All countries “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics, says IFRC
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The world is “dangerously unprepared” for future pandemics, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies say in a report published on Monday, calling on countries to update their preparedness plans by year-end. In its World Disasters Report 2022, the IFRC said “all countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks” […]
Russian coronavirus-denying ex-monk sentenced to seven years
Moscow, Russia AP A former Russian Orthodox monk, who denied that the coronavirus existed and defied the Kremlin, was handed a seven-year prison sentence Friday. Nikolai Romanov, 67, who was known as Father Sergiy until his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, urged his followers to disobey the Russian Government’s lockdown measures and spread conspiracy […]
China says COVID outbreak has infected 80 per cent of population
Beijing, China Reuters The possibility of a big COVID-19 rebound in China over the next two or three months is remote as 80 per cent of people have been infected, a prominent government scientist said on Saturday. The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic, boosting […]
“A huge impact on every family”: Chinese who lost relatives to COVID angry at failure to protect elderly
MARTIN QUIN POLLARD, of Reuters, reports that for many grieving relatives, bereavement is mixed with anger over what they say was a lack of preparation to protect the elderly before China suddenly abandoned its “zero-COVID” policy in December…
Essay: “The shoes needing filling are on the large side of big” – Jacinda Ardern’s legacy and Labour’s new challenge
RICHARD SHAW, professor of politics at Massey University in New Zealand, reflects – in an article first published on The Conversation – on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation…
China reports huge rise in COVID-related deaths after data criticism
Beijing, ChinaReuters China said on Saturday nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data. In early December, Beijing abruptly dismantled its strict three-year anti-virus regime of frequent testing, travel curbs […]
Family members reunite in China after three-year COVID separation
Singapore/Shanghai, China Reuters Chu Wenhong would fly back to Shanghai and visit her parents at least once a year after she moved to Singapore in 1994. But she hasn’t been able to do so in the past three years due to China’s signature zero-COVID policy, which involved mass PCR testing, city-wide lockdowns and quarantining all […]
Chinese fret over elderly as WHO warns of holiday COVID surge
Beijing, ChinaReuters People in China worried on Thursday about spreading COVID-19 to aged relatives as they planned returns to their home towns for holidays that the World Health Organization warns could inflame a raging outbreak. The Lunar New Year holiday, which officially starts from 21st January, comes after China last month abandoned a strict anti-virus […]
WHO urges travellers to wear masks as new COVID variant spreads
London, UKReuters Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press […]
Church attendance: More Americans stay away as pandemic nears year three
Many Americans already had dropped out of church life before the pandemic. BOB SMIETANA reports that a new survey shows COVID-19 gave them a reason to let go completely…