Hundreds were arrested after violent clashes between anti-lockdown protesters and police in Australia's two largest cities Saturday as the country recorded its sharpest rise in daily COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.Sydney's state of New South Wales (NSW) posted 825 infections – a record for the entire country – a day after authorities extended the city's lockdown until at least September to try to head off the Delta variant."No matter how hard we work, no matter if

From the sophisticated to downright strange, the pandemic has set off a wave of scams around the world from bogus doses and fake vaccine passes to criminal cremations.Here are 10 of the most outrageous and nefarious frauds of the last few months:'Vaccination Is Optional' Since the French government made proof of vaccination mandatory to enter cafes and other public places this month, a black market selling fake health passes for hundreds of euros has flourished.Go to the so

Ivory Coast began a roll-out of vaccinations against Ebola on Monday, after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994, the health ministry said."Health workers, close relatives and contacts of the victim" were the first to be vaccinated, getting jabs from 5,000 doses sent from Guinea, spokesman Germain Mahan Sehi said.Ivorian health workers had previously said that vaccinations of "targeted groups" had already begun on Sunday.The single identified

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to surge around the world this week, driven by a worsening situation in the United States (US) and Canada.Here is the global state of play according to a specialised AFP database.Five Percent IncreaseThe average number of new daily cases globally increased by five percent over the week to 645,400, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.The pandemic has continued to gain ground for the past two months largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant which is pr

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged the 20 leaders with the power to overturn the "disgraceful" global imbalance in access to COVID-19 vaccines to reverse the tide before October.The WHO's Bruce Aylward said the world should be "disgusted" – and asked whether the situation could have been any worse had there been an active effort to block the planet's poor from getting vaccinated.The United Nations (UN) health agency has been increasingly infuria

The Philippine capital Manila returned to lockdown Friday as authorities sought to slow the spread of the hyper-contagious Delta variant and ease pressure on hospitals while trying to avoid crushing economic activity.Police checkpoints across the National Capital Region (NCR), where more than 13 million people live, caused long queues as officers in camouflage uniforms inspected vehicles to ensure only essential workers were on the road.Experts warned that an explosion in Delta cases could ov

Authorities in China's Wuhan said Tuesday they would test the city's entire population for COVID-19, as the virus returned to the place where it first emerged and the highly contagious Delta variant drove tightening lockdowns worldwide.A resurgent virus has returned with a vengeance, buoyed by stalling vaccination rates and deadly new mutations even in places which had long touted their successes in overcoming the worst of the pandemic. China brought domestic cases down to

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to surge around the world this week, especially in the United States (US) and the Middle East.Here is the global state of play according to a specialised AFP database.Delta Drives 10 Percent Rise The average number of new daily cases globally increased by 10 percent over the week to 575,918, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.The pandemic is continuing to gain ground largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant after slowing between late April

Experts warn country faces rise in infectious disease even as it struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic, Mamik Nariati’s five grandchildren were given free immunisations for diseases like polio, mumps and Hepatitis B at their school in the city of Surabaya in East Java.“But since the online school started last year, there is no more immunisation programme,” she said.

With the Delta variant pushing US COVID cases back up, fully vaccinated people are wondering whether they need to start masking indoors again.Covid vaccines remain extremely effective against the worst outcomes of the disease –hospitalisation and death – and breakthrough infections remain uncommon.But experts say that one size doesn't fit all, and people should consider factors like community transmission, personal risk levels, and their own risk tolerance to help decide what's righ