Global Health

How Western Australia has managed to avoid large Covid-19 outbreaks

5:25pm January 06, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with reporter Jacob Kagi of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about how Western Australia has managed their COVID-19 numbers throughout the pandemic.

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COVID is spiking in India, further straining the country's health system

4:56pm January 06, 2022

by Lauren Frayer

India's COVID-19 caseload is quickly rising, as omicron threatens the country's already precarious health system.

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For many Afghans, winter is forcing a cruel choice of whether to eat or stay warm

4:05pm January 06, 2022

by Hannah Bloch

"It shouldn't be a lottery of life about who gets to eat, who doesn't get to eat. Do I keep my child warm or do I give my child food?" a World Food Programme Afghanistan spokesperson tells NPR.

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Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand against Marin Cilic of Croatia during the Davis Cup Semi Final match between Croatia and Serbia at Madrid Arena pavilion in December in Madrid, Spain.

Australia cancels Novak Djokovic's visa after his earlier COVID vaccine exemption

5:49pm January 05, 2022

by Bill Chappell

The Australian Border Force said the top-ranked tennis player "failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled."

Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi of Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a COVID-19 vaccine that could prove beneficial to countries with fewer resources.

A Texas team comes up with a COVID vaccine that could be a global game changer

3:52pm January 05, 2022

by Joe Palca

Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi used an oldie-but- goodie technology to devise a vaccine that's easy to make — and relatively cheap. India has already ordered 300 million doses.

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Passengers look out from the Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Thousands of passengers were being held on the ship for coronavirus testing after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to a recent omicron clust

Hong Kong bans flights from U.S. and 7 other countries as omicron surges

10:48am January 05, 2022

by The Associated Press

Hong Kong authorities announced a two-week ban on flights from eight countries and held 2,500 passengers on a cruise ship for coronavirus testing as the city attempted to stem an omicron outbreak.

Health & Safety

Around the world, what does it mean to be fully vaccinated?

7:37am January 05, 2022

The question of what fully vaccinated means might be changing as booster shots are becoming more important. More data, and new policies, are emerging in the U.S. and around the world.

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People wait in line for a COVID-19 test at a testing site in Los Angeles on Tuesday. California is starting to feel the full wrath of the omicron variant. Hospitalizations have jumped nearly 50% since Christmas and models show that in a month the state co

The CDC resists pushback and says a test to get out of COVID isolation is not needed

8:25pm January 04, 2022

Those who contracted COVID-19 can end their isolation after five days while continuing to wear a well-fitting mask for an additional five days, according to the agency.

Health & Safety

Vaccinators in Peru's Amazon face many challenges including religion and rivers

4:13pm January 04, 2022

by Jason Beaubien

In the Peruvian Amazon, geography, religious beliefs and logistics make getting COVID-19 vaccines extremely difficult. But health care workers have not given up.

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A woman walks by a closed store in a shopping mall in Montreal, Sunday as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada. Some new measures put in place by the Quebec government, including the closure of stores, go into effect today.

Quebec begins retail store closures amid new COVID-19 wave

1:14am January 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

Quebec proceeded with the first of three planned closures of non-essential retail stores Sunday as the government tries to curb a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.