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LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Pharma giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday it had begun a clinical trial of a drug designed to both prevent infection and treat people with COVID-19, with the first volunteers receiving doses. The drug, known as AZD7442, is a combination of two antibodies and is being tested on 48 healthy people aged between 18 and 55, the company said. “This trial is an important milestone in the development of our monoclonal antibody […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday declared the end of a 25-month outbreak of measles that claimed the lives of more than 7,000 children aged under five. The outbreak was countered by vaccination on a massive scale, in which millions of children and infants were immunized. “For the past month, we are able to say that this epidemic has been eliminated from across our territory,” Health Minister Eteni […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Tuesday ordered all schools and kindergartens in the greater Seoul region to switch to online classes as authorities battle multiple coronavirus clusters. The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach to curbing the virus has been held up as a global model, but it is now trying to contain several outbreaks, mostly linked to Protestant churches. South Korea reported 280 new infections on Tuesday, taking the country’s total […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Usain Bolt was in quarantine on Monday as Jamaican media reported the sprint legend had tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after he celebrated his 34th birthday with a lavish party. The retired 100m and 200m world-record holder didn’t confirm his test result, but he urged anyone who had been in contact with him to go into quarantine. “I did a test on Saturday to leave (Jamaica) because […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — One hundred cases of Ebola have been recorded in DR Congo’s northwest in less than three months, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday as it warned the response to the epidemic is underfunded. The outbreak was reported in Equateur province on June 1, just as the country was preparing to declare an end to a separate Ebola epidemic in the east that claimed over 2,000 lives. The latest outbreak […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Researchers in Hong Kong Monday identified what they said was the first confirmed case worldwide of COVID-19 reinfection, raising questions about the durability of immunity, whether acquired naturally or with a vaccine. “Our study proves that immunity for COVID infection is not lifelong — in fact, reinfection can occur quite quickly,” said Kelvin Kai-Wang To, a microbiologist at Hong Kong University’s Faculty of Medicine and lead […]
by Sunghee Hwang, with AFP Bureaus SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea ramped up coronavirus restrictions on Sunday to try to contain a growing outbreak, as many countries around the world battled worrying surges in infections. The pandemic has killed more than 800,000 people globally, and continues to unleash destruction with areas such as Western Europe detecting spikes in infections not seen for many months. Infections have soared past 23 million globally, and some […]
AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — An Amman summit between Jordan, Iraq and Egypt will go ahead Tuesday, officials said, with extra precautions after Iraq’s telecommunications minister tested positive for COVID-19. Minister Arkan al-Shaybani and fellow Iraqi officials were tested upon landing in Amman on Friday and were put under confinement following the positive result, according to a statement by Jordan’s information minister Amjad al-Adayla. “This required implementing medical procedures put in place to protect the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Hundreds of people in eastern China have been infected with bacteria which can cause dysentery after drinking contaminated water, state media said Monday, prompting the closure of a local water plant. Nearly 500 people in the rural town of Baoyi — about 550 kilometres (342 miles) west of Shanghai — have developed fever and diarrhoea since late last week. A report by the local government published Sunday found they have been […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday extended a lockdown in New Zealand’s largest city, saying more time was needed to ensure a stubborn cluster of coronavirus infections was under control. Ardern said stay-at-home orders would remain in place across Auckland until at least late Sunday, instead of restrictions easing late Wednesday as originally planned. “These extra four days are believed necessary to allow us to move down a level in […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to hospital on Monday for more medical checks, a government spokesman said, a week after a first visit that fuelled growing speculation about his health. “I’ve been told today he will receive additional testing after a check-up” last week, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a regular briefing. “I see him every day and I don’t see any change in him,” Suga said, in […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — American authorities announced on Sunday an emergency approval of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment against the disease that has killed over 176,000 in the US. The Food and Drug Administration’s authorization comes as President Donald Trump faces intense pressure to curb the contagion that has hobbled the world’s largest economy and clouded his once-promising prospects for re-election in November. The plasma is believed to contain powerful […]
