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by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo’s Paralympic Games open on Tuesday, with athletes hoping to shatter stereotypes and world records despite a year-long pandemic delay and as Japan battles a surge in virus cases. The Games will officially be declared open on Tuesday evening by Japan’s Emperor Naruhito but virus rules mean most of the stadium’s 68,000 seats will be empty. Still, the excitement is clear among the 4,400 athletes from 162 teams […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York announced a vaccine mandate for all public school staff, including teachers and principals, Monday as the city escalates attempts to slow the spread of the hyper-contagious Delta variant. Mayor Bill de Blasio said every department of education employee must receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by September 27. There will be no option of a weekly test instead. “We know this is going to […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s ex-social affairs minister was jailed for 12 years on Monday after being convicted of taking $1.2 million in bribes linked to food aid for poor families hit by the coronavirus pandemic. A Jakarta court handed out the stiff sentence to Juliari Batubara following his December arrest and a sting operation that turned up suitcases, backpacks and envelopes stuffed with cash. “The court sentences the defendant to 12 years in prison […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel said Monday it would offer Covid-19 vaccinations to students on school grounds as it announced the school year would open on time next week, despite surging coronavirus cases. “Pupils… will be vaccinated on school grounds during school hours, subject to parental approval,” a government statement said, confirming classes would begin on September 1. Israeli leaders say they are trying to avoid repeating disruptive school closures amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand extended a national Covid-19 lockdown Monday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying a Delta variant outbreak has yet to peak. Ardern said the rapid spread of the highly transmissible variant meant it was too early to lift restrictions imposed last week after a virus cluster emerged in Auckland, ending a six-month run of no local cases. “Delta had a head start on us and we’ve needed to catch […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported no new domestic coronavirus cases Monday, and Beijing appears poised to bring to heel the pandemic’s most serious resurgence in months — driven by the highly contagious Delta variant — with mass testing and targeted lockdowns. The latest outbreak, which began in mid-July when cleaners at a Nanjing airport tested positive, is the most severe since Covid-19 first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan. Over a thousand people […]
(Eagle News) – COVID-19 deaths recorded on Saturday, Aug. 21, rose to 398 from Friday’s record of 317 as the Philippines reported 16,694 new COVID cases. Total active cases reached 123,935 as of Saturday, or 6.8 percent of total 1,824,051 confirmed cases. Most of the confirmed cases in the country are tagged as recoveries at 91.5 percent. This is equivalent to 1,668,520 cases. Most or 97.2 percent of the 123,935 active cases are […]
KOROR, Palau (AFP) — The tiny Pacific nation of Palau reported its first cases of coronavirus Saturday, losing its prized status as one of the world’s few Covid-free countries as authorities appealed for calm. Two travellers, who tested positive after arriving from Guam, have been placed in quarantine along with their known contacts. “We urge everyone to remain calm,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement after deciding against imposing lockdown measures. With more […]
New COVID deaths recorded for the day jump to 317 (Eagle News) – The Philippines recorded its highest ever single-day record of new COVID-19 cases at 17,231 on Friday, Aug. 20, the last day of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) for the country’s capital region, Metro Manila. Because of this, the total confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 1,807,800, with active cases at 123,251. The Department of Health also recorded the third highest number of COVID-19 […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Drug firm AstraZeneca on Friday announced positive results from a trial of a treatment for Covid-19 symptoms. The drug, made from a combination of two antibodies, was initially developed as a treatment for those who had already been exposed to the disease. A new trial of 5,197 participants who had not been exposed showed a 77-percent reduced risk of developing symptomatic disease, with no severe cases recorded, Astra said […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Texas mother of four refused a Covid-19 vaccine, but after losing her husband to the virus and contracting it herself, her dying wish was clear: get her children immunized. Lydia Rodriguez, 42, a piano teacher in the small town of La Marque died on Monday, two weeks after her husband, Lawrence, 49, succumbed to the virus. Rodriguez’ cousin Dottie Jones told the local television station ABC13 that the couple […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Paralympic flame arrived in Tokyo on Friday as virus cases hit fresh records nationwide just four days before the Games begin. Japan’s daily infections topped 25,000 for the first time on Thursday, with the number of severe cases also higher than ever as the nation battles a fifth wave driven by the more contagious Delta variant. As Tokyo prepares to host the top sporting event for athletes with disabilities, organisers […]
