COVID boxes

China comprehensively bans wildlife trade

Beijing: China on Monday declared an immediate and “comprehensive” ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The country’s top legislative committee approved a proposal “prohibiting the illegal wildlife trade, abolishing the bad habit of overconsumption of wildlife, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people,” state television reported. Previous temporary bans have been put in place, including after the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-03 and was also traced to wild animal consumption. That prohibition was short-lived, however, and conservationists have long accused China of tolerating a cruel trade in wild animals as exotic menu items or for use in traditional medicines whose efficacy is not confirmed by science. AFP

4th death in Italy, virus reaches Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan

Casapusterlengo (Italy): Italy on Monday reported its fourth death from the new coronavirus, an 84-year old man in the northern Lombardy region, as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount. It was the third death in Lombardy, where villages have been put in lockdown to stem the spread of the disease. The Lombardy region has 165 confirmed coronavirus cases. Besides, Kuwait, Bahrain and Afghanistan on Monday confirmed their first novel coronavirus cases. AFP

Expelled US reporters leave China after headline row

Beijing: Two Wall Street Journal reporters left China on Monday after being expelled over a controversial headline in an op-ed that angered Beijing. Three reporters were ordered out of the country last week over what Beijing deemed a racist headline that the journalists were not involved in writing, marking one of the harshest moves against foreign media in years. But analysts noted that the decision to revoke their credentials came a day after Washington tightened rules on Chinese state media operating in the United States — raising suspicion that Beijing had retaliated. AFP

Pak suspends China flights till March 15

Islamabad: Pakistan has again suspended flights to coronavirus-hit China till March 15 due to surge in the infected cases in that country, days after it resumed the air operations to and from Beijing, according to officials. Earlier, Pakistan suspended flights from China on January 31 till February 2, a day after the WHO declared the outbreak of the virus as a global health emergency. National flag-carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was operating two flights weekly to Beijing after the resumption of air services on February 3. The flights were allowed a day after Pakistan said it has received special medical kits from China to detect the coronavirus cases. PTI