Covid-19 news

South Korea likely to ease Covid visa curbs on travelers from China soon: Report

South Korea's prime minister suggested on Tuesday that COVID visa restrictions on travellers from China could be lifted earlier than scheduled if infections ease, as the travel and tourism sectors hope for a rebound in visitors.

Published on Jan 31, 2023 01:52 PM IST

Reuters |

Covid still a global emergency: World health body

Covid-19: The WHO director-general concurs with the advice regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and determines that the event continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

WHO says Covid still an international emergency.

Published on Jan 30, 2023 02:55 PM IST

AFP |

China says Covid cases, deaths ‘trending downward’, current wave nearing end

The number of severe COVID cases and deaths was also trending downward, the officials said in a report that was dated last week.

Published on Jan 30, 2023 07:53 AM IST

Reuters |

After no Covid rules in place, China sees 74% surge in Lunar New Year trips

An estimated 226 million domestic trips were made by all means including flights during the holiday week, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing government figures.

This photo taken on January 27 shows passengers arriving at Hankou railway station on the last day of the Lunar New Year holidays in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province.(AFP)

Published on Jan 28, 2023 09:02 PM IST

Reuters | | Posted by Yagya Sharma

France extends mandatory Covid tests for travellers from China till February 15

France on Saturday said it had extended until February 15 Covid tests for travellers arriving from China due to the "evolving situation".

Arriving travelers queue for Covid-19 tests at Changshui International Airport in Kunming, China, on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. China has become isolated as the rest of the world lives with the virus, and frequent lockdowns, restrictions and mass testing efforts are disrupting the economy, despite moves to mitigate the blow in recent months. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg(Bloomberg)

Published on Jan 28, 2023 04:04 PM IST

AFP |

China zero-Covid policy harsher on Tibetans: Report

The "Zero COVID" policy of President Xi Jinping has been a great tool for repression. Lockdowns and similar measures greatly helped the regime to implement its gigantic and hyper-technological system of control and surveillance of its citizens, under the pretext of protecting their health.

The Chinese flag flies at a plaza near the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region.(AP)

Published on Jan 28, 2023 12:02 AM IST

ANI | | Posted by Singh Rahul Sunilkumar

China’s most scenic destinations packed with tourists despite covid risks

The Spring Festival vacation saw a surge in tourists to China's most picturesque locations as Beijing's decision to abandon Covid Zero sparked a travel frenzy despite the nation's ongoing omicron outbreak.

Tourists walk along rows of shops in Chinatown in Singapore January 27, 2023. (REUTERS/Caroline Chia)

travel

Published on Jan 27, 2023 05:10 PM IST

Bloomberg | | Posted by Akanksha Agnihotri

Can’t mix vaccine while taking 2nd Covid jab: Centre tells Delhi high court

The court was hearing a plea filed in 2021 by Madhur Mittal, a cancer patient, who sought permission to take Covaxin for second dose instead of Covishield, which was administered to him as the first dose.

On January 17, 2023, the central government’s standing counsel Anurag Alhuwalia reiterated the same position.

Updated on Jan 27, 2023 07:59 AM IST

ByHT Correspondent, New Delhi

Bivalent vaccines more effective against Covid than monovalent ones: Study

Bivalent Covid-19 vaccines provide significantly better protection than their monovalent counterparts against severe disease and death from infections caused by Omicron sub-variants, data from two recent reports published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) show

A health care worker inoculates a beneficiary with a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), in Guwahati. (ANI)

Updated on Jan 30, 2023 08:26 AM IST

ByRhythma Kaul, New Delhi

Health minister Mandaviya launches Bharat Biotech's nasal Covid vaccine

The world's first made-in-India intranasal vaccine was launched at Mandaviya's residence here.

The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 -- had received the Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) approval in November for restricted emergency use among adults as a heterologous booster dose.(File)

Published on Jan 26, 2023 03:51 PM IST

PTI |

China says Covid deaths down by nearly 80% since 2023

China covid: A wave of virus cases has washed over the world's most populous nation since Beijing abruptly ended its zero-Covid policy last month.

China Covid deaths: China says Covid deaths down by nearly 80 percent. (Bloomberg)

Published on Jan 26, 2023 11:17 AM IST

AFP |

China's daily Covid infections hit peak last month at 7 million: Report

The figures, published on the centre's website, come after a prominent government scientist said over the weekend that 80% of China's 1.4 billion population have already been infected, making the possibility of a big Covid-19 rebound over the next two or three months remote.

Published on Jan 25, 2023 06:09 PM IST

Reuters |

Jairam Ramesh dismisses Union minster's 'pushing for foreign vaccine' claims

Congress' Jairam Ramesh dismissed claims made in a Twitter post shared by the Union minister- Rajeev Chandrasekhar over the grand old party pushing for Pfizer vaccine at a time when the pharmaceutical company was “bullying” the Centre for its acceptance.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the Union minister's post “undermines the most basic principles of democracy and fairness”.(PTI)

Updated on Jan 23, 2023 06:57 AM IST

BySnehashish Roy, New Delhi

Masking emotions: Here's how children show signs of mask dependence

Psychiatrists concerned as children show signs of mask dependence after Covid-19. Here's all you need to know about kids masking emotions

relationships

Updated on Jan 22, 2023 03:48 PM IST

ByZarafshan Shiraz, Delhi

China Lunar New Year: Chinese ring in new year with big party despite Covid

Between January 13 and January 16, China reported 13,000 deaths due to Covid in hospitals, adding to the 60,000 recorded this month already. Since China eased its strict Covid rules last December, hospitals and funeral homes have been overwhelmed due to the sudden surge in infection.

A worshipper wearing a face mask makes an offering of incense sticks ahead of the Lunar New Year, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Hong Kong, China, Sunday. (Reuters)

Published on Jan 22, 2023 01:40 PM IST

ByYagya Sharma | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan

Covid outbreak has infected 80% of China's population: Report

China Covid: The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic, boosting infections in some areas.

China covid: China says COVID outbreak has infected 80% of population.(Bloomberg)

Published on Jan 21, 2023 03:34 PM IST

Reuters |

China denies Covid-19 vaccines to defectors from North Korea: Report

North Korean defectors in China have not received even a single dose of vaccination since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, NK news reported, and are thus being left unprotected.

China, which is a close ally of North Korea, doesn't consider its defectors as refugees but sees them as illegal economic migrants. (AP Photo/Mark J Terrill. File)

Published on Jan 21, 2023 01:52 PM IST

ANI |

‘Will Twitter have guts?’: Jairam amps up attack on minister over Pfizer vaccine

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar shared a video on Twitter on Friday about Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla's encounter with a journalist at Davos 2023, and blamed Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Rahul Gandhi and P Chidambaram for pushing the case of foreign Covid-19 vaccines in India.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh (PTI) and Union minister for state for information and technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Updated on Jan 21, 2023 01:24 PM IST

BySharangee Dutta, New Delhi

Germany saw 180,000 excess deaths during three years of Covid-19: Report

While the reasons for the surprising acceleration in 2022 are unclear, summer heat waves and outbreaks of flu at the end of the year probably played a role, said Joachim Ragnitz, the managing director of Ifo’s Dresden branch.

While Germany began easing Covid restrictions in early 2022, the country this month joined other European Union members in imposing new testing requirements on passengers traveling from China in response to a surge in cases there.

Published on Jan 20, 2023 02:23 PM IST

Bloomberg |

China masses take Covid fight into own hands as Xi sits back

For 1.4 billion Chinese citizens that had the government dictate their movements since the pandemic began, the past six weeks have forced them to suddenly figure out how to survive on their own.

File photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Updated on Jan 19, 2023 09:16 PM IST

Bloomberg |

‘Erroneous’: Centre dismisses Covid vaccine's ‘multiple side effects’ report

The ministry was referring to a report citing an RTI response that acknowledged “a plethora of ramifications arising out of all the Covid vaccines”.

Terming the report “erroneous” , the ministry said that ICMR has only provided a list of benefits and drawbacks of the Covid-19 vaccine.(File)

Published on Jan 18, 2023 11:48 AM IST

BySnehashish Roy, New Delhi

China's population dips 1st time since 1960s, India likely to overtake soon

The latest official data showed that China's population stood at around 1,411,750,000 (1.4 billion) at the end of 2022, which is a drop of 850,000 from the end of the previous year.

In 2022, China's birth rate was 6.77 births per 1,000 people, down from a rate of 7.52 births in the previous year and as a result, marked the lowest birth rate on record, the NBS said. (REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)

Updated on Jan 17, 2023 10:47 AM IST

BySharangee Dutta, New Delhi

‘3 of 1 family died in 5 days’: Activist as China sees jump in Covid deaths

On Saturday, China had said nearly 60,000 people with Covid-19 had died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-Covid policy last month, a big jump from the figures it reported prior to facing international criticism over its data.

A medical worker checks the IV drip treatment of a patient lying on a bed in the emergency department of a hospital amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Shanghai.(REUTERS)

Published on Jan 17, 2023 10:26 AM IST

ByAniruddha Dhar, New Delhi

China economy grows 3% in 2022, one of weakest in 40 years: Official data

Beijing had set itself a target of 5.5 per cent, a rate already much lower than the performance of 2021, when the country's GDP increased more than eight percent.

In the fourth quarter, China's economy grew 2.9 per cent year-on-year, compared with 3.9 per cent in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. (Photo by WANG Zhao/AFP)

Published on Jan 17, 2023 08:52 AM IST

AFP |

China reports 60,000 Covid related deaths for recent outbreak; experts refute

Using a report from the National School of Development at Peking University that found 64% of the population was infected by mid-January, he estimated 900,000 people would have died in the previous five weeks based on a conservative 0.1% case fatality rate.

Health workers guide travellers arriving from China in front of a Covid-19 testing centre at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul on January 3.(AFP)

Published on Jan 16, 2023 01:13 PM IST

Bloomberg | | Posted by Yagya Sharma

WHO welcomes China's latest Covid data, seeks cooperation to find out its origin

The phone call came on the same day as China announced that nearly 60,000 Covid-19 deaths were reported since the country lifted its strict "Zero Covid Policy" on December 7, last year, state media outlet Global Times reported.

Covid In China: People queueing to buy medicine amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Beijing,(AFP)

Updated on Jan 15, 2023 06:27 AM IST

ANI |

Daily brief: About 900 million infected with Covid in China, says study

Here are today’s top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Last month, China abruptly abandoned its strict ‘zero-Covid’ policy after massive nationwide protests.(AP)

Published on Jan 13, 2023 08:56 PM IST

ByHT News Desk

Is it flu or Covid-19? Experts on how to differentiate between the symptoms

Flu and Covid-19, both being respiratory illnesses, have a lot in common in terms of symptoms and way of transmission. Here's how you can know the difference between their symptoms.

health

Published on Jan 13, 2023 03:22 PM IST

ByParmita Uniyal, New Delhi

IMF chief's advice to China on reopening economy amid Covid

China covid: IMF said that a world recession can be avoided, even as growth slows from an estimated 3.2% in 2022.

China covid: IMF chief urges China to continue reopening its economy amid covid outbreak. (Bloomberg)

Published on Jan 13, 2023 02:42 PM IST

Bloomberg |