ADDIS ABABA: The African Union said today that African countries should continue to use AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, echoing the World Health Organisation (WHO) by saying the shot’s benefits outweighed risks. The recommendation comes after more than a dozen European countries suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns over the […]
Healthcare
ROME: Italy is seeing a steady rise in coronavirus infections but a national vaccination campaign and tougher restrictions mean numbers should start improving in late spring, the health minister said. Italy, the first Western country hit hard by the pandemic, saw infections rise by 10 per cent last week compared […]
HONG KONG: Families in Asia’s financial hub of Hong Kong are suffering isolation and trauma after strict coronavirus rules have led to babies being separated from parents and those with newborns herded into tiny quarantine quarters for up to 14 days. Hong Kong authorities have ordered that anyone testing positive […]
NEW DELHI: About 3,000 police will be deployed to enforce a week-long curfew and lockdown in the central Indian city of Nagpur from Monday after a 60 per cent jump in coronavirus cases there, officials said. The commercial and logistics hub in Maharashtra state will be the first Indian city […]
ROME: Italy will be placed under a nationwide lockdown over the Easter weekend for the second year running, the government said today, underlining the struggle to stem a fresh surge in coronavirus cases. Non-essential shops will be shuttered nationwide from April 3-5 and on those days, Italians will only be […]
BRASILIA: The world today marked one year since the coronavirus threat was declared a pandemic, with vaccinations offering hope but much of humanity still enduring highly restricted lives with no clear path back to normality. The enormity of the challenge entering the second year of the pandemic was highlighted yesterday […]
BRUSSELS: The European Union responded today to a summons from Britain in a dispute over accusations of vaccine nationalism, the latest in a series of skirmishes between the bloc and its former member since it left the EU. The EU would send charge d’affaires Nicole Mannion, effectively the EU deputy […]
LONDON: Britain will see a resurgence in coronavirus cases at some point and can’t bring deaths from Covid-19 down to zero even with a successful vaccine rollout, England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said today. Whitty said that caution in re-opening the economy would affect the size and the timing […]
PARIS: Hospitals in the Paris region have been ordered to cut all non-Covid patient care and surgery by 40 per cent as new virus cases risk overwhelming their intensive care capacity, health authorities said today. The Ile de France greater Paris region, which counts about 12 million inhabitants, currently has […]
People fill forms before receiving a dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a vaccination site, during a government-organised visit, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China January 19, 2021. BEIJING: China aims to vaccinate 40 per cent of its population against Covid-19 by the end […]