https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/world/americas/canada-trucker-protest.html There’s been a breakthrough in Canada engulfed in anti-Covid vaccine mandates by irate truckers. Law enforcement officials said Sunday that they had reopened a major international bridge that protesters had been blockading for almost a week, raising hopes for industries that the unrest had slowed to a near-standstill. As they announced that the Ambassador […]
COVID
5.5 million fatalities attributed to COVID-19; the latest health stories from around the world
Virtually two years since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a pandemic, COVID-19 has already accounted for close on 350 million cases and more than 5.5 million fatalities. The “good” news is that the faster it spreads these days, the lower its deaths. The Omicron variant appears to be a more benevolent avatar though […]
Was it American-funded research that went wrong in Wuhan?
During his tenure US President Donald Trump had accused the Chinese of creating and unleashing the COVID-19 virus on an unsuspecting world, repeatedly calling it the “China virus” for good measure. Ironically, possibilities have now been raised of a US role in China’s virology research. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has denied that […]
Will political posturing give way to calm investigation when WHO investigates future pandemics?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a new team to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) will also be tasked with studying the origins of future outbreaks and epidemics and guiding studies of emerging pathogens more generally, according to a report in […]
EU putting weight behind Ethiopia’s Tedros for second WHO DG term
Tedros 2.0? German government sources told Reuters on 23 September that Berlin would officially nominate Tedros as the Director General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the second time around and was seeking support from other European Union (EU) member states. At least 17 EU states have said they would also submit his […]
Pandemic preparedness: better late than never
Billion-dollar plan Almost as if to make up for the lost Trump year during the pandemic, the White House has put together an ambitious new plan with a $65.3 billion price tag that could transform the way the United States responds to pandemics by vastly accelerating vaccine development, testing, and production. But is the plan […]
Environmental degradation contributed to COVID-19 origins, UNEP India says
The COVID-19 pandemic’s origins can be traced to degradation of environmental space, species’ loss and exploitation, according to a leading United Nations Environment Programme official for India. As investigations into the origins of COVID-19 continue, United Nations Environment Programme India Country Office Head, Atul Bagai, highlighted the interconnected balance between environmental degradation and public health, […]
Lack of testing risks mutant strains running rampant
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, India has established ten state-run laboratories in order to test samples to identify the presence of mutant strains. Despite the establishment of the laboratories, fewer than one percent of all samples have thus far been tested. India has only studied 11,064 of its samples according to the Union Ministry of Health […]
COVID-19 lockdowns reduced concentration of air pollutants in Indian cities
For a crisis of such a magnitude as COVID-19, it seems arguably grotesque to seek out a silver lining. However, it is undeniable that India’s lockdowns in response to the pandemic had a positive impact when it came to air pollution. Five cities with ordinarily high rates of pollution showed a temporary reduction in particulate […]
Delhi witnessing COVID-19 “third wave”?
India’s overall COVID-19 metrics are improving across the board. However, Delhi may be witnessing its “third wave” according to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi has seen a rise in cases over the last few days, giving rise to suggestions that the state is facing a third wave of cases. This rise falls against a backdrop […]