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by Agence France Presse Bureaus WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States demanded a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as a team of World Health Organization experts in China waited Thursday for the green light to begin its long-awaited Covid-19 probe. The call came as coronavirus infections shot past 100 million and governments scrambled to get their hands on scarce vaccine doses, with a bitter row […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Brazil’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been ranked the world’s worst, while New Zealand topped the class, according to research published by a leading Australian think tank on Thursday. Sydney’s Lowy Institute assessed almost 100 countries on six criteria, including confirmed cases, deaths and testing metrics. “Collectively, these indicators point to how well or poorly countries have managed the pandemic,” according to the report by the independent body. Aside […]
https://youtu.be/bTA7MsLG0s4 (Eagle News) — The inter-agency Task Force on COVID-19 will consider the attack rate of the new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, in its study of the quarantine protocol classification to be imposed in various parts of the country starting February. This was noted by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a recent press briefing. While there are still a few cases of COVID-19 detected with the variant B.1.1.7, Malacanang said that because the variant is […]
Facebook profit surged in the final three months of last year as people enduring the holidays in a pandemic turned to the leading social network for work and pleasure, the company said Wednesday. Facebook reported profit of $11.2 billion on revenue of $28 billion, increases of 53 percent and 33 percent when compared with the same period the prior year. “We had a strong end to the year as people and businesses continued to […]
WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — New Zealand confirmed two new cases of the more virulent South African Covid-19 strain in the community Thursday, as investigators scrambled to determine how the virus breached border controls. Health officials said the pair, an adult and child, caught the virus in the same quarantine facility as a woman who tested positive over the weekend, ending a run of more than two months with no cases in the community. They […]
by Agence France Presse bureaus Daily global deaths from Covid-19 topped 18,000 for the first time Wednesday, the latest reminder of the pandemic’s devastating impact as governments tightened restrictions in a bid to contain alarming new coronavirus strains. With vaccines seen as the only real chance of returning to some form of normality, a row erupted between the European Union and drugs firm AstraZeneca over supplies. And in Lebanon, a third night of clashes was […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — A coronavirus variant from Manaus in northern Brazil, first detected in Japan in January, is now the dominant form of the virus in the hard-hit city, a local researcher told AFP on Wednesday. The variant’s quick spread confirms fears that it is more contagious than the original form of the virus, said Felipe Naveca, who studies coronavirus mutations in northern Amazonas state. The variant which was first detected early this month […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British citizens returning home from roughly 30 countries deemed at “high risk” from new coronavirus variants could soon have to quarantine in hotels, reports said on Wednesday. Beefed-up rules will require the travellers to stay in hotels near airports for 10 days, according to the Times and BBC. Non-UK arrivals from the targeted destinations — which include South America, Portugal, Cape Verde and South Africa — are already barred […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong has begun using “ambush lockdowns” to suddenly close off and test everyone inside neighbourhoods where coronavirus cases have spiked, as a spate of recent outbreaks lay bare the rampant inequality in the wealthy Chinese finance hub. Police cordoned off a row of densely packed tenement buildings in the Yau Ma Tei area overnight on Tuesday through to Wednesday morning to conduct mandatory tests. The new tactic involves authorities […]
PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday lashed “vaccine nationalism,” accusing rich countries of bulk-buying coronavirus vaccines and hoarding them to the detriment of others. Addressing the all-virtual 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF), Ramaphosa said low- and middle-income countries were being shouldered aside by wealthier nations able to acquire “up to four times what their population needs”. “We are concerned about vaccine nationalism,” he warned. “Rich countries in the world are […]
By Ben Sheppard and AFP Bureaus WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than 100 million Covid-19 cases have now been recorded worldwide, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday, as newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden pledged to ramp up the United States’s struggling vaccine program. The number of cases, compiled from data provided by national health agencies, represents just a fraction of the real infections as the coronavirus has spread around the globe. The United States, […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — AstraZeneca’s CEO insisted Tuesday that the company was not selling vaccines ordered by the European Union to other countries at a profit, after delayed orders sparked fury from EU leaders. The British-Swedish drugs firm admitted last week that it would not meet its contractual delivery commitments to the EU because of “reduced yields” in its European supply chain. That prompted European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides to announce that the EU plans […]
