Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Islamic Jihad censures Germany's blacklisting Hezbollah Press TV 02 May 2020 -- The Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has denounced Germany's move to blacklist Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah, saying Berlin behaved in "compliance" with the United States and the Israeli regime.
• Germany labeling Hezbollah terrorist out of fear from 'child-killing' Israel: Iran's security chief Press TV 02 May 2020 -- The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has lambasted Germany for blacklisting Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah out of fear of the "child-killing" Israel while highlighting Berlin's own terrorist actions.
• Syria, Iran, Yemen slam Germany for complying with US, Israeli dictates to ban Hezbollah Press TV 02 May 2020 -- Syria, Iran and Yemen have slammed the German government's decision to designate Hezbollah a "terrorist organization", saying Berlin has complied with the dictates of Washington and Tel Aviv to ban the resistance movement.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation report - 103 WHO 02 May 2020
• WHO expert says coronavirus is 'natural in origin' Press TV 02 May 2020 -- A senior official at the World Health Organisation (WHO) has given his expertise assurance that the novel coronavirus is "natural in origin" contradicting US President Donald Trump who claimed the virus originated from a laboratory in China.
• COVID-19 remains a public health emergency of int'l concern: WHO Global Times 02 May 2020 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the COVID-19 outbreak still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
• WHO reiterates novel coronavirus is "natural in origin" People's Daily 02 May 2020 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday reiterated that the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19 is "natural in origin."

United States

• Rush Transcript: Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Announces Results of Completed Antibody Testing Study of 15,000 People Show 12.3 Percent of Population has Covid-19 Antibodies New York State 02 May 2020
• State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts California Department of Public Health 02 May 2020
• US COVID-19 cases top 1.1 mln: Johns Hopkins University Global Times 02 May 2020 -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 1,100,197 as of 7:40 p.m. (2340 GMT) Friday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
• FDA approves emergency use of remdesivir for COVID-19 patients People's Daily 02 May 2020 -- Remdesivir is an investigational antiviral medicine to treat certain people in the hospital with COVID-19, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adding the drug is still being studied.
• USNS Comfort Arrives Naval Station Norfolk Prepared for Future Tasking NNS 02 May 2020 -- The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) returned to Naval Station Norfolk after supporting the Department of Defense (DOD) response efforts to New York and New Jersey during the coronavirus outbreak, May 2.

China

• Harbin suspends dine-in again amid signs of rebounding COVID-19 Global Times 02 May 2020 -- Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has banned dine-in services at barbeque, hot pot and stew dish restaurants again starting Saturday after earlier easement, amid clustered infections in the city that have made the COVID-19 control situation tense.
• China's Hubei reports no increase in COVID-19 cases for 28 consecutive days Global Times 02 May 2020 -- No new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported in central China's Hubei Province Friday, the provincial health commission said Saturday.
• NE China's Jilin reports one imported case from Russia after four negative tests Global Times 02 May 2020 -- China on Saturday reported an imported COVID-19 case in Northeast China's Jilin Province that had initially eluded doctors – the patient tested positive after four negative nucleic acid and antibody tests.
• China's 'Bat Woman' Shi Zhengli refutes rumor of 'defecting with intelligence files' Global Times 02 May 2020 -- Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli denied rumors of "defecting to the West," saying Saturday on her WeChat that, "Everything is all right for my family and me, dear friends!" She also post nine photos of her recent life.
• WHO congratulates Wuhan on clearing all COVID-19 cases People's Daily 02 May 2020 -- "not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures."

Europe

• Madrid's IFEMA field hospital closes after treating some 4,000 COVID-19 patients Global Times 02 May 2020 -- Madrid's field hospital, which was set up at the capital's IFEMA exhibition center at the end of March to take in COVID-19 patients, was officially closed on Friday after attending around 4,000 people.
• Europe Coronavirus Updates: UK hits testing goal, France sees lowest daily increase in COVID-19 deaths People's Daily 02 May 2020 -- UK hits testing goal as COVID-19 deaths rise to 27,510;
• Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland top 5,000, death toll at 218 Global Times 02 May 2020 -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland has passed the 5,000 mark, said Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Friday.
• Dutch coronavirus cases pass 40,000 SPA 02 May 2020 -- The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the Netherlands has increased by 445 to 40,236, Reuters quoted Dutch health authorities as saying on Saturday.
• Spain Begins 4-Phase Easing of COVID Restrictions VOA 02 May 2020 -- Spaniards spent time outside near their homes Saturday as Spain is starting to reopen after weeks of lockdown triggered by one of Europe's most deadly coronavirus outbreaks.
• France Prolongs Public Health Emergency Until 24 July Sputnik 02 May 2020 -- A public health emergency was established in France on 24 March, as the country was coping with the coronavirus pandemic that, according to the WHO, has infected 128,121 people as of 2 May.

Russia

• Rapid Increase in COVID-19 Cases in Moscow Linked to Growing Testing Rate Sputnik 02 May 2020 -- Moscow's COVID-19 response centre on Saturday explained the rapid increase in new cases of infection by the growing number of reference centers verifying positive coronavirus results in the Russian capital.

India

• Updates on COVID-19 India PIB 02 May 2020

Iran

• Official: COVID19 kills 65 more in Iran IRNA 02 May 2020 -- Head of Iran's Health Ministry's Public Relations Office Kianoush Jahanpour said on Saturday that 77,350 people out of a total of 96,448 infected with the coronavirus have survived and recovered while 6,156 have unfortunately succumbed to death.
• COVID-19 daily infection rate reduces to 2.96% in Iran: Official IRNA 02 May 2020 -- Official statistics suggest that the rate of daily infections to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has reduced from 2.45% to 1.32% over the past ten days, according to Mohammad-Javad Dehqani, the President of the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC).

Saudi Arabia

• Coronavirus' Developments Follow up Committee Held 73rd Meeting, 3765 Cases Recovered, in KSA SPA 02 May 2020 -- Coronavirus' Developments Follow up Committee held its 73rd meeting, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Health Dr. Taufiq bin Fozan Al-Rabiah, and reviewed the latest reports relating to the developments of Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the virus spread situation, all over the world.
• COVID-19 Committee Holds 72nd Meeting SPA 02 May 2020 -- Under the chairmanship of Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, the COVID-19 Follow-up Committee held its 72nd meeting today.
• Saudi Arabia Puts Industrial Part of Dammam on Lockdown Starting Sunday - Report Sputnik 02 May 2020 -- The Kingdom has topped the list of Arab Gulf countries with the highest rate of new coronavirus cases, with more than 25,400 COVID-19 infections registered, according to official data.

Taiwan

• Taiwan confirms 3 new cases of COVID-19; total at 432 CNA 02 May 2020 -- Three new cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were confirmed in Taiwan on Saturday, bringing the total to 432 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• Face masks prevent COVID-19 from spreading: CECC official CNA 02 May 2020 -- Taiwan's relatively low COVID-19 transmission rate can be attributed to the fact that a majority of people in the country wear face masks in public, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advisor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said on Saturday.
• COVID-19 transmission highest within a week of symptom onset: study CNA 02 May 2020 -- The viral transmission of COVID-19 has been found to be highest within a week of the onset of symptoms, according to a medical study authored by a Taiwanese research team published by the American Medical Association Friday.

Other Countries

• Chinese military medics assist Myanmar military in building COVID-19 testing laboratory PLA Daily 02 May 2020 -- A team of medical personnel from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Thursday provided assistance to Myanmar military in building a laboratory for testing COVID-19.
• Chinese aid for fighting COVID-19 arrives in Slovenia Global Times 02 May 2020 -- A cargo aircraft carrying about 12 tons of medical supplies donated by the Chinese government to Slovenia landed at the Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport here on Friday evening.
• Malaysia gains valuable insight on COVID-19 from Chinese expert team: officials Global Times 02 May 2020 -- Malaysia has gained valuable insight on handling the COVID-19 outbreak from the experiences shared by the Chinese medical expert team, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said on Friday.
• Kiribati receives first batch of medical supplies donated by China to help fight COVID-19 Global Times 02 May 2020 -- Kiribati on Friday received the first batch of medical supplies donated by China, as part of the Chinese aid to help the country fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Israel's COVID-19 cases rise to 16,101 as death toll hits 225 People's Daily 02 May 2020 -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Israel has risen to 16,101 after 155 new cases were added on Friday, the state's Ministry of Health said.
• COVID-19: Tajikistan Announces First Deaths; Second Russian Official In Hospital RFE/RL 02 May 2020 -- The global death toll from the coronavirus is approaching 242,000 with 3.4 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
• Crony Charities Spring Up In Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Amid COVID-19 Crisis RFE/RL 02 May 2020 -- Charities are springing up everywhere around the world to help those suffering from the coronavirus and the lockdown measures taken to stop it from spreading.
• Algeria Reports 141 New COVID-19 Cases SPA 02 May 2020 -- Algeria reported, during the past 24 hours, 141 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 4,295 cases.
• Afghan Authorities Extend Isolation Regime in Large Cities for Another 20 Days, Reports Say Sputnik 02 May 2020 -- The Afghan authorities have extended the isolation regime in large cities, including in the capital of Kabul, for 20 days, until the end of the month of Ramadan amid the pandemic, the TOLOnews broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing the presidential administration.
• COVID-19 impact could be 'disastrously high' in poverty-stricken Malawi UN News 02 May 2020 -- In Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, with a fragile health system, the UN is bracing for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which, it is feared, could be severe.
• Hundreds Rush for Popular Cleric's Herbal COVID 'Cure' in Cameroon VOA 02 May 2020 -- Cameroonians have been flooding into the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Douala, where Archbishop Samuel Kleda claims he has found an herbal cure for COVID-19.
• Zimbabwe Extends COVID Lockdown, Despite Pleas From Workers VOA 02 May 2020 -- Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the country's lockdown by two weeks to contain the coronavirus, while working people complain that they can't make a living. Mnangagwa's response to them - it's better for the economy to suffer than for the pandemic to kill people.
• Kenya Begins COVID Testing in Destitute Part of Nairobi VOA 02 May 2020 -- Kenyan Health Ministry staff began mass coronavirus tests in a low-income neighborhood of Nairobi Friday.