Back to school after lockdown campaign. Don't miss it! Webisode 2

Early this spring, school gates around the world slammed shut. By early April, an astonishing 1.5 billion young people were staying home as part of broader shutdowns to protect people from the novel coronavirus.

In early this month Angola decided to reopen school gates and thousands students went back to school. 

However, a 16 years old Julia will go back to school only tomorrow, but before that, she decided to share with us what is she expecting to see there.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is  Julia Valentin, I'm 16 years old, I'm in 11th grade and I'm Angolan.

How did covid-19 affect you?

The coronavirus affected me academically, because I stayed at home for 6 months, a long time without studying and this had a negative impact on my life.

What have you been doing to continue learning in this pandemic era?

To continue learning I have been reading our school subjects I had before the pandemic, I read some books to gain more knowledge and I also visit student websites.

What do you think educational agents should do to protect students from coronavirus?

Agents must have hygiene teams in schools, enforce physical distance, work with the thermometer to measure students' temperature.

Global coronavirus cases rise by one-day record of 400,000

Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak.

Europe, which successfully tamped down the first surge of infections, has emerged as the new coronavirus epicentre in recent weeks and is reporting on average 140,000 cases a day over the past week.

As a region, Europe is reporting more daily cases than India, Brazil and the United States combined.

Of every 100 infections reported around the world, 34 were from European countries, according to a Reuters analysis. The region is currently reporting a million new infections about every nine days and has reported more than 6.3 million cases since the pandemic began.

Major European countries – United Kingdom, France, Russia, Netherlands and Spain — accounted for about half of Europe’s new cases in the week to Oct. 18, according to Reuters tally.

France is reporting the highest seven-day average of new cases in Europe with 19,425 infections per day followed by the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain and Netherlands in worst affected European countries.

Several European countries are closing schools, cancelling elective surgeries and enlisting student medics as the authorities face a COVID-19 resurgence.

Russia is moving students to online learning and Northern Ireland is closing schools for two weeks and restaurants for four.

In Spain, authorities in Catalonia ordered bars and restaurants to close for 15 days and limited the numbers of people allowed in shops.

The Czech Republic has also shifted schools to distance learning and plans to call up thousands of medical students. Hospitals are cutting non-urgent medical procedures to free up beds.

Polish health officials have warned the country is on the brink of a disaster as a record 6,526 new coronavirus infections and 116 deaths were reported this week. Poland is ramping up training for nurses and considering creating military field hospitals.

Latin America is the worst-affected region with about 27% of total COVID-19 cases followed by Asia, North America and Europe, according to a Reuters analysis.

India is reporting fewer cases this month compared with September, with 69,000 cases per day, according to Reuters analysis. The numbers have fallen by more than 20,400 over the last three weeks, down 22% from its previous peak.

India reported 55,342 cases on Oct. 13, its lowest daily increase since Aug. 18.

In the United States, which has the largest total number of cases and deaths in the world, new infections are edging higher along with the most hospitalized COVID-19 patients since early September.

Efforts to develop a vaccine hit snags, with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N pausing its trial after an unexplained illness in a study participant. AstraZeneca’s AZN.L U.S. trial has remained on hold for more than a month.

Russia, which recorded a record daily increase in cases, has meanwhile granted regulatory approval to a second vaccine.

(This story corrects day of week in first sentence.)

Guinea: Mutiny stopped, President collapses during speech

Guinea: Mutiny stopped, President collapses during speech

In what appears to be the climaxing of chaos leading to Sunday’s presidential elections, 82-year-old Alpha Conde lost consciousness on stage yesterday as he campaigned for re-election for a third term in contravention to Guinea’s constitution.

Meanwhile 112 kilometers northeast of capital Conakry in a town called Kindia, the Guinean military put down a mutiny on Friday killing the leader Colonel Mamadou Conde.

Automatic gunfire was heard Thursday night through Friday morning but Guinean Defense Minister announced that the mutiny which was limited inside the military camp Samoreyah has been brought under control.

No details regarding arrests or reason for the mutiny was given.

It may be recalled that a similar mutiny by lower ranked military officers in neighboring Mali succeeded in overthrowing the government of Ibrahim Keita in August.

That mutiny came in response to weeks of protests demanding Keita’s resignation.

Guineans have also been protesting against President Alpha Conde since his decision to emulate Côte d’Ivoire’s Allassane Outtarra and run for a third term against his country’s constitution.

Indeed in the speech in front of thousands, Conde cited 78-year-old Outtara’s third term bid as normal as the two of them were only staying to make life better for their people.

Life is so better in Guinea that a simple Google check of the drive time between Kindia where the aborted mutiny took place and Conakry where Conde collapsed is 3 hours and 26 minutes for a distance of 112 kilometers.

Peter Trauore, a Guinean tailor in Abijan wondered why ECOWAS has a zero tolerance against military coups but seems to condone dictatorial practices that bring them about in the first place.

American Express Cards will be used in Angola

The Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) and the American Express signed an agreement early this week to enable the use of the American Express cards at the BFA’s Automatic Payment Terminals.

Once the partnership is concluded, the BFA will become the first Angolan bank to accept American Express cards at its Automatic Payment Terminals.

"From now on, BFA enables its corporate customers to join the service of accepting American Express card payments at its TPA network, contributing to the potential development of its businesses," reads the note published by the daily newspaper Jornal de Angola.

The partnership, adds the note, allows American Express card users to use their cards in the TPA of the BFA network and, in this way, encourages the capture of transactions in the establishments of BFA merchants.

In line with that the BFA recommends institutions to include American Express cards in the means of payment of various items, food products, financial transactions, among other actions.

"Any company with TPA-BFA, or wishing to install one, may include American Express cards in its range of payment methods, the bank said.

Vivi Galani, Deputy Chairperson & General Manager, Global Network Partnerships EMEA for American Express said the new partnership represents an excellent opportunity for merchants in Angola and reinforces American Express's leadership position as a global network.

Covid-19: Angola records 240 new cases, 10 recoveries

The health authorities have announced the registration, in the last 24 hours, of another 240 new infections, seven deaths and 10 patients recovered.

According to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, who was speaking at the usual update session, the figures were 123 men and 117 women, aged between one month and 84 years.

The new patients were diagnosed in Luanda province, with 199, Benguela, 21, Cunene, eight, the same number in Zaire, and one each in the provinces of Huambo, Cuanza Norte, Malanje and Benguela.

Four deaths were registered in Luanda, two in Benguela and one in Cuanza Sul.

Angola has 7,462 positive cases, with 241 deaths, 3,022 recoveries and 4,199 active patients.

Of the active cases, 12 are in a critical state with invasive mechanical ventilation, 20 severe, 103 moderate, 412 show mild symptoms and 3,650 asymptomatic.

Under medical care in the country's treatment centres, there are 590 patients.

Food challenge during Covid-19 period

The world celebrated on October 16 the World Food Day under increasingly world hunger, due to several factors, such as the climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, which has imposed social confinement in every country.

According to data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, some 132 million people may join this year's the almost 690 million who were already in hunger in 2019, an increase motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, after a downward revision of China's figures, almost 690 million people were undernourished (8.9% of the world's population), 10 million more than in 2018.

Asia had the highest number of hungry people (381 million), followed by Africa (250 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million).

The number of hungry or undernourished people was over 1 billion in the early 1990s and fell to 784 million in 2014 and 2015.

However, the downward trend was reversed, and the number increased to 821 million in 2018. The numbers continue to fall in Asia but rise in Latin America and the Caribbean and in sub-Saharan Africa.

World Food Day was established in 1981 and for this year 2020, the October 16 is celebrated by more than 150 countries and took place under the theme: Grow, Nourish, Sustain, Together.

This is an important date, which also marks the creation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and to raise public awareness on nutrition and food issues.