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SUVA, Fiji (AFP) — A Covid-19 outbreak that forced Fiji’s capital into lockdown after the island nation avoided transmission for a year was confirmed as the Indian variant Tuesday, with health officials saying they feared a “tsunami” of cases. The Pacific country had largely dodged community transmission before a cluster emerged this month centred on a quarantine facility in Nadi, the city that is home to Fiji’s international airport. The permanent secretary for health and […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — The first shipment of Covid medical supplies from Britain to India, including 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators, arrived early Tuesday, the foreign ministry said. Foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos of the equipment being unloaded from a German Lufthansa aircraft in New Delhi, calling it “international cooperation at work”. Britain, one of several countries to announce sending help as India’s health care system buckles under a huge surge […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s health regulator on Monday denied a request from several states to import Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, saying it did not have the data needed to verify the jab’s safety and efficacy. “We will never allow millions of Brazilians to be exposed to products without due verification of quality, safety and efficacy, or at minimum, facing the grave situation we are now going through, that the benefits will outweigh the […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia on Tuesday announced a temporary ban on direct passenger flights from India, as the South Asian nation grapples with a massive surge in coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the suspension would remain in place until at least May 15 due to “clearly present” risks of travel from India, leaving thousands of Australians — including high-profile cricketers — stranded. It follows similar moves by countries including Canada, the United […]
(Eagle News) — The Special Adviser to the National Task Force on COVID-19 Dr. Ted Herbosa said that the critical care utilization of hospitals in Metro Manila is still high which warrants as extension of the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in the Philippine capital and its surrounding provinces. In an interview with the Eagle News Service program, Balitalakayan, aired over NET 25, Dr. Herbosa also said that hospital bed utilization in Metro Manila […]
by Katie Forster / Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Three months before it hosts the Olympics — the biggest international event since the pandemic began — Japan has fully vaccinated less than one percent of its population in a cautious, slow-moving programme. Olympic organisers and local officials stress vaccines are not a prerequisite for the Games. Participants will not have to be inoculated before arrival and there are no plans to prioritise vaccination of […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization chief voiced alarm Monday at India’s record-breaking wave of Covid-19 cases and deaths, saying the organisation was rushing to help address the crisis. “The situation in India is beyond heartbreaking,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. He spoke as India battles a catastrophic coronavirus wave that has overwhelmed hospitals, with crematoriums working at full capacity. A surge in recent days has […]
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday announced a full lockdown from April 29 to May 17 to fight a surging third wave of coronavirus infections. The nation of 84 million has seen daily Covid-19 death tolls rise to around 350 — higher than during two previous spikes last year. Turkey’s 37,312 new infections reported on Monday were the highest in Europe but still down from the peak of nearly 60,000 […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States will send up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine abroad, officials announced Monday, as President Joe Biden pledged to “be there” for India in its hour of need. Critics have accused Washington of “hoarding” the British-developed vaccine, which is not authorized in the country and will likely not be required to vaccinate Americans. The issue has risen to the fore in […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Authorities in northern Italy announced Monday they had identified two cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus, in a father and daughter recently returned from India. The news follows reports of another case in the central region of Tuscany last month, and comes after the Italian government banned arrivals from the virus-hit country. “Today in (the city of) Bassano we have the first two patients, two Indians,” announced Luca Zaia, head […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa announced Monday it would shortly resume using Johnson & Johnson anti-Covid vaccines, two weeks after the jab was suspended to vet risks over blood clots. The vaccine will be included in South Africa’s much-delayed anti-Covid vaccination campaign from Wednesday after being given the green light by SAHPRA, the country’s health watchdog. “It has since been established there is a one in a million chance of getting the clot […]
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AFP) — Kazakhstan on Monday rolled out its homegrown coronavirus vaccine, with the Central Asian country’s health minister receiving the jab on live television. QazCovid-in, also known as QazVac, is a two-shot vaccine that is currently in third stage trials. The state broadcaster Khabar said that 50,000 doses of the vaccine developed by the state-backed Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems have been distributed across the vast oil-rich country. Health Minister Alexei Tsoi told […]
