India set to open three high-capacity Coronavirus testing centres India on Monday will launch high-capacity coronavirus testing facilities in three major cities able to test over 10,000 samples a day. The opening event with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be organized via video link at the Indian Centre of Medical Research (ICMR). The testing facilities have been “set up strategically” at ICMR facilities in Noida, Mumbai, and Kolkata,” said a government statement. India has so far recorded 1,435,453 coronavirus cases, including 32,771 deaths. Pakistan sees lowest number of Coronavirus deaths since early May Pakistan recorded its lowest number of deaths due to the coronavirus in a day since May 3 on Sunday, with 20 patients succumbing to COVID-19, taking the country’s overall death toll to 5,932. There were 1,176 new cases of the virus recorded across the country, taking the total number of cases to 274,289. While testing has remained low, with just 22,056 tests conducted on Sunday, the country’s test-positive rate registered at 5.3 percent. Hong Kong records 145 cases of Coronavirus Hong Kong authorities have reported 145 new cases of coronavirus, of which 142 were locally transmitted, setting a new daily high just hours after the city announced its toughest measures yet to curb a community outbreak. UK tells people to eat less to reduce Covid-19 death risk British people should eat less to lose weight as being obese increases the risk of dying from the novel coronavirus, junior health minister Helen Whately has said. Whately said that those with a body mass index of over 40 had double the risk of dying from COVID-19. Google to extend work-from-home policy to mid-2021 Google will allow most employees to work from home through to July 2021 in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the tech giant said Monday. In an email to employees, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said, “To give employees the ability to plan ahead, we are extending our global voluntary work from home option through June 30, 2021 for roles that don’t need to be in the office.” The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said nearly all of the 200,000 Google employees and contractors worldwide would see an extension of the option which had been set to end in January. The decision could signal similar efforts by other tech firms and large employers to extend the precautionary policy amid growing fears about the risks of returning to workplace normalcy. SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
