Tag: Virus

Australia’s second-largest city extends lockdown

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Five million people in Australia’s second-largest city will remain under stay-at-home orders for at least another week after authorities extended a lockdown Wednesday after failing to curb Melbourne’s latest Covid outbreak. The city entered its sixth pandemic lockdown last Thursday after a fresh Delta variant cluster emerged at a Melbourne school and quickly spread. Daniel Andrews, the premier of the state of Victoria, said lockdown rules will be extended until at […]

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Delta variant reignites US mask debate

by Lucie AUBOURG WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The recent surge of Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant, has reignited political controversy around mask-wearing in the United States, with some governors opposing all measures to make masks mandatory despite advice from health authorities. The dispute feels familiar, harkening back to the early days of the pandemic when masks became a symbol of political affiliation in the US — the clash led by then-president Donald Trump, […]

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Germany to end free Covid tests to boost jab take-up

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany will end free coronavirus tests in October, regional leaders and the federal government agreed on Tuesday, in a push to incentivise more people to get vaccinated. Covid-19 tests or proof of vaccination or recovery will be required to access facilities including restaurants, cinemas and gyms, in areas where infection rates rise above a certain threshold. From October those who refuse to get jabbed will have to pay to prove they […]

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Quebec to roll out Canada’s first vaccine passport

MONTREAL,Canada (AFP) — Canadians wanting to eat at a restaurant, go to a bar or gym, or attend a festival in Quebec will have to present a vaccine passport starting September 1, officials announced Tuesday. The province will be the first in Canada to require such passes, which are increasingly being used across the world to limit entry to public places to those who have been vaccinated, recovered from Covid-19 or tested negative. They are […]

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Covid stigma keeps Myanmar medical volunteers locked out of home

by Ye Aung THU TAUNGOO, Myanmar (AFP) —  Buddhist monk and a budding sailor are among the outcasts squatting in an abandoned building in Myanmar while they help bury coronavirus victims and their worried families tell them to keep away. A surge in infections across the country has been aggravated by a lack of formal medical care, with many hospitals empty of staff joining nationwide strikes against a February military coup. Thar Gyi, one of […]

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Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran join global climate, vaccine concerts

PARIS, France (AFP) — Coldplay, Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran are among the stars announced Tuesday for a day of concerts across multiple cities on September 25 to raise awareness about climate change, poverty and vaccine distribution. New York, Paris and Lagos are the first cities to be announced for Global Citizen Live, which will run for 24 hours and be screened around the world via TV stations and social media. Joining Eilish and Coldplay […]

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US warns citizens against travel to France over Covid concerns

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department has advised Americans to avoid all travel to France over rising coronavirus cases in the country. France is battling a fourth wave of the virus even though Covid-19 hospitalizations are still way off previous highs. The State Department issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for France on Monday, based on a parallel warning from the US Centers for Disease Control, the country’s top medical […]

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Bangladesh begins Covid-19 vaccinations for Rohingya refugees

KUTUPALONG Bangladesh (AFP) — Bangladesh on Tuesday began vaccinating Rohingya refugees living in congested camps as the impoverished South Asian nation battles a record surge in coronavirus cases, officials said. Health officials say 2,600 Covid-19 cases and 29 deaths have been recorded in the camps housing some 850,000 Rohingya but many experts say this is likely a gross underestimate. The initial inoculation phase will see around 48,000 refugees aged over 55 get Chinese-made Sinopharm shots […]

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China virus cases rise as Delta variant challenges Beijing

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s coronavirus cases hit a seven-month high on Tuesday, after a cluster at a test site drove up numbers as the Delta variant challenges Beijing’s grip on the pandemic. State media has described the current outbreak — which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions — as the most severe since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan. Authorities had brought domestic infections down to virtually zero, […]

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Sydney hits new Covid case record as outbreak spreads

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney posted a new record of Covid-19 infections Tuesday as the city struggles to control an outbreak that is sending other Australian regions into lockdown. New South Wales state announced 356 new cases, a fresh record for a Delta-variant outbreak that began in mid-June and continues to grow in a population with low vaccination rates. More than five million people in Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, are now in their seventh […]

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WATCH: Interview with Dr. Ted Herbosa, NTF special adviser, on COVID projections under ECQ

  (Eagle News) — Balitalakayan interviews Dr. Ted Herbosa, special adviser of the National Task Force against COVID-19, explains the projections of COVID-19 cases under an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila. Dr. Herbosa explains that the effects of the community quarantine restrictions would still be felt in the following weeks. He said that the three weeks of restrictions – including the General Community Quarantine with heightened and additional restrictions and the two weeks […]

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Canada welcomes fully vaccinated Americans across reopened border

by Geneviève NORMAND LACOLLE, Canada (AFP) — American visitors trickled across the Canada-US border on Monday, cheering the reopening of the world’s longest land boundary 17 months after all non-essential travel was halted to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Ottawa lifted quarantine requirements for US citizens and permanent residents arriving with proof of vaccination. “It’s absolutely wonderful,” Vicki Poulin said of the border reopening. “We’re just so happy to be here.” “I thought […]

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