Covid-19

FACTBOX-Shanghai provides roadmap out of lockdown

May 16 (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities on Monday provided their clearest timetable yet on lifting the city's lockdown that has been in place for over six weeks, saying they plan to fully…

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North Korea’s Kim orders military to stabilise supply of COVID-19 drugs

SEOUL, May 16 (Reuters) - Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered North Korea's military to stabilise distribution of COVID-19 medicines in the capital, Pyongyang, in the battle on the country's first confirmed…

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North Korea reports more deaths, says taking ‘swift measures’ against COVID outbreak

SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Sunday a total of 42 people had died as the country began its fourth day under a nationwide lockdown aimed at stopping the…

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China to “strictly limit” unnecessary overseas travels by Chinese citizens to combat COVID

BEIJING, May 12 (Reuters) - China would "strictly limit" unnecessary travel outside the country by Chinese citizens as part of its COVID-19 response, the National Immigration Administration said in a statement on…

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EU to end looser state aid rules for virus-hit companies June 30

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Reuters) - Looser EU rules that have allowed EU governments to grant more than 3 trillion euros ($3.14 trillion) in state aid to thousands of virus-hit companies in the…

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Worldwide coronavirus roundup

May 6 (Reuters) - Residents of Beijing fretted over anti-virus restrictions curbing their movement while also worrying about the dozens of new COVID-19 cases reported daily, as China's leaders threatened action against…

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Shanghai says China’s worst COVID outbreak under “effective control”

SHANGHAI, May 6 (Reuters) - Shanghai said on Friday it has brought China's worst outbreak of COVID-19 under effective control following a month-long lockdown of nearly 25 million people, with authorities vowing…

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U.S. limits use of J&J’s COVID vaccine on blood clot risks

The U.S. health regulator said it was limiting the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for adults due to the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome, the latest…

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Almost three times as many died as a result of COVID than officially reported – WHO

May 5 (Reuters) - Almost three times as many people have died as a result of COVID-19 as the official data show, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO)…

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Beijing curbs public transport as COVID in spreads in China

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 4 (Reuters) - The Chinese capital Beijing shut dozens of metro stations and bus routes on Wednesday in its campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19 and avoid the fate…

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Pfizer keeps COVID sales forecast unchanged as pandemic curbs ease

Pfizer Inc maintained sales forecasts for its COVID products on Tuesday after a series of hikes to the sales outlook for its COVID-19 vaccine last year, in a sign that dizzying…

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Booster after infection adds little extra benefit vs Omicron

Among people who were previously infected with the coronavirus, a third dose of an mRNA vaccine may not boost their protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, according to…

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News roundup on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

April 29 (Reuters) - Beijing closed more businesses and residential compounds on Friday, with authorities ramping up contact tracing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, while resentment at the month-long lockdown in Shanghai…

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‘Entry only. No exit:’ Beijing sees more COVID closures as anger grows in Shanghai

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 29 (Reuters) - China's capital Beijing closed more businesses and residential compounds on Friday, with authorities ramping up contact tracing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak, while resentment at the month-long…

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Italy orders mask wearing for some indoor venues until mid-June

ROME (Reuters) - Face masks will remain compulsory in Italy on public transport and in some indoor venues until June 15, the health minister announced, as one of the country’s…

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EU looks at ramping up COVID vaccinations of kids, developing antivirals

BRUSSELS, April 27 (Reuters) - European Union governments should ramp up COVID-19 immunisations of children, the European Commission said on Wednesday in presenting its strategy to move away from the…

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China’s capital in race to detect COVID cases, avoid Shanghai’s distress

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 27 (Reuters) - Millions of people in Beijing took their second COVID-19 tests of the week on Wednesday as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak numbering in the…

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Pfizer, BioNTech seek U.S. authorization of COVID-19 booster shot for younger kids

Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech announced that they had submitted an application to the U.S. health regulator for the authorization of a booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for…

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U.S. study shows COVID-19 third leading cause of death again in 2021

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…

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Spain to probe COVID-19 contracts allegedly linked to ministers

Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor said on Friday it would open a preliminary inquiry into alleged corruption by companies purportedly linked to government ministers that won lucrative contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

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U.S. extends COVID vaccine requirements for non-citizens at land borders

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States government said on Thursday it was extending a requirement that non-U.S. citizens crossing land or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders must be vaccinated…

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WHO backs Pfizer’s oral COVID therapy Paxlovid for high-risk patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the use of Pfizer Inc's oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment in high-risk patients after an analysis of trial data by the U.N. agency showed the…

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U.S. Justice Department appeals transportation mask ruling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department appealed a judge's ruling ending a mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the measure…

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Moderna to file for EUA of COVID-19 shot for very young kids by April end

Moderna plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five…

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Biden administration will appeal lifting of mask mandate, if CDC agrees

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said it would appeal a judge's ruling ending a mask mandate on airplanes if public health officials deem it necessary to stem…

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Uber scraps mask requirement for riders, drivers as COVID cases fall

Uber Technologies has scrapped mandatory face masks for its riders and drivers in the United States, the ride-hailing company said on Tuesday, adding that riders have the option to cancel their…

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Poland declines to take or pay for more COVID-19 vaccines for now despite contract

Poland will not take or pay for more doses of COVID-19 vaccine under the European Union's supply contract, its health minister said on Tuesday, setting the stage for a legal battle with manufacturers.…

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U.S. State Department to cut back on ‘do not travel’ COVID advisories

The U.S. State Department said it will sharply cut back on "Do Not Travel" advisories for international destinations after public health officials announced a change in how they will assess…

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Shanghai reports 23,000 COVID cases as economic impact bites

SHANGHAI, April 15 (Reuters) - The daily tally of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, which is at the centre of China's epidemic, has fallen slightly, authorities said on Friday, as the city's lockdown…

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Worldwide COVID cases surpass 500 million as Omicron variant BA.2 surges

Reuters) - Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron surges in many countries in Europe and…

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Greece lifts COVID restrictions for summer tourism season

ATHENS, April 13 (Reuters) - Greece said on Wednesday that pandemic restrictions such as mask-wearing indoors and COVID certificates will be lifted throughout the summer tourism period and authorities will…

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Bulgaria eases travel rules for NATO troops, neighbouring states

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria will allow NATO troops, as well as travellers from some neigbouring countries, to arrive in the Balkan country without showing any coronavirus-related documents as of April…

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New Zealand welcomes Australian visitors as border restrictions ease

WELLINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Australians started arriving in New Zealand on Wednesday after it opened its borders to travellers from its neighbouring nation for the first time since mid-2021. New Zealand…

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Queen Elizabeth says COVID left “one very tired and exhausted”

Britain's Queen Elizabeth said COVID-19 had left "one very tired and exhausted" as she talked to health workers and a former patient about her own experience of "this horrible pandemic".…

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Omicron spawns U.S. search for better kids’ masks, new standard

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - The fast-spreading Omicron variant stoked U.S. interest in better masks for children to ward off COVID-19, and that is adding fuel to an effort that could set the…

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Moderna recalls thousands of COVID vaccine doses in Europe

Moderna Inc announced it was recalling 764,900 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine made by its contract manufacturer Rovi after a vial was found contaminated by a foreign body. No safety…

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Failed COVID vaccine mandate means no further easing of curbs in Germany

BERLIN, April 8 (Reuters) - The failure of a draft bill mandating that the elderly be vaccinated against COVID-19 means there will probably be a new wave of infections in autumn and…

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Shanghai widens COVID testing as other Chinese cities impose curbs

SHANGHAI, April 8 (Reuters) - Shanghai on Friday announced a record 21,000 new cases and a third consecutive day of COVID testing as a lockdown of its 26 million people showed no sign of…

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Cyprus to lift COVID-19 travel conditions from April 18

NICOSIA, April 7 (Reuters) - Cyprus will lift COVID-19 conditions for travel to the island from April 18, authorities said on Thursday, ending two years of rules imposed by the pandemic. The…

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German parliament rejects mandatory vaccines in blow for Scholz

BERLIN, April 7 (Reuters) - Germany's lower house of parliament on Thursday voted against a law compelling anyone over 60 years of age to get a vaccination against COVID-19 in a defeat…

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Biden launches U.S. plan to help Americans struggling with long COVID

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - President Joe Biden tasked the U.S. health department with developing a national action plan to tackle the looming health crisis of long COVID, a complex, multi-symptom condition that leaves…

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‘COVID is not a cold’ – Germany U-turns on ending mandatory isolation

BERLIN, April 6 (Reuters) - Germany will not end mandatory isolation for most people who catch COVID-19, the health minister said on Wednesday, reversing course after concerns were raised that…

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Second booster shields elderly from COVID but protection wanes quickly – Israeli study

April 6 (Reuters) - A fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine lowered rates of COVID-19 among the elderly but the protection against infection appeared short-lived, a large study in Israel has found. The second…

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Omicron infects more small children, but less harmfully

Among children under age 5 who were ineligible for coronavirus vaccines, the Omicron variant caused 6- to 8-times more infections than the Delta variant, but severe COVID-19 was less common…

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Shanghai separates COVID-positive children from parents in virus fight

Esther Zhao thought she was doing the right thing when she brought her 2-1/2-year-old daughter to a Shanghai hospital with a fever on March 26. Three days later, Zhao was…

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Brazil eases COVID-related restrictions on international travelers

Brazilian health agency Anvisa issued a new set of rules for incoming international travelers, easing restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis subsides in the South American…

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China reports highest COVID new daily cases since February 2020

BEIJING, April 3 (Reuters) - China on Sunday reported a total of 13,287 new daily cases for April 2, the highest level since February 2020, with the majority in northeastern Jilin province…

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German man got COVID vaccine 87 times

A German man is under investigation after authorities discovered he'd received the coronavirus vaccine at least 87 times, the Freie Presse newspaper reported. The report comes as Germany battles a…

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WHO suspends UN supply of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine for COVID-19

(Reuters) - The World Health Organization said it has suspended supply through United Nations agencies of COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, produced by India's Bharat Biotech, to allow the manufacturer to upgrade facilities and…

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Covid closures still affecting 400 million pupils – UNICEF

Schools in 23 countries, with 405 million pupils, are still partially or fully closed because of Covid, the United Nations Children's Fund says. The charity, Unicef, estimates 147 million children…

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UPDATED: Italy exits Coronavirus state of emergency after two years

ROME, April 1 (Reuters) - Italy on Friday began to phase out its COVID-19 restrictions, ending a state of emergency public authorities declared more than two years ago that allowed it to…

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COVID spending helps UK economy to grow in late 2021

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Britain's economy grew more quickly than previously thought in late 2021 but the increase was largely due to COVID-related activity in the health sector, which masked the…

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Shanghai urges COVID lockdown patience as case numbers drop for first time in 2 weeks

SHANGHAI, March 31 (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities on Thursday appealed to residents to keep cooperating with tight curbs imposed to stop COVID-19 spreading, saying they recognised their frustrations as China's most populous…

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Biden gets second booster shot, pushes for more COVID funding

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden rolled up his sleeve for a second COVID-19 booster shot on Wednesday as his administration rolled out efforts to help Americans live with the coronavirus,…

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WHO lays out plan to emerge from emergency phase of pandemic

(Reuters) - The World Health Organization released an updated plan for COVID-19, laying out key strategies that, if implemented in 2022, would allow the world to end the emergency phase of the…

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BioNTech to expand trial programme for more anti-Omicron vaccine options

FRANKFURT, March 30 (Reuters) - BioNTech expanded an ongoing clinical trial programme to develop new vaccines and patterns of administration for better protection against the dominant Omicron coronavirus variant. The enlargement of its trial programme with…

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COVID cases in Asia surpass 100 million – Reuters tally

March 30 (Reuters) - Coronavirus infections in Asia passed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the region records a resurgence in cases, dominated by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.…

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