99-year-old Brazilian WWII veteran recovers from COVID-19
Brasilia: A 99-year-old Brazilian World War II veteran was discharged from the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia on Tuesday after recovering from the COVID-19. Ernando Piveta, who had been a member of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, was admitted to the hospital on April 6 and treated in the facility’s “COVID ward” after testing positive for the virus, the Defence Ministry said, Xinhua news agency reported. The ministry noted he was discharged on the same day as the 75th anniversary of the Taking of Montese, a successful campaign by Brazilian troops in Italy during the war. Born on October 7, 1920, Piveta received the Medal of Victory from Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro last year for his service to the nation. (IANS)
Lovelorn Aussie is first jailed for breaking virus quarantine
Sydney: An Australian who repeatedly snuck out of coronavirus quarantine, reportedly to visit his girlfriend, was jailed for a month Tuesday — the first person imprisoned under the country’s lockdown laws. Jonathan David, 35, was arrested earlier this month after jamming open a fire escape and slipping out of mandatory quarantine at a Perth hotel, Western Australia Police said in a statement. He told Perth’s Magistrates Court on Tuesday that he first flouted the law to get food but hours later broke quarantine again because he missed his girlfriend, Seven News reported. By escaping through the fire exit, he successfully avoided hotel staff several times but was caught on CCTV, police said. Under laws aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, David was required to isolate for 14 days after arriving in Perth from the southeastern state of Victoria on March 28. If he had remained in his hotel room he would have been freed on Monday but instead he will spend a full month in jail and has been handed a fine of more than AUS$2,000 (US$1,280). Police around the country have issued more than 1,000 fines for breaches of lockdown laws, with offences ranging from dozens of people gathering for a street car rally in Brisbane to a group of men eating pizza in a car together in Sydney’s west. (AFP)
Truck driver rescued from cab dangling 70 feet over river
Chesapeake: Firefighters rescued a truck driver whose tractor-trailer was nearly blown off a bridge in Virginia, leaving his cab dangling 70 feet over a river. A large wind gust caused the driver, Wayne B. Boone, to lose control Monday morning, Virginia State Police Sgt. Michelle Anaya told news outlets. He had to be pulled from his cab, which was dangling off the side of Interstate 64’s High Rise bridge over the Elizabeth River, the Chesapeake Fire Department said in a Twitter post. It said firefighters used a series of complex rope maneuvers to reach the driver and pull him to safety as severe thunderstorms rolled through the area. A fire department news release said Boone was taken to a hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. (AP)