Tag: COVID-19

• Monday, December 21st 2020 - 08:19 UTC

  UK variant of coronavirus is up to 70% more transmissible, but no sufficient evidence that it is more lethal

  

  Following are details of a new coronavirus variant that has been identified in the United Kingdom, given at a news conference by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Patrick Vallance, Britain's chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser:

• Monday, December 21st 2020 - 08:10 UTC

  Merkel suggests Christmas greetings with loved ones on video

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to avoid visiting family members over Christmas and to use video calls instead for greetings, the way service members stationed abroad do, as the country battles COVID-19.

• Monday, December 21st 2020 - 07:14 UTC

  UK truck drivers: no ham and cheese sandwiches allowed into the EU

  

  British lorry drivers crossing the Channel next month will face a new regulation that may be hard to swallow: a ban on ham-and-cheese sandwiches, the UK government has warned.

• Saturday, December 19th 2020 - 09:45 UTC

  Moderna vaccine receives FDA approval: 5,9 million shots to be distributed this weekend

  

  Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine on Friday became the second to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, welcome news to a nation with a staggering COVID-19 death toll of over 307,000 lives lost.

• Saturday, December 19th 2020 - 09:40 UTC

  Chilean president fined US$ 3,500 after posing for a selfie without a face mask

  

  Chilean President Sebastian Piñera was slapped with a US$ 3,500 fine on Friday after posing for a selfie on the beach with a bystander without wearing a mask as required during the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities said.

• Saturday, December 19th 2020 - 09:19 UTC

  Pfizer complains of vaccine price confidentiality breach in Belgium parliament

  

  U.S. drugmaker Pfizer complained of a breach of confidentiality after a politician in Belgium published on Thursday the price per dose of COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the country, according to a Belgian newspaper.

• Saturday, December 19th 2020 - 09:05 UTC

  US record imports from China in 2020, despite Trump administration's tariffs

  

  Despite the Trump administration's tariffs on Chinese goods and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. imports from China are surging as the year 2020 draws to a close, The New York Times reported.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 09:17 UTC

  EU inoculation with the BioNtech-Pfizer vaccine forecasted to begin 27 December

  

  Beginning 27 December people across the European Union will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19, European Commission President Ursula von der Leven announced on Thursday.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 08:41 UTC

  Putin's comments on the Sputnik V vaccine spoil Argentine government promises

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on Thursday about waiting to take the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine due to his age, reverberated in Argentina where the government plans to use the shot to initially immunize priority groups including the elderly.

• Friday, December 18th 2020 - 08:30 UTC

  Macron tests positive for Covid-19; track-and-trace among EU leaders

  

  President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, prompting a track-and-trace effort across Europe following numerous meetings between the French leader and EU heads of government in recent days. Macron, 42, was running France remotely after going into quarantine in the Elysee Palace, the presidency said.