BEIJING, Jan 9 (FD): China braced for a “new phase” in its battle against COVID-19 on Monday and financial markets strengthened after Beijing dropped pandemic border controls in the latest easing of curbs that has let the virus loose on its 1.4 billion population. Sunday’s reopening is one of the last steps in China’s dismantling of its “zero-COVID” regime, which …

  BEIJING, Jan 6 (FD):  China defended on Thursday its handling of its raging Covid-19 outbreak after US President Joe Biden voiced concern and the WHO said Beijing was under-reporting virus deaths. The WHO’s emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said on Wednesday that Chinese officials were under-representing data on several fronts, some of the UN agency’s most critical remarks to date. …

  BEIJING, Jan 5  (Reuters):  Data from China shows that no new coronavirus variant has been found there, but also that the country under-represents how many people have died in a rapidly spreading Covid-19 outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Wednesday. Global unease has grown about the accuracy of China s reporting of an outbreak that has filled hospitals …

  Global health officials tried to determine the facts of China’s raging Covid-19 outbreak and how to prevent a further spread as the government’s mouthpiece newspaper on Wednesday rallied citizens for a “final victory” over the virus. China’s axing of its stringent anti-virus controls last month has unleashed Covid on a 1.4 billion population that has little natural immunity having …

  BEIJING/WUHAN, (Reuters):Some people in China s key cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan braved the cold and a spike in Covid-19 infections to return to regular activity on Monday, confident of a boost to the economy as more recover from infections. Among those who gathered to sled or ice skate on a frozen lake in the capital s Shichahai Lake …

  SYDNEY, Jan 1 (Reuters):  Australia said on Sunday that travellers from China will have to provide negative Covid-19 test results from Jan. 5, joining a growing number of nations that have implemented similar restrictions as cases surge in China. Citing a lack of epidemiological information and genomic sequencing data from China, Australian health minister Mark Butler said the government …

  Paris, Dec 30 (AFP):  The true global death toll of Covid-19 remains difficult to nail down three years after the first case was detected, though experts agree there have been far more fatalities than officially reported. The difference between the official and real figures could diverge even further next year, with modelling predicting more than a million deaths in …

  SEOUL, Dec 30 (Reuters):  South Korea said on Friday it will impose mandatory Covid tests on travellers from China, joining the United States, Japan and other countries in taking new border measures after Beijing s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies. South Korea would also restrict issuing short-term visas for Chinese nationals until the end of next month and …

  WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (AP): The Food and Drug Administration’s contentious approval of a questionable Alzheimer’s drug took another hit Thursday as congressional investigators called the process “rife with irregularities.” The 18-month investigation by two House committees detailed “atypical collaboration” between FDA regulators and a company it’s supposed to oversee — Aduhelm manufacturer Biogen. The probe also cited Biogen documents …

  In the UK, paediatricians and dentists have urged the government to set binding, nationwide limitations on the amount of salt and sugar that can be used in baby food . Leading medical professionals have called it a “national disgrace” that some goods that infants consume have more sugar than a Coca-Cola soft drink. Despite medical recommendations that babies should …