Over 65s urged to get second Covid booster

A Covid vaccine that can protect against multiple variants is being hailed as a "holy grail" jab.

Japan is encouraging regional authorities to take their own counter-measures against the spread of a new coronavirus variant that has sent cases surging to record levels but there is no plan for any sweeping national measures.

A systematic review and meta-analysis published yesterday in BMJ estimates that 5.6% of COVID-19 survivors may face long-lasting changes to their sense of smell or taste, adding to concerns about the overall burden of long COVID.National University of Singapore researchers led the analysis of 18 obse

COVID-19 deaths, cases and ICU admissions linked to the virus last week.The province’s latest epidemiology update, which covers July 17 to July 23, reports 242 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 infections and 45 new hospitalizations — eight of which required intensive care. Manitoba expands COVID vaccine eligibility to include kids four and under In the previous week 171 new cases were announced.

COVID-19 vaccines were less likely to be distributed to US healthcare facilities if they were in counties with a high proportion of Black residents, and racial differences in vaccine uptake may be mainly due to anti-vaccine beliefs among Black adults, according to two new studies highlighting racial disparities in vaccine availability and coverage early in the country's rollout.

PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 28: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a three run home run during the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on July 28, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) PITTSBURGH - Kyle Schwarber hit his National League-leading 32nd homer and Zack Wheeler pitched seven strong innings as the Philadelphia Phillies built a large lead and then held on for an 8-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.Schwarber’s three-run shot to right-center field off Zach Thompson in the sixth inning gave the Phillies a 7-0 lead.

Sprite is trading in its familiar green plastic bottle design for an even greener bottle — one that supports the circular economy, according to a statement from Coca-Cola.Starting on Aug. 1, all new bottles of Sprite will be found in clear plastic bottles, a major departure from the bubbly lemon-lime drink’s historic look.The popular drink was launched in the United States in 1961 and quickly became a household name with its signature green packaging.

COVID-19 deaths and 1,910 positive PCR tests in the seven-day period ending June 25.During that time, there were 60 new hospital admissions, compared to 44 admissions the previous week. Pfizer begins mid-stage trial for new vaccine targeting Omicron subvariant Also in comparison, the seven-day period ending July 18 saw 1,877 positive PCR tests and seven deaths.Since Dec.

San Francisco announced a state of emergency Thursday over the growing number of monkeypox cases, allowing officials to cut through red tape and fight a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that began devastating the city in the 1980s.“We are in desperate need of vaccines to support the people of San Francisco,” Mayor London Breed said. The city has been pleading with federal health officials for more help, she said, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

Today we are reporting 7,605 community cases, 799 current hospitalisations.

George R.R. Martin missed the premiere for Game Of Thrones spin-off House Of The Dragon after testing positive for COVID-19.The author confirmed he wouldn’t be attending the Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday (July 27) in a short video, after testing positive for the virus following his appearance at San Diego Comic-Con.“My symptoms are minor,” Martin said.

Covid-19 controls have become part of 'business as usual' for NHS Forth Valley as it moves to the latest phase of the pandemic.

USA Today reported.“I was going to start today by introducing George R.R. Martin and tell you how great it is to have George on the journey with us,” Bloys said to the audience at the premiere.

A slower-than-expected shift to e-commerce and decades-high inflation are among the headwinds slowing Shopify’s growth, but experts say these trends also have a significant bearing on the future of retail itself.

A Monaghan-based GP has said the proposed plan to end Covid-19 testing for the general population in the autumn should be discussed with GPs.

Psy’s ongoing ‘Summer Swag 2022’ series of concerts in South Korea could be under investigation from the authorities for transmission of COVID-19 among audience members.South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily reported on July 27 that South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters shared that it has received multiple reports from people who claim to have “contracted COVID-19 after attending a music concert that ‘sprays water'”.“We have launched an investigation to see what kind of actions are taking place during the event that could be risk factors in transmitting the virus,” an unnamed representative of the department told Korea JoongAng Daily. Psy’s ‘Summer Swag’ concert series is known for drenching the audience with water during the show, which the Korea Herald reported could use around 300 metric tonnes of drinking water in one event.This year’s series began with a three-day run in Seoul at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium earlier this month. Audiences at the Seoul kickoff received disposable raincoats and waterproof face masks, the Herald reported.Psy is currently touring South Korea for the ‘Summer Swag’ concert series, which will visit seven cities in total and conclude by August 20.

COVID-19 vaccine appointments for their babies and preschoolers starting later this morning.The province’s booking portal will open for pediatric vaccine appointments for children aged six months to under five years at 8 a.m.Families can also make appointments through health units using their own booking systems as well as some primary care providers and pharmacies. COVID vaccine appointments to open July 28 for Ontario children under 5 years old Clinics for the youngest age group are scheduled to ramp up across the province in the coming days and some are planning to host appointments today.Toronto Public Health says it expects to start administering shots to babies and toddlers today and some pharmacies are also in position to start vaccinating.

NEW DELHI: India reported 20,557 new covid infections and 44 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country’s active caseload currently stands at 1,46,323, bring the tally to more than 4.39 crore cases since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

India's active caseload currently stands at 1,46,323. India reported 20,557 fresh Covid-19 cases and 44 fatalities in the past 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry data. With these new infections, the country's active caseload currently stands at 1,46,323, taking the total number of cases to over 4.39 crore and death toll to 5,26,211 since the beginning of coronavirus pandemic.

Production on the third season of The Witcher has been 'paused due to COVID and we will be up and running as soon as it is safe to do so,' Netflix said Wednesday.The show paused production 'amid unconfirmed online rumors that star Henry Cavill tested positive for the virus,' according to The Hollywood Reporter.The Emmy-nominated series, which is made in the U.K., previously had to shut down production of the show's second season in 2020 due to COVID-19. The latest:Production on the third season of The Witcher, starringHenry Cavill, has been 'paused due to COVID and we will be up and running as soon as it is safe to do so,' Netflix said WednesdayNo premiere date has been announced for the third season of the show, which also features Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, Mimi Ndiweni and Eamon Farren.The show has been popular for Netflix since its debut in 2019, as its spawned spin-offs including the 2021 animated movie The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, as well as a prequel series in the works titled The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Today we are reporting 7,627 community cases, and 827 current hospitalisations. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 7,776

Bloomberg, this problem persists in around 5% Covid patients that is disrupting their everyday lives and providing another set of symptoms to chalk up to long Covid-19. The scientitsts reached this conclusion after reviewing a total of 18 studies involving over 3,600 Covid-19 patients. In a paper paper published Thursday in the UK medical journal BMJ, around 15 million patients may got affected worldwide, out of which, women were less likely to recover than men.

ALSO READ: Covid is nowhere near over, warns WHO chief amid spike in cases Apart from this, Tedros also laid great emphasis over treating vaccination as an elixir to save lives. "One of the most important is that the most effective way to save lives, protect health systems and reopen societies and economies is to vaccinate the right groups first," he said. Cautioning the countries, Tedros said that if significant numbers of health workers, older people and other at-risk groups remain unvaccinated deaths will continue and health systems will remain under pressure leading to the global recovery at risk.

The Department of Health has explained the rationale behind the proposed change to end Covid testing for the general population in the autumn.

COVID-19 wastewater tracker got an upgrade on Wednesday, in time for an escalating seventh pandemic wave.The university’s Centre for Health Informatics rolled out visualizations showing variants of concern (VOC) in the wastewater, as well as influenza virus RNA.Kevin Frankowski, executive director of Advancing Canadian Water Assets at the University of Calgary, said the new data is meant to complement COVID-related data from the province to enable Albertans to evaluate the risk of catching the coronavirus while out in the community. Alberta to offer 2nd COVID-19 booster to everyone 18+ “This is really about trends – this isn’t about any specific data point – and to see what direction things are going,” he said.

Some parts of Asia are now experiencing surges in BA.5 Omicron subvariant activity, as levels decline in earlier affected countries, keeping global cases steady at a high level, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest weekly update on the pandemic.

Two new studies describe long-COVID symptoms, with one finding that 53% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients still had cognitive impairment ("brain fog") 13 months after infection, and another adding conditions such as hair loss and sexual dysfunction to the list of persistent symptoms among outpatients.

Completion of a primary COVID-19 vaccination series after recovery from infection was tied to half the risk of reinfection in the pre-Omicron variant era, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.Brown University researchers led the retrospective study of statewide disease-surveillance data

Seth Meyers has canceled his Late Night program for the rest of the week after contracting COVID-19.The 48-year-old performer made the news known to the public with a post that was shared to his Twitter account on Wednesday, in which he apologized to those affected by the announcement.'After negative tests Monday and Tuesday I tested positive for COVID this morning,' he shared. 'Canceling shows the rest of this week.

Seth Meyers has once again tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the host to once again cancel the remainder of his shows.The 48-year-old late-night TV host took to Twitter on Wednesday morning and revealed that he tested positive, this after testing negative on Monday and Tuesday. As a result, Meyers said he's «canceling shows the rest of this week.» He apologized «to our scheduled guests and loyal viewers!»Meyers was set to host star Nathan Lane and musical guest Maren Morris for Wednesday's show;  star Adam Pally on Thursday; and Issa Rae and comedian Nikki Glaser for Friday's show.After negative tests Monday and Tuesday I tested positive for COVID this morning.

US President Joe Biden has had two negative Covid-19 tests and no longer needs to isolate after recovering from infection, his White House doctor has said.

Many people feel the urge to power through after testing positive for Covid-19. President Biden recently told Americans he was “getting a lot of work done" after testing positive and tweeted a photo of himself signing a bill at his desk.

Shawn Mendes announced that he has canceled all remaining dates of his Wonder tour, to prioritize his mental health.The Senorita singer previously postponed some of his scheduled performances earlier this month, and has now confirmed that his time on the road has been cut short.The 23-year-old shared the news on social media, penning a heartfelt statement to fans.‘As you guys know, I had to postpone the past few weeks of shows since I wasn’t totally prepared for the toll of being back on the road would take on me,’ he began.‘I started this tour excited to finally get back to playing live after a long break due to the pandemic, but the reality is I was not at all ready for how difficult touring would be after this time away.‘After speaking more with my team and working with an incredible group of health professionals, it has become more clear that I need to take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger.’pic.twitter.com/gq7DanGNYW‘I unfortunately have to cancel the rest of the tour dates in North America, and the UK/Europe,’ he continued.‘We were hopeful that I might be able to pick up with the rest of the dates after some much needed time off, but at this time I have to put my health as my first priority.’Shawn explained that it ‘breaks his heart’ to scrap the remaining dates, and reassured fans that he would be getting back into the studio to record new music when he is able to.‘This doesn’t mean I won’t be making new music, and I can’t wait to see you on tour in the future,’ he added.‘I know you all have been waiting so long to see these shows, and it breaks my heart to tell you this but I promise I will be back as soon as I’ve taken the right time to heal.‘I love you all and thank

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has celebrated his 79th birthday after recovering from COVID-19. The 'Gimme Shelter' singer marked the milestone on Tuesday (26,07. 22) while on tour with his band in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the band’s European 60th anniversary tour.

President Joe Biden ended his COVID-19 isolation Wednesday (July 27) after testing negative for the virus on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning.

Seth Meyers has tested positive for COVID-19.

The United States President, Joe Biden, on Wednesday tested negative for the Covid-19 infection, ending strict isolation.

Conservative Party and our next Prime Minister, and he’s not afraid to share them.The TV presenter, who recently revealed he’d tested positive for Covid, appeared to suggest his symptoms weren’t as painful as his experience watching one of the recent debates between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.Sharing he was ‘still a bit done in from this bloody Covid although I’m no longer contagious and haven’t been for a few days’ Paul went on to add he was tuning into the Tory leadership debate alongside millions of others around the country.Or, as he so eloquently put it, ‘two planks trying to persuade us why they’d make a wonderful Prime Minister’.He wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: ‘Truss is banging on about Turbo Charged Toffee, am I hallucinating or what? Whilst the other one is insistent that we know he once had a Saturday job in a chemist.‘To hear him you’d think he’d been forced to work down the mines since he was a child.

Covid causes erectile dysfunction and hair loss, according to worrying new research. The new study published in Nature Medicine found that, although the most common symptoms of long Covid include loss of smell and shortness of breath, it can impact you in various other ways.

CHICAGO - The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to an estimated $1.02 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing, a prize that will be the nation’s fourth-largest lottery prize ever.Following Tuesday’s drawing, in which no one matched all six numbers to win big, the Mega Millions prize continued to climb — and now has a $602.5 million cash option, too. The jackpot has grown so large because no one has matched the game’s six selected numbers since April 15. That’s 29 consecutive drawings without a big winner.Only two billion-dollar jackpots have ever been higher: $1.537 billion won in South Carolina in October 2018, and $1.050 billion won in Michigan in January 2021, lottery officials said.The next drawing is Friday, July 29 at 11 p.m.

coronavirus pandemic originated in a Wuhan, China market where live animals were sold, “further bolstering the theory that the virus emerged in the wild rather than escaping from a Chinese lab," according to AP report. The latest research, published by the journal Science, reportedly reveals that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was “likely the early epicentre of the scourge that killed nearly 6.4 million people around the world." As per the report, scientists have concluded that the virus that was responsible for causing Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, likely “spilled from animals into people two separate times." Kristian Andersen a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research and coauthor of one of the studies said, “all this evidence tells us the same thing: It points right to this particular market in the middle of Wuhan.

JCVI) has now published its final recommendations for this autumn’s programme.Under the advice, those eligible for a further dose will be:In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will be widening the offer of the free flu vaccine to more eligible groups.

Analysis: a new study has identified 62 symptoms associated with Long Covid, including some previously less well known ones

The Director of the National Immunisation Office has strongly encouraged people to receive all the Covid vaccines and boosters that they are eligible for.