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BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese province of more than 37 million declared an “emergency state” on Wednesday to snuff out a handful of Covid-19 cases, as the country moved decisively to contain infections. China had largely brought the coronavirus under control since its emergence in Wuhan late in 2019. But recent weeks have seen smatterings of cases, prompting localized lockdowns, immediate travel restrictions and widespread testing of tens of millions of people. More than […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesian investigators said Wednesday they were hopeful of retrieving a crashed passenger jet’s second black box, as they seek to explain why the plane with 62 people aboard slammed into the sea minutes after takeoff. Divers just off the coast of the capital Jakarta hauled the jet’s flight data recorder to the surface Tuesday, with the hunt now focused on finding its cockpit voice recorder on the wreckage-littered seabed. The devices […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — The Chinese-developed Coronavac Covid-19 vaccine has demonstrated a 50 percent efficacy following tests in Brazil, the organization in charge of its production in the South American country said on Tuesday. Coronavac has been given to frontline health care workers in close contact with coronavirus patients. The Butantan Institute repeated its claim from last week that the vaccine is 78 percent effective in preventing mild cases that needed treatment and showed […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese authorities sealed off a city of almost five million people and imposed strict travel restrictions on several others on Tuesday as they worked to quash a number of Covid-19 clusters near Beijing. The country had largely curbed the spread of the coronavirus, which first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, with small outbreaks swiftly snuffed out using mass testing, local lockdowns and travel restrictions. But Hebei province in northern China […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac showed at least 78-percent effectiveness in final-stage clinical trials in Brazil, officials announced Thursday, saying they would apply for emergency approval from the Brazilian regulatory agency to begin a vaccination campaign. “This is a historic day, a day of hope,” Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria told a news conference announcing the results. He said his state’s vaccination campaign would begin on January 25, though […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan is working to isolate and analyze a new variant of the coronavirus detected in four people who arrived from Brazil, a health ministry official said Tuesday. Japan announced the detection of the new variant on Sunday, but officials have been at pains to emphasize there is no evidence yet that it is any more transmissible or dangerous than others. “In order to further analyze the variant, we need to isolate […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s king Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency to fight a surge in coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah “is of the opinion that the Covid-19 outbreak in the country is at a very critical stage and that there was a need for the emergency,” said a statement from the national palace. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had requested an emergency […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck early Tuesday in northern Mongolia not far from the border with Russia, the US Geological Survey said. The epicenter of the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles), was located 33 kilometers south-southwest of Turt, US seismologists said. The epicenter appeared to be located under Lake Khovsgol, the largest fresh water lake in Mongolia by volume. It was located about […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — More than half a million people were placed under lockdown in Beijing on Monday as the government imposed strict measures to stamp out a handful of Covid-19 cases. China has largely brought the virus under control, but is tackling a number of local infections with lockdowns and mass testing. Authorities are keen to stem any outbreak in the capital — home to over 20 million people — particularly ahead of […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia will impose strict new curbs in over half the country to fight a coronavirus surge, the prime minister said Monday, warning the country’s healthcare system was at “breaking point”. It joins other Asian nations, from Japan to Australia, which kept their outbreaks under control in the early stages but have been forced to introduce new measures in recent days. Malaysia had relaxed restrictions as infections fell to almost zero […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Ten World Health Organization scientists will visit China from Thursday to probe the origins of Covid-19, authorities said, more than a year after the pandemic began and amid accusations, Beijing delayed the investigation. The WHO team “will conduct joint research cooperation on the origins of covid 19 with Chinese scientists,” the National Health Commission said in a statement. The long-awaited mission — which has been under discussion since last year — […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Thursday received a Covid-19 vaccine jab, more than three weeks after the kingdom kicked off a three-phase inoculation program, official media said. King Salman, 85, “received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine,” in the futuristic Red Sea city of Neom, the Saudi Press Agency said. Official media published pictures and videos showing the king receiving the injection. Saudi Arabia launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign […]
