4 Indian doctors want to return home from Ebola-hit Nigeria

August 13, 2014

Indian doctorsNew Delhi, Aug 13: Four Indian doctors, who claim they are being forced to treat Ebola patients against their will in Nigeria, want to return home and appealed to the Indian government to facilitate this.

The Abuja-based Indian private hospital Primus where they are working, meanwhile, appealed to them not to abandon their duties.

The Indian High Commission in Nigeria is also in touch with the four doctors and Primus hospital so that both sides could arrive at an amicable solution.

The doctors claim that their passports have been taken away and they are being threatened against leaving the country, a charge denied by the Primus hospital in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

"The Indian High Commissioner is in touch with the doctors. Both the hospital and the doctors have agreed to come to an amicable solution," sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The sources said there was no major issue as the hospital is also owned by Indians.

They said the hospital is also correct when they say that there are no cases of Ebola in Abuja.

The MEA Spokesperson Syed Akbarudin said the Indian High Commissioner A R Ghanshyam had explained to him that the four doctors are not inclined to stay back in Nigeria and would like to return.

The Spokesperson appealed to the doctors to have patience, saying the High Commissioner is focusing to resolve the matter as early as possible.

"We are waiting outside the High Commission premises for the past 34 hours," said Dr Dinesh, one of the doctors. "We want our passports back. I cannot live here," Dr Yogesh said in a voice choked with emotion.

The Primus hospital has issued an advisory to all its doctors working in Abuja to continue offering medical services "in the best interest of humanity". "Unfortunately, in a state of panic, one orthopedic surgeon working at Primus hospital, Abuja, Nigeria abandoned his services and is alleged to have left Abuja committing medical negligence though he was bound by the medical ethics to provide care to patients admitted under him.

"Another four doctors (general surgeon, intensivist, anesthetist and physician) want to leave the hospital on the pretext of Ebola Virus Alert after admitting patients requiring intense medical and surgical management," said Dr ND Khurana, Chief Operating Officer of Primus hospital here.

"This will bring bad name to India. Ethically and legally, they are duty bound to render their services uninterruptedly but they are shirking their duty in this hour of need," he said. Khurana said as per his knowledge, no such type of virus (Ebola) has been yet detected nor any patient admitted in any hospital in Abuja. The information circulated by WHO is of preventive nature and the public healthcare workers are required to observe safety measures as per standard guidelines, he added.

As per the hospital, only two patients were detected to be affected by Ebola at Lagos several days ago and till date no fresh case has been reported. Lagos is at a distance of over 800 km from our hospital in Abuja, Khurana said.

The current outbreak, described as the worst since Ebola was first discovered four decades ago, has now killed 1,013 people. Cases have so far been limited to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, all in west Africa.

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News Network
March 25,2020

London, Mar 25: Prince Charles on Wednesday has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is working from home with mild symptoms, according to UK media.
A Clarence House spokesperson said the Prince of Wales was "displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual", the Telegraph UK reported.
"He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual," the spokesperson added.
In accordance with the government and medical advice, the 71-year old heir to the British throne and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are now self-isolating at their home in Scotland.
The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus.
The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing.
"It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks," the statement further said.

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News Network
March 29,2020

Beijing, Mar 29: In a rare display of public anger in China, dozens of people in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak till recently, attacked official vehicles after they were stopped from crossing a bridge and travel to neighbouring Jiangxi after the lifting of the lockdown.
Hubei province with over 56 million people was kept under lockdown from January 23 as part of aggressive measures to bring down COVID-19 cases which rapidly spread in the area.

Videos on Chinese social media on Friday showed unprecedented scenes of police from Hubei and Jiangxi clashing on the bridge connecting the two provinces over barricades erected from stopping Hubei people from moving out over fears of coronavirus spreading.

Policemen from both sides argued over how to verify if people were allowed to enter Jiangxi, according to local media reports.

It was a major relief for millions of people in Hubei province, when the Chinese government which kept it under lockdown lifted the restrictions on travel.

The government will permit people from the province to travel if they hold a green health code, meaning no contact with any infected or suspected COVID-19 cases.

But people of Hubei to their shock on Friday found roadblocks on the 1st Yangtze River Bridge that separates Huangmei county in Hubei erected by Huangmei county of Jiangxi province.

In local media reports, witnesses were quoted as saying that Huangmei police in Jiujiang erected roadblocks on the bridge to stop people from Hubei from crossing it, a move they alleged stigmatised them.

Video footage shared online showed rows of police armed with riot shields holding back the crowds, while members of the public could be seen damaging and even overturning police vehicles.

In a clip published by the Huanggang city government, which administers Huangmei, the county's Communist Party chief Ma Yanzhou could be heard speaking to the people through a loud hailer, warning them that by gathering in a large group they were increasing their chances of contracting the virus, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

While it is unclear exactly how the clash started, police from the two sides published separate official statements online, which were quickly deleted, it said.

The incident underlines the problems China faces as it seeks a return to normalcy after months of lockdown, the Post said.

After the incident, the governments of Huangmei and Jiujiang on Friday issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to remove the barriers set up to restrict travel during the lockdown, and also to recognise each other's health screening codes to make it easier for people in good health to get to where they needed to be, the Post report said.

An article by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) mouthpiece, People''s Daily acknowledged the problems in getting the country back on its feet.

"In the past few days, all walks of life have called for governments to accept workers from Hubei," it said.

"However, it is undeniable that some places, intentionally or not, have set up obstacles for Hubei migrant workers to return to their posts and hold prejudices against them."

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Wednesday for the United Nations to help mediate between nuclear armed India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

"This is a potential flashpoint," Khan said during a media briefing at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, adding that it was time for the "international institutions ... specifically set up to stop this" to "come into action".

The Indian government in August revoked the constitutional autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir, splitting the Muslim-majority region into two federal territories in a bid to integrate it fully with the rest of the country.

Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan. The two countries have gone to war twice over it, and both rule parts of it. India's portion has been plagued by separatist violence since the late 1980s.

Khan said his biggest fear was how New Delhi would respond to ongoing protests in India over a citizenship law that many feel targets Muslims.

"We're not close to a conflict right now ... What if the protests get worse in India, and to distract attention from that, what if ..."

The prime minister said he had discussed the prospect of war between his country and India in a Tuesday meeting with US President Donald Trump. Trump later said he had offered to help mediate between the two countries.

Khan said Pakistan and the United States were closer in their approach to the Taliban armed rebellion in Afghanistan than they had been for many years. He said he had never seen a military solution to that conflict.

"Finally the position of the US is there should be negotiations and a peace plan."

In a separate on-stage conversation later on Wednesday, Khan said he had told Trump in their meeting that a war with Iran would be "a disaster for the world". Trump had not responded, Khan said.

Khan made some of his most straightforward comments when asked why Pakistan has been muted in defence of Uighurs in China.

China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in remote Xinjiang province that Beijing describes as "vocational training centres" to stamp out ""extremism and give people new skills.

The United Nations says at least one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained.

When pressed on China's policies, Khan said Pakistan's relations with Beijing were too important for him to speak out publicly.

"China has helped us when we were at rock bottom. We are really grateful to the Chinese government, so we have decided that any issues we have had with China we will handle privately."

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