By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan s health minister was dismissed on Saturday after seven people died following an oxygen outage in a hospital treating coronavirus patients, and police were deployed to hold back hundreds of angry relatives, state media and witnesses said. The oxygen failure on Saturday hit intensive care, maternity and coronavirus wards in the new Salt government hospital west of the capital Amman. Prime Minister Bisher al Khaswaneh said he had fired Health Minister Nathir Obeidat. In a public apology, he said his government bore full responsibility for the incident. This is a gross mistake that cannot be justified or accepted. I feel ashamed of it and won t justify it, Khaswaneh said, adding that he was awaiting the results of a judicial investigation. Obeidat said he bore moral responsibility for the deaths of the patients, who were being treated for COVID-19 when wards ran out of oxygen for nearly an hour. King Abdullah visited the hospital in a move o
As a business reporter, I write about small businesses opening and closing, manufacturing, food and drink, labor issues and economic data. I particularly love writing about the impact of state and federal policy on local businesses. I also do some education reporting, covering colleges in southeastern Connecticut and regional K-12 issues.
Erica Moser
As a business reporter, I write about small businesses opening and closing, manufacturing, food and drink, labor issues and economic data. I particularly love writing about the impact of state and federal policy on local businesses. I also do some education reporting, covering colleges in southeastern Connecticut and regional K-12 issues.
By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization on Friday approved the emergency listing of Johnson & Johnson s COVID-19 vaccine, giving its seal of approval to expedite use especially in countries with weaker regulatory agencies. It is the third COVID-19 vaccine after the two-shot regimens of Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca to receive backing from the WHO, and the first requiring just a single injection. The listing covers use in all countries, for roll-out of the vaccine facility COVAX and follows the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorisation announcement on Thursday. Every new, safe and effective tool against COVID-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. Emergency use listing is the greenlight for a vaccine to be procured and rolled out by COVAX, he told a news conference. WHO is convening its strategic advisory group of immunisation experts next week to draw
By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) - Italy will be placed under a nationwide lockdown over the Easter weekend for the second year running, the government said on Friday, underlining the struggle to stem a fresh surge in coronavirus cases. Non-essential shops will be shuttered nationwide from April 3-5 and on those days, Italians will only be allowed to leave their homes for work, health or emergency reasons. However, a number of regions, including wealthy Lombardy centred on Italy s financial capital Milan, look certain to be placed under full lockdown from Monday because of the recent jump in infections and hospitalisations. I hope that this will be the last sacrifice asked of our citizens, said Lombardy President Attilio Fontana. Italy, the first Western country hit hard by the pandemic, saw infections rise by 10% this week compared with the week before, and officials have warned that the situation is deteriorating as new, highly contagious variants gain ground. The country was placed u
Two southeastern Connecticut women who have sons with medical conditions that put them at risk for dire outcomes if they contract COVID-19 say they were stunned last month by Gov. Ned Lamont’s adoption of an age-based rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The governor’s Feb. 22 announcement that as of March 1 the vaccine would be made available to residents 55 to 64 years of age as well as teachers, school staff and child care providers caught off guard many who had been expecting him to say that those with underlying medical conditions and those working in certain essential jobs would be the next groups eligible for the shots.