A tuberculosis vaccine routinely given to children in countries with high rates of that bacterial disease might be helping to reduce deaths from COVID-19, researchers reported on Thursday in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. After accounting for differences in factors that might affect vulnerability to the virus – such as income, education, health services and …

The World Health Organization has urged countries grappling with coronavirus to step up control measures, saying it is still possible to rein it in, as some nations clamp fresh restrictions on citizens. With case numbers worldwide more than doubling in the past six weeks, Uzbekistan on Friday returned to lockdown and Hong Kong said schools would close from Monday after …

GENEVA: Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, said on Friday that airborne transmission of the new coronavirus had always been a concern but that droplets appeared to be the most common infection route. “Aerosol transmission is one of the modes of transmission that we have been concerned about since the beginning, particularly in healthcare …

In the span of a few hours on Friday, Amazon banned and then unbanned the TikTok video-sharing app from employee mobile devices, calling the move a mistake. It was not immediately clear what led to the initial ban by Amazon. One person familiar with the matter said senior Amazon executives were unaware of the request to delete TikTok from employee …

CHICAGO: The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a clash among medical experts over disease transmission that stretches back nearly a century – to the very origins of germ theory. The Geneva-based World Health Organization acknowledged this week that the novel coronavirus can spread through tiny droplets floating in the air, a nod to more than 200 experts in aerosol science who …

LAHORE: Pakistan Olympic Ass­ociation (POA) president retired Lt Gen Syed Arif Hasan has advised all the stakeholders to move forward together to achieve laurels for the country instead of debating over issues which have already been settled now. Addressing a presser through a video-link on Friday, Gen Arif said only harmony and focussed efforts towards betterment of Pakistan sports is …

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will begin refunding tickets of those matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 that were either not played or played without fans behind closed doors. The PCB issued details of the two-tiered refund process on Saturday, saying that the first phase will begin from July 13. The cricket board said the refunds will be …

SOUTHAMPTON: Shane Dowrich hit five boundaries in an unbeaten 30 as the West Indies built a first-innings lead over England in the first Test at Southampton on Friday. The tourists were 235-5 at tea on the third day, 31 runs ahead of England, with the new ball available immediately after the interval at the Ageas Bowl. Roston Chase was 27 …

LAHORE: While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stuck to its stance against banned ex-Pakistan captain Saleem Malik, it has advised former Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to approach the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to get himself cleared from the spot-fixing charges. “The Pakistan Cricket Board was approached by Mr Danish Kaneria and Mr Saleem Malik on unrelated and …