From next week, Australia plans for a travel bubble with Singapore and allows quarantine-free flights to start from November. Mr. Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister confirms the statement on Friday regarding the bubble for fully vaccinated travelers to visit the country. International students and business travelers will initially get the preference to apply for the same from November 23. The nation will allow tourists to enter the country from December. Mr. Morrison said, “We anticipate that being able to be achieved within the next week or so as we would open up to more vi
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom Official data reported a new mutation of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 is found in the country. The new variant dubbed as “Delta Plus” is found in some quarters that contain a mutation that can cause a greater survival chance. The experts do not believe that the new variant to be responsible for the continuing high number of daily coronavirus infections within the nation. On Monday, the country had hit its highest record since July with 49,156 new cases of coronavirus cases. In the latest technical briefing document by the UK, Heath Security Agency
The World Health Organization-led program aims to buy antiviral Covid-19 pills for US$10. Meck & Co’s experimental pill molnupiravir is among the other drugs to be included to treat patients with mild symptoms. WHO is ensuring that poorer countries get fair access to the vaccine shots, tests, and medications against the virus. It aims to secure antiviral drugs for these countries. Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) is the document that outlines the goals till September next year. The ACT-A says that the program wishes to deliver 1 billion COVID-19 tests to the poorer countr
On Monday, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed Singapore as “very high” in their list of risk travel destinations. As per the CDC, Singapore rose from Level 3 to its highest risk Level 4 under its Travel Notices. The notice cited: “Level 4: Very High Level of Covid-19 in Singapore”, which was followed by advice to “avoid travel to Singapore” for the US residents. The CDC said, “because of the current situation in Singapore, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants”. The notice asked
On Sunday, the Mosque in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia re-opened for the public. It operated at full capacity for the first time with worshippers praying shoulder-to-shoulder since the coronavirus pandemic began. The workers at the mosque removed the markings from the floor that was used to guide people about social distancing in and around the mosque. It was built around the Kaaba, the black cubic structure towards which Muslims pray from around the world. The Saudi official said, “this is in line with the decision to ease precautionary measures and to allow pilgrims and visito
The United Nations is all set to reopen its land border from next month, for fully vaccinated travelers. The country plans to lift its nineteen-month freeze to nonessential travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The US has heavily limited travel to the essentials between Canada, Mexico, and the US, such as a vehicle, rail, or ferries. Both Canada and Mexico have pressured the US government for months to lift the restriction on travel for those people who have separated from their families. On Wednesday, the government plans to announce the rule regardless of the reason to travel, starting
The government of Thailand plans to lift quarantine for fully vaccinated air travelers from Singapore and nine other countries from November 1. They plan to scrap the ban with the hope to rebuild its battered tourism sector. Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a televised broadcast on Monday that he asked the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CSA) and the Ministry of Public health to “urgently consider” within this week regarding the allowance for visitors from “low-risk” countries to enter Thailand without going through the process of quarantine. They
On Monday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine adviser suggested people with weaker immune systems should be offered an additional dose of all authorized COVID-19 vaccines. The UN health agency’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) also suggested that people over 60 who received full vaccination with China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines should also e offered an additional third COVID-19 dose of the vaccine. However, the experts cleared that they are not suggesting any so-called booster shots/doses for the population at large. Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen
Singapore is all set to open up its border for more countries for quarantine free travel as the city-state seeks to rebuild its status as an international aviation hub. The country is preparing itself to reach a “new normal” to live with COVID-19. The island will open up its border from October 19 to fully vaccinated people from eight countries including Britain, France, Spain, and the United States. According to the government, travelers for these nations will not have to quarantine themselves if they pass their COVID-19 tests. The nation took this major step to resume its internation
Defending against all known variants of Covid-19, including the Delta variant, the Republic has inked a supply and purchase agreement for an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19. Molnupiravir would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19 which is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus. The drug was developed by Merck, which is a pharmaceutical firm in the United States and Canada along with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in Miami. For the pill, Merck is awaiting a green signal from the United States Food and Drugs Administration. However, regarding the confirmat