Covid 19
California hits grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths
The Golden State, home to around 40 million residents, has registered a total of 100,187 Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, Xinhua news agency reported citing the data from the Department of Public Health. "This milestone is a tragic reminder of the very real toll the pandemic has taken on Californians," the Department said in a statement on Thursday.
Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 prevalence jumps to over 80% in US
XBB.1.5 is estimated to account for 80.2 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the week ending February 18, up from 73 per cent in the week prior, Xinhua news agency quoted the CDC as saying in its latest update. BQ.1.1 remains the second most prevalent strain at 12.1 per cent. The CDC first started tracking XBB.1.5 in November last year, when it accounted for less than 1 per cent of cases nationwide.
Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 prevalence jumps to 75% in US
XBB.1.5 is estimated to account for 74.7 per cent of US' Covid-19 cases, up from 65.9 per cent the week prior. BQ.1.1 remains the second most prevalent strain at 15.3 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported. The CDC started tracking XBB.1.5 separately from its parent strain XBB from the week of November 12 last year, when it accounted for only 0.1 per cent of cases nationwide.
Covid-19 still international health emergency: WHO
The announcement came amid the recent increase of weekly reported deaths worldwide. After its quarterly assessment meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic on Friday, the WHO's International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee announced on Monday that Covid-19 continues to constitute a PHEIC, which has been concurred by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Omicron new subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for over 60% of new Covid infections in US
XBB.1.5 is spreading quickly in the US. It made up 37.5 per cent of the total cases in the week ending January 14, and rose to 49.5 per cent in the week ending January 21, according to the CDC. XBB.1.5 is currently the most transmissible variant in the country. The subvariant may spur more Covid-19 cases based on genetic characteristics and early growth rate estimates, according to the WHO.
China claims Covid wave has past its peaked
According to China's Center for Disease Control (CDC), the number of critically ill patients in hospital peaked in the first week of January, then rapidly declined by more than 70 per cent, says the Guardian report. The number of deaths also reached its highest level that week, the CDC data revealed.
New Omicron subvariant accounts for half new Covid infections in US
The subvariant XBB.1.5 is spreading quickly in the US. It made up 35.5 per cent of the total cases in the week ending January 7, rising to 37.2 per cent in the week ending January 14, according to the CDC on Friday. XBB.1.5 is currently the most transmissible variant in the country. The subvariant may spur more Covid-19 cases based on genetic characteristics and early growth rate estimates.
US reports 26,000 weekly child Covid-19 cases
This is a decrease from the previous week, but likely an undercount that increased during the holidays and in 2023, according to the report. Nearly 15.3 million children in the country have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic. More than 140,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.
China's Covid death data underestimate true toll: Report
While the number swamps the few dozen deaths previously recorded in the official tally - which drew widespread criticism both at home and abroad, including from the World Health Organization (WHO) - experts say it's still likely to be an underestimate given the enormous scale of the outbreak and the mortality rates seen at the height of omicron waves in other countries that initially pursued a Covid Zero strategy.
After three years of Covid restrictions, Hong Kong, China resume high speed railway services
At 7:03 a.m. local time, a high-speed train left the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station for Shenzhen, the first of such trains since the pandemic disrupted the cross-border bullet train services, Xinhua News Agency reported. Liao Jun, a student from Jiangxi Province who studies in Hong Kong, was excited to catch the first train back to the mainland.
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