Robots are expected to demonstrate their value for "dirty and dangerous" medical tasks in the fight to quell the coronavirus pandemic, researchers said Wednesday.
An editorial in Science Robotics noted that robots can help with telemedicine, decontamination, handling of hazardous waste and monitoring compliance with voluntary quarantines.
"Historically, robots have been developed to take on dull, dirty and dangerous jobs," the researchers wrote.
"As epidemics escalate, the potential roles of robotics are becoming increasingly clear."
Some robots are already in use during the pandemic. Thai hospitals have deployed "ninja robots" to measure fevers and protect the health of overburdened medical workers, and robots in Denmark are using ultraviolet light to disinfect frequently touched surfaces.
While robots have been used for years in disaster situations and some medical applications, the pandemic has highlighted the need to expand their role, according to the scientists.
"Why are we are .

Crisis brings robots to medical frontline: researchers

PTI Automatic

Nigeria on Wednesday received test kits and protective gear from China's richest man, Jack Ma, to help fight novel coronavirus, which has so far claimed one life and infected 45 others in Africa's most populous nation.
Nigeria's top health official, Abdulaziz Abdullahi, told AFP that the country had received 100,000 face masks, 1,000 protective gowns and 20,000 test kits.
The equipment will be distributed to frontline health workers and hospital laboratories, he said.
Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has vowed to donate equal amounts of gear to all 54 countries in Africa.
He has also offered the United States half a million test kits and a million masks.
Also on Wednesday, Nigeria's army chief Lieutenant General Tukur Brutai opened a new specialist hospital in Abuja.
He said military medical personnel and equipment would be deployed to fight the disease.
"It is not a coincidence that this facility is coming on stream at this time when coronavirus disease is ...

Nigeria receives COVID-19 test kits from Chinese billionaire Ma

A handful of stone-throwing youngsters tried to prevent ambulances from transferring 28 elderly coronavirus patients to a residence in their town in southern Spain, police said Wednesday.
The incident occurred as the virus death toll soared to 3,434 in Spain, overtaking China, with elderly people bearing the brunt of the outbreak.
Police said the protest occurred on Tuesday afternoon when a convoy of ambulances tried to enter La Linea de Concepcion, an impoverished city in Andalusia which flanks Gibraltar.
The protesters hurled stones and shouted insults at the ambulances and even tried to block their path by parking a car in the middle of the road, police said, indicating two men aged 32 and 25 were arrested.
The pensioners were being transferred to alternative accommodation in La Linea where they could receive medical treatment because their care home in Alcala del Valle near Malaga "was being disinfected", a police source said.
At the residence, around 50 people, "mostly ...

Ambulances carrying sick pensioners stoned in Spain

Italy's coronavirus infections rate slowed for a fourth successive day Wednesday as further evidence emerged that a painful long lockdown against the pandemic was finally working.
But Thursday's data also showed a sudden jump in deaths in regions with big cities such as Naples in the south and the capital Rome in the centre of the country.
Health officials reported 683 fatalities across the nation of 60 million -- largely in line with the numbers over the past four days.
Italy has now officially recorded a world-leading 7,503 deaths alongside 74,386 COVID-19 infections.
The overall rise in daily deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases slowed to 10 percent.
The figure was the smallest since February 27.
The daily infection rate fell to a record low of 7.5 percent.
The World Health Organization's deputy director Ranieri Guerra appeared encouraged.
"The slowdown in the (infections) growth rate is extremely positive," he told Italy's Capitale radio.
The government-run National Research ...

Italy's infections slow; deaths around big cities jump

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 20,000 people worldwide, most of them in Europe, according to an AFP tally at 1700 GMT (2230 IST) Wednesday using official figures.
A total of 20,334 deaths were reported, of which 13,581 were in Europe.
With 7,503 deaths, Italy is the most affected country ahead of Spain with 3,434 and China with 3,281, the country where the initial outbreak occurred.

Coronavirus deaths top 20,000 worldwide, mostly in Europe: AFP tally

The world's 20 most industrialised countries will likely suffer a recession this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial ratings agency Moody's forecast Wednesday.
It estimated that the G20's overall gross domestic product would contract by 0.5 percent, with the US economy shrinking by 2 percent and the eurozone by 2.2 percent.
China however, despite suffering an outbreak of the novel coronavirus before everyone else, could see economic activity expand by 3.3 percent, a level that is nonetheless well below average for the world's second biggest economy.

Moody's forecasts recession for G20 countries in 2020

Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales on Wednesday announced lines of credit for lower-level clubs in difficulty because of the coronavirus pandemic and repeated that he hoped the season could be completed.
He also told an online press conference he was willing to talk to La Liga, which runs the top two divisions, about helping its clubs.
Rubiales said that semi-professional and non-professional clubs in men's and women's outdoor and indoor football "will have a line of credit that will reach up to four million euros (USD 4.3 million) depending on their wage bills".
He said the loans would be interest free and could be repaid over two years.  Some clubs are considering introducing part-time working to compensate for lack of income.
Rubiales said he hoped that this aid would help prevent such drastic action.
"We're talking about four million for modest levels of football, but there's also professional football and we want to reach out to it," said Rubiales.
"If La .

Spanish football federation offers clubs loans to pay bills

Europe may be the financial powerhouse of global football, but the economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic is already beginning to hit and the consequences could be disastrous for clubs across the continent.
When players at Bayern Munich, one of the world's richest clubs, have reportedly agreed to take pay cuts, it is not difficult to imagine the troubles in store for the sport as a whole.
Many clubs lack sufficient cash reserves to get them through a sustained period without revenue coming in. For example in Scotland, where clubs rely heavily on gate receipts, the situation is "clearly unsustainable".
That is the view of Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, who forecasts facing five million pounds (USD 5.9m) of costs without any money coming in over the next few months.
"No club, whatever their size, scale or level of investment, can withstand a total lack of income over a period of anything between three to six months," Cormack said.
Even the German league (DFL) -- which runs the ..

Economic crisis from virus pandemic begins to bite in European football

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Japan's decision to delay the Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus pandemic and indicated he will attend the rescheduled games next year.
"Congratulations to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, and the IOC, on their very wise decision to present the Olympics in 2021," Trump tweeted.
"It will be a great success, and I look forward to being there!"
Trump faces a reelection battle this year and his campaign has likewise been upended by the global pandemic, which has prompted governments to order mass shutdowns of movement and economic activity.
So far the International Olympic Committee and Japan have not set a date for the rescheduled Games next year. If Trump does not secure a second term in November's vote, he will leave office in January 2021.

Trump praises Olympics delay, says will attend in 2021

More than three billion people have been asked to stay home in almost 70 countries and territories as governments battle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, according to an AFP tally on Wednesday.
Most of the countries concerned, including Argentina, Britain, France, India and Italy as well as many US states, have imposed mandatory lockdown measures. Others have introduced curfews, quarantines and other social distancing recommendations.

More than 3 billion told to stay home worldwide over virus: AFP

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrial powers agreed in talks Wednesday that China is waging a "disinformation" campaign about the coronavirus pandemic, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
"Every one of the nations that were at that meeting this morning was deeply aware of the disinformation campaign that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in to try and deflect from what has really taken place," Pompeo told reporters after the talks, held by videoconference due to health precautions.

G7 powers agree China spreading 'disinformation': Pompeo

Tokyo's governor urged residents to stay home this weekend, warning of a possible "explosion" of the coronavirus with a record 41 new cases discovered on Wednesday.
Yuriko Koike said the Japanese capital, so far spared the draconian measures seen in other major global cities, was at a "critical stage" in containing the virus that has confined one third of the planet to their homes.
"We urge people at all costs to refrain from going out this weekend if it's not urgent," Koike said at an emergency news conference.  She also encouraged Tokyo residents to work at home during weekdays and refrain from going out at night.
"Starting this week, there are increasing concerns that we could see an explosion of infections," Koike warned.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said 41 people were confirmed infected with the new coronavirus on Wednesday -- the largest daily figure so far reported in the capital.  Nationwide, nearly 1,200 people, including some 200 people in Tokyo, have been infected, ...

Tokyo urged to stay home at weekend as virus cases climb

As if presiding over the threatened destruction of the US economy by the coronavirus pandemic is not enough, President Donald Trump is watching another more personal business meltdown: the Trump Organization hotel, golf course and real estate business that made him a billionaire.
His five-star US and Canadian hotels with more than 2,200 rooms are mostly empty, his golf courses in the United States, Scotland and Ireland are under pressure to close, and his cherished "Southern White House" -- the beach-front Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida is shuttered.
Like other hotels around the world, Trump's have been forced to lay off most workers -- and face the fact that the $435 million in revenues that the Trump Organization reported in 2018 is likely to plummet this year.
How severe that would be to a family-controlled business notoriously untransparent about its finances is unknown.
And it has raised questions over whether Trump's concerns about his own company are shaping his ...

With economy sinking, Trump's own business is in peril

Thailand barred entry into the kingdom late on Wednesday, enacting sweeping emergency powers in a bid to stem the local spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
The measures, which stopped short of a full lockdown after days of vacillation by the government, are a hammer blow to the country's vital tourism sector.
Tens of thousands of travellers remain in the kingdom, facing uncertainty with airlines in chaos and restrictions on return to their countries.
Bangkok, a city of 10 million, was hushed Wednesday as shops and restaurants shuttered, and Buddhist monks seated a metre apart led an anti-virus prayer session televised nationwide.
But social media showed thousands of foreigners jammed in chaotic lines at the capital's immigration office to file for visa extensions.
The Royal Gazette announced Wednesday night that authorities would "close all checkpoints and gates" for its land borders, while entry by air and ship will also be halted.
Diplomats and returning Thais who have health ...

Thailand bars entry as state of emergency bites

Germany's parliament voted through Wednesday a package of measures worth almost 1.1 trillion euros (USD 1.2 trillion) to shield Europe's largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scattered sparsely throughout the chamber to limit the possibility of infection, MPs agreed 156 billion euros of new borrowing, backing up a broadside of support to business and the health system as well as hundreds of billions in guarantees for bank loans to firms.
Germany's unprecedented support package began racing through the legislative process the same day Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Senate announced a deal on a never-before-seen USD 2 trillion relief programme for the world's top economy.
The package will now go to Germany's second house representing the federal states, with passage almost certain as state leaders have unanimously voiced their support.
"Please keep in mind the rules on keeping your distance!" parliament president Wolfgang Schaeuble urged ...

German parliament passes 1.1 trn euro virus rescue package

A French medical body urged pet owners on Wednesday to take precautions like washing hands after stroking dogs or cats, saying the risk of catching COVID-19 from animals "cannot be ruled out".
Even though there is no evidence yet that domestic animals can transmit the virus to humans or get sick from it, there could be a potential risk, said the French Academy of Medicine, which advises the government on epidemics and has set up a dedicated COVID-19 monitoring group.
The SARS outbreak of 2002-2003, caused by a coronavirus genetically close to COVID-19, was able to infect several animal species including racoons, cats and hamsters, the academy said.
And two dogs whose Hong Kong owner was infected with COVID-19 have also tested positive, it said.
One of the dogs had a very low virus count, the academy said, and later tested negative, while the second is still being monitored.
Neither have displayed any signs of illness, but "these scientific observations suggest that COVID-19 can be ...

Wash your hands after stroking your pet, say French experts

At least four people were killed and seven others wounded on Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a tea shop near a security checkpoint in Somalia's capital, police said.
The bomber, believed to be from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab Islamist group, walked into the cafe popular with security forces and civilians, and triggered an explosives vest.
"There are investigations going on but we believe the blast was carried by a Shabaab suicide bomber who detonated himself at a crowded tea-shop close to Sayidka intersection. Four civilians including the owner of the business died in the blast and seven others are wounded," said Ibrahim Mohamed, a senior police commander.
Witnesses described chaos after the blast.
"The security forces sealed off the area, but I saw ambulances carried several dead bodies and wounded people as well, people were panicking and the whole area was in chaos," said Sayid Ali who was in the area at the time of the attack.
No group claimed responsibility .

Four killed in Mogadishu suicide bombing: police

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday the public vote on his constitutional reforms must be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and declared next week a public holiday.
"I believe the voting must be postponed to a later date," Putin said of the April 22 plebiscite in a rare televised address in which he called on Russians to show solidarity.
The reforms, proposed by the president and approved by lawmakers over the last few months, would reset presidential term limits and potentially allow Putin, in power for 20 years, to stay in office until 2036.
Putin also took the unusual step of declaring next week a non-working week.
"The long holidays are provided to slow the speed of expansion of the disease," he said.  Unlike other countries, Russia has not yet introduced mandatory at home sheltering.
Putin urged Russians to help each other and follow instructions given by medics and the authorities.
"All measures that are being taken and will be taken will work, will have ...

Putin postpones public vote on reforms over virus

Metro and rail services in Paris and its suburbs will be cut to a minimum as part of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, officials said Wednesday.
Both Paris transport operator RATP and national rail group SNCF have already sharply reduced services since the self-confinement orders came into effect on March 17. They apply to all but essential employees and those who cannot work from home.
Starting Thursday, about 50 of the roughly 300 Paris metro stations will be closed, and service across the network, as well as on RER commuter lines serving the suburbs, will run only from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm (0500 to 2100 GMT).
The operators said the goal was to keep just enough trains running for health workers and others who need to get to work during the coronavirus crisis.
Bus and tramway services have already been scaled back, with overall traffic on the Paris public transport system just 30 percent of normal -- although dedicated shuttles have been put in place for major hospitals in the ...

Paris region cuts public transport further in virus fight

Italy's air quality has improved since the country went into coronavirus lockdown, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Wednesday, a trend seen elsewhere in Europe as well.
In Milan, Italy's economic capital, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a gas emitted mainly from vehicles and power stations and which can cause inflammation of the respiratory system, has fallen by 24 percent in the last four weeks, compared with the preceeding four weeks, the EEA said.
The week starting on March 16 alone saw a 21 percent reduction compared with the same week one year earlier.
In Rome, NO2 levels have fallen between 26 and 35 percent for the same four weeks, and in Bergamo, Italy's hardest hit city, the reduction was 47 percent.
The lockdown in Italy began in certain northern areas on February 23 before it was extended nationwide on March 9. As of 1100 GMT Wednesday, Italy had recorded more 69,000 cases with 6,820 deaths.
EEA said its "data confirm large decreases in air pollutant .

Air pollution in Italy falls since start of lockdown

Countries must protect people in detention from the COVID-19 pandemic by releasing vulnerable prisoners, the UN's rights chief said on Wednesday.
"Covid-19 has begun to strike prisons, jails and immigration detention centres, as well as residential care homes and psychiatric hospitals, and risks rampaging through such institutions' extremely vulnerable populations," Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.
"Authorities should examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, among them older detainees and those who are sick, as well as low-risk offenders.

AFP

AFP

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