Tag: Virus

PHL launches official contact tracing program, Staysafe.ph; app connected to all molecular labs

(Eagle News) — The Philippine government has launched its official contact tracing program, StaySafe.ph application, which is considered a game changer to the country’s COVID-19 response, Malacanang said. Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque, Jr. said this official contact tracing app was launched on Sept. 2 at SM Manila. He said that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) as early as June 2020 had reaffirmed its policy on the use […]

Continue Reading →

Over 7,000 health workers dead from coronavirus, Amnesty says

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — At least 7,000 health workers worldwide have died after being infected with the coronavirus, including more than 1,300 in Mexico alone, the most for any country, Amnesty International said Thursday. “Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price,” said Steve Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at the London-based rights group. “Many months […]

Continue Reading →

‘Batman’ filming halted after Pattinson gets Covid-19

by Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Filming in Britain for the latest Batman movie has been halted after its star Robert Pattinson reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after shooting had resumed. “A member of ‘The Batman’ production has tested positive for Covid-19, and is isolating in accordance with established protocols,” Warner Bros. said in a statement to AFP. “Filming is temporarily paused.” The studio did not name the person […]

Continue Reading →

Thailand records first coronavirus case after 100-day streak

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Thai disc jockey sentenced last week to two years in prison has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Thursday, ending the kingdom’s 100-day run without a local transmission. The man, sentenced on August 26 for what local media said was a drugs offense, had been in contact with at least 30 other people before testing positive on Wednesday. Those tested so far have all been negative, officials said. “It […]

Continue Reading →

The Rock reveals family coronavirus battle

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his entire family tested positive for coronavirus but have made a full recovery, the professional wrestler turned Hollywood A-lister said Wednesday. Johnson, the world’s top-paid actor, urged his 196 million Instagram followers to wear masks and avoid “politicizing” the pandemic after revealing that he, his wife, and two young daughters had picked up Covid-19 from close family friends. “This has been one of the […]

Continue Reading →

Experts probe obesity link to severe virus response

by Kelly MACNAMARA PARIS, France (AFP) — Inflammatory and immune responses linked to obesity could help explain the likelihood of a more severe outcome among patients with Covid-19, European experts said Wednesday. As the new coronavirus has spread, killing more than 800,000 people globally, it has become increasingly clear that co-morbidities put patients at greater risk. In a presentation at European and International Congress on Obesity, researchers said that inflamation caused by a buildup of […]

Continue Reading →

US states told be ready to distribute Covid-19 vaccine by Nov 1

by Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Trump administration has urged US states to get ready to distribute a potential Covid-19 vaccine by November 1 — two days before the presidential election. Dallas-based wholesaler McKesson Corp. has a deal with the federal government and will be requesting permits to set up distribution centers when a vaccine becomes available. “The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success […]

Continue Reading →

Chinese bus offers new evidence of airborne coronavirus spread: study

WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — A person on a poorly ventilated Chinese bus infected nearly two dozen other passengers with coronavirus even though many weren’t sitting close by, according to research published on Tuesday that offers fresh evidence the disease can spread in the air. Health authorities had initially discounted the possibility that simply breathing could send infectious micro-droplets into the air, but did a U-turn as experts piled on pressure and evidence mounted. […]

Continue Reading →

Study shows how masks with valves and face shields allow spread of virus

WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — People wearing plastic face shields or masks fitted with a valve can spray invisible droplets over a very wide area when they sneeze or cough, making the devices ineffective at preventing the spread of coronavirus when used on their own, a simulation model shows. In a report published Tuesday in the US journal Physics of Fluids, researchers at Florida Atlantic University used vertical and horizontal laser sheets to track […]

Continue Reading →

Coronavirus pushes leading world economies into record slumps

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Brazil and India reported historic second-quarter drops in national economic output this week, a situation seen in almost all leading global economies owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Only China, where the outbreak was first reported, has escaped a recession. Here are second-quarter changes in gross domestic product (GDP) compared with the previous quarter for many of the world’s top economies. Unless stated otherwise, the figures are from the national statistics […]

Continue Reading →

Wuhan, Ground Zero for coronavirus epidemic, re-opens all schools

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Students in face masks returned to class Tuesday in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged last year, as the city opened schools and kindergartens for the first time in seven months. Nearly 1.4 million students resumed classes at some 2,800 kindergartens, primary and middle schools across the city, following the re-opening of high schools in May. State media broadcast images of thousands of students hoisting the Chinese […]

Continue Reading →

Sanofi halts trial of Covid-19 drug after tests

PARIS, France (AFP) — French pharma giant Sanofi said Tuesday that international Phase 3 clinical tests of its Kevzara drug for serious Covid-19 cases had proved inconclusive and it was halting the trial. The Phase 3 test — normally the last before official approval for use — “did not meet the primary or secondary evaluation criteria compared with a placebo, and in both cases, compared with established hospital care,” it said in a statement. Sanofi […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 203 204 205 206 207 … 384