Health

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered four staff defections on Thursday as pressure intensified on the embattled leader over lockdown parties and his loose-lipped style of politics. One of the departures was linked to an inflammatory remark made by Johnson, attacking opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer over a notorious paedophile. “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it and I’m …

ISLAMABAD: As many as 42 people succumbed to the Covid-19 disease over the last 24 hours — the country’s highest daily death toll since Oct 6, when 46 people died in a single day. Besides, as the country con­tinues to grapple with the fifth wave of Covid-19, driven by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, 98,333 patients are in quarantine — …

Major airlines, business and travel groups urged the White House on Wednesday to end Covid-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers travelling to the United States. Airlines for America, the US Chamber of Commerce, International Air Transport Association, Aerospace Industries Association, the US Travel Association and other groups called for a change in a letter to White House coronavirus …

ISLAMABAD: As many as 13 more educational institutions were locked down in Islamabad and Rawalpindi districts on Wednesday after several students and staff members tested positive for Covid-19. The positivity ratio in both the districts, however, saw a downward trend. On the other hand, two persons breathed their last in the capital. The deceased were a male in his 20s …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s daily Covid count stayed below 7,000 on Wednesday, but as many as 14 cities reported a positivity rate of over 11 per cent. Of the total eligible population (age 12 and above), 54pc have been fully vaccinated, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Of the country’s entire population, the percentage stands at 36pc. Data …

BEIJING: Athletes and team officials are testing positive for Covid-19 at much higher rates than other people arriving in China for the Beijing Olympics, organisers said on Tuesday. Figures released by local organisers showed 11 positive tests for Covid-19 among 379 athletes and officials arriving on Monday. They have been taken into isolation hotels to limit the spread of the …

ISLAMABAD: With the number of active cases across the country surpassing the 100,000 mark, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to 15 pharmaceutical companies for failing to manufacture the most commonly prescribed medicine for Covid patients, Paracetamol, which has disappeared from many pharmacies and is reportedly being sold in the black market. In a …

PPP leader and former senator Rehman Malik has been put on a ventilator after his health deteriorated due to Covid-related complications, his spokesperson Riaz Ahmad Turi confirmed on Wednesday. The senior PPP leader had tested positive for coronavirus around two weeks ago. According to Turi, the former senator was initially shifted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital …

BEIJING: During the past four days China has detected 119 COVID-19 cases among athletes and personnel involved in the Beijing Winter Olympics, with authorities imposing a “closed loop” bubble to keep participants, staff and media separated from the public. The tally from the weekend showed 37 new cases on Sunday, and 34 on Saturday, with most testing positive after arrival …

OTTAWA: Police and officials in the Canadian capital Ottawa say some of the trucks blocking the city centre as part of an anti-vaccine demonstration should start leaving this week, even as some protesters insist they will stay. Dozens of trucks and other vehicles have been jamming up central Ottawa since Friday and thousands descended upon Parliament Hill to complain about …