Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Joe JACKSON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was embroiled Tuesday in another scandal over his government’s alleged lockdown breaches as police said they were investigating a Downing Street gathering attended by dozens of top officials. In the latest in a string of such allegations, Johnson and others allegedly held a drinks gathering in the garden of his official residence in May 2020 when any in-person socialising was outlawed. An […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will extend measures barring almost all new foreign arrivals until the end of February and reopen mass-vaccination centres as it battles an Omicron-fuelled coronavirus surge, the government said Tuesday. “We will keep the current border control policy until the end of February while taking necessary measures from a humanitarian viewpoint and considering the national interest,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. Local media said there would be some new […]
by Matthew Walsh with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong BEIJING, China (AFP) — Five million residents of a central Chinese city were confined to their homes Tuesday while another megacity shuttered all non-essential businesses, as the country battles a spate of coronavirus outbreaks including from the Omicron variant. Beijing is on high alert as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month, sticking to a zero-Covid strategy of targeted lockdowns, border restrictions and lengthy […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Experts said Monday that an alleged hybrid coronavirus mutation dubbed “Deltacron” reportedly discovered in a Cyprus lab is most likely the result of a lab contamination, and not a new worrying variant. Cypriot media reported the discovery Saturday, describing it as having “the genetic background of the Delta variant along with some of the mutations of Omicron”. While it is possible for coronaviruses to genetically combine, it is rare, and […]
But those infected with Omicron variant exhibiting “less severe” symptoms, faster incubation period, says DOH (Eagle News) – The entire country is now considered under “critical risk” as the Omicron variant is declared as the dominant COVID-19 variant in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health. In fact, the highly infectious Omicron variant has overtaken the Delta variant as of the latest genome sequencing data, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III noting that […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that he had caught Covid-19 for a second time and was experiencing mild symptoms. “I inform you that I am infected with Covid-19 and although the symptoms are mild, I will remain in isolation and will only do office work and communicate virtually until I get through it,” he tweeted. Hours earlier the 68-year-old, who rarely wears a face mask, had appeared […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pfizer expects a Covid-19 vaccine targeting the Omicron variant to be ready in March, the company’s head said Monday. Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla told CNBC that Pfizer is already manufacturing doses due to keen interest from governments, as authorities contend with huge Covid-19 infection counts, including large numbers of “breakthrough” Omicron cases in vaccinated populations. “This vaccine will be ready in March,” Bourla told the network. “I […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — People in Italy who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 are barred from restaurants or taking domestic flights under new rules which came into force Monday as schools reopened nationwide. Only those who have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection are exempt from the regulations, which represent a further tightening of restrictions in the face of rising infections. The majority of schools opened Monday for a new term under government orders, despite […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Most Asian and European markets rose Monday as traders brushed off another negative performance on Wall Street as US data showed fewer new jobs than expected were created last month but that wages saw a strong gain, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve in its battle against inflation. Traders will be keeping a watch on inflation readings out of the United States and China this week as they try to […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — The northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday advised its nearly 14 million people to stay home while it conducted mass Covid testing after a spate of recent cases, including two caused by the Omicron variant, state-controlled media reported. Tianjin emerged as a new area of concern after more than 20 Covid cases were reported there in the last few days, most of them imported from abroad, according to the National […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported more cases of the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday, with authorities on high alert over flare-ups in major cities just weeks ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The emergence of the fast-spreading variant is yet another test of China’s zero Covid strategy, with authorities already battling several outbreaks — including in Xi’an where 13 million city residents were in their third week of lockdown. Fears grew about […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel could see up to nearly 40 percent of the population infected by coronavirus during the current wave, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday, as testing facilities nationwide buckled. “Data presented at the cabinet meeting indicates that here, in Israel, between two to four million citizens in total will be infected during this current wave,” Bennett wrote on his Twitter account. A country of just 9.4 million, Israel has seen infections […]
