DEADLY NEW BAT VIRUS FOUND INSIDE A CAVE IN THAILAND CAN INFECT HUMANS

  A researcher takes samples from a bat’s mouth inside Sai Yok National Park in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok. [FILE: Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo] Sun 14 January 2024: A recently identified bat virus that can infect humans has raised concerned about zoonotic transmission in Thailand. The controversial research group behind this discovery, EcoHealth Alliance, previously […]

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NEARLY 10,000 PEOPLE DIED FROM COVID-19 DURING HOLIDAYS: WHO

Thu 11 January 2024: On Wednesday, January 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the most common variant of the coronavirus, COVID-19, was the cause of an increase in cases last month during Christmas get-togethers worldwide.  The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that December had about 10,000 recorded deaths.  […]

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NORTH KOREA PUBLICLY EXECUTED PEOPLE FOR COVID-19 VIOLATIONS IN PREVIOUS YEARS, CLAIMS REPORT

Wed 10 January 2024: North Korea carried out public executions of people who had violated COVID-19 regulations in previous years, a South Korean state-run think tank claimed in its latest report. A white paper on human rights issued by the Korea Institute for National Unification, citing a North Korean defector who arrived in Seoul last […]

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605 NEW COVID-19 CASES IN INDIA IN 24 HOURS AS JN.1 COVID VARIANT SPREADS

Wed 10 January 2024: India saw 605 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours as of Wednesday (January 10) morning, government data said. There were 3,643 active cases as of 8 am on Wednesday, representing a net decrease of 276 cases since Tuesday. Four people – two in Karnataka and Kerala each – died to contracting the […]

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COVID, FLU SURGE IN U.S. AMID HOLIDAYS, INCREASING HEALTH RISKS

Thu 28 December 2023: The United States has seen an uptick in flu and COVID-19 cases amid holidays, and health experts are concerned about the increasing health risks brought by the simultaneous spread of respiratory illnesses. The amount of respiratory illnesses causing people to seek healthcare is elevated or increasing across most areas of the […]

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COVID VARIANT JN.1 IS THE CAUSE OF NEARLY HALF OF THE LATEST INFECTIONS IN THE U.S.

Wed 27 December 2023: A new coronavirus subvariant JN.1 is spreading fast in the United States, and is now accounting for nearly half of the latest COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). JN.1 is currently the fastest growing variant and the dominant one in the […]

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WHO DECLARES JN.1 COVID-19 STRAIN ‘VARIANT OF INTEREST’

Wed 20 December 2023: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday classified the JN.1 COVID-19 variant as a “variant of interest,” and said available evidence showed it posed a low global public health risk. It, however, warned that JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries with the onset of winter in […]

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SOUTH AFRICA: COVID-19 SOCIAL GRANT EXTENDED UNTIL 2025

Wed 01 October 2023: Government has extended the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD Grant) until March 2025 while it considers social security policy reforms and a funding model. The grant was introduced to support low-income individuals affected by the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivering the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to […]

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LONDON AIRPORT SCRAPS 160 FLIGHTS OVER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SHORTAGES

Tue 26 September 2023: London’s Gatwick airport said on Monday that it had been forced to cancel more than 160 flights between now and Sunday due to an exceptional shortage of controllers, partly caused by coronavirus infections.  In a statement, Gatwick Airport said that until Sunday, flights will be limited to 800 per day, adding […]

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