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BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing recorded its highest number of new Covid-19 cases for a year and a half on Sunday, as the Chinese capital gears up to host the Winter Olympics in five days. China will hold the Games in a strict “closed-loop” bubble as part of its zero-Covid strategy of targeted lockdowns, border restrictions and lengthy quarantines. The approach has helped the world’s second-largest economy keep new infections far lower than many other […]
by Julie CHARPENTRAT PARIS, France (AFP) — Disinformation around Covid vaccines has existed as long as the jabs themselves. Unverified studies, unproven claims and out-of-context data are regularly shared on websites and social media across the globe — fuelling dangerous myths about the virus and the vaccines. As Austria becomes the first European Union country to make vaccines mandatory this week, AFP looks at some common disinformation surrounding the jabs: – Causation vs chronology – […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A “Freedom Convoy” of trucks joined by thousands of demonstrators brought Ottawa to a virtual standstill for a second day Sunday to protest Canada’s vaccine mandates, as other sympathetic truckers blocked a border highway into the United States. “This afternoon, a large presence of police continues throughout the downtown core and the movement of protestors and trucks continues to be managed,” the Ottawa police said in a statement. “These high-risk situations […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s population declined by more than one million people in 2021, the statistics agency Rosstat reported Friday, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ongoing demographic woes have been exacerbated by the pandemic with Rosstat figures showing more than 660,000 had died with coronavirus since health officials recorded the first case in the country. The new figures continue a downward trend from the previous year […]
Total active cases rise slightly to 231,658 (Eagle News) – For the second straight day, new Covid-19 cases inched higher on Friday, January 28, as the Department of Health recorded 18,638 new cases. The new cases were slightly higher than Thursday’s number of 18,191, and Wednesday’s (Jan. 26) 15,789 cases. But this time, it broke the six-day streak of new recoveries exceeding new Covid cases because on Friday, there were only 13,106 new recoveries. From […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines will re-open to fully vaccinated tourists from most countries on February 10 and lift quarantine requirements, officials said Friday, nearly two years after closing its borders to contain the coronavirus. Tourism operators across the archipelago nation famed for its beaches and dive spots have been devastated by a plunge in international visitors and restrictions on domestic travel. Their misery was worsened by a super typhoon that smashed into the […]
by Holmes CHAN HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s U-turn on its mandatory three-week quarantine for arrivals follows growing scrutiny of the strict policy after a coronavirus outbreak was traced to a woman infected during her hotel stay. Like mainland China, Hong Kong is one of the few places left in the world still pursuing a zero-Covid strategy that has largely kept the virus at bay but left the finance hub internationally isolated. On […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization vowed to take action Thursday following a slew of allegations from staff past and present against its Western Pacific regional director, including racist, abusive and authoritarian behaviour. Japanese doctor Takeshi Kasai, who denied the allegations, is accused presiding over a “toxic atmosphere” at the WHO regional office in Manila, with a culture of “systemic bullying and public ridiculing”. The staff, […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden’s health authority said Thursday that it would not recommend Covid-19 vaccinations for all children aged five to 11, the country again choosing a different coronavirus policy than much of Europe. The Scandinavian country, which controversially opted against any form of lockdown or school closures during the pandemic’s early days, recommended jabs only for children who were at risk. “The vaccines are safe, there are very good vaccines but we […]
by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The world’s largest economy staged a solid recovery last year as it grew at the fastest pace since 1984, but damage from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is imminent. Surging prices continue to pose a challenge, as inflation picked up speed in the final three months of the pandemic’s second year, according to official data released Thursday. That threatens to dampen the consumer demand that has underpinned […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Testing in humans of an HIV vaccine that uses messenger RNA technology has begun, the biotech firm Moderna and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative said Thursday. This Phase 1 trial is being carried out in the United States among 56 healthy adults who are HIV negative. Despite four decades of research, doctors have yet to develop a vaccine to protect people from the virus that causes AIDS, which kills hundreds […]
Total active Covid-19 cases decrease to 226,521 (Eagle News) – The country posted 18,191 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, January 27, slightly higher than the previous day’s 15,789 new cases. But even with the slight increase, the total active cases went down to 226,151 from 230,410 recorded the previous day, Wednesday. The total active cases on Thursday is 6.5 percent of the total confirmed Covid-19 cases of 3,493,447 in the country since the pandemic began […]
