'WHO' WARNS AGAINST TRADITIONAL MEDICINE FOR CURE OF COVID-19

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo

As cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise in Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against reliance on traditional medicine, a common response by some Africans to ailments.

It is not uncommon for African citizens including East Africans to turn to traditional or herbal medication to treat ailments.

The traditional medication is often in the form of herbs and is common for both urban and rural dwellers.

However, the WHO has warned against administration of traditional medication in the treatment and prevention of the novel coronavirus, saying that studies are yet to prove their efficacy.

“For the moment, we are not able to recommend traditional medicines, because there have been no studies to see if they are efficacious,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti WHO’s Office for Africa said over the weekend.

In recent weeks since the outbreak of the pandemic, multiple traditional cures and medication have been prescribed and shared including rare herbs, traditional concoctions as well as animal body parts such as bile.

Dr. Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, said that there is still a window for African countries to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through public health interventions.

The World Health Organisation also warned against myths such as drinking alcohol protects against the virus. - Africa

FORMER REPUBLIC OF CONGO PRESIDENT DIES OF COVID-19

By Felix Tih, Brazzaville REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The Republic of Congo's former president has died of coronavirus in France, local media reported on Tuesday.

Ex-Congo President Yhombi Opango

Jacques Joachim Yhombi Opango died Monday at the age of 81, according to local daily Journal de Brazza.

Opango had been ill before he contracted the virus that has claimed over 37,000 lives worldwide.

He was an army officer who became the Central African nation's first general and served as its head of state from 1977 to 1979.

Opango also served as prime minister from 1993 to 1996. He remained in exile between 1997 and 2007.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 178 countries and territories, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

More than 786,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 166,000 recoveries.

HOSPITAL SHIP DOCKS IN NEW YORK AS CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS FILL EMERGENCY ROOMS

New York, USA

A military hospital ship arrived in New York on Monday as America’s coronavirus epicentre gears up for the peak of the pandemic, with emergency restrictions extended as the national death toll passed 3,000.

The USNS Comfort passes the Statue of Liberty as it enters New York Harbor during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, on March 30, 2020

The navy's 1,000-bed USNS Comfort docked at a Manhattan pier as more American states enforced stay-at-home orders after President Donald Trump abandoned his Easter target for life returning to normal in the United States.

The 894 foot-long vessel, which also has space for a dozen operating rooms, was greeted by cheering crowds after departing Norfolk, Virginia on Saturday.

Its arrival came as Virginia, Maryland and the capital Washington, DC, became the latest areas to restrict citizens' movements, meaning almost three-quarters of Americans are now living, or about to live, under various phases of lockdown.

On Sunday, Trump cancelled his plans to re-open much of the United States by Easter – April 12 – and extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April after his top scientists confronted him with data on the rising coronavirus deaths.

He said America's death rate was likely to increase for two weeks, describing as “horrible” a prediction by senior scientist Anthony Fauci that COVID-19 could claim up to 200,000 lives.

Worst-affected New York is ramping up hospital capacity and taking delivery of desperately needed medical supplies as it races against time.

 “We have been playing catch up from day one,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.

“Don't fight today's fight. Plan for two weeks, three weeks, four weeks from now when you're going to have the apex, and make sure that we're in a position to win the battle,” he added.

The Comfort will care for New Yorkers requiring intensive care unrelated to the coronavirus, easing the burden on a hospital network overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients.

The US now has the highest number of confirmed cases in the world – more than 163,000 according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The virus has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the country, including more than 1,200 in New York State.

Some 790 deaths have occurred in New York City, the country's financial capital and the most populous US city.

It is spreading to other areas, notably New Jersey, Louisiana, Illinois and Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday he did not want passengers from the cruise ship Zaandam suspected of having the virus “dumped” in his state.

New York opened a temporary emergency hospital in the Javits convention centre with 2,900 beds on Monday. A field hospital in Central Park is due to open Tuesday.

Four other sites have also been approved to house patients discharged from hospitals to make way for residents suffering from the novel coronavirus.

Flights run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began arriving at New York's JFK Airport as Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city needed 400 more ventilators by the end of the week, describing next Sunday as “D-Day.”

The flights, part of 50 planned under “Project Airbridge,” are delivering millions of masks, gowns and thermometers for hospitals.

“We are all trying to reuse what we can because you never know when it's going to run out,”38-year-old doctor Peter Liang told AFP, referring to supplies at the Manhattan hospital he works in.

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it would produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric's healthcare unit, and can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients afflicted with the coronavirus.

Ford said the simplified ventilator design, which is licensed by GE Healthcare from Florida-based Airon Corp and has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, can meet the needs of most COVID-19 patients and relies on air pressure without the need for electricity.

Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans could die from “millions of cases.”

Trump told Fox News on Monday he expected a spike in cases around Easter, before numbers begin to fall. 

“That would be a day of celebration. And we just want to do it right,” said Trump, who earlier said he expected the country to "be well on our way to recovery” by June 1.

Fauci said he had no trouble convincing Trump to extend the confinement guidelines. 

“It was a pretty clear picture,” Fauci told CNN on Monday.

Trump, who initially downplayed COVID-19 pandemic, has oscillated between stressing the seriousness of the outbreak to talking of the need to get people back to work quickly.

A staggering 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the third week of March, by far the highest ever recorded.

MILLIONS ENTER LOCKDOWN IN NIGERIA, ZIMBABWE, AS AFRICA STEPS UP VIRUS FIGHT

By Our Staff Reporter, ABUJA Nigeria

More than 20 million Nigerians on Monday went into lockdown in sub-Saharan Africa's biggest city Lagos and the capital Abuja, as the continent struggles to curb the spread of coronavirus.

A man carrying bags of rice on his head prepares to leave the Nigerian capital of Abuja as it enters lockdown on Monday

President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a two-week “cessation of all movements” in key cities to ward off an explosion of cases in Africa's most populous country.

Businesses are being closed, non-food shops shut and people required to stay at home as officials look to track down possible carriers of the disease after reporting 131 confirmed cases and two deaths so far.

Enforcing the restrictions in sprawling Lagos will be a mammoth challenge as millions live crammed into slums and rely on daily earnings to survive. 

In the ramshackle outdoor markets of Lagos Island, anxious locals complained they did not have the money to stock up, while at higher-end supermarkets better-off residents queued to buy supplies. 

“Two weeks is too long. I don't know how we will cope,” said student Abdul Rahim, 25, as he helped his sister sell foodstuffs from a stall in Jankarra market. 

“People are hungry and they won't be able to stock food.”

City officials have pledged to provide basic provisions to 200,000 households but the central government in Africa's largest oil producing nation is already facing financial strain as the price of crude has collapsed. 

The streets of Ghana's capital Accra were also empty as most people in two regions appeared to be following a presidential order to stay indoors after it went into force. 

Dozens of African nations have imposed restrictions ranging from night-time curfews to total shutdowns. 

Zimbabwe, which is already suffering a recession, began enforcing a three-week lockdown after the disease left one person dead and infected six others.

Police mounted checkpoints on routes leading to Harare's central business district, stopping cars and turning away pedestrians who had no authorisation to be in the area.

“We don't want to see people here on the streets. We don't want to see people who have no business in town just loitering,” a policewoman said through a loud hailer. “Everyone to their homes.”

Some people were trying to head for villages.

“We would rather spend the 21 days at our rural home, where we don't have to buy everything. I can't afford to feed my family here when I am not working,” said Most Jawure.

“We have been waiting here for more than two hours but there are no buses,” Jawure told AFP while standing with his wife and daughter beside a bulging suitcase. 

For many of Zimbabwe's 16 million people, the lockdown means serious hardship.

With the unemployment rate estimated at around 90 percent, most Zimbabweans have informal jobs to eke out a living and few have substantial savings.

As a similar scenario played out in other poor nations, the UN on Monday called for a $2.5-trillion aid package to help developing countries weather the pandemic, including debt cancellation and a health recovery “Marshall Plan". 

Experts warn that Africa is highly vulnerable to COVID-19 given the weak state of health systems across the continent. 

The number of infections lags far behind Europe but testing has been limited and the figures are growing rapidly. 

Angola and Ivory Coast on Sunday became the latest countries to record their first deaths, bringing the number of African fatalities to around 150 of nearly 4,800 recorded cases.  

In Democratic Republic of Congo, two new cases were reported in the volatile South Kivu region and an adviser to the nation's president announced he had tested positive. 

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered a 14-day lockdown in a bid to halt the spread of the disease after reporting 33 infections. 

Police in South Sudan, one of a few nations in Africa yet to confirm a case, enforced strict new rules, shutting shops selling non-essential items and limiting passengers in public transport.

Mauritius, which has 128 cases -- the highest in East Africa -- has extended its lockdown to April 15.

South Africa's defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Monday denounced alleged intimidation by security forces after videos emerged showing some forcing civilians to squat or roll on the ground for allegedly violating restrictions.

In an interview with local Newzroom Afrika television channel, she said she was aware of two videos “which have circulated where clearly there (is) some abuse”.

“I'm saying I condemn that, we will not allow that to continue,” she said.

US REGULATOR GIVES ANTI-MALARIA DRUGS EMERGENCY APPROVAL TO TREAT CORONAVIRUS

Washington, USA

A limited emergency-use authorization for two antimalarial drugs touted as game-changers by President Donald Trump has been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus patients.

In a statement published Sunday, the US Department of Health and Human Services detailed recent donations of medicine to a national stockpile – including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, both being investigated as potential COVID-19 treatments.

It said the FDA had allowed them "to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible."

Trump said last week that the two drugs could be a "gift from God," despite scientists warning against the dangers of overhyping unproven treatments.

Many researchers including Anthony Fauci, the United States' leading infectious disease expert, have urged the public to remain cautious until larger clinical trials validate smaller studies.

Two US medical bodies – the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority – are currently working to plan such trials.

Some in the scientific community fear Trump's endorsement of the medicines could create shortages for patients who need them to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, diseases for which they are approved.

The US has more than 140,000 novel coronavirus cases and 2,489 deaths, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

ESTIMATES SHOW WUHAN DEATH TOLL FAR HIGHER THAN OFFICIAL FIGURE

Wuhan, CHINA

As authorities lifted a two-month coronavirus lockdown in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, residents said they were growing increasingly skeptical that the figure of some 2,500 deaths in the city to date was accurate.

Workers at the Hankou Funeral Home in the central Chinese city of Wuhan undergo disinfection, March 27, 2020

Since the start of the week, seven large funeral homes in Wuhan have been handing out the cremated remains of around 500 people to their families every day, suggesting that far more people died than ever made the official statistics.

"It can't be right ... because the incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?" an Wuhan resident surnamed Zhang told RFA on Friday.

"They started distributing ashes and starting interment ceremonies on
Monday," he said.

Seven funeral homes currently serve Wuhan -- a huge conurbation of three cities: Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang.

Social media users have been doing some basic math to figure out their daily capacity, while the news website Caixin.com reported that 5,000 urns had been delivered by a supplier to the Hankou Funeral Home in one day alone -- double the official number of deaths.

Some social media posts have estimated that all seven funeral homes in Wuhan are handing out 3,500 urns every day in total.

Funeral homes have informed families that they will try to complete cremations before the traditional grave-tending festival of Qing Ming on April 5, which would indicate a 12-day process beginning on March 23.

Such an estimate would mean that 42,000 urns would be given out during that time.

Various calculations

Another popular estimate is based on the cremation capacity of the funeral homes, which run a total of 84 furnaces with a capacity over 24 hours of 1,560 urns city-wide, assuming that one cremation takes one hour.

This calculation results in an estimated 46,800 deaths.

A resident of Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, said most people there now believe that more than 40,000 people died in the city before and during the lockdown.

"Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality," the resident, who gave only his surname Mao, said.

A source close to the provincial civil affairs bureau said many people had died at home, without being diagnosed with, or treated for, COVID-19.

The source said any talk of the true number of deaths in Wuhan was very sensitive, but that the authorities do likely know the real figure.

"Every funeral home reports data on cremations directly to the authorities twice daily," the source said. "This means that each funeral home only knows how many cremations it has conducted, but not the situation at the other funeral homes."

The source said Wuhan saw 28,000 cremations in the space of a single month, suggesting that the online estimates over a two-and-a-half month period weren't excessive.

Wuhan resident Sun Linan said relatives of those who died are now forming long lines outside funeral homes to collect their loved ones' ashes.

"It has already begun," Sun said on Thursday. "There were people lining up in Biandanshan Cemetery yesterday, and a lot of people forming lines today at Hankou Funeral Home."

Hush money

Wuhan resident Chen Yaohui told RFA that city officials have been handing out 3,000 yuan in "funeral allowances" to the families of the dead in exchange for their silence.

"There have been a lot of funerals in the past few days, and the authorities are handing out 3,000 yuan in hush money to families who get their loved ones' remains laid to rest ahead of Qing Ming," he said, in a reference to the traditional grave tending festival on April 5.

"It's to stop them keening [a traditional expression of grief]; nobody's allowed to keen after Qing Ming has passed," Chen said.

The son of deceased COVID-10 patient Hu Aizhen said he had been told to collect his mother's ashes by the local neighborhood committee.

"The local committee told me they are now handling funerals, but I don't want to do it right now," the man, surnamed Ding, told RFA.

"There are too many people doing it right now."

Chen said nobody in the city believes the official death toll.

"The official number of deaths was 2,500 people ... but before the epidemic began, the city's crematoriums typically cremated around 220 people a day," he said.

"But during the epidemic, they transferred cremation workers from around China to Wuhan keep cremate bodies around the clock," he said.

A resident surnamed Gao said the city's seven crematoriums should have a capacity of around 2,000 bodies a day if they worked around the clock.

"Anyone looking at that figure will realize, anyone with any ability to think," Gao said. "What are they talking about [2,535] people?"

"Seven crematoriums could get through more than that [in a single day]."

S. AFRICA REPORTS SECOND DEATH AS TOTAL COVID-19 CASES HIT 1,280

Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa reported the death of a second person from the deadly coronavirus as the country’s number of confirmed cases rose to 1,280.

According to a statement by the Minister of Health Dr Zwelini Mkhize, the deceased had an underlying skin cancer condition (melanoma), which had already complicated his health.

“The 74-year-old male had been in ICU and ventilation in a private hospital in Ladysmith. He had travelled to Kruger National Park with his family and came back with flu like symptoms. He was confirmed to be COVID-19 positive on the 27th March 2020,” the statement read in part.

Mkhize said that the deceased had shown certain symptoms, including respiratory distress, shortness of breath, cardiac failure, decreased saturation and his temperature was above 38 degrees.

Mkhize added that the family of the deceased, 14 health workers, among them 3 specialist doctors, who were in contact with the deceased were in quarantine and being monitored.

Meanwhile, Mkhize also announced that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hit 1,280 an increase of 93 cases from the previous tally, as of March 29.

Gauteng Province accounts for about 45 percent of the country’s cases with 584 followed by the Western Cape with 310 (24 percent) and KwaZulu-Natal with 167 (9 percent). The other six provinces have recorded between six and 72 cases while 100 cases have not been designated to any region.

South Africa is the worst hit nation in Africa by the coronavirus. In response to the COVID-19 numbers, the South African government has announced several new measures to curb the spread of the disease.

The measures include the imposition of a 21-day lockdown and legally enforcing testing, treatment and quarantine or isolation of suspected cases. The spread of false information about COVID-19 is also now punishable by up to six months in prison.

Health experts have warned that even facilities in Africa’s richest nation, South Africa, could be overwhelmed by the virus’ spread.

ZIMBABWE REINTRODUCES USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY BEFORE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Harare, ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe on Sunday reintroduced the use of foreign currencies in local transactions ahead of the start of a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from Monday to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

New exchange control regulations making it legal for Zimbabweans to use electronic and cash foreign currencies when buying local goods were also published.

“Any person may pay for goods and services chargeable in Zimbabwe dollars in foreign currency … at the ruling rate on the date of payment,” a notice by the government read.

The country’s central bank announced last week on Thursday that the use of foreign currencies was one of the measures to ease the burden of the coronavirus effects.

Last year in June, Zimbabwe made its interim currency the country’s sole legal tender bringing to an end a decade of dollarization.

Economic analysts say the reintroduction of the use of foreign currencies will only further weaken the Zimbabwe dollar.

Facing its worst economic crisis in a decade, Zimbabwe is grappling with soaring inflation and shortages of foreign currency and medicines that has crippled its hospitals.

The country’s public health sector is also in a crisis having been hit by a number of strikes last year due to demands for better pay and working conditions.

Last Wednesday, public hospital doctors opted to stay home over a lack of protective gear even as some patients’ families were asked to provide such basics as gloves and even clean water.

Zimbabwe has so far registered seven cases of the deadly virus with one fatality, a 30-year-old man who had traveled abroad and had a pre-existing condition.

BOKO HARAM KILLS ALMOST 100 SOLDIERS IN SEVEN-HOUR ATTACK IN CHAD

N'Djamena, CHAD

Boko Haram jihadists have killed nearly 100 Chadian soldiers in a seven-hour attack on an island army base, in their deadliest assault yet on the country's armed forces. 

President Idriss Deby told Chad television he travelled to the scene of the attack on Tuesday to pay tribute to the 92 dead soldiers, saying it was the first time so many troops had been lost.

The attack early Monday morning in Boma, Lac province, is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in the vast, marshy Lake Chad area, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge. 

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria in 2009 before beginning incursions in its neighbouring countries to the east.

"We lost 92 of our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers," in the attack in Boma, the president said.

"It's the first time we have lost so many men," he said.

The attack on soldiers on the Boma peninsula lasted at least seven hours, and reinforcements sent to help became bogged down and were also targeted, several military sources told AFP.

"The camp is on an island where the ways in were controlled by Boko Haram fighters, they were able to leave as they wanted and without being forced out by the army," one security official said.

"The enemy has hit at our defences hard in this zone," the senior officer said.

One military official said army vehicles were destroyed, including armoured vehicles, and captured military arms were carried off in speedboats by Boko Haram.

The base was taken by surprise by the 5:00 am attack, the official said.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in recent months on the islands of the Lake Chad basin where it takes advantage of the vast terrain to launch assaults.

Boko Haram's insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced nearly two million in northeastern Nigeria since it began, according to the UN. 

Since 2015, countries in the region have cooperated in the Multinational Joint Force, a regional coalition engaged around Lake Chad with the help of local residents formed into vigilante groups.

But the regional militaries are struggling to cope with the jihadist insurgency. 

In Cameroon, violence increased in 2019 and early 2020. In Cameroon's Far North, 275 people were killed by jihadist attacks in 2019, most of them civilians, according to a report published by Amnesty International in December.

In Niger, 174 soldiers were killed in three attacks in January and December.

NIGERIAN ARMY PREPARES FOR CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN, MASS BURIALS

By Paul Carsten, ABUJA Nigeria

The Nigerian Army is preparing to forcibly transfer the sick to hospital and enforce curbs on movement to try to shield the country from the coronavirus, and is leasing equipment for “possible mass burial”, according to an army memo seen by Reuters.

The memo from Army headquarters also outlines plans to protect government food storage from looters as Africa’s most populous nation braces for the illness to spread further in the country.

“Following the rise and continuous spread in cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria, the (Chief of Army Staff) has deemed it necessary for all to take protective measures to ensure the safety of (army) personnel and their families,” the memo said.

There are currently 46 confirmed cases in Nigeria, and one death, but the infection has hit the top levels of society, infecting President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff.

With a population of 200 million, 20 million of whom are packed into the commercial capital of Lagos, many fear the virus could spread quickly without containment.

The memo said the army was suspending leave passes for all personnel and called for them to be on “maximum security alert and be ready for deployment.”

The virus has swept across the world, killing thousands and forcing millions into quarantine. Several nations have activated armed forces to help combat it.

South Africa deployed its army to enforce a 21-day lockdown that begins this week, and U.S. President Donald Trump activated the National Guard in New York, California and Washington.

The U.S., French and Moroccan armies have set up field hospitals, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the army to carry out drills to increase its readiness.

Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed told the heads of parliament’s two houses that the government would release 6.5 billion naira ($18 million) to the National Centre for Disease Control to help fight the virus, the Senate president’s office said in a statement.

And the central bank said it would remain open amid the global outbreak to ensure “monetary and price stability”.

Also on Wednesday, the governor of the southern Rivers State said he would close the state’s borders to people crossing from Thursday.

The state’s capital, Port Harcourt, is the gateway to the oil-rich Delta region, and companies such as Nigeria LNG and Royal Dutch Shell have key offices in the city.

Oil provides more than half of Nigeria’s government revenue.

SPAIN'S CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL OVERTAKES CHINA'S

MADRID, Spain

Spain struggled to cope on Wednesday with a mounting coronavirus crisis as its death toll exceeded China’s with another 738 lives lost in a single day, and a third senior government minister was diagnosed with the virus.

Temporary hospital at a pavilion in IFEMA convention and exhibition center

With 3,434 fatalities, Spain now has the second-highest number of deaths globally after Italy’s 6,820. Nursing homes across the country have been overwhelmed and a skating rink in Madrid has been turned into a makeshift morgue.

Police stood guard on Wednesday outside the rink, normally a popular venue for children’s birthday parties, as hearses arrived at the building.

Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo became the third cabinet member to test positive for the virus, but the government said she was doing well.

Parliament sat late into the night for a session aimed at approving extending to 30 days a 15-day state of emergency which has shuttered schools, restaurants and most shops. The extension was guaranteed after the opposition People’s Party pledged support.

People have been largely confined to their homes since the lockdown began on March 14.

“We have achieved a near total reduction in social contact,” health emergency chief Fernando Simon told a news conference, adding that Spain was nearing the peak of the epidemic.

Diagnoses increased by a fifth to 47,610 on Wednesday but the total could be higher: 137,000 workers are known to have taken sick leave associated with the virus, including to go into preventative isolation.

Medical staff, thousands of whom have become infected, have taken out lawsuits against the government, complaining of a lack of basic protective equipment like masks, scrubs and gloves.

The army has asked NATO for ventilators, protective gear and testing kits, Armed Forces Chief Miguel Villarroya said.

The government had ordered 432 million euros ($467 million) worth of masks, gloves, testing kits and ventilators to be delivered over the next eight weeks, with the first large batch expected this week, Health Minister Salvador Illa said.

In an example of how companies are changing assembly lines to produce medical products, a shoe factory in northern Spain has switched to making simple protective masks - first for its own personnel and then for distribution.

 “Now we are working hard to ... make something a little more sophisticated for it to reach medical use,” Basilio Garcia, chief executive of the Callaghan shoe factory, told Reuters.

Lockdown has dealt a punishing blow to the Spanish economy, with tens of thousands of workers temporarily laid off as sectors like retail, tourism and manufacturing grind to a halt. One of Spain’s biggest employers, El Corte Ingles, said it would temporarily lay off 22,000 workers at its department stores. - Reuters