Masks could return to Los Angeles as COVID surges nationwide

Masks could return to Los Angeles as COVID surges nationwide

Nick Barragan is used to wearing a mask because his job in the Los Angeles film industry has long required it, so he won’t be fazed if the nation’s most populous county reinstates rules requiring face coverings because of another spike in coronavirus cases across the country. “I feel fine about it because I’ve worn … Read more

South Korea expands booster shots as COVID-19 cases creep up

South Korea expands booster shots as COVID-19 cases creep up

Health officials in South Korea are expanding booster shots to adults 50 and over as COVID-19 cases creep up again across the country. The 40,226 new cases reported Wednesday marked the country’s highest daily jump in more than two months, although hospitalisations and deaths remain stable. Baek Gyeongran, South Korea’s top infectious disease expert, attributed … Read more

Macau shuts all its casinos in race to curb COVID spread

Macau shuts all its casinos in race to curb COVID spread

Macau shut all its casinos for the first time in more than two years on Monday as authorities struggle to contain the worst coronavirus outbreak yet in the world’s biggest gambling hub. The city’s 30-plus casinos, along with other non-essential businesses will shut for one week and people were ordered to stay at home. Police … Read more

Shanghai, Beijing order new round of mass COVID-19 testing

Shanghai, Beijing order new round of mass COVID-19 testing

Residents of parts of Shanghai and Beijing have been ordered to undergo further rounds of COVID-19 testing following the discovery of new cases in the two cities, while tight restrictions remain in place in Hong Kong, Macao and other Chinese cities. Shanghai has only just emerged from a strict lockdown that confined most of its … Read more

Canada to throw out 13.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Canada to throw out 13.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Canada is going to throw out about 13.6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because it couldn’t find any takers for it either at home or abroad. Canada signed a contract with AstraZeneca in 2020 to get 20 million doses of its vaccine, and 2.3 million Canadians received at least one dose of it, … Read more

Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread

Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread

Macau reported 89 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to more than 900 infections since mid-June, as authorities in the world’s biggest gambling hub race to contain its largest outbreak since the pandemic began. More than 13,000 people are under quarantine in the Chinese special administrative region, which has effectively shut down to … Read more

New COVID-19 test can identify all variants in hours

New COVID-19 test can identify all variants in hours

Scientists in the US have developed a rapid COVID-19 test that can accurately detect all current variants of SARS-CoV-2 within hours. The test, CoVarScan, detects the signatures of eight hotspots on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.The researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in the US tested CoVarScan on samples collected … Read more

Several eastern Chinese areas in mass COVID testing to curb new waves of infections

Several eastern Chinese areas in mass COVID testing to curb new waves of infections

Parts of eastern China are running fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing, as the country faces new waves of infections while recovering from impact of the spring outbreaks that hit Beijing and Shanghai. China continues to demand local authorities detect and contain new infections as soon as possible in its “dynamic COVID zero” strategy, although … Read more

WHO asks South-East Asian countries to scale up Covid vaccination

WHO asks South-East Asian countries to scale up Covid vaccination

The World Health Organization on Friday called on countries in South-East Asia to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination coverage as the region again witnessing a rise in cases. While significant progress has been made in the region towards vaccinating populations against COVID-19, several countries missed the global target to fully vaccinate 70 per cent of their total … Read more

Effects of COVID-19 infection on thyroid gland present for atleast a year: Study

Effects of COVID-19 infection on thyroid gland present for atleast a year: Study

The effects of COVID-19 infection on the thyroid gland can remain even after one year, according to a recent study. Researchers at the University of Milan in Italy found that severe COVID-19 disease impacts thyroid function through a variety of mechanisms.They tracked individuals with thyroid dysfunction associated with COVID-19 illness for a year in order … Read more