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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States added 1,262 more deaths to its COVID-19 toll in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 pm Wednesday (0030 GMT), according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The world’s largest economy also added 53,158 new cases of the virus, the Baltimore-based institution’s tracker showed. The US has now recorded 4,818,328 total cases, which have resulted in 157,930 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Intensive farming makes future pandemics such as COVID-19 more likely as wild animals carrying diseases known to infect humans are forced into increasingly close contact with us, research showed Wednesday. Writing in the journal Nature, a team of researchers from University College London warned that animal pathogens are increasingly likely to make the leap to humans as land use changes benefit animal hosts. The United Nations estimates that […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — One of Belgium’s biggest meat processing plants has sent 225 staff home to quarantine Wednesday after a cluster of coronavirus cases was discovered, the firm and the local mayor said. Abbatoirs and meat-packing plants have become infection hotspots in other countries as the world deals with the epidemic and the big Westvlees facility in Staden, in northwest Belgium is now under close watch. According to a Westvlees spokesman, Manuel Goderis, a […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York will put up checkpoints at key entry points to the city to ensure that travelers are complying with the state’s quarantine requirements, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. Visitors from 35 US states, including Florida and Texas, are currently required to quarantine for two weeks after entering New York in an attempt to contain the spread of coronavirus. De Blasio said law enforcement agencies will operate “traveler […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada announced Wednesday it has signed two agreements with American pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021. Millions of doses will be supplied, but the vaccines are still in development while negotiations continue with other potential suppliers, Procurement Minister Anita Anand told a news conference. They will also still need to obtain Health Canada regulatory approvals before being distributed to Canadians, she said. The agreement […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government Wednesday announced a new $1 billion investment in a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson, guaranteeing 100 million doses. J&J, via its subsidiary Janssen, had already received $456 million in March. The new money will allow the company to ramp up production so that doses are ready for shipping if and when the drug receives regulatory approval. The government also has the option to acquire […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the southeastern US, has surpassed half a million cases and now has a death toll of more than 7,600, state health authorities said Wednesday. The Florida Health Department reported only 5,409 new daily cases in its latest count, a considerable drop after recent figures of around 10,000 new infections per day in recent weeks. The number of cases however may have […]
by Imants LIEPINSH Agence France-Presse RIGA, Latvia (AFP) — After spending 140 days rowing across the ocean without seeing another human being, Latvian adventurer Karlis Bardelis has some valuable tips for those learning to cope with coronavirus lockdowns. Bardelis started his nearly two-year journey in Peru in July 2018, reaching French Polynesia after nearly five months and finishing in Malaysia in June of this year. Along the way, he was rammed by sharks off Papua […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s worst-hit state of Victoria reported 15 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, including a man in his 30s, making it the country’s deadliest day of the pandemic to date. An outbreak in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city and the capital of Victoria, has seen hundreds of new cases recorded daily in recent weeks, including 725 on Wednesday. The epidemic surge continued even though Melbourne has been under a stay-at-home lockdown for nearly a […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US on Tuesday added 1,302 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The world’s largest economy also added 53,847 new cases of the virus, the Baltimore-based institution’s tracker showed at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Wednesday). The US has now recorded 4,765,170 total cases with 156,668 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world. But President Donald Trump […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech company Novavax on Tuesday announced its experimental COVID-19 vaccine elicited a robust immune response, producing more antibodies than are present in recovered patients, and with generally tolerable side-effects in its early-stage trial. The company was given $1.6 billion by the US government last month to develop and fund the drug under Operation Warp Speed — but in terms of timeline it is behind other firms including Moderna and […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US has begun late stage clinical trials into a drug formulated to fight COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly Research Laboratories in partnership with Abcellera. The Phase 3 trial will initially enroll some […]
