After Beijing removed the arrivals quarantine a week earlier, China on Sunday restored high-speed rail service between Hong Kong and the mainland for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak began. The re-opening follows last month’s stunning U-turn on the “zero-COVID-19” policy in the wake of unprecedented protests and a day after officials reported almost […] Read more
According to a number of top researchers and World Health Organization advisors, there may yet be a devastating wave in China before the Covid-19 pandemic emergency is officially declared to be over. Their opinions reflect a change since China started to abandon its zero-Covid-19 policy last week in response to an increase in infections and […] Read more
The delta variant was first detected in India last October and it led to a massive second wave of Covid-19 cases in the country. Since then, the highly infectious strain has spread globally. The variant has usurped the previously dominant alpha variant, first detected in the U.K. last fall, and has prompted further waves of infections in […] Read more
Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases on Sunday said it had detected a new variant of the coronavirus in four travelers arriving from Brazil. The newly discovered mutant strain of Covid-19 was found to share some of the mutations in common with those of concern for increased infectivity, the institute said, referring to highly infectious variants recently discovered […] Read more
Taiwan has recorded its first locally-transmitted case of coronavirus since April. The island has had one of the most successful pandemic responses in the world, and the new infection ends a 255-day run without local transmission, underscoring the difficulties in controlling the virus even in areas where it has been largely stamped out. According to […] Read more
Moderna said Monday it will request emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its coronavirus vaccine after new data confirms the vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19 and was safe. Moderna will be the second drugmaker to seek emergency use from the FDA after Pfizer, another front-runner in the Covid-19 vaccine race, applied for the […] Read more
Despite rising Covid-19 infections throughout the United States, Europe and beyond, people are preparing to travel in late 2020. According to a survey by travel booking app Hopper, 39% of Americans are expected to travel during the upcoming holiday season. By that estimate, nearly 130 million people will be hitting the road in the United […] Read more
Negative opinions about China have soared among countries and reached a record high for most of the 14 countries polled, according to a recent Pew Research Center. Negative views of China reached their “highest points” in 9 of those countries since the research center began polling on this issue more than 10 years ago, the […] Read more
China — China’s technology giants — like their U.S. counterparts — have seen business thrive during the coronavirus pandemic. But the tech industry is at a crossroads, facing an uncertain economic and geopolitical environment. China’s gradual though uneven economic recovery, Beijing’s focus on domestic consumption, and the digital trends that have been accelerated by Covid-19 are […] Read more
Health authorities in Hong Kong recorded zero infections on Tuesday as the city leader defended the decision to reopen theme parks when protests had been banned because of the coronavirus threat. With no cases of local transmission for five days in a row the Covid-19 tally remains at 1,107, with four related deaths. Speaking ahead […] Read more
