Tag: coronavirus

HSBC chief backs Hong Kong’s coronavirus isolation

SINGAPORE (AFP) — The boss of Asia-focused lending giant HSBC backed Hong Kong’s decision to mirror China’s zero-Covid strategy on Thursday despite rising concern within the finance industry over the business hub’s international isolation. Hong Kong has maintained some of the world’s harshest quarantine measures and travel restrictions during the pandemic. The strategy has kept infections low but ensured a business hub that dubs itself “Asia’s World City” has been cut off internationally for the […]

Continue Reading →

Fresh Dutch Covid lockdown as 10 EU states at ‘high concern’

European governments on Friday eyed unpopular Covid curbs, with the Netherlands opting for Western Europe’s first partial lockdown of the winter as EU experts said 10 countries in the bloc were causing “very high concern”. Dutch premier Mark Rutte announced at least three weeks of lockdown measures targeting restaurants, shops and sporting events to curb a record spike in coronavirus infections. The “annoying and far-reaching” measures came as the EU’s diseases agency said 10 countries […]

Continue Reading →

White House press secretary tests positive for Covid-19

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Sunday she has tested positive for Covid-19, after deciding not to travel to Europe with US President Joe Biden when members of her family contracted the virus. Psaki said in a statement that though she had tested negative several times last week, her test came back positive on Sunday. “While I have not had close contact in person with the president or senior members of the White House staff […]

Continue Reading →

Isolated and unpaid, Mongolian coal drivers queue at Chinese border

by Khaliun Bayartsogt Agence France-Presse TSAGAAN KHAD, Mongolia (AFP) – Snaking across the barren Mongolian desert, a convoy crawls along the once-busy highway to the Chinese border — its truckers desperate to finally deliver their cargo of coal after months of brutal Covid-19 delays and no pay. Pre-pandemic, the route was packed with drivers delivering the vital fuel to China — the world’s biggest coal importer — currently grappling with widespread power cuts threatening its […]

Continue Reading →

Co-inventor of mRNA shots sets sights on pan-coronavirus vaccine

  by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Drew Weissman’s decades of research helped pave the way for mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, but the scientist isn’t resting on his laurels. The University of Pennsylvania immunologist, who on Thursday shared the $3 million 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with his longtime collaborator Katalin Kariko, is now spearheading efforts to design a new vaccine against all coronaviruses. The Silicon Valley-backed award honors major […]

Continue Reading →

NBA says Covid vaccine required for referees

The NBA said Saturday it will require Covid-19 vaccinations for all referees working games in the 2021-22 season. The league said in a statement that the requirement was agreed with the National Basketball Referees Association. It allows some exemptions for religious or medical reasons. “The referees have also agreed to take any recommended boosters,” the league said. “Any referee who does not get vaccinated and is not exempt will be ineligible to work games.” The […]

Continue Reading →

Counting the coronavirus cost at Tokyo’s Olympics

The pandemic affected almost every part of Tokyo’s Olympics, forcing a historic postponement, the banning of almost all spectators, and ending the dreams of more than a few athletes. As the Games wrap up, AFP looks at some questions and answers about how virus concerns played out during the pandemic Olympics. How many cases were there? From July 1 to Sunday, the final day of the Games, Tokyo 2020 says it identified 430 positive cases […]

Continue Reading →

Vaccinated people in high Covid risk areas need to mask again: US

People vaccinated against Covid-19 in high-risk parts of the United States should resume wearing masks indoors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday. The shift comes as the Delta variant of the coronavirus is driving a sharp surge in cases, with hotspots in regions that have lagged behind in vaccinations. “In areas with substantial and high transmission, CDC recommends fully vaccinated people wear masks in public indoor settings,” said CDC director Rochelle […]

Continue Reading →

Covid-19: How vaccines work against the Delta variant

by Paul RICARD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – The Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, is a cause for global concern with studies showing it is more contagious and resistant to vaccines than other forms of Covid. But there is also evidence vaccines retain important effectiveness against Delta after two doses. Here is what we know about how variants respond to jabs. Fewer antibodies… Several lab tests show that the Delta […]

Continue Reading →

Global jabs pass half a billion as WHO seeks vaccines for poor nations

by Joseph BOYLE with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse Health officials have rolled out more than 510 million coronavirus vaccine doses around the world, but with big gaps between countries the WHO on Friday appealed to richer nations to donate vaccines to help poorer ones start inoculations. Despite the huge effort to get jabs into arms, the pandemic is still surging in Europe and Latin America — where Brazil has now passed 300,000 deaths and […]

Continue Reading →

One in two S.Africans infected by Covid: study and estimates

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Around half of South Africa’s population may have already been infected by coronavirus, a figure far higher than the documented tally, a study and analysis of death figures suggest. Samples taken from almost 5,000 blood donors across four South African provinces in January showed that between 32 and 63 percent had antibodies to the coronavirus. The figure compares with clinically confirmed case rates of just two to three percent, […]

Continue Reading →
1 2 3 4 … 58