Tag: COVID-19

• Monday, March 15th 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  Brazil becomes second worst Covid-19 country; a time bomb for neighboring countries, WHO reports

  

  Brazil has surpassed India to become the second worst-hit country from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. With 11,483,370 cases and 278,327 deaths, Brazil is now one spot behind the United States, which is the worst-affected globally with more than 30 million cases and 546,605 deaths, according to figures by WorldMeters.

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 09:40 UTC

  IDB initiative to help Latin America better compete for Covid-19 vaccines

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a first-of-its kind initiative that would help Latin American and Caribbean countries better compete to obtain lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines. The instrument would help both countries and vaccine makers resolve indemnity obligations, thereby removing a key obstacle to vaccine contract negotiations.

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 09:26 UTC

  Argentina extends the sanitary emergency until 31 December

  

  The Argentine government has extended until 31 December the current sanitary emergency first decreed on 12 March 2020, just days ahead of the social, preventive and mandatory distancing to contain the effects of the pandemic.

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 08:59 UTC

  UK/EU post Brexit first month trade figures are not encouraging

  

  UK/European Union trade contracted in the first month of their new post-Brexit relationship, with record falls in British exports and imports of goods as COVID-19 restrictions continued on both sides.

• Saturday, March 13th 2021 - 08:47 UTC

  WHO extends emergency approval for Jansen's on shot vaccine, reiterates support for AstraZeneca

  

  The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it was aware of blood clot concerns linked to “a specific batch” of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, but maintained that to date, no-one has died from any coronavirus vaccine. The development comes after several European countries suspended the rollout of the jab as a precaution.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 13:24 UTC

  Falklands tighten up vessel entry policy

  

  The Falkland Islands’ Executive Council this week agreed to tighten the policy governing the entry of vessels into the islands’ territorial waters and ports. Under the new policy, any vessel which has suspected or reported cases of Covid-19 “should not seek to enter Falkland Islands territorial waters and ports,” the Falklands government has confirmed.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:55 UTC

  Brazil's hospitals overwhelmed and in main cities stops receiving pandemic patients

  

  Hospitals in Brazil's main cities are reaching capacity, health officials warned, as the country recorded the world's highest COVID-19 death toll for the second day running, 2,233, triggering restrictions in the main and richest states.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  All US surviving presidents (except Trump) release video of their inoculation; CDC says 92 million vaccinated

  

  All surviving former US presidents except Mr Donald Trump have teamed up in a video urging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Mr Jimmy Carter, Mr George W. Bush, Mr Bill Clinton and Mr Barack Obama - and the former First Ladies, appear in the one-minute spot released on Thursday, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they miss about pre-pandemic life.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:06 UTC

  Brazilian congress passes US$ 8 billion bill to help millions of poor families

  

  Brazil's lower house of Congress approved the basic text of a bill on Thursday that revives a federal cash transfer program to help millions of poor families whose incomes have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Friday, March 12th 2021 - 09:03 UTC

  Europe approves J&J single shot Covid-19 vaccine; some 200 million doses pledged by end of year

  

  Europe approved Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday and is expected to be delivered in a month. The COVID-19 shot is the fourth to be endorsed for use in the European Union after vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford University, and Moderna, and is recommended for those over 18 years of age, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.