World News
The world is faced with a lack of personal protective equipment in connection with the new coronavirus
The stocks of masks and respirators in the world are currently insufficient to meet the needs of the World Health Organization and its partners, said WHO Head Tedros Adhan Ghebreyesus.
In the world due to the new coronavirus there is a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), in particular masks. The head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhan Ghebreyesus said this at a briefing on February 7 in Geneva, the WHO press service said.
He noted that WHO was sending testing kits, masks, gloves, respirators and bathrobes to a number of countries.
“However, the world is facing serious violations in the personal protective equipment market. Demand is 100 times higher than usual and prices 20 times higher. This situation is exacerbated by the widespread, inappropriate use of PPE outside of patient care. As a result, there are currently stocks and reserves for four to six months are exhausted, "said Gebreyesus.
The head of WHO said that stocks of masks and respirators in the world are currently insufficient to meet the needs of the organization and its partners.
“WHO estimates that global advanced emergency response services will need between 7% and 10% of market capacity. This percentage may be higher for other important supplies. Front-line medical workers in China need most of the supplies of PPE.” - he said.
Gebreyesus welcomed the decision of some companies to supply remedies only to healthcare providers.
“PPE stocks are limited and we must provide them to the people who need them the most. Priorities are health workers and those who are sick or caring for patients. WHO does not encourage the accumulation of personal protective equipment in countries and areas with low transmission [disease], "said the head of WHO.
For the first time, a new type of coronavirus that causes SARS was confirmed on December 31, 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of coronavirus 2019-nCoV a medical emergency of international concern. At the same time, the WHO does not consider that a coronavirus pandemic is observed .
WHO on February 6th announced that the number of new cases of coronavirus 2019-nCoV in China on February 5th for the first time decreased compared to the previous day .
By the end of the day on February 7, the number of deaths from coronavirus in China amounted to 722 people . The total number of confirmed cases in the mainland of China has reached 34,546.
"We will assist." The Kremlin said that oil prices for Belarus are not administratively regulated
According to the deputy head of the presidential administration Dmitry Kozak, to provide Belarus with a discount on Russian oil, it is necessary to introduce state regulation of the industry, and Russia will not be able to do this.
At a meeting in Sochi on February 7, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin did not reach an agreement on the supply of Russian oil to Belarus. This was announced by Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak, BelTA informs .
“As regards the supply of oil, which was also the subject of discussion, we will assist in reaching agreements between Belarusian consumers and producers of oil in our country. Today we cannot drastically change the conditions for regulating our oil industry. Crude oil prices are set by the market and are not administratively regulated “It will all remain,” he said.
According to Kozak, the Kremlin will "provide all possible assistance to the achievement of these agreements in order to provide Belarus with the necessary volumes of oil."
The deputy head of the presidential administration noted that the Russian and Belarusian oil markets are united and state regulation of this market is necessary to provide discounts.
“What we cannot do. We cannot constantly change the rules of the game - we will put our oil companies in an incomprehensible position. Therefore, we will help achieve commercial agreements,” Kozak emphasized.
Belarus and Russia cannot agree on the cost of oil, the tariff for transit through Belarus and compensation "for the deterioration of the economy of the Belarusian refineries" after the so-called tax maneuver in the Russian Federation.
In September 2019, Lukashenko said that if Moscow would “tilt” Minsk to introduce a market price for its oil, Belarus would take raw materials from Europe , blocking the transit of Russian oil. After negotiations with Putin on December 30–31, Lukashenko instructed to find alternative sources of supply.
On January 3, 2020, it became known that Belarus on January 1 suspended the export of oil products . The Interfax-West agency in the press service of Belneftekhim confirmed this information, but emphasized that the suspension is temporary.
On January 4, Russia and Belarus agreed to supply the first batch of Russian oil at a price that does not include a premium for the supplier. According to media reports, Russneft and Neftis were planning to deliver oil from Russia to Belarus in January. In the evening of the same day , supplies of raw materials from the Russian Federation to Belarusian refineries were resumed .
Belarus began the search for alternative oil supplies to replace Russian. Relevant proposals were sent to Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other countries. On January 21, Lukashenko said that Belarus would strive to supply 30–40% of the required oil volumes from the Russian market .
On January 26, the first batch of Norwegian oil arrived for refining at the Naftan refinery in Novopolotsk. In total, 86 thousand tons of oil from the Johan Sverdrup field should be delivered to Belarus.
Russian oil goes to Belarus and other countries via the Druzhba pipeline, the world's largest system of trunk oil pipelines. Russian oil is supplied to Belarus Mozyr, where the pipeline branches into two branches: the northern (through Poland, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania) and the south (across Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia).
Zelensky demanded to close the "representative office of LDNR" in Italy
Illegal offices of the "DPR" and "LPR", which have opened or are preparing to open in some cities in Italy, should be closed. This was stated in Rome by President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky.
During negotiations with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the Ukrainian side raised the issue of closing down the "representative offices" of the DPR and LPR terrorist organizations. This was announced by President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in a television interview, which is posted on the YouTube channel in time Ukraine.
“I appealed to the Prime Minister to close the illegal offices of the“ DPR ”and“ LPR ”, which opened in several cities in Italy. I informed him that in the near future another office could open in Calabria. He wrote down all this , said he’ll figure it out, "Zelensky said.
He said that he would now wait for Conte’s call and the actions of the Italian side.
In 2016, militants claimed that a “representative of the DPR” would open in Turin, Italy . The Ambassador of Ukraine to Italy, Yevhen Perelygin, called this message a provocation , which was committed by several Italian citizens.
On February 9, 2019, it became known about the opening of a “representative office of the DPR” in Verona . Ukraine sent a note of protest to the Italian Foreign Ministry .
February 7, 2020 Zelensky arrived in Rome on an official visit.