Middle East Experience

Students in the United Kingdom are using orange juice to get fake COVID-19 positive test results to get two weeks off from school, The Guardian reported on Saturday.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The experiment, which requires using a COVID lateral flow test, “is not a result of the juice containing the virus. Rather it appears to be linked to its acidity, which essentially breaks the test.”A rapid flow test is usually self-administered and shows results after 30 minutes. A sample is taken inside the mouth and nose using a swab which is then soaked in a liquid then squeezed onto a test strip.The same positive results have reportedly been seen by using other foods and drinks including ketchup and Coca-Cola, according to the report.One UK science teacher told the publication students “say it’s a great way to get two weeks off school.”The Guardian also reported that the hack had gone viral on the video sharing app TikTok where users were testing out different liquids.“According to the i newspaper, there have been more than 6.5 million views of videos uploaded to the social media platform under the search term #fakecovidtest,” The Guardian reported.However, upon verifying, Al Arabiya English discovered that TikTok had since removed all videos under the hashtag.“This phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines,” the TikTok search results page showed.A professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham criticized the practice, according to The Guardian.“False positives affect not just that child but their family and their bubble at school, so [it is a] pretty selfish thing to do. There are less harmful ways to fake a day off school,” Jon Deeks was quoted as saying.Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, urged parents to ensure tests are being used properly, adding, the best place for students who are interested in learning more about chemical reactions is in schools.Read more: UK COVID-19 data looks ‘very positive’ for lifting lockdown: MinisterDelta COVID-19 variant haunts outlook for global economic growthUK should retain some COVID-19 measures after July 19: Doctors’ union
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UK students using orange juice to get fake COVID positive test results

Humans can transmit COVID-19 to their pets, according to a Dutch study.The study, conducted by Dr. Els Broens from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, found that a surprising number of cats and dogs caught the virus from their owners.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.“About one in five pets will catch the disease from their owners,” Dr. Broens told Reuters on Thursday. “Luckily, the animals do not get very ill from it.”Broens’ study examined 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households where people were known to have had previously contracted COVID-19. About 17 percent of the animals (31 cats and 23 dogs) had COVID-19 antibodies.After PCR testing the animals for coronavirus, it was found that six cats and seven dogs - accounting for 4.2 percent of the surveyed animals - had an active COVID-19 infection.However, results from further tests suggested that the animals were able to quickly recover from the virus and did not pass it on to other pets within the same household.Broens believes that one of the root causes of infecting house pets was the affection that their owners showed them.“A lot of the pet owners are in very close contact, like they sleep with their animals in their bed, so you can imagine that there’s close contact, so that transmission can take place,” she added.It has long been speculated that the novel coronavirus was first identified in bats and since the pandemic’s early days, it has been known that non-human mammals were also able to get infected but a relatively small number of them became seriously ill from it.For the latest headines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.As of yet, minks have been known to be infected by humans who contracted COVID-19 and were able to pass on the virus to other humans too.The veterinary medicine department head at Cambridge University, Professor James Wood, told the BBC that the study added to evidence suggesting that a huge number of cats and dogs were able to catch the virus from their owners, the BBC reported on Thursday.“The Dutch study is robustly conducted and shows that around 20 percent of exposed pets may be infected and that they eventually clear the infection just as most humans do,” Wood said. “Most reports are that this infection appears to be asymptomatic.”Read more:Big cats, bears, ferrets get COVID-19 vaccine at Oakland ZooIs one dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine effective? Health experts weigh inUK COVID-19 data looks ‘very positive’ for lifting lockdown: Minister
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: One in five pets caught COVID-19 from their owners: Study

The United Arab Emirates has approved Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive such approval by the Gulf Arab state, the health ministry said in a statement on state news agency WAM on Sunday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The UAE, the region’s tourism, trade and business hub, has had one of the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns, surpassing Seychelles as the most vaccinated nation in the world on Sunday.The country has reported the spread of the Beta, Delta and Alpha variants in the country of some 9.2 million people, Reuters reported.Around 73.8 percent of the UAE’s population has received one vaccine dose while 63.7 percent are fully vaccinated, the health ministry said in a Twitter post on Saturday.The decision came after the completion of successful clinical trials of the Moderna jab, an assessment conducted for its local emergency use approval and the approval of the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.The UAE has already administered more than 15.5 million doses, according to NCEMA, since the launch of the country’s vaccination drive in December 2020. This number is expected to rise soon with the approval of a third booster dose to those who have taken the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, and the launch of Pfizer vaccines for pregnant women, which was announced last week.COVID-19 data from Reuters indicated that an average of 78,493 doses are administered in the UAE per day. If the country continues to vaccinate at this rate, it should take a further 25 days to administer enough shots to another 10 percent of the population.With ReutersRead more:UAE reports decline in new COVID-19 cases, three deaths in 24 hoursOne in five pets caught COVID-19 from their owners: StudyUAE overtakes Seychelles in becoming world’s most vaccinated nation
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE approves Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Experts weigh in on the jabs following a study published in Nature journal..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Covid: Will Pfizer, Moderna vaccines provide long-term immunity?

Qatar has the potential to be one of the main countries to help in the transitional process of diversifying economies for better sustainability, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said during a press briefing on Thursday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: US climate envoy praises Qatar's commitment to environmental projects – Doha News | Qatar

Lebanon's medicine importers Sunday said they had run out of hundreds of essential drugs and warned of more shortages, as the country's dire financial crisis batters the health sector..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon medicine importers warn foreign drugs running out

An India-based NGO helps make the art of giving a roaring success in the UNDP-backed project..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Dubai students make 500 kits for needy infants in conflict-hit countries

Dozens of relatives of those killed in Lebanon’s port blast gathered Sunday to mark 11 months since the catastrophe and urge answers from a sluggish probe toward prosecuting those responsible.Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded on the dockside on August 4 last year, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands, and ravaging swathes of the capital.It emerged afterwards that top political and security officials, including then prime minister Hassan Diab, had known about the explosives being stored unsafely at the port for years.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Among the men, women and children who rallied Sunday outside the port was 47-year-old mother of three Raghida al-Zein, dressed in black and clutching a portrait of her husband killed in the blast.“I lost the pillar of our home, a friend. We have lost everything,” she said, accusing officials of being “without a conscience.”Nearby a teenager and young girl held up a banner that read: “The wives and children of the Beirut port martyrs demand justice.”Ibrahim Hoteit, who lost his brother Sarwat, said the families of the victims needed to know the truth.“We live in a country run by gangs,” he said of the deeply divided political class, which many accuse of incompetence and corruption.Retired army officer Elias Tanios Maalouf, 61, said he had lost his son George, a soldier who had been stationed at the entrance of the port when the fertilizer blew up on the evening of August 4, 2020.“George was taken, and with it all the joy in life,” he said.Maalouf described the authorities as “corrupt and criminal,” but said he held hope in the judiciary.The judge investigating the blast said Friday he had summoned outgoing premier Diab and taken steps toward indicting several former ministers and security officials over the explosion.A similar move led to his predecessor being thrown off the case in February, after causing an uproar among the political elite for issuing charges against Diab and former cabinet ministers.Lebanon’s government resigned after the explosion, but has remained in a caretaker capacity as the country’s many political parties bicker over shares in a new cabinet.Read more:Judge investigating Beirut port blast targets top officials in LebanonBefore and after the explosion: Beirut port blast in picturesLebanon’s medicine importers warn of serious foreign drugs shortage
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Families of Beirut blast victims mark 11 months since catastrophe

Lebanon registered 207 new coronavirus cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said Sunday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon COVID-19 cases tick higher, 1M receive first jab

The government recently allocated 3 million zloty, some €660,000, to the “Patriotic Fund” which will distribute money to three highly problematic groups.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Polish figures condemn allocation of state funds to far-right groups