People are suffering from “pandemic fatigue”. It has been a long two years and most of us have had to endure harsh and often unpredictable restrictions on our daily lives. Millions of people have died, livelihoods have been lost and economies have suffered. So, it is understandable that many would cling to any hope that the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end.

Almost two years into the pandemic, some countries have declared their intention to start treating COVID-19 like other endemic diseases, such as seasonal flu.Despite witnessing relatively high infection rates amid the frenetic spread of the Omicron variant, which appears to cause less severe disease but is highly transmissible according to early studies, countries including England and Ireland have drastically loosened restrictions on public life. Denmark has announced plans to lift

India’s COVID-19 infections led by the Omicron variant may see a sharp rise in the coming weeks, some top experts say, noting that the variant is already in community transmission and hospitals are seeing more patients despite a decline in cases in major cities.India on Monday reported 306,064 new infections over the last 24 hours, the health ministry said, about an eight percent decline from the average daily cases reported in the last four days.

Holiday travel headaches and safety worries swelled Sunday with thousands of flights cancelled, events scrapped and new Omicron cases soaring, as people wrap up Christmas celebrations bruised by a resurgent COVID pandemic.Some 7,900 flights have been grounded and tens of thousands more delayed from Friday through Sunday – one of the busiest travel periods of the year – with multiple airlines acknowledging that Omicron spikes have prompted staffing shortages.Effects have rippled worldwide, and

There is an adage that you cannot have back-to-back financial crises. The implication is that a financial crisis causes people to be more careful – so any bank, investment firm, or investor who survives one crisis will not be taking big risks anytime soon.

The United States (US) is set to become the latest country to widen COVID booster eligibility beyond the immunocompromised, elderly and high risk.  Many scientists tracking the data believe it's the right time for the move – though some have expressed misgivings, since the original vaccines are still holding up well against severe disease and death among the general population.Why Now?

With the world poised to hit more than five million people officially dead from the coronavirus, experts say the pandemic's future path will depend greatly on vaccinations.How Many Dead?The true number of fatalities is believed to be far higher than the five million based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country.The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the overall toll could be two to three times higher than official records due to the excess mortality linked

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that 80,000 to 180,000 health care workers may have been killed by COVID-19 up to May this year, insisting they must be prioritised for vaccination.The WHO said the fact that millions of health workers remain unvaccinated is an "indictment" on the countries and companies controlling the global supply of doses.A WHO paper estimated that out of the planet's 135 million health staff, "between 80,000 to 180,000 health and care

The coronavirus pandemic slowed for a seventh week in a row around the world.Here is the global state of play based on an AFP database.In Decline The number of new daily cases decreased by five percent globally to 403,300, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.The pandemic had gained ground since mid-June fanned by the highly contagious Delta variant, but since late August it has been in decline.The confirmed cases only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with vary

Coronavirus is “still running rampant” worldwide and the failure to ensure poorer countries can access vaccines risks more deaths and the emergence of potentially dangerous new variants, the creator of the Oxford jab has warned.Pleading for immediate action to enable wider distribution of jabs across the world, Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert said the “ever-evolving” virus “continues to circulate unchecked”, and, as a result, every country in the world now faces the threat of “further Sars-CoV-2 vari