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by Olivier MONNIER TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — Intensive care nurse Farial Faquiry says the health care system in Canada’s Ontario province is nearing the breaking point as it fights a fast-moving new wave of Covid-19 infections. The 29-year-old caregiver at Toronto’s Humber River Hospital is looking after two patients in their 60s who are on ventilators. “We’re overwhelmed,” Faquiry told AFP, conveying the feelings of her peers who often say they feel powerless against a […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand’s fledgling quarantine-free travel arrangement with Western Australia faced disruption for the second time in eight days Saturday following fresh community cases of Covid-19 in Perth. A worker at a managed isolation facility in the city and two people he shares accommodation with have tested positive, authorities said. Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said the state would not go into lockdown “at this point”. But New Zealand health ministry […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa will on Sunday take delivery of the first batch of its 4.5 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccines as the country readies to start ramping up immunization. In a statement, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said 325,260 doses were scheduled to land at the country’s OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg late on Sunday. A similar number is expected weekly until the end of this month. “Thereafter the vaccine supply will […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UK said Sunday it was sending an extra 1,000 oxygen ventilators to Covid-struck India, as a group of doctors staged their own intervention by offering long-distance telemedicine from Britain. British authorities have already sent 495 oxygen concentrators and 200 ventilators to India as the country grapples with a devastating surge in coronavirus cases, and are shipping three larger production units, dubbed oxygen factories. The 1,000 additional ventilators will come […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia will permit citizens immunised against Covid-19 to travel abroad from May 17, the interior ministry said Sunday, more than a year after Saudis were barred from external trips. The ministry said three categories of people would be considered immunised — those who have received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, those administered a single dose at least 14 days prior to travel, and people who have recovered from […]
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — At least 16 Covid-19 patients and two nurses died Saturday in the latest in a series of hospital fires in India, officials said, as the country’s health care system buckles under a surge in cases. There were around 50 other patients at the four-storey hospital in Bharuch in the western state of Gujarat when the blaze began at 1:00 am (0730 GMT). It has since been put out. The death […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India recorded on Saturday over 400,000 new Covid cases in 24 hours for the first time, the first country to do so in the pandemic, official data showed. According to the health ministry, 401,993 new infections were registered taking the total caseload to 19.1 million. There were 3,523 deaths, bringing the toll to 211,853. Many experts suspect that because of insufficient testing and inaccurate recording of cause of death, […]
by Natsuko FUKUE / Andrew MCKIRDY Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — This summer’s virus-postponed Olympics could be held behind closed doors, Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto told AFP on Friday, pledging to ensure the Games will be safe. Former Olympian Hashimoto said the Games could only be a success if organisers “completely protect” athletes and people in Japan, and that she is hopeful people will “be glad” the event went ahead. Overseas […]
DOLE says it “recognizes risk of those who courageously and willingly put their lives on the line” amid pandemic (Eagle News) — COVID-19 is now a “compensable work-related disease,” according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. Because of this, “Filipino workers who had been infected with COVID-19 will receive appropriate compensation from the government through the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC),” according to the Department of Labor and Employment. Bello said that the ECC board […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — A US military plane on Friday brought the first emergency coronavirus supplies to help India battle its devastating surge in the pandemic. The military jet carrying more than 400 oxygen cylinders and other hospital equipment and nearly one million rapid coronavirus tests landed at New Delhi’s international airport as the Indian capital battles a major pandemic crisis. © Agence France-Presse
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that the city hopes to “fully reopen” on July 1. The mayor did not specify exactly how or when pandemic restrictions would be lifted, which is actually a decision for New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, with whom he has a difficult relationship. “We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters, full strength,” de Blasio told […]
by Valeria PACHECO / with Andrea PALASCIANO in Moscow BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s health regulator said Thursday its decision to reject the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was based on the developer’s own data, after the latter threatened to sue for defamation. Brazilian regulators’ decision Monday to deny emergency use authorization for the vaccine has blown up into an all-out international row, with Sputnik V’s makers accusing them of “knowingly spreading false and inaccurate […]
