Australia to hold independent inquiry into handling of COVID pandemic
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia’s centre-left Labor government on Thursday said it would hold an independent inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to better prepare for future health crises. Australia closed its international borders and locked down cities among other pandemic restrictions that helped keep infections and deaths far below levels in other comparable developed […]
Third night of rioting erupts over Dutch COVID-19 rules; clashes in Belgium
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsReuters Riots broke out in cities across the Netherlands on Sunday, the third night in a row that police clashed with mobs of angry youths who set fires and threw rocks to protest COVID-19 restrictions. Unrest was reported in locations including Leeuwarden and Groningen in the north, the eastern town of Enschede and […]
“Hospitals are full” as Argentina COVID-19 cases hit three million
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaReuters Argentina coronavirus cases hit three million on Sunday since the pandemic began, as medical workers said hospitals were full to capacity despite toughened government measures to bring down the spread of infections. The country’s health ministry said there were 11,394 new cases over the last 24-hour period, bringing up the grim new […]
US Supreme Court halts California virus rules limiting home worship
Washington DC, USAP The US Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings. The order from the court late on Friday is the latest in a recent string of cases in which the high court has barred officials from enforcing some coronavirus-related […]
Papua New Guinea orders restrictions as COVID-19 numbers climb
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Papua New Guinea will tighten internal border controls, restrict personal movement and enforce mask wearing in public from next week, as it confronts a steep rise in COVID-19 infections. The authorities in the Pacific island nation of nine million people also said they will ban mass gatherings, close schools and may order burials […]
Court orders France to rethink 30 person limit on worship
Paris, FranceAP France’s highest administrative court on Sunday ordered a rethink of a 30 person attendance limit for religious services put in place by the government to slow down the spread of coronavirus. The measure took effect this weekend as France relaxes some virus restrictions, but it faced opposition by places of worship and the […]
Faith in a time of COVID: Biden says Americans can worship in person “safely”. But what does that mean?
JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, looks at how US states and faith communities are grappling with COVID restrictions – and what the election of President-elect Joe Biden might mean…
French Catholics protest for end to lockdown on Mass
Paris, FranceAP With banners reading “Let us Pray” and “We Want Mass”, Catholic protesters held scattered demonstrations around France on Sunday to demand that authorities relax virus lockdown measures to allow religious services. In the western city of Nantes, hundreds gathered in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary, some kneeling on the rain-soaked […]
Opening up without control of COVID-19 is recipe for disaster, says WHO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Countries with significant active spread of coronavirus must prevent amplifying events, as opening up without the virus being under control would be a “recipe for disaster”, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recognised that many people are getting tired of restrictions and want to return to normality […]
Shorter hours, cleaner air? Egypt may extend its COVID-19 evening curfew
Cairo, EgyptThomson Reuters Foundation As coronavirus restrictions ease, business is rebounding in Cairo’s cafes, restaurants and shops. In the evenings, the sounds of street vendors plying their wares blends with the honking of horns, as the city gets back to normal. But the evening revival may not last long. Two men sit at a coffee […]