Blogroll

Ireland's banks are processing more than 28,000 mortgage breaks for customers whose incomes have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, the head of the lenders' representative body said on Saturday.

Turkey's death toll from the coronavirus increased by 16 to 108 on Saturday, as the number of confirmed cases rose by 1,704 to 7,402, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

Qatar on Saturday recorded its first death from the coronavirus, a Bangladeshi resident, and 28 more cases to take its total to 590 infections, the health ministry said.

Greece confirmed 95 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to health authorities, bringing the total to 1,061 since the country's first recorded infection on Feb. 26.

Spain's coronavirus fatalities rose by a record 832 people overnight to 5,690 as hospitals and morgues were overwhelmed and a police chief fought back tears announcing a colleague's death.

Singapore reported 70 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the health ministry said, taking the city-state's total infections to 802.

All foreigners in Portugal with pending applications will be treated as permanent residents from Monday until at least July 1, authorities said on Saturday, to ensure migrants have access to public services during the coronavirus outbreak.

The death toll in Switzerland from coronavirus had climbed to 235 while total cases stand at 13,213, the health ministry said on Saturday, though officials said their worst fears have so far not materialized.

Amazon.com Inc is offering higher pay to recruit its own warehouse employees to pick and pack Whole Foods groceries amid rising demand and a worker shortage, according to an internal document reviewed by Reuters.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged, began lifting a two-month lockdown on Saturday by restarting some metro services and reopening borders, allowing some semblance of normality to return and families to reunite.

The sum of known coronavirus U.S. cases soared well past 100,000, with more than 1,600 dead, as weary doctors and nurses coping with shortages resorted to extremes ranging from hiding scarce medical supplies to buying them on the black market.

Indonesia's capital Jakarta announced a two-week extension of its state of emergency following the nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, its governor said on Saturday.

It has been only three months since reports first emerged from China of an unknown virus causing unusual cases of pneumonia, and scientists and public health experts already know more about it and how it works than at the same point in earlier outbreaks.

Three Korean coronavirus test-kit makers have won preliminary approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), paving the way for kits to be exported to the United States to help it battle the largest outbreak of the virus.

An Airbus plane landed in Spain on Saturday carrying a cargo of more than 4 million face masks from China, the European planemaker said, as countries race to source more protective gear as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Three Korean test-kit makers have won pre-approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, paving way for kits to be exported to the United States, South Korea's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Australia stepped up enforcement of social distancing rules on Saturday to contain community transmission of the novel coronavirus, implementing fines, closing beaches and threatening stricter measures if people defy pleas to stay at home.

Thailand reported 109 new coronavirus cases and one death on Saturday, bringing the total to 1,245 infections and six deaths.

Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the U.S. coronavirus crisis pleaded on Friday for more protective gear and equipment to treat waves of patients expected to overwhelm hospitals as the sum of known U.S. infections climbed well past 100,000, with more than 1,600 dead.

The U.S. embassy in Riyadh said on Saturday it was working with the Saudi authorities to arrange repatriation flights to the United States on a commercial airline.