Health

The head of France’s national health service says Paris and Marseille have been declared at-risk zones for the coronavirus as authorities observe a sharp increase in infections. Jerome Salomon, speaking on France Inter radio, warned “the situation is deteriorating from week to week” in the country. He says virus clusters …

More people in Indonesia rolled up their sleeves Friday to test a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by a Chinese company. The Indonesian government announced the partnership between state-owned enterprise Bio Farma and the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech in early July. As part of the deal, Indonesia recruited 1,620 volunteers for …

The Philippines will begin large-scale human testing of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine in October, but President Rodrigo Duterte will not receive the inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman said Thursday. Duterte had offered himself up as a guinea pig for the very first jab, expressing “huge trust” in the …

A sample of frozen chicken wings imported into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from Brazil has tested positive for coronavirus, the city government said in a notice on Thursday. Local disease control centers tested a surface sample taken from the chicken wings as part of routine screenings carried out …

A Brazilian technology institute said on Wednesday it expects to produce a controversial coronavirus Russian vaccine by the second half of 2021, shortly after the state of Parana signed a memorandum of understanding with Moscow. Russia has touted it as the world’s first registered coronavirus vaccine, although experts have also …

Russia’s Ministry of Health has announced that the initial batches of the world’s first registered Covid-19 vaccine will be released within just two weeks, with doctors and teachers being prioritized. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko explained that the first, due to be produced in Russian factories, would be distributed to the …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday it had appealed for $76 million in aid for Lebanon after last week’s massive explosion in Beirut destroyed or damaged hospitals, clinics, and medical supplies. Lebanon was already struggling with a financial crisis and a rise in the number of new coronavirus …

Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has rejected allegations that the country’s pioneering COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe, dismissing them as groundless and leveled by rival competitors. Minister Murashko on Wednesday dismissed concerns raised by Western experts and media about the low number of clinical trials undergone to develop the first officially-approved …

Vaping and smoking could raise a young person’s risk of developing COVID-19 according to researchers who found 13-24-year-olds who used such products were five to seven times more likely to have the condition caused by the coronavirus. Researchers recruited 4,351 people aged 13 to 24 from the U.S. to complete …

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide topped 20 million, more than half of them from the United States, India and Brazil, as Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a vaccine against the virus. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that one of his two adult daughters had …

The race for a COVID-19 vaccine still has a long way to run. Despite research taking place for less than a year, few, if any, trials have ever been put under such a microscope – both figuratively and literally – as these. When will the vaccine arrive? Will it definitely …

The new coronavirus has so far infected more than 19.6 million people and claimed the lives of over 727,000 others around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Data shows that 19,654,273 people have contracted COVID-19 and 727,111 have died. Latin America remains the world’s hardest hit region, surpassing …

Over 100 people in the U.S. died in the first half of 2020 after taking the anti-malarial medicine hydroxychloroquine or related drugs while sick with COVID-19, according to a report. Analysis of new data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) adverse events reporting system by the Milwaukee Journal …

The World Health Organization warned governments against “vaccine nationalism” on Thursday and urged leaders to make plans now on how to share life-saving inoculations against coronavirus. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the threat of COVID-19 can only be snuffed out with global coordination — especially when a vaccine …

Economic recovery around the world could come faster if any COVID-19 vaccine is made available to all as a public good, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. He was speaking in an online panel discussion with members of the Aspen Security Forum in the United …

Ten countries account for 80% of the new coronavirus testing taking place across Africa, a regional body said on Thursday, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries around the vast continent. COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, …

Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products will produce AstraZeneca Plc’s potential COVID-19 vaccine in mainland China, the British drugmaker said on Thursday, its first deal to supply one of the world’s most populous countries. The deal underscores Astra’s frontrunner position in a global race to deliver an effective vaccine, given that Chinese …

Over the last seven days, a grim new COVID-19 calculus has emerged: one person died every 80 seconds from the coronavirus in America. And the pace at which those 7,486 people died appears to be accelerating. In July, a total of 26,198 deaths were reported, meaning one every 102 seconds. …

The World Health Organization has warned the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm strained public health systems in Africa. On Wednesday, the continent was approaching a million infections and around 21,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Here are measures some countries are taking to curb the virus. SOUTH AFRICA With more …

More than 18.3 million people have so far tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and over 694,000 others have lost their lives to the illness across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Data shows that 18,306,842 people have contracted COVID-19 and 694,406 have …