A new study published by a consortium of UK-based airline industry interests suggested that administration to travelers of a rapid antigen test upon arrival at their destination, may be just as effective as quarantine requirements, to stop imports of COVID-19 cases. The study, which reviewed case studies of airport testing procedures elsewhere, claims that a […] Continue reading ->
Papua New Guinea (PNG), a country that has largely avoided the SARS-CoV2 virus, is now facing an outbreak that could cause the country’s health system to collapse, while Australia is being chided by a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) official for its opposition to a World Trade Organization (WTO) patent waiver that MSF says would have opened […] Continue reading ->
In just one year, COVID-19 has undone more than a decade’s progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), health experts said on Thursday. While COVID-19 fatality numbers are decreasing worldwide, TB-related deaths remain steady at 4000 cases a day – an occurrence experts partly attribute to limited access to TB treatment services during COVID lockdown […] Continue reading ->
The Brazilian government needs to enforce “serious social measures” to contain the virus before it overwhelms its health facilities, World Health Organization (WHO)  Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the body’s weekly COVID-19 briefing. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsanaro continues to downplay the pandemic despite the country reaching its highest death rate in the past week […] Continue reading ->
The Chinese-developed “CoronaVac” vaccine against COVID-19 vaccine triggers a sixfold reduction in neutralizing antibody response against the P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, according to a pre-print study published last week, while the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is likely effective against the variant of concern.  These findings come as hospitals in northern Brazil are increasingly overwhelmed and […] Continue reading ->
The WHO-convened international investigation into the origin of the SARS-CoV2 virus is too politically limited by China and lacks the mandate to yield fully independent conclusions about how the novel coronavirus emerged and infected humans, according to a group of prominent international scientists – who have called for a new, independent and “unrestricted” probe into […] Continue reading ->