More than half the world faces high measles risk, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters More than half the world’s countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday. Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 […]
Measles now an imminent global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC
Reuters There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization and the US public health agency said on Wednesday. Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost […]
“History repeats itself”: In Africa’s monkeypox outbreak, sickness and death go undetected
DJAFFAR AL KATANTY and EDWARD MCALLISTER, of Reuters, report on the impact of monkeypox virus outbreaks in poorer African countries where many people do not have quick access to health facilities – or are not aware of the dangers…
Migrants in Mexico despair; US extends pandemic asylum limits
Reynosa, MexicoReuters Migrants across northern Mexico voiced frustration and desperation on Monday, after the US Government failed to lift a pandemic-era policy that has largely prevented them from seeking asylum in the United States for over two years. An eleventh-hour decision by a federal judge in Louisiana on Friday made it impossible for the U.S. […]
COVID-19 third leading cause of death again in 2021- US study
Reuters COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States for the second year in a row in 2021, with death rates rising for most age groups, a government study showed on Friday. COVID-19 was the underlying or contributing cause of 460,513 deaths in the United States last year, a nearly 20 […]
US to end COVID-era order blocking migrants at Mexico border
Washington DC, USReuters US health officials are planning to end a sweeping, pandemic-related expulsion policy that has effectively closed down the US asylum system at the border with Mexico by 23rd May, a US official familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the decision had not yet been finalised. A draft notice by the […]
The Interview: US CDC researcher Susan Hillis on how people of faith can support COVID orphans
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, speaks with Susan Hillis, a member of the COVID-19 International Task Force at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about how her Christian faith connects with her work and how people can support children and families devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic…
Delta spreads “like wildfire” as doctors study whether it makes patients sicker
Los Angeles, USReuters With a new wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Delta variant striking countries worldwide, disease experts are scrambling to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people – mainly the unvaccinated – sicker than before. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that Delta, first identified in […]
With more than a million children orphaned by COVID, faith-based groups look to mobilise support
RNS More than a million children around the world may have been orphaned by COVID-19, losing one or both parents to the disease or related causes. Another estimated 500,000 lost a grandparent or another relative who cared for them. Orphans eat a meal in Sylhet, Bangladesh, in April, 2021. PICTURE: Imdadul Hussain/Unsplash/Creative Commons The numbers […]
Trump declares churches “essential”, calls on them to reopen
Washington DC, USAP President Donald Trump on Friday labeled churches and other houses of worship as “essential” and called on governors nationwide to let them reopen this weekend even though some areas remain under coronavirus lockdown. The president threatened to “override” governors who defy him, but it was unclear what authority he has to do […]