Coronavirus

BRUSSELS - The European Commission launched on Thursday a health crisis body that will coordinate EU spending of almost 30 billion euros ($35.3 billion) to prepare for a future pandemic. The new health emergency preparedness and response authority (HERA) will assess potential health threats, promote...

LONDON - Britain reported 26,911 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 158 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, official data showed. The figures compared to 30,597 cases and 201 deaths recorded on Wednesday. However, the government said the latest figures did not include statistics from Scot...

By David Milliken LONDON - British businesses have reported a sharp rise in recruitment difficulties within the space of just a few weeks - partly as a result of a continued lack of European Union workers, official figures showed on Thursday. Some 41% of companies with 10 or more staff reported grea...

HONG KONG - A panel of health experts advising the Hong Kong government has recommended children aged 12-17 should get only one dose of BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine after reports of heart inflammation side effects. Professor Lau Yu-lung, who chairs a health committee advising the government on its va...

SYDNEY -Australia's Victoria state reported its biggest one-day rise in COVID-19 cases of the year on Thursday as a surge in vaccinations nationwide raised hope for easing restrictions with almost 70% of the adult population having had a first dose. Victoria, home to the city of Melbourne, detected ...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh on Wednesday criticized as "false" the claim by American rapper Nicki Minaj that a person on the Caribbean island suffered swollen testicles after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Trinidad-born Minaj sparked an internatio...

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden met on Wednesday with U.S. CEOs and other top business leaders as he pushes companies to require workers to be inoculated against COVID-19 amid a surge in infections among the unvaccinated. Participants in the meeting include...

-Eli Lilly and Company said on Wednesday the U.S. government bought 388,000 additional doses of its COVID-19 antibody therapy, as infections surge due to the fast-spreading Delta variant. The news comes after Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said late on Tuesday the U.S. government was buying 1.4 milli...

By Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira LISBON - Portugal has fully inoculated 80% of its population against the coronavirus, official data showed, becoming one of the world's most vaccinated nations as authorities gradually drop most COVID-19 restrictions. According to a tracker, Portugal and the Uni...

STRASBOURG - The European Union's chief executive Ursula von der Leyen pledged on Wednesday to accelerate the rate of vaccinations for COVID-19 around the world, offering another 200 million jabs for non-EU countries. "Our first and most urgent priority is to speed up global vaccination," she told t...

By Anna Ringstrom STOCKHOLM -Sales at fashion retailer H&M grew less than expected in the three months to the end of August, staying below pre-pandemic levels as restrictions kept shoppers away from stores. The Swedish group said on Wednesday sales grew 9% from a year earlier, or 14% in local cu...

BEIJING -China's COVID-19 outbreak in Fujian province, which has reported 152 local cases in five days, has prompted cities in other parts of the country to issue travel warnings ahead of major holidays, though state media warn against imposing blanket travel curbs. The travel warnings come ahead of...

By Renju Jose SYDNEY -A curfew imposed on more than two million people in the 12 Sydney suburbs hardest hit by the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant will end on Wednesday night, authorities said, stopping short of easing more lockdown restrictions. Officials said first-dose COVID-19 vaccinatio...

LONDON - Britain on Tuesday outlined how its plans to tackle COVID-19 during the colder months when it expects other respiratory diseases like flu to put extra pressure on the health service. Health minister Sajid Javid said there were five points to the plan, plus a "Plan B" which would be implemen...

LONDON (Bywire News) - On Tuesday, Health Secretary, Sajid Javid said that international travellers will no longer have to pay the costly price for PCR COVID-19 tests in order to enter the country. Instead, the government has decided to settle for cheaper later-flow tests. When questioned by a lawma...

By Alistair Smout LONDON -Britain will begin a broad-based COVID-19 vaccine booster programme for those older and more vulnerable adults soon as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government relies on vaccines rather than further lockdowns to navigate a "bumpy" winter. British officials said that COVID-...

LONDON - Britain is highly likely to require front-line health and social care workers in England to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Tuesday. Javid said the government had launched a consultation on protecting vulnerable patients by making COVID-19 and flu vaccin...

LONDON - British officials on Tuesday recommended that COVID-19 boosters be given to all vulnerable people and those aged over 50 six months after their second dose, paving the way for a broad revaccination programme this winter. Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said its pre...

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin will go into self-isolation after cases of the new coronavirus were detected in his entourage and will therefore not travel to Tajikistan this week for regional security meetings, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.   (Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Darya Korsunsk...

By David Milliken and Andy Bruce LONDON -British employers added a record 241,000 staff to their payrolls last month, lifting the total number of payrolled employees just above the level they were before Britain first went into a COVID-19 lockdown last year, official data showed on Tuesday. Tuesday'...