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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s coronavirus cases hit a seven-month high on Tuesday, after a cluster at a test site drove up numbers as the Delta variant challenges Beijing’s grip on the pandemic. State media has described the current outbreak — which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions — as the most severe since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan. Authorities had brought domestic infections down to virtually zero, […]
by Geneviève NORMAND LACOLLE, Canada (AFP) — American visitors trickled across the Canada-US border on Monday, cheering the reopening of the world’s longest land boundary 17 months after all non-essential travel was halted to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Ottawa lifted quarantine requirements for US citizens and permanent residents arriving with proof of vaccination. “It’s absolutely wonderful,” Vicki Poulin said of the border reopening. “We’re just so happy to be here.” “I thought […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP ) — Nepal on Monday rolled out second Covid-19 vaccine jabs for nearly 1.4 million elderly people, following a months-long delay after neighbouring India halted exports over a massive surge in infections. People aged over 65 became eligible from March to receive their first AstraZeneca-Oxford shots from India, but were unable to get their second dose after the stock ran out. The vaccination drive was later opened in stages to everyone above […]
by Florian SOENEN with Sabine WIBAUX in Bordeaux PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Monday began enforcing a Covid pass championed by President Emmanuel Macron in cafes, restaurants and trains, a tightening of rules the government hopes will boost vaccinations but which has prompted weeks of angry protests. The pass, already needed for the last three weeks to go to a cinema, attend a concert or visit a museum, will be needed to partake in […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Brunei imposed strict curbs to halt the spread of Covid-19, after finding its first locally transmitted cases in the country in over a year. Seven community infections were found, the health ministry said Saturday, leading the government to close all places of worship and postpone social events for two weeks. Mass events were also limited to groups of 30 people over this period as school classes were moved online and […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia will ease coronavirus curbs for fully vaccinated people in states comprising about half the country, its premier said Sunday. The move, which takes effect from Tuesday, will allow millions to cross district borders, play individual outdoor sports and eat in restaurants in eight states where cases have fallen and vaccination rates are promising. A lockdown since June has shut down thousands of businesses and limited most peoples’ travel to […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel set up rapid coronavirus testing stations across the country on Sunday, the Magen David Adom emergency service said, as the government tries to stave off another pandemic lockdown. “Following a request from the Ministry of Health, Magen David Adom on Sunday opened 120 rapid detection stations,” an MDA statement said. The testing centres are aimed at the non-vaccinated and those who have recovered from the virus and need a health […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Sunday said they had completed citywide testing of more than 11 million people for Covid-19 after a resurgence of cases more than a year after the coronavirus first emerged there. The tests — which began on Tuesday — provide “basically full coverage” of all residents in the city except for children under the age of six and students on their summer break, […]
TUNIS, Tunisia (AFP) — Tunisia on Sunday launched a Covid-19 vaccination drive for the over-40s, after receiving more than six million doses from abroad to combat surging infections. The health ministry said 551,008 people had been given jabs in more than 300 centres across the country, in what was billed as an “open day” for vaccinations. Tunisia, in the thick of political and economic crises, has received more than six million doses from Western and […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran reported over 500 daily Covid deaths for the first time on Sunday, its health ministry announced, as new infections also hit a record high. Iran registered 39,619 new infections in the 24 hours to Sunday, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,158,729, the ministry said During that same period it recorded 542 deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 94,015, it added. Iranian health officials have acknowledged […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India gave emergency approval to Johnson and Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine Saturday to ramp up its flailing immunization campaign as fears grow of a new wave of infections. Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the approval will boost the fight against the pandemic in India, where at least 200,000 people died in a brutal two-month wave up to mid-June. “India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is […]
by Juliette MICHEL NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, slaughterhouses to airlines, more American firms are demanding their employees get Covid-19 vaccines to return to the workplace, and are willing to fire them if they violate the rule. CNN news network terminated three employees who flouted the policy and went to work without being immunized against the coronavirus. “Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on […]
