Israel's Netanyahu to self isolate after aide tests positive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is self-isolating after one of his aides tested positive for the coronavirus.
The prime minister’s office said Monday that Netanyahu and his close staff would remain in isolation until an epidemiological investigation into his contact with the aide had been completed. The ministry of health and the prime minister’s personal physician would determine the day to end the isolation, Netanyahu’s office said.
The announcement came as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is currently negotiating to form an emergency unity government with his chief political rival, Benny Gantz. It looks set to allow Netanyahu to retain power. Israel has recorded more than 4,300 positive cases, including 482 in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry. Fifteen people have died in Israel due to the disease.
Tokyo Olympics rescheduled to start in July 2021
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that were postponed last week because of the coronavirus pandemic have been rescheduled for next summer.
The games will open on July 23 and close on Aug. 8, 2021. The Paralympics will be held Aug. 24 through Sept. 5, 2021.
They were originally scheduled to take place between July 24 and Aug. 9 this year, but Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee agreed last Tuesday to postpone the games, as countries around the world struggle to contain the epidemic that has claimed more than 34,000 lives and forced millions around the world into lockdowns.
Hearses, songs and drones: How Colombian police get the coronavirus message across
U.S. military contractor tests positive for COVID-19 on S.Korea base
Another American military contractor at the U.S. Camp Humphreys base in South Korea tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, officials said, bringing the total to five.
The U.S. citizen is currently in isolation at his residence, off the military base, and last visited the camp on March 27, according to a statement from the United States Forces Korea (USFK).
Officials said they were undertaking contact tracing to determine if anyone else had been exposed to the virus. This makes the 13th case of coronavirus for U.S. Forces in Korea, according to an NBC News count.
La-Z-Boy furloughs 70 percent of its workforce, slashes executive pay
La-Z-Boy is furloughing 70 percent of its workforce and closing all U.S. factories, stores, and warehouses until at least April 13, the furniture maker announced on Sunday.
In addition to cutting senior management salaries by 50 percent, and by 25 percent for other staff, the company said it will also freeze its 401(k) match.
"While the decisions made were extremely difficult and we deeply regret the impact they will have on those affected and their families, they are deemed necessary as we face one of the most challenging periods in our history," said Kurt Darrow, chairman, president and CEO of La-Z-Boy.
La-Z-Boy is one of the largest employers in Michigan, with around 6,800 people.
Italian doctor plays ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ after grueling shift
After finishing a shift treating COVID-19 patients at a hospital in northern Italy, one doctor headed straight for the piano.
Still wearing his personal protective equipment, including mask and shoe coverings, the doctor performed parts of the songs “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” by Queen, at the Ospedale di Circolo in Varese.
“He could not have chosen a better song,” hospital director Gianni Bonelli told NBC News, who did not name the doctor.
Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe, has recorded more than 97,000 cases of coronavirus and nearly 11,000 deaths, officials said on Sunday.
Police in Nepal use special device to keep safe distances during lockdown
Iran to release 100,000 prisoners as 3,000 new cases recorded
Iran has recorded more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 41,495, the country's health officials said Monday.
More than 100 new deaths were registered, with the total now standing at 2,757.
On Sunday, Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said nearly 100,000 prisoners will be temporarily released to ease the pressure on the healthcare system as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak. It's the second wave of prisoners to be released amid the epidemic.
Earlier this month, Iran temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail, including political prisoners.
Italian fashion houses shift to making medical gear
From Bulgari to Prada, high-end Italian fashion houses are switching from manufacturing luxury handbags and perfumes to masks, white coats and hand sanitizers in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus in one of Europe's hardest hit countries.
On Sunday, the special commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, Domenico Arcuri, announced that 25 Italian fashion brands would begin manufacturing 200,000 masks a day in converted factories and workshops.
The production will eventually gear up, with the aim of delivering 500,000 masks per day from next week and eventually reaching 700,000 masks a day, he said.
Last Friday, the Armani Group announced that its Italian production plants had switched to manufacturing single use overalls for healthcare workers involved in the fight against coronavirus. Bulgari, a luxury jeweler founded in 1884, said last week it had begun to produce several hundred thousand bottles of hand sanitizers, sporting the slogan: 'Hand in hand with Italy.'
Klobuchar opens up about husband contracting coronavirus
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Sunday that it can be very lonely living with COVID-19, which her husband tested positive for and is self-isolating in their Washington, D.C., apartment.
"This is a disease like no other," Klobuchar told MSNBC's "Kasie DC." "It's a very lonely disease. It's lonely in the ramp-up, it's lonely if you get really sick and it is lonely afterward, because you really can't go out there until you know are you not contagious."
She said that she was staying in a Senate colleague's apartment until her husband, John Bessler, gets the green light from doctors to make sure he can't spread the disease to others.
"I hope my husband's story will be helpful for many is that he is only 52. He's really healthy. We have no idea how he got it and he ended up in the hospital with severe pneumonia," she said. "He had been coughing up blood, he was there for a few days, turned the corner and is now home."