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As the world enters a third year of the global Covid-19 pandemic, North Korea claims to remain free of the coronavirus because of its strict border closures and travel restrictions that have reportedly worsened food shortages. As the reclusive state rang in the new year, supreme leader Kim Jong-un called on North Ko…
Fireworks burst over Sydney, Dubai, Pyongyang, Bangkok, Goa, Taipei, Berlin, Madrid, Copenhagen and Moscow as the clock struck midnight and the world welcomed 2022 after another tumultuous and pandemic-ridden year capped by new restrictions and soaring case numbers.
South Africa lifted its Covid-19 curfew on December 30, 2021, after government health officials reported a rapid drop in new infections. Case involving the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, which has driven the nation’s fourth wave, had risen rapidly for four weeks before numbers dropped by nearly 30 per cent as of…
Incoming New York mayor Eric Adams has reiterated his pledge not to shut the city down despite a surge in daily Covid-19 infection rates. Speaking on December 30, 2021, the day before he took office, Adams promised a new city plan to tackle the pandemic, including greater access to in-home and in-school testing and …
A plastics-for-rice exchange programme in Bali is tackling two problems at once by offering residents a way to feed their families by clearing waste from the Indonesian resort island. The scheme set up by a non-profit group in May 2020 has so far resulted in the collection of over 540 tonnes of plastic waste at the …
The Omicron coronavirus variant has driven Covid-19 daily case figures to record high levels in the United States and several European countries. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 440,000 infections on December 27, 2021 – the highest daily number yet during the pandemic. France, It…
Four men accused of smuggling people across an international border were publicly shamed in China’s southern province of Guangxi. Flanked by police officers, they were paraded through the streets of Jingxi city on December 28, 2021. Authorities also said the parade was a warning to the public of what could happen if…
As the Covid-19 pandemic wore on into a second year, 2021 will be remembered as when the world mounted the largest vaccination drive in history. But while new vaccines and other tools for fighting the coronavirus boosted hopes for a return to normalcy, the year also saw the emergence of new variants with names like …
Health officials have started a fifth round of citywide Covid-19 testing in Xian, the northwestern city at the epicentre of China’s latest coronavirus outbreak. The latest round of testing of all 13 million people in the city got under way on December 27, after the city hit a record daily case toll of 175 infections…
Doctors and health officials expect Covid-19 cases in the US to swell following Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The recent increase in infections nationwide is comparable to January 2021 levels, but hospitalisations rates are much lower, federal data shows. In contrast, four states – Michigan, Vermont, Maine and …
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As the world entered its second year in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 was another year of change for Hong Kong. The city saw dramatic political developments and unprecedented Olympic glory. As 2021 draws to a close, here is a look back at how some of these major events played out in Hong Kong.
Some of Hong Kong’s boldest domestic helpers slugged it out at the Muay Thai Fighters Club One-Day Tournament on Boxing Day on December 26, 2021. The showcase event is meant to empower one of the city’s most overlooked communities, with most of the participants having spent their Sundays, their only days off, for se…
South Korea is the latest country to approve Pfizer’s Paxlovid Covid-19 antiviral pill for use by adults and children aged 12 or older. Early data provided by the American pharmaceutical company suggests the pill is effective against the Omicron coronavirus variant. The approval comes as South Korea battles its wors…
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More than 193kg (425lbs) of crystal methamphetamine were intercepted by Bangkok customs authorities on December 23, 2021. The drug haul, with an estimated street value of almost US$30 million, was hidden inside 15 Thai-made boxing punching bags. The shipment, which was bound for Australia, attracted attention from l…
Homei Miyashita from Japan’s Meiji University has created a lickable TV screen to allow viewers to taste what they see. “Taste the TV” (TTTV) uses a “flavour spray” technology to create a multi-sensory viewing experience. Miyashita says his invention was inspired by the pandemic when people were unable to enjoy rest…
Xian, the capital of China’s northwestern Shaanxi province, went into lockdown on December 23, 2021, after more than 230 new Covid-19 cases were detected. Early reports say that none of the positive cases showed the new Omicron variant, but the cluster has spread to four cities, including Beijing, before the city wa…
It’s “highly probable” that positive Covid-19 cases in China will turn up during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, officials said on December 23, 2021. They warn the gathering of large numbers of overseas personnel means there will be a high risk of transmission, with chances of a small-scale outbreak. But officials…
The number of sea turtles in Thailand increased during the Covid-19 pandemic as fewer tourists and less pollution around nesting areas helped their population to recover. But with the country reopening to international travellers, scientists fear the endangered species will once again come under threat.
A 60-year-old woman has become an online celebrity for her cooking tutorial videos. Lu Aimei has been the sole carer of her two disabled sons for more than 20 years. Her eldest and second sons both suffer from a progressive nervous system disease known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that has paralysed them s…
The US Food and Drug Administration on December 22, 2021, approved the use of Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill for emergency use for treating mild-to-moderate disease in Covid-19 patients aged 12 or older. Pfizer’s clinical data shows the drug is 90 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in patients at h…
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A 122-year-old woman living in Iran may be the oldest living person in the world. Fatemeh Norouzi Karizi says she was born over a century ago on September 23, 1899, in Iran’s northeastern city of Torbat-e Jam, where she lives with her son. While she is old enough to have great-great grandchildren, the pandemic has p…
Hundreds of rioting inmates set fire to Krabi town's main provincial prison in southern Thailand on December 17, 2021. The riot occurred after a Covid-19 cluster emerged inside the overcrowded prison, which houses roughly 2,100 inmates. Provincial health staff had found at least 200 were infected. Police and other s…
The Omicron Covid-19 variant is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant, and has already been identified in 89 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on December 17, 2021. Many countries have been tightening restrictions in a bid to contain the highly mutated variant, amid a fresh surg…
It has been 10 years since Kim Jong-un became North Korea’s leader. During that time, life for would-be defectors has become even harder. They say that during the pandemic, ordinary people have been hit by worsening living conditions, with many facing starvation. In the decade since coming to power, Kim has continue…
The journey of a video game controller from a Chinese factory to a store shelf in the United States is now more expensive than ever. Transport and shipping costs have skyrocketed due to a global breakdown of supply chains brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving manufacturers and retailers scrambling to stock th…
Britain reported 78,610 Covid-19 cases on December 15, 2021, the highest daily infection rate since the start of the pandemic. The UK government expects the number of infections and hospitalisations to continue rising, but it does not plan to roll out further restrictions for now. On the European mainland, European …
Santa Claus’ home in Finland is seeing a recovery in Christmas tourism after the pandemic barred travellers last year. Tourists have been arriving in Rovaniemi from all over the world, and the number of charter flights are catching up to pre-pandemic levels.
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The United States is about to hit 800,000 Covid-19 deaths. Experts predict that cases will surge over the winter because of the highly contagious new virus variant, Omicron. They also expect more indoor gatherings during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The first reported death from the new coronavirus variant Omicron was reported in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2021. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the previous day that he expected a “tidal wave of Omicron” and that everyone above 18 will be offered booster jabs by the end of 2021. Two travellers from t…
A medical team from a hospital in southern China’s Guangdong province recently visited a woman who had a 34kg tumour removed from her uterus 4 years ago. Li Qingfeng was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid in 2012. Since she could not afford the treatment, her waistline increased to 143cm in 5 years, which affected her…
Russian health authorities reported the country’s 10 millionth Covid-19 case since the start of the pandemic on December 12, 2021. It comes after a devastating fourth wave of infections spread through the country for three months, resulting in the deadliest month to date – October when 74,839 people died. Today infe…
Hong Kong’s iconic Cross Harbour swim has returned, after a two-year hiatus because of the 2019 protests and the pandemic. About 1,200 entrants set off from the city’s Wan Chai district on Sunday December 12, 2021, swimming 1km (0.6 miles) across to Tsim Sha Tsui. The pandemic meant entries for this year’s swim were…
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China delivered 800,000 doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine to Afghanistan on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. The shipment is part of a larger 200 million yuan (US$31 million) aid package promised to Afghanistan. It’s set to include 3 million vaccines in total, as well as much-needed food and other aid. The shipmen…
Port Moresby’s General Hospital began mass burials on December 8, 2021, with the Covid-19 pandemic helping cram the morgue with hundreds of bodies. The facility, built for just 60 deceased, now houses 300. The bodies have been left unclaimed for months. That’s a rarity in Papua New Guinea where funeral ceremonies ty…
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Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said on December 7, 2021, that there was no sign Omicron would be better at evading vaccines than other variants. The new coronavirus variant was first detected in South Africa on November 24, 2021, and has since spread to more than 50 count…
A group of nearly 100 Japanese lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine – a controversial symbol of Japanese imperialism and a reminder of its wartime atrocities – on December 7, 2021. It was the first visit by Japanese politicians in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The shrine honours 2.5 million Japanese soldi…
The new coronavirus variant Omicron has now reached 48 countries as of December 5, 2021, less than 2 weeks after it was first reported in South Africa. A corporate Christmas party in Norway on November 26 has become the biggest outbreak outside South Africa. At least half of the 120 participants tested positive, eve…
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Henry Yao thought he would have to give up and shutter Army & Navy Bags, his tiny surplus store in New York City that he has run for about a decade. But little did Yao know that he was beloved by many New Yorkers for his kindness and friendliness, which was paid back in his mo…
Driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors, rising inflation has emerged as a problem around the world including in Hong Kong. The city’s consumer price index posted a year-on-year increase of 1.7 per cent in October, 2021, making life of underprivileged residents even harder. Among those bearing the brunt of…
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Scientists at the National University of Singapore have developed a smart bandage that can monitor wounds using an app. This allows patients with chronic wounds to be monitored remotely, potentially saving them visits to the doctor. Information such as temperature, bacteria type, pH data and inflammatory factors can…
