Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Türkiye relaxes mask mandate amid drop in cases

Türkiye has relaxed its mask mandate, allowing people to ditch them in open-air spaces and in places with sufficient ventilation and where social distancing can be maintained.

In a news conference following a meeting of the country’s Covid-19 advisory council, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said people would be required to continue wearing masks in planes, buses, theatres, cinemas, hospitals and classrooms.

In another change, the use of HES codes – Türkiye’s coronavirus contact tracing system – has been lifted, and the public will no longer have to show their code at the entrance to any building or event, said Koca.

Medical oxygen supplies running out in Ukraine

Ukraine health minister has said that there are Covid patients in hospitals who need oxygen treatment.

Medical oxygen supplies are "dangerously low" in Ukraine owing to the Russian invasion, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said last week.

Spain's Covid death toll tops 100,000

More than 100,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Spain, as the country emerged from a sixth wave of the pandemic. 

Spain passed the grim milestone some two years after the pandemic took hold, with official figures showing 154 people had died since Tuesday, raising the overall death toll to 100,037.

Italy sees another 214 fatalities

Italy has reported 36,429 further cases, against 46,631 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 214 from 233.

Italy has registered 155,214 deaths linked to Covid-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 12.9 million cases to date.

Greece lifts condition to wear masks outdoors

Greece will lift its requirement of mask-wearing outdoors from Saturday, as Covid-19 infections are trending lower.

"But it is highly recommended to wear masks outdoors when there is a lot of crowding," he said.

The move comes after the lifting of curbs that barred standing customers at bars and night entertainment establishments earlier this month and the resumption of school excursions.

Health authorities reported 15,557 cases and 57 related deaths, bringing the country's total number of infections since the first case was detected two years ago to 2.454 million and deaths to 25,972. 

Biden administration prepares Covid roadmap for outbreaks

Top US health officials have laid out a national blueprint to manage Covid-19 going forward, vowing to prepare for any new variant outbreaks without shutting down schools and businesses and calling for additional funding from Congress.

"This plan lays out the roadmap to help us fight Covid-19 in the future as we move America from crisis to a time when Covid-19 does not disrupt our daily lives and is something we prevent, protect against, and treat," the White House said, one day after President Joe Biden acknowledged the nation's fight against the coronavirus had entered a new phase.

The US military also said it is no longer requiring masks indoors at the Pentagon after new Covid-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The White House told federal agencies late on Monday they can drop rules requiring employees and visitors to wear masks in federal buildings in much of the country.

South Korea's daily cases surpass 200,000 for first time

South Korea’s daily Covid-19 cases surpassed 200,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, health authorities have said.

Infections have spiked since last December when the first case of the highly contagious Omicron variant was reported in the East Asian country.

In the past 24 hours, South Korea confirmed 219,241 new cases, bringing the total caseload to over 3.49 million, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

With 96 more related fatalities, the death toll has reached 8,266.

Hong Kong to report more than 50,000 new cases

Hong Kong health authorities are expected to report more than 50,000 new Covid-19 cases, setting a record for daily infections in the global financial hub, broadcaster TVB reported, without identifying the source of the information. 

Philippines celebrates Ash Wednesday as Covid rules lift

Thousands of Filipinos flocked to churches to observe Ash, with Catholic priests and nuns daubing their foreheads with a cross for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most Covid-19 restrictions were scrapped this week after a sharp drop in infections and increased vaccinations, allowing churches to pack their pews and physical contact to resume.

Devotees wearing masks began lining up outside Baclaran Church in Manila before dawn to receive the ash cross on their foreheads – a ritual that signals the beginning of Lent.

Churches have in the past two years sprinkled it in people's hair due to anti-Covid measures.

US warns against Hong Kong travel over Covid rules

The United States has warned citizens against travelling to Hong Kong, citing the risk of children being separated from parents as China's self-governing city imposes controversial Covid isolation policies.

The State Department upgraded Hong Kong to its highest "Do Not Travel" warning "due to Covid-19 related restrictions, including the risk of parents and children being separated".

"In some cases, children in Hong Kong who test positive have been separated from their parents and kept in isolation until they meet local hospital discharge requirements," the State Department added.

The Asian financial hub is in the grip of its worst coronavirus outbreak, registering tens of thousands of new cases each day, overwhelming hospitals and shattering the city's zero-Covid strategy.

Study: Nerve damage may explain some cases of long Covid

A small study of patients suffering from persistent symptoms long after a bout of Covid-19 found that nearly 60 percent had nerve damage possibly caused by a defective immune response, a finding that could point to new treatments, US researchers reported.

The study involved in-depth exams of 17 people with so-called long Covid, a condition that arises within three months of a Covid-19 infection and lasts at least two months.

As many as 30 percent of people who have Covid-19 are believed to develop long Covid, a condition with symptoms ranging from fatigue, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, cognitive difficulties, chronic pain, sensory abnormalities and muscle weakness.

After ruling out other possible explanations for the patients' complaints, the researchers ran a series of tests to identify whether the nerves were involved.

The findings are consistent with a July study by Dr. Rayaz Malik of Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar that found an association between nerve fiber damage in the cornea and a diagnosis of long Covid.

In the current study, 11 of the 17 patients were treated with either steroids or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), a standard treatment for patients with small nerve fiber damage caused by an immune response. Some improved though none were cured.

Mexico registers nearly 400 fatalities

Mexico has reported 382 more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total death toll since the pandemic began to 318,531, according to Health Ministry data.

The country also reported 13,115 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 5,521,744.

Brazil reports more cases and fatalities

Brazil has had 23,545 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 297 deaths from Covid-19, the Health Ministry said.

The South American country has now registered 28,811,165 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 649,630, according to ministry data.

Australia PM tests positive

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tested positive for Covid-19 but he said he will carry on working from isolation at home as Australia's east coast battles huge floods.

The prime minister said he was suffering from "flu-like" symptoms after a PCR test came back positive.

Morrison said he had tested himself for Covid-19 on the mornings of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, all with negative results. 

But he developed a fever late on Tuesday and tested himself again, with "inconclusive" results. 

A more precise PCR test then showed he was infected with Covid-19.