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Tokyo Olympics, postponed due to coronavirus pandemic, to open in July 2021
The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year’s games.
Tokyo organizers said Monday the opening ceremony would take place on July 23, 2021 – almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year.
“The schedule for the games is key to preparing for the games,” Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said. “This will only accelerate our progress.”
Last week, the IOC and Japanese organizers postponed the Olympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s games were scheduled to open on July 24 and close on Aug. 9. But the near exact one-year delay will see the rescheduled closing ceremony on Aug. 8.
There had been talk of switching the Olympics to spring, a move that would coincide with the blooming of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms. But it would also clash with European soccer and North American sports leagues.
After holding out for weeks, local organizers and the IOC last week postponed the Tokyo Games under pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations. It’s the first postponement in Olympic history, though there were several cancellations during wartime.
The Paralympics were rescheduled to Aug. 24-Sept. 5.
Rescheduling to cost in the billions
Both Mori and CEO Toshiro Muto have said the cost of rescheduling would be “massive” – local reports estimate billions of dollars – with most of the expenses borne by Japanese taxpayers.
Muto promised transparency in calculating the costs, and testing times deciding how they are divided up.
“Since it (the Olympics) were scheduled for this summer, all the venues had given up hosting any other events during this time, so how do we approach that?” Muto asked. “In addition, there will need to be guarantees when we book the new dates, and there is a possibility this will incur rent payments. So there will be costs incurred and we will need to consider them one by one. I think that will be the tougher process.”
Katsuhiro Miyamoto, an emeritus professor of sports economics at Kansai University, put the costs as high as $4 billion. That would cover the price of maintaining stadiums, refitting them, paying rentals, penalties and other expenses.
Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. However, an audit bureau of the Japanese government says the costs are twice that much. All of the spending is public money except $5.6 billion from a privately funded operating budget.
The Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee is contributing $1.3 billion, according to organizing committee documents. The IOC’s contribution goes into the operating budget.
IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly called the Tokyo Olympics the best prepared in history. However, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso also termed them “cursed.”
Aso competed in shooting in the 1976 Olympics, and was born in 1940. The Olympics planned for 1940 in Tokyo were canceled because of World War II.
The run-up to these Olympics also saw IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda, who also headed the Japanese Olympic Committee, forced to resign last year amid a bribery scandal.
Source: AP
Spain’s health crisis chief tests positive for coronavirus as infections top China’s
Spain’s health emergency chief Fernando Simon tested positive for coronavirus, health officials said Monday, as the number of confirmed cases rose to 85,195, surpassing China’s infection tally.
Simon, who led the country’s response to the coronavirus epidemic and maintained regular contact with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, tested positive for the virus, health official Maria Jose Sierra told a news conference on Monday.
The announcement came as Spain on Monday became the third country to surpass China in infections after the United States and Italy.
Sierra announced she was replacing Simon as head of Spain’s centre for health emergencies and said some 12,298 health workers had tested positive for coronavirus in Spain, equivalent to around 14 percent of the country’s confirmed cases.
With a population of only 47 million to China’s 1.4 billion, Spain’s number of infections reached 85,195, a rise of 8 percent from the previous day. Spain also reported 812 new deaths in the last 24 hours, raising its overall fatalities from the virus to 7,340, according to health ministry figures.
It was the first decline in the number of deaths in a 24-hour period since Thursday in Spain, which has the world’s second-most-deadly outbreak after Italy. Spain recorded 838 virus deaths on Sunday.
Officials have pointed to a slower growth rate for both deaths and confirmed cases and expressed hope that the peak of the outbreak was approaching.
Sanchez on Saturday announced even stricter lockdown measures, forcing all non-essential workers to stay home for the next two weeks.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience and the threat of COVID-19
Today, the world is faced with another global menace similar to the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed almost 50 million people the world over between 1918 and 1919. This is the coronavirus or Covid-19 which originated in the Wuhan District of China in December 2019.
In a media briefing on March 11th, 2020, World Health Organization Director General, Dr Tedros A.G said the agency had characterized the Covid-19 as a pandemic. A pandemic, according to Britannica is an outbreak of infectious disease that occurs over a wide geographical area that affects a significant proportion of the world’s population, usually over the course of several months or years.
The new Corona Virus (Covid-19)is affecting 199 countries and territories around the world. It has so far infected more than 721,412 people across the world, killing 33,965 (March 30th, 2020 statistics from cnn.com). The geometrical patterns in the growth of Covid-19 is alarming as it has left so many health experts and scientists confused as to the way forward. It is a collective fight that needs every hand on deck. The number of infected cases and deaths around the world is expected to rise during the first quarter of April 2020 as speculated by health experts in the United Kingdom.
On March 6th, 2020, the Cameroun’s Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda, announced the first case of Covid-19 in Yaoundé. The measures taken by the government of Cameroun to contain the virus from spreading further were not stringent enough as the airports were left open for many people from infected Countries abroad to fly in undetected. The numbers of infected cases are now on a steady rise. In a recent tweet on March 29th, 2020, the Public Health Minister made known the number of Covid-19 infected cases in Cameroun; 139 and counting.
The same conditions and fears described by Human Rights Activist Jennifer Gonnerman in the article “Chesa Boudin on His Incarcerated Father and the Threat of the Coronavirus in Prisons” are very visible in the jails in Cameroun where more than 1000 Southern Cameroons Prisoners of Conscience have been held following the Southern Cameroons Conflict where President Paul Biya declared war on November 30th,2017.These prisons which span from Yaoundé, Douala, Buea, Baffoussam, Yoko etc are a breeding ground for the Covid-19 owing to it’s poor sanitation, lack of portable water, scanty or no medical aid,no testing device, prison warders from the outside world who mingle freely with the detainees and most important of all are the overcrowded nature of the prisons leaving thousands of detainees touching and mingling with each other at very close range.
It’s for these reasons that Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Human Rights Commission have picked on the situation of detainees in Cameroun and the world over respectively. Michelle Bachelet,in a statement at the Geneva UNHRC head office described in a few words the situation that these prisoners of conscience face as the global Covid-19 pandemic surges on.
“In many countries, detention facilities are overcrowded, in some cases dangerously so. People are often held in unhygienic conditions and health services are inadequate or even non-existent. Physical distancing and self-isolation in such conditions are practically impossible”
Prisons and jails are amplifiers of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, because the conditions that can keep diseases from spreading – such as social distancing – are nearly impossible to achieve in correctional facilities. The Yaoundé Central Prison where I’m currently serving a 12 year sentence on trumped up charges and politically motivated reasons fit squarely in this category.
The Prison built in 1968 to host 1000 inmates is home to about 5000 detainees (that’s five times the number) amongst who are more than 200 Southern Cameroons Prisoners of Conscience. This overcrowding influences the appropriation of space and the power structures within the prison, in a context where the prisoners are unevenly divided between the 14 quarters of the Kondengui Maximum Prison. These more than 5000 detainees share less than 20 filthy latrines doted in the various quarters from 1 to 14. In the event of the virus spreading inside the prison, no medical care will be possible and the death rate will be alarming. The prisoners are piled on top of each other; it’s impossible to keep any safe distance. The Yaoundé Central Prison is a volcano ready to explode if just a rumour of one positive case of Covid-19 is left to circulate within the prison walls.
Human rights organizations like the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR), Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), The Central African Human Rights Defenders Network (REDHAC) and a host of others who know the situations of these prisons very well should be pressing on for an amnesty to be given to these detainees before one of the detainee is infected with the Covid-19. It is their responsibility to do more before these overcrowded prisons are suddenly transformed into a mortuary.
The government of Cameroun recently took measures to curb the spread of the virus, including shutting down schools, closing borders, banning mass gatherings, and encouraging people to follow hygiene rules but these measures are not stringent enough to combat this global threat.
The Cameroun’s prisons, which are notably overcrowded, keeping social distance, practicing self-isolation, and taking basic measures such as hand washing are just not possible with hundreds of detainees crammed in the same small cell. The Prison administration under the leadership of Hamadou Madi recently took measures such as limiting the number of visitors into the inner court yard of the prison, obliging visitors to put on face masks and disinfecting the entire prison but these measures too are not enough to guarantee the safety of the detainees who still come in contact with the Prison Warders from the outside world on a minute by minute basis. The idea of social distancing or self isolation is farfetched in these prisons especially those in the town of Yaoundé which according to statistics from the Country’s Ministry of Public Health is the most infected town.
This fight against the Covid-19 is the fight of our lives and every hand is needed to stop it before it ravages humanity as we all know. The UN Human Rights Commissioner beckoned on state authorities to examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, among them older detainees and those who are sick, as well as low-risk offenders because the detention facilities in many countries are severely overcrowded, making detainees and staff particularly vulnerable to catching the deadly new coronavirus. Amid fears that the coronavirus will carve a deadly path through prisons and jails, some countries are heeding to the Michelle Bachelet’s clarion call by releasing thousands of inmates. Ethiopia’s president, last week released over 4,000 prisoners in an effort to prevent overcrowding in prisons and contain the spread of the coronavirus.
By Penn Terence Khan
Yaounde Central Prison
US: Biden critical of Trump’s response to coronavirus pandemic
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Sunday (March 29) that President Donald Trump should use the Defense Production Act to order increased production of masks, shields and other protective clothing needed by people in the medical profession who could potentially be affected by someone who has coronavirus.
Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the November election said the American people need to hear the truth, “the unvarnished truth” from lawmakers, on the latest information on coronavirus.
Biden has been critical of Trump’s response to the coronavirus said “The worst thing you can do is raise false expectations and then watch them get dashed. Then they begin to lose confidence in their leadership.”
President Donald Trump has talked about reopening the country by Easter Sunday April 12, despite many states such as New York ordering residents to stay home past that date.
(Source: Reuters)
US regulator gives anti-malaria drugs emergency approval to treat coronavirus
A limited emergency-use authorization for two antimalaria 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.
Source: AFP
3 Cameroon gov’t soldiers, 2 deputy mayors killed in Ambazonia attack that underlines growing insecurity in Southern Cameroons
Three soldiers serving with the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and two deputy mayors including three councillors have been killed in an ambush by Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Oku in Bui County in Southern Cameroons.
The Eagle New Africa reported that Taal Timothy Babey and Babey Julius Ghoyume of Elak Council and three councillors from Oku were inside an armoured vehicle returning to Kumbo after a political campaign when they came under an attack on the 28th of March that emphasises the growing insecurity in the entire Southern Cameroons territory.
Cameroon Concord News is yet to verify the correctness of the Eagle New Africa report but if the death toll is confirmed, is the deadliest on Cameroon army soldiers ever since the regime in Yaoundé succeeded in getting two corrupt Ambazonian front lines leaders; Dr Ikome Sako and Ebenezer Akwanga to commit to a coronavirus cease fire.
We gathered that a PhD student from the University of Dschang identified as Kedia Kenneth Buji and eight other members of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate were killed in the attack.
The Cameroonian military has not released casualty figures, but a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that the army was tired and fed up with the war in Southern Cameroons. He added that the Ambazonian fighters first targeted the driver of the armoured vehicle before over-running its occupants.
Since 2016, Southern Cameroons Self-Defense Forces have carried out attacks against Cameroon government military installations and security posts in Southern Cameroons. The Francophone dominated military have failed to stem the violence. This year has also seen Ambazonia groups increase their presence in border areas in Manyu and Bui County.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Archbishop Andrew Nkea announces drastic measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus
MORE DRASTIC MEASURES TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS WITHIN THE DIOCESE OF MAMFE
On the 17th of March, 2020, I issued out some recommendations to help and curb the spread of the deadly Corona Virus (Covid-19) that is ravaging the world and has also hit our country.All the recommendations stated in that letter still hold good.
On the 26th of March 2020, I arrived Mamfe on a brief visit and I discovered to my greatest dismay, that either the people of Mamfe are not aware of the presence and danger of this deadly disease or they are not taking it seriously. I met the streets were all full, bars were open, even into the night, youth were playing various games on various pitches and choirs were rehearsing for Holy Week ceremonies. This saddened me, because knowing the havoc that this pandemic is wrecking around the world, if it gets to our Diocese then we would not be able to count our dead.
As Care-Taker Pastor of this Local Church of Mamfe, I feel bound in duty and in conscience to remind our people that this Covid-19 is real and therefore I am issuing the following decisions regarding the life of our church:
- All the instructions issued by the Government of Cameroon against the spread of this virus must be respected to the letter.
- All Masses and the celebrations of the sacraments are suspended in the Diocese of Mamfe as from the date of this letter.
- All pastoral and home visitations by the priests and the Bishop must be suspended till further notice.
- The celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Baptisms, sacrament of the sick and the celebration of marriages are also suspended. In case someone wants to go for confession, it suffices to stay at home, make a perfect Act of Contrition and feel the forgiveness of God. However, such penitents must confess their sins when these suspensions are lifted.
- All external activities of the Diocesan Youth Federation are suspended with immediate effect. The youth are therefore advised to stay at home and not come to the mission compound for activities.
- Playing of sports on all mission play grounds are suspended.
- During the Holy Week, every Parish Priest must celebrate in his parish Church only and no mission stations to be visited. In accordance with the instructions from the Vatican, On Palm Sunday there shall be no procession with Palms, no washing of the feet during Holy Thursday and no procession with the Blessed Sacrament. On Good Friday, no veneration of the Cross in the usual style, but the Cross will simply be lifted and all bow where they are sitting. On Holy Saturday night, there will be no fire and no procession with the Easter Candle. There will be no Baptisms but there will be renewal of Baptismal vows.
- If it is necessary for the Christ’s Faithful to be present during Holy Week ceremonies, they must not be more than 50 persons and must sit giving a distance of at least one meter from the next person. These 50 persons include altar boys, choir, readers and the celebrant himself. There must be provision at the entrance of the church to wash hands and sanitize them before entering the church.
- All churches and chapels must be open during the day so that God’s people can go in and pray individually.
- The Bishop’s Office will remain closed to the public until further notice.
- All priests, Consecrated Men and Women, Christ’s Lay Faithful and people of goodwill are strongly advised to quarantine themselves as much as possible during the coming weeks to avoid contracting this virus or spreading it
Let us pray to God that he may spare us of this virus and help our scientists to get a cure as soon as possible. We implore the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick and Comforter of the Afflicted in this desperate situation.
I wish each one of you a very Happy Easter and may God bless you abundantly.
+Andrew NKEA,
Archbishop of Bamenda,
Apostolic Administrator of Mamfe
Nature takes back world’s empty city streets
As humans retreat into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of our biggest cities.
Wild boar have descended from the hills around Barcelona while sika deer are nosing their way around the deserted metro stations of Nara, Japan.
Indian social media has gone wild about footage of a stag scampering through Dehradun, the capital of the northern state of Uttarakhand.
Gangs of wild turkeys have been strutting the streets of Oakland, California, while a puma turned up in the centre of the Chilean capital Santiago, which is under curfew.
“This is the habitat they once had and that we’ve taken away from them,” said Marcelo Giagnoni, the head of Chile’s agricultural and livestock service that helped police capture the curious big cat.
While sightings of dolphins in Venice’s canals turned out to be fanciful, they have been popping up in ports elsewhere in the Mediterranean as emboldened wildlife takes “free rein to wander our cities and towns”, said Romain Julliard, head of research at the French Natural History Museum.
He told AFP that foxes were at the vanguard of the new urban explorers. “They change their behaviour very quickly. When a place becomes quiet, they’re straight in there.”
– Animals ‘spring of love’ –
Animals and birds that normally live in urban parks, like sparrows and pigeons are also more likely to venture beyond their usual territories, Julliard said, “freeing a space for other animals”.
While the dawn and dusk choruses have been bringing comfort to many quarantined city dwellers, the museum’s acoustics specialist Jerome Sueur said that doesn’t mean there are more urban birds than before.
It is more that with reduced traffic noise we can hear them better. Some, however, “stop singing when there is noise, so now they are letting themselves go.”
“Animals are shaking off human noise pollution,” Sueur said. And the timing could not have been better time as they embark on their mating season.
With the hunting season suspended in several European countries, this promises to be a spring and possibly a summer of love for the animal kingdom.
It is certainly great news for species like the common toad and the spotted salamander. The amorous amphibians are being spared from being “crushed crossing busy roads” in their haste to find a mate, said Jean-Noel Rieffel, of the French biodiversity office (OFB).
With few dog walkers to disturb them, baby fawns are also getting an idyllic start to life while birds like Mediterranean gulls who nest along the sandy banks of rivers are being left undisturbed.
In the Calanques National Park overlooking the Mediterranean near France’s second city of Marseille, wildlife “is reclaiming its natural habitat with surprising speed”, said the park’s president, Didier Reault.
With walkers and boating banned, “the puffins who used to stay on the islets in the highest protected areas are not gathering on the sea,” he said.
– Birdwatching to stay sane –
And it is the same for plants. Wild orchids — which are supposed to be protected — are often picked by walkers when they blossom in late April and May, said Rieffel. This year they will be spared that fate.
And in the cities and suburbs, unmowed lawns will be a source of “bounty for bees, bumble bees and butterflies”, Julliard added.
But for him, the biggest change is the effect this is having on humans. “The most important phenomenon perhaps is our relationship with nature changing — with people locked up in their homes realising how much they miss nature,” he said.
Stuck indoors, with their worlds reduced to a few square metres (yards), confined urbanites have suddenly become avid birdwatchers.
British ornithologist David Lindo, who is known as the “Urban Birder”, has been tweeting and livestreaming birds he spots from the roof of the building in Spain where he has been quarantined.
“The sky is a great arena, anything can fly past and, at the very least, it will give you peace. My message is simple: keep looking up,” he told his new-found followers.
However, there are also down sides to the lockdown for nature.
Work to limit invasive species has been all but halted, cautioned Loic Obled of the OFB, as well as that to help endangered species.
And when the lockdown finally ends, Rieffel warned that “people will have a need of nature and there is a risk of too many visitors (to natural parks), which won’t be good for the flora and fauna.”
The birds which have nested in the yard of an abandoned school or factory will find themselves disturbed, he warned. Nature’s respite from man may be rather short-lived.
Source: AFP
Coronavirus Outbreak: Charter Flight Leaving Yaounde to Washington D.C.
U.S. Embassy Yaounde has arranged a special charter flight for U.S. citizens departing Yaounde NSI Airport on Tuesday, March 31 at 4 p.m. This flight will be direct to Washington, D.C. (Dulles International Airport), at an estimated cost of $2065 per passenger regardless of passenger age or seat location (the final cost will be announced as soon as it is confirmed). Passengers will not be paying beforehand, but rather borrowing the cost of the flight from the U.S. Government.
All passengers must agree to reimburse the U.S. Government by signing a promissory note (loan agreement) for approximately $2065. Only passengers who complete and sign the form will be allowed to board the plane. No cash or credit card payments will be accepted at the U.S. Embassy or the airport. Please fill out the attached form (DS-5528) and email the completed version to YaoundeACS@state.gov to register for the flight on a first-come, first-served basis.
You will be responsible for any arrangements and costs (lodging, connecting flights, or local transportation, etc.) beyond Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C.
No pets will be allowed on the flight and each passenger will only be allowed one carry-on bag and two checked bags with a maximum of 46kg. There will be no option to pay for extra services or excess baggage on the day of the flight.
The airline reserves the right to refuse boarding for any passenger. Passengers who are displaying COVID-19 symptoms or who have recently traveled to a high-risk country may be refused boarding.
If you want to depart on this flight, please email YaoundeACS@state.gov with full names (First, Middle, Last) as they appear in the U.S. passport, date of birth, and U.S. passport number for each traveler and the completed DS-5528 promissory note. You are required to do this even if you have previously sent us this information. The flights will be filled in the order that the emails are received. Please do not call the Embassy to confirm receipt of your email; we will contact you if you are confirmed for a seat on one of these flights.
After the flight is full, subsequent requests will be placed on a standby list. Legal Permanent Residents are also eligible to be placed on the standby list but will only be accommodated after all U.S. citizens have had an opportunity to take a seat.
Be assured that Embassy Yaounde will continue to make every effort to assist U.S. citizens who are not able to travel on this flight, but still wish to return home. However, encourage those interested to take advantage of this opportunity quickly.
Source: US Embassy Yaounde