Middle East Experience

The US is not providing financial support to Lebanon’s Health Ministry because it is “run by Hezbollah,” US assistant secretary of Near Eastern affairs told a Lebanese TV channel on Thursday.“Hezbollah is an enormous factor in this government and it is a Hezbollah-backed government … We are not giving money to the Lebanese Ministry of Health because it is run by Hezbollah,” David Schenker told LBCI on Thursday.Critics have branded Lebanon’s current government led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab as a “Hezbollah government,” with ministerial portfolios overwhelmingly controlled by Hezbollah and its allies. One such ministry is the Ministry of Health, headed by Hamad Hassan.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Earlier this month, the ministry received the first shipment of medical aid from Iran including 15 ventilators, 5,000 PCR tests and personal protective equipment, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.Hezbollah has sought to capitalize on the state’s limited capacity to deal with the coronavirus outbreak by showing off its own Islamic Health Association workers and medical units, ambulances and Hezbollah-run hospitals. The display has received largely positive media coverage in Western media.Schenker continued that the US is working with other institutions to help Lebanon fight coronavirus including by “delivering humanitarian and food aid to suffering Lebanese and refugees.”But despite Schenker’s claim that the US “supports the Lebanese people,” Lebanese researcher and journalist Nizar Hassan described the statesperon’s remarks as “frustrating.”“What is really to accomplish from this decision? It is simply a punishment against the Lebanese people for the political affiliation of their health minister,” Hassan told Arabiya English.“[Schenker’s remarks] show that the US administration is not clear in its stance on the Lebanese government, and is not willing to reconsider its arrogant attitude towards the country,” Hassan said.Read more:In Lebanon, coronavirus presents a political lifeline for the sectarian-based eliteLebanon’s sectarian system leaves country ill-equipped to deal with coronavirusOpinion: Hezbollah gets its way with new Lebanese government
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: The US will not fund Lebanon's Hezbollah-run hospitals, says official

The UAE announced 553 new cases of coronavirus in the country on Friday, bringing the total to 16,973, according to the UAE government on Twitter.The number of new cases is a similar increase to previous days.The UAE also announced nine new deaths from the virus, bringing the total to 174.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.An additional 265 people had recovered, said the Ministry of Health, putting the total number of recovered COVID-19 patients at 3,387.The Ministry said it had carried out an additional 41,000 tests over the last 24 hours.Read more:Watch: Dubai authorities inspect shops for coronavirus complianceCoronavirus: Etihad announces inbound flights home for residents to UAE from May 9Coronavirus: Robot doctor helps keep Saudi Arabia medical staff safe
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE announces 553 new infections, total now 16,973, 9 new deaths

The virus probably arrived in humans through contact with animals raised to supply food, though scientists have yet to determine which species
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Coronavirus came from bats, can infect cats, ferrets, WHO says

Saudi Arabia reported 1,701 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 35,432 and the virus-related death toll to 229, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.The Kingdom has witnessed 1,322 recoveries, bringing the number of total recovered cases in Saudi Arabia to 9,120.One of the deceased was a Saudi citizen, nine were from different nationalities, and all of them were between 25-58 years old. The deaths took place in Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, and Riyadh.For all the latest updates on coronavirus, visit our dedicated page.Out of the newly detected cases, 13 percent are females and 87 percent are males, the health ministry's spokesman said.Four percent of the newly detected cases were children, three percent were from the elderly (more than 65-years-old), and the remaining 93 percent were adults, he added.Saudi citizens are 22 percent of the new cases, while 78 percent were from other nationalities.Out of the 35,432 detected cases in Saudi Arabia, 26,856 are active cases and 141 are in critical condition.The below image shows the exact number of cases detected in the past 24 hours in different areas of the Kingdom.Saudi Arabia has banned gatherings and crowds of more than five people under new regulations issued by the Kingdom to curb the coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Interior said on Thursday.Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus treatment protocol, extensive testing, and active screenings have helped the Kingdom maintain its relatively low death rate, Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah said on Wednesday.Even though the health ministry has reported an increasing number of daily new infection cases, al-Rabiah said the death rate remains at less than one percent, that’s 10 times lower than the global death rate, which is seven percent.Read more: Robot doctor helps keep Saudi Arabia medical staff safeSaudi artist runs out of canvases, paints furniture amid lockdownSaudi Arabia sets up self-sanitization gates in Mecca’s Grand Mosque
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia reports 1,701 new cases, 10 deaths

The race to develop a vaccine that would end the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating as several firms move to clinical trials – but the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that it is unlikely we will have a vaccine before the end of 2021.The development and mass distribution of a vaccine is widely seen as the most likely way to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Governments across the world have pumped money into vaccine research as pharmaceutical companies, startup businesses, universities, and research institutes work night and day to develop a vaccine.Three of the US’ biggest pharmaceutical companies – Inovio, Moderna, and Pfizer – have already started clinical trials, seen as the first stage of developing a vaccine. In the UK, researchers at Oxford University supported by the government have said they are aiming to produce a vaccine by the autumn.While some may find hope in the fact that vaccines have reached the trial stage, which means they are being tested on humans to see if they work, senior WHO official Dale Fisher warned this week that a vaccine is unlikely to be available until the end of 2021.“I think end of next year is a very reasonable expectation,” said Fisher, who is the chair of the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, during an interview with CNBC on Monday.“People need to have their expectations checked, I think, rather than blindly, hopefully doing what you want because you want it,” he added.This is because the vaccines currently under clinical trials are in Phase 1 of the development process, but must go through Phase 2 and 3 of trials to ensure they are safe and reliable.Even once a vaccine is found to be suitable, it will then need to be mass produced and mass distributed – a potentially lengthy process in itself.Read more: Coronavirus vaccine: 7 insights from former US Science EnvoyTrump’s timeline “optimistic”US President Donald Trump has taken an optimistic tone on the development of a vaccine and said this week that he was confident there would be one available by the end of this year.“We are very confident that we are going to have a vaccine at the end of the year, by the end of the year,” Trump said in a recent Fox News town hall in Washington. “We think we are going to have a vaccine by the end of this year, and we are pushing very hard.”However, Fisher joined most health experts in dismissing this timeline as unrealistic, describing Trump’s comments as “a bit premature.”His concerns were shared by the CEO of Roche, a major pharmaceutical company in the US.“I have no doubt that as so many companies are working on a vaccine in parallel, and as we see such great collaboration with regulators including the FDA, we can actually speed up the approval of vaccines,” Roche CEO Severin Schwan said to CNBC on Monday.“But still, typically it would take years to develop a new medicine,” he added. “Most experts agree that it will take at least 12 to 18 months until we see a vaccine which is available in the necessary quantities for patients.”Read more:Opinion: Only a vaccine will stop coronavirus in its tracksCoronavirus: The UK says it will create COVID vaccine by autumn – but is it possible?Researchers adapting SARS vaccine for coronavirus get head start
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: No vaccine until end of 2021, says WHO official

The gates sterilise people who pass through them with antiseptic spray, and are equipped with thermal cameras to detect temperatures from a distance of 6 metres
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Saudi Arabia installs self-sterilisation gates at Grand Mosque

British Embassy in Oman said there has been high demand for the flight
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Repatriation flight to London for expats in Oman on May 18

1,322 coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the total to 9,120
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Saudi Arabia reports 10 deaths, 1,701 new cases of Covid-19

Inbound passengers must apply for Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship approval before booking flights
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Etihad Airways to operate inbound passenger flights to Abu Dhabi from select cities

In nationwide demonstrations over the last few days, Israeli women are demanding help with the spike violence against women during the COVID-19 crisis.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Women protest spike in domestic violence as locked-down Israel simmers