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Tag: pandemic

  • Health experts warn of imminent Non-Communicable Disease pandemic

    Health experts warn of imminent Non-Communicable Disease pandemic

    Health experts have sounded the alarm that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) could potentially become the next global pandemic if immediate and decisive measures are not taken.

    Annually, over 94,000 individuals succumb to NCDs, including diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure, and cancers, highlighting the urgent need for more effective interventions.

    At the JoyNews National Dialogue on NCDs held on Thursday, leading health professionals called for swift and proactive governmental action.

    Prof. Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah from the Department of Health Services Management at the University of Ghana Business School emphasized the necessity of a multidimensional strategy to combat these diseases.

    He pointed out that strong regulations and policies are crucial to addressing the underlying causes of NCDs.

    “NCDs are the next pandemic. How are we communicating this to the elites who have the power to make decisions when it comes to resource allocation, such as the Ministry of Finance and cabinet?” Prof. Abekah-Nkrumah asked. “Do they see NCDs as the next COVID, which may necessitate the President addressing the nation every fortnight and holding meetings all over the place? The way we package this message and align it with their own incentives, in terms of how this determines their electoral fortunes, will be very important.”

    Prof. Abekah-Nkrumah stressed the critical importance of framing the fight against NCDs in a way that resonates with decision-makers, aligning the urgency of the issue with their political and economic interests.

    Effectively communicating the severity of NCDs and their potential impact on the nation’s health and economy is essential for garnering the necessary support and resources.

    Dr. Kwasi Boahene, Director of Health Systems at PharmAccess, provided a sobering projection of the financial burden NCDs could impose on Ghana.

    He revealed that by 2030, the country might spend approximately six billion dollars annually to address these chronic diseases. This staggering figure highlights the need for immediate action to prevent NCDs from overwhelming the healthcare system and economy.

    Immediate and strategic measures are needed to prevent NCDs from becoming the next pandemic. This includes implementing comprehensive policies and ensuring effective communication with decision-makers to secure the required support and resources.

  • Pupils in Africa missed out on e-learning in the era of Covid

    Pupils in Africa missed out on e-learning in the era of Covid

    According to a report from the UN’s education agency (Unesco), approximately 360 million students worldwide, with 72% of them from Africa, were unable to access distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Despite the potential of online learning to reach over one billion students, the study highlighted the significant disparities in access to educational resources during the pandemic.

    However, the report also acknowledged that distance learning did help mitigate the crisis in the education sector when schools were forced to close in 2020 due to the coronavirus.

    In particular, distance learning proved beneficial for 22,000 children affected by the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria. Mobile phones and radios were utilized to support their education, resulting in improvements in both literacy and numeracy skills.

    However, the research pointed out that not everyone has access to the internet: Only 40% of elementary, 50% of lower secondary, and 65% of upper secondary schools worldwide have internet access.

    In order to preserve teacher-led, in-person instruction, the report encourages nations to have technology built on their own terms.

    Unesco also cautioned that using technology by kids in the classroom or at home could be “distracting, disrupting learning” and that it should not be used as a substitute for face-to-face connection.

    “Its use must be for enhanced learning experiences and for the well-being of students and teachers, not to their detriment,” Unesco head Audrey Azoulay said.

  • Amazon to layoff 18,000 jobs as it cuts costs

    Amazon to layoff 18,000 jobs as it cuts costs

    Amazon intends to cut more than 18,000 jobs, the most in the company’s history, in a bid to cut costs.

    The online retailer, which employs 1.5 million people worldwide, did not specify which countries would be affected, but noted that Europe would not be left out.

    The majority of the job losses will be in its consumer retail and human resources divisions.

    Andy Jassy, the company’s CEO, blamed the layoffs on the “uncertain economy,” saying the company had “hired rapidly over several years.”

    “We don’t take these decisions lightly or underestimate how much they might affect the lives of those who are impacted,” he said in a memo to staff.

    He said the announcement had been brought forward due to one of the firm’s employees leaking the cuts externally.

    “Companies that last a long time go through different phases. They’re not in heavy people expansion mode every year,” he added.

    Amazon’s sales have slowed after a surge during the pandemic, when customers bored at home spent a lot of time online.

    A potent combination of a downturn in advertising revenues due to businesses seeking to save cash and consumers spending less as the cost of living crisis bites is hitting tech firms hard.

    Other major tech companies, such as Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and cloud-based business software firm Salesforce, have recently announced significant layoffs.

    Amazon has already announced that it’s cutting back on projects like the Echo (better known as Alexa) and delivery robots – which were nice-to-haves but not actually making money.

    Anecdotally, there’s a tendency in Silicon Valley for firms to hire and retain talented workers on attractive salaries, even if they’re not immediately needed, primarily in order to stop them working for rivals. This culture is a luxury that big tech can no longer afford to maintain.

    Amazon employees affected by the cuts are expected to be informed by January 18.

    The move comes after the technology giant said last year that it would reduce its headcount without saying how many jobs would be cut.

    A potent combination of a downturn in advertising revenues due to businesses seeking to save cash, and consumers spending less as the cost of living crisis bites, is hitting tech firms hard.

    ‘More pain ahead’

    The company had already stopped hiring new staff and stopped some of its warehouse expansions, warning it had over-hired during the pandemic.

    It has also taken steps to shut some parts of its business, cancelling projects such as a personal delivery robot.

    “Prior to the pandemic, tech companies would often remove only the bottom 1% to 3% of their workforce,” Ray Wang from the Silicon Valley-based consultancy Constellation Research told the BBC.

    Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities said he believes Amazon will face “more pain ahead” as customers tighten their belts.

    Industry-wide cuts

    Tens of thousands of jobs are being shed across the global technology industry, amid slowing sales and growing concerns about an economic downturn.

    In November,

    Facebook owner Meta announced that it would cut 13% of its workforce.

    The first mass lay-offs in the social media firm’s history will result in 11,000 employees, from a worldwide headcount of 87,000, losing their jobs.

    Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the cuts were “the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history”.

    The news followed major layoffs at Twitter, which cut about half its staff after multi-billionaire Elon Musk bought the firm in October.

    Amazon started laying off staff as early as November, according to LinkedIn posts by workers who said they had been impacted by job cuts.

    Posts seen by the BBC included those from employees in Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant business, Luna cloud gaming platform division, and Lab – the operation behind the Kindle e-reader.

    Source: BBC.com

  • Experts say UK economy will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024

    The UK economy will return to its pre-pandemic levels only in 2024, experts have now said.

    In its latest economic update, Deutsche Bank said: “Since our last growth update, the UK economic outlook has weakened further.

    “We now see the UK in a recessionary orbit with growth likely to remain subdued for much of the next year or so, with GDP slowing from 4.5% this year (previously: 3.5%) to -0.5% next year (previously: 0%), and rising by 1% in 2024 (previously: 1%).

    “We now expect GDP to return to its pre-pandemic level only in 2024, with growth recovering to its trend rate (1.25%) around the middle of the decade.”

    The last few weeks have been full of turmoil for the British economy, in the wake of Kwasi Kwarteng’s controversial mini-budget.

    The pound plummeted shortly afterward – but is now climbing back up.

  • Judiciary will expand access to justice through technology – CJ

    The Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, has assured the public that the judiciary will continue to adopt technology in order to expand access to justice delivery.

    In a message at a special church service to usher in the new legal year last Saturday, the Chief Justice said the COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of technology, with the judiciary adopting many digital tools in order to serve the public, while at the same time, avoiding the spread of the virus in courtrooms.

    Justice Anin Yeboah said the judiciary had already started utilising technology in its operations before the pandemic, and would continue to aggressively pursue that to improve access to justice delivery.

    Technological drive

    The Chief Justice mentioned some of the technological initiatives as the automation of High Courts in Accra under the e-Justice project, the e-Judgement system and the national digitisation project, which was digitising court documents in selected courts across the country.

    “Today, with the use of teleconferencing equipment that we have procured, we are able to organise virtual hearings in some of our courts, with incalculable benefits for speed and convenience to all who have to interact with the justice system,” Justice Anin Yeboah said.

    However, the Chief Justice said in spite of the technological drive, justice delivery would only improve if all the stakeholders in the justice delivery system performed their duties diligently as ascribed by law.

    “Let us remember that the justice system rests on our daily actions and so we should endeavour to place those actions in the best possible light,” Justice Anin Yeboah indicated.

    New legal year

    The 65th legal year, which commences today and ends on July 31, next year, is the calendar period during which the judiciary fully operates.

    In August and September, majority of judges go on vacation, with a few judges staying on call to work in order for the wheel or justice not to grind to a halt.
    The 65th legal year is on the theme “Improving Access to Justice in a pandemic through the use of technology.”

    Last Saturday’s church service at the Cathedral Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Anglican Church in Accra was the first church service to mark a new legal year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

    Aside from the Chief Justice, other justices of the superior courts, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the President of the Ghana Bar Association, Yaw Boafo, and the Director of the Ghana School of Law, Yaw Oppong, also attended the church service.

    Expectation

    The Attorney-General, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said his expectation of the new legal year was for the judiciary to continue to dispense justice efficiently as it always did, with emphasis on fairness, justice and the rule of law.

    “Lawyers must also play their part. Sound advocacy is what enables judges to deliver justice in a manner required by law. The duty is not only on the judges but lawyers also play a major role,” Mr Dame said.

    Sermon

    Delivering the sermon, Archbishop Emeritus of the West African Province of the Anglican Church, Most Rev. Dr Robert Garshong Allotey Okine, advised judges and officers of the law to uphold integrity and not sacrifice it for expediency.

    “Do not fail to do what you know is right. Again, be consistent in your utterances and actions. Inconsistencies are major problems facing our society. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no,” Most Rev. Okine said.

    He also urged judges to refrain from all forms of corruption that would affect their duties and derail the effective administration of justice.

  • Covid: Reserve Bank of Australia takes $30bn hit on bond purchases

    Australia’s central bank has revealed that it has lost A$44.9bn ($30bn; £26.3bn) on the bonds it bought as part of its efforts to support the country’s economy during the pandemic.

    The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) deputy governor says that wiped out the bank’s profit for the 2021-22 year, leaving a net loss of A$36.7bn.

    The bonds were accumulated under a A$300bn emergency stimulus programme.

    However, the bank says the loss will not affect its normal operations.

    “If any commercial entity had negative equity, assets would be insufficient to meet liabilities and therefore the company would not be a going concern,” RBA deputy governor Michele Bullock said.

    “Since it has the ability to create money, the Bank can continue to meet its obligations as they become due,” she added.

    The RBA said it plans to keep the bonds until they mature, which means it is likely to eventually make a profit.

    Ms Bullock also highlighted that other central banks around the world face similar losses on their emergency stimulus programmes.

    For example, in July the Swiss National Bank reported a first-half loss of 95.2bn Swiss francs ($98.7bn; £87bn). That was its biggest loss since it was founded more than a century ago.

    Getting back to normal

    On Tuesday, the minutes of the RBA’s last meeting said its interest rates are now getting closer to “normal settings” after a series of cuts during the pandemic.

    The bank raised its main interest rate by half a percentage point for the fourth month in a row at its meeting on 6 September.

    Central banks around the world are putting up the cost of borrowing and removing other emergency economic stimulus measures as try to keep the the soaring cost of living in check.

    Source: BBC

  • Child vaccinations fall sharply amid pandemic – UN

    The pandemic has led to a sharp fall in the number of children around the world being vaccinated, the UN says.

    The decline in immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough over the first four months of the year is the first in nearly three decades.

    World Health Organization head Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said vaccines were a hugely powerful public health tool.

    He said the suffering and death caused by children missing out on vaccines could dwarf that caused by the virus.

    Immunisation programmes in three-quarters of the more than 80 countries that responded to a UN survey have been disrupted, Unicef and the World Bank said.

    They said the disruptions were linked to a lack of personal protective equipment for health workers, travel restrictions, low health worker staffing levels and a reluctance to leave home, all of which saw programmes curbed or shut down.

    By May this year at least 30 measles vaccinations campaigns had been cancelled or were at risk.

    Measles outbreaks were already rising before the pandemic struck, with 10 million people infected in 2018 and 140,000 deaths, most of whom were children, according to UN data.

    Unicef head Henriette Fore said the coronavirus had made routine vaccinations a “daunting challenge”.

    “We must prevent a further deterioration in vaccine coverage… before children’s lives are threatened by other diseases, she said, adding: “We cannot trade one health crisis for another.”

    Source: bbc.com

  • French police seize 14,000 face masks bound for black market

    French police have seized 140,000 face masks intended for the black market in a record haul since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

    It is the largest seizure since the French government banned the resale of protective masks to prioritise their distribution to health workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Two individuals were arrested while they were unloading boxes in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, a police source said on Sunday.

    One of them said he was a business owner and had bought the masks, including 5,000 high protection FFP2 masks, in the Netherlands for a total of 80,000 euros ($87,000).

    The masks were to be sold to construction workers for a large profit, according to police.

    In March, 32,500 masks from China were seized from a warehouse near Paris and 28,800 masks were discovered in a shop in a district of Chinese wholesalers, also in the Paris region.

    Source: france24.com

  • Coronavirus pandemic will cause global famines of ‘biblical proportions’ – UN warns

    The world is facing multiple famines of “biblical proportions” in just a matter of months, the UN has said, warning that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation.

    Famines could take hold in “about three dozen countries” in a worst-case scenario, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a stark address on Tuesday. Ten of those countries already have more than 1 million people on the verge of starvation, he said.

    He cited conflict, an economic recession, a decline in aid and a collapse in oil prices as factors likely to lead to vast food shortages, and urged swift action to avert disaster.

    “While dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic,” David Beasley told the UN’s security council. “There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself.”

    The WFP had already warned that 2020 would be a devastating year for numerous countries ravaged by poverty or war, with 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse. Their updated projections nearly double that number.

    When added to the 821 million people already chronically hungry, that scenario would push more than 1 billion people into dire situations.
    The agency identified 55 countries most at risk of being plunged into famine in its annual report on food crises, released this week, warning that their fragile healthcare systems will be unable to cope with the impact of the virus.

    “These countries may face an excruciating trade-off between saving lives or livelihoods or, in a worst-case scenario, saving people from the coronavirus to have them die from hunger,” the report said.

    Ten countries were singled out as particularly at-risk, after housing the worst food crises last year; Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Nigeria and Haiti.

    Most of those countries have so far been spared the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with the epicenter moving from China to Europe to North America, but the state of their healthcare institutions means even relatively small outbreaks could be devastating. To date, more than 2.5 million cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed globally.

    Source: cnn.com

  • Government must come to the aid of clubs – Bechem United striker

    Bechem United striker, Hafiz Konkoni has endorsed calls for government to support clubs financially as there is no league due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Most of the Ghana Premier League clubs are calling for government’s support because there is no matches which can benefit them to pay the players.

    Hafiz Konkoni revealed on Tru 92.FM sports that it is in the right direction to call for government’s support.

    “I heard that there is a proposal to the president. It is in the good direction to seek for government’s support because there is no ongoing matches to benefit from the gate fees.

    “It is the big problem for the clubs but is in the good direction because some of the presidents in other contraries have given their FAs money to help the clubs. The government should suppot the clubs.

    Source: Richmond K Entsie/Contributor

  • Coronavirus: Work begins at Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence

    As part of measures to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country, work has begun at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence to renovate the facility to a standard Isolation centre.

    The fencing and cleaning were carried out by the Ghana army under the supervision of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Ghana Health service.

    The facelift includes fencing the entire edifice, clean the environs, fix medical items, and put the place into top shape to host persons that may test positive for the deadly virus.

    This is to ensure Ghana has enough Isolation centres in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence is located at Prampram in the Greater Accra region and it will able to host 250 patients when completed.

    Ghana has confirmed 1042 cases of COVID-19 with nine deaths as at, April 19, 2020.

    Source: footballghana.com

  • GWF President supports weightlifters

    Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah, President of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF) has extended support to members of his federation, following the suspension of all sporting activities by the government.

    Ghana has recorded over a thousand cases of coronavirus infections and situation is having a toll on Ghanaians as many struggle to make ends meet due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

    Mr. Nunoo Mensah on Saturday gave out some food items to members of the Black Cranes, the national weightlifting team and other members of the federation.

    Mr. Nunoo Mensah who also doubles as the President of the GOC also extended similar assistance to the staff of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC).

    He challenged leaders of the various federations and associations to reach out to their athletes and assist them in these trying times.

    “This is the time to show leadership. This is the time to show love to our dear athletes as we endure these trying times,” he noted.

    He urged them to use their expertise to attract sponsors and well-wishers to aid their athletes during the lockdown period.

    Mr. Nunoo Mensah was confident government through the Ministry of Youth & Sports would extend some form assistance to members of the various national teams.

    He said COVID-19 is a real pandemic, and the only way it can be curbed is by living healthy lifestyles, keeping fit, eating well, and abiding by the social distance rule.

    He reiterated the need to wash hands regularly, use sanitizers frequently and avoid handshakes and large groupings.

    Source: GNA

  • Coronavirus: Coming weeks ‘critical’ as Europe’s deaths pass 90,000

    Europe is in the eye of the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number of cases nearing a million, and should move with extreme caution when considering easing lockdowns, the World Health Organization’s regional director said on Thursday.

    “Case numbers across the region continue to climb. In the past 10 days, the number of cases reported in Europe has nearly doubled to close to 1 million,” the WHO’s European director, Hans Kluge, told reporters in an online briefing.

    This meant that about 50% of the global burden of Covid-19 was in Europe, Kluge said.

    “The storm clouds of this pandemic still hang heavily over the European region,” he added.

    With a total of 90,180 deaths out of some 1,047,279 infections, Europe is the hardest-hit continent by the pandemic, which has killed a total of 137,499 worldwide, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

    The largest number of deaths have been seen in Italy with 21,645 and Spain with 19,130, followed by France with 17,167 deaths and Britain 12,868.

    As some countries start to consider whether restrictions may be eased and whether schools and some workplaces might start to reopen, the WHO’s regional director said it was critical to understand the complexity and uncertainty of such transitioning.

    Companies and politicians across the world are worried about the economic impact of a long shutdown, and some countries in Europe — such as Germany, Denmark, Spain and others — are beginning to think about how to ease some societal restrictions.

    WHO/Europe

    ✔@WHO_Europe

     · 
    Replying to @WHO_Europe

    Watch, learn and listen to each other particularly the countries that are already taking steps to ease restrictions and transition to a next phase of response. @hans_kluge

    WHO/Europe

    ✔@WHO_Europe

    Solidarity is key here, between the health authorities and COVID-19 response leads in the respective countries. @hans_kluge

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    Kluge said the WHO recognised that social distancing policies designed to slow the spread of the virus “are affecting lives and livelihoods”.

    “People are rightly asking: How much do we have to endure? And for how long? In response, we, governments, and health authorities must come up with answers to identify when, under what conditions and how we can consider a safe transition.”

    Any step to lift lockdown measures must firstly ensure several key things, he said, including that evidence shows a country’s Covid-19 transmission is being controlled, outbreak risks are minimised, and that health systems have the capacity to identify, test, trace and isolate Covid-19 cases.

    “We remain in the eye of the storm…If you cannot ensure these criteria are in place before easing restrictions, I urge you to re-think,” he said, adding: “There is no fast track back to normal.”

    Source: France24

  • Global trade will plunge by up to a third in 2020 amid pandemic – WTO

    Global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday, warning that the numbers would be “ugly”.

    “World trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world,” the WTO said in a statement.

    There were a wide range of possibilities for how trade would be hit by the “unprecedented” health crisis, it added.

    However, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo warned the downturn “may well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes”.

    In its main annual forecast, the 164-member WTO pointed out that trade had already been slowing in 2019, before the emergence of the novel coronavirus.

    But the virus has now infected some 1.4 million people since late last year, killing more than 80,000 and forcing governments across the world to take radical measures.

    More than half of humanity has been asked to stay at home and economic activity has ground to a virtual standstill in many places.

    Global trade, already hit by trade tensions and uncertainties around Brexit, is expected to register “double-digit declines in trade volumes” in nearly all regions this year, the WTO said.

    “This crisis is first and foremost a health crisis which has forced governments to take unprecedented measures to protect people’s lives,” Azevedo said in a statement.

    “The unavoidable declines in trade and output will have painful consequences for households and businesses, on top of the human suffering caused by the disease itself,” he said.

    Dramatic downturn

    Before the current crisis, trade tensions, uncertainty and slowing economic growth weighed on global merchandise trade, which registered a slight decline of 0.1 percent in 2019 after rising 2.9 percent a year earlier.

    The dollar value of world merchandise exports fell by three percent to $18.89 trillion, the WTO said.

    World commercial services trade fared better last year, with exports in dollar terms rising by two percent to $6.03 trillion, but the expansion was far slower than in 2018, when services trade increased by nine percent, said the WTO.

    But the situation has taken a dramatic turn since the new coronavirus first emerged in China late last year.

    The WTO said that while the global shock might invite comparisons to the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the situation now was worse.

    “Restrictions on movement and social distancing to slow the spread of the disease mean that labour supply, transport and travel are today directly affected in ways they were not during the financial crisis,” it said.

    “Whole sectors of national economies have been shut down, including hotels, restaurants, non-essential retail trade, tourism and significant shares of manufacturing.”

    Developments remained very uncertain, said the WTO.

    An optimistic outlook posits that a sharp drop in trade will be followed by a recovery starting in the second half of 2020, said the organisation.

    But the more pessimistic view is that the initial decline will be steeper and the recovery will be “prolonged and incomplete”.

    “Under both scenarios, all regions will suffer double-digit declines in exports and imports in 2020”, it said, adding that North America and Asia would be hardest hit.

    Source: France24

  • Isolated and afraid: How the pandemic is changing pregnancy

    Jamie Chui has been a virtual prisoner in her Hong Kong home for most of her nine-month pregnancy.

    Trapped intially by violent pro-democracy protests and tear gas, and then by the coronavirus — she now faces giving birth alone, with her husband unlikely to see his child until days later.

    Asia is facing a second wave of Coronavirus infections and as cases spiral globally with one million confirmed positive and half the planet on lockdown, women are having to give birth in unprecedented circumstances.

    Hong Kong and China have imposed some of the world’s strictest measures to prevent infections in maternity units: birthing partners are banned from labour units, delivery rooms and post-natal wards in public hospitals.

    That has left many women struggling not only with normal pregnancy anxieties and infection fears, but also the new reality of hospital deliveries, at a time when experts warn resources are more stretched than ever.

    “The most stressful part for me is that hospitals have suspended the visiting arrangements and accompanied labour,” says Chui, adding: “I will need to fight alone.”

    “I’m nervous, to be honest. But I don’t know what else I could do.”

    Hong Kong’s protests began as Chui fell pregnant.

    Fearful of the violence and tear gas might do to her unborn child, she stayed indoors. Now she is doing the same thing because of the coronavirus.

    “I have been staying at home for almost my whole pregnancy,” the 33-year-old photographer explains.

    – Women should have choices –

    Banning labour companions goes against the World Health Organization’s ‘Safe Childbirth Checklist’ recommendations that women should have a trusted person with them during the process.

    A similar move was attempted by some hospitals in New York but governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to ensure ‘no woman would give birth alone’, after a huge public outcry and 600,000-strong petition.

    In China and Hong Kong, women are instead left having to choose between spending upwards of HKD 100,000 (US$10,000) for private hospital delivery, where partners are still allowed to attend, or going it alone in the public system.

    “I have had to mentally and physically prepare to deliver without my husband’s support,” says 36-year-old Lidia Inês Cardoso Ribeiro, adding that she has written to the Hospital Authority to urge them to reconsider.

    “I believe all women should have the choice to have a person they trust to empower and support them through labour,” she explains.

    Christina Kimont, a Canadian midwife and public health researcher, now in Macau, which operates similar restrictions, agrees the situation could be problematic.

    “The human body cannot easily do what it is designed to do while in a state of stress,” she says.

    She warned that adding extra anxiety to people already worrying about their baby contracting the virus or exhausted medical teams, could make labour “longer, more difficult and likely to end up in unplanned surgical procedures.”

    Irma Syahrifat, a trained doula in Indonesia, says women there have had to attend appointments with physicians in full-suited hazard gear — an instantly distressing situation.

    Currently, Indonesian hospitals allow one birth support person but, with rules constantly changing as cases spike, she insists “mental preparedness” for delivery without an advocate is a necessary addition to ante-natal classes.

    There has been little research into the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women, but the WHO says current evidence suggests that while vulnerable to respiratory infections, they are no more at risk of serious illness than the general population.

    A small Chinese study following 33 expectant mothers in Wuhan found it was possible, though rare, to pass the infection in utero after three newborns tested positive for the virus.

    While infants and children account for a low proportion of documented infections and deaths, a six-week-old baby in the US died this week from complications relating to the disease.

    – Begging for help –

    Across Asia, it has become the norm for routine pregnancy check-ups to be replaced with telehealth consultations, while traditional ante-natal group sessions have been replaced by online courses.

    As infections soar in America and Europe the knock-on effects for maternity and postpartum care are already visible, with wards in California being used for virus cases instead.

    Britain’s Royal College of Midwives reported that one in five midwife posts are now empty in maternity units — double the figure before the virus crisis started as staff fall sick, self-isolate, or are redeployed to care for COVID-19 patients.

    WHO has warned dwindling supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers will put lives at risk.

    At Manila’s Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, where women are sometimes three to a double bed, doctors now worry about a lack of isolation units and rely on donations for protective gear.

    Cynthia Anzures, who chairs the obstetrics department, says: “If we don’t have enough donations, like for our n95 masks, we reuse them. We use raincoats if we don’t have PPEs.”

    There are fears this will soon be the reality in many more Asian cities, as a recent surge in cases creates fresh waves of panic-buying, while new country-wide lockdowns could impact supply chains.

    Chui says she has no choice but to stay inside even after delivery to protect her newborn.

    “I think it is better to just stay at home. Just like what I’m doing right now.”

    Source: AFP