The number of COVID-19 cases in mainland China exceeded 2,000. Guangdong province has had a wave of instances over the past week. It has forced the closure of some neighborhoods. As winter draws closer, authorities in Chinese cities and provinces all around the nation are taking no prisoners in their fight against rare COVID-19 breakouts, … Read more
Health officials of Moscow say that the number of people getting coronavirus has gone up sharply in the last week. The Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are responsible for many of the infections. “Over the course of the past week, there has been a 57-percent rise in new cases of Covid-19 compared to the previous … Read more
Japan is allowing a small number of tourists to enter the country after easing curbs in June. A record 32 million tourists visited in 2019 and spent some $38 billion. Japan’s opening up to mass tourism over the last decade brought an economic boost. The number of hotels that shut down nationwide rose to a … Read more
The travel industry has been pushing for an end to the policy, which they say has deterred bookings. The change comes into effect on Sunday. The CDC will re-evaluate the policy in 90 days and could reinstate the rule if new variants make officials believe it is necessary. The US will never again require air … Read more
For the previous several days, Samoa has reported 597 new COVID-19 cases and three additional fatalities from the epidemic. Samoa’s Ministry of Health verified on Saturday, according to the publication Samoa Observer, that 596 of the 597 new COVID-19 cases were community cases and one was a border case. The additional instances boosted the overall … Read more
According to a Bloomberg analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, a wastewater network that monitors Covid-19 trends is warning that cases are once again on the rise in many parts of the United States. More than a third of the CDC’s wastewater sample sites in the United States showed rising Covid-19 trends … Read more
PARIS: France will soon drop its requirement of a negative Covid test for vaccinated travellers from outside the European Union, as daily infection numbers continue to fall, Europe Minister Clement Beaune said Tuesday. “We again required tests in December over the Omicron variant. In the coming days we will announce that tests are no longer … Read more
TOKYO – Japan confirmed 71,620 new COVID-19 cases across the country on Wednesday, logging a new record amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed 14,086 new infection cases, exceeding the record of Tuesday. The number rose by over 6,700 to nearly twice the previous week. The latest … Read more
KARACHI: The pharmaceutical imports, including Covid vaccines surged 475 per cent to $3 billion during the first six months of the current fiscal year, compared with $539 million in the same period of the last year, according to the data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). “The government is currently importing Covid-19 vaccines … 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
SYDNEY, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) — Australia recorded its highest ever number of COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, as the outbreak continued to push up the hospitalization rates to record levels. A total of 74 COVID-19 related deaths were reported in the country’s three worst-hit states, including 36 from New South Wales (NSW), a record high number … Read more
BEIJING: China’s postal service has ordered workers to disinfect international deliveries and urged the public to reduce orders from overseas after authorities claimed mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks. China, where the virus first emerged in late 2019, has stuck to a strict policy of targeting zero Covid cases even as the … Read more
WASHINGTON: The US economy ended 2021 on a sour note with a worse-than-expected employment report Friday underscoring the challenges awaiting President Joe Biden in the New Year, as the Omicron variant runs rampant and his legislative agenda stalls. The world’s largest economy gained only 199,000 jobs in the final month of the year, the Labour … Read more
NEW DELHI – New Delhi ordered the closure of non-essential offices and restaurants and bars but offered free online yoga classes to those in home isolation, as Covid cases soared in the Indian capital and nationwide. With case numbers rising six-fold over the past week, the Indian government is terrified of a repeat of last … Read more
WASHINGTON: Emerging economies should gird for possible rough times as the US Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates and world economic growth slows because of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the IMF warned on Monday. The International Monetary Fund, which is scheduled to release updated economic forecasts on January 25, said that for now global … Read more
DUNDGOBI, Mongolia – Nurse Sodkhuu Galbadrakh clutches a box of Covid-19 vaccines on his lap as he journeys along a bumpy track through a remote region of the Mongolian steppe, going home-to-home to offer booster doses to herders. The country of three million has taken some of the world’s toughest and most enduring measures against … Read more
SYDNEY: The world prepared to usher in 2022 on Friday after another tumultuous and pandemic-ridden year capped by new restrictions, soaring case numbers, and a slight glimmer of hope for better times ahead. The past 12 months saw a new US president and a new Adele album, the first spectator-free Olympics, and dreams of democracy … Read more
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 30, 2021 (AFP) – A booster of US coronavirus vaccine Johnson & Johnson was 85 percent effective in preventing serious illness in areas where Omicron was dominant, a South African trial study indicated Thursday. The South African Medical Research Council conducted the study on health workers from November 15 to December 20, but it has still … Read more
WASHINGTON, Dec 29, 2021 (AFP) – The United States has reached its highest-ever average of new Covid cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the Omicron variant spread at a blistering pace. The moving seven-day average of new cases was 265,427 as of Tuesday, surpassing the previous peak of 251,989 set in mid-January 2021, … Read more
PARIS, Dec 29, 2021 (AFP) – France said Wednesday that nightclubs would remain closed for a further three weeks, after nearly 180,000 new Covid cases smashed the record for daily cases since the pandemic began. The roughly 1,600 clubs were ordered shut on December 6 for four weeks as officials hoped to avoid a wave of … Read more
MADRID, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — The latest wave of COVID-19 is starting to take its toll on players in La Liga with some games scheduled for the coming weekend in danger of being postponed. 31 top-flight players were confirmed to be infected with the virus on Monday, with Real Sociedad (who are due to play … Read more
A defiant rejection of his massive social spending bill by a single US senator, a fellow Democrat, and a surge in Covid cases are imperiling Joe Biden less than a year into his presidency. Returning to the White House from a weekend at his family home in Delaware, the 79-year-old president, wearing a black face … Read more
According to authorities within the Sindh Health Department, a second case of the Omicron form of coronavirus has been recorded in Karachi. The 35-year-old afflicted man arrived in Karachi from the United Kingdom and tested positive for coronavirus during random testing. Omicron infection was later confirmed in the infected person using genome sequencing. However, the … Read more
PARIS, Dec 16, 2021 (AFP) – France will ban non-essential travel to and from Britain from the weekend to slow the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that is causing record numbers of cases on the other side of the Channel, the government said Thursday. From midnight Saturday (2300 GMT Friday) there will be a “requirement … Read more
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, Dec 11, 2021 (AFP) – The Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius has recorded its first two infections of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, both linked to people returned from South Africa, with a dozen more contact cases feared. Health Minister Kailesh Jagutpal told a press conference on Friday the pair were asymptomatic and had … Read more
PRAGUE, Dec 10, 2021 (AFP) – The Czech Republic has made Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for people aged 60 and above from March 1, the government said on Friday, as it battles one of the highest infection rates in the world. The obligation will also apply to health workers, police officers, firefighters and the military. “We see that people … Read more
BEIRUT, Dec 9, 2021 (AFP) – The Lebanese health ministry said Thursday that it had confirmed th country’s first two cases of the Omicron variant of Covid in passengers tested upon arrival at the airport. “Two cases detected in airport testing” were confirmed to be of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Firass Abiad told a press conference. He said both … Read more
DUBAI: Dubai’s economy is rebounding faster-than-expected, as property sales are rising and restaurants are busy, at a time when Europe is experiencing a surge in the Covid cases and tightening restrictions again, Bloomberg reported “The recovery has been faster than we expected,” said Scott Livermore, chief economist for Oxford Economics Middle East in Dubai. “Expo has played … Read more
