Tag: Epidemics
The Latest: US opens more distance in worldwide vaccine race
NEW YORK — In the coronavirus vaccine race, the U.S. is opening more distance between itself and much of the rest of the world....
France hits unwanted milestone: Over 100,000 virus deaths
PARIS (AP) — France on Thursday became the third country in Europe after the U.K. and Italy to reach the unwanted milestone of 100,000...
Barbers, artists help defy vaccine myths for people of color
SAN DIEGO (AP) — In a Washington, D.C., suburb, Black and Latino barbers are busting myths about the coronavirus vaccine while clipping hair.
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India’s biggest cities shut down as new virus cases hit 200K
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's two largest cities imposed stringent restrictions on movement and one planned to use hotels and banquet halls to treat...
WHO: Europe has surpassed 1 million COVID-19 deaths
GENEVA (AP) — A top official from the World Health Organization says Europe has surpassed 1 million deaths from COVID-19 and the situation remains...
Homeless Americans finally getting a chance at COVID-19 shot
Homeless Americans who have been left off priority lists for coronavirus vaccinations — or even bumped aside as states shifted eligibility to older age...
Study finds that blocking seats on planes reduces virus risk
A new study says leaving middle seats open could give airline passengers more protection from the virus that causes COVID-19.
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Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff dies in prison at 82
NEW YORK (AP) — Bernard Madoff, the infamous architect of an epic securities swindle that burned thousands of investors, outfoxed regulators and earned him...
More COVID state shutdowns unlikely, despite CDC suggestion
When one of the nation's top health officials this week suggested states dealing with a spring spike of coronavirus cases should “shut things down,”...
France fights kids’ mental health woes with free counseling
REIMS, France (AP) — France's president promised free psychological counseling Wednesday for children and teenagers struck by a wave of mental health difficulties that...
The Latest: California governor says all schools must reopen
SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging all schools in the state to reopen, saying there are no health barriers to getting...
Red states on U.S. electoral map lagging on vaccinations
SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) — With coronavirus shots now in the arms of nearly half of American adults, the parts of the U.S. that are...
Biden says pause on J&J shots shows gov’t putting safety 1st
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign hit a snag when federal regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson shots....
Biden says pause on J&J shots shows gov’t putting safety 1st
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign hit a snag Tuesday when federal regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson...
The Latest: Governor bans vaccine passports for Montana
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has issued an executive order banning the development or use of vaccine passports in Montana.
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Poll: 15% of Americans worse off a year into pandemic
While most Americans have weathered the pandemic financially, about 38 million say they are worse off now than before the outbreak began in the...
Muslims mark Ramadan amid virus surge and new restrictions
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslims in many parts of the world marked the start of Ramadan on Tuesday, but a spike in coronavirus...
France suspends all Brazil flights due to virus variants
PARIS (AP) — France suspended all flights from Brazil on Tuesday amid mounting fears over the particularly contagious coronavirus variant that has been sweeping...
UK hits vaccine target; Johnson warns of more virus deaths
LONDON (AP) — Britain began offering coronavirus vaccinations to anyone over 45 on Tuesday after hitting its target of giving at least one dose...
India reels amid virus surge, affecting world vaccine supply
NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian city of Pune is running out of ventilators as gasping coronavirus patients crowd its hospitals. Social media is...
The Latest: Australia has 2nd likely Astra-Zeneca clot case
CANBERRA, Australia — Australian authorities have identified a second case of a rare blot clot likely linked to the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
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Air Canada, Canadian government agree on pandemic bailout
TORONTO (AP) — Air Canada and the Canadian government agreed Monday on financing that will allow the airline to access as much as $5.9...
All schools in Ontario to shut and go to online learning
TORONTO (AP) — All schools in Canada’s most populous province will be shut down and move to online learning because of a record number...
DeSantis attacks YouTube for yanking his pandemic video
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attacked YouTube and its parent company Google on Monday, accusing the tech giant of censorship...
Muslims navigate restrictions in the second pandemic Ramadan
CAIRO (AP) — For Ramadan this year, Magdy Hafez has been longing to reclaim a cherished ritual: performing the nighttime group prayers called taraweeh...
Asia Today: India records another surge in COVID-19 cases
NEW DELHI (AP) — India reported another record daily surge in coronavirus infections Monday to pass Brazil as the country with the second-most reported...
Czechs start to ease lockdown, youngest kids back to schools
PRAGUE (AP) — As the coronavirus pandemic eases up in the Czech Republic, one of the European Union’s hardest-hit countries took its first steps...
Huge gatherings at India’s Hindu festival as virus surges
NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees gathered by the Ganges River for special prayers Monday, many of them flouting social...
Asian shares decline on vaccine, virus worries
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were lower on Monday, as investors grew wary over the recent surge in coronavirus cases in many places while...
Brazil’s virus outlook darkens amid vaccine supply snags
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — April is shaping up to be Brazil’s darkest month yet in the pandemic, with hospitals struggling with a crush...
German president: Buchenwald a reminder of Nazi ‘barbarism’
WEIMAR, Germany (AP) — Germany’s president on Sunday marked the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp by reminding his compatriots...
The Latest: Michigan pushing for more vaccines amid spike
DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vowed to keep pushing the White House for more COVID-19 vaccines as the state experiences a spike in...
Pubs, hairdressers set to reopen as UK eases virus lockdown
LONDON (AP) — Millions of people in Britain will get their first chance in months for haircuts, casual shopping and restaurant meals on Monday,...
The Latest: Lawmakers aim to limit state emergency powers
NEW YORK — State lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to limit the emergency powers of governors — not just in the current...
Iran enforces 10-day lockdown amid fourth wave of pandemic
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Saturday began a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, state TV reported, a worrisome trend...
Stalled at first jab: Vaccine shortages hit poor countries
LONDON (AP) — As many as 60 countries, including some of the world’s poorest, might be stalled at the first shots of their coronavirus...
The Latest: Navajo Nation issues weekend stay-at-home order
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. -- The Navajo Nation has issued a stay-at-home order for the weekend after reporting 26 more confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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Thailand faces growing outbreak ahead of New Year travel
BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities struggled to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak just days before the country's traditional Songkran New Year’s holiday, when millions...
The Latest: US 7th Fleet: 14,000 personnel fully vaccinated
PHILIPPINE SEA — The U.S. 7th Fleet that operates throughout the Indo-Pacific says more than 14,000 of its service members have received their full...
Countries worldwide hit new records for virus cases, deaths
Ambulances filled with breathless patients lined up in Brazil as nations around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus...
Virus-battered Canucks aim to complete condensed season
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks are recovering from the NHL’s worst COVID-19 outbreak and believe they can complete the pandemic-condensed season....
No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up. Pakistan is restricting domestic travel. The U.S. government will send more help...
Italy prosecutors: WHO exec lied about spiked virus report
ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors say a top World Health Organization official lied to them about a spiked WHO report into Italy’s coronavirus response,...
Biden orders gun control actions — but they show his limits
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden put on a modest White House ceremony Thursday to announce a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he...
Senegal, Spain leaders seek to encourage legal migration
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal and Spain signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to discourage illegal migration that has been increasing amid the...
Kim compares North Korea’s economic woes to 1990s famine
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for waging another “arduous march” to fight severe economic difficulties, for...
Iraq blames public for new virus record, urges vaccinations
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Health Ministry has warned of “dire consequences” ahead because citizens are not heeding coronavirus prevention measures, after the country reached...
US suicides dropped last year, defying pandemic expectations
NEW YORK (AP) — The number of U.S. suicides fell nearly 6% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic — the largest annual decline in...
Doctors in Hungary question reopening amid spike in deaths
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Doctors in Hungary are questioning the government's decision to lift some lockdown restrictions amid peaking COVID-19 infections and deaths, saying...
A year after pandemic hit, Haiti awaits vaccines amid apathy
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti does not have a single vaccine to offer its more than 11 million people over a year after the...
Pandemic-weary chefs, cooks enjoy serving from home
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — When COVID-19 shutdowns hit in March 2020, Mike Winneker, a hotel executive sous chef, found himself without work for the...
UK infections drop about 60% amid vaccinations, lockdown
LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s COVID-19 vaccination program is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death, according to the...
Asia Today: Modi gets 2nd vaccine dose as India hits record
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s prime minister received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country hit another peak Thursday with 126,789...
Iran sets coronavirus infection record for 3rd straight day
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran hit a new coronavirus infection record on Thursday for the third straight day, reporting 22,586 new cases as the...
Struggling Bosnia sees infection surge in migrants, refugees
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia is seeing a rise in coronavirus infections among migrants and refugees living in its camps, as it struggles to...
Afghans work to stem polio rise amid violence, pandemic
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling...
The Latest: 11 new COVID-19 cases in China’s lone outbreak
BEIJING — Chinese officials say 11 more people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in a southwestern city bordering Myanmar that is the scene of...
COVID testing blitz undermined screening, fight against STDs
WASHINGTON (AP) — After an unprecedented push to test and track COVID-19, public health workers are grappling with a worrisome side effect: a collapse...
Asia Today: India sees another record rise in virus cases
NEW DELHI (AP) — India reported a record daily surge in new coronavirus cases for the second time in four days on Wednesday, while...
As states expand vaccines, prisoners still lack access
This week, Florida expanded eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines to all residents 16 and older. But across the state, more than 70,000 people still don’t...
3rd health minister fired in virus-battered Czech Republic
PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Prime Minster Andrej Babis fired his health minister on Wednesday, the third to have been ousted during the pandemic in...
Merkel backs ‘short, uniform lockdown’ across Germany
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday threw her weight behind a “short, uniform lockdown” as the country grapples with a high...
Iran sets new record for virus infections amid holiday surge
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran shattered its daily record for new infections for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as cases soared to 20,954,...
EU life expectancy drops across bloc amid virus pandemic
BRUSSELS (AP) — Life expectancy across much of the European Union has dropped last year, as the 27-nation bloc struggled with the impact of...
California to move to statewide reopening plan in June
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has led the nation’s most populous state through the pandemic using complicated metrics, county-by-county rules and...
The Latest: N Korea says it still has no coronavirus cases
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea continues to claim a perfect record in keeping out the coronavirus in its latest report to the World...
Tanzania’s new president changes policy on COVID-19, media
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania's new president appears to be taking a new, scientific approach to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
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California plans for broad pandemic reopening in mid-June
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signaled an end to more than a year of closures in California, announcing that the...
Viral thoughts: Why COVID-19 conspiracy theories persist
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Daniel Roberts hadn’t had a vaccination since he was 6. No boosters, no tetanus shots. His parents taught him inoculations...
The Latest: Montana governor tests positive for COVID-19
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after receiving his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine....
Rangers fill stands with fans, who accept ‘calculated risk’
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Susanna Frare said her family decided to take a “calculated risk” attending the home opener of the Texas Rangers, the...
Norwegian Cruises asks CDC to allow trips from US in July
The Norwegian Cruise Line is seeking permission to resume trips from U.S. ports on July 4, requiring passengers and crew members to be vaccinated...
European countries scramble to tamp down latest virus surge
BOCHNIA, Poland (AP) — European countries scrambled Monday to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and ramp up vaccinations, hoping to spare hospitals...
UK to ease lockdown next week, will test vaccine passports
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s slow but steady march out of a three-month lockdown remains on track even as coronavirus cases surge elsewhere in Europe,...
Asia Today: Philippines extends lockdown as infections spike
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government extended a lockdown by another week Monday after an alarming spike in coronavirus infections continued to surge...
The Latest: Lockdown extended for metro Manila, surroundings
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government extended a lockdown by another week Monday after an alarming spike in coronavirus infections continued to surge and...
Hymns through masks: Christians mark another pandemic Easter
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Christianity’s most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with the faithful spaced apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah”...
Europe ramps up vaccinations as virus haunts Easter holidays
PARIS (AP) — The French city of Lyon's main stadium opened as a mass vaccination center during Easter weekend, and thousands spent the holiday...
The Latest: Navajo Nation reports 4 new virus deaths
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation on Saturday reported 18 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and four more deaths.
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Historic Houston movie theater closes due to pandemic
HOUSTON (AP) — A historic Houston theater that director Richard Linklater called his “film school” and that for decades was the place to catch...
Germany faces ‘crisis of trust’ in pandemic, president says
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's president says the country is enduring a “crisis of trust” and urged people to “pull together” as they weather...
The Latest: SKorea’s daily virus increase tops 500 again
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea’s daily increase in coronavirus infections exceeded 500 for the fourth straight day, a pace unseen since January, as...
Audit: Contact tracing in California failed to meet goals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Despite promises from Gov. Gavin Newsom to build an “army" of contact tracers to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a new...
Italy may be in Easter lockdown, but the party’s on at sea
ABOARD THE MSC GRANDIOSA (AP) — Italy may be in a strict coronavirus lockdown this Easter with travel restricted between regions and new quarantines...
Russian entrepreneurs adapt to virus lockdown challenges
MOSCOW (AP) — Valentina Konstantinova remembers well when Russia locked down for the coronavirus a year ago. Her 18-room boutique hotel, called Skazka, or...
The Latest: FDA authorizes 2 changes to Moderna’s vaccine
WASHINGTON— The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial.
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Ontario imposes provincewide restrictions amid third wave
TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada’s most populous province announced Thursday what he calls a province wide shutdown for four weeks because of...
WHO: Europe’s vaccination program is ‘unacceptably slow’
LONDON (AP) — European nations' immunization campaigns against COVID-19 are “unacceptably slow” and risk prolonging the pandemic, a senior World Health Organization official said...
Hospital workers despair as France’s virus strategy flails
AMIENS, France (AP) — As France battles a new virus surge that many believe was avoidable, intensive care aide Stephanie Sannier manages her stress...
Merkel: ‘A quiet Easter’ needed to counter rising infections
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked citizens Thursday to consider the strain that nurses and doctors are under as they care for...
Oklahoma town eases pandemic, one restaurant meal at a time
NEW YORK (AP) — In Miami, Oklahoma, restaurants and their customers are doing their part to ease pandemic heartache, one meal at a time.
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Madrid slows down vaccine jabs over Easter despite govt plea
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Madrid region halted COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday at health centers for four days so medical staff can rest over the Easter...
Africa CDC says India vaccine woes could be ‘catastrophic’
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Africa is unlikely to meet its targets for vaccinating the continent against COVID-19 if supply delays from a key Indian...
India fights virus surge, steps up jabs amid export row
NEW DELHI (AP) — There isn’t any room at Sion Hospital in India’s megacity, Mumbai - approximately all 500 beds reserved for COVID-19 patients...
Can I still spread the coronavirus after I’m vaccinated?
NEW YORK (AP) — Can I still spread the coronavirus after I’m vaccinated?
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The Latest: 6 more COVID cases found in local China outbreak
BEIJING — Health officials in China say six more people have become ill with COVID-19 in a southwestern Chinese city on the border with...
France to close schools, ban domestic travel as virus surges
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced a three-week nationwide school closure and a month-long domestic travel ban, as the rapid...
Sun’s out, surf’s up and California’s reopening more widely
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Cheering fans instead of cardboard cutouts at Dodger Stadium. Screaming thrill-seekers riding the Giant Dipper roller coaster at the...
Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down governor’s mask mandate
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate on Wednesday, stripping the governor of one...
COVID-19 pushed total US deaths beyond 3.3 million last year
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths last year beyond 3.3 million, the nation’s highest annual death toll, the government reported Wednesday.
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