Year: 2020

A spacecraft from U.S. space agency NASA is set to touch an asteroid, break off a sample and bring it back to Earth for the first time during a history-making mission that culminates Tuesday.The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,…

The World Food Program reports food insecurity is increasing worldwide because of the devastating socio-economic impact of COVID-19, with tens of millions of people on the verge of famine.Hunger is on the rise as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the world. Last year,…

The British government is supporting human trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine in which healthy human subjects will be infected with the virus to accelerate the process.The tests will be conducted by Imperial College London as part of a partnership between government, laboratory and trial…

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is taking part in Phase 3 trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine.  Venezuelan state television showed Zelaya receiving a shot of Russia's experimental Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Caracas on Monday.  Venezuela is the first Latin American country to participate in the testing process.FILE - A Russian medical worker administers a shot of…

The world has now surpassed 40 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, as surges of cases in Europe and the United States have led to more restrictions on residents. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 40.2 million people have been infected with the virus…

President Donald Trump's predictions that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready before Election Day, Nov. 3, will not be met. On Friday, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced it would not seek emergency authorization to release its coronavirus vaccine until late November.  Two other vaccine frontrunners are on hold.…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been urging Germany’s young people to observe tightening pandemic restrictions. “Do without a few parties,” she has told them.  Once seen as a model to follow in the fight against the coronavirus, Germany is now struggling to contain the pandemic…

The World Health Organization says 184 countries have now joined the COVID-19 global vaccine alliance, known as COVAX, designed to speed development and ensure distribution of viable vaccines and treatments for the ailment caused by the coronavirus.At the organization's Monday briefing at its headquarters in…

Officials in Wales announced Monday they will impose a two-week "firebreak" lockdown effective Friday, requiring all but essential workers to stay at home to combat an accelerating second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the move at a news conference, saying…

Officials in Australia’s Victoria state, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, began loosening lockdown restrictions Monday as new and active cases continued to decline.As of Monday, residents of the state — which includes Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city — will no longer face limits…

The world has now surpassed 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 40,050,902 people have been infected with the disease as of early Monday morning, and more than 1.1 million have died.  The most recent cases include Saeb Erekat,…

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.  The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections. India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000…

After circling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of miles away for almost two years, a NASA spacecraft this week will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble.  The drama unfolds Tuesday as the U.S. takes its first…

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000…

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000…

Rural Jerauld County in South Dakota didn't see a single case of the coronavirus for more than two months stretching from June to August. But over the last two weeks, its rate of new cases per person soared to one of the highest in the…

Daily cases of COVID-19 have reached record highs around the world, particularly in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said Friday.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva that record-high numbers of cases were reported in each of the last…

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that a sixth-month randomized trial of COVID-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases of the virus.  …

Finland's prime minister Friday became the second European Union leader to leave a two-day summit as a precautionary measure, after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.  On Twitter, Sanna Marin wrote she was leaving the European Council meeting in Brussels and asked Sweden's…

The Czech Republic’s health minister said Friday the country’s health system needs be ready for a "huge influx," of COVID-19 patients over the next 10 days to two weeks, as the nation faces Europe's fastest growing rate in new coronavirus cases.Health Minister Roman Prymula told…

Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe are challenging a Ministry of Health rule they say impedes their ability to leave the country.  The ministry said last month that health care workers must get official signatures to receive a "Certificate of Good Standing" - a needed reference to get…

A predicted spike in COVID-19 cases as the cold weather months approach in the Northern Hemisphere seems to be occurring.Daily global cases have climbed to 330,000 per day, with Europe and the U.S. experiencing a worrying uptick.In the U.S., the nation’s top infectious disease expert…