Category:

Pandemic

UK’s Boris Johnson launches mass testing programme as economy reopens

Johnson, who is expected to confirm plans to relaunch international travel and open sections of the economy later on Monday, said the new mass testing programme would break the chain of transmissions and spot cases without symptoms
Vaccine passports are also being trial led for mass events.

Under the current plan international travel will not resume until May 17 at the earliest.

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World economy risks ‘dangerously diverging’ even as growth booms

For the year as whole, Bloomberg Economics forecasts growth of 6.9%, the quickest in records dating back to the 1960s. Behind the buoyant outlook: a shrinking virus threat, expanding US stimulus, and trillions of dollars in pent-up savings.

Much will depend on how fast countries can inoculate their populations with the risk that the longer it takes the greater the chance the virus remains an international threat especially if new variants develop. Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker shows while the US has administered doses equivalent to almost a quarter of its people, the European Union has yet to hit 10% and rates in Mexico, Russia and Brazil are less than 6%.

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Global Covid-19 caseload tops 130mn mark

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 130,114,348 and 2,836,446, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 30,606,649 and 554,069, respectively, according to the CSSE.

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