Tag Archives: COVID-19

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through several northwest European cities on Saturday to demonstrate against coronavirus restrictions imposed amid a surge in infections. Austria last month became the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a lockdown, which is set to last 20 days and said it would make …

India reported its third case of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday, government officials said, as total Covid-19 cases inched closer to the 35 million mark. Officials in the western state of Gujarat said the patient who tested positive for Omicron was a 72-year old man of Indian origin who …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, speaking days ahead of leaving office in the final episode of more than 600 weekly video podcasts. “I once again emphatically ask you to take this tricky virus seriously,” Merkel said, calling the fourth coronavirus wave to …

Higher hospital admissions among children during the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in South Africa that is driven by the Omicron variant should prompt vigilance but not panic as infections have been mild, a health official said on Saturday. A large number of infants admitted with COVID-19 last month in …

The European Union’s public health agency said on Thursday that the Omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 infections in Europe within a few months, but no cases of the severe disease had yet been identified in the region. The estimate could lend weight to …

Germany decided on Thursday to bar the unvaccinated from all but the most essential businesses and the United States was due to announce further travel curbs as countries around the globe scramble to keep out the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the variant showed …

Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a “call to get jabs in arms” on Wednesday as Britain stepped up its COVID-19 booster programme to fend off the Omicron variant after another 10 cases of the new strain were identified. Britain has now recorded 32 cases of the Omicron variant, which appears …

Iraq recorded 889 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said today, Thursday. The daily epidemiological report on the COVID-19 situation stated that 24 COVID-19 deaths were registered today. On the other hand, 1,203 patients have achieved full recovery. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in …

Financial markets fell sharply on Tuesday after the head of drugmaker Moderna said existing COVID-19 vaccines would be less effective against the new Omicron variant, but they recovered strongly after more reassuring comments from European officials. European Medicines Agency executive director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament that existing vaccines …

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 2.45 million airline passengers on Sunday, the highest number of daily passengers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said Monday. Sunday’s total was the highest single one-day tally since mid-February 2020. Volume for the 10-day Thanksgiving travel period was 20.9 …

The Iraqi Ministry of Health confirmed that no new infection with the Omicron variant has been recorded in the country. A member of the ministry’s media team, Ruba Falah, told Al-Ghadeer News, “The vaccine works on most variants,” noting, “the vaccine reduces mortalities and the severity of infection, but does …

The Omicron coronavirus variant kept spreading around the world on Sunday, with 13 cases found in the Netherlands and two each in Denmark and Australia even as more countries imposed travel restrictions to try to seal themselves off. Dutch health authorities said the 13 cases of the variant were found …

The Iraqi Ministry of Health and environment urged citizens today to receive their COVID-19 jabs as soon as possible, following reports about the appearance of a new strain of the virus. The ministry stressed in a statement the need for all government and private institutions to abide by the instructions …

Britain and Germany each detected two cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the virus, while more nations imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa. The discovery of the variant has sparked global concern, a wave of …

Two linked cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in Britain connected to travel to southern Africa, health minister Sajid Javid said on Saturday. Omicron dubbed a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization on Friday, is potentially more contagious than previous variants of the disease, …

Global stocks tumbled on Friday and oil fell below $80 a barrel after news of a possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying to the safety of bonds, the yen, and the Swiss franc. Little is known of the variant, detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong, but scientists …

Global authorities reacted with alarm on Friday to a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as researchers sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked …

Scientists are sounding the alarm, as what could be the most highly-evolved strain of the coronavirus has been discovered in patients in different parts of the world. Its resistance to vaccines adds to the concerns. The latest known variant of Covid-19 has significant changes in its spikes, which could make …

South African scientists have detected a new COVID-19 variant in small numbers and are working to understand its potential implications, they said on Thursday. The variant – called B.1.1.529 – has a “very unusual constellation” of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body’s immune response …

German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday he had reached a coalition deal to form a new government that will try to modernise Europe’s largest economy and bring the curtain down on the Angela Merkel era. Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the ecologist Greens, and the libertarian Free Democrats …