WASHINGTON: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday (Jul 29) that members and staff would be required to wear masks in the House of Representatives during the coronavirus pandemic. Members will be allowed to remove their masks when addressing the chamber, Pelosi said on the House floor. “The chair […]
Healthcare
NEW YORK: One person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday (Jul 29) as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world. The United States recorded 1,456 new deaths on Wednesday, the highest one-day increase since 1,484 on May 27, according to […]
NEW DELHI: Nearly one in three children around the world have high levels of lead in their bloodstream, according to a new study, as widespread lead pollution puts millions of young people at risk of irreversible mental and physical damage. About 800 million children had lead levels of 5 micrograms […]
RIO DE JANEIRO: Chinese drug company Sinopharm and Parana state have agreed to launch the fourth major COVID-19 vaccine trial in Brazil and will seek regulatory approval in the next two weeks, the Brazilian partners said on Wednesday (Jul 29). A trial by Sinopharm would join Phase III trials already […]
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina has started clinical trials on treating COVID-19 using hyperimmune serum developed with antibodies from horses, authorities from the laboratory involved said on Wednesday (Jul 29). The serum, produced by biotechnology company Inmunova, is obtained by injecting a SARS-CoV-2 protein, which causes the animal to generate a large […]
REUTERS: Florida reported a record increase in new COVID-19 deaths for a second successive day on Wednesday (Jul 29), with 217 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department. Florida also reported 9,446 new cases, bringing its total infections to over 451,000, the second highest in […]
PARIS: The number of new coronavirus infections in France rose by 1,392 on Wednesday (Jul 29), the highest daily tally in a month and a figure likely to fuel fears of a second wave of the disease despite officials downplaying such a scenario. The increase took France’s total number of […]
SHANGHAI: China reported 101 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday (Jul 28), its highest single-day figure in three months, as gyms, bars and museums closed in infection hotspots. Of the new cases, 98 were domestic infections, mostly in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where a growing cluster first discovered earlier this […]
SYDNEY: Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to disaster zones, to aged care homes in the city of Melbourne to try and help contain a rapidly spreading outbreak of the coronavirus. Another hotspot, in inner-city Sydney, has forced a senior adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison […]
MECCA, Saudi Arabia: Muslim pilgrims on Wednesday (Jul 29) begin the annual Haj, dramatically downsized this year as the Saudi hosts strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. The Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in […]