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PARIS, France (AFP) — Coronavirus is surging in Africa with a record average number of new cases according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Tuesday at 1815 GMT. It said 6,009,854 cases have been officially counted in Africa’s 54 nations and territories since the virus was first discovered in December 2019 in China. The number of new cases is growing at more than 41,400 per day — a 13 percent increase over […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday called for use of face coverings to remain compulsory on public transport in the British capital after government plans to relax Covid curbs begin on July 19. Under the plans passengers on Transport for London (TfL) services — which include the city’s tube, bus, tram, and rail networks — would be required to wear a face-covering after an England-wide requirement ends under plans set […]
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney’s five million residents will be in virus lockdown for at least another two weeks, state premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday, rejecting calls to tighten restrictions further. Australia’s largest city is already in its third week of a partial lockdown and struggling to bring a fast-spreading outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant under control. In the past 24 hours, 97 new cases were recorded, more than the […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand on Tuesday defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines to battle a surge in infections, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence. The kingdom is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with cases and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin. Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian apartment block was placed under strict lockdown with police posted outside Tuesday, as authorities stepped up efforts to curb a fast-growing coronavirus outbreak. Police guarded both the front and rear exits of an apartment block in Sydney’s Bondi neighborhood, where nine people have tested positive for Covid-19, with movement in and out of the building restricted. A sign taped to one apartment window read “Send Beer” while another asked, […]
by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Even under ordinary circumstances, feeding an Olympic Village is a mammoth task, with chefs preparing tens of thousands of meals a day for elite athletes from around the world. But at Tokyo 2020, there’s an added pressure: strict coronavirus rules forbid athletes from eating at local restaurants, so it’s their only chance to sample Japan’s famous cuisine. “I feel it’s a lot of responsibility for us,” admitted Tsutomu […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration updated its warning labels Monday for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine to include information about an observed “increased risk” of a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The news is a further blow for the company, which was granted an emergency use authorization for its shot in February but has played a minor role in America’s coronavirus immunization campaign. Based on analysis […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israel on Monday began administering a third shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to patients with compromised immune systems, as cases in the country rise, the health ministry said. Those immediately eligible for a third shot include people who have had heart, lung and kidney transplants and some cancer patients. “There is accumulating evidence that patients with immunosuppression do not develop an adequate antibody response after two doses of the […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The Spanish tourist regions of Catalonia and Valencia on Monday announced new measures to rein in the growing spread of coronavirus. Regional leaders in northeastern Catalonia said all public activities must finish at half past midnight, and no more than 10 people will be allowed to gather in private or public places. “The data are more than worrying, they are frankly very, very bad,” Catalonia’s public health secretary Josep Maria Argimon […]
by Bassem al-Rikabi NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — At least 41 people died when fire engulfed the coronavirus isolation ward of an Iraqi hospital on Monday, the second such deadly blaze in three months, a health official said. The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah late Monday and was brought under control by local civil defence forces. Another health official, Haydar al-Zamili, told AFP that the “fire… ripped […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Over ten million people were placed under fresh Covid-19 restrictions and a curfew in the Thai capital Monday, as the kingdom battles a surge of cases worsened by the highly infectious Alpha and Delta variants. Thailand has so far recorded more than 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths — with the bulk of them coming in this latest wave that kicked off in April. First detected in clubs frequented by the Thai […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea reported 1,378 new coronavirus cases Saturday, a record high for the third day in a row as the country prepared to impose its highest-level curbs in the greater capital area next week. The country had previously been held up as a model of how to combat the pandemic, with the public largely following social distancing and other rules, but it was slow to start its vaccine roll-out due […]
