Despite proclaiming the end of the pandemic, the World Health Organization has said that it will be “impossible” to eliminate the virus itself. Covid-19 will never be eliminated or eradicated, as it can jump from humans to animals and back, World Health Organization emergency director Dr. Mike Ryan told reporters …
Read More »Covid-19 pandemic is over – WHO
COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Friday, a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities. “Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended …
Read More »Biden signs bill declassifying US intel on Covid origin
A newly enacted law will still allow for redactions to keep most highly classified information under wraps US President Joe Biden has signed a bill that directs the federal government to declassify material related to the genesis of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the White House suggesting “potential links” between the …
Read More »UN chief condemns rich countries’ ‘vicious’ tactics against poor
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has condemned rich countries and energy giants for throttling poor nations with “predatory” interest rates and crippling fuel prices. In his speech on the opening day of the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) summit in Qatar on Saturday, Guterres said that wealthy nations should provide …
Read More »Indonesia lifts all coronavirus-related restrictions
Almost three years after officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the country’s leader said Friday they are lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide. President Joko Widodo said Indonesia’s COVID-19 situation is under control after observing improvements over the past 10 months, allowing the country to abandon the …
Read More »UK health regulator authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine for infants as young as 6 months
‘Expected side effects were in-keeping with what can be anticipated from the vaccine in this age group,’ regulator says Britain’s health regulator on Tuesday authorized the use of a Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for infants and children aged six months to 4 years. In a statement, the Medicines and Healthcare products …
Read More »China sets record for daily Covid-19 cases
Almost 31,500 people were diagnosed with the disease on Wednesday, according to official data China on Wednesday registered its highest number of daily coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic almost three years ago, official data has shown. There were 31,444 new cases of the disease in the country …
Read More »Russia’s official toll of COVID-related deaths exceeds 820,000
Russia has registered a total of 820,307 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic in the country in April 2020, the state statistics service Rosstat said on Friday. It said 4,991 people had died of COVID-19 or related causes in June, down from 7,098 in May. Russia recorded more …
Read More »COVID claims 1 million US lives, leaving trail of loss
The United States has now recorded more than 1 million COVID-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally, crossing a once-unthinkable milestone about two years after the first cases upended everyday life and quickly transformed it.
Read More »Nearly 15 million deaths associated with Covid, WHO says
The World Health Organization is estimating that nearly 15 million people were killed either by the coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems in the past two years, more than double the official death toll of 6 million. Most of the fatalities were in Southeast Asia, Europe, and …
Read More »EU estimates up to 80% of population has had COVID
The European Commission said that between 60% and 80% of the EU population was estimated to have been infected with COVID-19, as the bloc enters a post-emergency phase in which mass reporting of cases was no longer necessary. In preparing for this less acute phase, European Union governments should ramp …
Read More »Iraq reported 161 new COVID19 cases, ranks 1st in the Arab World, 40th globally
Iraq recorded 161 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, to bring its total to 2,324,384, the Ministry of Health and Environment said. It reported two deaths. Its coronavirus death toll reached 25,207. It also reported 278 recoveries to bring its total to 2,296,548 (98.80%). The COVID-19 intensive care patients count …
Read More »FDA authorizes breath test that can detect COVID-19 in three minutes
The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to a new COVID-19 test that can detect infections with only a sample of a patient’s breath, using a device that can yield results in less than three minutes. The agency says the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer will only be available …
Read More »Worldwide COVID-19 cases surpass 500 million as omicron variant BA.2 surges
Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia. The rise of BA.2 has been blamed for recent surges in China as well as record infections in Europe. It has …
Read More »UK issues more than 50 fines for Downing St lockdown parties
British police said on Tuesday they would issue at least another 30 fines for people who attended gatherings in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s offices and residence in breach of strict coronavirus lockdown rules. Police are investigating 12 gatherings at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office after an internal inquiry found …
Read More »WHO says it is analyzing two new Omicron COVID sub-variants
Viruses mutate all the time but only some mutations affect their ability to spread or evade prior immunity from vaccination or infection, or the severity of disease they cause. The World Health Organization said on Monday it is tracking a few dozen cases of two new sub-variants of the highly …
Read More »Omicron threat looms over winter holidays in Europe and U.S.
The Netherlands went into lockdown on Sunday and the possibility of more COVID-19 restrictions being imposed ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays loomed over several European countries as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly. In the United States, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci urged people traveling to …
Read More »London declares ‘major incident’ over Omicron
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced a ‘major incident’ in the UK capital over the quickly deteriorating epidemiological situation prompted by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. “Today I have declared a major incident in London because of the serious threat of Covid-19 to our city. This will help us avoid …
Read More »Omicron more likely to reinfect than Delta, no milder -study
The risk of reinfection with the Omicron coronavirus variant is more than five times higher and it has shown no sign of being milder than Delta, a study showed, as cases soar across Europe and threaten year-end festivities. The results of the study by Imperial College London were based on …
Read More »Pfizer experimental COVID pill appears effective against omicron variant
Pfizer said Tuesday that its experimental COVID-19 pill appears effective against the omicron variant. The company also said full results of its 2,250-person study confirmed the pill’s promising early results against the virus: The drug reduced combined hospitalizations and deaths by about 89 percent among high-risk adults when taken shortly …
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