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International News

Covid-19 may lead to decline in life expectancy globally, study finds

At prevalence rates of only 2 per cent, the disease could cause a drop in life expectancy in countries where average life expectancy is high — roughly around 80 years.

At 10 per cent prevalence, the loss in life expectancy is likely to be above one year in high life-expectancy countries such as those in Europe and North America,

At 50 per cent, it would translate into three to nine years of life lost in high life-expectancy regions. In less developed regions, the impact is smaller given that there is already lower survival at older ages.

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Weekly coronavirus cases top 300,000 in Europe, WHO issues warning

Roughly 30 million people have been infected by the virus worldwide and more than 900,000 have died, triggering some of the deepest recessions on record and disrupting global supply chains,
European countries from Denmark to Greece announced new restrictions on Friday to curb surging coronavirus infections in some of their largest cities, while Britain was reported to be considering a new national lockdown.Cases in the United Kingdom almost doubled to 6,000 per day in the latest reporting week, hospital admissions rose and infection rates soared across parts of northern England and London,
Israel’s government announced Saturday it would impose a three-week nationwide lockdown in an effort to stem one of the world’s highest novel coronavirus infection rates after a surge in cases.

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 Boeing hid design flaws in 737 Max from pilots, regulators: US panel

“The Max crashes were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake or mismanaged event,” the report by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said.

“They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management and grossly insufficient oversight by the” Federal Aviation Administration.

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WHO says safety comes first as over 170 nations join COVID-19 vaccine plan

“We already face challenges with vaccine acceptance for many proven vaccines,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in pre-recorded comments, as he spoke about the push to rapidly develop vaccines.

“We cannot risk having an effective vaccine for COVID-19 that people refuse because of the perception that it is unsafe.”

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Global economic recovery may take five years, World Bank chief economist says

Reinhart said the pandemic-caused recession will last longer in some countries than in others and will exacerbate inequalities as the poorest will be harder hit by the crisis in rich countries and the poorest countries will be harder hit than richer countries.

For the first time in twenty years, global poverty rates will rise following the crisis, she added.

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