Health

Singapore, Dec 22 (PTI) Singapore has received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, making it the first country in Asia to take the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech as it plans to inoculate its 5.7 million people by the third quarter of 2021.

The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine landed in Singapore on Monday, The Straits Times reported.

Dehradun, Dec 21 (PTI) A yoga programme aimed at teaching MLAs and assembly staffers different yogic poses and inspire them to adopt a healthy lifestyle was held at the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha premises on Monday.

Yoga Guru Ramdev's close aide Acharya Balkrishna was the chief guest at the programme held within the state assembly premises shortly before the House assembled for a three-day session.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S., Sara Houze has been on the road — going from one hospital to another to care for COVID-19 patients on the brink of death.

21 Dec 2020; AA: Thailand detected a new cluster of coronavirus cases in the country's coastal province near the capital Bangkok.

After months of cases remaining low, the country reported 382 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from 576 cases recorded on Sunday, according to a government statement.

Most of the new infections were found in migrant workers from neighboring Myanmar, who are working in the Samut Sakhon seafood market.

21 Dec 2020; AA: Turkey ended a countrywide weekend curfew early Monday as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The curfew began on Friday at 9 p.m. and ended on Monday at 5 a.m. local time.

In late November, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including a curfew on weeknights and full weekend curfews.

Some sectors including production, supply, health and agriculture would be exempt from the curfews, said Erdogan.

21 Dec 2020; AA: Turkey began testing passengers arriving from the UK early Monday for a new variant of the coronavirus after health officials in Britain confirmed it was rapidly spreading in the country.

All passengers’ contact details were taken and they are required to self-isolate.

Turkey joined other European countries late Sunday in banning flights from the UK and other countries due to concerns over the new fast-moving coronavirus strain.

GENEVA, December 21. /TASS/: The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on states to take all possible measures to slow and then stop the spread of new, mutated types of the novel coronavirus detected in the UK and South Africa, WHO Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic informed TASS on Monday.

"Viruses change as they circulate, and these changes can lead to changes in characteristics of the virus. Everyone must continue to take all actions to slow and eventually stop the spread of the virus," he said.

Melbourne, Dec 21 (AP-PTI) An Australian state government leader on Monday apologised for a bungled hotel quarantine program that led to most of the nation's COVID-19 deaths.

A retired judge who investigated Victoria state's quarantine program for returned travelers criticized the use of private security guards to enforce isolation in Melbourne hotels in May and June.

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: Shop closures and traffic restrictions in Iran will begin earlier on Saturday in an effort to avert a resurgence of coronavirus infections and deaths as Iranians prepare for the Yalda Night winter festival, Reuters reports.

"Let's not gather, so we don't become fewer," President Hassan Rouhani said in televised remarks on Saturday, urging Iranians not to hold extended family gatherings on Yalda Night, or Shab-e Yalda.

NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (NNN-PTI) – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 10,031,223 today, as 26,624 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours.

According to data, the death toll mounted to 145,477, as 341 more patients died since yesterday morning.

There are still 305,344 active cases in the country, while 9,580,402 people have been discharged from hospitals.