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PARIS, France (AFP) — The number of Covid-19 cases soared by nearly two thirds across the world this week, but pandemic-linked deaths continued to drop. Here is the global state of play from an AFP database: – Nearly two million daily cases – The average number of new daily coronavirus cases increased to 1.94 million, a 64 percent increase compared to the previous week, according to an AFP count to Thursday. The confirmed […]
World number one Novak Djokovic has languished in a Melbourne detention centre since Thursday morning after having his Australian visa cancelled over his Covid-19 vaccine status. The 34-year-old, who is hoping to defend his Australian Open title and win a record 21st Grand Slam title, faces being deported if he loses a court appeal scheduled for Monday. AFP looks at how the drama, which has reverberated around the world, has unfolded: Tuesday, January 4 — […]
by Jing Xuan TENG BEIJING, China (AFP) — The distressing case of a pregnant Chinese woman miscarrying after a strict lockdown delayed her access to medical treatment has reignited debate over the limits of China’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19. The country where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019 is now among the last places still hewing to “zero Covid”, placing millions under quarantine even as Beijing prepares to host next month’s Winter Olympics. – […]
by Aishwarya KUMAR Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Haunted by the spectre of last year’s crisis, India is bracing for a deluge of Covid-19 cases, with authorities of various megacities bringing in restrictions in a bid to keep infections in check. Case numbers have yet to match the enormous figures seen last spring, when thousands died each day and the Hindu city of Varanasi maintained round-the-clock funeral pyres for the mass […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Covid-19 killed at least one parent or primary caregiver for nearly 100,000 children in Peru, the country with the world’s highest coronavirus death rate, its government reported Thursday. “Unfortunately our country has almost 98,000 children who lost their father, mother or guardian during the pandemic,” said Peru’s Minister of Women Anahi Durand, citing figures published in the medical journal The Lancet. Peru leads the world in overall Covid deaths per capita, […]
by Jitendra JOSHI / James PHEBY LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British hospitals have switched to a “war footing” due to staff shortages caused by a wave of Omicron infections, the government said Tuesday, as the country’s daily Covid caseload breached 200,000 for the first time. The 24-hour tally, after chalking up multiple records in the run-up to New Year, hit 218,724 and another 48 deaths were reported in the latest government data. Hospital admissions […]
DOH urges passengers of said flights to contact DOH, their LGUs if they experience symptoms after arrival in the PHL (Eagle News) – The Department of Health is “verifying the test results and health status of all passengers” of the flights where the 10 Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) who recently tested positive for the Omicron variant. In a statement, the DOH said that this is “to determine if there are other confirmed cases or […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is killing people across the globe and should not be dismissed as mild, the World Health Organization insisted Thursday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the record numbers of people catching the new variant — which is rapidly out-competing the previously-dominant Delta variant in many countries — meant hospitals were being overwhelmed. “While Omicron does appear to be less severe […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel’s health ministry on Wednesday announced nearly 12,000 new coronavirus cases, constituting the largest daily rise in infections since the beginning of the pandemic nearly two years ago. According to the figures, 11,978 new Covid cases were detected over the course of Tuesday, surpassing the country’s previous record high of 11,344 cases recorded on September 2 last year. While there were currently nearly 60,000 people with Covid in Israel, the number […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian health authorities authorized Covid-19 vaccines for children age five to 11 on Wednesday, as South America’s most populous country faces a rapid increase in cases due to holiday gatherings and the arrival of the Omicron variant. The final green light by Brazil’s Ministry of Health comes three weeks after the nation’s independent medicines regulator, Anvisa, declared Pfizer-BioNTech’s child-size dose to be safe and effective. “To all those parents who want […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Macau has announced a two-week ban on any inbound passenger flights from outside of China after three coronavirus cases were found in passengers arriving from overseas. The move came the same day Hong Kong banned flights from eight nations and ramped up social distancing measures, leaving the two neighbouring Chinese territories even more cut off from the rest of the world. Like mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau have […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese authorities said Thursday they have punished officials after footage went viral of an eight-month pregnant woman miscarrying in the locked-down city of Xi’an when a hospital refused her entry without a Covid test. The historic city of 13 million has been under strict home confinement for two weeks as Beijing sticks to its “zero-Covid” strategy to stamp out all virus cases. The distressing incident was detailed in a social media […]
