Coronavirus pandemic US President Joe Biden has called the Omicron Covid variant a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic” one day after it was detected in North America. He said he saw no need for a lockdown “for now”, adding, “if people are vaccinated and wear their masks”. Cases have been found […]
Coronavirus pandemic South Africa has complained it is being punished – instead of applauded – for discovering Omicron, a concerning new variant of Covid-19. The foreign ministry made the statement as countries around the world restricted travel from southern Africa as details of the spread emerged. Early evidence suggests Omicron has a higher re-infection […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be “of concern” and named it Omicron. It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said. It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified […]
By Andrew Harding Africa correspondent, BBC News, South Africa Coronavirus pandemic South Africans have responded sharply to the news that the UK, and a growing list of other countries, have reacted to the emergence of a new Covid variant with red-listings and travel bans. While there is genuine pride here in the country’s scientific […]
By James Gallagher & Michelle Roberts BBC News Coronavirus pandemicWhile many European countries are seeing steep rises in coronavirus cases and preparing to step up Covid restrictions, the UK has been going in the other direction. Experts say differences in levels of immunity and people’s behaviour are the likely explanations. The UK had been seeing […]
By Jim Reed Health reporter The first pill designed to treat symptomatic Covid has been approved by the UK medicines regulator. The tablet – molnupiravir – will be given twice a day to vulnerable patients recently diagnosed with the disease. In clinical trials the pill, originally developed to treat flu, cut the risk of hospitalisation […]
Coronavirus pandemic Tongans have been rushing to vaccinate themselves against coronavirus after the Pacific island nation confirmed its first case on Friday. The infection was detected in a fully vaccinated person who had arrived on a repatriation flight from New Zealand. Tonga’s Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa warned that residents on the main island of […]
Coronavirus pandemic Covid has severely affected healthcare staff and may have killed between 80,000 and 180,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. Healthcare workers must be prioritised for vaccines, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, and he criticised unfairness in the distribution of jabs. The deaths occurred between January 2020 and May of this […]
By Geeta Pandey BBC News, Delhi India coronavirus lockdown A court in the southern Indian state of Kerala is due to hear a petition next week from an unhappy citizen who does not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph on his Covid-19 vaccine certificate. The man, known as Peter M, wants a new certificate […]
By Jugal Purohit BBC World Service, Delhi Coronavirus pandemic Shanti Devi, a government community health worker in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, died from Covid in May. Her daughter Malti Gangwar said that in the days following her death, the family received several calls from the health department offering condolences. Her late mother’s colleagues […]
