Swiss drugmaker Novartis will provide 15 generic drugs for treating the symptoms of coronavirus to developing countries on a not:for:profit basis.
The drugs range from antibiotics to steroids and pills for diarrhoea, and will be provided to 79 low: and lower:middle:income countries.
“We shouldn’t underestimate the stress that COVID puts particularly on fragile health systems,” Chief Operating Officer Lutz Hegermann told Reuters news agency in an interview.
India to allow Hindu pilgrims to Kashmir despite Coronavirus risk
Authorities in Indian:administered Kashmir have decided to allow Hindu pilgrims to visit the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath : a decision Kashmiri analysts say contradicts the government’s coronavirus lockdown policy.
The annual Amarnath Yatra (journey), which receives hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across India, will likely begin on July 21, but this year it has been shortened to two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pakistan reports lowest number of daily deaths
Pakistan has reported its lowest number of daily COVID:19 deaths in about a month.
It recorded 40 deaths in the past 24 hours on Thursday, compared to the highest single:day toll of 153 on June 19.
Pakistan has recorded 257,914 confirmed cases, including 2,145 in the past 24 hours, and 5,426 fatalities.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
