Sydney COVID-19 cases may hit peak next week as Australia steps up vaccine rollout Authorities in Australia’s New South Wales, the epicentre of the country’s biggest coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday (Sep 6) daily infections were expected to peak next week, as they look to speed up immunisations ahead of easing restrictions. Read More
New Zealand COVID-19 cases steady ahead of decision on easing curbs New Zealand reported 20 new cases of COVID-19 for a third day in a row on Monday (Sep 6), ahead of a decision on whether coronavirus restrictions would be eased in most of the country. Read More
Human toll was tremendous’: Hurricane Ida’s death count rises in the US while 600,000 still lack power Hurricane Ida’s death toll continued to rise on Sunday (Sep 5), with many in the US Northeast holding out hope for people missing in the floodwaters, while nearly 600,000 customers in Louisiana still lacked power a week after the storm made landfall. Read More
Australia takes delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Britain Nearly half a million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Australia overnight, officials said on Monday (Sep 6), the first batch of a swap deal with Britain that Australia is using to speed up its inoculation programme. Read More
Pfizer on track for US COVID-19 vaccine boosters, Moderna lagging, Fauci says Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday (Sep 5) that officials were likely to soon get the regulatory go-ahead to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots made by Pfizer, although Moderna booster could take a little longer. Read More
Delta Surge Means This Is As Good As Global Growth Gets The pandemic’s summer resurgence is slowing the global economic recovery as the delta variant dogs efforts to rev up factories, offices and schools. Instead of entering the final months of 2021 confident that the acute phase of the pandemic is over, it’s becoming clear that booster shots may be needed for fading vaccine. Read More
Taiwan Scrambles Jets Against Renewed Chinese Military Activity Taiwan’s air force scrambled on Sunday against renewed Chinese military activity, with its defence ministry reporting that 19 aircraft including nuclear-capable bombers had flown into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. Read More
Japan’s Covid Vaccine Minister Favoured For PM; Woman Wins Backing: Report Tokyo: Japan’s minister in charge of COVID-19 vaccinations is seen as the most suitable candidate to become the next prime minister, while a female former internal affairs minister has secured backing for her bid for the top job, media reported on Sunday. Read More
US officials optimistic Covid booster rollout will start on 20 September US officials have expressed optimism that Covid-19 booster shot delivery can start for all adults on 20 September, the goal set by President Joe Biden, as cases continue to rage across the country fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant. Read More
Saudi Arabia slashes crude prices to Asia Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, slashed prices of all crude grades to Asian customers in October versus September, but left prices to north-western Europe and the United States steady. Read More