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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand’s first case of coronavirus in the community for more than two months has been identified as the South African variant and was likely contracted in hotel quarantine, health minister Chris Hipkins said Monday. The 56-year-old woman, who recently returned from Europe, tested positive on Saturday, 10 days after she completed her compulsory two weeks in isolation. New Zealand has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, […]
by Jan FLEMR Agence France Presse In a dog training centre built inside a shipping container located in a Czech mountain village, Renda, Cap and Laky are being put to the test. They sniff at six vessels, each containing a piece of cloth with scent from patients with Covid-19, negative donors, or fake samples. “Good boy!” exclaims Lenka Vlachova, a trainer working at Prague’s fire brigade, as jagdterrier Renda sits down by one sample, wagging […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — New border controls came into force in France on Sunday as part of a massive effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 and avoid another nationwide lockdown. After a slow start to vaccinations, French health authorities reported that a million people had received coronavirus inoculations by Saturday. But stubbornly high new rates for infections, hospitalizations and Covid deaths fuelled fears France may need another full lockdown, which would be the third, […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced Sunday that he was infected with the coronavirus, but said his symptoms are mild and he feels optimistic. “I regret to inform you that I am infected with Covid-19. The symptoms are mild but I am already undergoing medical treatment,” the 67-year-old said in a message on social media. “As always, I am optimistic,” added the leftwing populist, who is rarely seen wearing […]
Only PRC can do saliva tests for now (Eagle News) – The Department of Health has approved the conduct of saliva testing for COVID-19 testing as the Philippine Red Cross rolls out its saliva testing today, Monday, Jan. 25. But the DOH said that only the PRC is authorized to conduct the saliva tests for COVID-19. Initially, the PRC has designated its Logistics and Multi-Purpose Center in Mandaluyong and its laboratory in Port Area […]
by Julie CHARPENTRAT with AFP bureaus in Europe Agence France Presse PARIS France (AFP) — Despite dozens of deaths of people shortly after they were vaccinated against coronavirus, scientists say the evidence available so far does not incriminate the new anti-Covid vaccines. Health agencies stress however that the vast majority of post-vaccination fatalities were elderly, already vulnerable and often sick. Here’s a review of the situation: – Elderly, vulnerable – Norway sparked alarm last […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Sébastien RICCI Agence France Presse WUHAN, CHina (AFP) — Exactly one year after it thrust the word “lockdown” into the global conversation, Wuhan passed the anniversary with a mix of pride at emerging from Covid-19’s grip and caution over a possible relapse. A year ago Saturday, Wuhan shocked the world by confining its 11 million anxious citizens to their homes, beginning a traumatic 76-day lockdown that underscored the growing threat […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A major clinical trial shows that an inflammatory drug called colchicine is effective in treating Covid-19 and reduces the risk of complications from the disease, doctors in Canada said. The results of the study are a “major scientific discovery” and make colchicine — a medicine used to treat gout — “the world’s first oral drug that could be used to treat non-hospitalized patients with Covid-19,” the Montreal Heart Institute said in […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Pfizer announced Friday that it will provide up to 40 million of its Covid-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries on a non-profit basis, through the globally-pooled Covax facility. While dozens of the world’s richer countries have begun their vaccination campaigns in a bid to curb the pandemic, coronavirus jabs have been few and far between in the world’s poorer nations. Covax — the globally-pooled coronavirus […]
(Eagle News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking a review of the reports on deaths in frail elderly individuals who had received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In a statement on Friday, Jan. 22, WHO said that the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has already met early this week for the review. The GACVS is a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to WHO on the matter of […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — To monitor changes to the coronavirus that could supercharge the pandemic or render vaccines less effective, scientists must sequence its genetic code to catalogue potentially dangerous mutations as they emerge. But so few countries are conducting and sharing surveillance that experts are as worried about the mutations they cannot see as those they can. Publication of the first genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 in January […]
by Deborah COLE Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany on Friday recorded more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, as public health officials expressed cautious optimism about a slowing infection rate. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control centre said 859 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 50,642. “That is a distressing, incomprehensible number to […]
