COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The Omicron variant has moved the Covid-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe, the WHO Europe director said Sunday. “It’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame,” Hans Kluge told AFP in an interview, adding that Omicron could infect 60 percent of Europeans by March. Once the current surge of Omicron currently sweeping across Europe subsides, “there […]
Tag: Virus
China lifts Xi’an lockdown as Beijing virus fight ramps up
BEIJING, China (AFP) — One of China’s longest coronavirus lockdowns since the start of the pandemic came to an end on Monday as authorities announced the lifting of most restrictions in the northern megacity of Xi’an. The historic city’s 13 million residents had been confined to their homes since December 22 after the discovery of a Covid-19 cluster that grew to over 2,100 cases — China’s largest local outbreak in months. With the Winter Olympics […]
Palace urges Filipinos to get booster shots, warns against disinformation on Covid vaccines and booster doses
(Eagle News) – Malacanang encouraged Filipinos to get booster shots amid the continuing spread of COVID-19 and the highly infectious Omicron variant. The Palace also warned against spreading misinformation and disinformation on COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots as it clarified a video clip of President Rodrigo Duterte that was recorded on Sept. 30, 2021 that was being circulated recently to “campaign against the administration of booster shots.” In the video, Duterte said that two […]
Thousands march in Washington against Covid vaccine mandates
by Inès BEL AIBA WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Waving signs denouncing President Joe Biden and calling for “freedom,” several thousand people demonstrated in Washington Sunday against what some described as the “tyranny” of Covid-19 vaccine mandates in the United States. Speaker after speaker — including notorious anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust — took to the microphone in front of the white marble Lincoln Memorial to decry the […]
Samoa, Kiribati to lock down as virus lands in Pacific
Kiribati and Samoa entered lockdowns Saturday after overseas arrivals brought Covid to the Pacific island nations that had avoided the worst of the pandemic for two years. Until this month, Kiribati hadn’t reported a single virus case, while Samoa had only recorded two since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. But authorities in both countries have been forced to put in place stay-at-home orders after the virus was detected in international arrivals. […]
Omicron ‘sub-variant’ throws up new virus questions
Latest Omicron subvariant dubbed BA.2 detected in Britain, 40 other countries including India, Denmark and Sweden by Isabelle TOURNÉ Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Scientists are keeping a close watch on a recently-discovered sub-variant of the Omicron version of the Covid-19 virus to determine how its emergence could effect future pandemic spread. The initial Omicron variant has become the dominant virus strain in recent months but British health authorities have notably identified […]
PHL posts highest number of COVID recoveries in over 3 months at 41,471
(Eagle News) – The Philippines posted 41,471 COVID-19 recoveries on Satuday, January 22, which is the most number of virus recoveries so far this year. This is also higher than the reported new COVID-19 cases on Saturday of 30,552. In the last two days, there were more new cases than new recoveries. Saturday’s number of new recoveries were the highest in over three months. The last time that there were higher number of recoveries […]
DOH: Eastern Visayas, Bicol and BARMM are add’l regions with high-risk health care utilization
Almost all regions with rising COVID cases (Eagle News) – The Department of Health (DOH) said that almost all regions in the country have rising COVID-19 cases, and most have moderate risk health care utilization of between 50 percent to 70 percent. But there were additional regions which recorded high-risk health care utilization rate of over 70 percent which the DOH is closely observing. These are Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) with 72 percent; Region […]
Russia sees record daily virus cases amid Omicron surge
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday reported a record number of new coronavirus infections over the previous 24 hours, a government tally showed, with officials warning of surging cases driven by the Omicron variant. A government website reported 49,513 new infections in Russia, which is already one the world’s worst-hit countries by caseload, surpassing the previous record set in November of 41,335. The number of cases across Russia has risen sharply in recent […]
Rising COVID-19 cases outside NCR plus areas driving new increase in PHL Covid cases, says OCTA Research
But new COVID cases in Metro Manila decreasing (Eagle News) – Rising COVID-19 cases outside Metro Manila is driving the renewed increase in virus cases in the country, according to OCTA Research. This came about as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 32,744 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, January 21, with new COVID-19 deaths also rising to 156. This is the second straight day that new virus cases have increased. Those who recovered were […]
Austria makes Covid vaccination mandatory in EU first
by Julia ZAPPEI / Jastinder KHERA VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria’s parliament on Thursday approved making Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for adults from next month, becoming the first European country to do so despite a wave of protests opposing the measure. Tens of thousands have demonstrated against mandatory vaccination in regular weekend rallies since the measure was announced in November in a bid to drive up the country’s vaccination rate. All parties, except the far-right, supported […]
Nine evacuated as Covid-19 hits Antarctic research base
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — For the first time since the start of the pandemic the coronavirus has reached an Argentine research base in Antarctica, causing the evacuation of nine unvaccinated staff who tested positive for Covid-19, an official said Thursday. Twenty-four of the 43 scientists and military personnel resident at Argentina’s La Esperanza base have been infected, Patricia Ortuzar of the government’s National Directorate of the Antarctic told AFP. Nine of the 24, who […]





