BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NEW YORK -- Governor of the U.S. state of New York Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he would extend the PAUSE order in hard-hit regions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"May 15 is when the PAUSE regulations expire statewide. I will extend them in many parts of the state," said Cuomo at his daily briefing.
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BUDAPEST -- A China-Europe freight train arrived here on Monday with much-needed medical supplies for Hungary.
Departing from Jinan, the capital of China's Shandong province on April 7, the freight train delivered face masks, gloves and other protective equipment to Hungary to help fight COVID-19.
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BEIJING -- To prevent imported COVID-19 cases, China has ramped up the management of crew members of international ships and flights, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).
All crew members inbound and outbound must report their health conditions, while airlines and ships are required to carry out onboard body temperature tests and report to the GAC when any anomalies occur, said GAC official Song Yueqian at a press conference Monday.
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CAPE TOWN -- South Africa reported 247 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths in the past 24 hours, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Monday.
With the newly-added cases and deaths, the country now has a total of 4,793 cases and 90 deaths, Mkhize said in his latest update on the pandemic.
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Houston -- The George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations (Bush China Foundation) Monday announced that it has secured Chinese donations of nearly 100,000 masks to U.S. Houston in fighting against COVID-19.
According to the Bush China Foundation, two shipments of 97,000 masks were purchased via donations from three Chinese companies: Asia & America Consultants Ltd., China Prospect Education Group, and Shenzhen Youhua Technology Co. Ltd. The foundation is expecting another 200,000 additional masks next month.
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs launched an inquiry into the Trump administration's decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), committee chairman Eliot Engel said on Monday.
In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Democratic congressman decried the decision to halt funding as a political distraction from the administration's response to the COVID-19 and demanded that the State Department produce records and information dealing with the decision.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Health officials of several San Francisco Bay Area counties in the U.S. state of California announced Monday that they will extend coronavirus stay-at-home orders to the end of May.
"Later this week, the Public Health Officers of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara as well as the City of Berkeley will issue revised shelter-in-place orders that largely keep the current restrictions in place and extend them through May," they said in a joint statement.
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GENEVA -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday urged the European countries to find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 while easing their containment measures.
"As lock-downs in Europe ease with declining numbers of new cases, we continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue," the WHO chief said at a virtual press conference.
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LONDON -- The British government on Monday announced a new fast-track finance scheme providing loans with a 100 percent government-backed guarantee for small businesses hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Under the new loan scheme, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, small businesses can apply for Bounce Back Loans up to a maximum of 50,000 pounds (about 62,073 U.S. dollars), or 25 percent of turnover, with the government paying the interest for the first 12 months.
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COLOMBO -- China on Monday donated another batch of medical aid to Sri Lanka to support the island country in its battle against COVID-19.
The medical aid included 20,000 test kits, 10,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs), and 110,000 facial masks, among others.
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