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by Ivan Couronne WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna, one of nine companies in the late stages of clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine, became the first to publish the complete blueprints of its study following calls for greater transparency. Pfizer, the other American company currently carrying out Phase 3 trials in the US, followed suit a short time later and there is now added pressure for the remainder to do the […]
by Michael Mathes, with Elodie Cuzin in Wilmington Agence France Presse US President Donald Trump expressed renewed confidence Wednesday that a viable Covid-19 vaccine would be ready by October, directly contradicting a top administration health expert and facing fierce criticism from his Democratic election rival Joe Biden. Trump sowed confusion about the issue with an extraordinary public rebuke of one of his top health experts who said masks were a leading weapon for fighting the […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday he could close pubs earlier to “stop the second hump” of coronavirus cases, comparing the country’s trajectory of resurgent transmission to a camel’s profile. His government is set to unveil new restrictions in England, which could also include greater social curbs, later on Thursday, initially targeting the northeast region where Covid-19 cases are surging. It already imposed rules across England on Monday limiting […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A group of wealthy nations representing 13 percent of the global population have already bought up more than half of the promised doses of future Covid-19 vaccines, according to a report by Oxfam on Wednesday. The non-governmental organization analyzed deals struck by pharmaceuticals and vaccine producers for the five leading vaccine candidates currently in late-stage trials, based on data collected by the analytics company Airfinity. “Access to a life-saving […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.8 percent in August, spurring hopes that the worst of a coronavirus-fuelled recession may have passed. The country’s statistical agency said Thursday that unemployment had fallen 0.7 points from the 7.5-percent rate posted in July, with the economy adding 111,000 more jobs. Australia is experiencing its first recession in almost 30 years, prompting the government and central bank to embark on a vast stimulus spending […]
by Neil SANDS WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand’s economy plunged into recession for the first time in a decade on Thursday, posting a record contraction in the June quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern heads into next month’s general election. “The 12.2-percent fall in quarterly GDP is by far the largest on record in New Zealand,” the national statistics agency said. The reporting period covers April to June, […]
(Eagle News) – More than 3 million Filipinos have undergone COVID-19 tests, and so far, 10.6 percent of them had tested positive, the Department of Health (DOH) said. As of Sept. 16, the individuals who have been tested “based on the aggregate reports on the total positive and negative tests from laboratories” have reached 3,008,239. Of these individuals, 272,934 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, which represents 0.25 percent of the population. The number […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — More French schools have closed after multiple students tested positive for Covid-19 while a further 2,100 individual classes have also been called off, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Wednesday. Early last week, just 28 schools were closed shortly after the school year resumed but that number has climbed to 81 over the past week. “We have around 1,200 new Covid cases among students compared with last week,” Blanquer told LCI television. […]
by Jalees ANDRABI NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s total coronavirus cases passed five million on Wednesday, health ministry data showed, as the pandemic extends its grip on the vast country at an ever-faster rate. With its latest one million cases recorded in just 11 days, a world record, India now has 5.02 million infections. Only the United States has more, with 6.59 million. India has for some time been recording the world’s biggest daily […]
SAO, PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — At a warehouse on the west side of Sao Paulo, fruits and vegetables grow within a tower stacked 10 storeys high with plants, all bathed in an ethereal pink light. This is Pink Farms, the first vertical farm in the teeming Brazilian city of 12 million people, where land is scarce and produce usually has to be shipped in from afar. The farm consists of two towers, each about the […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The death toll from an outbreak in southern Spain of West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquitos, has risen to four, local health authorities said Monday. An 87-year-old woman who was hospitalized with the disease in the town of Puerto Real in the southwestern province of Cadiz is the latest fatal victim of the outbreak, the health department of the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement. Three other […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Coronavirus could potentially cost one million jobs in Britain this year, with most losses anticipated during the current third quarter, according to a study published on Monday. Job losses could hit 450,000 between July and September, the Institute for Employment Studies forecast in a report, warning this could worsen to 690,000 positions under a worst-case scenario. Another 200,000 cuts could follow in the fourth quarter, or three months to December, […]
