Asia

Japan’s daily coronavirus cases touches record amid concerns about a state of emergency

Editorial Bureau January 6, 2021

TOKYO (JAPAN) – Japan’s COVID-19 cases reached a new daily record on Wednesday, even as the government was subjected to mounting pressure from health experts to enforce a strict state of emergency for the Tokyo greater metropolitan area. Rising infections have driven the Tokyo and

Asia

Thailand finds rise in local coronavirus infections could be linked to shrimp market

Editorial Bureau December 19, 2020

BANGKOK (THAILAND) – Thailand has nine new local coronavirus infections, which marks the biggest one-day rise in local transmissions in over seven months, health officials said on Saturday. The nine cases are connected to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon province, near Bangkok, where four infections were reported on Friday, officials told a briefing. The […]

UK

Scientists say new coronavirus strain seeping in UK has key mutations

Editorial Bureau December 15, 2020

LONDON (UK) – British scientists are trying to evaluate whether the rapid spread in southern England of a new variant of the virus that leads to COVID-19 is connected to key mutations they have detected in the strain, they said on Tuesday. The mutations include changes to the important “spike” protein that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus […]

Asia

A year after COVID broke out life in Wuhan is back to normal

Editorial Bureau December 8, 2020

WUHAN (CHINA) – There are hundreds of shoppers at a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan on a weekday morning in December, vying with one another to buy live fish, frogs and turtles apart from fresh vegetables. It is almost a year since the city reported the outbreak of the pandemic in one […]

Europe

Italy records 16,377 new coronavirus cases

Editorial Bureau November 30, 2020

ROME (ITALY) – Italy reported 672 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday, against 541 on Sunday, and 16,377 new infections, down from 20,648 the day before, the health ministry said, with the fall in cases reflecting the usual drop in the number of swabs conducted on Sundays. The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has […]

Asia

Coronavirus cases in India drop to the lowest in months

Ren Leen November 17, 2020

MUMBAI (INDIA) – Daily coronavirus infections in India came down to their lowest since mid-July. New cases reported were 29,163 for the last 24 hours, taking the total to 8.87 million, the health ministry said on Tuesday. Daily cases have fallen in India, the country with the second-highest number of infections behind the United States. […]

World

WHO chief asserts coronavirus is ‘not tired’

Editorial Bureau November 12, 2020

PARIS (FRANCE) – People are becoming weary of the coronavirus pandemic but should remain vigilant and continue to take precautions while the world awaits a vaccine, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. He said relying on promising but as-yet unproven vaccines was a risky bet. Tedros told the Paris Peace Forum, […]

Europe

Italy reports daily record of 39,811 new COVID-19 cases

Editorial Bureau November 8, 2020

MILAN (ITALY) – Italy has given approval to a new aid package to support the economy from restrictions it introduced earlier this week. A person with knowledge of the matter said that the measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth 2.9 billion euros (2.6 billion pounds). Coronavirus curbs which was implemented on Friday has categorised […]

Europe

Denmark to cut down entire mink population after coronavirus

Editorial Bureau November 4, 2020

COPENHAGEN (DENMARK) – Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday. Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future […]

UK

UK records 397 COVID deaths, highest daily toll in months

Editorial Bureau November 4, 2020

LONDON (UK) – The United Kingdom reported 397 new deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily figure since May 27. The government prepares to impose a national lockdown in England to prevent a wave of infections threatening the health service. The UK, which has the biggest official death toll in Europe from COVID-19, is […]