The number of coronavirus cases in Germany has risen sharply; official data shows infections have reached 129, compared with 66 on Saturday. More than half are in North Rhine-Westphalia. Follow the latest from DW here.
There are now more than 86,000 confirmed cases globally, with over 3,000 deaths
Coronavirus cases in Germany rise to 129
The US confirmed its first coronavirus death, as did Australia and Thailand
Italy pledged €3.6 billion to tackle COVID-19
All updates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT).
22:45 A nursing home near Seattle in the US state of Washington is locked down after a resident and worker were found to have the coronavirus. Two other cases in the area were confirmed on Sunday.
19:10 France’s health authority has reported a rise in coronavirus infections. The head of the public health service, Jerome Salomon, said Sunday that Paris had 130 confirmed cases, raising the count from 100 a day earlier. The country also reported the first infection in its overseas territories, on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
18:35 Britain said it was evacuating some non-essential staff and dependents from the British embassy in Iran’s capital, Tehran, due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
“In the event that the situation deteriorates further, the ability of the British Embassy to provide assistance to British nationals from within Iran may be limited,” the British Foreign Office said on Sunday as part of a travel advisory posted online.
18:20 Residents of Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, clashed with police on Sunday as they tried to stop passengers disembarking from a cruise ship. The cruise liner had been turned away from nearby Madagascar over fears there may be coronavirus cases among those on board.
Police used tear gas on local Reunion Island residents who tried to stop passengers from a cruise ship disembarking.
18:16 Cases of coronavirus jumped in Italy on Sunday to 1,694, the head of the country’s Civil Protection Agency announced. This represented a 50% increase from the day before where the number of infections stood at 1,128. The death toll also rose to 34, up from 29 the previous day. Around 90% of all infections are in the northern regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.
17:38 Germany’s center for disease control and prevention, the Robert Koch Institute, says nine of Germany’s 16 states now have cases of COVID-19, with Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bremen among the cities reporting their first infections. The number of people infected rose to 129 on Sunday, up from 66 on Saturday.
Out of these, a total of 74 cases have been confirmed in North Rhine-Westphalia — Germany’s most populous state — these account for nearly half of all cases in the country. The states with the next-highest number of infections are Bavaria with 23 cases and Baden-Württemberg, which reported a total of 15 confirmed infections.
17:00 Italy has announced an economic stimulus package worth €3.6 billion ($3.5 billion) to help businesses across all sectors cope with the fallout from coronavirus. The measures will be put in place by the end of next week, said Italy’s finance minister Roberto Gualtieri, speaking to newspaper La Repubblica.
16:43 Hungary has barred new asylum seekers from entering its “transit zone” camps over coronavirus fears. “We are suspending indefinitely new admissions of people into the transit zones,” said Gyorgy Bakondi, an adviser to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Entry into the camps will be halted “in the interests of protecting the 321 people waiting for decisions on their asylum applications” said Bakondi.
Hungary has no confirmed cases of the virus.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Does rinsing your nose with saline protect you?
According to the World Health Organization, there is no evidence to support claims that a saline solution will “kill” the virus and protect you.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Will gargling mouthwash prevent an infection?
Certain brands of mouthwash may eliminate particular microbes from your saliva for a few minutes, but, according to the WHO, this does not protect you from the new coronavirus.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Can eating garlic help?
This dubious claim has been spreading like wildfire across social media. Though it is possible that garlic may have some antimicrobial properties, there is no evidence to suggest from the current coronavirus outbreak that eating this bulb will protect people from the virus.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Can pets spread COVID-19?
There is no evidence to suggest pets, such as cats and dogs, can be infected or transmit the coronavirus. Regularly washing your hands with soap and water after touching your beloved moggy or pooch will help stop the spread of bacteria that they commonly carry, such as E. coli and salmonella.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Can the corona virus be transmitted via air mail?
People receiving parcels from China are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus, as the virus does not survive long on objects. Due to the poor survivability of the coronavirus on surfaces, there is a very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Is there a vaccine yet?
The new coronavirus needs its own vaccine. Pneumonia vaccines such as the pneumococcal and the Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine will not protect you against the coronavirus.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Do bleach products protect you?
Bleach/chlorine-based disinfectants, solvents, 75% ethanol, peracetic acid and chloroform can kill the 2019-nCoV on hard surfaces; however, they have little or no impact if you put them on your skin.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Avoid direct contact!
To avoid a coronavirus infection, always cook raw foods thoroughly. It is also advisable to avoid direct contact with people who are sick.
Myths vs. facts: How true is coronavirus information on the web?
Keep your hands clean!
Frequently washing your hands with soap and water can help prevent an infection. You can also use an alcohol-based sanitizing gel instead. If you have to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow. If you have contracted the disease without knowing it, coughing or sneezing in this manner might help to reduce the spread.
Author: Jessie Wingard
15:58 “I estimate that the necessary vaccine will be available by the end of the year,” said Germany’s interior minister Horst Seehofer, speaking to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
“We need to break the chain of infections” added the interior minister.
15:37 In Switzerland, two high school classes have been quarantined after a student tested positive for COVID-19.
15:30 Japan has issued new travel warnings, urging its citizens not to take trips to South Korea’s Daegu and Cheongdo regions, as well as avoiding any non-urgent trips to three areas in northern Italy where the virus has hit.
15:15 Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency show a dramatic decline in pollution levels across China. NASA reported Sunday that the reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels is “at least partly” due to an economic slowdown caused by the virus.
A dramatic decline in pollution levels over China is ‘at least partly’ due to the drop in economic activity caused by coronavirus
15:08 The Czech Republic reports its first three cases of coronavirus. Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech confirmed Sunday that two Czech nationals who had been in Italy, and an American who studied in the Czech Republic, had tested positive for COVID-19.
14:45 US President Donald Trump announced that anyone arriving from designated high-risk countries will be screened both prior to boarding and on arrival. The announcement came shortly after the first death from coronavirus was recorded in the country. Health authorities in the US plan to “radically” expand the number of testing kits for the virus in the coming weeks.
14:33 Saudi Arabia said it had prepared 25 hospitals with a total of 2,200 beds to cope with any cases that might be detected in the country. Authorities said this was a precautionary measure, which also included closing its borders to foreign pilgrims.
14:20 Health officials in the UK confirmed that there had been 12 new positive cases of coronavirus, bringing the country’s overall tall to 35. The country’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said one of new patients “had no relevant travel and it is not yet clear whether [the patient] contracted it directly or indirectly from an individual who had recently returned from abroad.”
14:21 Nigeria reports 100 people may have been exposed to the country’s first case of coronavirus, according to Abuja’s health commissioner.
14:15 Organizers of the Leipzig Book Fair announced Sunday on Twitter that they plan to go ahead with the event on March 12-15. The book show is Germany’s second biggest after the Frankfurt book fair. Over 286,000 visitors attended the fair last year, which took place in over 100 venues throughout the eastern Germany city.
14:05 In Bavaria, Germany, a total of four new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, including an employee at machine tool manufacturer DMG Mori. The company will remain shut on Monday and Tuesday, affecting a total of 1,600 staff at the Ostallgäu plant.
14:02 The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has jumped to 117 from 66, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said on Sunday. More than half the cases are the country’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Several schools and daycare centers will remain closed on Monday in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after several members of staff tested positive for the virus.
12:46 Armenia has confirmed its first COVID-19 case. Around 30 people who had been in contact with the patient had also been placed in isolation, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook.
12:21 “It is clear that the virus has not reached its peak,” viral infection and vaccine expert Muhammad Munir told DW.
“It is worrying that the disease has reached people who have no known contact with the virus,” he added. He explained that the fact that the virus has a relatively low fatality rate allows it to spread more quickly through communities.
11:58 Paris’s Louvre Museum will remain closed today owing to a staff meeting about coronavirus, causing long lines of tourists to be disgruntled.
11:25 Iran confirmed the death toll has jumped to 54, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 978.
Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said new cases were confirmed in a number of cities, including Mashhad.
09:43 The quarantine in the German district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia ended this morning, allowing hundreds of people to leave their houses.
09:32 The UK’s Health Minister Matt Hancock reported that the British government is planning in case the epidemic gets “much, much worse.”
UK Prime Minister Matt Hancock will chair an emergency response committee meeting on Monday. The UK has had 23 reported cases and one death.
09:28 COVID-19 has reached the small European nation of Luxembourg, the health minister reported.
08:58 Italy is to introduce measures to tackle coronavirus amounting to €3.6 billion ($3.9 billion), 0.2% of their GDP.
08:30 A reminder that the World Health Organization has warned against fake coronavirus information on the web.
08:23 South Korea has reported 586 new cases on Sunday, bringing their total to over 3,700. South Korea has by far the largest national total of any country except for China.
“The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level,” President Moon Jae-in said.
07:32 China will take measures to repatriate its citizens in countries seriously affected by the coronavirus if necessary, a foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
Cui Aiming, who made the comments at a news briefing, did not name any specific countries.
07:13 Stock markets in the Gulf states have plunged at the start of trading. The Saudi bourse, the largest in the region, was down 3.1%.
06:39 Mexico confirmed its fourth cases of coronavirus as the number of cases in the Americas continues to grow.
06:15 Japan has confirmed another death of COVID-19, a man in his 70s on Hokkaido. Authorities say he may have caught the disease in hospital.
Staff disinfect a train station in Daegu, South Korea
05:32 Some members of the “cult-like” church at the heart of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak had visited Wuhan in China, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
04:45 Thailand registered its first coronavirus death. A 35-year-old man who also had dengue fever died from the virus.
04:00Armenia confirmed that a 29-year-old man, who had recently returned from a trip to Iran, was the country’s first case of coronavirus. Armenia’s president said the man was in good medical condition and that authorities planned to isolate all of those who had been in contact with him.
03:00 The Tokyo marathon went ahead as planned, but with just 200 elite competitors. Authorities scaled back the event in an effort to combat the outbreak. Various sporting events around the country have been cancelled or postponed.
03:30 Australia has confirmed its first COVID-19 death. The victim was a 78-year-old man who had been quarantined after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. He was among more than 150 Australians taken off the vessel.
03:10 US carrier American Airlines announced it would suspend all US flights to Milan, following a “Level 4 – Do Not Travel” advisory by the US State Department on the Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
02:15 South Korea reported 376 new coronavirus cases, raising the country’s total number of infections to 3,526.
01:00 China has confirmed 573 new coronavirus cases, a rise of more than 100 from the day before.
00:20 Ireland has confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The infected person was linked to an affected area of northern Italy.
00:10 The United States is set to extend its travel restrictions on Iran as part of its containment strategy. Vice President Mike Pence said it would ban entry to foreign nationals who had been in Iran the past 14 days.
23:05 A state of emergency has been declared in the US state of Washington after a man died of COVID-19 and as more than 50 people in a nursing facility were being tested for the virus.
Skinstitut Holiday Gift Kits take the stress out of gifting
Toronto, October 31, 2024 – Beauty gifts are at the top of holiday wish lists this year, and Laser Clinics Canada, a leader in advanced beauty treatments and skincare, is taking the pressure out of seasonal shopping. Today, Laser Clincs Canada announces the arrival of its 2024 Holiday Gift Kits, courtesy of Skinstitut, the exclusive skincare line of Laser Clinics Group.
In time for the busy shopping season, the limited-edition Holiday Gifts Kits are available in Laser Clinics locations in the GTA and Ottawa. Clinics are conveniently located in popular shopping centers, including Hillcrest Mall, Square One, CF Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Rideau Centre, Union Station and CF Markville. These limited-edition Kits are available on a first come, first served basis.
“These kits combine our best-selling products, bundled to address the most relevant skin concerns we’re seeing among our clients,” says Christina Ho, Senior Brand & LAM Manager at Laser Clinics Canada. “With several price points available, the kits offer excellent value and suit a variety of gift-giving needs, from those new to cosmeceuticals to those looking to level up their skincare routine. What’s more, these kits are priced with a savings of up to 33 per cent so gift givers can save during the holiday season.
There are two kits to select from, each designed to address key skin concerns and each with a unique theme — Brightening Basics and Hydration Heroes.
Brightening Basics is a mix of everyday essentials for glowing skin for all skin types. The bundle comes in a sleek pink, reusable case and includes three full-sized products: 200ml gentle cleanser, 50ml Moisture Defence (normal skin) and 30ml1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum. The Brightening Basics kit is available at $129, a saving of 33 per cent.
Hydration Heroes is a mix of hydration essentials and active heroes that cater to a wide variety of clients. A perfect stocking stuffer, this bundle includes four deluxe products: Moisture 15 15 ml Defence for normal skin, 10 ml 1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum, 10 ml Retinol Serum and 50 ml Expert Squalane Cleansing Oil. The kit retails at $59.
In addition to the 2024 Holiday Gifts Kits, gift givers can easily add a Laser Clinic Canada gift card to the mix. Offering flexibility, recipients can choose from a wide range of treatments offered by Laser Clinics Canada, or they can expand their collection of exclusive Skinstitut products.
Brightening Basics 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut, available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
Hydration Heroes 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut – available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
The Canadian Paediatric Society says doctors should regularly screen children for reading difficulties and dyslexia, calling low literacy a “serious public health concern” that can increase the risk of other problems including anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioural issues, with lifelong consequences.
New guidance issued Wednesday says family doctors, nurses, pediatricians and other medical professionals who care for school-aged kids are in a unique position to help struggling readers access educational and specialty supports, noting that identifying problems early couldhelp kids sooner — when it’s more effective — as well as reveal other possible learning or developmental issues.
The 10 recommendations include regular screening for kids aged four to seven, especially if they belong to groups at higher risk of low literacy, including newcomers to Canada, racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. The society says this can be done in a two-to-three-minute office-based assessment.
Other tips encourage doctors to look for conditions often seen among poor readers such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; to advocate for early literacy training for pediatric and family medicine residents; to liaise with schools on behalf of families seeking help; and to push provincial and territorial education ministries to integrate evidence-based phonics instruction into curriculums, starting in kindergarten.
Dr. Scott McLeod, one of the authors and chair of the society’s mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said a key goal is to catch kids who may be falling through the cracks and to better connect families to resources, including quicker targeted help from schools.
“Collaboration in this area is so key because we need to move away from the silos of: everything educational must exist within the educational portfolio,” McLeod said in an interview from Calgary, where he is a developmental pediatrician at Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“Reading, yes, it’s education, but it’s also health because we know that literacy impacts health. So I think that a statement like this opens the window to say: Yes, parents can come to their health-care provider to get advice, get recommendations, hopefully start a collaboration with school teachers.”
McLeod noted that pediatricians already look for signs of low literacy in young children by way of a commonly used tool known as the Rourke Baby Record, which offers a checklist of key topics, such as nutrition and developmental benchmarks, to cover in a well-child appointment.
But he said questions about reading could be “a standing item” in checkups and he hoped the society’s statement to medical professionals who care for children “enhances their confidence in being a strong advocate for the child” while spurring partnerships with others involved in a child’s life such as teachers and psychologists.
The guidance said pediatricians also play a key role in detecting and monitoring conditions that often coexist with difficulty reading such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but McLeod noted that getting such specific diagnoses typically involves a referral to a specialist, during which time a child continues to struggle.
He also acknowledged that some schools can be slow to act without a specific diagnosis from a specialist, and even then a child may end up on a wait list for school interventions.
“Evidence-based reading instruction shouldn’t have to wait for some of that access to specialized assessments to occur,” he said.
“My hope is that (by) having an existing statement or document written by the Canadian Paediatric Society … we’re able to skip a few steps or have some of the early interventions present,” he said.
McLeod added that obtaining specific assessments from medical specialists is “definitely beneficial and advantageous” to know where a child is at, “but having that sort of clear, thorough assessment shouldn’t be a barrier to intervention starting.”
McLeod said the society was partly spurred to act by 2022’s “Right to Read Inquiry Report” from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which made 157 recommendations to address inequities related to reading instruction in that province.
He called the new guidelines “a big reminder” to pediatric providers, family doctors, school teachers and psychologists of the importance of literacy.
“Early identification of reading difficulty can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
