Beach trips arranged for ICU virus patients

Francisco Espana, 60, is surrounded by members of his medical team as he looks at the Mediterranean sea from a promenade next to the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, after nearly two months of being sedated and connected to IV lines in the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU). A medical team at the Hospital del Mar — the Hospital of the Seas — is seeing if short trips to the beach just across the street can help COVID-19 patients after long and sometimes traumatic ICU stays.SD-Agencies

Typhoon lashes S. Korea after battering Japan

A powerful typhoon damaged buildings, flooded roads and knocked out power to thousands of homes in South Korea on Monday after battering islands in southern Japan and injuring dozens of people.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said Typhoon Haishen was passing waters off the eastern coastal city of Sokcho on Monday afternoon after barreling through South Korea’s southern and eastern regions.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said at least 38 people were injured, five of them seriously, after Haishen lashed southwestern Japan over the weekend.

India surges to world’s 2nd-worst virus caseload

India’s increasing caseload made the Asian giant the pandemic’s second worst-hit country behind the United States on Monday as its efforts to head off economic disaster gain urgency.

The 90,802 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India’s total past Brazil with 4.2 million cases. India is now only behind the United States, which has more than 6 million.

India’s Health Ministry on Monday also reported 1,016 deaths for a total of 71,642, the third-highest national toll.

India has been recording the world’s largest daily increases in coronavirus cases for almost a month. Despite over 2 million new cases in the past month and the virus spreading through the country’s smaller towns and villages, the Indian Government has continued relaxing restrictions to try and resuscitate the economy.

Mali coup: ousted leader flies to UAE

Mali’s ex-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was ousted in a coup last month, left the country on Saturday.

Keita, 75, has flown to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for medical treatment after suffering from a minor stroke, military officials said.

The junta is currently in talks with opposition and civil society groups about a transition to civilian rule. Keita was overthrown on August 18 following mass protests against his rule over corruption, the mismanagement of the economy and a dispute over legislative elections.

Zimbabwe to return land seized from foreign farmers

Zimbabwe has offered to return land to foreign nationals whose farms were seized under a controversial government program two decades ago.

Thousands of white farmers were forced from their land, often violently, between 2000 and 2001. The seizures were meant to redress colonial-era land grabs but contributed to the country’s economic decline and ruined relations with the West. A separate compensation scheme has been launched for local white farmers.

Trump vaccine timetable denounced as ‘wrong’

The head of renowned medical journal Lancet denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement on the timing of a rollout for a U.S. COVID-19 vaccine as “simply wrong.”

In a Skype interview with CNN, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of Lancet, said on Friday there will not be a vaccine available for public use by the end of October and Trump is simply wrong about that.

He explained that although trials have been taking place in many countries with a high-infection rate, reliable results cannot be guaranteed by the end of the year, since all data needs to go through meticulous verification.(SD-Agencies)