizzo, Dr. Mohamad Saad, and Dr. Sanjay Chawla. The Epidemiological Modeling webinar was delivered by Dr. Faisal Farooq.

Q C R I ’ s u p c o m i n g webinars, A Data-Driven Per-spective on Drug Discovery and Social Media Analysis, will be held on May 11 and 14 respectively. The webinars are free and can be accessed at https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/data-science-covid-19.

Dr. Mohamad Saad (left) and Dr. Sanjay Chawla delivering online lecture on 'Managing Health Services during Pandemics and Epidemiological Modeling'.

QBG’s webinar to highlightsustainability of Qatari agriculture during COVID-19THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Quranic Botanic Garden (QBG) is to host a webinar that will address Qatar’s food security strategy and the continuity of agricultural production and supply operations amid the pandemic. The discussion, titled ‘The Sustainability of Qatari Agriculture to the COVID-19 Pandemic’, will take place tomorrow, at 9pm.

Moderated by Quranic Botanic Garden (QBG) Horti-culturist Mohamed Hassona, the webinar will bring together representatives from the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, Agrico Agriculture Development, Mahaseel for Marketing & Agricultural Services, Qatar Development Bank and others, to discuss various topics related to Qatar’s food security.

The main discussion points will include: Qatar’s supply and storage chains, its experience in sustainable agriculture and market resilience during crises, the role of agricultural research in enhancing vegetable pro-duction in the country, Qatar Development Bank’s initiatives to promote self-sufficiency with relation to agriculture, as well as ways to build the cog-nitive and practical capabilities of students in the field of food security.

Food security and self-suf-ficiency are high on Qatar’s strategic priority agenda. According to The Economist

Intelligence Unit’s Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2019, the State of Qatar was ranked the number one nation for food security among 15 Middle Eastern and North African countries and 13th overall across the 113 countries covered in the index. Just last year, Qatar achieved 100 percent self-sufficiency in the production of live poultry, meat and dairy products, and 24 percent in vegetable pro-duction, with projections esti-mated to reach 70 percent over the next few years.

Fatima Al Khulaifi, Director, QBG, said: “Despite numerous challenges over the past few years, the State of Qatar has suc-cessfully secured the continuous flow of food and agricultural products into the country, a tes-tament to the country’s resil-ience during testing times. QBG is delighted to have the oppor-tunity to bring together some of Qatar’s most important stake-holders to discuss this indispen-sable topic.”

The webinar will be acces-sible online through Microsoft Teams with the link announced on QBG’s social media channels mentioned below.

QBG is a member of Qatar Foundation. More information on its upcoming events and activities can be found on its social media channels on Instagram: Quranic_Botanic_Garden; Facebook: Qur’anic Botanic Garden; and Twitter: @QuranicGarden.

QC supports Kosovo’s Ministry of Health in fight against virus

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Charity (QC) is preparing a batch of equipment, which will be provided to the Ministry of Health of Kosovo to help it meet its needs in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The assistance will be delivered in coordination with His Excellency the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Albania and Kosovo Ali bin Hamad Al-Marri.

The aid worth QR1.1m equaling $300,000, will include six ventilators, and 6,500 coro-navirus testing kits, in addition to food baskets and protective items for poor families.

During the holy month of

Ramadan, Qatar Charity, through its office in Pristina, distributed 2,800 food baskets, each containing the basic food supplies that are sufficient for a family for a whole month. Besides, Qatar Charity has dis-tributed 500 protective baskets that include sterilisation mate-rials, hand sanitisers, cloth detergents, floor cleaners, gloves and masks. The food and protective baskets have bene-fited 3,300 households, easing

the suffering of many families in need who were affected eco-nomically due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic

While delivering the aid, all necessary precautionary measures were taken to protect public safety, and the assistance was delivered to beneficiaries’ homes to prevent gathering.

Mayors and beneficiaries thanked benefactors in Qatar for their symbiotic humani-tarian gesture and the food and

preventive assistance that they provided and they are about to provide, applauding Qatar Charity for delivering aid on time without any delay, espe-cially in light of crises and dangers,.

The total cost of the projects, which are implemented by Qatar Charity during the blessed month of Ramadan in Kosovo, is over QR1.8m. These projects also include the distribution of the Eid clothing to orphans

sponsored by Qatar Charity, and Zakat Al Fitr to needy families.

It is worth mentioning that Qatar Charity, with the support from benefactors in Qatar, aims to deliver health, preventive and food assistance to 380,000 people affected by the corona-virus inside and outside Qatar at a cost of up to QR60m, with 250,000 beneficiaries outside Qatar, at an estimated cost of QR40m.

Qatar Charity officials distributing food baskets to people in need in the fight against COVID-19.

The context for the lectures was the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented challenges for healthcare systems across the globe.

The aid worth QR1.1m equalling $300,000, will include 6 ventilators, and 6,500 coronavirus testing kits, in addition to food baskets and protective items for poor families.

MME to launch

inspection

campaigns on

homesteadsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment (MME) has announced to l a u n c h i n s p e c t i o n campaigns soon on home-steads (locally called ‘Beut Al Bar’) to curb the uses of the facilities for undesig-nated purpose.

It is noted recently that the holders of the permits of homesteads were found using it for undesignated purposes like running labor camps and renting out for other illegal activities, the Ministry has tweeted.

The purpose for granting permits for homesteads is limited to the private housing not for any other purposes so the permit holders should adhere to it. The municipalities con-cerned wi l l launch inspection campaigns on homestead soon.

The permit for operating homestead will be cancelled in case of using for undesig-nated purposes.

06 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020MIDDLE EAST

Quake in Iran kills one,sparks panic in capitalAFP — TEHRAN

An earthquake struck early on Friday near Iran’s highest peak and jolted Tehran, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20 as people ran for their lives.

The shallow 4.6 magnitude quake hit at 00:48am (2018 GMT) near the city of Damavand, about 55km east of Tehran, the US Geological Survey said.

It saw scores of residents of Tehran flee buildings for the safety of the capital’s streets and parks, a journalists reported.

Many spent the rest of the night sleeping in their cars on the side of the road, apparently too fearful to return to their homes. Some wore face masks, a sign of the times in a country already struggling to contain the Middle East’s deadliest out-break of the coronavirus pandemic.

The temblor struck as Ira-nians were either sleeping or resting after Iftar, the meal breaking the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.

“We were sitting down when the earthquake struck,” said 45-year-old Tehran res-ident Ahmad.

“We felt it completely shaking (the building), and then we all went out of the house together to be outside and not to be in danger if an aftershock struck.”

His wife Maryam, who like him was wrapped in a blanket, said they escaped the apartment using the stairwell.

“We quickly took the children by their hands and got out,” said the 37-year-old

housewife. Health ministry spokesman

Kianoush Jahanpour said on Twitter that the tremor claimed the life of one person.

He called on people to “keep calm” and to follow safety guidelines.

Iran’s national emergency services said the person who died was a 60-year-old man in Damavand county.

Twenty-three people were injured in Tehran and Alborz provinces, a spokesman for the organisation said.

The Iranian Red Crescent said its staff were on standby but that so far there were no reports of any collapsed buildings in which to carry out search and rescue operations.

“The situation is now stable, but we are still completely on alert” in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Mazandaran, Qom and Semnan, said Hamed Sajjadi, head of the organisa-tion’s rescue operations.

Six people were hospi-talised, he said. “We were ready to accommodate people in sta-diums with respect to social

distancing, but it was not nec-essary,” he said, referring to health guidelines aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

The USGS said the quake struck at a depth of 10 kilo-metres. Its epicentre was south of Mount Damavand, a largely inactive volcano which at 5,671 metres is Iran’s highest peak.

Tehran University’s Seismo-logical Centre said the quake had a magnitude of 5.1 mag-nitude and was at a depth of seven kilometres.

It reported a series of after-shocks, the most powerful measuring 4.0.

Iran sits on top of major tec-tonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake that rattled the western village of Habash-e Olya on February 23 killed at least nine people over the border in neighbouring Turkey.

In November 2017, a 7.3-magnitude quake in Iran’s western province of Ker-manshah killed 620 people.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake in southeastern Iran lev-elled the ancient mud-brick city of Bam and killed at least 31,000 people.

Iran’s deadliest quake was a 7.4-magnitude tremor in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in northern Iran, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.

In December and January, two earthquakes struck near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbours have raised concerns about the reliability of the country’s sole nuclear power facility, and the risk of radioactive leaks in case of a major earthquake.

Health officials, who conduct filiation works in the field on the purpose of identifying people in contact with coronavirus patients, wearing protective suit are seen before leaving the hospital for a case in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday.

Turkey imposes weekend virus curfew in 24 provincesANATOLIA — ANKARA

Turkey has imposed a two-day curfew in 24 provinces beginning Friday at midnight in an effort to stem spread of the novel coronavirus, which has claimed nearly 3,700 lives in the country.

The curfew is going to be effective in the capital Ankara as well as Adana, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Mardin, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Tekirdag, Trabzon, Van and Zonguldak.

The first curfew was declared on April 11-12 and it

was followed by other ones in the past weeks.

However, people over 65-year-old will be allowed to leave their homes, remaining within walking distance and wearing masks, on May 10 between 11am and 3pm local time (0800-1200GMT).

Children under 14 years old will be allowed out on May 13 during the same hours, while 15-20 year-olds will be able to leave their houses on May 15, also within walking distance and wearing masks.

Turkey introduced stay-home orders for those over the age of 65 on March 21, while those under 20 years old have been restricted since April 3 to stem the spread of the

coronavirus.As of Friday, Turkey regis-

tered a total of 3,689 deaths due to coronavirus whereas over 86,300 people have recovered from the disease. Currently, there are 135,569 confirmed cases in the country.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 187 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed over 273,000 worldwide, with more than 3.91 million infec-tions, while recoveries have exceeded 1.3 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Amir of Kuwait

affirms standing in

unity 'important' to

defeat COVID-19

QNA — KUWAIT

The Amir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah said yesterday that it was paramount for the people of Kuwait to support the government efforts to counter the coronavirus pandemic, standing in unity to defeat this menace.

In a speech carried by Kuwait News Agency, H H the Amir stressed the importance of following guidelines set by the country’s health author-ities, namely the upcoming full lockdown.

“Ramadan this year came during the fast spread of COVID-19 with the whole world and Kuwait being affected,” indicated the Amir who stressed that efforts should be focused on finding a successful cure for the virus.

The state entities and private bodies cooperation had successfully set proce-dures to address the current challenge, His Highness Sheikh Sabah affirmed, thanking all individuals who participated in the fight against the virus.

The Amir also commended the government efforts, which led to the successful repatri-ation of Kuwait citizens abroad.

He added the pandemic had resulted in various chal-lenges including the decrease of oil prices and investments, noting that it was time to focus on using resources wisely and effectively.

Turkish President congratulates EU on Europe DayANATOLIA — ANKARA

The President of Turkey yesterday marked the annual Europe Day, saying the EU would come out of its current pandemic-induced crisis stronger with the right and timely steps.

Europe Day, also known as the Schuman Day, is observed on May 9 each year to mark the Schuman Declaration in 1950 that proposed the formation of a European Coal and Steel Com-munity, the predecessor to the European Union.

“The ideas behind the Schuman Declaration had ensured the rebirth of Europe

from its own ashes after a war that tore apart the whole world and the gathering together of countries for peace, security, development and welfare, casting aside their differences and animosities,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

He underlined that today, people were once again facing a destructive calamity and common enemy, referring to the novel coronavirus, which “threatens not only our health but also our welfare, social order, and humane ties.” “This tiny enemy invisible to the eye has reminded us once again the meaning of ‘being united,’ being

strong in unity, which we have risked to forget in the recent period; which we became ready to sacrifice for populist policies and short-term national interests,” he added.

Erdogan said that each calamity brought along with it opportunities and that he believed the EU would come out of the crisis stronger than it was before.

“I fully believe that better days will be with us when the language of discrimination and hatred is cast aside; when the common interest of our Europe is not sac-rificed for petit political games or national interests; when we are inclusive and just,” he said.

Erdogan stressed that dif-ficult days lie ahead and that Turkey would focus on com-bating the pandemic, economic recovery in the post-pandemic period, “steering the develop-ments that impact on our con-tinent as well as fighting irregular migration and terror.” Saying that these should be seen as an opportunity for Turkey-EU relations Erdogan said: “We must make good use of the opportunities these tough days will present in order to revi-talize the Turkey-EU relations. I hope that the EU, which has assumed a discriminative and exclusionist attitude towards

our country on various issues to this date, has now under-stood that we are all on the same boat.

He underlined that during the pandemic, various EU Member States asked for help from Turkey, and that with Ankara’s healthcare system and measures against the virus could “set an example” for many EU members and can-didate countries.

Erdogan added that Turkey was determined to attain full membership in the EU despite all the hardships the country ran into during the negotiation process.

Iranian men, some wearing protective masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, walk on a street, in Tehran yesterday.

Lebanon rooftops bustle as virus shifts life upstairsAFP — BEIRUT

Usually the kingdom of water tanks and satellite dishes, Leba-non’s rooftops have recently been graced by unlikely scenes of locked-down residents fleeing their flats.

Deprived of rehearsal rooms or workshops by restric-tions imposed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, or just needing some extra

breathing space, many people have found solace without leaving their buildings.

Several have ventured onto their roofs to escape the lockdown after taking to the streets in recent months as part of nationwide protests against rulers deemed corrupt and inept.

A photographer spent weeks scaling staircases to see how people have taken over underused rooftops, whose only

visitors used to be caretakers, plumbers and electricians.

“When confinement started, I soon couldn’t take it anymore, and that’s when I thought of checking out the roof,” said Sherazade Mami, a Tunisian dancer who has been living in Beirut since 2016.

Every day, she walks up to the ninth floor of her building with her water, her mat and her music to stretch and practise.

Like others discovering their rooftops during the lockdown, Mami said her outlook on the city had changed. “Once you’re up there, you realise — I have an amazing view on the whole of Beirut. It’s beautiful, the city is so quiet,” she said of the sprawling metropolis usually known for its noise and chaotic traffic.

“You can hear the birds singing, you’re under the sun, it’s heaven... It’s better than

rehearsing in the theatre in some ways,” she added.

A bird’s eye view of Beirut around sunset since mid-March would show largely empty streets and shuttered shops at ground level, but unusual activity above.

On a hedgehopping flight over the city, maybe yoga instructors Rabih al-Medawar and his wife Alona Aleksan-drova could be spotted trying

out new acrobatic moves on their roof.

Travelling north towards the seaside town of Byblos, Leb-anese gymnast Karen Dib might appear, tumbling down the red mat she had laid out on the top of her building.

And in Tripoli, Lebanon’s main northern city, artist and activist Hayat Nazer might be glimpsed working on her latest canvas.

Virus death toll in Iranreaches 6,589 as casesrise above 106,200ANATOLIA — ANKARA

The coronavirus death toll in Iran rose to 6,589 with 48 more fatalities over the past 24 hours, state media reported yesterday.

A total of 1,529 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past day, raising the overall count to 106,220, Iran’s state broadcaster reported, citing a statement from the Health Ministry.

It said 85,064 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, while 2,696 patients remain in critical condition.

A total of 573,220 tests have been conducted in the

country, according to the ministry.

In Iran, one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the pandemic, COVID-19 was first detected in the city of Qom on February 19 and then spread throughout the country.

The government decided against imposing a total lockdown as seen in many other countries, but did close educa-tional institutions and banned cultural, religious, and sports gatherings.

Since April 11, authorities in phases have allowed the reo-pening of “low-risk” businesses closed as part of measures to contain the virus’ spread.

The shallow 4.6 magnitude quake hit at 00:48am (2018 GMT) near the city of Damavand, about 55km east of Tehran, the US Geological Survey said. It saw scores of residents of Tehran flee buildings for the safety of the capital’s streets and parks.

07SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Shelling of airport in Tripoli hitsfuel tanks and damages planesREUTERS — TUNIS

Shelling of Tripoli’s Mitiga airport early yesterday, part of an intensified barrage of artillery fire on the capital in recent days, hit fuel tanks and damaged passenger planes, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Mitiga is the last functioning airport in the Libyan capital, though civilian flights stopped in March because of repeated shelling even before the country imposed a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

Brega Petroleum Marketing Company, part of the National Oil Corporation, said its jet fuel tanks at Mitiga caught fire after coming under attack and firemen were working to control the blaze.

The Transport Ministry,

blaming eastern-based forces of Khalifa Haftar, said one of the damaged planes was preparing to fly to Spain to retrieve Libyans stranded in Europe by the coronavirus lockdown.

Video shared with Reuters by an airport worker showed plumes of black smoke bil-lowing over the apron. Photo-graphs showed shrapnel damage sprayed across the nose of a passenger plane.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) has been fighting for more than a year to capture

Tripoli, seat of the interna-tionally-recognised Gov-ernment of National Accord (GNA), with frequent shelling of the capital.

According to the United Nations, four fifths of the 130 civilian casualties recorded in the Libyan conflict in the first quarter of the year were caused by LNA ground fighting.

Late on Thursday, Turkey and Italy said the area around their embassies in Tripoli was shelled, leading the European Union to condemn the incident,

which it said was “attributal to Haftar’s forces”.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Al Mismari denied the LNA had

shelled the area. He has not yet commented on yesterday’s shelling at Mitiga.

However, pro-GNA forces

have retaken some territory from the LNA around Tripoli during an escalation of fighting in recent weeks.

Smoke fumes rise above buildings in the Libyan capital Tripoli, during shelling by Khalifa Haftar’s forces, yesterday.

According to the United Nations, four fifths of the 130 civilian casualties recorded in the Libyan conflict in the first quarter of the year were caused by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army ground fighting.

Coronavirus cases in Africa above 57,700; death toll at 2,151ANATOLIA — ADDIS ABABA

Some 3,719 new cases of the novel coronavirus were recorded over the last 24 hours across Africa, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said yesterday morning.

Bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in Africa to 57,746, the daily update saw the continent-wide death

toll grow by 77 to reach 2,151.It added that 715 patients

had recovered in the 24-hour period, with the total tally now at 19,351.

North Africa confirmed the most cases of the virus across the continent’s five geographical regions with 20,600 cases, followed by West Africa with 16,900, Southern Africa with 9,500, East Africa with 5,600 and

Central Africa with 5,200.The most COVID-19-re-

lated deaths were also reported in North Africa with 1,200 fatalities, while in West Africa this figure was 361, 202 Central Africa, 194 in Southern Africa and 168 in East Africa.

In terms of recoveries, 7,400 were confirmed in North Africa, 4,900 in the west, 3,400 in the south,

2,200 in the east and 1,600 in Central Africa.

South Africa has the most cases of all African countries with 8,900 and 178 fatalities, while Egypt has recorded 8,500 patients of which 503 have died.

In West Africa, Nigeria has suffered the most deaths with 117, followed by Burkina Faso with 48 and Niger with 44.

In East Africa, Sudan has

recorded 59 deaths, Somalia 44 and Kenya 24.

Cameroon has the most deaths in Central Africa with 108, followed by the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo with 39 and Chad with 27.

The small East African country of Djibouti has recorded 1,100 cases, greatly surpassing its much larger neighbour Ethiopia which has 194 cases so far.

Sierra Leone President accuses opposition of terrorismAFP — FREETOWN

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has accused the political opposition of inciting “terrorist violence” after deadly disturbances linked to the coronavirus outbreak in the West African nation.

In a televised address on Friday evening, Bio said that the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party was involved in violent flare-ups across the country.

He said the party’s silence over its members who allegedly took part in “acts of terrorist violence, senseless

loss of lives, injuries and wanton destruction of public and personal property is truly disconcerting”.

The APC did not immedi-ately respond to a request for comment.

Eleven people died in an attempted jail break and ensuing riot in the capital Freetown last month, after an inmate tested positive for coronavirus.

In another incident, fish-ermen attacked a police station and a health clinic south of Freetown on Wednesday, after authorities limited the number

of boats allowed to leave port for social-distancing reasons.

Sierra Leone has recorded 257 cases of coronavirus to date, with 17 fatalities.

As with other poor coun-tries in the region, there are fears that it is ill-equipped to handle a large outbreak.

The former British colony was already badly hit by the 2014-2016 West African Ebola crisis, which killed almost 4,000 people in the country.

Violent incidents also occurred during that epidemic, with some distrustful inhab-itants attacking medical

workers trying to combat the disease.

On Friday, Bio — a former soldier who briefly led a mil-itary junta more than two decades ago — suggested that the APC was aiming to make Sierra Leone ungovernable.

The President took office in 2018 after a tumultuous election campaign which ended a decade-long spell in power by the APC.

Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries and is still recovering from the 1991-2002 civil war which claimed some 120,000 lives.

COVID-19 deaths rise to 45 in TunisiaTurkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) distributes food packages and hygiene kits to African workers in Tunis, Tunisia, on Friday, as part of COVID-19 relief efforts. Tunisia yesterday confirmed a new fatality from the coronavirus, bringing the tally to 45. Authorities said four more cases were detected, taking the total number of infections in the country to 1,030.

Curfew extended

in Khartoum to

stem virus spread

AFP — KHARTOUM

Sudan extended a curfew in and around the capital Khartoum for 10 days from yesterday as coronavirus cases mount, state media reported.

The Sudanese health min-istry has so far reported 1,111 COVID-19 cases including 59 deaths, with Khartoum state hardest hit.

Authorities intially imposed a curfew in Khartoum for three weeks from April 18. With its twin city Omdurman, the capital has a population of more than five million.

“The health emergency committee decided to extend the curfew in Khartoum state starting Saturday and for 10 days,” the official SUNA news agency reported late Friday.

Travel between the capital and other Sudanese states will be banned, the news agency added.

Since March, Sudan has imposed a state of emergency, shuttering schools and univer-sities, and almost totally closing its borders.

The country’s dilapidated healthcare system is already strained by acute shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

Last Sunday, the gov-ernment announced that a minister of state in the transport and infrastructure ministry, Hashim Ibn Auf, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Benin conducts mass testing of teachers ahead of school restartAFP — COTONOU

Benin yesterday conducted mass coronavirus testing of teachers ahead of the reopening of schools as part of a plan to loosen measures against the pandemic.

The West African nation of 11 million is set to end six weeks of travel restrictions to key cities and allow some stu-dents back to classrooms from tomorrow.

Primary school teacher Mohammed Aliou waited nervously at a health centre in Cotonou after being called up by authorities to get screened.

“The test came back neg-ative,” he told AFP with relief

after emerging from the clinic.“I feel safe and confident

now.” Countries across the globe are wrestling with issues of how to roll back restrictions while keeping a lid on the virus.

Benin is among a growing number of Africa nations relaxing measures that have battered their fragile econ-omies and large numbers of poor.

The country has in recent days seen its tally of con-firmed infections double to 284 as testing has been ratcheted up.

The authorities said that almost 14,000 tests were carried out between May 3 and 7, with the focus now on

teachers and health workers.So far just two fatalities

from the virus have been confirmed.

Students from the final year of primary school through to universities will return to lessons tomorrow after six weeks at home.

Masks will be distributed to pupils and nursery schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

Headmaster Ghislain Togan Cakpo — who also tested negative — said he was planning some changes to ensure social distancing at his school.

“We’ll turn the assembly room into a classroom,” he said.

Lecture halls at univer-sities will remain shut to avoid large gatherings and some courses will be

delivered online, officials said. The plan to reopen schools has faced some crit-icism from unions.

Anselme Amoussou, general secretary of one of the country’s largest labour organisation, said testing remained “insufficient”.

“The government is aware that it will not be able to screen everyone before school starts,” he said.

“But we ask everyone to be in classes and we did not include students in the testing.” Benin was one of the first African countries to make wearing masks obligatory in public when it introduced the measures in main cities and towns on April 8.

23 dead in clashes between DR Congo army, militiasANATOLIA — KIGALI, RWANDA

Twenty-three militias were killed in fighting between the Armed Forces of the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and militias in Ituri province, the army said on Friday.

After fierce battles with members of the Cooperative For the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia group Thursday, the army regained control of four villages once occupied by militiamen in Bese, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Bunia, in the territory of Djugu, army spokesman Lt. Jules Ngongo, told reporters.

“Twenty-three militias were killed, 12 others captured, and seven AK 47 weapons recovered,” he said.

Fighting was part of ongoing Operation Zaruba ya Ituri” launched to end decades

of insecurity in the area, according to Ngongo.

Villages recaptured by the army include Lipri, Nyangaray and Kabakaba, after the clashes, said Ngongo.

The gold-rich northeastern province of Ituri has witnessed interethnic tensions between the Lendu and Hema commu-nities since December 2017 that led to widespread violence and human rights abuses, which have resulted in deaths and mass displacement of residents.

More than 200 CODECO militias accused of atrocities surrendered to FARDC forces in January as a crackdown on armed groups in the volatile east continued.

FARDC launched an offensive in January against militias operating in Ituri as part of a wider operation launched last October.

Ethiopia admits shooting down Kenyan plane

ANATOLIA — NAIROBI, KENYA

Ethiopia has admitted that it shot down on Monday a Kenyan plane carrying humanitarian and medical supplies, killing all six people onboard.

In a statement to the African Union, the Ethiopian military said they interpreted the plane’s “unusual flight” as a “potential suicide mission,” adding the crew did not inform authorities of any aircraft flying to the country.

“Because of lack of com-munication and awareness, the aircraft was shot down,” the military said.

“The incident was per-formed by non-Amisom troops of Ethiopia, which will require mutual collaborative investi-gation team from Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya to further understand the truth,” it added. All six passengers onboard died on Monday after the plane was shot down in the southwestern town of Bardaale in Somalia.

Over 500 virus

cases detected

at Ghana facility

REUTERS — ACCRA

More than 500 workers at an industrial facility in Ghana have tested positive for the coronavirus, the country’s health service said on Friday, as total cases jumped by nearly 30% in a single day.

The health service did not name the facility, where it said in a statement that 533 out 1,300 workers had tested pos-itive. The overall number of cases in Ghana rose to 4,012, including 18 deaths, from 3,091 on Thursday.

That represents the highest case total in West Africa, although Ghana has also con-ducted by far the most tests in the region.

Students from the final year of primary school through to universities will return to lessons tomorrow after six weeks at home. Masks will be distributed to pupils and nursery schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

The quality of education students have received during this crisis has been uneven. The digital divide, and the related homework gap, are painfully real.

08 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANDR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

A CABINET meeting held in mid-March and chaired by H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, took many decisions on precautionary measures to combat the COVID-19 pan-demic including the decision of making 80 percent private sector employees to work from home.

This was along with other decisions including social distancing, complete shutdown of all non-essential busi-nesses exempting food stores, pharmacies and delivery services, stopping home cleaning services and reducing number of workers to half the capacity transported by bus.

Along the decision of suspension of some busi-nesses to curb the virus spread, the government offered QR75bn in incentives to private sector with the aim of easing the economic stress caused by shut-downs of businesses. This includes a program costing QR3bn which will enable the private companies to apply for three months of salary support for their employees where every one of them receives his/her salary directly in their bank accounts.

In order to discuss these issues and and economic conditions resulting from the pandemic, its effects on the private sector, and the solutions to overcome them, H E the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior on Friday met the chairmen and representatives of Qatar Chamber and Qatari Businessmen Association. The video con-ference meeting was attended by H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Chairman of Qatar Free Zones Authority’s Board of Directors, H E Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Sayed.

In the meeting, H E the Prime Minister and Min-ister of Interior stressed on the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, when His Highness presided over the meeting of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management on COVID-19 on March 15, on the importance of supporting the private sector and finding ways to increase its contribution in all fields to support economic development.

Some of the ways were providing financial and eco-nomic stimulus to the private sector, represented in QR75bn to support commercial banks’ liquidity, the stock market and support staff payroll-salaries and rental fees, under a program administered by Qatar Development Bank. As well under the guarantees program of QDB some sectors like water and electricity are exempted from fees among other related measures. The private sector has also been encouraged to take advantage of the benefits provided by free zones, which include access to the main infrastructure and logistics services, in addition to tax and regulatory benefits among others. These measures require cooperation and support of the private sector to make the whole exercise productive and fruitful.

A boon to private sector

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Quote of the day

The ideas behind the Schuman Declaration had ensured

the rebirth of Europe from its own ashes after a war that

tore apart the whole world and the gathering together

of countries for peace, security, development and

welfare, casting aside their differences and animosities.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey

Elementary school students using their smartphones to get a better Internet connection to study online, in their village on Temulawak hill, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

When we were told over the Lunar New Year holiday that schools in Hong Kong would be closed to prevent the spread of a then still-distant illness, I went through all the stages of grief. Shock, denial, anger, bargaining. I settled on depression for a good while. With three primary-age children, my vision of juggling a new job, school, chores and a bad-tempered dog was one of Brueghelian pandemonium. I had little faith in the quality of education my kids would receive online.

Four months in, my

scepticism has in large part faded. What’s allowed me to accept, and then embrace, the educational havoc wrought by the virus has been its unexpected impact on my middle son, a 9-year-old on the autism spectrum. With a more flexible approach, he’s been able to cover the cur-riculum with a combination of live and recorded assign-ments provided by school, and find space for niche interests in a more creative, student-led set-up. We’ve recruited outside support that has helped to rein-force corners of math which eluded him first time around. Our new, fuzzier world allowed him to catch up, and thrive.

My son’s experience with remote learning is in many ways exceptional - but it may also provide clues to how school systems around the world can harness the potential of technology to improve outcomes for all stu-dents. The quality of education students have received during this crisis has been uneven. The digital divide, and the related homework gap, are painfully real. Wealthier parents can afford to stay home; they are more edu-cated and better able to support their children; they have enough laptops, steady Wi-Fi and live in homes where there’s a modicum of personal space. In Hong Kong, nearly 97% of less-well-off children in a March survey by The Society for

Community Organization reported problems with dis-tance learning, much of it related to poor internet con-nections. Even those who overcome that obstacle cannot always unlock online opportu-nities without extra help.

That doesn’t mean that the greatest learning experiment in history is doomed to fail. There’s a very real possibility we will see more disruptions, whether driven by extreme weather or pandemics, and we can’t afford to have hun-dreds of millions of children falling behind. With the right infrastructure, it’s possible to rethink academic struc-tures that have in many ways been unchanged since the Victorian period, and come out with options that are more inclusive and flexible. It won’t be cheap, but in the age of multi-trillion fiscal stimulus, it may be the best investment we make.

Almost everyone I’ve spoken to, from head teachers to students and parents, has expressed frustration over the abrupt switch to virtual schooling during the current health crisis. Most institutions were ill-prepared to move to online instruction. In part, this comes from our overopti-mistic views of how easy it is to teach and learn online. That’s not new: Radio, then television, and later mass open online courses, were also supposed to provide high-quality free education for all, yet haven’t quite lived up to expectations.

Distance learning comes with inherent limitations. In China, online tuition is a 500 billion yuan, or nearly $71 billion industry, but even at that size, virtual lessons don’t make the bricks-and-mortar alternative irrelevant. Schools help children turn into self-sufficient beings that can thrive in society. They teach and model good study habits. They also allow parents to work, and in many places, they mean shelter and nutri-tious food that is otherwise unavailable. Physical schools played these critical roles before the pandemic, and these functions will be even more essential after it passes.

And yet the traditional schoolroom is far from perfect, as students with learning challenges know. It’s also unclear if the current model is the one best suited to produce the workers of the future. Sugata Mitra, a com-puter programmer-turned-educational researcher famous for his Hole in the Wall experiments in India, argues that the current set-up is the product of an imperial era, geared toward training human com-puters with neat, legible handwriting and quick arith-metic. Our modern economy, on the other hand, requires innovative, collaborative, problem-solving workers.

Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion col-umnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues.

We have always heard of the necessity of integrating tech-nology within our curriculum, yet we have never supposed that technology will invade our students’ learning process in a glimpse this way. Portable devices have almost become the only tool our kids can receive their education through nowadays. Kids are literally deprived of their chance of growing physically, socially, and emotionally. Delivering objec-tives online has assumed that children will advance cogni-tively denying the many studies proving how this affects them negatively in numerous aspects.

Not only our youngsters’ vision will be affected, but also physically, they will be thrown into the realm of obesity. Socially, because of social dis-tancing, students are going to detach from their surroundings leaving them to lose their com-munication skills. Emotionally, the imbalance of the four pillars of development of every child will most probably result in their character instability. Instead of raising children who are able to interact with and interpret the world around them, we are exposing them to this digital world that will eventually lead to their intro-verted personalities.

Nonetheless, online learning has forgotten the importance of cooperative learning. Studying within groups has disappeared. Chil-dren’s laughter, teamwork, and even pal fights which play a major role in their upbringing have all vanished

out of a sudden.Students who are labeled

special whether gifted or those with learning diffi-culties have been left out to row solely their boat.

Teachers who are at the moment preparing lessons and PowerPoints, posting them online, conducting virtual classes and doing their best for their young buds are yes frus-trated because of the dissatis-faction of parents and the dis-belief in such an online process.

Adding to the above, teachers, principals, and worldwide schools are facing this major obstacle of the teaching process. The chain of the 3ps of teaching “Present, Practice, and Produce” is broken. Teachers along with their students might be able to overcome the first two steps, yet when it comes to the third one”

Produce” which involves the assessment stage, they fail to test the kids online and

maintain credibility. These online assessments do not ensure trustworthiness. Stu-dents can easily access each other’s answers via the vast technology devices available at their hand while their teachers can hardly track their moves, thus resulting in a fickle grading system.

Covid 19 has tricked us to believe that we are teaching the mind and required us to neglect the other cornerstones of our young ones’ wellbeing.

Riyam Shaer is Head of Primary and Middle school and Head of Quality Assurance Committee at Global Academy International, Doha, Qatar. She is also the author of “Your Guide to Writing,” a series that upgrades students’ writing skills. Ms. Shaer has been training teachers on peda-gogies and methodologies, as well as presenting in a number of local and international conferences.

Don’t waste the world’s great online learning experiment

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COVID-19 effects on education

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09SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020 ASIA

Australia’s biggeststates hold off relaxing lockdown restrictionsREUTERS — MELBOURNE

Australia’s most populous states held back from easing COVID-19 restr ict ions yesterday even as some states allowed small gatherings and got ready to open restaurants in line with the federal govern-ment’s three-stage plan for reopening businesses.

Prime Minister Scott Mor-rison on Friday outlined plans to remove most curbs by July in a three-step process to get nearly 1 million people back to work, as the country has reined in new COVID-19 infections to less than 20 a day with strict lockdowns.

Australia’s total deaths from COVID-19 remain just below 100.

The nation’s capital, Can-berra, and some states, on Sat-urday allowed people to start visiting each other again, with indoor and outdoor gatherings, including weddings, of up to 10 people allowed.

In South Australia, outdoor

dining at restaurants and cafes will be allowed from tomorrow for up to 10 people, and in the Northern Territory, restaurants will reopen next Friday.

However the states of New South Wales and Victoria, which make up more than half the country’s population and nearly two-thirds of the coun-try’s COVID-19 cases, plan to outline plans for easing business restrictions only next week.

New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard said yesterday nearly 300,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in the state, and while 3,000 of those had tested positive, 82 percent of them were already well again.

Ahead of Mother’s Day today, Hazzard urged people not to let their guard down on social distancing and hand-washing when visiting their mothers.

“It’s really tough to not be able to hug your mum or kiss your mum, but it would be the

wisest course to not do that,” Hazzard said. Many nursing homes around the country started allowing limited visits this weekend, with some requiring temperature checks and proof of flu vaccinations before allowing visitors in with strict social distancing of 1.5 metres.

While schools reopened last week in Western Australia and South Australia, the state

of Queensland got ready to send kindergarten, year 1, 11 and 12 students back to school tomorrow.

“I’ve got a very excited grade 1 student who can’t wait to get to school in my household and I’m sure there are many, many other kids and mums eager for that return to school,” Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles told reporters yesterday.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Australia’s fourth largest bank, told staff it was preparing for a staged return to work, with no more than 35 percent of its people to be in the office at any one time.

New Zealand reported two new COVID-19 cases yes-terday, taking the country’s total to 1,492 cases.

There have been 21 deaths linked to the coronavirus.

Drones disinfect virushotspot in India afterlockdown clashesAFP — AHMEDABAD

Drones hovered over the pandemic-stricken Indian city of Ahmedabad yesterday spraying disinfectant on the streets, hours after security forces clashed with residents who flouted a toughened lockdown.

The western city of 5.5 million people has become a major concern for authorities as they battle a surge in coronavirus deaths and cases across India.

Ahmedabad accounts for 343 of the almost 2,000 deaths reported nationwide and just under ten percent of cases regis-tered. Other cities in Gujarat state have also been badly hit.

Drones sprayed from the air

while fire engines and other city vehicles toured the empty streets sending out clouds of cleaning agent onto roads and the outside of buildings.

“We have started a massive exercise to spray disinfectant in all zones of the city,” said the city’s acting chief administrator Rajiv Gupta.

India has been in the grip of the world’s biggest lockdown since March 25, which was made stricter in Ahmedabad on Friday because of the accelerated spread

of the virus. Hundreds of para-militaries kept people off the streets and virtually all stores have been closed for at least a week. On Friday night, security forces fired tear gas at stone-throwing residents who ventured out. At least 15 people were arrested and the police presence was stepped up yesterday.

Authorities have insisted the pandemic crisis is under control and have started to ease restric-tions in many parts of India to let agriculture and some companies

get back to work. Experts however have warned of an increasing toll despite the lockdown.

The virus is spreading partic-ularly quickly in major cities such

as Mumbai, New Delhi and Ahmedabad. And experts say the toll numbers are higher than reported because of the lack of testing and poor accounting for deaths. While the number of

deaths is low compared to the United States and the worst-hit European nations, health spe-cialists say India’s pandemic curve may only peak in June and July.

Shopkeepers argue with a policeman (right) demanding permission to open their shops at a wholesale market during a government-imposed lockdown, in Amritsar yesterday.

Nepal protests new Indian road through disputed territoryAFP — KATHMANDU

Nepal protested India’s inaugu-ration of a new road to China that passes through territory claimed by Kathmandu yesterday, with police arresting dozens demonstrating close to India’s embassy.

Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh yesterday inau-gurated via video link the 80km long road from Ghatiabagarh in northern Uttarakhand state to the Lipu Lekh pass high in the Himalaya.

The pass is claimed by Nepal based on an 1816 treaty that defines its western border with India.

Kathmandu also claims the adjoining and strategic Kalapani as a part of its territory, although Indian troops have been deployed there since New Delhi fought a war with China in 1962.

Last year New Delhi pub-lished a new map that showed Kalapani within its borders, a m o v e p r o t e s t e d b y Kathmandu.

Nepal’s foreign ministry condemned India’s “unilateral act” that “runs against the understanding reached between the two countries... that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiations.”

It called on India “to refrain from carrying out any activity inside” in the territory.

Police said at least 38 people were detained as they gathered outside the Indian embassy in Kathmandu and other areas to protest the

inauguration of the road. A nationwide coronavirus lockdown has been imposed in Nepal.

Nepal protested to India and China in 2015 when the two countries issued a joint statement listing the Lipu Lekh pass as a bilateral trade route.

The hashtag #backoffindia was trending on Twitter in Nepal yesterday.

The same hashtag gained widespread traction in 2015, when landlocked Nepal accused its giant southern

neighbour of imposing a border blockade as the country recovered from two devas-tating earthquakes.

Bhekh Bahadur Thapa a former ambassador to India, said the new road seeks “to disrupt cordial relations” between the two countries.

“Both sides have admitted the territory is disputed... But the unilateral and forceful move from India amid the talks has dashed friendly relation between the two neighbours,” he said.

Protesters demand

closure of Indian

factory over gas

leak that killed 11

REUTERS — VISAKHAPATNAM

Villagers placed the bodies of three victims of a deadly gas leak from an LG Polymers plant in southern India at the gates of the site yesterday, and demanded the factory be shut down immediately and its top management arrested.

Toxic styrene gas spewed out of the plant near the southern city of Visakhapatnam on Thursday, killing at least 11 people and forcing 800 more to be hospitalised for treatment. Hundreds of victims remain in hospital.

Yesterday, villagers staged a sit-in at the plant’s gate with three bodies of victims as the Director General of Police visited the plant, ANI reported.

Some protesters barged into the compound and police had to block their way to allow offi-cials investigating the leak to come in and out.

Protestors shouted “We want justice!” and demanded a permanent closure of the factory that is close to residential areas.

They also called for the arrest of factory management of LG Polymers, which is a sub-sidiary of LG Chem Ltd, South Korea’s biggest petrochemical company. Police have filed a negligence and culpable hom-icide complaint against the management of the LG Pol-ymers plant. In a statement yes-terday, LG Polymers apologised to all those affected by the incident and said it would extend all possible support to ensure those affected and their families were taken care of.

“The company is committed to work closely with the con-cerned authorities in India to investigate the cause of this incident,” the company said.

A delivery man wearing face mask cycles past a street art, in Sydney yesterday.

Maldives sees rapid spike in coronavirus casesAP — MALE

The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation with one of the world’s most congested capitals, has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks.

Health officials predict that more than 77,000 people — or a fourth of those currently living in the country — could become infected, with more than 5,000 possibly needing intensive care treatment.

Official figures updated yes-terday showed 766 cases, including 743 that are still active. A vast majority of the patients are residents of Male, the capital. Three people have died so far.

The Maldives, known for its luxury tourist resorts, reported its first case of COVID-19 in March, and until mid-April appeared to have contained the virus within the isolated resort islands that had been converted into quarantine centers.

Male is highly congested, housing more than 150,000 people in a 5.8sq km area.

The government had taken

precautions to stop the virus from entering the capital by sus-pending on-arrival visas and screening people entering through airports and arriving from other islands.

But a patient in Male whose source of infection has not yet

been identified triggered an explosion in the number of cases. Six inhabited islands, including Male, are now under lockdown.

“The main hurdle at the moment is the rapid spread of the disease among expatriate migrant workers living in

congested accommodation. Many are undocumented, do not report symptoms or are asymptomatic,” said Mohamed Mabrook Azeez, spokesman for the National Emergency Operations Centre.

“Physical distancing measures is logistically difficult

in place like Male in any situ-ation,” he said.

There are about 60,000 migrant workers, mostly from Bangladesh, working as unskilled laborers in Male, according to Azeez. They also serve as the primary source of couriers to deliver essentials.

Their congested living quarters have been a cause for the rapid spread of the virus, with at least 416 Bangladeshi migrants testing positive, Azeez said.

The government plans to relocate some 3,000 Bangladeshi nationals to other islands in the Maldives to enable social dis-tancing, he said.

It also plans to repatriate 1,500 unregistered Bangladeshi workers. Nima Hassan, a Male resident, was in self-isolation with a fever awaiting test results at her home.

“Even with a mild fever, it got you overthinking. Did I get the disease? Was it the delivery man who dropped by the other day? Were we not careful enough?” she said.

“Are we not safe inside our four walls?”

Officials wearing protective gear check Indian citizens before boarding the INS Jalashwa Ship to be evacuated to India as part of a repatriation effort due to the COVID-19, in Male, Maldives.

18 moreinfected inSouth KoreaAP — SEOUL

South Korea yesterday reported 18 new coronavirus cases after a spate of infections prompted authorities to urge clubs to close.

A decline in new infections in South Korea and some other countries had prompted them to loosen controls..

South Korea urged clubs to close for a month after new cases jumped above 10 for the first time in five days. The gov-ernment had eased social dis-tancing guidelines and plans to start reopening schools on Wednesday.

Most of the new Korean cases are linked to the Itaewon leisure district of the capital, Seoul, where a 29-year-old man visited three clubs before testing positive.

The infections raised concern about a broader spread in Seoul, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live.

Ahmedabad accounts for 343 of the almost 2,000 deaths reported nationwide and just under 10 percent of cases registered. Other cities in Gujarat state have also been badly hit.

10 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020ASIA

YouTube CEO pledges $5m to spreadawareness on pandemic in PakistanINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

YouTube will give Pakistan $5m in advertisement grants to spread awareness about the coronavirus, it emerged yesterday.

In a letter written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki outlined the work “Google and YouTube have been doing to support Paki-stan’s citizens and businesses through this difficult time”.

The letter stated that the tech companies are helping local authorities in the country spread information about the coronavirus through infor-mation panels and alerts. Google has also launched a microsite which will appear when anyone searches for

coronavirus. The website draws its content from the govern-ment’s COVID-19 portal, it added.

The online platforms are also combating misinformation and online abuse by showing authoritative sources in top results. “We will continue to quickly remove videos ... that discourage people from seeking medical treatment or claim harmful substances have health benefits,” the letter read.

Outlining resources for learning and working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic, the letter said that Google has created Grow with Google Pakistan containing resources for “all kinds of remote workers” and Teach from Home containing resources for educators. It has

also created other learning resources for children and professionals.

The letter added that Google was also publishing community mobility reports, using data col-lected through Google Maps. “We hope that the reports [on movement] can help public health officials in Pakistan, and governments elsewhere respond to the coronavirus,” it said.

The letter also offered cooperation with the Pakistani government in creating a “credible and globally con-sistent digital policy and regu-latory framework”.

Prime Minister Imran met with the YouTube CEO in January this year on the side-lines of the 50th World Eco-nomic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

China to reform diseasecontrol mechanism aftervirus exposed weak linksAFP — BEIJING

The coronavirus outbreak exposed “shortcomings” in China’s public healthcare system, a top health official admitted yesterday, saying that reforms are underway to improve the country’s disease prevention and control mech-anisms.

China has faced criticism both at home and abroad for downplaying the virus and con-cealing information about the outbreak when it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December.

The virus has since infected nearly four million people worldwide — claiming more than 270,000 lives — and crippled the global economy.

Beijing has insisted it has always shared information with the World Health Organization and other countries in a timely manner.

But yesterday Li Bin, deputy director of China’s National Health Commission, made a rare admission when he said the healthcare system had not been adequately pre-pared, which had left holes in China’s response.

“The novel coronavirus out-break was a big test that revealed China still has short-comings in its major epidemic prevention and control system, public health systems and other aspects of responding (to an emergency),” Li told reporters at a press briefing.

China’s health authority will build a “centralised, unified and

efficient” leadership system that would allow it to respond more quickly and effectively to any public health crisis in the future, Li said.

Officials were also dis-cussing how to “modernise” the disease control and prevention system by using big data, arti-ficial intelligence, cloud com-puting and other technologies that will help to predict out-breaks more accurately and enhance preparedness, Li said.

The commission was also considering ways to revise public health laws, strengthen international exchanges and “actively participate in global health governance,” Li added.

On, Friday Beijing said it would support a World Health Organization-led review into the global response to the coro-navirus outbreak — once the pandemic is over.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump ramped up criticism of China this week, saying the virus “could have been stopped in China.”

Although it was the first epi-centre of the pandemic, China has not reported any corona-virus related deaths for 24 con-secutive days, and the country is gradually reopening schools and urging workers to return to work.

Youth stand on social distancing markers as they buy bread from a bakery, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

China’s health authority will build a “centralised, unified and efficient” leadership system that would allow it to respond more quickly and effectively to any public health crisis in the future: Li Bin

Six dead in clashes at Afghanistan food aid eventAFP — HERAT

Two policemen and four other people were killed in Afghan-istan yesterday after a deadly clash at a public food donation in central Ghor province, offi-cials said.

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the governor’s office in the provincial capital Firozkoh, where a Qatari group was distributing aid.

It was not immediately clear why the gathering turned violent, but officials blamed armed men in the crowd.

“The protesters opened fire on the police,” the provincial governor’s spokesman Aref Haber said.

“Four civilians, including an employee of a local radio and two policemen were killed,” he said, adding that 19 people were also wounded.

He said the protesters also beat security personnel and an investigation into the incident was underway.

The interior ministry con-firmed the death toll in a statement, saying “some illegal armed men in the mob attacked

the government building”, which prompted police to fire into the air to disperse the crowd.

Afghan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh said the attack wa s “ sh oc king” and announced that the “gov-ernment was seriously inves-tigating the incident” in a Facebook post.

The aid group was distrib-uting food to about 1,000 local families. Food drives are a common practice in the country during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Security personnel stand guard at a barricade near a market after the government eased the nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against COVID-19, in Lahore yesterday.

China sees one new infectionand 15 asymptomatic casesREUTERS — BEIJING

China reported one new coronavirus case for Friday, unchanged from the day before, data from the national health authority showed yesterday.

One new imported case was recorded on May 8, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

The commission also reported 15 new asymptomatic cases for Friday, versus 16 the previous day.

China’s total number of coronavirus cases now stands at 82,887, while the death toll from COVID-19, the disease it causes, remained unchanged at 4,633, the national health authority said.

Manila airport set to ease ban on international arrivalsAGENCIES — MANILA

Manila’s international airport will allow international charter and commercial flights to resume arriving on designated days, beginning today.

Inbound international chartered flights will be per-mitted to land at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Mondays and Thursdays, while commercial ones will be allowed on the other days of the week, the civil aviation authority said in a statement. That schedule will last for a month, until June 10.

The Philippines suspended all commercial passenger flights to and from the country on May 3 because of the coro-navirus outbreak, while allowing outbound flights to resume the next day. It cited congested quarantine facilities for Filipino workers returning from overseas as the reason for the suspension.

Yesterday, the Philippine health ministry reported that coronavirus deaths have reached more than 700.

The country recorded eight new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 704, the health ministry said in a bul-letin. Infections increased by 147 to 10,610 while 108 patients have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,842.

Singapore defends selective testing, says it yielded resultsBLOOMBERG — SINGAPORE

Singapore remains committed to its approach to selectively test individuals with symptoms of the coronavirus as it has yielded results, and hasn’t made any major decisions to pivot to mass testing.

“We cannot be testing aim-lessly,” the city-state’s health minister Gan Kim Yong said at a press conference.

Outlining the nation’s testing strategy, Gan said the government is looking to sieve out positive cases, identify close contacts and quarantine them. It will also look out for negative cases and allow workers to go

back to work as it seeks to pro-gressively re-open its economy.

Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing on April 24 suggested the city-state is pondering mass tests, with “much more testings for the entire population and at the same time to take on” additional safe distancing measures.

Singapore now has one of the largest outbreaks in Asia fol-lowing a resurgence in infec-tions, primarily among low-wage migrant workers staying in cramped dormitories. It reported 768 new cases on Friday, bringing the total reported infections in the country to nearly 22,000. To

decisively bring down the numbers, Singapore has extended its partial lockdown — now into its fifth week — until June 1.

The surge in cases, coupled with plans to re-open its economy, has prompted the city-state to scale up tests. The country’s aim to increase testing fivefold from 8,000 a day to 40,000 by later this year comes amid a global shortage of test kits and materials.

Singapore is committed to continuing its selective testing strategy, the health ministry’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak said at the press conference.

“Our selective testing strat-egies have given us quite a yield. It’s not like that hasn’t worked out,” he said. “As we move on eventually, to a later period of time, in terms of when we nor-malize, our testing strategies would have to be reviewed and fine-tuned. We haven’t made any major decisions about mass testing.”

Though Singapore’s scaling up testing efforts, its game plan is different from the mass testing adopted by countries like South Korea, where people can request to be tested.

The government is looking at vulnerable groups such as elderly people residing in

nursing homes and the homeless as well as frontline workers caring for infected patients.

“When we talk about mass testing, it’s not everyone raise your hand and apply for a test. It shouldn’t be like that,” National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs a government taskforce tackling the virus, said.

“It has to be directed. Testing will be a national resource, which we will apply in a stra-tegic way to ensure that Sin-gapore is safe from the virus.”

The city-state will progres-sively test all 16,000 seniors staying in nursing homes as well

as 5,000 other residents and staff in welfare, shelter and adult disability homes.

Even as it plans to expand to 40,000 tests a day, supplies have to be allocated to “areas of priority,” Wong said. Aside from vulnerable groups, others include those with respiratory illness, and migrant workers where repeated tests are needed even though they’ve been cleared.

The goal is to ensure that large virus clusters do not form again, Wong said. Test kits will also have to be allocated for workers in essential services such as waste management, logistics and finance.

China frees 5 prominentlabour rights activistsREUTERS — SHENZHEN, CHINA

Five prominent labour activists have returned to their homes more than a year after they were arrested in coordinated raids in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, according to people close to them and a Hong Kong-based rights group.

In a closed-door trial, Zhang Zhiru and Wu Guijun were sen-tenced to three years imprisonment, suspended for four years, while Jian Hui, Song Jiahui and He Yuancheng were sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years, according to the China Labour Bulletin.

While the five were released on April 24, they had to undergo a 14-day quarantine period before finally returning home on Thursday, it said.

Their families and friends only learned of their release and sentencing once they arrived home, two people close to Zhang and Wu said.

The five were originally arrested in January last year and charged with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order,” according to the China Labour Bulletin.

All five had been important advocates for factory workers’ rights during the 2010s, it said, with the state-run Global Times writing a feature praising Zhang’s efforts in the September 2014.

Labour activists in China have long been under pressure from the ruling Communist Party, which is deeply suspicious of social organising that occurs outside of its control.

Authorities have sharply intensified their efforts in recent years.

Despite the release of the five, worker groups and their former staff continue to be monitored closely, according to sources who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

A representative for the Shenzhen courts was unable to provide immediate confirmation or comment over telephone on Saturday.

Zhang’s former wife Xiao Hongxia said he seemed healthy and “in good spirits” when she visited him on Friday.

“I brought his two sons who haven’t seen him for more than a year,” she said. “They were very happy — what son wouldn’t be happy to see their father?”

11SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020 EUROPE

Russia, Belarus mark Victory Day in contrasting eventsAP — MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic.

In neighbouring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thou-sands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months.

Putin yeserday laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier just outside the Kremlin walls and gave a short address honouring the valour and suf-fering of the Soviet army during the war.

Victory Day is Russia’s most important secular holiday and this year’s observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anni-versary, but the Red Square mil-itary parade and a mass pro-cession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus.

The only vestige of the con-ventional show of military might was a flyover of central Moscow by 75 warplanes and helicopters.

The ceremony was the first

public appearance in about a month for Putin, who has worked remotely as the virus took hold.

In his speech, he did not mention the virus— Russia has nearly 200,000 confirmed cases — or how its spread had blocked the observances that were to be a prestige project for him. But he promised that full commemorations would take place.

“We will, as usual, widely and solemnly mark the anni-versary date, do it with dignity, as our duty to those who have suffered, achieved and accom-plished the victory tells us,” he said.

“There will be our main parade on Red Square, and the national march of the Immortal Regiment — the march of our grateful memory and inextri-cable, vital, living communi-cation between generations.”

The sharply reduced

observances this year left a hole in Russia’s civic and emotional calendar. The war, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 26 million people including 8.5 million soldiers, has become a fundamental piece of Russian national identity.

Beyond the stern formalities of the Red Square military parade and smaller parades in other cities, Russians in recent years have turned out in huge numbers for the Immortal Reg-iment processions, when civilians crowd the streets dis-playing photographs of relatives who died in the war or endured it. Russian officials routinely bristle at criticism of the Red Army’s actions in the war, denouncing the comments as attempts to “rewrite history.”

An online substitute for the processions was taking place yesterday and many people are expected to display relatives’ photos from their balconies and

windows in the evening.A full military parade of

some 3,000 soldiers was held yesterday in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has not imposed restrictions to block the virus’ spread despite sharply rising infection figures. Tens of thousands of spectators, few of them wearing masks, watched the event. President Alexander

Lukashenko, who has dismissed concerns about the virus as a “psychosis,” said at the parade that Belarus’ ordeal in the war “is incomparable with any dif-ficulties of the present day.”

In one of the final events of the VE Day commemoration in Western Europe, which took place a day earlier, Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate

was illuminated late Friday.The words “Thank You”

against a blue backdrop were projected onto the monument in Russian, English, French and German. Earlier in the day German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described May 8 as the day Germany, too, was “liberated” from Nazi dictatorship.

Belarus’ servicemen wearing historical uniforms take part in a military parade in Minsk yesterday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Over 103,000 recover from virus in Italy; infections fallANATOLIA — ROME

Italy yesterday reported 194 new fatalities from the corona-virus, bringing the total to 30,395, as the number of active infections continued to fall and recovered people surpassed the 100,000 mark.

Data released by Italy’s Civil Protection Department confirmed the peak of the

outbreak passed, but experts keep warning that a relaxation in the lockdown could spark a rebound in the virus contagion curve. The tally of new active infections yesterday fell by a record 3,119, putting the total at 84,842.

Meanwhile, recoveries con-tinued to climb, jumping to 103,031 as more patients left intensive care, easing pressure

on Italy’s overwhelmed healthcare system.

The epicenter of the Italian outbreak remains the northern Lombardy region, where fatal-ities has kept rising, reaching 14,924, almost half of the coun-try’s total deaths.

The government insists that phase 2 — which started on May 4 — consists of “living with the virus” and that restrictions need

to be lifted gradually. This means the announced steps could be pushed back or even canceled if scientific evidence shows the spread of the virus starts picking up again.

The lockdown measures are scheduled to be further eased in gradual steps: first on May 18 for retailers, and on June 1 for restaurants. Schools will stay closed until September, while

travel between regions — except for justified reasons — is still banned.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is under increasing pressure for finalising a new package of economic measures aimed at supporting citizens and firms hit hard by the emergency, as the already fragile Italian economy is seen shrinking by up to 10 percent this year.

Russia reports

over 10,000

cases per day

this week

ANATOLIA — MOSCOW

Russia completed a week of more than 10,000 new coro-navirus cases per day yesterday but also reported its highest single-day tally of recoveries so far.

A total of 10,817 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, while 5,308 patients were discharged from hospitals over the same period, the emergency task force said in its daily report.

The death toll rose to 1,827 as 104 more fatalities were recorded since yesterday, it added.

The overall number of infections reached 198,676, while 242,000 suspected coro-navirus patients remain under medical surveillance.

The total number of recov-eries in the country is now 31,916, the team said.

To date, 5.2 million tests have been carried out in Russia.

Four top officials, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, have been hospi-talized with COVID-19 in two weeks. Despite rather tough measures, which include a lockdown in the capital Moscow, ban on entry of for-eigners, and suspension of international air and railway traffic, Russia is now the fifth worst-hit country in the coro-navirus pandemic.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 187 countries and regions. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions. The pandemic has killed more than 275,000 worldwide, with total infec-tions over 3.95 million, and recoveries surpassing 1.33 million, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Many Spaniards seelockdown easing asdeaths from virus dropREUTERS — MADRID

Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to its second lowest since mid-March yesterday, as half the country prepared to move to the next phase of an exit from one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

Spain began to loosen its lockdown this week, but Phase 1 will include a considerable easing of measures that will allow people to move around their province as well as attend concerts and go to the theatre. Gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed.

The country’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell to 179 yesterday, down from 229 the previous day and a fraction of highs above 900 seen in early April.

The cumulative death total rose to 26,478 while the number of diagnosed cases rose to 223,578 from 222,857 the day before, the health min-istry said.

“We’ve managed to retake 99 percent of the ground lost to the virus,” said Prime Min-ister Pedro Sanchez in a tele-vised address yesterday. But he warned people moving to Phase 1 to be “prudent” and “cautious”.

He said a national period of mourning would be called once the whole country had passed to Phase 1.

Some 51 percent of the pop-ulation will progress to Phase 1 of a four-step easing plan tomorrow after the gov-ernment decided the regions in which they lived met the necessary criteria.

In regions that made the cut, such as the Canary and Balearic Islands, restaurants and shops will open at reduced capacity, and museums, gyms and hotels will open their doors for the first time in nearly two months.

The country’s two biggest cities — Madrid and Barcelona — do not currently meet the criteria for easing and will remain on Phase 0.

Emergency Health Chief Fernando Simon yesterday urged Spaniards not to think of it “as a race” and said it was possible Madrid would be ready to move onto the next stage within a week.

Still, some regional govern-ments were unhappy about being held back on Phase 0.

Andalusian leader Juanma Moreno, a member of the opposition People’s Party, complained he had not been

able to submit an easing pro-posal based on administrative health districts rather than provinces, as other regions such as Catalonia had done.

“I will ask that this decision be reviewed and the same cri-teria be applied to us as to the others,” he said.

The Madrid region’s deputy president Ignacio Aguado on Friday said he “regretted” the government had not allowed Madrid to move forward and said it would apply to move to Phase 1 on May 18.

The government will still encourage homeworking where possible and companies

— will have to implement stag-gered start and finish times to ensure distancing measures.

In a positive step for Spain’s tourism industry, which con-tributes around 12 percent of economic output, hotels will be allowed to open all rooms and nature tourism will be allowed for groups of up to 10.

Scores of joggers and cyclists poured down Madrid’s six-lane Castellana Avenue yesterday morning, one of several major transport arteries closed off to vehicles for the weekend.

“I think it’s really good, what they’ve done with the

Castellana is fantastic,” said Madrid resident Carlos de la Torre, out for a morning jog.

Madrid’s city hall pedestri-anised 29 roads over the weekend to prevent crowds from building up where runners and walkers are forced to share pavements and walkways.

Cyclist Maria Galeote wel-comed the move.

“There’s so much space between people, I think it’s great,” she said.

“The bike lanes are packed with runners, walkers, as well all the cyclists. This gives us some room to breathe.”

People exercise wearing face masks amid the nationwide lockdown, in Madrid yesterday.

Greece remembers anti-austerity riot victimsAFP — ATHENS

Greece yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of a deadly firebomb attack on a bank during anti-austerity riots, as a coronavirus lockdown raised fears of another recession.

On May 5, 2010 a protest against debt-laden Greece’s first loan agreement with interna-tional creditors saw a firebomb lobbed at the Marfin bank in central Athens, leading to the death of three bank workers, including a pregnant woman.

Three bank officials received manslaughter sen-tences but the culprits were never caught.

The attack came just three days after the socialist gov-ernment of George Papandreou signed the first of three eventual bailouts with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF that would total 350bn euros.

In the years that followed, a quarter of Greek national output would be wiped out in wage and pension cuts and tax hikes demanded by the creditors.

“Tragic incidents like that are not compatible with our democratic tradition nor with the society we are dreaming of,” President Katerina Sakellaro-poulou said during a ceremony

outside the building that housed the bank.

“I hope we won’t experience such manifestations of violence in our country ever again,” she said.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mit-sotakis laid a wreath outside the former Marfin bank building. Earlier this week he had urged the leaders of all parliamentary parties to be present in order to “leave behind the era of division and violence”.

The austerity policies were widely associated with the now ruling New Democracy party but also with the socialist party that was then in government.

The main opposition leftist

Syriza party, which had been accused of fuelling the violent 2010 riots, yesterday called for the perpetrators to be identified and punished.

Ten years on, Greece is facing recession once again because of the global coronavirus crisis. A lockdown was imposed on March 23 and is gradually being eased from the start of this week.

Though the death toll is low at 150, the prime minister has warned of a downturn.

With tourism being one of Greece’s most important sources of revenue, along with shipping, the Greek government estimates it could lose 8bn to 10bn euros

Air France to check passengers’ temperatures, require masksAFP — PARIS

Air France will check passengers’ temperatures and could bar anyone from boarding its flights if it is deemed too high when France’s lockdown measures are eased tomorrow.

Passengers, crew and staff dealing with customers must also wear masks from tomrrow, in line with requirements for all public transport, the airline said in statement yesterday.

“Air France will progressively implement temperature checks on departure from all its flights,” starting May 11, the company said.

“These systematic checks will be carried out with contactless infrared thermometers.” Customers with temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius “may be denied boarding and their reservation will be changed at no extra charge on a flight at a later date.” Masks will be required of all passengers, all crew and agents who deal with customers. The company said it will also try to space passengers as far apart as possible, which is easier given the drop in demand for air travel. It will also thoroughly disinfect planes, including using a product deemed to be effective against viruses for ten days.

Victory Day is Russia’s most important secular holiday and this year’s observance had been expected to be especially large because it is the 75th anniversary, but the Red Square military parade and a mass procession called The Immortal Regiment were postponed as part of measures to stifle the spread of the virus.

12 SUNDAY 10 MAY 2020AMERICAS

US approves

new virus

antigen test with

fast results

AP — WASHINGTON

US regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country.

The Food and Drug Admin-istration yesterday announced emergency authorisation for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect frag-ments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement.

The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA.

Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patient’s nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialised equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hos-pitals or universities.

A second type looks in the blood for antibodies, the pro-teins produced by the body days or weeks after fighting an infection. Such tests are helpful for researchers to understand how far a disease has spread within a community, but they aren’t useful for diagnosing active infections.

Antigen tests can diagnose active infections by detecting the earliest toxic traces of the virus rather than genetic code of the virus itself.

The FDA said that it expects to authorize more antigen tests in the future.

Quidel said yesterday that the test can provide an accurate, automated result in 15 minutes. The FDA’s emer-gency authorisation “allows us to arm our health care workers and first responders with a frontline solution for COVID-19 diagnosis, acceler-ating the time to diagnosis and potential treatment,” Douglas Bryant, CEO of Quidel, said in a statement. A genetic material test by Abbott Laboratories used at the White House also takes about 15 minutes.

Obama describes Trump's handling of virus as chaoticREUTERS — WASHINGTON

Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump’s handling of the coro-navirus pandemic as “chaotic” in a conference call with former members of his administration, a source said yesterday.

Obama has largely kept out of the fray even as Trump has blamed him and his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to having suf-ficient supplies to battle the pan-demic that has killed more than 75,000 Americans.

But in his call on Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration, Obama urged his supporters to get behind Democratic presi-dential candidate Joe Biden, who

is trying to unseat Trump in the November 3 election.

The contents of the call were first reported by Yahoo News.

Obama said the election “is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a

political party.” “What we’re fighting against

is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life,” he said.

He said this is one reason why “the response to this global crisis has been so anaemic and spotty.”

“It would have been bad even with the best of govern-ments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalised in our gov-ernment,” Obama said.

“That’s why, I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden,” he said.

Obama’s office declined to comment.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump’s response to the coronavirus “has been unprecedented” and

has saved American lives.She harked back to the

Ukraine inquiry launched by Democrats in the US House of Representatives last year that led to House passage of articles of impeachment against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump early this year.

“While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President Trump, Pres-ident Trump was shutting down travel from China. While Dem-ocrats encouraged mass gath-erings, President Trump was deploying PPE, ventilators, and testing across the country,” she said.

National polls show a tight race between Trump and Biden with six months to go until the election. Biden leads in several battleground states.

A file photo of former US President Barack Obama.

Two children and a teendie from syndrome‘linked’ to COVID-19AP — ALBANY, NEW YORK

Two young children and a teenager have now died in New York state from a possible complication from the corona-virus involving swollen blood vessels and heart problems, Governor Andrew Cuomo said yesterday.

At least 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease — a rare inflammatory con-dition in children — and toxic shock syndrome. Most of them are tod-dlers and elementary-age children.

Cuomo announced two more deaths a day after dis-cussing the death of a five-year-old boy on Thursday at a New York City hospital. A seven-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County also died. There is no proof that the virus causes the mysterious syndrome.

Cuomo said the children had tested positive for COVID-19 or the antibodies but did not show the common symptoms of the virus when they were hospitalised.

“This is the last thing that we need at this time, with all that is going on, with all the anxiety we have, now for parents to have to worry about whether or not their youngster was infected,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing.

New York is helping develop national criteria for identifying and responding to the syn-drome at the request of the Centers for Disease Control, Cuomo said.

Children elsewhere in the US have also been hospitalised with the condition, which was also seen in Europe.

Doctors still believe that most children with COVID-19 develop only mild illness.

At least 3,000 US children are diagnosed with Kawasaki disease each year. It is most common in children younger than 6 and in boys. Symptoms include prolonged fever, severe abdominal pain and trouble breathing.

Other coronavirus develop-ments in New York. Cuomo extended New York’s stay-at-home restrictions to June 7,

though regions of the state will be able to phase in reopenings sooner if they meet a series of benchmarks.

The lockdown enacted in March had already been extended through May 15. A further extension was expected given the New York City region’s status as a pandemic hot spot.

Cuomo’s new executive order codifies his previously announced plan to allow regions of the state to begin restarting economic activity after May 15

if they demonstrate progress in taming and tracking the virus, according to administration offi-cials. Some upstate areas hope to begin reopening later this month.

Regions wishing to phase in economic activity must show that COVID-19-related deaths and hospitalisations are trending down and that there are enough hospital beds to meet a surge. Counties will have to increase testing and tracing and busi-nesses will need to adapt to protect workers.

Businesses will reopen in four phases, starting with con-struction, manufacturing and retail with curb-side pickup.

New York reported 226 new deaths, up by 20 from the pre-vious day but in line with daily tolls from the rest of the week.

More than 21,200 people in the state have died from coro-navirus, though the total doesn’t include more than 5,300 deaths in New York City that were attributed to the virus on death certificates but weren’t con-firmed by a lab test.

Clients of the nonprofit organisation, The River Fund, wait in line to receive free groceries in the Queens borough of New York City, yesterday.

Investigators recommend US whistle-blower be reinstatedAP — WASHINGTON

Federal investigators have found “reasonable grounds” that a government whistleblower was punished for speaking out against widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for COVID-19, his lawyers said.

Dr Rick Bright headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a unit of Department of Health and Human Services that focuses on countermeasures to infectious diseases and bioterrorism. He had received a job performance review of outstanding before he was summarily transferred last month, with his agency email cut off without warning.

Investigators with the Office of Special Counsel “made a threshold determination that

HHS violated the Whistle-blower Protection Act by removing Dr Bright from his position because he made protected disclosures in the best interest of the American public,” his lawyers Debra Katz and Lisa Banks said in a statement on Friday.

The OSC is an agency that investigates allegations of egre-gious personnel practices in government.

The lawyers said investi-gators are requesting that Bright be temporarily reinstated for 45 days until they can complete their probe. OSC spokesman Zachary Kurz said his agency “cannot comment on or confirm the status of open investigations.”

HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in a statement that the department “strongly disa-grees with the allegations and characterizations in the

complaint” and that the whole issue is a “personnel matter that is currently under review.” Trump shrugged off the prelim-inary ruling about Bright’s complaint.

“I don’t know who he is, but to me, he’s a disgruntled employee,” Trump told reporters.

“If people are that unhappy, they shouldn’t work. If you’re unhappy with a company, you shouldn’t work there. Go out and get something else. But to me, he’s a disgruntled guy. And I hadn’t heard great things about him either.”

The public will soon get a chance to size up Bright. He’s been invited to testify before a House committee next week.

Bright is a flu and infectious-disease expert with 10 years at the agency, which is known as BARDA. His particular focus was

on vaccine development. He was reassigned to the National Insti-tutes of Health to work on devel-oping coronavirus testing.

In a formal complaint that his lawyers released this week, Bright described how tension built up within HHS as the coro-navirus arrived in the US and quickly defied Trump’s assur-ances that it would be contained.

Bright said his efforts to escalate preparedness “encoun-tered resistance from HHS lead-ership, including Secretary (Alex) Azar, who appeared intent on downplaying this catastrophic event.” Bright described a situ-ation in which the Trump admin-istration failed to prepare for the pandemic, then sought a quick fix by trying to rush a malaria drug to patients, though its effec-tiveness for COVID-19 was

unproved. His complaint detailed a frustrating attempt to jump-start US production of masks and a successful effort to secure importation of testing swabs from Italy.

But his most high-profile allegations involved hydroxy-chloroquine, the malaria drug Trump had promoted as a “game changer” with little evidence.

He said the Trump adminis-tration wanted to “flood” hot spots in New York and New Jersey with the drug.

“I witnessed government leadership rushing blindly into a potentially dangerous situation by bringing in a non-FDA approved chloroquine from Pakistan and India, from facil-ities that had never been approved by the FDA,” Bright said on a call with reporters earlier this week.

Infections rise in remote Canadian villageREUTERS — WINNIPEG

Coronavirus infections are multiplying through a remote indigenous Saskatchewan village even as the rest of the western Canadian province sees few cases and starts to reopen its economy.

Saskatchewan, nearly the size of Texas, had only 17 active cases in its most populated southern areas, but 148 active cases in its far north as of Friday.

La Loche, population 2,400, along with neighboring Clear-water River Dene Nation, is home to 125 of those, according to its Emergency Operations Center. Two residents have died of COVID-19, the respiratory d i s e a s e c a u s e d b y coronavirus.

Larger Canadian outbreaks have hit Alberta meat plants and Quebec nursing homes, but

the pandemic brings unique challenges to La Loche, an impoverished community.

Outbreaks among indig-enous communities are espe-cially concerning to Canadian health officials, given problems often already present, such as

overcrowded housing.The virus has spread in La

Loche mostly by young people ignoring social distancing requirements, northern medical health officer Dr Rim Zayed said on Thursday, on a website con-taining updates for the area.

“Young people think they’re invincible because they are not in too much danger, but the elderly and vulnerable are,” Mayor Robert St. Pierre said in a post, urging people to stay at home.

“We are very concerned about them getting sick.” La Loche’s cases are mostly young people, and there are no hos-pitalisations so far. Health authorities have linked the out-break to infections at an Alberta oil sands site that has spread across several provinces.

La Loche, 600km north of Saskatchewan’s biggest city, Saskatoon, is all too familiar with tragedy. A shooting spree by a teenager in 2016 killed four people and injured seven others.

Health officials are now going door to door in the village, checking for symptoms and conducting tests.

Lockdown in BuenosAires extendedREUTERS — BUENOS AIRES

Argentina extended until May 24 a quarantine for its capital Buenos Aires but relaxed the restriction aimed at slowing the spread of the new coro-navirus elsewhere in the country, President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday.

The lockdown, which was due to expire today, will remain in place in the capital and its outskirts, Fernandez said in a televised address.

Fernandez said he was “extremely proud” of Argen-tines for observing the strict social isolation measures, which he said had helped the government achieve its aim of flattening the curve of cases and deaths.

Argentines have been

sealed in their homes since the quarantine was first announced on March 20 but since last month have been allowed to take short walks outside their homes during the day.

Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta told the same news con-ference that children would now be allowed to go out for exercise accompanied by their parents at weekends.

Argentina has been under national quarantine for seven weeks and the government has extended it three times previously.

As of Friday, the country had registered 5,611 con-firmed cases of the virus and 293 deaths.

Canadian Armed Forces medical personnel arrive at Villa Val des Arbres, a seniors’ long-term care centre, to help amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

'What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life,' Obama said.