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Paris, France | AFP | Thursday 2/17/2023 The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject said on Friday. Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88 percent lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal. That makes this natural immunity “at least as durable, if not […]
Beijing, China | AFP | Friday 2/17/2023 France has dropped Covid testing restrictions imposed on travellers from China, the French embassy in Beijing said. Since January, visitors aged 11 and over travelling from China to France have had to present a negative test taken 48 hours before the flight to board the plane. The restrictions were introduced as China experienced a wave of coronavirus infections after lifting its stifling zero-Covid policy in December. “Travellers from […]
Houston, United States | AFP | Attorneys for a death row inmate who gouged out his own eyes after murdering his wife, son and stepdaughter in Texas asked authorities on Wednesday for clemency because he is mentally ill. Andre Thomas, 39, was convicted of killing his family in 2004. His lawyer Maurie Levin told a press conference he was “one of the most mentally ill prisoners in Texas history.” “If ever there was a case […]
SOLLENTUNA, Sweden (AFP) — The frigid water under the frozen Ravalen lake north of Stockholm doesn’t intimidate Elton as the 11-year-old schoolboy takes the plunge to the applause of his classmates. Forty pupils are taking part in an “isvaksovning”, or a hole-in-the-ice exercise, part of their school’s physical education class to learn what to do if they ever fall through the ice on one of Sweden’s many lakes or out in the archipelago. Every day […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru said Tuesday that 585 sea lions and 55,000 wild birds have died of the H5N1 bird flu virus in recent weeks, the latest report on the disease’s impacts. Following the discovery of 55,000 dead birds in eight protected coastal areas, rangers found the bird flu that killed them had also claimed 585 sea lions in seven protected marine areas, the Sernanp natural areas protection agency said. The dead birds included […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — No new variants of Covid-19 emerged in Beijing in the weeks after China ended its zero-Covid policy late last year, a new study said on Wednesday. China saw an explosion of infections after starting to lift its strict pandemic measures from early December, sparking fears the world’s most populous country could become a fertile breeding ground for new, more transmissible or severe strains. More than a dozen countries promptly imposed fresh […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — China said on Friday it will fully restore travel across its borders with Hong Kong and Macau next week, dropping Covid testing requirements and daily quotas after a lengthy pandemic separation. The semi-autonomous cities have both stuck to Beijing’s zero-Covid strategy for nearly three years, splitting families, cutting off tourism and suffocating businesses. The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said on Friday that all remaining restrictions would […]
Dutch officials have identified a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as “mad cow disease”, in a cow carcass, the government said Wednesday. The infected cow “did not enter the food chain and did not pose a risk to food safety,” Agriculture Minister Piet Adema said. BSE is linked to the fatal human condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated meat is ingested. Dutch officials had sealed off the affected farm, whose location was […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Planting more trees in urban areas to lower summertime temperatures could decrease deaths directly linked to hot weather and heatwaves by a third, researchers said Wednesday. Modelling found that increasing tree cover to 30 percent would shave off 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.7 degrees Fahrenheit) locally, on average, during hot summer months, they reported in The Lancet. Of the 6,700 premature deaths attributed to higher temperatures in […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The White House said Monday that the national and public health emergencies declared just as the Covid-19 pandemic took grip three years ago will officially end May 11. The end to both federal emergency declarations, which took effect in January 2020 under then-president Donald Trump, will see funds used to subsidize Covid medicines, medical insurance and other types of government aid related to the pandemic come to an end. In […]
Paris, France | AFP | Monday 1/30/2023 School-aged students lost more than a third of a year’s worth of learning early on in the pandemic and have still not caught up, posing “a real problem for this generation,” researchers warned on Monday. The Covid-19 pandemic caused one of history’s greatest disruptions to education, with 95 percent of students worldwide affected by school closures, and online teaching becoming far more common. To find out how much […]
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Monday 1/30/2023 by Robin MILLARD All countries remain “dangerously unprepared” for the next pandemic, the Red Cross warned on Monday, saying future health crises could also collide with increasingly likely climate-related disasters. Despite three “brutal” years of the Covid-19 pandemic, strong preparedness systems are “severely lacking”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said. The world’s largest humanitarian network said building trust, equity and local action […]
