The Phuket News
Window on Phuket Phuket News TV Phuket Live 89.5 Where to Eat
The Phuket News Novosti Phuket Khao Phuket

Login | Create Account | Search

Window on Phuket
Phuket News TV
The Phuket News
Where to Eat
Phuket Live 89.5
Login | Create Account      The Phuket News Novosti Phuket Khao Phuket
Poll | Currency | Weather | Facebook | Youtube | Search
Wimbledon still planning for play despite virus mayhem
Wimbledon still planning for play despite virus mayhem
TENNIS: Wimbledon organisers are still planning to play the Grand Slam this year, despite the coronavirus chaos that led the French Open to be pushed back until September.
UEFA postpones Euro 2020 by a year due to coronavirus
UEFA postpones Euro 2020 by a year due to coronavirus
FOOTBALL: The European Championship, due to be played in June and July this year, has been postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, European football’s governing body UEFA said yesterday (Mar 17).
‘Heartbreaking’: Olympic torch events downscaled over virus
‘Heartbreaking’: Olympic torch events downscaled over virus
OLYMPICS: Tokyo 2020 organisers said today (Mar 17) they had taken the “heartbreaking” decision to scale back parts of the Olympic torch relay due to the coronavirus, but stressed that spectators would still be allowed to watch from the roadside.
Fate of Euro 2020 to be determined as UEFA set for crisis meeting
Fate of Euro 2020 to be determined as UEFA set for crisis meeting
FOOTBALL: Euro 2020 could be postponed by up to a year, with all the sporting and financial consequences that would entail, when UEFA holds a crisis meeting today (Mar 17) as Europe battles the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
US begins first human trial of coronavirus vaccine
US begins first human trial of coronavirus vaccine
WORLD: The first human trial to evaluate a candidate vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle, US health officials said yesterday (Mar 16), raising hopes in the global fight against the disease. But it may be another year to 18 months before it becomes available, once it has passed more trial phases to prove it works and is safe. The vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and was developed by US National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and collaborators at biotechnology company Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “The open-label trial will enroll 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks,” the NIH said. “The first participant received the investigational vaccine today.” Funding was also provided by the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments against the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, which has infected more than 182,000 people across the world since it was first identified in central China in late December. It has claimed 7,164 deaths, according to an AFP tally, most in China followed by Italy. “Finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent public health priority,” said Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the NIH, using the technical name for the virus that is believed to have originated in bats. “This Phase 1 study, launched in record speed, is an important first step toward achieving that goal.” The Seattle trial will study the impact of different doses delivered by intramuscular injection in the upper arm, with participants monitored for side-effects like soreness or fever. Coronaviruses are spherical and have spikes protruding from their surface, giving them a crown-like appearance. The spike binds to human cells, allowing the virus to gain entry. The Moderna candidate vaccine carries the genetic information of this spike in a substance called “messenger RNA.” Injecting human tissue with the spike’s messenger RNA makes it grow inside the body, thereby eliciting an immune response without having actually infected a person with the full-blown virus. Global race Pharmaceuticals and research labs around the world are racing to develop both treatments and vaccines to the new coronavirus. An antiviral treatment called remdesivir, made by US-based Gilead Sciences, is already in the final stages of clinical trials in Asia and doctors in China have reported it has proven effective in fighting the disease. But only randomized trials allow scientists to know for sure whether it really helps or whether patients would have recovered without it. Another US pharma called Inovio, which is creating a DNA-based vaccine, has said it will enter clinical trials next month. Regeneron is trying to isolate coronavirus-fighting antibodies that can be administered intravenously to confer temporary immunity, and hopes to start human trials by summer. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of COVID-19 cases are mild, 14% are severe and about 5% result are critical, resulting in severe respiratory illness that causes the lungs to fill with fluid which in turn prevents oxygen from reaching organs. Patients with mild cases recover in a week or two while severe cases can take six or more weeks. Recent estimates suggest about 1% of all infected people die.
Deprived of football, players try to fill the ‘big void’
Deprived of football, players try to fill the ‘big void’
FOOTBALL: Mowing the lawn, playing football with your dog, turning on the TV... footballers around Europe are struggling to fill the “big void” created by the coronavirus shutdown.
Coronavirus shines spotlight on US economic inequality
Coronavirus shines spotlight on US economic inequality
WORLD: The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy, but in the United States it has thrown into sharp relief the depth of inequality and the sheer number of people living on the edge in the world’s largest economy.
Are Manchester United finally on their way back to the top?
Are Manchester United finally on their way back to the top?
FOOTBALL: Manchester United have had a rocky ride under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but there are signs that they could finally be turning the corner after completing a memorable league double over Manchester City.
No, coronavirus isn’t the same as the flu
No, coronavirus isn’t the same as the flu
Aches and pains, sore throat, fever – although they may feel similar to those suffering from their symptoms, the novel coronavirus is not the same as the seasonal flu, experts have stressed.
Premier League suspended until April 4
Premier League suspended until April 4
FOOTBALL: The English Premier League today suspended all fixtures until April 4 after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus.
Sport at standstill as virus fears paralyse North America
Sport at standstill as virus fears paralyse North America
ALL SPORTS: Sport across the United States and Canada ground to a virtual standstill yesterday (Mar 12) with baseball, golf, soccer and hockey leagues joining basketball by declaring an immediate halt to play as fears of the coronavirus decimated the sporting landscape.
Catholic churches across Rome shut due to virus
Catholic churches across Rome shut due to virus
WORLD: All Catholic churches across Rome have been closed to stem the spread of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 1,000 people across Italy.
Premier League schedule in doubt after Arteta contracts coronavirus
Premier League schedule in doubt after Arteta contracts coronavirus
FOOTBALL: The Premier League could be forced into lockdown after Arsenal’s match at Brighton was postponed when Gunners manager Mikel Arteta contracted the coronavirus yesterday (Mar 12).
‘Cash is king’ slams Hamilton on plans to hold Australian F1 despite virus
‘Cash is king’ slams Hamilton on plans to hold Australian F1 despite virus
FORMULA ONE: World champion Lewis Hamilton today (Mar 12) said he was “very surprised” that the Australian Grand Prix was going ahead during a coronavirus pandemic, as more Formula One staff were isolated and teams limited contact with fans.
‘We play to win’: Simeone defends Atletico style after shocking Liverpool
‘We play to win’: Simeone defends Atletico style after shocking Liverpool
FOOTBALL: Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone defended his side’s approach after dumping Liverpool out of the Champions League with a 3-2 victory after extra time at Anfield to progress to the quarter-finals, winning 4-2 on aggregate.
NBA to suspend season after Jazz player tests positive for coronavirus
NBA to suspend season after Jazz player tests positive for coronavirus
BASKETBALL: The NBA will suspend play starting today (Mar 12) after a Utah Jazz player preliminarily tested positive for the new coronavirus, the league said yesterday.
WHO labels coronavirus a ‘pandemic’, Trump bans all Europe travel for 30 days
WHO labels coronavirus a ‘pandemic’, Trump bans all Europe travel for 30 days
WORLD: The World Health Organization (WHO) called the new coronavirus outbreak a pandemic yesterday (Mar 11), issuing a grim warning that the global spread and severity of the illness was due to “alarming levels of inaction”. The call came as Europe faced a mounting number of cases - including a slew of new countries clocking first deaths - prompting governments to roll out increasingly tough measures to slow the rapid spread of the virus. The number of cases across the globe has risen to more than 126,000 with 4,633 deaths, including a jump in fatalities particularly in Iran and Italy, according to an AFP tally. The majority of cases have been in China where the outbreak first emerged in December, but as the number of new infections has steadied in the country, hotspots have emerged elsewhere, namely Italy, Iran and Spain. The head of the UN’s top health body for the first time characterised the outbreak as a pandemic, meaning it is spreading in several regions through local transmission. “We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday, adding that the declaration would not change the organisation’s response to the outbreak. “We’re deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction.” He did not single out any nations for not doing enough - or what further measures were needed. He instead called on “countries to take urgent and aggressive action”. ‘No clients’ Signs of a widening European crisis emerged yesterday, with Ireland, Albania, Belgium, Sweden and Bulgaria registering their first deaths, while Italy clocked more than 2,300 new cases in the last 24 hours and infections in Spain jumped by a quarter to more than 2,100. The surge brought Europe’s total number of cases to more than 22,000, with 930 deaths. Millions of people in Italy are grappling with a nationwide clampdown that has emptied streets, shuttered shops and disrupted train and air travel. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said yesterday that Italy would shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops to curb the disease. Factories and other big businesses can remain open as long as they adopt “appropriate security measures to prevent contagion,” Conte said. His government vowed to spend up to 25 billion euros (892 billion baht) to help contain fallout from the pandemic, including cash injections for hard-hit hotels and restaurants and allowing families to suspend some mortgage payments. Even places with no significant outbreaks like Poland and Ukraine announced school closures and other restrictive measures. Austria said it would shut museums and halt train services to and from Italy. In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran reported 63 new deaths, its highest single-day toll which brought total fatalities to 354. It has yet to impose quarantines but has closed schools, universities and hotels and called on people not to travel. WHO’s Tedros said the country, which has 9,000 cases, was “doing its best” to control the spread of the virus, but that it needed more supplies to cope. Elsewhere, Kuwait said it was suspending all commercial flights in and out of the country, after it and other Gulf nations had already adopted travel restrictions. Sliver of hope Offering a sliver of hope to the rest of the world, China again announced negligible new daily infections and only a relatively small number of deaths. Some businesses in China’s Hubei province, where the virus was first detected in December, were told they could restart work, reducing fears of a prolonged disruption of supply chains. But China remains the worst-affected country with more than 80,000 confirmed cases and over 3,165 deaths. Although Panama confirmed its first death Tuesday (Mar 10), Latin America, along with Africa and Oceania, has so far reported only small numbers of cases. And the United States saw its first signs of an emergency footing with the New York city government forming a containment zone around a suburb at the centre of an outbreak. Wall Street stocks suffered another brutal rout yesterday, pushing the Dow into a “bear market,” or 20% from its peak, after the latest series of event cancellations and company warnings rattled investors. Trump declares Europe travel ban US President Donald Trump announced yesterday the United States would ban all travel from Europe for 30 days starting to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. “To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight,” Trump said in an address to the nation. Disruption to supply chains from China, flagging demand and wildly fluctuating stock markets have sparked a series of profit warnings from companies and pushed governments into action. The UK promised a US$39 billion (B1.2 trillion) fiscal stimulus and the central bank slashed its main interest rate to 0.25% following a similar move by the US Federal Reserve last week, intended to make borrowing cheaper and boost economic activity. While markets remain uneasy, COVID-19 continued to rip up the schedules of musicians, sports stars and cultural figures as governments around the world banned large gatherings. Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Tom Hanks confirmed he and his wife Rita Wilson have both tested positive for coronavirus. Hanks, 63, said he and Wilson came down with a fever while in Australia, where he is reportedly filming a new movie about the life of Elvis Presley. “To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive,” he wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. The pair will now be isolated and monitored, wrote Hanks. “We’ll keep the world posted and updated,” he added, along with a photo of a surgical glove placed inside a biohazard trash bag. Elsewhere, England’s top-flight football league saw its first cancellation with yesterday’s match between Arsenal and Manchester City postponed (see story here), while E3, the world’s premier video game trade show, due to be held in June in Los Angeles, was called off. In an unprecedented move, NCAA officials yesterday closed the US national college basketball tournament to paying fans. The first games will be played next Tuesday (Mar 17).
Man City v Arsenal off as coronavirus hits Premier League
Man City v Arsenal off as coronavirus hits Premier League
FOOTBALL: Arsenal’s game at Manchester City was postponed today (Mar 11) after players from the London club were put into quarantine, making it the first Premier League fixture to be called off because of the new coronavirus.
Weak Spurs exposed as Leipzig cruise into Champions League quarters
Weak Spurs exposed as Leipzig cruise into Champions League quarters
FOOTBALL: Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli questioned his side’s mental strength after RB Leipzig cruised to a 3-0 win yesterday (Mar 10) to progress 4-0 on aggregate to the quarter-finals for the first time.
Ferrari wants to put ‘smiles on faces’ as Italy locks down
Ferrari wants to put ‘smiles on faces’ as Italy locks down
FORMULA ONE: Ferrari Formula One boss Mattia Binotto today (Mar 10) urged his team to “put a smile on people’s faces” at the Australian Grand Prix as Italy went into lockdown to combat coronavirus.