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by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 109 childhood cases of a mysterious form of hepatitis, including five reported deaths, the agency said Friday. It is part of an unexplained global phenomenon involving hundreds of cases, with Indonesia this week also reporting three deaths. Britain on Friday announced its case count had increased to 163, the majority aged under five, with no deaths. “Investigators both […]
by Matthew WALSH Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Asian Games due to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September have been postponed indefinitely because of Covid-19, organizers said on Friday. The Games were scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25 but have now been delayed as China tries to stamp out a large resurgence in infections in several parts of the country. Hangzhou lies less than […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Mass testing of China’s vast population could bring fresh misery to the economy, experts warned Friday, after Beijing vowed to regain control of the narrative around a zero-Covid policy that has strangled growth and fanned anger across the country. Leaders have taken a hardline approach to stamping out virus outbreaks, locking down Shanghai — the country’s economic dynamo and biggest city — and slowly restricting movement in Beijing over dozens of […]
Millions of people in Beijing returned to work Thursday, many remotely, with scores of subway stations shut after a national holiday muted by the coronavirus curbs. Chinese authorities have pressed on with their zero-Covid policy involving lockdowns and mass testing as they battle the biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with entire neighbourhoods in the capital sealed over handfuls of infections. Beijing reported 50 local virus cases on Thursday, a day […]
by Daniel Lawler Agence France Presse Climate change will drive animals towards cooler areas where their first encounters with other species will vastly increase the risk of new viruses infecting humans, raising the threat of another pandemic, researchers warned Thursday. There are currently at least 10,000 viruses that have the capacity to cross over into humans “circulating silently” among wild mammals, mostly in the depths of tropical forests, according to a study published in […]
The Chinese megacity of Guangzhou cancelled hundreds of flights Thursday and launched mass testing of 5.6 million people after one suspected Covid case, as the battle to contain the coronavirus sweeps across the country. China is facing its worst outbreak since the peak of the first wave in early 2020, with eastern Shanghai recording dozens of daily deaths and the capital Beijing sealing off whole neighbourhoods where handfuls of cases have been detected. Under its […]
by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — By February of this year, 58 percent of the US population — more than 190 million people — had been infected with Covid, according to an antibody survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Tuesday. The figure is far higher than the 80 million officially recorded cases, with the majority of infections undiagnosed, asymptomatic or unreported. Roughly 75 percent […]
US Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday but is asymptomatic and not considered a current close contact of President Joe Biden, the White House said. “Today, Vice President Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on rapid and PCR tests. She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president’s residence,” said Harris’ press secretary, Kirsten Allen. “She has not been a close contact to the president or […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden’s administration said Tuesday it is doubling the number of outlets where at-risk Americans can obtain free Covid-19 therapeutic pills. Oral therapeutics such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill are seen as an important new weapon in the struggle to knock out a virus that at its peak a year ago killed more than 3,000 people a day in the United States alone and disrupted economic activity around the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two years into the pandemic, China’s resurgent Covid-19 outbreak has revived questions about how the country counts deaths from the virus, with persistently low fatalities despite rising cases. Shanghai, China’s largest city, has logged 190 deaths among more than 520,000 infections in nearly two months — a fraction of the rate in outbreaks fuelled by the Omicron variant in other parts of the world. The figures have been trumpeted by […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Tuesday launched mass coronavirus testing for nearly all its 21 million residents, as fears grew that the Chinese capital may be placed under a strict lockdown like Shanghai. China is trying to contain a wave of infections in Shanghai — its biggest city — which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 52 new Covid deaths on Tuesday. Beijing authorities have ordered people in 12 central […]
by Daniel Lawler Agence France Presse As vaccine makers rush to stamp out new Covid-19 variants, some scientists have set their sights higher, aiming for a universal coronavirus vaccine that could tackle any future strains and possibly even stave off another pandemic. Since the race for a first Covid jab supercharged a new generation of vaccine technology, there have been numerous efforts to develop pan-coronavirus immunisation. Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, who […]
