A nurse processes a swab at a drive-thru testing site for the new coronavirus and other viruses for employees at UW Medical Center Northwest in Seattle on Monday. | REUTERS Patients with hypertension appear to be at a higher risk of dying from the coronavirus, said a top Chinese intensive care doctor who’s been treating

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman The European Parliament will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to consider calling off this week’s plenary session of the EU assembly due to the coronavirus outbreak, two officials said. The parliament had been due to sit in

Photo: Credit Reuters Saudi Arabia imposed a temporary lockdown on Sunday on the eastern oil-producing province of Qatif, home to all 11 people in the kingdom who have tested positive for the coronavirus, and suspended all schools and universities nationwide. The interior ministry announced the lockdown in Qatif, which has a large Shi’ite Muslim population,

General view of Kaaba at the Grand Mosque which is almost empty of worshippers, after Saudi authority suspended umrah (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) amid the fear of coronavirus outbreak, at Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Ganoo Essa Several Gulf Arab states recorded new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday including

The Rikers Island jail complex stands in New York with the Manhattan skyline in the background. The nation’s jails and prisons are on high alert about the prospect of the new coronavirus spreading through their vast inmate populations. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) The nation’s jails and prisons are on high alert, stepping up inmate screenings,

Crowds wearing protective masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, are seen at the Shinjuku station in Tokyo, Japan, March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday warned of a global shortage and price gouging for protective equipment to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus and asked companies and governments to increase production

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a press conference to brief the media on the government’s coronavirus action plan, at Downing Street in London, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Johnson is announcing plans for combating the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus in UK.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool) Retired doctors could be called back to work, police

Tourists wear protective face masks, following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, as they walk at the Grand Souq in old Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike Major concerts and events in the United Arab Emirates, an air transit center as well as a tourism and business hub, have been canceled or

Upper respiratory tract infections, skin disease and malaria are leading illnesses taking Kenyans to hospital. A report by the government statistics agency also lists diarrhoea, arthritis, fever, urinary tract infection and hypertension as the other ailments that burden majority of Kenyans.The report by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the burden of upper respiratory

UAE Tour cycling race abandoned midway after Italian participants test positive for coronavirus The 2020 UAE Tour cycling race was abandoned midway on Friday after two Italian participants tested positive for the coronavirus. The Abu Dhabi Sports Council issued a statement announcing that the remaining rounds of the race were cancelled. “The decision has been