SEOUL: South Korea reported its second-highest daily tally of coronavirus cases as a survey underscored growing public dissatisfaction with President Moon Jae-in’s handling of the latest wave of infections hitting the country. According to a poll by research firm Realmeter published today, six in 10 South Koreans believe urgency should […]
Healthcare
SYDNEY: Australia’s most populous state today relaxed coronavirus restrictions for Christmas following a second straight day of low case numbers, though parts of Sydney’s northern seaside suburbs remain under lockdown. New South Wales (NSW), of which Sydney is the capital, reported eight locally acquired cases on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday […]
PARIS: People who fail to get a Covid-19 vaccination could be banned from using public transport in France, according to a draft law sparking angry protests from opposition politicians today. Prime Minister Jean Castex yesterday got his Cabinet’s backing for a bill that is designed to provide a legal framework […]
BANGKOK: A coronavirus outbreak linked to a seafood market in Thailand surpassed 1,000 cases today, as authorities weighed whether to introduce a wider lockdown. Thailand has been on tenterhooks since Thursday following the positive virus test of a 67-year-old prawn seller from Mahachai market, Samut Sakhon province, about 40 minutes […]
WASHINGTON: The United States set a grim double record yesterday notching more than 3,700 deaths and more than 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The country has seen a spectacular spike in Covid infections for more than a month now, with some […]
SEOUL: South Korea reported a record number of coronavirus deaths today as the country’s largest wave of infections strains hospitals and contact tracers. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported that there had been 22 additional deaths as of midnight yesterday, sharply up from a previous high of […]
SINGAPORE: The World Health Organization said today that China had welcomed an international team of investigators into Covid-19 expected to travel to the country in early January. Babatunde Olowokure, the WHO’s regional emergencies director in the Western Pacific, told a news conference that the organisation was in talks with Beijing […]
WELLINGTON: New Zealand roared back from a coronavirus-induced recession with record economic growth of 14 per cent in the July to September quarter, official data showed on Thursday (Dec 17). The strong figures followed an 11 per cent decline in the previous quarter – when New Zealand was in a […]
FRANKFURT: German streets were quiet “like Sunday” on the first day of a new partial lockdown to try to halt surging infections, as the country reported a record number of Covid-19 deaths. A total of 952 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) […]
LONDON: Nearly 140,000 people in the United Kingdom have received their first Covid-19 shots in the first week of roll-out of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the minister in charge of the programme said today. The vaccine was approved for emergency use two weeks ago, with rollout commencing […]