The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ABUJA — Mallam Abba Kyari, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, has died while receiving treatment for COVID-19, a presidential statement confirmed early Saturday.
Kyari, who was in his 70s and had underlying health conditions, died on Friday. He was notably one of the closest allies of Buhari.
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WELLINGTON — New Zealand reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday as the government is stepping up its support for health services.
According to a statement released Saturday afternoon by New Zealand Ministry of Health, the country recorded eight new confirmed and five new probable cases of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,422. Twenty people are currently being treated in hospital, including three people in ICU.
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JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night said alcohol sale ban will remain in place during the COVID-19 lockdown, since liquor is “in fact considered a hindrance to the fight against the coronavirus.”
Ramaphosa was responding to the Gauteng Liquor Forum, which threatened to take his government to the Constitutional Court if the ban on alcohol sale is not reversed.
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YANGON — Myanmar’s Health and Sports Ministry announced confirmation of one more death from COVID-19 in early hours of Saturday, with 94 cases in total across the country so far.
An elderly aged 78 with underlying hypertension and diabetes tested positive on Friday and passed away early Saturday after being treated at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Waibargi Hospital, Yangon.
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BEIJING — The Chinese government has decided to send a team of medical experts to Malaysia to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced Saturday.
The team, organized by the National Health Commission and selected by the health commission of Guangdong Province, left for Malaysia Saturday morning, according to the spokesperson.
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NEW YORK — The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 700,282 as of 9:10 p.m. local time on Friday (0110 GMT on Saturday), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
A total of 36,822 people have died of the disease in the country, according to the CSSE. Enditem
