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JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel is to require Covid tests from next week for children as young as three to enter schools, swimming pools, hotels or gyms as infections surge despite extensive adult vaccinations. Israel already required children aged 12 and over to show a Green Pass re-introduced late last month showing a person’s vaccination and testing status and whether they had recovered from Covid. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said from next Wednesday the state […]
HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Limits on public gatherings will be tightened in the Finnish capital as the country’s infection rates hit a new daily high, health chiefs said on Thursday. Despite enjoying some of Europe’s lowest incidence rates during much of the pandemic, cases in Finland have been surging in recent weeks, with a record 1,024 new infections on Wednesday, public health agency THL said. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million has so far recorded […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll since the start of the pandemic, saying 808 people had died over the past 24 hours. The new figures bring Russia’s total fatalities from Covid-19 to 168,049 — the highest toll in Europe. © Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Authorities in China have suspended operations at a terminal in the world’s third busiest cargo port after a worker was infected with the coronavirus. The closure of a key terminal at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port on the east coast, which handled almost 1.2 billion tons in 2020, reflects China’s determination to squash its worst coronavirus outbreak in months no matter the economic costs. The worker at the port’s Meishan terminal tested positive […]
by Diana SIMEONOVA / Rossen BOSSEV SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) — It’s getting close to lunchtime and a Covid-19 vaccination centre in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is almost empty, a vivid example of the way the country’s immunisation effort is hamstrung by fake news and widespread mistrust. As a fourth coronavirus wave threatens, official data show that only 15 percent of the population of 6.9 million people has been fully vaccinated, far below the EU average […]
CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s capital Canberra was ordered into a seven-day lockdown Thursday, after a single Covid-19 case was detected in the city that has largely avoided virus restrictions. About 400,000 people in the nation’s political hub will be under stay-at-home orders from 5:00 pm local time, joining millions more already under lockdown in Australia’s southeast. “This is the most serious public health risk that we are faced in the territory this year. Really, […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s medicines agency approved Tuesday a first round of clinical trials on humans for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Spanish firm Hipra. “This is the first trial on humans of a vaccine made in Spain,” the agency said in a statement. Dozens of volunteers will be recruited from Spanish hospitals “as soon as possible” for the clinical trials, it added. Hipra, which is based in the northeastern city of Girona, said […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities urged pregnant women on Wednesday to get inoculated against Covid-19, arguing that the data demonstrates they do not increase the risk of miscarriage. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency “encourages all pregnant people or people who are thinking about becoming pregnant and those breastfeeding to get vaccinated to protect themselves from Covid-19.” “The vaccines are safe and effective, […]
The World Health Organization on Wednesday announced major international trials of three drugs to find out whether they improve the condition of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. Artesunate, imatinib and infliximab will be tested on thousands of volunteer patients in more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries. “Today we are pleased to announce the next phase in the solidarity trial called Solidarity Plus. Solidarity Plus will test 3 drugs: artesunate, a treatment for severe malaria, imatinib, a […]
by Huw GRIFFITH LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — All teachers in California will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to weekly virus tests, the state’s governor announced Wednesday, as authorities grapple with exploding infection rates. The number of people testing positive for the disease has surged across the United States in recent weeks, with the highly infectious Delta variant blamed for the bulk of new cases. That has worried parents and educators […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug regulator has approved the country’s first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant raises concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs. The trial will test the efficacy of combining an “inactivated” vaccine made by China’s Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio, a statement issued on Tuesday said. The statement was put out by […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A group of Australian Olympic athletes were Wednesday facing 28 days in quarantine on return from Tokyo in a move slammed as “cruel” and “uncaring” as concerns mount over their mental wellbeing. All overseas travellers, including the nearly 500-strong Australian team, are required to spend 14 days’ isolation in a hotel or special outback camp on arrival in the country, under strict coronavirus rules. But some will have to endure double […]
