World News

Early coronavirus symptoms differ between age groups, new research finds

Symptoms of COVID-19 during the early days of infection differ between age groups and also between men and women, new research has found. The study, which has been published in…

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Royal Caribbean expands COVID-19 policy as six guests test positive on ship

U.S. cruise liner Royal Caribbean Group said only passengers with a negative COVID-19 test will be let aboard, after six guests on its Adventure of the Seas cruise ship  tested…

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Cyprus to vaccinate 12-15 year olds against COVID-19

Cyprus said children aged 12 to 15 would be included in a mass inoculation programme to curb the spread of COVID-19, as it tightened regulations for access to public areas.…

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Germany tightens rules for travellers on virus concerns

Germany will require all unvaccinated travellers arriving in the country from Sunday to present a negative COVID-19 test result, stepping up health checks on returning holidaymakers amid concern over rising…

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COVID-19 cases surge in Sydney, police cordon off downtown to prevent rally

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 210 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as police cordoned off downtown Sydney with multiple checkpoints to prevent a planned anti-lockdown…

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COVID-19 Delta variant gains prevalence in Italy

The highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus has gained dominance in Italy, the National Health Institute (ISS) said, releasing data showing it accounted for 94.8% of cases as of…

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Hard-won gains at risk as Delta variant spreads- WHO

The world is at risk of losing hard-won gains in fighting COVID-19 as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads, but WHO-approved vaccines remain effective, the World Health Organization said. The…

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Delta variant in China spreads from Nanjing

China reported on Saturday 55 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 30, compared with 64 cases a day earlier, the health authority said. The National Health Commission said…

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Moscow cancels glove-wearing requirement as COVID-19 situation improves

Moscow on Friday abolished a widely-flouted requirement for people to wear gloves in public places and shops as daily coronavirus cases in the Russian capital stayed below 4,000, down from…

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Kenya suspends all in-person meetings countrywide contain COVID-19 spread

Kenya's health minister said on Friday the government had suspended all in-person meetings and public gatherings countrywide to try to contain COVID-19, whose spread in the country he now attributes…

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Asian nations impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions due to Delta outbreaks

Asian countries from Australia to Japan and the Philippines announced tighter COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, as they battle worsening coronavirus outbreaks, driven by the more contagious Delta variant. Detected in…

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A look at Biden’s new COVID push: vaccine rules, testing plans, hard cash

President Joe Biden announced new measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the new Delta variant in the United States that will impact millions of federal workers, contractors and…

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England’s COVID-19 prevalence rises but increase may be slowing, ONS says

The prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England is estimated to have risen to 1 in 65 people in the week to July 24, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said…

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Pregnant women in England urged to get Covid jab amid rise in hospital admissions

England’s top midwife is urging expectant mums to get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible, as new data suggests a worrying rise in Covid-19 hospital admissions among unvaccinated pregnant…

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CanSinoBIO to trial combining its COVID vaccine with Russia’s Sputnik V dose

China's CanSino Biologics (CanSinoBIO) may start as early as next month a clinical trial using Russia's Sputnik V vaccine followed by a shot of its own COVID-19 vaccine, a senior…

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Germany drops S.Africa, others from ‘virus variant’ list

Germany no longer considers South Africa and eight other African countries as so-called 'virus variant' areas, the Health Ministry said on Friday, in a move that will ease strict travel…

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Australia PM says need 80% of adult population vaccinated before reopening

Australia will have to vaccinate 80% of its adults against COVID-19 before it can consider reopening its border, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday as he announced a four-stage…

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Israel’s president launches drive to give third COVID-19 shot to over-60s

Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine on Friday, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 as part of efforts…

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Japanese PM Suga calls on citizens to watch Olympics at home

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday called on the citizens to watch the Olympics at home at a news conference announcing the expansion of coronavirus restrictions in several areas…

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Two new-born test positive for COVID in Palermo

Two newborn babies are being cared for at Palermo's Cervello after they tested positive for COVID-19. One of the babies is intubated in the hospital's intensive care unit for newborns.…

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Mixing Russia’s Sputnik V, AstraZeneca shots proves safe in small trial -RDIF

Trials mixing a first dose of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine with AstraZeneca’s shot revealed no serious side effects and no subsequent cases of coronavirus among volunteers, the Russian Direct…

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China reports 64 new COVID-19 cases as Delta resurgence continues in Nanjing

China reported on Friday 64 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 29, compared with 49 cases a day earlier, the health authority said. The National Health Commission said…

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India reports 44,230 new COVID-19 cases, overall tally at 31.57 mln

India reported on Friday 44,230 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, government data showed. The nationwide tally of infections reached 31.57 million, according to the health ministry. The…

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Czech government offers two-day leave to vaccinated state employees

The Czech government approved on Friday offering two days of additional vacation to state employees who get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a way to spur vaccination effort, Prime Minister Andrej…

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Sydney COVID-19 cases ease amid tightening of lockdown rules

Sydney on Friday reported a slight easing in locally acquired cases of COVID-19 amid a further tightening of restrictions in the worst-affected suburbs, with the military summoned to help enforce…

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Portugal lifts COVID-19 rules with three-stage plan

Portugal announced a three-stage plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions, including scrapping a night-time curfew, as the country’s vaccination rollout speeds up, helping to bring a recent surge in infections under…

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U.S. CDC internal report calls Delta variant as contagious as chickenpox

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus to be as contagious as chickenpox and could cause severe illness, the New…

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Philippines to place Manila area in lockdown to curb Delta spread

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday approved the imposition of lockdown measures in the capital region, in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and to…

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Biden pushes cash reward to get vaccinated, new rules for federal workers

President Joe Biden on Thursday urged local governments to pay people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and set new rules requiring federal workers to provide proof of vaccination or face…

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Italy’s fourth wave of COVID-19 has started – Gimbe Health Foundation

Italy has "effectively entered the fourth wave" of COVID-19 contagion, the Gimbe health foundation said in its weekly coronavirus monitoring report on Thursday. The report said that Italy 's COVID…

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Australian military to help enforce Sydney COVID-19 lockdown as cases rise

Australia's military will help enforce a lockdown in Sydney after the city of 6 million posted a record daily rise in COVID-19 cases on Thursday and state authorities said the…

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Thailand warns COVID-19 surge pushing hospitals to the brink

Hospitals in Thailand's capital Bangkok and surrounding province are running out of beds due to a jump in COVID-19 patients, a health official said on Thursday, as the country reported…

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Pakistan to ban public sector, education, malls, air travel for unvaccinated

Pakistan will ban air travel for anyone without a COVID-19 vaccine certificate from Aug.1 and will require all public sector workers to get vaccinated by Aug. 31, the government announced…

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EU health body warns against visiting popular Greek islands over COVID-19

Greece's south Aegean islands were marked 'dark red' on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's COVID-19 map on Thursday after a rise in infections, meaning all but essential…

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Germany to require proof of COVID immunity or negative test on arrival

All travellers arriving in Germany will be required from this weekend to demonstrate immunity from COVID-19 either from a vaccine or previous infection, or present a negative test result, government…

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UPDATED: Israel to offer third shot of Pfizer vaccine to people over 60

Israel will begin offering a third shot of the Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 vaccine to people aged over 60, a world first in efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious…

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France calls UK quarantine rules discriminatory, excessive

England's decision to keep quarantine measures for travellers coming from France and not for those coming from other European Union countries is discriminatory and not based on science, a French…

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Russia’s daily COVID-19 deaths reach record high for third time

Russia reported 799 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, an all-time high it has reached three times in the last month amid a surge in cases blamed on the infectious Delta variant.…

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Changes in eyes help confirm long COVID diagnosis

Changes in nerve fibers in the eyes can help confirm a diagnosis of "long COVID" - debilitating symptoms that persist more than four week after recovery from the acute illness,…

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New Zealand gives provisional nod to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

New Zealand's health regulator Medsafe has granted provisional approval for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older, acting minister for COVID-19 response, Dr Ayesha Verrall,…

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Turkey’s daily COVID-19 cases surge above 20,000

Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 22,291 on Wednesday, the highest since early May, according to health ministry data that also showed the daily death toll reached a six-week high…

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Delta variant drives virus spread to three China provinces

China Thursday reported small coronavirus outbreaks driven by the Delta variant in three provinces as a cluster linked to an eastern airport spreads despite mass testing and a vaccination drive.…

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Biden to ask federal workers to get vaccinated or face testing

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce on Thursday that all civilian federal workers will need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face regular testing, social distancing, mask…

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Sydney posts record daily COVID-19 cases, police powers extended to enforce lockdown

Delta outbreak in Australia's biggest city Sydney grew by 239 cases on Thursday, the highest daily rise since the pandemic started, forcing authorities to increase police powers to shut down…

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U.S. top diplomat meets with WHO chief, backs study into COVID-19 origins

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday and affirmed U.S. support for the global health body’s plans to conduct additional…

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Majority of Greeks trust COVID vaccines despite protests – poll

Nearly two-thirds of Greeks believe getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can beat the pandemic and most favour mandatory vaccination for certain groups such as healthcare workers, nursing home staff and teachers,…

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Antibodies from Sinovac’s COVID-19 shot fade after about 6 months, booster helps – study

Antibodies triggered by Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine declined below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, but a third shot had a strong…

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CanSinoBIO’s inhaled COVID vaccine candidate triggers immune response-early trial

An inhaled version of CanSino Biologics' (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine triggered immune responses without serious side effects, an early-stage clinical trial showed. The two-dose candidate requires lower dosages than the…

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UK lose court ruling for no sign language interpretation of Covid briefings

A deaf woman has won a court case against the UK government for failing to provide sign language interpreters at televised Covid-19 briefings. AFP reports that the ruling is the…

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Ukraine expects more vaccines, plans new rules for unvaccinated travellers

Ukraine expects to have secured more than 47 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a televised government meeting on Wednesday.…

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UK wants world vaccinated by middle of 2022, Raab says

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned that the world would not be vaccinated until 2024 under current rates and urged other countries to join Britain in donating shots to poorer…

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UPDATED: England scraps quarantine for fully vaccinated U.S., EU arrivals

England will allow fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union and United States to arrive without quarantine from next week, the transport minister said on Wednesday, in a huge and…

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Norway again postpones end to COVID lockdown

Norway postponed for a second time on Wednesday a planned final step in the reopening of its economy from pandemic lockdown, due to the continued spread of the Delta variant…

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EasyJet CEO says UK travel rule change is too late

The chief executive of British airline easyJet said on Wednesday Britain's travel rules were changing too late and expensive testing requirements would prevent a full reopening of travel. "It's the…

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Thailand puts Covid patients on sleeper trains home to ease crisis in Bangkok

Thailand has begun using sleeper trains to transport Covid patients out of Bangkok, where hospitals have been overwhelmed by a recent surge in cases. The first train left the capital…

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India reports 43,654 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours

India reported 43,654 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the federal government said on Wednesday. The country's total case load now stands at 31.44 million infections, according to…

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UK’s Johnson urges caution on drawing conclusions from falling COVID cases

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged caution on Wednesday on drawing conclusions from a seven-day decline in COVID-19 cases in Britain, saying it was too early to assess whether it…

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