Brasilia, Brazil, | Xinhua | Brazil recorded the first death from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 Thursday in the city of Aparecida de Goiania of Goias state. The municipality reported that the victim was a 68-year-old man with high blood pressure suffering from “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” who was admitted …
Read More »U.S. equities poised for elevated volatility in 2022 amid multiple challenges
New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Wall Street had a rosy year in 2021 with all the three major indexes scoring double-digit returns, but many analysts have warned of a bumpy path for equities in the year ahead amid multiple challenges. The S&P 500 jumped 26.9 percent in 2021, marking the …
Read More »Sinopharm, Sinovac vaccines prevent severe hospitalization from Omicron: report
Cairo, Egypt | Xinhua | China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines protect against “severe hospitalization” caused by the Omicron variant, the United Arab Emirates-based news outlet The National reported Tuesday, quoting a World Health Organization (WHO) expert as saying. Abdi Mahamud, the WHO’s incident manager for the pandemic, said that “more …
Read More »U.S. orders more pills from Pfizer amid Omicron dominance in 3rd year of pandemic
New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Omicron was officially announced on Tuesday as the absolutely dominant variant of COVID-19 in the United States, as the country is entering the third year of the pandemic, with more curing pills ordered from Pfizer while the federal government’s policies criticized as murky. OMICRON DOMINANCE …
Read More »Omicron: 2,000-odd flights canceled on New Year’s Day in U.S
New York, US | Xinhua | Over 2,000 flights have been canceled on New Year’s Day as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continued to upend airline operations during the holiday travel season in the United States. According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, 2,311 flights entering, leaving or within the United …
Read More »WHO warns of “tsunami of cases” from Omicron, Delta
Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned on Wednesday that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to “a tsunami of cases,” putting immense pressure on national health systems. Recapping WHO’s response since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Director-General …
Read More »Cancelled flights put damper on US holiday travel
New York | Xinhua | The holiday season travel stress has only escalated amid the surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, with several airlines reporting staff shortages from the spread of the coronavirus, leaving passengers with delayed or cancelled flights. According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site, 880 flights within, …
Read More »Oil prices rise after Omicron sell-off
New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Oil prices rose on Tuesday, trying to recover from the prior session’s sell-off driven by Omicron fears. The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery added 2.51 U.S. dollars, or 3.7 percent, to settle at 71.12 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent …
Read More »WHO Europe urges caution over double coronavirus surge
Copenhagen, Denmark | Xinhua | The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on Thursday urged people to exercise caution this holiday season, as the region is now coping with two highly transmissible coronavirus strains that have the potential to overload the already overburdened health systems. “The European region …
Read More »Rapid increase in Omicron COVID cases “imminent”: ECDC
Stockholm, Sweden | Xinhua | A rapid increase in the number of Omicron COVID-19 variant cases is imminent, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned on Wednesday. The European Union’s (EU) health watchdog also urged countries to rapidly intensify their vaccination efforts, and reintroduce and strengthen other measures …
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