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BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Bangkok’s nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales goes into effect Saturday, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom’s rising coronavirus toll. Thailand initially appeared to have escaped the worst of the virus, registering just under 4,000 total cases in November, despite being the second country to detect an infection in January. But an outbreak last month at a massive seafood […]
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German firm BioNTech said Friday it was racing to ramp up production of its Covid-19 jab in Europe, to fill the “gap” left by the lack of other approved vaccines. The vaccine developed by BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer was the first to be approved in the European Union in late December. Countries including Britain, Canada and the United States okayed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine earlier and have […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine. A government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval. India, which has the world’s second highest number of pandemic […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The French government on Friday announced it is bringing forward its nighttime curfew by two hours in 15 regions to help combat the coronavirus, as infections remain high. The 15 of France’s 101 departments affected by the switch from Saturday, to a curfew beginning at 6:00 pm rather than 8:00 pm, include the Les Alpes-Maritimes department where the Mediterranean city of Nice is located. The other areas are concentrated in the […]
by Ben Sheppard WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has recorded more than 20 million cases of Covid-19, Johns Hopkins University said Friday in its real-time tally, as the New Year brought another grim milestone underlining the country’s struggle to quell the virus. The US has so far registered 20,007,149 cases and 346,408 deaths in the pandemic, the Baltimore-based university said, making it the country with by far the highest official number of […]
WHO criteria for safety and efficacy met (Eagle News) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has given emergency validation to the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine, the first vaccine against COVID-19 to receive such a validation from WHO since the pandemic. This was after WHO listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use. The Comirnaty vaccine requires storage using an ultra-cold chain and needs to be stored at -60°C to -90°C degrees, makes the deployment […]
by Jitendra JOSHI and Phil HAZLEWOOD with Agence France Presse bureaus LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Thursday finally severed its turbulent half-century partnership with Europe, quitting the EU single market and customs union to go its own way four-and-a-half years after its shock vote to leave the bloc. Brexit, which has dominated politics on both sides of the Channel since 2016, became a reality as Big Ben struck 11:00 pm (2300 GMT) […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo reported over 1,300 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, a daily record, as officials warned that a state of emergency might be needed to tackle spiking cases. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held emergency talks with ministers late Thursday but did not immediately outline plans for any new measures. “The trend is clearly increasing. I regard this as very serious,” Suga told reporters, as he urged people to wear masks, wash […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than 3,900 people died of Covid-19 in the US Wednesday, according to a count released by Johns Hopkins University, a new daily record for fatalities from the virus. The Baltimore-based university said 3,927 people had died of the coronavirus in the 24 hours before 8.30 pm (0130 GMT Thursday) in the US, the worst-hit country in the world, while 189,671 new cases had been recorded. That brought the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has granted “conditional” market approval to a Sinopharm vaccine with a reported 79 percent efficacy rate against Covid-19, health authorities said Thursday, a major stride towards inoculating the world’s largest population. The Sinopharm jab, which has surged ahead of a raft of Chinese competitors during Phase 3 trials, could signal a breakthrough in the battle to squash the pandemic in Asia. Around 4.5 million doses of largely unproven emergency […]
by Patrick BAERT Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The number of coronavirus cases in the Chinese city where the pathogen was first detected may have been 10 times higher than official figures suggest, according to a study by health authorities in Wuhan. About 4.4 percent of the city’s 11 million residents had developed antibodies against the virus causing Covid-19 by April, the report by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said. […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore began a coronavirus vaccination campaign Wednesday with a nurse receiving the first jab, making it among the first Asian nations to roll out inoculations. The city-state, which has suffered a mild outbreak, became the first country in Asia to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier this month, and its programme kicked off with healthcare workers. Nurse Sarah Lim, 46, whose work includes screening suspected Covid-19 patients, was the first to be […]
