India’s daily COVID-19 deaths near record, calls for nationwide lockdown mount
India’s COVID-19 deaths rose by more than 4,000 for a second consecutive day on Sunday as calls for a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus mounted. India’s health ministry reported 4,092 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 242,362. New cases rose by 403,738, just shy of […]
‘Freedom’ fiestas: Spaniards celebrate end of COVID curfew
Exhilarated Spaniards danced in streets, chanted “freedom” and partied on beaches overnight as a COVID-19 curfew ended across most of the nation. In scenes akin to New Year’s Eve celebrations, hundreds of mainly young people gathered in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square to applaud the clock striking midnight while in Barcelona revellers headed to the […]
School closures did not contribute to the spread of the coronavirus in Germany
Deciding whether to close schools to contain the spread of Covid-19 requires balancing the harm such closures inflict on families against their effectiveness in stopping the spread of disease.
Thailand reports 2,419 new coronavirus cases, 19 new deaths
Thailand on Saturday reported 2,419 new coronavirus cases and 19 new deaths, as the country deals with a third wave of infections. The new cases took the total number of infections to 81,274 and total fatalities to 382 since the pandemic started last year. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
New Zealand to resume Australia “travel bubble” as Sydney COVID threat eases
New Zealand will lift its partial suspension of a “travel bubble” with Australia from midnight on Sunday as fears of a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney eased. New Zealand had blocked travel to and from New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, on Thursday after a couple in Sydney with no links to high risk professions […]
EU split on vaccine waiver idea, unlikely to take clear stance
European Union leaders are divided over whether to follow Washington in supporting a waiver of patent rights to COVID-19 vaccines, as many argue this would take years and not address the immediate issue of making more shots to end the pandemic. Leaders of the 27-nation bloc will discuss the patent waiver idea at a two-day […]
Carbon emissions drop across Europe in 2020 – Eurostat
Carbon emissions from use of fossil fuels fell across the European Union last year, the bloc’s statistics office estimated on Friday, citing COVID-19 restrictions that shut down travel and factories across the region. CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels – such as oil, coal and natural gas – dropped 10% in 2020 compared […]
High-tech hunt for scarce COVID-19 vaccines in India raises fear for fairness
Indian tech experts have written software code and designed websites to help people book scarce COVID-19 vaccinations online, raising concern about an unfair advantage for the tech savvy and jeopardising chances of an equitable vaccine rollout. India has faced criticism for a slow vaccine campaign as it battles a second wave of coronavirus infections that […]
India posts record daily rise in coronavirus deaths
India’s coronavirus deaths rose by a record 3,780 during the last 24 hours, a day after it became the second country to cross the grim milestone of 20 million infections after the United states. Daily infections rose by 382,315 on Wednesday, health ministry data showed. Government modelling had pointed to a peak by Wednesday, a […]
Madrid voters queue at polls in COVID-influenced crunch election
Voters formed long queues at polling stations in Madrid on Tuesday to maintain social distancing in a regional election centred around unorthodox COVID-19 policies that could shake the nation’s political landscape. The unusual mid-week vote in Spain’s wealthiest region is poised to return Isabel Diaz Ayuso, from the conservative Popular Party (PP), to power as […]
