ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy has recorded its highest number of coronavirus infections since May 23, with 845 new cases reported over the last day, health ministry officials said Thursday. The new high comes after the health ministry on Wednesday counted 642 new cases, confirming an upward curve. Six people also died over the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 35,418 in a total of 256,118 cases, health officials added. “We are not […]
Tag: Virus
France reports over 4,000 new virus cases in 24 hours
PARIS, France (AFP) — France reported 4,771 new coronavirus cases over 24 hours on Thursday, 1,000 more than Wednesday, health authorities said. The spike in new cases marked the first jump of more than 4,000 in a day since May, although the number of new patients hospitalized at 149 was down on 162 for Wednesday, the DGS public health directorate said. Currently, 4,748 people are hospitalized with the virus across the country, which is down […]
COVID-19 vaccine won’t be mandatory in US, says Fauci
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious diseases official, said Wednesday the government wouldn’t make any future COVID-19 vaccine obligatory for the general public — though local jurisdictions could make it mandatory for some groups, like children. “You don’t want to mandate and try and force anyone to take a vaccine. We’ve never done that,” said Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, during a video […]
Germany records highest daily infection toll since April
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany has recorded 1,707 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the highest daily toll since April, official figures showed Thursday. Germany has fared better than many European neighbours in suppressing the virus so far but like elsewhere, the number of cases has jumped significantly over the summer holidays. Much of the rise has been blamed on returning holidaymakers as well as parties and family gatherings. The […]
Vaccine should be mandatory says Australia PM as race heats up
by Andrew Beatty with AFP bureaus SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s leader called Wednesday for coronavirus immunizations to be mandatory, wading into ethical and safety debates raging around the world as the race to develop a vaccine gathers pace. Almost 30 potential vaccines are currently being tested on humans across the globe in hope of ending a pandemic that has now killed more than 775,000 people and infected nearly 22 million, according to an AFP […]
WHO warns people under 50 driving virus spread in Asia-Pacific
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Coronavirus cases in Asia-Pacific countries are now being driven by people under the age of 50 who may not know they are infected, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning of a “new phase” in the pandemic. Many have mild or no COVID-19 symptoms and risk infecting the elderly and other vulnerable populations, the WHO’s Western Pacific regional director Takeshi Kasai told a virtual briefing. “The epidemic is changing. People […]
Brazil indigenous protesters defy court, resume roadblock
NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (AFP) — Indigenous protesters in Brazil defied a court order Tuesday and resumed a roadblock of a key highway through the Amazon rainforest, demanding help against the new coronavirus and an end to illegal mining and deforestation. Brandishing bows and wearing traditional feather headdresses and body paint, dozens of protesters from the Kayapo Mekranoti ethnic group have been blocking highway BR-163 through the Amazon rainforest since Monday morning. They briefly lifted their […]
Brazil approves final tests of J&J virus vaccine
REIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian health regulators said Tuesday they had approved Johnson & Johnson’s experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus for the final stage of clinical trials, the fourth vaccine to receive widespread testing in the hard-hit country. The US pharmaceutical company’s subsidiary Janssen will test the vaccine on 7,000 volunteers across seven states in Brazil, part of a group of up to 60,000 worldwide, health regulator Anvisa said in a statement. […]
DOH urges strengthened surveillance, control at ports to prevent entry of more virulent COVID virus strains
G614 virus strain only found in QC samples, may not be present yet in whole country (Eagle News) – The Department of Health said that the G614 mutation of the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 which was found in a sample of positive cases in Quezon City “may not represent the mutational landscape for the whole country.” But the DOH noted that this G614 variant which has also been reported in many other countries with […]
‘Test-&-trace’ crucial but won’t beat coronavirus alone: study
by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — Testing for COVID-19 and tracing the prior contacts of those found to be infected are crucial measures for slowing the disease’s spread, but inadequate unless combined with other measures, researchers said Wednesday. By itself, the test-and-trace approach can reduce the virus’ reproduction rate, or R number, by 26 percent, they reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, using mathematical models to examine data from previously published studies. The reproduction […]
WHO urges nations to join global shared vaccine bid
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO wrote to every country on Tuesday urging them to quickly join its global shared vaccine program and spelled out who would get its eventual coronavirus jabs first. The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that without vaccinating the highest-risk populations around the world all at the same time, it would be impossible to rebuild the global economy. And he said the most exposed 20 […]
Australia to manufacture ‘promising’ virus vaccine and give free to citizens
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia has secured access to a “promising” potential coronavirus vaccine, the prime minister announced Tuesday, saying the country would manufacture it and offer free doses to the entire population. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia had reached a deal with Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to receive the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University. “The Oxford vaccine is one of the most advanced and promising in the world, and under […]





