Asymptomatic transmission is possible, but the World Health Organization is still unsure as to what extent asymptomatic COVID-19 infections contribute to the spread of the virus, according to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday. “Since early February, we have said that there are asymptomatic people that can transmit COVID-19. But we need more […] Continue reading ->
In what he described as a great “public health victory,” the World Trade Organization has ruled that Australia’s plain packaging requirements for tobacco products did not infringe on international trade, said the World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday. The decision by the WTO on Tuesday comes just as it also opened […] Continue reading ->
Switzerland is now the world’s safest country since the pandemic started, followed by Germany and Israel, according to a Regional Safety Assessment of 200 territories and regions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Asia and Europe were the regions most successful in fighting the coronavirus although there were wide variations within Europe in terms of how countries […] Continue reading ->
A novel study published in preprint form by Harvard University suggests that cases of the novel SARS-COV-2 virus that has caused a global pandemic may have begun appearing in Wuhan hospitals as early as August 2019 – several months before China officially admitted that a new coronavirus was circulating. The study Tuesday found an unusual […] Continue reading ->
Stay-at-home orders and lockdown measures helped greatly limit the spread of coronavirus in 11 European countries from the start of the epidemic to May 4th, according to a new modeling paper published in Nature on Monday.  Some 3.1 million deaths were averted across the study countries thanks to “non-pharmaceutical measures” such as lockdowns and social […] Continue reading ->
In a series of flip-flops on Friday, the United Kingdom suspended the enrollment of new patients into the hydroxychloroquine arm of its massive RECOVERY trial, one of the largest randomised COVID-19 clinical trials in the world, after preliminary data showed “no benefit” for COVID-19 patients receiving the drug. The suspension of the trial came just […] Continue reading ->
A day ahead of a major pledging event, Gavi-the Vaccine Alliance has received some US $70 million in pledges from a broad range of corporations, foundations, initiatives and individual philanthropists to modernise, streamline and strengthen its delivery of vaccines to children in the world’s poorest countries over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, Médecins sans Frontières […] Continue reading ->