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COVID-19 killed by sunlight, warmer temperatures, humidity: White House

Research around the effect of temperature and humidity has been gaining traction for weeks, but this is the first time the US government has put an official stamp on initial results of temperature tests on COVID-19. Sunlight kills COVID-19 while warmer temperatures and humid weather significantly damage the virus, measured in terms of the virus' half-life or the time it takes to cut its potency in half, according to the latest breakthrough research from the US Department of Homeland Security's most advanced biocontainment lab, released at the White House on Thursday. The coronavirus outbreak in the US has killed nearly 50,000 Americans and infected more than 860,000 till date. Research around the effect of temperature and humidity has been gaining traction for weeks, these are the most downloaded papers on research websites but this is the first time the US government has put an official stamp on initial results of temperature tests on COVID-19. "Our most striking observat

Coronavirus: mandatory masks in the north, fine or jail for offenders

Turkish Cypriots were warned on Friday that anyone out in public without a mask would be fined  or even jailed for up to one year, after a ‘cabinet’ decision decreed mandatory use. The decision was taken on Thursday and came into effect on Friday. In total 108 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the north while four have died. No new cases were detected for the past few days. Turkish Cypriot police on Friday issued an announcement calling on people to follow the rules. They said that as part of the measures, wearing a mask in public was obligatory. This includes people going for shopping but also those working in direct contact with the public such as shops, pharmacies, hospitals, petrol stations and banks. Those found without one, will be subject to a fine, equivalent to 10 per cent of the minimum wage in the north, around €54, or up to a year in jail. The new regulation prompted reaction from Turkish Cypriots over the cost of the masks but also their availability

Coronavirus: Cyprus close to containing virus says minister

Cyprus is close to reaching its target of containing the coronavirus but is not yet there, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Thursday. In a statement on Twitter, Ioannou said: “Day by day we are reaching our goal of containing the (coronavirus) cases. However, we have not yet reached the end.” The Republic has so far recorded 790 cases but results in recent days seem to show that strict restrictions placed on the population appear to be working as the daily tally of new cases dropped. The government was now focusing on a strategy of restarting the economy, which has been effectively shut down for the past two months. Any move towards that direction would depend on the epidemiological data of the coming days. At 11:30am Thursday, President Nicos Anstasiades is expected to brief party leaders on the developments regarding the pandemic and the economic fallout following an earlier meeting of the cabinet. The discussion will focus on then plan to relax restrictions a