Health & Science

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  WHO chief thanks Biden and Fauci for keeping the US a member of the organization

  

  At the meeting of the 148th session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros welcomed the pledge that the United States will remain a member of WHO.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  Covid-19: Peruvians doctors on hunger strike to protest government non action

  

  A group of Peruvian doctors launched a hunger strike this week to protest the government’s lack of preparation for a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:29 UTC

  Biden pledges to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the next 100 days

  

  Total deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States “will likely top 500,000 next month,” President Joe Biden warned on Thursday, as he explained his government's plan to curb the toll the disease has been taking on Americans.  

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:08 UTC

  Brazilian meatpacker announces China has lifted bans on two processing plants

  

  Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA announced that China has lifted bans on two meat plants imposed in 2020 over coronavirus concerns.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 08:32 UTC

  Brazil keeps Selic rate at 2%, but uncertainty about economic growth remains

  

  The Brazil Central bank rate setting committee, Copom, unanimously decided on Wednesday to maintain the Selic rate at 2.00% for the fourth time running, but anticipating that inflation expectations for the next two years have risen and uncertainty surrounds the Brazilian economy in the short term.

• Thursday, January 21st 2021 - 00:48 UTC

  Lufthansa to fly nontop to Falklands carrying German scientists

  

  German carrier Lufthansa Wednesday issued a press release confirming plans are underway for a nonstop charter flight between Hamburg and Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands for scientific purposes. The airline highlighted the trip will be one of its longest nonstop stretches ever.

• Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:25 UTC

  Independent panel blasts WHO and China on their tepid response to the initial Covid-19 outbreak

  

  An independent panel said on Monday that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until Jan. 30.

• Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:16 UTC

  Brazil launches vaccination campaign, but many supply problems persist

  

  Brazil launched on Monday the national inoculation program with China's Sinovac Biotech vaccine, but so far it includes five of the country's 26 states. After weeks of setbacks, many Brazilians cheered the first wave of inoculations, from bustling clinics in Sao Paulo to a spectacular shot planned at the foot of the Christ Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

• Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:15 UTC

  Biden will re impose travel restrictions despite Trump lifting some of the restrictions

  

  The Joe Biden administration plans to quickly re impose travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective Jan. 26, a spokeswoman for Biden said.

• Monday, January 18th 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  Falklands has a “plan of attack” to inoculate Islanders with Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

  

  Falkland Islands Chief Medical Officer Rebecca Edwards has said there is already a “plan of attack” formulated to vaccinate Islanders with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19.