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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan is working to isolate and analyze a new variant of the coronavirus detected in four people who arrived from Brazil, a health ministry official said Tuesday. Japan announced the detection of the new variant on Sunday, but officials have been at pains to emphasize there is no evidence yet that it is any more transmissible or dangerous than others. “In order to further analyze the variant, we need to isolate […]
LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested positive for coronavirus and cancelled all public engagements, his office announced late Monday just two weeks before a presidential election he is expected to win. The 72-year-old head of state was “asymptomatic” and isolating in the presidential palace in Lisbon, his office said in a statement. Last Wednesday, he had spent a few hours in “administrative isolation” after a member of his […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s king Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency to fight a surge in coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah “is of the opinion that the Covid-19 outbreak in the country is at a very critical stage and that there was a need for the emergency,” said a statement from the national palace. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had requested an emergency […]
Roque says PHL to get a total of 25 million vaccine doses from Sinovac in 2021 (Eagle News) – Malacanang said that the first COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive next month would be coming from Sinovac, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company that produces vaccines against infectious diseases. In a media briefing, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said that at least 65,000 doses of Sinovac’s vaccines will be arriving in the country by February, which means that 65,000 […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — At least two gorillas at California’s San Diego Zoo have caught the coronavirus, the first known instance of natural transmission to great apes, officials said Monday. Two primates began coughing last week and have since tested positive for Covid-19, while a third is showing symptoms, Governor Gavin Newsom said. They are thought to have contracted the virus from an asymptomatic zoo worker, though this has yet to be confirmed. […]
by Agence France Presse Bureaus GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Scientists at the World Health Organization warned Monday that mass vaccinations would not bring about herd immunity to the coronavirus this year, even as one leading producer boosted its production forecast. England meanwhile launched the first of its mass-inoculation sites in major cities, racing to get ahead of the rapid spread of a new strain of the disease there. The pandemic has infected more than […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — More than half a million people were placed under lockdown in Beijing on Monday as the government imposed strict measures to stamp out a handful of Covid-19 cases. China has largely brought the virus under control, but is tackling a number of local infections with lockdowns and mass testing. Authorities are keen to stem any outbreak in the capital — home to over 20 million people — particularly ahead of […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia will impose strict new curbs in over half the country to fight a coronavirus surge, the prime minister said Monday, warning the country’s healthcare system was at “breaking point”. It joins other Asian nations, from Japan to Australia, which kept their outbreaks under control in the early stages but have been forced to introduce new measures in recent days. Malaysia had relaxed restrictions as infections fell to almost zero […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Ten World Health Organization scientists will visit China from Thursday to probe the origins of Covid-19, authorities said, more than a year after the pandemic began and amid accusations, Beijing delayed the investigation. The WHO team “will conduct joint research cooperation on the origins of covid 19 with Chinese scientists,” the National Health Commission said in a statement. The long-awaited mission — which has been under discussion since last year — […]
(Eagle News) — Philippine vaccine czar Calito Galvez Jr., said that the first delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the country will be by February 20, and that the vaccines will be administered by the “third or fourth week of February”. In a senate hearing probing the National plan on COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, January 11, 2021, Galvez said that there are still negotiations on their final stages but that they cannot disclose details about […]
KOROR, Palau (AFP) — The remote Pacific nation of Micronesia recorded its first case of Covid-19 on Monday, ending its run as one of the few places on Earth without the coronavirus. President David Panuelo acknowledged the development was “alarming” for the country’s 100,000 inhabitants but said the case had been contained at the border. “For this reason, citizens across the nation should remain calm,” he said in a televised address. “Do not panic because […]
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The emergence in Britain and South Africa of two new variants of Sars-CoV-2, which are potentially far more infectious versions of the virus, has prompted widespread concern. Here is what we know — and what we don’t — about the mutations. – What are they? All viruses mutate when they replicate in order to adapt to their environment. Scientists have tracked multiple mutations of […]
