First time in History, Montreux Jazz Festival cancelled amid pandemic: organisers

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Montreux Jazz Festival will not be held in July due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the Swiss summer festival has not taken place since its launch in 1967, organisers said on Friday.

As the government is keeping most hygiene and social distancing measures in place for now, it is impossible to consider holding an event on such a scale, a statement said. The two-week festival along Lake Geneva draws nearly 250,000 people.

“The programme planned for this summer will be partly carried over to next year’s festival, which will take place from 2 to 17 July 2021,” it added.

Lionel Richie and Lenny Kravitz were among those booked to play this year, it said.

Last year’s eclectic line-up featured Elton John, Sting, Janet Jackson, Chick Corea and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.

Veteran American producer Quincy Jones, a former co-director of Montreux who still participates each year, calls it the “Rolls-Royce of festivals”.

The festival joins a long list cultural events that have been cancelled or postponed because of lockdowns and measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including concerts, festivals and book fairs.


Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

Reuters

COVID-19: EU labs experiment with Russian-Japanese Coronavirus tests — Russian Direct Investment Fund

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Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany are conducting laboratory experiments to see in action COVID-19 identification solutions created by the Russian-Japanese company EMG with the participation of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

"Four European countries - Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany - are conducting laboratory experiments to test the solutions for identifying COVID-19, created by the Russian-Japanese company Evotech-Mirai Genomix with the participation of the Russian Direct Investment Fund," the fund’s spokesman has told TASS. "Earlier the EMG’s virus diagnostics technologies drew favorable comments from virologists in the United Arab Emirates."

Earlier, Austria was one of the first to have granted permission to use EMG tests and is already using them for diagnostics.

The director of the company that makes the EMG’s COVID-19 tests, Lenar Valeyev, told TASS clinical tests at the research center Vektor operating under the consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor showed the EMG test systems’ 100% accuracy.


"Our method is the most sensitive one. In terms of accuracy we belong with the group of the world’s best knowhows. The accuracy rate of our test system is above 99.9%, while many isometric tests have an accuracy below 95%. In the current situation false negative results are absolute impermissible, because an infected person may escape observation. This is one of our system’s main advantages. It is one of the most accurate ones," Valeyev said.

In the middle of March the Russian Direct Investment Fund carried out investment into the Russian company OJSC Medpromresurs (currently Evotech-Mirai Genomix operating under the EMG brand name), created in order to promote a newly-developed Russian-Japanese diagnostic system of exposing the novel coronavirus. 

Japan’s K. R. Mirai Genomics and Genetic Technologies are the fund’s partners in the company. The system has obtained the health service watchdog Roszdravnadzor’s approval for use in Russia.

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COVID-19 death toll in Italy reach at least 133 in the past 24 hours

Qatar bans arrivals from 14 countries

US state of Oregon declares two months state of emergency

France reports three new deaths, toll hits 19

COVID-19  death toll in Italy has jumped by at least 133 in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 366 as the European Nation imposed a quarantine in Lombardy and other severely affected areas, affecting some 16 million people as it stepped up efforts to tackle the largest outbreak in the region.

Italy is struggling to contain the virus's spread which has infected at least 1,247 people in the last 24 hours - a 25 percent surge. As of Sunday, Italy confirmed 7,375 infections.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, authorities locked down the eastern Qatif region in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Riyadh authority also said it was suspending all public and private schools and universities across the country from Monday until further notice.

Also on Sunday, Iran reported 49 new coronavirus fatalities over the past 24 hours, bringing its death toll to 194.

Qatar has temporarily barred travellers from 14 countries starting March 9 as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, the government announced on Sunday.

The ban covers China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand.

Qatar Airways had already suspended flights to and from Italy as Qatar reported three more cases of the virus on Sunday, bringing the total there to 15.

In America, US state of Oregon declares two months state of emergency as a measure to curb the spread of the cornavirus

On Sunday, Oregon declared a 60-day state of emergency as coronavirus cases in the state doubled to 14. "We will do everything in our power to keep Oregonians safe," Kate Brown, Oregon governor, said at a news conference.

Meanwhile, France reported three new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, taking the country's death toll from the outbreak to 19. As of Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases stood at 1,126, according to health officials. 

France has also banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people over virus fears.

Virus death toll hits two in Switzerland

Switzerland has recorded two death toll from the coronavirus. Swiss health officials reporting a patient infected with coronavirus has died, bringing the national death toll to two.

The patient died in hospital in Liestal, officials say.

As of Sunday, the number of confirmed infected cases in the country stands at 281.

The number of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus now exceeds 106,000 worldwide with several new countries reporting their first cases. Nearly 3,600 people have died.

Currently, the largest number of coronavirus infections outside China has been registered in South Korea, Iran and Italy.

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German Health Minister Says Big Public Events Should Be Cancel To Stop Virus Spread

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