Tag: health

India holds vaccine drills ahead of mass innoculation drive

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine. A government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval. India, which has the world’s second highest number of pandemic […]

France tightens virus curfew in several regions

PARIS, France (AFP) — The French government on Friday announced it is bringing forward its nighttime curfew by two hours in 15 regions to help combat the coronavirus, as infections remain high. The 15 of France’s 101 departments affected by the switch from Saturday, to a curfew beginning at 6:00 pm rather than 8:00 pm, include the Les Alpes-Maritimes department where the Mediterranean city of Nice is located. The other areas are concentrated in the […]

US passes 20 million coronavirus cases: Johns Hopkins

by Ben Sheppard WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has recorded more than 20 million cases of Covid-19, Johns Hopkins University said Friday in its real-time tally, as the New Year brought another grim milestone underlining the country’s struggle to quell the virus. The US has so far registered 20,007,149 cases and 346,408 deaths in the pandemic, the Baltimore-based university said, making it the country with by far the highest official number of […]

US logs more than 3,900 Covid-19 deaths in new daily record: Johns Hopkins

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than 3,900 people died of Covid-19 in the US Wednesday, according to a count released by Johns Hopkins University, a new daily record for fatalities from the virus. The Baltimore-based university said 3,927 people had died of the coronavirus in the 24 hours before 8.30 pm (0130 GMT Thursday) in the US, the worst-hit country in the world, while 189,671 new cases had been recorded. That brought the […]

China’s first vaccine hustled to market as race to inoculate 1.3bn speeds up

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has granted “conditional” market approval to a Sinopharm vaccine with a reported 79 percent efficacy rate against Covid-19, health authorities said Thursday, a major stride towards inoculating the world’s largest population. The Sinopharm jab, which has surged ahead of a raft of Chinese competitors during Phase 3 trials, could signal a breakthrough in the battle to squash the pandemic in Asia. Around 4.5 million doses of largely unproven emergency […]

Wuhan virus cases may be 10 times higher than reported: China health study

  by Patrick BAERT Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The number of coronavirus cases in the Chinese city where the pathogen was first detected may have been 10 times higher than official figures suggest, according to a study by health authorities in Wuhan. About 4.4 percent of the city’s 11 million residents had developed antibodies against the virus causing Covid-19 by April, the report by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said. […]

AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid vaccine approved for use in UK

  by James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s low-cost Covid vaccine, raising hopes it will help tackle rising cases and ease pressure on creaking health services. The independent Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the vaccine “met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness”, and a roll-out was set for January […]

Germany’s daily Covid-19 deaths top 1,000 for first time

  BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s daily coronavirus death toll has crossed 1,000 for the first time, health authorities said Wednesday. A total of 1,129 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute, up from the previous record of 962 logged last Wednesday. There were 22,459 new infections over the same period, it added. An apparent drop in new infections and deaths in recent days was a result […]

US detects first case of coronavirus variant in Colorado

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US state of Colorado has recorded what is reportedly America’s first case of the particularly infectious coronavirus variant that emerged recently in Britain, the governor said Tuesday. “Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK,” state governor Jared Polis tweeted. He attached an official statement from his office and state health officials that said the individual is a “male […]

France considering extending virus curfews

by Hugues HONORE PARIS, France (AFP) — France is considering starting its curfew earlier in the evening in parts of the country to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Tuesday. The government has for the moment ruled out a return to a full lockdown, either nationally or at the local level, he added. The proposal is to extend the existing 8pm-6am overnight curfew, starting it at 6pm in […]

Belarus starts coronavirus vaccination with Sputnik V

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Belarus on Tuesday began a vaccination drive against coronavirus using the Sputnik V jab, becoming the first country outside Russia to use the vaccine developed by Moscow. Belarus, with a population of around 9.5 million people, has registered more than 188,000 cases of coronavirus infections and nearly 1,400 deaths. “Today the first vaccine shipment has arrived in Belarus,” said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) which financed Sputnik V. RDIF […]

US begins coronavirus vaccinations for troops in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The United States began a coronavirus vaccination campaign for its troops stationed in South Korea Tuesday as a third virus wave saw the host country record its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. US Forces Korea (USFK) administered initial doses of the Moderna vaccine for military and civilian healthcare workers, first responders and command staff across its medical treatment facilities in the country, it said in a statement. […]