Health

More than half a million Tunisians received vaccinations on Sunday as part of a national campaign to control the outbreak of COVID-19 after the country received more than 6 million vaccine doses from Western and Arab countries. The slow pace of vaccinations and the handling of the pandemic caused a wave of protests against the government of Prime Minister Hichem …

Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari on Monday criticised the United Kingdom for its “feeble excuse” for retaining Pakistan on its travel ‘red list’, adding that the British government had never asked for the country’s Covid-19 data. The United Kingdom operates a “traffic light” system for international travel, with low-risk countries rated green for quarantine-free travel, medium risk countries rated …

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Sunday lifted the week-long lockdown, relaxing the coronavirus restrictions from Monday (today) till Aug 31 in the province. As per the new set of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), all business activities would continue till 8pm. However, the restriction will not apply to pharmacies, petrol pumps, grocery shops and fish, meat, chicken, vegetable and fruit …

Japan will douse its more than year-old Olympic flame on Sunday, closing out a Tokyo Games that were upended by the pandemic and transformed by the drama of politics, dazzling sport and deeply personal turmoil. For the host nation, the Olympics fell short of the global triumph and financial blockbuster it once sought. Still, organisers appear to have prevented the …

Saudi Arabia will gradually begin receiving Umrah pilgrimage requests from abroad for vaccinated pilgrims starting August 9 after about a year and a half of not receiving overseas worshippers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state news agency, SPA, reported early on Sunday. With a capacity that would rise to 2 million pilgrims from 60,000 pilgrims per month, Mecca and Medina …

RAWALPINDI: As many as 524 people tested positive for Covid-19, the highest since April 23, as the virus claimed three lives in Rawalpindi district and two in Islamabad on Saturday. As the positivity rate in Rawalpindi surged to 13pc, Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) established two new intensive care units (ICUs) at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and Benazir Bhutto Hospital …

Flu vaccination may lower the risk for severe illness from the coronavirus, including life-threatening sepsis infections and strokes, according to a report in PLoS One on Tuesday. The researchers studied nearly 75,000 COVID-19 patients, half of whom had received the most recently available flu shot. They also found fewer patients who had flu shots had to be admitted to intensive …

The US State Department has revised its travel advisory for Pakistan, upgrading it from “no travel” to “avoid unnecessary travels”. The revision — from level four to level three — although not a major change, is still a notable improvement. “Pakistan’s security environment has improved since 2014 when Pakistani security forces undertook concerted counter terrorist and counter militant operations,” the latest travel …

PESHAWAR: Health minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra has claimed polio is near eradication in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as no case of the acute viral disease has been reported in any of its districts during the current year. Earlier, rumpus rocked the proceedings when Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan, who was presiding over the sitting, called the sergeant-at-arm to expel minority MPA Ranjeet …

MANILA: Chaos overtook several Covid-19 vaccination sites in Manila on Thursday as thousands showed up hoping to receive a shot before the Philippines capital heads back into lockdown for two weeks. Movement restrictions will be reimposed across greater Manila, an urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to 13 million people, from midnight on Thursday to try slow the …