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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch health authorities said Tuesday that the new Covid-19 variant was present in the Netherlands a week earlier than previously believed and checks are underway to see how far it has spread. The RIVM National Health and Environment Institute said it “has found the corona variant Omicron in two test samples that had already been taken in the Netherlands… on November 19 and 23”. The first cases in the […]
(Eagle News) – The Philippines recorded on Tuesday, Nov. 30, only 425 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day record for this year, as total active cases dipped further to 15,800. The percentage of active cases at 0.6 percent compared to the total COVID-19 cases recorded since the pandemic began last year, was still the lowest so far. This is the seventh straight day that total active cases was at 0.6 percent. The last time […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Existing Covid-19 jabs will struggle against the Omicron variant and it will take months to develop a new shot that works, the head of US vaccine manufacturer Moderna has told the Financial Times. Stephane Bancel told the newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that data would be available on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the next two weeks but scientists were not optimistic. “All the scientists I’ve talked […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Tuesday confirmed its first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after authorities announced new Covid border restrictions. “Regarding the traveller arriving from Namibia, it was confirmed to be a case of Omicron after analysis at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases,” government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. “This is the first Omicron case confirmed in Japan,” he said, adding that the infected traveller, a man in […]
by Sofia CHRISTENSEN Agence France Presse JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — The newly-discovered Omicron variant is likely to fuel a surge in South Africa’s coronavirus cases that could see daily infections treble this week, a top epidemiologist warned Monday. Health monitors reported over 2,800 new infections on Sunday, up from a daily average of 500 in the previous week and 275 the week before. “We can expect that higher transmissibility is likely and so […]
(Eagle News) – The Department of Health reported only 665 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, November 29, the lowest single-day record of new virus cases since July 2020. Total active cases went down to just 16,289 or 0.6 percent of total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in March last year. The COVID-19 positivity rate is also down to the country’s lowest at 2.1 percent. Most of the 2,832,375 total COVID-19 cases are […]
“Bayanihan Bakunahan” target revised to 9 million for 3-day campaign; 2nd round set on Dec. 15 to 17 (Eagle News) – Malacanang advised Filipinos nationwide to take advantage of the three-day “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” national vaccination drive which started on Monday, November 29, amid the threat of the highly infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant. Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Alexei Nograles said that getting fully vaccinated is important to protect against the severe form of Covid-19. At […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will reinstate tough border measures, barring all new foreign arrivals over the Omicron Covid variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Monday, just weeks after a softening of strict entry rules. “We will ban the (new) entry of foreigners from around the world starting from November 30th,” Kishida told reporters. Japan’s borders have been almost entirely shut to new overseas visitors for most of the pandemic, with even foreign residents at […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Health officials said Sunday they had detected the Covid Omicron strain in Australia for the first time in two passengers who were tested after flying into Sydney from southern Africa. The eastern state of New South Wales’ health authority said it had conducted urgent genomic testing and confirmed the new strain was present in the two people who landed in Sydney on Saturday. Both passengers came from southern Africa and arrived […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore and Malaysia eased coronavirus travel restrictions on one of the world’s busiest land borders Monday after nearly two years, allowing some vaccinated people to cross without quarantine. Before the pandemic, about 300,000 people used to commute across the border from Malaysia every day to the neighbouring city-state, to work in areas ranging from public transport to electronics manufacturing. But most travel was halted in March last year, leaving many who […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — G7 health ministers were to hold an emergency meeting Monday on the new Omicron Covid-19 strain spreading the globe and forcing border closures, as experts race to understand what the variant means for the fight to end the pandemic. The meeting was called by G7 chair Britain, which is among a steadily growing number of countries detecting cases of the heavily mutated new strain. Omicron, first discovered in southern Africa, […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — While PCR tests can detect infection with Omicron, studies are looking to whether the Covid-19 variant of concern has any impact on other test types, the WHO said Sunday. “The widely-used PCR tests continue to detect infection, including infection with Omicron, as we have seen with other variants,” the World Health Organization said in an update on what is known so far about the new variant. “Studies are ongoing to determine […]
