Kuwait to vaccinate teenagers
Kuwait City, July 16: Kuwait will vaccinate teenagers aged 12 to 15 against Covid-19 next week, the Ministry of Health announced.
Teenagers of this age group will receive two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine before the start of the new academic year in September, a Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
In March, Health Minister Bassel Al-Sabah announced the resumption of study at schools from September, affirming that all students, teachers, and administrative bodies will complete the vaccination by then, reports Xinhua news agency. (IANS)
Philippines detects local Delta cases
Manila, July 16: The Philippines has detected its first local Covid-19 cases of the Delta variant, increasing the infections of the more transmissible strain in the country rose to 35, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 16 new cases of the Delta variant have been detected in the country, including 11 locally transmitted, with 15 recoveries and one death, reports Xinhua news agency.
Of the 11 local transmissions, six were detected in a northern Mindanao region.
“(The six cases) are part of a large cluster, with dates of onset between June 23 to 28. All have been tagged as recovered,” Vergeire added. (IANS)
Lockdown extended in Kathmandu
Kathmandu, July 16: Authorities in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley have decided to extend the ongoing lockdown till July 25 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, but with further relaxation of the prohibitory orders.
The last round of lockdown was scheduled to expire on Thursday midnight. The three districts in the valley decided to extend it by another 10 days starting from Friday.
“We decided to extend the lockdown as the COVID-19 cases have not come down drastically,” Kali Prasad Parajuli, chief district officer of Kathmandu, told Xinhua news agency late Thursday.
The Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts in the valley issued the same prohibitory orders. (IANS)
WHO raises alarm over surging Covid deaths in Africa
Nairobi, July 16: Africa’s Covid-19 deaths that have spiked by more than 40 per cent in the recent weeks are a testimony of the severity of the third wave currently sweeping across the continent, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said.
In a statement on Thursday, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said that the limited supply of oxygen and manpower in the already overwhelmed critical care facilities has fuelled the fatalities in the continent, reports Xinhua news agency.
“Deaths have climbed steeply for the past five weeks. This is a clear warning sign that hospitals in the most impacted countries are reaching a breaking point,” Moeti said. (IANS)
Lanka administers highest number of vaccines in a day
Colombo, July 16: Sri Lanka’s health authorities administered the highest number of Covid-19 vaccines in a single day with nearly 400,000 people inoculated, statistics from the Health Ministry revealed.
According to official figures released on Thursday, 384,763 people had been vaccinated against Covid-19 on Wednesday, out of which 338,572 people had received the first dose of Sinopharm, and 35,410 people got the second dose of the jab, reports Xinhua news agency. (IANS)