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by Kenan Augeard with AFP Bureaus A Covid variant-driven “tsunami” threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO said Wednesday as AFP data showed cases have surged across the world in the past week to levels never seen before. Highly transmissible Omicron propelled the United States, France and Denmark to fresh records on Wednesday, with AFP’s tally of 6.55 million infections reported globally for seven days through Tuesday showing the unprecedented spread. They were the highest […]
(Eagle News) — Filipinos topped the Philippines’ list of individuals arriving in the country for the holidays. In a statement, the Bureau of Immigration said of the 141,216 Filipinos who arrived, many were overseas Filipino workers. This was followed by Americans with 12,455 arrivals, Canadians with 2,805, and Japanese with 1,645. According to bureau Port Operations Division Chief Carlos Capulong, the numbers remain relatively low, although they were higher than the figures posted during the […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The risk posed by the Omicron variant is still “very high”, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, after Covid-19 case numbers shot up by 11 percent globally last week. Omicron is behind rapid virus spikes in several countries, including those where it has already overtaken the previously-dominant Delta variant, the WHO said in its Covid-19 weekly epidemiological update. “The overall risk related to the new variant […]
by Hui Min NEO with AFP bureaus BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — The WHO warned Tuesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant could overwhelm healthcare systems despite early studies suggesting it causes milder disease, as China and Germany reintroduced tough restrictions to stem new infections. Covid-19 surges have wreaked havoc worldwide, forcing many nations to make tough choices between economically punishing restrictions to control the spread of the virus and keeping society open. The United States has […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities on Monday halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic Covid-19 infections from 10 to five days, with a surge of cases causing travel chaos and threatening wider social disruption. “The Omicron variant is spreading quickly and has the potential to impact all facets of our society,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement announcing the change. “These updates […]
(Eagle News) — The Philippines on Monday, Dec. 27, reported another Omicron variant case, bringing the total cases of the variant of concern in the country to four. According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the fourth case was a 38-year-old female from the United States. The fourth case, Vergeire said, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on December 10 via Philippine Airlines PR 127. She experienced throat itchiness and colds on December 13, […]
Omicron has become the dominant strain of coronavirus in Portugal where more than 10,000 daily Covid-19 cases had been registered Saturday, the national health agency said. Portugal, one of the countries with the highest Covid-19 vaccination rates worldwide, has begun inoculating children over five years old. “The Omicron variant is already dominant in Portugal, accounting for 61.5 percent of cases on December 22,” the General Directorate of Health said. On Saturday, Portugal recorded 10 deaths […]
Covid infections in France hit six figures Saturday, health officials recording 104,611 cases over the previous 24 hours, the third consecutive day the numbers have been record highs. The latest figures, from France’s public health agency, come ahead of a video-conference meeting Monday in which President Emmanuel Macron and key members of his government will discuss new Covid safety measures. Officials are concerned about the effect of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Already […]
More than 6,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide over the long holiday weekend and thousands more were delayed, a tracking website reported Saturday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday hurt to millions. Compounding the travel chaos in the United States, severe weather in the country’s west is due to wreak havoc on roadways and other routes there although it may well bring a white holiday weekend to northwest cities Seattle and Portland. According […]
by Jing Xuan Teng, with Agence France Presse Bureaus BEIJING, China (AFP) — China shut down a city of 13 million people on Thursday in a bid to extinguish a tiny Covid-19 outbreak and chase its zero-case goal, as other nations around the globe battled huge infection surges driven by the Omicron variant. Early studies from South Africa and Britain gave some cause for hope, however, indicating Omicron infections appear to result in fewer […]
“No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” warns WHO chief LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The WHO warned Wednesday that rich countries cannot use boosters to escape the coronavirus and France became one of the first nations to vaccinate children over five, as nations scrambled to contain Omicron surges. China meanwhile cracked down on the latest outbreak of the virus, shutting down a whole city. And Britain, which reported a record […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Thursday that a third, or “booster”, dose of its Covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria “significantly” lifted antibody levels against the Omicron strain in a laboratory study. “Vaxzevria significantly boosted levels of antibodies against the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.529) following a third dose booster,” the company said in a statement citing the study. “The third dose booster vaccination neutralised the Omicron variant to levels that were broadly […]
