Coronavirus

Wellington: As schools across New Zealand are preparing to return for the first term of this year, Education Minister Chris Hipkins Tuesday announced 5,000 air cleaners have been ordered in an effort to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. "As we know, along with vaccination, testing, good...

Canberra: Australia Monday approved Novavax for people aged 18 and over, making it the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to be approved for use in the country after AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer amid the continued battle against the Omicron-fuelled pandemic. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation...

Washington: Thousands of Americans from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. for a march against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions, as people were frustrated and fatigued by the recent surge in cases and the overall health crisis. During the march Sunday called...

Lucknow: The CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) has developed an indigenous RT-PCR diagnostic kit, called 'Om', for testing the new Omicron variant of Covid-19. It is the first kit made by any government institution, and the third to be made indigenously, for specific testing of...

New York: Two new studies, not yet peer-reviewed, have shown immune evasion is the reason behind the Omicron variant's increased transmissibility. The Omicron variant, first reported from South Africa and Botswana in late November, has now been detected in 171 countries so far. In many...

Sydney: Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) Sunday announced a Covid-19 smart plan which aims to minimise the risk of infection after returning to school amid an uphill battle against the current wave of the pandemic. As part of the new measures, every student...

New Delhi: Prominent public health officials in the US have increasingly highlighted the limitations of cloth face masks, pushing for more effective respirator masks such as N95s as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the country, a shift in messaging from earlier in the...

Houston: A judge in Texas has blocked President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for federal employees, dealing another blow to the White House's anti-Covid efforts. The US Department of Justice immediately filed an appeal and case could be heard by the Supreme Court, reports Xinhua news...

London: A new form of Omicron named BA.2 has been designated a "variant under investigation", with 426 cases of the Covid-19 strain's sub-lineage confirmed in Britain, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. "Overall, the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant in the UK and...

New Delhi: The Covid vaccination drive for the 12 to 14 years age group will start only after more scientific data evolves, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Thursday. "As scientific evidence evolves, we will be expanding the coverage of vaccination to this age group....