An average of 8, 000 deaths were reported daily across the world over the last week, or around five deaths every minute.... However, the global death rate has been slowing in recent weeks. There has been increasing focus in recent days on getting vaccines to poorer nations, where many people are yet to receive a first dose, even as their richer counterparts have begun giving booster shots.... The World Health Organization this week said its COVAX distribution programme would, for the first tim

WASHINGTON/ GENEVA: The discovery of a new coronavirus variant named Omicron triggered global alarm on Friday as countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa and stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic suffered their biggest falls in more than a year. The World Health Organisation( WHO) said Omicron what-we-know-about-covid-19-variant-detected-south-africa-2021-11-26 may spread more quickly than other forms, and preliminary evidence suggested there is an increased risk of reinfect