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‘So many bodies piled up’: Hong Kong funeral services overwhelmed by COVID

‘So many bodies piled up’: Hong Kong funeral services overwhelmed by COVID

JESSIE PANG TRADITIONAL wooden coffins are running short in Hong Kong as authorities scramble to add mortuary space in the global financial hub's battle against COVID-19, which is swamping funeral parlours. "I have never seen so many bodies piled up together," said funeral director Lok Chung, 37, who has been working round the clock, with about 40 funerals organised in March, up from roughly 15 in an average month. "I have never seen family members so upset, so disappointed, so helpless," Chung, wearing a sober grey suit with a black polo T-shirt, told Reuters. Since the fifth wave of coronavirus…
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“I was reborn aged 102,” – Russian WW2 veteran beats COVID-19 after week in ICU

“I was reborn aged 102,” – Russian WW2 veteran beats COVID-19 after week in ICU

OLESYA ASTAKHOVA RUSSIAN World War Two veteran Nikolai Bagayev feels like he has cheated death twice. This time though, the enemy was not the German troops invading the Soviet Union but COVID-19. Bagayev, 102, had 80% lung damage when he was admitted to hospital in the town of Korolyov near Moscow with the coronavirus. After spending more than a month in hospital, including a week in intensive care, Bagayev was discharged on Thursday evening. "The last time I faced death was in 1941. Back then, my right lung was injured during the battle for Moscow. But I was rather young…
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Congolese opposition leader dies

Congolese opposition leader dies

HEREWARD HOLLAND CONGO Republic voted for president on Sunday, with the incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso widely expected to extend his 36-year rule despite an economic crisis in the Central African oil producer. The president's main rival, former government minister Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who was in hospital with COVID-19 died during a medical evacuation to France. Even so, the government appeared to be leaving nothing to chance. There was an internet blackout across the country on Sunday, according to internet monitor NetBlocks. Sassou, a 77-year old former paratrooper, rose to power in 1979. He lost Congo's first multi-party elections in 1992…
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Oman bans arrivals from 8 African countries

Oman bans arrivals from 8 African countries

OMAN’S supreme committee for dealing with COVID-19 said yesterday it was suspending entry for arrivals from Sudan, Lebanon, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia, Guinea, Sierra Leone for 15 days from February 25, state media reported. The decision also includes arrivals from elsewhere if they have passed through any of those countries in the 14 days prior to applying to enter the sultanate. Omani citizens, diplomats, health workers and their families are exempt from the suspension, the committee said.
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