Year: 2020

Last week the World Health Organization hosted its annual summit known as the World Health Assembly to outline new policies and priorities, but a controversy involving Taiwan ended up also drawing renewed attention on how Beijing’s politics continue to influence the WHO.During the summit, which was hosted on the WHO official Facebook page, WHO moderators appeared to censor comments that contained words related to Taiwan or that implied the coronavirus originated in China. Several Taiwanese media reported that the WHO Facebook page blocked any Taiwan-related comments that included "Taiwan" or "Taiwan can help."After coming under criticism, the WHO said it was facing an “onslaught” of cyberattacks during the summit by activists using words including “Taiwan” and “China.” The group said it applied content filters to improve moderators’ ability to monitor conversations.…

Experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) say the news Monday of another COVID-19 vaccine candidate is encouraging but more information is needed and, as new virus cases surge around the world, it is no time to be complacent.At their regular COVID-19 news briefing in Geneva, WHO officials reacted to the news from U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna that its vaccine candidate tested at better than 90% efficacy.WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that level of efficacy in this vaccine, as well as the Phizer/BinNTech vaccine candidate announced last week, is very encouraging.WHO Chief Says Vaccine Alone Will Not End the PandemicTedros tells executive board that testing, vaccine will complement other tools, not replace themBut, she said, there are many questions remaining about the duration of protection they provide, the impact…

The high-pitched whine of a mosquito is annoying, but scientists have developed an app that uses that sound to detect dangerous mosquitoes.Mosquitoes kill hundreds of thousands of people each year by spreading microbes that cause diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. But researcher Haripriya Vaidehi Narayanan says anyone with a cellphone can help tackle these diseases by using the Abuzz app to identify mosquitoes. "If they see a mosquito around us, they just open the phone, open up the app, point their phone towards the mosquito and hit the record button," said Narayanan, who started working on the project as a graduate student at Stanford University. She's now in the Department of Immunology at the University of California Los Angeles. "So then, when the mosquito flaps its wings and…

The European Commission, the European Union’s administrative branch, announced  Monday a deal with to purchase 405 billion doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from German bio-tech company CureVac. The announcement comes just days after EU officials announced a similar deal with German company BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for an initial 300 million doses of the vaccine candidate they jointly produced, which, they say, has proven 90 percent effective against COVID-19 in late-stage testing. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters the deal with CureVac is, of course, conditional on their vaccine proving to be safe and effective.  Von der Leyen said the fifth CureVac is fifth company the alliance has contracted with a for its COVID-19 vaccine portfolio.FILE - A sign marks the headquarters of Moderna Therapeutics, which…

Portions of Central America are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Iota which the National Hurricane Center says has strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane.  The meteorologists warn, however, that Iota could transform into a “catastrophic Category 5 hurricane” as it moves over the Caribbean before it slams into Colombia, Nicaragua and Honduras by Monday night. The forecasters say Iota is expected to deliver “potentially catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge and extreme rainfall impacts.”    Iota is moving with maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometers per hour as it heads toward much of the same area devastated by Hurricane Eta earlier this month.  ...

Giant, aging cables that support one of the world's largest single-dish radio telescopes are slowly unraveling in this U.S. territory, pushing an observatory renowned for its key role in astronomical discoveries to the brink of collapse.The Arecibo Observatory, which is tethered above a sinkhole in Puerto Rico's lush mountain region, boasts a 1,000-foot-wide (305-meter-wide) dish featured in the Jodie Foster film "Contact" and the James Bond movie "GoldenEye." The dish and a dome suspended above it have been used to track asteroids headed to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel Prize and helped scientists trying to determine if a planet is habitable."As someone who depends on Arecibo for my science, I'm frightened. It's a very worrisome situation right now. There's a possibility of cascading, catastrophic failure," said astronomer…

Space X is preparing to send a rocket carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station Sunday evening.“All systems are go for tonight’s launch at 7:27 p.m. EST of Crew Dragon’s first operational mission with four astronauts on board,” SpaceX, the rocket company of high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, wrote on Twitter Sunday. SpaceX also said, “Teams are keeping an eye on weather conditions for liftoff, which are currently 50% favorable.”All systems are go for tonight’s launch at 7:27 p.m. EST of Crew Dragon’s first operational mission with four astronauts on board. Teams are keeping an eye on weather conditions for liftoff, which are currently 50% favorable → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdKpic.twitter.com/GTpvVAiLkK— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 15, 2020Separately, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he was looking forward to attending the viewing of the…

In an unassuming house in rolling hills east of the Hungarian capital, a small family firm is helping oil the wheels of the world’s big pharmaceutical companies on the path to a coronavirus vaccine. Biologist Noemi Lukacs, 71, retired to Szirak, her birth village, to establish English & Scientific Consulting (SciCons) and manufacture a genetic sensor so sensitive that a few grams can supply the entire global industry for a year. “We produce monoclonal antibodies,” Lukacs told Reuters in the single-story house where she was born, now partly converted into a world-class laboratory. The white powder ships worldwide from here, micrograms at a time. “These antibodies recognize double-stranded RNA [dsRNA],” she explained. DsRNA is a byproduct of viruses replicating, so its presence signals the presence of a live virus, long useful in virus-related…

This year's U.N. World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14 was observed in Cameroon with medical staff all over the central African state encouraging those with the disease to return to hospitals for treatment.Health workers say patients scared of COVID-19 stopped going to hospitals for control of their glucose levels. Although the disease is spreading rapidly due to Cameroonians’ sedentary lifestyles, experts say, health workers complain that 80% of patients do not know they have diabetes.A medical doctor told scores of people at the General Hospital in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, to go to the nearest hospital if they get tired and thirsty regularly, drink water and urinate frequently. She said while at any hospital, such people should immediately ask for their blood sugar levels to be measured.Diabetes educator Agnes Koki said…

There are nearly 54 million coronavirus cases around the world, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday.The U.S., India, and Brazil continue to top the list as the places with the most infections. The U.S. has almost 11 million cases, while India and Brazil have 8.8 million and 5.8 million, respectively.On Sunday, India reported 41,100 new infections in the previous 24-hour period.An uptick in cases in the U.S. has prompted the Navajo Nation to impose a three-week lockdown, beginning Monday.“The Navajo Nation is experiencing an alarming rise in positive COVID-19 cases and uncontrolled spread in 34 communities across the Navajo Nation,” the reservation’s Department of Health said in a public health order announcing the lockdown. “These cluster cases are a direct result of family gatherings and off-Reservation travel.”The…

A year ago, if you saw someone wearing a mask, you might assume they were sick or maybe even a little weird or paranoid. Today, thanks to the pandemic, wearing a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is the new normal for many Americans.Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia require people to FILE - Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, left, bumps elbows at Sergio's Restaurant in Doral, Florida, July 23, 2020.Not all Americans have adopted mask-wearing, especially not those who view masks through a political lens. But pandemics have changed public habits in the past. Wearing a face covering is much more common in East Asia since the outbreak of FILE - Barbers Johnny 'Geo' Sanchez, left, and Alberto Sagentin, rear, cut hair in the Little Havana neighborhood…

We're closing in on a year with a viral pandemic that has affected more than 47 million people and has claimed the lives of more than 1 million, according to the World Health Organization. As VOA’s Carol Pearson reports, people are now suffering from what’s being called “pandemic fatigue.”  ...

The Navajo Nation on Monday will reinstate a stay-at-home lockdown for the entire reservation while closing tribal offices and requiring new closures and safety measures for businesses due to rising COVID-19 cases.The lockdown goes into effect Monday for a three-week period, tribal officials announced Friday night. A previously ordered 56-hour weekend curfew began Friday night.Much of the Navajo Nation was closed between March and August as the coronavirus swept through the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah in the U.S. Southwest.The Navajo Nation Department of Health on Wednesday warned residents of new “uncontrolled spread” of the virus in 34 communities on the reservation.On Saturday, tribal officials said the huge reservation had 172 new cases and no recent deaths, increasing the total of cases to 13,249…

Danny Rice has a good sense of how dangerous the coronavirus can be.What puzzles him are the people who have curtailed so much of their lives to avoid being infected by the virus."I'm not going out and looking to catch it," he said, sitting at a desk in his auto repair shop in the tiny eastern Nebraska community of Elmwood. "I don't want to catch it. But if I get it, I get it. That's just how I feel."Plenty of people agree with Rice, and health experts acknowledge those views are powering soaring COVID-19 infection rates, especially in parts of the rural Midwest where the disease is spreading unabated and threatening to overwhelm hospitals.It's not that people in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and elsewhere don't realize their states…

Sri Themudu’s seasonal business, Diyaa Confectionary, is a success story at a time many businesses are struggling in the COVID-19 economic climate.His company has for eight years catered to Malaysian families and local companies that buy gift baskets of snacks such as crackers, cookies and coconut candy for Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, known as Deepavali in Malaysia.The snacks, made from scratch in the kitchens of his mother and family friends, start at about $8 each.The baskets include sweet treats such as coconut candy. (Dave Grunebaum/VOA)Sri used to go to the offices of potential corporate clients with samples but could not do so this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, many of his longtime corporate customers cut expenses and did not place orders.“It looked like this year was…

Sri Themudu’s seasonal business, Diyaa Confectionary, is a success story at a time many businesses are struggling in the COVID-19 economic climate.His company has for eight years catered to Malaysian families and local companies that buy gift baskets of snacks such as crackers, cookies and coconut candy for Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, known as Deepavali in Malaysia.The snacks, made from scratch in the kitchens of his mother and family friends, start at about $8 each.The baskets include sweet treats such as coconut candy. (Dave Grunebaum/VOA)Sri used to go to the offices of potential corporate clients with samples but could not do so this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, many of his longtime corporate customers cut expenses and did not place orders.“It looked like this year was…

SpaceX delayed its second astronaut flight by a day because of high wind and weather conditions that could jeopardize the recovery and recycling of the rocket booster, pushing the launch to Sunday.Friday's postponement news came after SpaceX chief Elon Musk disclosed he had gotten mixed test results for COVID-19 and was awaiting the outcome of a more definitive test.NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said anyone testing positive for COVID-19 must quarantine under NASA policy and remain isolated. Officials said contact tracing by SpaceX found no link between Musk and any personnel in close touch with the four astronauts, who remain cleared for flight."I can assure everyone that we're looking good for the (crew) launch and all of the critical personnel involved," said SpaceX's Benji Reed, senior director for human spaceflight.It wasn't…

More than 130 U.S. Secret Service officers have tested positive for the coronavirus or have been in close contact with infected colleagues, according to The Washington Post newspaper.The report, published Friday, was attributed to three people “familiar with agency staffing.”The Secret Service officers, who, among other duties, are tasked with protecting President Donald Trump when he travels and at the White House, were ordered recently to isolate, the report said.FILE - U.S. Secret Service agents gather for coronavirus tests prior to President Donald Trump's departure for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, May 27, 2020.The sources, who the Post says spoke anonymously in order to speak more freely, said the infections are believed to be related to campaign rallies Trump held before the Nov. 3 presidential election. The report also…

Scientists at the U.S. space agency NASA say the remnants of a 1960s unmanned lunar mission may have returned to orbit the Earth 54 years later. Scientists first discovered the object in September, using a special survey telescope on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  They originally believed it to be a small asteroid, and named it 2020 SO.  When they discovered the object’s path would bring it close to Earth, it came to the attention of the Center for Near Earth Objects (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. But the scientists there quickly noticed the object’s orbit was different than a normal asteroid. While the typical asteroid has an elongated orbit and is tilted relative to Earth, the orbit of this object was on nearly the exact orbital…

The United States set another single-day record for the number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization Thursday.COVID Tracking Project figures show that more than 150,000 new cases were reported across the U.S., surpassing the more than 144,000 new cases recorded the day before.The figures also indicate that more than 67,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of more than 1,700 from the previous day. Another 1,104 people died.The new figures add to the United States’ world-leading casualty figures of more than 10.5 million total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic reached its shores earlier this year, including more than 242,400 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The nation’s most populous state, California, is nearing the 1 million mark of  COVID-19 cases, following Texas, which is closing…

The United States set another single-day record for the number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization Thursday.COVID Tracking Project figures show that more than 150,000 new cases were reported across the U.S., surpassing the more than 144,000 new cases recorded the day before.The figures also indicate that more than 67,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of more than 1,700 from the previous day. Another 1,104 people died.The new figures add to the United States’ world-leading casualty figures of more than 10.5 million total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic reached its shores earlier this year, including more than 242,400 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The nation’s most populous state, California, is nearing the 1 million mark of  COVID-19 cases, following Texas, which is closing…

The first cruise ship to resume sailing in the Caribbean since the coronavirus outbreak expanded in March, is idled again after five passengers tested positive for the coronavirus.SeaDream, a Norway-based luxury cruise liner, issued a statement Thursday that all crew members had tested negative for the coronavirus and that the ship’s medical staff was in the process of re-testing passengers.SeaDream says it began strict safety protocols following a Norwegian cruise this summer, although passengers were not immediately required to wear masks when boarding the SeaDream.The 53 passengers and 66 crew members are reportedly self-quarantining aboard the ship docked at the Port of Bridgetown in Barbados.The cruise ship industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing an order banning sailing in…

Peru is set to host Phase 3 clinical trials of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos. COVID-19 vaccine by U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson.Dr. Jorge Gallardo, principal director of the Ensemble trial, told America Noticias TV show that Peru was chosen because of the makeup of its population and the impact of the coronavirus in the country.Peru is seeking 3,500 participants in the multinational study that will include participants from eight countries, including the United States.The trials will include participants with preexisting conditions, such as diabetes, and those over 60 years of age to ensure the overall efficacy of the vaccine.Peru has one of the highest coronavirus totals in Latin America, with more than 925,000 coronavirus cases and 34,992 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. ...

Sniffer dogs are being used to identify people infected with the coronavirus, and early trials suggest they are incredibly accurate at detecting the disease. As Henry Ridgwell reports, this is raising hopes that our canine companions could soon be used to help fight the pandemic.Producer: Mary Cieslak. Camera: Henry Ridgwell. ...