Tag: covid

PHL records only 665 new COVID-19 cases, lowest since July 2020; total active cases down to 16k

    (Eagle News) – The Department of Health reported only 665 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, November 29, the lowest single-day record of new virus cases since July 2020. Total active cases went down to just 16,289 or 0.6 percent of total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in March last year. The COVID-19 positivity rate is also down to the country’s lowest at 2.1 percent. Most of the 2,832,375 total COVID-19 cases are […]

Amid Omicron variant threat, Palace reminds Filipinos to get COVID shots in nat’l vaccine drive which starts today

“Bayanihan Bakunahan” target revised to 9 million for 3-day campaign; 2nd round set on Dec. 15 to 17   (Eagle News) – Malacanang advised Filipinos nationwide to take advantage of the three-day “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” national vaccination drive which started on Monday, November 29, amid the threat of the highly infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant. Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Alexei Nograles said that getting fully vaccinated is important to protect against the severe form of Covid-19. At […]

G7 ministers meet as new Covid strain spreads around the globe

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — G7 health ministers were to hold an emergency meeting Monday on the new Omicron Covid-19 strain spreading the globe and forcing border closures, as experts race to understand what the variant means for the fight to end the pandemic. The meeting was called by G7 chair Britain, which is among a steadily growing number of countries detecting cases of the heavily mutated new strain. Omicron, first discovered in southern Africa, […]

First image of Omicron shows many more mutations than Delta

    ROME, Italy (AFP) — The new Covid variant Omicron has many more mutations than the Delta variant, according to a first “image” of this new variant initially detected in South Africa, produced and published by the prestigious Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome. On the three-dimensional “image”, which looks like a map, “we can clearly see that the Omicron variant presents many more mutations than the Delta variant, concentrated above all in one area […]

What is known so far about new Covid variant Omicron

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South African scientists have discovered a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, with multiple mutations that is thought to be highly contagious. The World Health Organization has designated it a variant of concern and many countries are racing to try and contain it, banning flights from southern Africa. Scientists are working round-the-clock to dissect the variant and try understand its behaviour. Here is a brief explainer of what is known so […]

US, Canada restrict travel from southern Africa as new variant sparks concern

by Daniel Woolls with AFP bureaus The United States, Brazil, Canada, and Saudi Arabia became the latest countries Friday to restrict travel from southern Africa, where a new Covid strain labelled a “variant of concern” has been discovered in a potentially heavy blow to the world’s efforts to end the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organization said the new variant is more infectious than the dominant, highly transmissible Delta strain, and renamed this B.1.1.529 strain […]

B.1.1.529 declared Covid ‘variant of concern’, renamed Omicron

  The World Health Organization on Friday declared the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19, first detected in southern Africa, to be a variant of concern and renamed it Omicron. The classification puts Omicron into the most-troubling category of Covid-19 variants, along with the globally-dominant Delta, plus its weaker rivals Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Nations rushed to ban flights to slow the spread of Omicron on Friday, while stock markets and oil prices plunged on fears […]

PHL reports 863 new COVID cases, 2nd lowest number of single-day new cases this month

Total active cases at 17,853 or 0.6 percent of total COVID cases   (Eagle News) – The Philippines reported 863 new COVID-19 cases, the second lowest number of new cases in a day for this month. The single-day lowest number of new cases was 849 recorded last Nov. 16. Total active cases reached 17,853 as of Friday, November 26, or just 0.6 percent of total COVID cases for the third straight day. This is so […]

Israel finds case of Covid strain first detected in South Africa

JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — Israel has identified a case of a Covid-19 variant with a large number of mutations first detected in South Africa, the health ministry said Friday. “The variant discovered in southern African states has been identified in Israel,” the ministry said, adding it was recorded “in a person who returned from Malawi”. Two more cases were detected in “people returning from abroad”, it said, adding that they had been placed in quarantine. […]

Europe rushes to bolster virus defences as South Africa detects new strain

  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Governments across Europe rushed on Friday to bolster their defences against a fresh coronavirus spike, as South Africa announced it had detected a new Covid-19 strain that scientists fear could torpedo efforts to beat the pandemic. In recent weeks the continent has been in the throes of surging cases and violent riots, wrestling with booster programmes and dramatic lockdowns to stem the tide as its death toll surpassed 1.5 […]

Fears over new Covid variant hit Asian markets, oil prices

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets and oil prices sank while safe havens rallied on Friday over fears of a new Covid-19 variant that scientists warn could be more infectious than Delta and more resistant to vaccines, dealing a blow to the global recovery. The B.1.1.529 strain has been blamed for a surge in fresh cases in South Africa and has already cropped up in Hong Kong, with the World Health Organization due to […]

Over 43% of target population in PHL fully vaccinated a week before Nat’l Vaccination campaign – Palace

Pres. Duterte pushes full support for Nov. 29-Dec. 1 “Bayanihan, Bakunanahan” which aims to vaccinate 15 million Filipinos to achieve PHL population protection (Eagle News) — The Philippines has already administered at least 76.5 million doses nationwide, with more than 43 percent of the population already fully vaccinated. Malacanang said that 33.8 million individuals have already been fully vaccinated or 43.88 percent of the target population in the country, as of Nov. 22. With this […]