Saudi Arabia said Monday that this year’s hajj will not be cancelled, but that due to the coronavirus only “very limited numbers” of people will be allowed to perform the major Muslim pilgrimage.

The kingdom said that only people of various nationalities already residing in the country would be allowed to perform the hajj. The government did not specify how many people would be permitted to take part.

The annual pilgrimage, which is set to begin this year at the end of July, traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world for five intense days of worship and rituals in Makkah.

Saudi Arabia has never canceled the hajj in the nearly 90 years since the nation’s establishment. It halted the minor umrah pilgrimage, which can be performed year-round, in February, as the coronavirus began spreading across the region. 

The Drug Controller General of India or DCGI had recently approved Remdesivir for “restricted emergency use” on severely ill hospitalised coronavirus patients.

Domestic-manufactured Remde Sivir will now be more widely available.

Remdesivir, the antiviral drug for COVID-19 treatment, will be available in the market by end of this month.

The Drug Controller General of India or DCGI had recently approved Remdesivir for “restricted emergency use” on severely ill hospitalised coronavirus patients.

Domestic-manufactured Remdesivir will now be more widely available.

Remdesivir, an investigational anti-viral therapy developed by Gilead, received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat COVID-19. However, multiple additional clinical trials are still on for more data on the safety and efficacy of the drug as a treatment for the virus.

The centre had recently allowed the use of Remdesivir and off-label application of tocilizumab and convalescent plasma in moderate cases of COVID-19.

The health ministry had said Remdesivir was included as an “investigational therapy” only for the purpose of restricted emergency use, which means it is subject to conditions.

In the US, Remdesivir continues to be used only under emergency use authorization. Gilead Sciences had on May 29 applied to the Indian Drug Regulatory Agency for permission to import and market remdesivir.

Permission under emergency use authorization was granted on June 1 in the interest of patient safety and obtaining further data, said the ministry.

Six Indian companies have sought permission to manufacture and market the drug in India. Five of these have entered into an agreement with Gilead Sciences.

US President Donald Trump will deliver his acceptance speech on August 27 in Jacksonville.

FLORIDA: US President Donald Trump will accept the Republican presidential nomination this year in Jacksonville, Florida.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville.

“Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trump’s heart as his home state, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020. We look forward to bringing this great celebration and economic boon to the Sunshine State in just a few short months,” McDaniel added.

Trump will deliver his acceptance speech on August 27 in Jacksonville.

Interestingly, August 27 is the 60th anniversary of the brutal beating of black activists protesting segregation. The day came to be known as “Ax Handle Saturday” as nearly 200 white people had attacked the black protesters with axe handles and baseball bats, said the Florida Historial Society.

“This is Trump country here. This is the single best city in America, in which to host the Republican National Convention, and for several reasons. It’s a battleground county in a battleground state, in a city where you have unified Republican governance,” Duval County Republican Chairman Dean Black was quoted as saying. 

A video showing the Indian Charge de Affaires in Pakistan being chased by men, allegedly ISI agents, on bikes has surfaced.

NEW DELHI: Days after India expelled two officials of the Pakistan High Commission over charges of espionage, a video showing the Indian Charge de Affaires in Pakistan being chased by men, allegedly ISI agents, on bikes has surfaced.

The video, which is doing the rounds on social media, shows the car of Indian Charge de Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia being tailed by men wearing helmets on a bike on May 31. The men in bike chasing Ahluwalia are alleged to be agents of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence.

Later, a government source said follow-up action would be taken as per established rules. “The matter of harassment of Indian personnel and obstruction in discharge of their normal functioning is being taken up through established diplomatic channel,” the source said.

This latest video assumes significance as two officials of Pakistan High Commission — Tahir Hussain and Abid Khan — were apprehended by the Delhi Police and Military Intelligence in a joint operation at Karol Bagh on charges of espionage on Sunday.

The country has already lifted many of its virus restrictions and could remove most of those that remain, including limiting crowd sizes, next week.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand is on the verge of eradicating the virus from its shores after it notched a 13th straight day with no reported new infections.

Only a single person in the nation of 5 million people is known to still have the virus, and that person is not hospitalized.

However, it remains likely that the country will import new cases once it reopens its borders, and officials say their aim remains to stamp out new infections as they arise.

The country has already lifted many of its virus restrictions and could remove most of those that remain, including limiting crowd sizes, next week.

Just over 1,500 people have contracted the virus during the outbreak, including 22 who died.

Dubai: A 50-year-old Indian teacher has died of coronavirus in the UAE, according to a media report. Anil Kumar, a Hindi teacher at Sunrise School in Abu Dhabi, died on Sunday morning, the Gulf News reported. Kumar was detected with COVID-19 on May 7.

In a statement, the Sunrise School said, “The sad and shocking demise of Mr Anil Kumar, a senior Hindi teacher of Sunrise School on May 24, has left the entire Sunrise family in a pall of gloom.

“The bond that he had developed over the years, just as how we have with each faculty, makes the loss unbearable. The entire school is shaken and finds it hard to come to terms with this most saddening news,” the daily quoted the statement.

Kumar is survived by his wife and two children. His wife Rajini teaches mathematics at the Sunrise School.

The coronavirus, which first emerged in China’s Wuhan city in December last year, has claimed 245 lives with nearly 30,000 confirmed cases in the UAE. The virus has so far killed over 3,45,000 people across the world.

A cluster of six new cases was recently found in one part of the city, the first local infections the government has reported in Wuhan since before the lockdown was eased in early April.

BANGKOK: Authorities in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began were moving forward Wednesday with efforts to test all 11 million residents for the virus within 10 days after a handful of fresh infections were found there.

The US government’s top infectious disease expert, meanwhile, issued a blunt warning that cities and states could see more COVID-19 deaths and economic damage if they lift stay-at-home orders too quickly — a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump, who is pushing to right a free-falling economy.

“There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” Dr. Anthony Fauci warned a Senate committee and the nation Tuesday as more than two dozen states have begun to lift their lockdowns.

China, the first nation to put a large number of its citizens under lockdown and the first to ease those restrictions, has been strictly guarding against any resurgence.

District health commissions and neighborhood committees in the city of Wuhan have been told to develop a plan to test all residents in their jurisdictions, local media reports said. The directive also said the testing should focus on the elderly, densely populated areas and places with mobile populations.

A person who answered the mayor’s hotline in Wuhan on Wednesday said local districts had been given 10 days to carry out the tests. The official declined to give his name because she was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The first cases of the new coronavirus were found in Wuhan in December, and by the end of January the government had placed the entire city and the surrounding region, home to more than 50 million people, under a strict lockdown.

A cluster of six new cases was recently found in one part of the city, the first local infections the government has reported in Wuhan since before the lockdown was eased in early April.

It wasn’t clear how many people would actually still need to be tested, as one expert at Wuhan University told the Global Times newspaper that up to 5 million residents of Wuhan have already been tested since the outbreak began.

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 4.2 million people and killed over 291,000 — with more than 82,000 deaths in the US alone, the world’s highest toll. Experts say the actual numbers are likely far higher.

China has largely brought the virus under control, but it remains on edge, fearful that a second wave could undermine its efforts to get the economy back up and running.

BEIJING: China reported no new domestic coronavirus infections on Tuesday, after two consecutive days of double-digit increases fuelled fears of a second wave of infections.

China has largely brought the virus under control, but it remains on edge, fearful that a second wave could undermine its efforts to get the economy back up and running.

A new cluster reappeared over the weekend in the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged, while the northeastern city of Shulan was placed under lockdown Sunday after another outbreak emerged.

On Monday, China’s National Health Commission reported 17 new cases, five of them in Wuhan. Seven of the new cases were imported.

A day earlier, China announced the first double-digit increase in nationwide cases in nearly 10 days, saying 14 new infections had been confirmed. Wuhan also saw its first new case in over a month.

For the 27th consecutive day, there were no deaths reported. One imported case was recorded.

The country’s official death toll remains at 4,633, while the total number of infections in the mainland is 82,919.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 62, according to media reports on Friday.

Saudi health officials on Friday announced 17 new coronavirus cases, raising the number of cases in the country to 62, according to the official Saudi news agency.

There are 11 foreign nationals among the people who contracted the virus, Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Health Ministry as saying.

One person was discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia early Thursday suspended flights to all EU countries as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.

“Saudi Arabia’s government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents, and to suspend flights to the European Union countries, as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia,” Saudi Gazette quoted a source at the Ministry of Interior as saying.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom, it said.

The government’s decision grants Saudi nationals and citizens of those countries with valid Saudi residency visas 72 hours to return to the Kingdom before the travel suspension comes into effect.

The travel ban excludes Indian and Filipino medical practitioners working in the Kingdom, taking into account the necessary and required precautions, the report said.

The ministries of interior and health would coordinate while dealing with humanitarian and exceptional cases, without prejudice to the necessary precautionary and preventive measures.

The decision expanded the number of countries included in the travel ban list to 53.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 114 countries.

Saudi Arabia on March 9 suspended travel to Oman, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, and South Korea.