Coronavirus highlights: Philippines detects local transmission of Omicron sub-variant

India reported 1,569 new Covid-19 cases, the active caseload in the country dropped to 16,400, US health regulators are expected to authorize a booster shot of Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 as soon as Tuesday. Meanwhile, North Korea has mobilised its military to distribute Covid medications and deployed more than 10,000 health workers to help trace potential patients as it fights a sweeping coronavirus wave.

Delhi reports marginal rise in new Covid cases, two deaths

Delhi on Tuesday reported marginal rise at 393 fresh Covid cases, against 377 recorded on the previous day, as well as two new deaths, as per the state government health bulletin.

Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate has marginally declined to 3.35 per cent and the number of active cases has also dropped to 2,910.

With 709 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone to 18,72,020. The number of patients being treated in home isolation stands at 2,400.

UN alarmed as Covid spreads in N. Korea, ready to help

The UN voiced alarm Tuesday at the swelling Covid outbreak in North Korea, warning that its unvaccinated population was particularly vulnerable, and reiterated its offer to provide assistance and jabs.

The UN's World Health Organization cautioned that the highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid could easily rip through the impoverished country with disastrous effect.

And the UN rights office warned that the measures authorities are putting in place risked violating rights and pushing vulnerable people into an even more precarious situation.

North Korea Covid outbreak is 'worrying' for new variants -WHO

A senior World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that high levels of transmission of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people, such as in North Korea, creates a higher risk of new variants.

The isolated country, a WHO member, is grappling with its first acknowledged Covid-19 outbreak, fuelling concerns over a major crisis due to a lack of vaccines and medical infrastructure.

"Certainly it's worrying if countries ... are not using the tools that are now available," said WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan in response to a question about the outbreak in North Korea.

"WHO has repeatedly said that where you have unchecked transmission, there is always a higher risk of new variants emerging," he said.

5 fresh Covid-19 cases in J&K

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded five fresh Covid-19 cases that took its tally to 4,54,153, officials said.

The death toll remained unchanged at 4,752.

Of the fresh cases, three were reported from Jammu district and two from Srinagar district, the officials said.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the union territory stands at 50. So far, 4,49,351 people have recovered from the viral disease, they said.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un at critical crossroads as Covid-19 surges

For more than a decade, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un has made “self-reliance” his governing lynchpin, shunning international help, and striving instead for domestic strategies to fix his battered economy.

But as an illness suspected to be Covid-19 sickens hundreds of thousands of his people, Kim stands at a critical crossroad: either swallow his pride and receive foreign help to fight the disease, or go it alone, enduring potential huge fatalities that may undermine his leadership.

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Indonesia to drop outdoor mask mandate as Covid-19 infections drop

Indonesia will no longer require people to mask up outdoors, its president said on Tuesday, as Covid-19 infections decline in the Southeast Asian country.

As "the pandemic is getting more and more controlled," President Joko Widodo said in a statement that masks are no longer required outdoors.

But masks must still be worn indoors and on public transportation, he said, also recommending that the elderly and those with underlying health conditions or coughs continue to use them as well.

Philippines detects local transmission of Omicron sub-variant

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday confirmed the local transmission of the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2.12.1 sub-variant of Covid-19.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that local clusters of the BA.2.12.1 variant infection have been detected in Metro Manila, the Western Visayas region in the central Philippines, and Puerto Princesa city in Palawan province, reports Xinhua news agency.

Estrogen treatment linked with reduced Covid mortality: Study

Receiving hormone replacement therapy within six months of a recorded diagnosis of Covid-19 was associated with a reduction in mortality from the viral disease, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal Family Practice, analysed the association between hormone replacement therapy or combined oral contraception use, and the likelihood of death in women with Covid-19.

People queueing to undergo nucleic acid tests for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province

(Credit: AFP Photo)

Workers in protective suits walk through the gate of a barricaded residential area under lockdown, amid the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing

(Reuters Photo)

Beijing city reports 56 new local Covid cases in 24 hours

Puducherry adds one new case to its Covid-19 tally

Beijing locks down more people in China's 'zero-Covid' fight

Authorities in Beijing restricted more residents to their homes on Tuesday in a now 3-week-long effort to control a small but persistentCovid-19 outbreak in the Chinese capital.

Seven adjoining areas in the city's Fengtai district were designated lockdown zones for at least one week, with people ordered to stay at home in an area covering about 4 by 5 km (2.5 by 3 miles). The area is near a wholesale food market that was closed indefinitely on Saturday following the discovery of a cluster there.

Japan to trial group tours in move to ease Covid border rules

Japan will trial small group tours with travellers from the US, Australia, Thailand and Singapore from this month, the government said on Tuesday, as it experiments with easing strictCovidborder rules.

The country's borders have been closed to almost all arrivals since the spring of 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities only recently began allowing some students and business visitors to enter.

There are no plans to lift border restrictions fully, as other countries have done, with the trial involving only tourists from the four countries who join package tours with predetermined itineraries, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

China's zero-Covid policy to hit Asia aviation recovery: IATA

China's zero-Covidpolicy will hold back a full air travel recovery in the Asia-Pacific region, a top airline industry group warned Tuesday, adding to calls for Beijing to ease its hardline stance.

The world's second-biggest economy is seeking to stamp out the coronavirus entirely, with rapid lockdowns and mass testing, and the measures have hammered both domestic and international air travel.

The aviation sector's recovery in Asia was already relatively slow, and Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) chief, warned Beijing's approach made the picture bleaker.

North Korea's Kim faces 'huge dilemma' on aid as virus surges

During more than a decade as North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un has made “self-reliance” his governing lynchpin, shunning international help and striving instead for domestic strategies to fix his battered economy.

But as an illness suspected to beCovid-19 sickens hundreds of thousands of his people, Kim stands at a critical crossroad: Either swallow his pride and receive foreign help to fight the disease, or go it alone, enduring potential huge fatalities that may undermine his leadership.

AstraZeneca bolsters Covid therapeutics with RQ Bio deal

AstraZeneca is paying up to $157 million, plus royalties, for an exclusive licence to develop and sell a set of pre-clinicalCovid antibody therapies developed by RQ Bio, the London-based biotech said on Tuesday.

The experimental antibody therapies include those designed to target people with compromised immune systems - such as AstraZeneca's own antibody cocktail, Evusheld, which is already approved in multiple countries

Is oestrogen behind women surviving from Covid more than men?

Receiving hormone replacement therapy within six months of a recorded diagnosis ofCovid-19 was associated with a reduction in mortality from the infectious disease among women, finds a study indicating the role of oestrogen in fighting the deadly virus.

While men and women are equally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 virus, men tend to have more severe infections, and have higher rates of hospitalisation and mortality.

A recent review of sex differences inCovid-19, using data from 38 countries, found mortality in men was 1.7 times higher than in women. Younger women or those with higher oestrogen levels are less likely to experienceCovid-19 complications.

A worker disinfects a dining room at a sanitary supplies factory, amid growing fears over the spread of the coronavirus disease in Pyongyang

(Reuters Photo)

Pyongyang still unresponsive to Seoul's outreach over Covid

North Korea has remained unresponsive for the second day to South Korea's attempt to offer dialogue onCovid-19 medical supplies and health care cooperation, a government official said here on Tuesday.

The South's Ministry of Unification had sought to deliver a related fax message to the North on Monday through their liaison office, reports Yonhap News Agency.

1,569 new Covid-19 cases in India, active caseload drops to 16,400

India's daily Covid-19 cases dipped furtheron Tuesday as the nation reported 1,569 new infections, taking the tally to 4,31,25,370, according to Union Health Ministry data.

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A woman sits on the bank of a canal, near a sign on a cordon line sealing off the area, amid the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, China

(Credit: Reuters Photo)

Global Covid caseload tops 521.9 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 521.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.26 million and vaccinations to over 11.41 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Shanghai achieves 'zero Covid' status but normal life is weeks away

Shanghai achieved on Tuesday the long-awaited milestone of three consecutive days with no newCovid-19 cases outside quarantine zones but most residents will have put up with confinement for a while longer before a return to more normal life.

For other cities in China that have been under lockdown, the third day with no new cases in the community usually means "zeroCovid" status and the beginning of the lifting of restrictions.

North Korean military ramps up Covid response as outbreak grows

North Korean military medics ramped up the distribution of medicines to fight a growing coronavirus outbreak, state media said on Tuesday, with the number of reported cases of "fever" nearing 1.5 million.

Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered nationwide lockdowns to try and slow the spread of the disease through the unvaccinated population, and deployed the military after what he has called a botched response to the outbreak.

Shanghai reports 77 symptomatic, 746 asymptomatic Covid cases

The Chinese financial hub ofShanghaireported 746 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases for May 16, down from 869 a day earlier, data released on Tuesday showed.

Confirmed symptomatic cases rose to 77 from 69 the previous day.

PM Modi’s sound advice on Covid vaccine access

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for reforming and strengthening the World Health Organisation (WHO) to “build a more resilient global health security architecture’’ is timely and relevant.

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FDA to soon authorize Pfizer's Covid booster shot for younger kids

US health regulators are expected to authorize a booster shot of Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 as soon as Tuesday, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

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North Korea mobilises army, steps up tracing amid Covid wave

North Korea has mobilised its military to distribute Covid medications and deployed more than 10,000 health workers to help trace potential patients as it fights a sweeping coronavirus wave, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.