15, April 2020
Migrant workers face predicament in Persian Gulf countries amid pandemic 0
Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region have locked down over-crowded labor camps and areas with large populations of low-wage workers in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, leaving migrant workers stranded and jobless.
The over-crowded labor camps in the region, often unsanitary and populated with mostly Asian workers, are believed to be hotspots of the new coronavirus.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), charity groups are looking for empty buildings to separate migrant workers, while Bahrain is repurposing closed schools to relocate low-income laborers from other overcrowded accommodation.
The deadly virus has also spread in densely-populated commercial districts where many expatriates share housing to save on rent.
“Many people are infected and are staying with other people,” Krishna Kumar, the president of the UAE-based Kerala Social Center, said on Wednesday. “We are trying to isolate them.”
Despite measures being taken to contain the spread of coronavirus, such as suspending passenger flights, closing most public venues, and imposing curfews, the number of coronavirus cases in the Arab states has been rising.
Doctors in the UAE, who spoke with Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said overcrowding is one of the biggest factors for the surge in cases.
Several Persian Gulf Arab states have allowed outbound flights for foreign workers who have lost jobs or been put on leave, but some of the home countries say they are not prepared to take them back.
On Sunday, the UAE threatened to review labor ties with countries that refuse to allow workers who have lost their jobs to be repatriated. The UAE said it would limit quotas for work visas issued to the citizens of those countries.
The new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, emerged in the city of Wuhan in December last year, incrementally affecting the rest of the world.
The virus has so far infected 2,000,065 people worldwide, and over 126,754 have died, according to a running count by worldometers.info.
The UAE, which has the second largest number of coronavirus cases after Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, has so far recorded more than 4,933 confirmed cases and 28 deaths.
Source: Presstv
15, April 2020
Biya’s deliberate silence to coronavirus pandemic ruining Cameroon’s reputation 0
President Biya’s complete absence from the nation’s capital Yaoundé and his little or no response to the coronavirus pandemic, has been seriously condemned by a cream of French Cameroun political commentators including some prominent regime barons as shameful, disgusting and disgraceful with many observing that his poor management of the virus outbreak is ruining Cameroon’s reputation as the giant of the Sub Saharan region.
Biya’s recent decision to self isolate at his Mvomeka’a palace and his 37 documented years of incompetence and dishonesty in managing state affairs including the COVID-19 pandemic has left many in Yaoundé in disbelief.
Biya’s arrogant style of governance rich in several trips abroad tolerated in the past is now seen as downright dangerous by members of his own Beti Ewondo ruling clan. A prominent member of the CPDM political bureau who hails from the Centre Region told Cameroon Concord News that no one in government including Prime Minister Dion Ngute trust President Biya. The French Cameroun political elite who sued for anonymity also said the 87 year old Biya is now been seen as a threat to the future of the nation.
The regime in Yaoundé is noted for failed leadership and a sea of reckless actions. So far, Prime Minister Dion Ngute has made the wearing of face mask compulsory in all government buildings. But the whole mechanism put in place by the Francophone dominated government to combat the spread of COVID-19 ranges from plain fiction to the most absurd.
The new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease known as COVID-19, is believed to have emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and President Trump’s latest decision to halt US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) will of course affect countries like Cameroon that rely on the international system for survival.
The United States is the biggest overall donor to the Geneva-based WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.
Last month, the Group of Seven (G7) countries failed to agree on a joint statement on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic because US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on calling it the “Wuhan virus”.
Mask wearing is one of seven supplementary preventive measures, Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, announced last week as part of government response to Covid-19 as Cameroon counted 848 confirmed cases on Sunday, including 98 recoveries and 14 deaths.
The additional measures also include the local production of medicines, protective masks and hand sanitisers, the establishment of specialised treatment centres for Covid-19 patients in all regional capitals, intensification of screening and awareness-raising campaigns.
By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow and Chi Prudence Asong in London