SEOUL – South Korea reported 7,513 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 741,413. The daily caseload stayed above 7,000 for the third consecutive day amid the spread of the Omicron variant, which the health authorities said became a dominant strain here. … Read more
ULAN BATOR – Mongolia’s health ministry on Monday confirmed 2,089 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, raising the national tally to 429,677. The latest confirmed cases were all locally transmitted, more than half of them in the national capital of Ulan Bator, which is the hardest hit by COVID-19. Meanwhile, no more COVID-19-related … Read more
BEIRUT – Lebanon on Sunday registered 6,381 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 865,229, the country’s Health Ministry reported. Meanwhile, the death toll from the virus went up by 13 to 9,487, said the ministry, noting that 68 percent of intensive care beds in hospitals are occupied with COVID-19 patients. Read … Read more
HAVANA – Cuba reported 3,508 new cases and five more deaths from COVID-19 in the last day, bringing the total number of infections to 1,022,112 and the death toll to 8,363, the Ministry of Public Health reported Sunday. The ministry said in its daily report that there are currently 16,531 active cases in the country. … Read more
VIENTIANE – The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Laos has achieved good results last year, but due to the ongoing pandemic and remaining challenges, more lessons are to be learned to ensure a larger segment of the population get vaccinated in 2022. The government has achieved its goal to vaccinate at least 50 percent of the … Read more
NEW DELHI – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 39,543,328 on Monday, as 306,064 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry’s latest data. This is the fifth consecutive day when over 300,000 new cases were registered in a day in the country in more than eight months. … Read more
WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported 25 new COVID-19 cases in the community on Monday, including eight Omicron cases, bringing the total cases in the country’s current community outbreak to 11,515. Among the eight Omicron cases, two are in the Nelson/Tasman region and are contacts of existing cases, five cases are in the largest city Auckland … Read more
MADURAI – Teams of daring young men grappled in the dirt with furious bucking bulls on January 17 at an often-lethal Indian festival that has been a proverbial red rag to animal rights activists. “Jallikattu,” or the taming of the bulls, is a hugely popular annual event in Tamil Nadu state, where revellers wrestle the … Read more
HONG KONG – Hopes for Thailand’s economic recovery have been dealt a blow with the suspension of a quarantine-free programme for international tourists, say figures in the all-important hospitality industry who are readjusting their outlook for 2022. “We are kind of seeing a replay of 2021 where … hotels are focusing on domestic travel once … Read more
WASHINGTON: The Covid-19 pandemic took a deadly toll on adults in the United States for two years while largely sparing children from adding to the dire statistics. But the rapid spread of the Omicron variant led to record pediatric infections and hospitalizations in the country, and anti-vaccination misinformation that tells parents the shots are dangerous is adding … Read more
ULAN BATOR – Mongolia has registered 2,656 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 424,822, the country’s health ministry said Saturday. The ministry said that the latest confirmed cases were all locally transmitted. Since the beginning of this year, daily COVID-19 infections have significantly increased across the country due … Read more
SANTIAGO – Chile on Friday reported a record number of daily COVID-19 infections for the third straight day, detecting 14,757 new cases in 24 hours for a total caseload of 1,934,204, the Health Ministry said. In the same 24-hour period, 18 more people died from causes related to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 39,474. … Read more
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia reported 4,046 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 2,824,973, according to the health ministry. There are 489 new imported cases and 3,557 local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed. A further 16 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,869. The … Read more
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan added 6,540 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Saturday. Following the new infections, the overall cases in Pakistan have reached 1,360,019, said the NCOC, adding that the country’s positivity rate stood at 11.10 percent after 58,902 tests were conducted over the … Read more
WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported 43 new community cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Among the 43 new community infections, 19 are in the largest city of Auckland, eight in Nelson Marlborough, six in the Lakes region, six in Hawke’s Bay, and four in Waikato. In addition, the … Read more
DUBLIN – Ireland will drop most COVID-19 restrictions starting from Saturday, its government announced Friday. Starting from 6 a.m. on Saturday, there will be no social distancing requirements in public venues, no restrictions on the number of people attending indoor and outdoor events, no limits on household gatherings, and no domestic requirements of a valid … Read more
LONDON – Though the United States saw a record increase in COVID-19 infections among children early this month, their rate of vaccination lagged, The Guardian has said. Nearly a million new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in children in the country in the week ending Jan. 13, up 69 percent from the week before and four … Read more
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil reported 166,539 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the third consecutive day on which the country registered more than 160,000 cases, the National Council of Health Secretaries said Friday. The new cases have brought the nationwide tally to 23,751,782, it said. Meanwhile, the country registered 358 deaths in … Read more
NEW DELHI – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 38,903,731 on Saturday, as 337,704 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data. This is the third consecutive day when over 300,000 daily cases were registered in more than eight months. Besides, 488 deaths due to … Read more
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has advised provincial authorities to close educational institutions in areas with a high Covid-19 positive rate for at least one week. The decision was made after NCOC – the country’s anti-Covid strategy’s nerve centre – announced in a statement on Friday that Covid testing in educational institutions was … Read more
Omicron Surge : The federal government has allowed the use of another COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca, to protect the population from the fifth wave of coronavirus, which is driven by the Omicron variant. The action is part of the government’s intention to speed up the administration of booster shots in order to inoculate as many people … Read more
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan confirmed 6,808 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Thursday. The NCOC said the country has conducted 24,356,373 tests so far, confirming 1,345,801 cases in total. Over the above mentioned period of time, 426 patients have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total … Read more
WARSAW – Poland reported 30,586 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, the highest number since the spring of last year. Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said during a press conference that nearly 20 percent of new cases are of the Omicron variant, and the spread of it has “officially become a fact.” “The situation is dramatic,” he … Read more
WASHINGTON: During America’s last surge of the coronavirus driven by the Delta variant, people who were unvaccinated but survived Covid were better protected than those who were vaccinated and not previously infected, a new study said Wednesday. The finding is the latest to weigh in on a debate on the relative strengths of natural versus … Read more
SANTIAGO – Chile reported 9,509 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, a new record number of daily cases, as well as four more deaths, bringing the total caseload to 1,902,657 infections and 39,431 deaths, the Health Ministry said Wednesday. The country is facing a resurgence due to the Omicron variant of the virus in … Read more
WASHINGTON – The United States added over 1 million COVID-19 cases again on Tuesday, after setting a global record of over 1.36 million daily cases earlier this month, according to latest data from Johns Hopkins University. A total of 1,060,747 new cases and 1,896 new deaths were reported across the country on Tuesday. The country … Read more
NEW DELHI – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 38,218,773 on Thursday, as 317,532 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data. This is the seventh consecutive day when more than 200,000 new cases and the first day when over 300,000 new cases were registered … Read more
SYDNEY – Premier of Australia’s Victoria Daniel Andrews on Thursday urged residents of the state to get a COVID-19 booster vaccine, saying it was not an “optional extra.” Andrews said he was hopeful the national framework would embrace “practical scientific reality” to mandate booster shots, as a third dose was necessary to “protect against severe … Read more
