Weekend Edition Newspaper BW

TRUMP 'NOT HAPPY WITH CHINA' AS US CORONA VIRUS DEATH TOLL SURGES

US president says Beijing could have stopped the virus from becoming a pandemic and says will conduct an investigation.

US President Donald Trump has renewed his attack on China over the spread of the coronavirus, saying Beijing could have stopped the disease before it swept the globe. He promised to conduct "serious investigations" into China's handling of the pandemic.

Trump lashed out at China as he projected that the death toll in the US from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could reach 70,000. "We're doing very serious investigations ... We are not happy with China," Trump said during a White House news conference. "There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable." "We believe it could have been stopped at the source. It could have been stopped quickly, and it wouldn't have spread all over the world." Trump's criticism was the latest from his administration to target how China's managed the coronavirus outbreak, which began late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan and grew into a pandemic. Trump had previously referred to COVID-19 as "Chinese virus", igniting a war of words with Beijing, which accused the US military of bringing the disease to Wuhan.
Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US "strongly believed" Beijing failed to report the outbreak in a timely manner and covered up the danger posed by the respiratory illness. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on social media on Monday that Pompeo should "stop playing the political game. Better save energy on saving lives." The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 211,000 people around the world, including more than 56,000 in the US, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Earlier on Monday, White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro also accused China of sending low-quality and even counterfeit coronavirus antibody testing kits to the US and of "profiteering" from the pandemic. Navarro, an outspoken critic of Beijing whom Trump has appointed to work on supply-line issues relating to the health crisis, said more testing both for the virus and antibodies was vital to getting Americans currently in lockdown back to work. "That's where, perhaps, we can find people who are immune that can be in the workplace in a safer environment. But we can't have China, for example, bringing in those fake tests and counterfeit tests, because that's going to be very disruptive,” "There's a lot of these antibody tests coming in from China now that are low quality, false readings and things like that," he said. The US is heavily reliant on China for basic equipment and drugs.

SOUTH KOREA: MORE RECOVERED CORONA VIRUS PATIENTS TEST POSITIVE

At least 116 people cleared of the virus have tested positive again, raising questions for authorities.

At least 116 people cleared of the corona virus have tested positive again in South Korea, raising questions for health authorities trying to prevent a second wave of infections.
The number of such relapse cases more than doubled from 51 reported last week, even as officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. South Korea reported only 25 new cases of the coronavirus overall on Monday, continuing a weeks-long decline. To date, the country has reported a total of 10,537 cases and 217 deaths. Officials are still investigating the cause of the relapses, but Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said the virus may have been reactivated, rather than the patients being re infected.

The developments were "worrying" for officials worldwide trying to understand the virus. "Does that mean that there had been a problem in testing? Does it mean that there are many more questions about this virus that the experts simply don’t know? Could it be mutating in some form?" said McBride. "So there are questions and of course they're questions that are important not only here in South Korea but with epidemiologists the world over, who are in the thick of it as the pandemic advances," he said.

CORONA VIRUS DEATH TOLL IN FRANCE NEARS 14,400

Number of deaths increase in France but slightly fewer people were admitted into intensive care for fourth day in a row
France has reported a drop in corona virus deaths on the previous 24 hours, with the total toll from the corona virus epidemic in the country now 14,393.

There were 315 deaths in hospital over the last day, compared with 345 the day earlier. Italy's Civil Protection Agency has reported the lowest number of corona virus deaths since March 19, with 431 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, down from 619 the previous day. In Spain, the number of fatalities rose by 619 on Sunday from a nearly three-week low of 510 on Saturday, breaking a three-day streak of daily declines and taking the country's death toll to 16,972.

Globally, more than 109,000 people have died from the new corona virus and confirmed infections topped 1.7 million